Nettie and Nellie Crook: Based on a True Story

Can you imagine becoming an orphan while your parents are still alive? That's what happens to Nettie and Nellie Crook, who are only five years old in 1910 when they are removed from their home in New York.

No one tells Nettie and Nellie why their parents can no longer care for them, and later, no one explains why all the orphans are put on a train headed west. The girls soon find themselves put on display in various small town auditoriums, where prospective parents examine and select children for adoption. Nettie and Nellie are taken by Mr. and Mrs. Chapin, but this happy ending isn't what it seems; Mrs. Chapin is cruel and works the girls like slaves. The twins are eventually rescued, finding the "forever" home they've always wanted.

The Based on a True Story books by E. F. Abbott are exciting historical fiction stories about real children who lived through extraordinary times in American History. This title has Common Core connections.