Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A Chance to Escape
    A Chance to Escape
    A Chance to Escape
    Ebook80 pages1 hour

    A Chance to Escape

    By Elanor Best and Vivian Gult Bowman

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A Chance to Escape is a chapter book of historical fiction suitable for grades 3-5.
    Imagine being a young widow from England who has been in America only one year, then is left alone to support three children under the age of twelve. This family is trapped by severe economic circumstances in a slum district in New York City. Their meager income is dwindling to such a crucial level that the mother fears her children might wind up on the streets to survive, as thousands of poor children have been forced to do. She is desperate for help.
    This was the predicament in which Laura Harvey found herself in 1893, with winter approaching. The only solution she could come up with was to put Kathleen, Robert, and Beth on an Orphan Train going out west where they could be placed in foster homes. There they could have nourishing food, fresh air to breathe, and an education?even though her heart would be broken and her children devastated at being separated from her.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAuthorHouse
    Release dateApr 10, 2014
    ISBN9781491899861
    A Chance to Escape

    Related to A Chance to Escape

    Related ebooks

    Relationships For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Nurturing Growth

      Jul 7, 2020

      I grew up in the Appalachian Mountains of East Tennessee, which was both challenging and rewarding. Mountain people live off of the land, and while that offers harvest, hope, and bounty, it also brings hardship and struggles. Due to rugged terrain an

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Last Frontier Homesteading in Alaska

      Oct 1, 2019

      The federal homestead program is over, but its spirit continues. To learn more, COBBLESTONE spoke with Otto Kilcher. Kilcher grew up in his parents’ log cabin on a 660-acre homestead outside of Homer, Alaska. He still lives on the homestead in anothe

      3 min read

    • Article

      Home Before Sundown

      Sep 29, 2022

      Home Before Sundown
      10 min read

    • Article

      SINGLE, FEMALE AND homeless

      May 11, 2022

      SINGLE, FEMALE AND homeless
      9 min read

    • Article

      How I Demolished My Life

      Dec 28, 2021

      How I Demolished My Life
      11 min read

    • Article

      When You Need The Money

      Oct 1, 2021

      When You Need The Money
      7 min read

    • Article

      Winning Letter

      Dec 22, 2023

      THIS year was probably one of the most challenging for me – 2023 felt like it pushed my limits to see how much I could take. And just when I thought I’d had enough, along came more pushing. Based on conversations I’ve had with friends, I can pretty m

      5 min read

    • Article

      ‘I Was Sleeping In Laybys’: The People Who Have Spent The Pandemic Living In Vans

      May 25, 2021

      For Stef, living in a van made perfect sense. He was on the road all the time, travelling from music festival to music festival, feeding revellers his homemade pizzas. Soon, he had saved enough money to buy a secondhand white LDV Convoy. He moved int

      18 min read

    • Article

      Wild Things

      Jun 23, 2023

      Wild Things
      3 min read

    • Article

      Letters From The Pandemic

      Apr 27, 2020

      Letters From The Pandemic
      8 min read

    • Article

      Cabin Pressure

      Nov 27, 2017

      WORDS KOLEKA PUTUMA WHEN I WAS YOUNGER, I REMEMBER PAGING THROUGH MAGAZINES OR SCROLLING ON THE INTERNET AND SEEING PICTURES OF FAMILIES CAMPING IN CARAVAN PARKS. The images portrayed families or friends huddled around a fire and laughing with their

      3 min read

    • Article

      I’m The Community FAIRY GODMOTHER

      Oct 6, 2021

      Gayle Dye, 49, Rowville, Vic Slumped in the chair at my doctor’s office, I didn’t know what to think. ‘I recommend you stay inside,’ my GP advised. It was March last year and as the global pandemic hit Australia, I was under orders to stay home. Du

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Courage To Be Happy

      Feb 1, 2023

      MARRIAGE and columns have this in common: you tend to repeat yourself. More than once in these pages, I have quoted the New Yorker’s legendary film critic Pauline Kael. After President Nixon’s landslide victory in 1972 she wrote: ‘I live in a rather

      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for A Chance to Escape

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      A Chance to Escape - Elanor Best

      AuthorHouse™ LLC

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.authorhouse.com

      Phone: 1-800-839-8640

      © 2014 Vivian Gault Bowman. All rights reserved.

      No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

      Published by AuthorHouse 05/14/2014

      ISBN: 978-1-4918-9987-8 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4918-9988-5 (hc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4918-9986-1 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2014905672

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

      and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      CONTENTS

      1.   A Difficult Decision

      2.   At the Orphanage

      3.   Separation from Mama

      4.   The Train Ride

      5.   First Placing-Out

      6.   Rejection

      7.   Final Train Stop

      8.   New Foster Parents

      9.   A Letter to Mama

      10.   Adjusting to Farm Life

      11.   Snowed In

      12.   It Didn’t Work Out

      13.   Going Hunting

      14.   Christmas Preparations

      15.   Family Reunion

      Chapter 1

      A DIFFICULT DECISION

      My darlin’ Laura, look at this! William Harvey grabbed his wife around the waist and swung her around. He thrust a newspaper clipping in front of her and read: Free farmland available in America! Come to the land of opportunity and build your future!

      I got this clipping up at the store. Can you believe such a break? William asked excitedly. Laura, God’s answering our prayers! We won’t have to slave away and starve here in England any longer. Just think of that! Free farmland, ours for the taking! What an opportunity for us to better our children’s futures! What do you think? Are you game to sail to America and claim some of this free farmland? William’s blue eyes were shining with excitement, and his enthusiasm was contagious.

      Laura smoothed her dress back in place and frowned. "It sounds too good to be true, William. I agree we’ve been having a hard time making a living, but leaving our home and going so far away from where we were born? How’s it going to feel, moving away from our families and maybe never getting to see them again—ever? Do you realize what you’re suggesting? I don’t know if I can agree to such a thing!"

      Oh, Laura, it can’t be worse than what we’ve been through. We can sell our few belongings and buy passage to America. Think of free farmland! What a great place to bring up our family. We can be working hard for what belongs to us and our children! Besides, there’ll be several other families from here going. I sure wasn’t the only one interested in making a fresh start.

      During the next few days, William’s persuasive way with words kindled Laura’s hopes. The Harveys began making preparations to seek a new home across the Atlantic. On an autumn day, William, Laura, Kathleen, Robert, and Beth Harvey joined the group waiting in line to board the ship bound for America. Beth clung to her mother’s neck, while Robert and Kathleen held tightly to their father’s hands and eyed the ship apprehensively. Such a small ship in so much water! How deep the water looked!

      Once again, fate was unkind to the Harveys. Lack of proper food, rough seas that tossed the ship from side to side, and overcrowded conditions took their toll on the passengers. William was one of the many who became ill. Laura fretted as she tried to break his raging fever and ease his hacking cough. Slowly, William’s condition began to improve, but he was still so weak he could barely walk when the ship docked in New York City.

      My darlin’ Laura, our bad luck followed us to America. Here I am, helpless as a kitten, in a strange land, and all the responsibility’s falling on you. His paleness and lack of vitality alarmed Laura, but she didn’t let on to her husband or children.

      Don’t worry, William. You’ll soon feel better, and I’m sure we can find a place to stay until you feel like traveling. It was up to Laura to locate a small two-room apartment they could afford. She managed to get them moved into a tall, gray tenement house in the Lower East Side of New York City.

      William had been determined to find work and support his family until they could go west to claim some of the free farmland.

      Laura, I’ve found a job at the factory! The pay isn’t much, but at least it’ll buy food and keep us going. The hours are long, but I think I’m up to it.

      Although William’s spirit was willing, his body didn’t have the stamina necessary for the heavy lifting and the long (sixty to seventy) hours of work required weekly. His hacking cough returned, along with shortness of breath and a terrible weakness that no longer could be ignored.

      Within a few months, his health deteriorated to the point that he had to quit his job. Before long, he didn’t have the strength to get out of bed. At last, his weakened heart stopped beating.

      Devastated by the loss of her husband, Laura had to decide how she could support her family. She decided to work at home sewing caps. That way she could look after Beth. Each morning, Kathleen

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1