Canaries and Criminals Book

This book is about a boy named Nathaniel, who is trying to survive and find happiness after his leg is brutally injured in the storm. His family runs a farm and all the crops were destroyed due to the storm. The family also lack in business and have to take a lot of loans to pay for the crops. Things have changed ever since this incident has taken place. His dad hasn't had any conversation with him and his mom is always depressed and mad about the death of her daughter Missy, years ago. Nathaniel is finding it very hard to live this way and wants to change his style of living. But, to make things worse, his dad brings home a boy named John Worth, (from the Orphan Train) to do Nathaniel's chores. Nathaniel feels like he's worthless and that he is no use to the family. He is truly sad since is not being able to help on the farm and is actually jealous of John since he has caught the attention of his father. After some great tragedies in John's life, he is finding it hard to fit in the family. just know that everything works out in the end! But, something helps brings the family together (you're gonna have to find out!) to create a special bond that I think is very touching! For me, this story was a little hard to follow at the start,(and there were parts that were boring) and I was on the verge of abandoning it. I felt the need to read more to understand it better and sure enough ,as I kept reading, the story got more intense and I started enjoying it. The plot of this story was good and I particularly liked how the main character dealt with his problems. I also liked all the emotions that the characters displayed. My favorite part was, "Lumbering around like a newborn colt, I spun to get up and hug Ma. She hugged me right back, letting out a laughing sigh. "Don't you worry, Nathaniel. I'm not going anywhere." And for the first time, I hoped John Worth didn't have to go anywhere either." This shows that Nathaniel had empathy John because of the hard times he has been through and doesn't want him to go. Overall, I think this was a great book and I really recommend it!