Review of the Middle-Grade Novel Worth by Alexandria LaFaye (Aladdin/Simon & Schuster, 2004)
This historical novel set in the 1800s poses a challenging question: how much is a child worth when differently abled or orphaned? Eleven-year-old Nathaniel “Nate” Peale helps his parents Gabriel and Mary Eva to farm their land in Nebraska. He does not attend school. Suddenly, his life changes when an accident during a storm badly breaks his leg, forcing Nate to limit his physical exertions. Alienated and frustrated by his son’s permanent impairment, Gabe Peale adopts John Worth from the Orphan Train. At first, Nate dislikes John, a city boy who replaces Nate for most farm work. Gabriel and Mary Eva decide to send Nate to school when he recuperates enough from his injury to walk. Nate struggles to make up for lost time. He learns to read much better and meets new friends, especially Anemone Cordimas, an immigrant girl from Greece, who loans him a book about Greek mythology that he loves. Nate reads these Greek myths to John, and they begin to bond. Nate finds out that John’s whole family died in a…
