It Ain't Always Easy Author:Kathleen Karr Seen through the eyes of two street urchins on New York's Lower East Side in 1882, the world is not a friendly place. Indeed, from the moment they team up, Jack McConnell and Mandy Kerrigan run into nothing but trouble. First, Jack is evicted from the only home he's had in two years, a corner in the basement of Huffmaier's Bakery. Then they find... more » themselves in the grasp of do-gooders from the Children's Aid Society who plan to ship them to foster homes in the west.
Things go from bad to worse, and before long Jack and Mandy decide to leave New York and strike out on their own. Their travels bring them to a town called New Hope, in Pennsylvania, where they are taken in by a kindly widow. But when the widow's health starts to fail, it's all too clear that their fate is as uncertain as ever, and their quest for a real home is far from over.« less