Hunger

It's the autumn of 1846, and Lorraine and her family are on the edge of starvation after the previous year's failed potato crop.  The wild edible plants they've been eating can barely sustain them, but they have the hope of this year's crop to sustain them.

But all their hope is lost when they wake one morning to blackened leaves signifying the blight is back again.  Everyone is in a rush to save what they can, but the potatoes that aren't already rotten are small and won't last long. 

A chance meeting with Susanna, the daughter of the wealthy English lord who owns the land the work gives Lorraine an avenue to food to help sustain her family and neighbors, but it must remain a secret.  Susanna is desperate for friendship, but her father would never approve of a poor Irish farm girl.  Plus, Lorraine and friends could be arrested for theft. 

I really wanted to love Donna Jo Napoli's story about the Irish potato famine that killed at least a million people and sent another million across the ocean to start a new life in America.  Her depictions of starvation and disease are heartbreaking, but there just isn't much plot here.  As a mature reader with Irish heritage, I persevered, but I'm not sure many kids would stick around for the duration.