Runaway Alice (A Nickel for Alice)

When I finished Villette on Saturday, it was my intention to go straight to the book on Henry Kissinger’s years in the White House. But when I looked in my file of books to read, I noticed one that I downloaded along with Little House on the Prairie. It was called Runaway Alice (originally published in the early 1950s as A Nickel for Alice) by Frances Salomon Murphy. The picture on the front cover of a girl sitting looking miserable wasn’t exactly appealing, but I decided to give it a try. It’s a story about a 12-year-old orphan girl called Alice Wright and the difficulties she experiences in finding a foster home and, later, being adopted. Alice is first placed in the home of the Jordans, a well-to-do family with a daughter only two years her junior. Although the Jordans are nice, Alice doesn’t adapt, so she runs away. Miss Cannon, the social worker, is very patient with her and finds her another temporary home on a farm with the Potters. Mrs Potter would really prefer a boy, but agrees to take Alice until a permanent home can be found. Alice falls in love with the farm and makes friends in the surrounding area. Mr Potter also likes Alice, but Mrs. Potter is set on having a boy. The foster parents have three grown-up boys of their own who now live far away. Mother Potter grew up with a lot of brothers and only had sons, so she feels that she could never get used to a girl. Nevertheless, the couple end up becoming attached to Alice and she stays with them.

There is one scene early in the book that was particularly touching. When Alice, who has a reputation for being a runaway, hence the title, flees a foster home, she goes back to the first place she was sent to, the house of a Mrs Baker. This woman only took Alice in to make what money she could and made it clear that she never liked her very much. On Alice’s part, the feeling is mutual. But when asked why she continues to run back to the Baker family: “I don’t know,” Alice said helplessly. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

What I like about these Scholastic stories is reading about how fondly they are remembered sixty years on. So many people write that they read this story over and over again. It reminds me of the fond memories I have of my first books and how I could get lost in them. How it was good to get away from the mean side streets and immerse yourself in a faraway land where everything seemed to be so different and exciting.

There is not much information available on the author, Frances Salomon Murphy. She was an elementary school teacher and published two children’s books, both about orphans: A Nickel for Alice (1951) and A Ready-Made Family (1953). She also wrote a school textbook called History of Portland, Connecticut, which was published posthumously in 1969.