Sparrows in the Scullery

by Barbara Brooks Wallace Narrated by Steven Crossley

Overview

Life has been difficult for 10-year-old Colley Trevelyan ever since he lost his mother and father in a fatal carriage accident. Most of the servants have been dismissed, and the house feels empty. To make matters worse, soon he will be living with his aunt and uncle who have never liked him. One night he suddenly wakes up wrapped tightly in a rough blanket. As he struggles to free himself, a strange man carries him to a waiting carriage. The next thing Colley knows, he is in London at the dreadful Broggin Home for Boys-and people are calling him Jed Broggin. Why is this happening to him? Barbara Brooks Wallace packs suspense and plot twists into this tale of a young boy finding a reason to live amidst horrible conditions. Sparrows in the Scullery won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award. With narrator Steven Crossley's dramatic flair and authentic accent, he transports youngsters to historical England to discover what life was like there a hundred years ago.

Editorial Reviews

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6--Set in 19th-century United States, this mystery immediately hooks readers. When 10-year-old Colley is kidnapped and brought to the Broggin Home for Boys, he finds himself in the middle of a nightmare. The two proprietors, Obadiah and Quintilla Crawler, make life miserable for all of the Broggin boys. Harsh words, backbreaking work, and inedible food are the norm. Eventually, Colley befriends his formerly hostile roommate and tries to discover why he was brought to the home. Reminiscent of Joan Aiken's The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Yearling, 1987), the book is populated with characters who are either very good or horrible. Wallace writes well, balancing the educated dialogue of Colley with the course language of the street boys. A secret room, a pet rat, and near mishaps add to the intrigue. Although the ending is a little sweet, Wallace ties together most loose ends and includes some unsolved problems. Readers will gobble up this satisfying fare.--Mary M. Hopf, Los Angeles Public Library

Kirkus Reviews

Wallace (Cousins in the Castle, 1996, etc.) transports readers back to 19th-century England, to the time when it was not uncommon for orphans to be sold to seemingly charitable homes where they were clothed and fed, but where they were often required to toil long hours in factories.

That's the horror that befalls once privileged, recently orphaned Colley Trevelyan, 11. The action takes off at a horse's gallop: After his parents are killed in a carriage accident, Colley is kidnapped and sold to the Broggin Home for Boys. There he is stripped of his name and put to work in a glass factory. It's a far cry from the servants and estate to which he's accustomed, but Colley becomes close to the other boys, and learns about friendship, teamwork, and survival. Wallace is deliberately Dickensian in her portrait of the home and the boys, yet the tale is full of hope: The boys find an unexpected savior, and readers will be borne along by the suspense to an exhilarating conclusion.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170733699
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	05/22/2009
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

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