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Sarah
was a slave to a "baby farmer" – "By the time I was nine years old I had begun to doubt that Mama Pratchett, the woman with whom I had lived for as long as I could remember, was in fact my mother..." So says Sarah in award-winning author Gary Crew's new novel, Mama's Babies. Written for young adult readers, this riveting book is based on the murderous careers of three real-life "baby farmers" of the 1890s. Each was sentenced to death as a result of the testimony of teenage girls who had been employed by them. What was a baby farmer? A woman who, for profit, takes in unwanted children who later mysteriously disappear. Often, baby farmers forced "adopted" teenage girls to serve as their household slaves. In Mama's Babies, Sarah is suffering that cruel fate. While Mama barely works at all, Sarah toils from dawn to dusk caring for Mama's ever-shifting brood of children. Sarah's plight grows worse and worse until a friendly neighbor boy discovers what's going on and alerts the law to Mama Pratchett's mysterious ways. Before long, the truth is unearthed, as the local police dig up the bodies of two murdered children in Mama's garden. Six more young bodies are found buried in the gardens of Mama's previous residences. Young readers will breathlessly fly to the end of this gripping story, seeking justice for Sarah and Mama's other young victims. And they won't be disappointed. Not only is Mama permanently put "out of business," Sarah miraculously resumes the life Mama stole from her when she was just one year old. Along the way, readers will learn: • Even when a cruel, unjust system has been undisturbed for many years, it's never too late to replace it with a loving, fair system • When a situation seems wrong, it's always best to investigate the matter thoroughly instead of turning a blind eye Educators will applaud how Mama's Babies shows students that several right-minded characters can join forces to undo the consequences of horrific circumstances. Especially in the character of young Sarah, who never took on her "Mama's" evil ways, but rather, held true to her innate desires to give and receive only love, truth and compassion. Mama's Babies was named a "Notable Book" by the Children's Book Council of Australia. Gary Crew is an internationally-acclaimed author of picture books and young adult novels. He won the American Children's Book of Distinction award. He teaches creative writing, children's literature and adult literature at the University of the Sunshine Coast.
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