The Warden's Daughter by Jerry Spinelli

Cammie lives inside the Hancock County Prison. She is not a criminal - she is the daughter of the boss - the warden. The year is 1959. Cammie is eleven. Her mother's grave says Anne Victoria O'Reilly April 16, 1921 February 3, 1947. If you do the maths you can see Cammie's mother died when Cammie was a baby. It was a incident involving a milk truck.

"How do you be a child to a mother you never knew?"

Cammie is sad. Cammie is mad. Cammie makes a plan to find herself a mother. 

In the prison one of the inmates, called trustees, is assigned to work in the apartment of the warden. To cook, clean and take care of Cammie. There have been many women who have filled this role but none have been like Eloda Pupko. Eloda Pupko is now Cammie's project. She is determined that this women will act like a mother, offer love, kindness, wisdom and even reprimand Cammie.  Clearly Cammie is desperate for that love but her anger is raging white hot. Cammie does have friends at school but their lives are so very different from hers and at times it feels their friendship is motivated by curiosity about the prison and one notorious inmate accused of murder. Cammie also has friends among the prison inmates especially Boo Boo.

"The loudest and largest inmate of all was Boo Boo. Boo Boo was one of a half a dozen black women. Boo Boo was a shoplifter, but I always found this hard to figure, as she was anything but quiet and sneaky."

Over this amazing Summer Cammie will make important discoveries about herself and about her friends - inside and outside of the jail. Boo Boo for example may not be exactly the person you expect and her hope and dreams may surprise or perhaps even shock you. Click the review quotes below if you need more plot details.

When you read this book (and please do read it) you may be curious about scraple which is served in the prison - I found this definition: it  is traditionally a mush of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and wheat flour, often buckwheat flour, and spices. The mush is formed into a semi-solid congealed loaf, and slices of the scrapple are then pan-fried before serving. Scraps of meat left over from butchering, not used or sold elsewhere, were made into scrapple to avoid waste.

Listen to an audio sample from chapter one. I think readers aged 10+ will really enjoy this book which is set in a place and time sure to be very unlike their own reality. Cammie is not an easy girl to like but she does need a friend - perhaps you could be her friend - her true friend. 

Moving and memorable. Kirkus Star review

A buoyant yet powerfully emotional coming-of-age novel that reflects its prickly young protagonist's sense of entrapment in her own inarticulable sadness. Shelf Awareness

Take a look at my review of another book by master storyteller Jerry Spinelli - Loser. Here is an alternate cover for The Warden's daughter and other covers of Jerry Spinelli titles: