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In Times Past
an eBook on CD
by Carol Hurst and Rebecca Otis

Integrating US History with Literature in Grades 3-8.

Enliven your US History curriculum!

Teach US History using great kids books.

More Info

The Pinballs

by Betsy Byars. (Harper,1977, ISBN 0064401987. Paperback) Novel. 185 pages. Grades 5+.
This book was first reviewed by Carol Otis Hurst in Teaching K-8 Magazine.

Review

Carlie, Harvey and Thomas J., three foster children, have been taken in by the Masons who have had many other foster children in the past. It's Carlie who compares the children to pinballs, controlled by external forces, and at the mercy of fate. Carlie is tough; she has been abused by her step-fathers and is convinced that people are not to be trusted. The master of insult, she maintains her tough exterior. Harvey has two broken legs, having been run over by an alcoholic father after being abandoned by his mother. He is convinced that his father has kept his mother from communicating with him since she ran away to find herself in a commune. Thomas J was also abandoned; he was found as a toddler by elderly twin sisters whose minimal love and care for him has ended when both of them are hospitalized with broken hips. He is inarticulate and overly anxious to please. The Masons provide a supportive environment in which the children learn to care for each other and begin to experience love and trust. This is a believable, funny and touching novel.

Related Areas of Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site

• Betsy Byars, Featured Author
• Keeper of the Doves by Betsy Byars. Featured Book with activities, related books and links.
• Moon and I by Betsy Byars, book review.

Related Areas on the Internet

• Betsy Byars' Web Site