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    Innocent
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    Innocent
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    Innocent
    Ebook241 pages2 hours

    Innocent

    By Eric Walters

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    After the orphanage she lives in is destroyed by fire, Betty, an innocent and trusting teen, takes a job as a maid in Kingston, Ontario. Welcomed into the household of the wealthy Remington clan, Betty makes friends with the staff at the house and soon discovers that her mother had also been a maid there—and that her father is in a nearby jail, convicted of murdering her mother. When she meets her father, she is taken aback by his claims of innocence, and she decides to try to uncover the truth about her mother’s murder and her father’s conviction. A friendly young policeman assists her in her investigation (and shows an interest in Betty that is more romantic than professional). But all is not well in the Remington household, and someone doesn’t want Betty to learn the truth.

    Part of the SECRETS—a series of seven linked novels that can be read in any order.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOrca Book Publishers
    Release dateSep 29, 2015
    ISBN9781459806672
    Unavailable
    Innocent
    Author

    Eric Walters

    Eric Walters is a Member of the Order of Canada and the author of over 125 books that have collectively won more than 100 awards including the Governor General’s Literary Award for The King of Jam Sandwiches. A former teacher, Eric began writing as a way to get his fifth-grade students interested in reading and writing. Eric is a tireless presenter, speaking to over 100,000 students per year in schools across the country. He lives in Guelph, Ontario.

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    Reviews for Innocent

    3.5/5

    21 ratings15 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 4/5
      I was excited to win a copy of Innocent through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program. After the orphanage in which she is raised is destroyed in a fire, Betty is placed in a role as a domestic worker for a wealthy family. Betty is surprised to learn that the family she is working for knew her mother who was murdered by Betty's father. As she becomes closer to her employer and staff more details began to emerge about her parents and she begins to question of her father is truly guilty of her mother's murder. This book was a quick read with plenty of red herrings and secrets to keep you guessing. This book is part of a series that can be read in any order and I look forward to completing the rest of the series.
    • 4/5
      I received this book for free through Library Thing's Early Reviewers. I was interested in this book because it was a Young Adult book and part of a series of books about some of the same characters that could be read out of order. I fully intend on reading the other books when they are released. I enjoyed this book, though the ending was predictable. I've always been intrigued by orphans and their back stories. The main character in this one (Betty) founds out that her mother was murdered when she was young by her father. However her father has insisted that he was innocent from the beginning. Part of the book is about Betty's investigation into his story. This was a good coming-of-age novel. I recommend it to others.
    • 4/5
      It is the 1960s. Betty is an orphan, raised at an orphanage. Shortly before her 18th birthday, when she would be released from the orphanage to make it out on her own, the orphanage catches on fire and burns down, so Betty (and the other older girls) are to set off on their own a bit early. The orphanage fire is the premise behind the Secrets series, all written by different authors, and to be released at the end of this month (I'm reviewing an ARC of this one). This book focuses on Betty and the others focus on the other older girls. Betty is sent to Kingston to work for a rich family. When she is released, she is given a bit of information about her biological parents: it turns out her father murdered her mother when she was just 4-years old. She was born in Kingston, and surprisingly, the family she is now working for knew her parents, so she is able to find out more.I really enjoyed this. I was interested to find out more about Betty and her parents and what happened there. It is YA, though, so it did move faster than I would have thought – that is, she found out the information really quickly and it didn't seem too difficult to find things out. I guess I was skeptical at all the coincidences that made it so easy. But, still, I was interested and really did enjoy reading it. I will plan to read more of the series.
    • 4/5
      This pleasant mystery about an orphan girl, who after the orphanage – the only place she knew as home-- burned down was returned to the city she didn’t know she was from. Betty doesn’t know anything about her origins until she is sent back to Kingston, ON, to the same job her mother had, where she was raised until just before her fourth birthday and where her father is in prison for murdering her mother. Betty/ Elizabeth/ Lizzy has one unusual protector: an autistic forty- year old pigeon fancier, who played with her when she was a child and helped her and her mother. Walters does a good job of describing Richie’s quirks, without naming them; because at the time this book takes place autism was not widely known as a diagnosis. This is part of a series from seven different Canadian authors, who each wrote a novel about one of these young girls, set in 1964. I received the ARC from Orca Book publishers and Library Thing 7/21/15. I finished this on 8/3/15. Thank you Library Thing and Orca Books!
    • 4/5
      Like many other reviewers, I received a free copy of this book through the Early Reviewer program on LibraryThing. I found the concept of this book series really interesting--each novel is the story of a different orphan who had to make their way after a fire destroyed the orphanage--but even more interesting is the fact each novel is written by a different author.Innocent is the story of Betty, who finds work as a live-in domestic in Kingston. She discovers the reason she was placed in the orphanage, and to some extent why she was never adopted, was because her father was serving a prison sentence for murder.A quick read with a predictable plot line, I found the book was very enjoyable and painted a genuine portrait of a young girl of the 1960s. I'm curious about some of the other titles, and I also wonder if any of the series authors will write a bit of a back story to the orphanage matron, as I felt she had a story to tell.
    • 3/5
      I received this book from the Early Reviewer program on LibraryThing. There have been a few series now that feature multiple authors, and I find it's an interesting idea. The problem is that if you read a book written by someone whose style you like, you might think you'll like the series but then the rest of the books fall short because they're by a different author. Since I enjoyed the story of Betty, a girl who eventually finds out why she ended up in an orphanage, I'm going to read a few more from this series. I thought Betty's story revealed the information a bit too quickly, so it was easy to figure things out, but I bought the entire set for our library since middle school readers might not be as adept as using the clues.
    • 4/5
      I got this book through the Early Reviewers Program, and it took me a while before I got into this book. It's part of a series where multiple orphans leave to make their way into the world after their orphanage is burned. The unique thing about this series is that each of these is written by a different author. For me, this was a simplistic read, but I enjoyed it enough that I plan on reading some of the other titles, as well.In "Innocent", we are introduced to the life of Betty, a young person who finds herself employed as live-in help in Kingston, in the 1960's. This happens to be the same job her mother had, allowing her to explore her past. Slowly, and surely, she discovers the reasons why she was placed in an orphanage, and how the sins of her father may have affected the chances of her adoption. This is a small book, and comes off as simplistic and predictable, yet the author has written the character well enough that you find yourself invested in her story and her life. I liked it enough that I finished with the book in merely two sittings (despite being super busy). I would definitely like to read, and learn, more about all the different characters that have left the Orphanage.
    • 4/5
      I received this book for free through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers. I wasn't expecting to really like this book, but I did. The only thing I didn't like was that the pacing was a little strange. The ending seemed rushed. Aside from that it was a quick, but interesting read. I also love that this is part of a series that can be read in any order.
    • 4/5
      INNOCENT by Eric Walters is set in Kingston, Ontario, in 1964. Betty — whom we'll soon to come to know as Lizzy — has just left the orphanage in which she was raised, and is going to her first job — which turns out to be where her mother once worked and where Betty/Lizzy lived until her mother died. Once again "home," Lizzy embraces her new family until she meets her birth father, who is a prisoner in the Kingston Penitentiary, and David, a young police officer who wants to get to know her. Suddenly things aren't quite as clear or innocent as they seemed.Overall, INNOCENT is a brisk, engaging novel. It's a great choice for readers in grade five and up and has more than enough substance for older teens who struggle with reading. The setting and premise allow Walters to make Lizzy a little more naïve and the violence a little less graphic than readers might expect from contemporary YA. At a few places I found that the compression of the story challenged my suspension of disbelief — everything was just a little too pat and happened just a little too quickly. But many readers would not have this reservation. The book had no trouble holding my attention, and I'm eager to know what happens next to Lizzy and her friends.I was pleased to receive this book to review. I greatly enjoyed the original SEVEN series (though I was less impressed with the SEVEN SEQUELS) and am happy to see Orca extending the concept to SECRETS, a set of linked novels featuring girl protagonists. I'm also really impressed by the lineup of contributing authors, who include Marthe Jocelyn, Norah McClintock, and Teresa Toten.
    • 3/5
      Betty has lived in the Benevolent Home for Necessitous Girls orphanage since she was four years old. She was seventeen when it burned down in the spring of 1964. A few weeks shy of graduating high school and being placed as a servant in a household, the fire accelerated the schedule. Before her departure, Mrs. Hazelton, the orphanage administrator, gives Betty an envelope containing information about her past. Having no recollection of her parents at all, this information is a revelation to her. She learns her real name and that her mother was brutally murdered by her father. In addition, she is moving back to Kingston, the town in which she was born and the murder occurred. Further, she is working for the same family for which her mother worked. However, all is not as idyllic as the family matriarch, Mrs. Remington, and the servants would have her believe.Innocent by Eric Walters, part of the Secrets series of seven linked novels, stands on its own. It is a simply told mystery regarding the murder of Betty’s mother. The expectations of women in the 1960s are apparent in that Betty is being groomed for a ‘woman’s’ profession and to be a good wife and mother. The book touches on autism in that the matriarch’s grown son Richie, who is labeled ‘different’ shows all the signs of autism, not commonly diagnosed in the 1960s. The characters are all nice, too nice in many instances. However, there is not enough meat to entice readers, reluctant or otherwise.
    • 4/5
      This was an engaging YA bbok. from an adult perspective the ending seemed a little rushed and obvious, but I think that it would be enjoyable for the target audience. It's a murder mystery and a romance for a more youthful market.
    • 3/5
      I received an Early Review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.Quite a pleasant book, with enough mystery to make it interesting. A little romance blends in well, and the characters, especially Betty/Lizzy are well developed and sympathetic. Ultimately this was a better read than I had first thought, nice to be surprised once in a while. Recommended.
    • 4/5
      This made for a great read! Very well written and the story was amazing. I also love how this is a part of a series but you don't need to read them in order (all main characters were in an orphanage together and each book in the series is a different characters story of what happens in their lives after they leave) I highly recommend this!
    • 3/5
      I won this book from the Early-Reviewers giveaway. This was a light and fast read. While I did enjoy it, the details could've been more enhanced. I'm a stickler for descriptions. I like to know exactly what characters look like, the settings, areas the characters are visiting etc. I think the main character was only ever described as looking like her mother. Well, what does her mother look like? I needed more descriptions. Also, since it is an advanced copy, there are some grammatical errors. And if you're anything like me, grammar has to be right. Or else the sentence doesn't flow and you have to try to figure out what the sentence is supposed to sound like. On the whole, not a bad story line but it could've been better. I've read a lot of teen books that had a murder, who-done-it aspect that turned out much better. Wasn't totally engrossed in the book like I normally am with others.
    • 4/5
      I received this book for free through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers. I wasn't expecting to really like this book, but I did. The only thing I didn't like was that the pacing was a little strange. The ending seemed rushed. Aside from that it was a quick, but interesting read. I also love that this is part of a series that can be read in any order.