Adopted Jane

by Helen F. Daringer, Kate Seredy (Illustrator)

Life outside the dull orphanage is much better when a young girl goes on a summer vacation with two families.

Genres: Fiction, Childrens, Novels, Middle Grade, Historical, Juvenile, Historical Fiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1947

About the author

Helen Fern Daringer was born in 1892 in eastern Illinois. Independent and way ahead of her time, Ms. Daringer graduated from Eastern Illinois University, obtained a Master's Degree in English, and headed to New York City, where she became a professor of English literature at Columbia University. Miss Daringer wrote numerous books for children and young adults, including "Country Cousin," "The Turnabout Twins," and "Mary Montgomery, Rebel."

Reviews

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book when I was young. The story of an orphan girl (I loved orphan stories), and the two households who are interested in her. I remember I disagreed with the major decision she made, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book.

From my reread June 2015: I see why it was one of my favorite books in elementary school, more than 50 years ago. It was so weird because I immediately remembered many of the lines, some verbatim. It’s too bad about the anachronisms I was exposed to, probably in most books I read, but this is still an excellent book. I love the children’s classics, especially ones I read when young, but I have to say I’m favorably impressed with so much currently written and published children’s literature. There was so few things here to object to that they were particularly disturbing because without them and a few other things, I’d have no problems about recommending this book to girls ages 8 and up. I still would recommend the book, with some caveats. I’m surprised to find that I disagree with my childhood self – I now heartily agree with Jane’s choice and for more than just her main reason. Reading the story as an adult I was able to see through to things neither Jane nor my younger self at ages 9-10 could see. I’m glad I reread it. I still enjoyed it. If I was reading it today for the first time I’d likely give it 4 vs. 5 stars.

[Deborah Markus · Rating 5 out of 5]

The short review: If you loved Anne of Green Gables and/or Daddy Long-Legs, you will freakin' adore this. I'm almost positive. I mean, how could you not?

The details: Adopted Jane will make you crave cake for at least a week. There's more to the story than that, of course, but cake is a recurring literary theme here. Reading this prompted my earliest baking experiments, which in turn led to the creation of my legendary three-chocolate brownie recipe, which you can find on my blog because I don't share my brownies but I'm happy to tell you how to make your own. (One pot. One pan. Half an hour total including work and baking, especially if you don't bother letting them cool. What's not to love?)

Anyway. I fell in love with this book at an early age and never grew out of it. It's one of those modern classics that don't romanticize the past, but do make you happy to take this guided tour.

If you do read it (or already have), will you let me know what you think of the ending? I love this story, but every time I get to the last chapter, even as a middle-aged lady, I can't help thinking I would have chosen differently than Jane does. Maybe that makes her better than me. Yeah, it probably does.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Heartwarming" is not a word that shows up often in my reviews, but it certainly belongs in this one. Published in 1947, but set in the early 1900s, Adopted Jane is an appealing orphan story that really deserves to be better known. I just wish I had encountered it as a child -- I'm sure it would have been a perennial comfort read.

[Miki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my "comfort book". I read it whenever I just want to feel good, and it never fails to make me happy.

[Rebekah Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story even though I had mixed feelings at the end because I wanted things both ways. Jane was sweet and tried very hard to do everything right and not cause trouble. But I was glad that she learned to stand up for herself. There was a wide variety of characters in the story, and it was interesting to see how Jane interacted with different ones.
There is mention of Jane having her “fortune told” by a gypsy (nothing more than she was “born with a star of luck” but I could have done without that), and talk about being lucky.
This is not a Christian story.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book as a child and was very excited to share it with my daughter and read it aloud to her. Reading aloud chapter books takes us forever, I'm sorry to say, but we did finally finish it last night. And I'm happy to report that she loved it just as much as I did. Like many childhood faves, this was shorter than I remembered. I also had that fun thing where I realize as I'm reading it that an image I keep in my mind or "knowledge" I have, actually came from a certain book. (An example, I didn't realize this was where I got the idea that you would put molasses or lemon in water to keep thirsty farmhands from drinking it too quickly and getting sick.) Other wonderful details were just as I remembered them-the shoebox carriage parade,which sounded like the most charming old fashioned fun to me when I first read it, and still does.
I sometimes poke a little fun at the ugly cover and smack in your face title, but you know what? This is a lovely story and I really enjoyed spending time with Jane again.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a darling book! I can't think of the last time I encountered a heroine so relatable and endearing. I'm tempted to give this five stars.

Jane is such a sweet character, but she's not too perfect, so as to be unlikeable. I like how her inner monologues are included, as it shows how perceptive and thoughtful she is. But she's no pushover, either (case in point: how she took charge of that birthday party situation).

I think this would appeal to fans of the Betsy-Tacy series (it takes place around the same time period, and there are references to several things that also pop up in B-T books). Also, all the descriptions of food (and threshing) made me think of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books.

The choice at the end of the book was very hard, and I honestly don't know which home I would choose if I were in her place!

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet and funny. I wasn't sure if some of the incidents/setting were derivative or just orphan tropes, but it doesn't really matter. I felt as robbed of the rest of the visit in Cherry Valley as Jane did!

[Clara Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful story about an orphan girl who gets a chance to stay for a month at first one home and then another. It seems to be set in the early 20th century, because few people had 'horseless carriages' and there was a comfortable old-time atmosphere. I loved reading the details about life back then, whether in a town or in the country. I especially loved the chapters on young Jane's time at the farm; I felt I could smell the sweet grass, feel the cool creek ebbing past my bare toes, and taste the homemade ice cream and cake at the Church Social, with its Chinese lanterns hung in the dusky twilight. I also loved how Jane talked to herself to keep herself from being discouraged. I was glad she was able to find happiness. I almost wonder if this story would have been fun with two endings written, so the reader could pick which home they wanted Jane to choose in the end!

[CLM · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can I say, I love orphan stories! I am glad this is back in print for a new generation.

[Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that I first read as a child. I don’t remember if I found it at the library or if I had my own copy; if I did have my own copy, it didn’t survive. Only my fondest memories did. I loved how this girl was so plucky, so hungry for love, and so worthy of love that two different families wanted to adopt her. I loved how she made the right choice. I like the book so much that when I found it in the Orange County Library when I was in my mid-20s, I wanted to steal it. But I was honourable and just checked it out, read it for nostalgia’s sake, and returned it. I was rewarded by finding it in a Goodwill for 20 cents a year later.

[Tassiemouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a delightful book! The perfect comfort read for recovering from Covid like me. I first read Stepsister Sally by the same author, the day before for a group challenge book, which was lovely but this is on a whole other level. It reminded me of L.M Montgomery books like Jane of Lantern Hill or of course Anne of Green Gables, but with less poetry and more cake! Honestly the food descriptions are delicious! I really want to read more about Jane and what happened after she made her important choice but sadly I believe this is a stand alone. If you love Betsy-Tacy, Daddy-Long-Legs or Anne of Green Gables then you'll love Jane.

[Ann aka Iftcan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story about a young girl who has lived in an orphanage her entire life, and is now given a chance to be adopted. A chance at not ONE home but two. Jane, who is as practical as her name (why do we always think that Janes are practical? But it does seem to be a fairly common belief.) One family is on a farm, and has raised one family already and wish to have another family--or at least another daughter. The other potential adopter is a wealthy single woman. At the end of the summer, both families want to adopt Jane, and it is up to her to make the final decision. Which will she choose?

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely story!

I picked this up for real cheap because it seemed like a cute story & I've rarely been disappointed with books from SBS. I'm so glad I "risked" my dime! This is a simple, touching story from a bygone age that bring the wonder back to life. Jane is so conscientious, sensible, imaginative, respectful, and honest (with delightful naivety) you love her from the start. This is definitely a book to hold on to if you come across it!

[Libby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mom gave this, Ginger Pye, and The Saturdays to me from her own childhood reading, and this was definitely my favorite at the time. It has a fairy tale quality to it (and no abused children), but is grounded in the dreariness of an orphanage, the desire to make a good impression, and the impossibility of understanding adults' motives!

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the reasons that I enjoy reading older books is for their historical context. But as an adoptive mother, I found reading this book to be just one big squirm-fest. Couldn't stay with it. (And I actually don't know if I would have liked it if I'd read it at age 10 either -- Jane lacked appeal as a character. For me, anyway.)

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book as a child and it's a great re-read....the descriptions remind me favorably of Maud Hart Lovelace's.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this a lot. Published in 1947, it's set at an unspecified time earlier in the century, with gas lighting and one sighting of a new automobile. Jane, older than eight but again not specified, is just as gentle and obliging as you might imagine, and as the title gives away, everything ends up just as it should.

These stories can sometimes be too cloying or too moralistic, but this one hits just the right notes for me. Jane is quite relatable even to a modern audience, I think. I love the way she tries to make conversation but when she thinks of what she could possibly add the moment has passed. I love the way she desperately and stubbornly saves her party with the pirate game. (Could you imagine being left alone as hostess to a full nineteen strange girls?!) I love that she takes so much of her knowledge from books.

I still appreciate stories where the characters appreciate an orange, a fountain in the yard, getting a soda water, or being able to pick out candy with a friend. And making the cardboard train car parade sounded pretty great.

Also, I had never heard of this author before, but she herself sounds pretty great. A never-married, world-traveler with a doctorate and a professor at Columbia! (I love that Jane didn't know girls could go to college and decides right then that she will go.)

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard about this book from one of the Facebook book-lover groups I follow--someone mentioned it in a comment as a childhood favorite and it sounded interesting. It took a little while to track down a reasonably priced copy, but it was worth the effort.

Well written and charming, this juvenile novel was first published in 1947 but is set in the 1900s. It follows a girl named Jane who lives in an orphanage that I think is in Missouri (there's a reference to St. Louis). Small for her age and plain, Jane has not only never been adopted, she's never even been asked for a visit. I don't know how historically accurate this is, but in the novel orphans often go to stay for a month at someone's home, particularly in the summer. There's also a mention of two older girls who return to their father when he remarries, so it seems not everyone there is without parents.

Jane is a hard working girl, mannerly but also of sound character as is demonstrated in the book. The summer the novel takes place, she has the opportunity to spend time with two families. One is Mrs. Thurman, a purported wealthy woman who the matron hopes will donate money for an infirmary at the orphanage. The other is a farming couple, the Scotts, with two nearly grown sons and a niece who will be visiting and needs a playmate.

The book is subtle and takes advantage of Jane's limited point of view. Jane assumes Mrs. Thurman is not really wealthy because she doesn't wear ostentatious jewelry, she lives in an old house that's not in the newly built fashionable part of town, and a lot of her things are old. For a girl raised in a highly controlled environment of a fenced yard, allowed out only for school and church, her assumptions are logical. The book never actually states Mrs. Thurman is wealthy, but there are a lot of clues, and figuring them out would be a good discussion point for young readers. She has two servants, her "old" things are likely antiques, at one point Jane notices something that looks like silver but she assumes it isn't, and she wants to buy Jane several new dresses of high quality. When Jane hears the cost of the dresses, she states she doesn't need them, causing offense. It's an example of her character, she of course wants the dresses but is concerned about the expense. She never tells anyone this is the reason, but there are indications Mrs. Thurman figures it out. Jane also often stands up for herself with dignity and self-respect, particularly when different characters try to belittle her for being an orphan, and she is constantly reminding herself not to feel self-pity.

Orphan stories seem to be a perennial favorite, from Oliver Twist to Harry Potter. I think this novel may have been inspired by the popularity of Lucy Maude Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables (1908) and Ellen H. Porter's Pollyanna (1913), both set in about the same period and likely childhood favorites of the mothers who might have bought this novel for their own daughters. Jane is a less extreme child than either of those heroines, neither cloyingly happy like Pollyanna, nor prone to emotional outbursts and trouble like Anne, and in some ways it makes her more believable. This novel will likely appeal to readers who loved those books, or Frances Hodgsen Burnett's The Secret Garden and A Little Princess or young fans of historical fiction like the older American Girl books.

There are interesting period details like making hand-cranked ice cream, and various games and activities children pursued, from driving a pony cart to town on their own to making and parading streetcars made of boxes with tissue paper over cut out windows with a candle inside (yes, a lit candle in a paper box pulled by a small child--not at all a fire hazard). But there's no fire--this isn't a dramatic novel, though the plot does move along well. I'd recommend it, and would be interested in what a younger reader today thinks of it.

[Audrey Ettinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so happy to find this childhood favorite on OpenLibrary -- complete with the cover and pictures I remembered! I remembered a lot of the details of the story, but not that the Matron and helper at the orphanage were basically kind people doing their best (unlike Daddy-Long-Legs). Both families were lovely; I was amused as an adult that Jane didn't realize how hard Tish's aunt and uncle Callie and ? Scott were working for their living (after all, there was tons of food and animals around on the farm!), while Mrs. Thurman had an old house with old furniture and old carpets and old silverware -- OLD MONEY! Anyway, Jane seemed to really care about Mrs. Thurman, so I'm glad that she chose her to be adopted by. It seemed like she was choosing for all the right reasons -- out of love and respect, not realizing that she is giving herself a cushy future! Anyway, a lovely re-read.

[Nann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Adopted Jane in 1962 or thereabouts -- as I recall it was on the Scholastic Arrow/Tab book club list for years. It would be interesting to know more about the context in which Daringer wrote it -- she grew up in downstate Illinois, went to Eastern Illinois Normal School (now University), got an advanced degree from the University of Chicago, and taught at Columbia University in New York. Did she know orphans? At first I thought the Danbury in AJ referred to Connecticut but there's a definite Midwestern flavor to the story (the steam threshers) so I think Danbury = Danville. And Mollie the hired girl and her fiance eloped and went on honeymoon to Chicago "for three days," which would be more logical from downstate than from New England!

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books I read as a kid!
I will do anything to get a hard copy of it again, I remember the story so well, there is a certain feel good vibes that you get reading this book.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

As good as I remembered it. Very well written, and Jane is so wonderful.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't have asked for a better antidote to the first dreadful heat of a S. Spanish summer. My city has no sense of proportion; one day you're wearing long sleeves and the next it's 40ºC. So it was this week. This was an excellent find on the Internet Archive that I devoured whole in a couple of hours. I hadn't seen or heard of it since I was in middle school, and a classmate told me how good it was. It's what I called as a child a "story story", by which I meant cosy, friendly and pleasant--no big dramatic issues, just a pleasant story. And if you can include a farm and a train ride so much the better!
Jane doesn't realise that she and the other orphans at the Ballard Home are unpaid servants; she is too focussed on paying her way, or what people used to call "pulling your weight". As a puny conventionally "unattractive" child, she knows it's next to impossible that anyone should want to adopt her at her age; she's not a cuddly baby, her hair is straight, dark and cut short, and she's not even pretty. So she becomes a hard worker, willing to do whatever's asked of her whether it's housecleaning or tending to the orphan babies.
This is not the first time I have read of a father who parks his kids at an orphanage between marriages, or of orphans who have relatives they can go and visit in the summer; I guess the kids are fine to have around in good weather, but the relations apparently don't want the expense and responsibility of educating, feeding and clothing the kids in winter. The orphans live mostly on potatoes and cabbage and rehydrated dried apples, and glad to get it. Jane is very aware throughout the book that nobody is obligated to feed and clothe her--she's one of the "real orphans" who has no one in the world to care about or for her. Her delight at living in a real house like other people, with a gate instead of a high, solid wall is only surpassed by her enjoyment of the simplest pleasures in life.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hesitate to give this book only 3 stars, yet I can't bring myself to give it more. I liked it, but I will have no problem donating it instead of rereading it. Jane's inner dialog bugged me. The story was a little too perfect. I love the Betsy Tacy books. When I read those, I scrounged together three full sets of them so each of my daughters could have their own set and I'd have one too. Adopted Jane I'll donate. So not a bad book, and enjoyable to read if you have lots of time for reading, but if your reading time is limited, I'd skip it. Read the Betsy Tacy books, Understood Betsy, or Tom's Midnight Garden instead.

[Peggy Scripter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adopted Jane is the first novel I read, motivated by my Willard Elementary School (Long Beach, CA) sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Scoble, with a chart on the wall who was reading “A Wrinkle in Time” to our class when I enrolled in the middle of the school year. I was enraptured by the story, which inspired in me a life-long love of reading. Adopted Jane is a lovely story that will take you back to the innocent times of the turn of the 20th century. It is ever and ever so sweet and worth reading over and over again!

[Jane Irish Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane is a shy but spunky orphan, who unexpectedly is offered the chance of not one, but two summer visits. First she spends several weeks with a widow in a small town, and makes friends with several of the girls there. Then she goes to a farm as company to the owners' visiting niece. She and Tish also become friends, but Jane must return to the orphanage to help when one of the workers is injured. At the end Jane is given an important decision to make, one that will change her entire life. Very enjoyable, sweet story. Recommended.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember really enjoying this book after picking it up for 15 cents at my elementary school book fair. I think it reminded me of the Betsy-Tacy books, which were longtime favorites. Upon re-reading, though, it was charming and enjoyable but just kind of...blah. Jane was a little too sensible and goody-goodyish for my liking (although I suppose I can't blame her for behaving since she wanted to be Adopted Jane and not Orphan Jane and blah-di-blah).

[lola Franco · Rating 3 out of 5]

just finished reading this to lucy. had read it when i was in school. must have gone through an orphan stage after anne of green gables. it is a very sweet book.

still cute, but probably didn't age that well. it did not seem to engage lucy at all. but then the concept of an orphanage is so foreign to her as it is to most people now. but jane is a nice character. and the head of the orphanage treats them well.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple and entertaining book for young readers or those interested in adoption. Jane - the protagonist - is a somewhat flat character, but she was determined and spunky enough to keep my interest anyway. The abrupt ending was disappointing. However, anyone who enjoys reading about childhood romps in general should enjoy it very much.