Street Child

Street Child
Berlie Doherty

Unforgettable tale of an orphan in Victorian London, based on the boy whose plight inspired Dr Barnardo to found his famous children’s homes.When his mother dies, Jim Jarvis is left all alone in London. He is sent to the workhouse but quickly escapes, choosing a hard life on the streets of the city over the confines of the workhouse walls.Struggling to survive, Jim finally finds some friends… only to be snatched away and made to work for the remorselessly cruel Grimy Nick, constantly guarded by his vicious dog, Snipe.Will Jim ever manage to be free?

Copyright (#uf2bc2de8-aee5-5bf9-b33a-15cce1a74f3a)

First published in Great Britain by Hamish Hamilton

First published by HarperCollins Children’s Books 1995

This edition published by HarperCollins Children’s Books 2016

HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd,

HarperCollins Publishers

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

The HarperCollins Children’s Books website address is

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

Berlie Doherty’s website address is

www.berliedoherty.com (http://www.berliedoherty.com)

Text copyright © Berlie Doherty 1993

Why You’ll Love This Book copyright © Julia Golding 2009

Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2016

Cover illustration © Giodarno Poloni 2016

Berlie Doherty asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780007311255

Ebook Edition © 2016 ISBN: 9780007397631

Version: 2016-06-14

For Hilda Cotterill

With thanks to the children of Lynne Healy’s class at Dobcroft Junior School in Sheffield, who helped me with their advice and enthusiasm, and to Priscilla Hodgson, Deborah Walters, Mike Higginbottom, the Barnardo Library, Dickens House, The Ellesmere Port Boat Museum and Sheffield Libraries, who all helped me with their knowledge.

CONTENTS

Cover (#ua2a8040c-64fd-5c54-95b6-88cc17cc8ef4)

Title Page (#ue3c311a3-4532-571d-a5c5-c8a48bffaeca)

Copyright

Dedication (#u4b4c2711-7499-5dc0-85b8-b6954223bb48)

Why You’ll Love This Book by Julia Golding

Tell me Your Story, Jim

Chapter One – The Shilling Pie

Chapter Two – The Stick Man

Chapter Three – Rosie and Judd

Chapter Four – The Workhouse

Chapter Five – Behind Bars

Chapter Six – Tip

Chapter Seven – The Wild Thing

Chapter Eight – The Carpet-Beaters

Chapter Nine – The Jaw of the Iron Dog

Chapter Ten – Lame Betsy

Chapter Eleven – The Spitting Crow

Chapter Twelve – Shrimps

Chapter Thirteen – The Lily

Chapter Fourteen – The Waterman’s Arms

Chapter Fifteen – Josh

Chapter Sixteen – Boy in Pain

Chapter Seventeen – The Monster Weeps

Chapter Eighteen – You Can Do It, Bruvver