What do you think?
Rate this book
Becoming Johanna
Since the age of three, the grim conditions and strict directives of Peakie’s Foundling Home have ruled 16-year-old Josefina Charo’s life. Her inquisitive nature and love of books highlight an intelligence that allows her to graduate two years early from secondary school. However, she is disappointed to learn Peakie’s will not provide a higher education, nor will she be permitted to leave because she’s too young. Her spirit dampened, she spends the next several months working in the home’s laundry and cafeteria for menial wages, while she searches for a way to escape her prison. Finally, she sees her chance and grabs it, but she soon discovers the harsh realities of being on her own. Life can be difficult, at best, for a teenage girl with no real world experience.
114 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2016
About the author
C.A. Pack
12 books27 followersC. A. Pack is the author of the episodic YA fantasy seres, The Library of Illumination and can usually be found wandering around inside her imagination looking for fun things to write about. Some people may think that's a stupid place to hang out, but for her it's really quite pleasant.
She is currently at work on her seventh adventure in the episodic Library of Illumination series and on her fourth novel featuring Evangeline. She's an award-winning journalist, and former anchor/assignment manager at LI News Tonight in New York. She thinks fiction is a lot more fun.
A current member of International ThrillerWriters, and Sisters in Crime, C.A. is also a former president of the Press Club of Long Island. She lives in Westbury, NY, with her husband, a couple of picky parrots, and dozens of imaginary characters who are constantly demanding page space.
She is currently at work on her seventh adventure in the episodic Library of Illumination series and on her fourth novel featuring Evangeline. She's an award-winning journalist, and former anchor/assignment manager at LI News Tonight in New York. She thinks fiction is a lot more fun.
A current member of International ThrillerWriters, and Sisters in Crime, C.A. is also a former president of the Press Club of Long Island. She lives in Westbury, NY, with her husband, a couple of picky parrots, and dozens of imaginary characters who are constantly demanding page space.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 5, 2017
Assigned to read this novella as part of a review group, I started the free download with no idea of what to expect.
I soon found myself succumbing to the kind of spell that takes hold when reading fairy tales or fiction for young readers, where you get caught up in the imaginary world of the central character, in this case 16-year-old Josefina Charo, inhabitant of Peakie’s Foundling Home. Peakie’s may not be Dotheboys Hall, but with its forbidding staff and barbed-wire topped walls, it’s definitely ‘not a pleasant place to grow up’, especially for a bright, intelligent child capable of imagining a better world outside its concrete confines. So we’re all on board when Josefina decides to take the plunge, escaping over the barbed wire with her meagre savings and battered suitcase.
In the outside world, as Josefina becomes Johanna, the path of experience turns out to have a fair few thorns. There are choices to be made and temptations to regret as she learns about life. But along with those who are out to exploit–her landlady, her manager–are others, who offer help and friendship. There are also magical places to discover for booklovers:
‘Artiqua Literaria. A bell rang when she opened the door. Inside, she felt like she had been transported through time. The polished wooden shelves and creaking oak floor, though well kept, looked like they could have been there for a hundred years. She inhaled deeply, recognizing the slightest hint of lemon oil.’
As Johanna stumbles from one obstacle to another, we find ourselves willing her on, sharing her fears, her struggles and her determination to ‘follow her dream’. Reaching the final scene, we discover her all alone at Christmas, with a broken leg, doing her best to dress up a spindly tree that someone has given her in a random act of kindness. Ah, the floodgates of childhood memories open–Tiny Tim, the Little Match Girl–and as she unwraps a parcel from a mysterious well-wisher and discovers her favourite book inside (Johanna Spyri’s ‘Heidi’, and a first edition to boot), we’re rooting for the young heroine as we read the final sentences:
‘A single tear cascaded down her cheek. Someone had sent her a present—a very special gift—and she knew she would treasure it as a symbol of her newfound freedom.
And maybe like Heidi—another girl orphaned at an early age—Johanna might also find her happy ending.’
‘Becoming Johanna’ is a prequel to C. A. Pack’s young adult series, a taster, a charming ‘amuse-gueule’, which you’ll be tempted to swallow in two bites, lick your lips, and look forward eagerly to the main course. And what’s more, there’s an invitation to continue to the next course for free, by signing up to the author’s newsletter (which I naturally accepted, eager to find out what happens in the ‘library of illumination’ where ‘books literally come to life’.)
This introduction to a series for young adults will also appeal to older ones, especially those on the look-out for literary gifts to encourage bookworms in the making.
I soon found myself succumbing to the kind of spell that takes hold when reading fairy tales or fiction for young readers, where you get caught up in the imaginary world of the central character, in this case 16-year-old Josefina Charo, inhabitant of Peakie’s Foundling Home. Peakie’s may not be Dotheboys Hall, but with its forbidding staff and barbed-wire topped walls, it’s definitely ‘not a pleasant place to grow up’, especially for a bright, intelligent child capable of imagining a better world outside its concrete confines. So we’re all on board when Josefina decides to take the plunge, escaping over the barbed wire with her meagre savings and battered suitcase.
In the outside world, as Josefina becomes Johanna, the path of experience turns out to have a fair few thorns. There are choices to be made and temptations to regret as she learns about life. But along with those who are out to exploit–her landlady, her manager–are others, who offer help and friendship. There are also magical places to discover for booklovers:
‘Artiqua Literaria. A bell rang when she opened the door. Inside, she felt like she had been transported through time. The polished wooden shelves and creaking oak floor, though well kept, looked like they could have been there for a hundred years. She inhaled deeply, recognizing the slightest hint of lemon oil.’
As Johanna stumbles from one obstacle to another, we find ourselves willing her on, sharing her fears, her struggles and her determination to ‘follow her dream’. Reaching the final scene, we discover her all alone at Christmas, with a broken leg, doing her best to dress up a spindly tree that someone has given her in a random act of kindness. Ah, the floodgates of childhood memories open–Tiny Tim, the Little Match Girl–and as she unwraps a parcel from a mysterious well-wisher and discovers her favourite book inside (Johanna Spyri’s ‘Heidi’, and a first edition to boot), we’re rooting for the young heroine as we read the final sentences:
‘A single tear cascaded down her cheek. Someone had sent her a present—a very special gift—and she knew she would treasure it as a symbol of her newfound freedom.
And maybe like Heidi—another girl orphaned at an early age—Johanna might also find her happy ending.’
‘Becoming Johanna’ is a prequel to C. A. Pack’s young adult series, a taster, a charming ‘amuse-gueule’, which you’ll be tempted to swallow in two bites, lick your lips, and look forward eagerly to the main course. And what’s more, there’s an invitation to continue to the next course for free, by signing up to the author’s newsletter (which I naturally accepted, eager to find out what happens in the ‘library of illumination’ where ‘books literally come to life’.)
This introduction to a series for young adults will also appeal to older ones, especially those on the look-out for literary gifts to encourage bookworms in the making.
June 9, 2017
Becoming Johanna by C.A. Pack
Josefina Charo lands in an orphanage and survives by her wits and intelligence. By the time she’s sixteen, she’s read most of the books available. Knowing more than her teachers, she’s put to work in maintenance and saves her meager wages. She overhears a man inquiring about her at the orphanage but isn’t in a position to respond. When she finds identification in a wallet with a name with her initials, the idea of escape comes to her. She uses the ID to buy a bus ticket, sleeps past the destination, and the bus driver walks her to a place where she can rent a room. The room is filthy, but she buys cleaning supplies. After cleaning, she adds some furniture and even paints the walls. Soon the cheating landlord increases her rent. With the help of a sympathetic young man at the DMV, Derrick, she obtains a new license with her chosen name, Johanna, and lands a job. Her boss doesn’t pay her fairly when she works overtime and is even locked inside the building. A worker arrives on Monday morning and gives her his lunch. Derrick and a new friend, loan her money. Not paid enough by her employer, she can’t pay them as she’d planned. She frequents the library and believes she sees the gentleman who had asked about her at the library. He may be the person who gives her a gift—the first edition of the book, Heidi.
Finding Johanna would be an interesting book for young adult readers. Josafina/Johanna is a plucky teen determined to make it in the big world.
Josefina Charo lands in an orphanage and survives by her wits and intelligence. By the time she’s sixteen, she’s read most of the books available. Knowing more than her teachers, she’s put to work in maintenance and saves her meager wages. She overhears a man inquiring about her at the orphanage but isn’t in a position to respond. When she finds identification in a wallet with a name with her initials, the idea of escape comes to her. She uses the ID to buy a bus ticket, sleeps past the destination, and the bus driver walks her to a place where she can rent a room. The room is filthy, but she buys cleaning supplies. After cleaning, she adds some furniture and even paints the walls. Soon the cheating landlord increases her rent. With the help of a sympathetic young man at the DMV, Derrick, she obtains a new license with her chosen name, Johanna, and lands a job. Her boss doesn’t pay her fairly when she works overtime and is even locked inside the building. A worker arrives on Monday morning and gives her his lunch. Derrick and a new friend, loan her money. Not paid enough by her employer, she can’t pay them as she’d planned. She frequents the library and believes she sees the gentleman who had asked about her at the library. He may be the person who gives her a gift—the first edition of the book, Heidi.
Finding Johanna would be an interesting book for young adult readers. Josafina/Johanna is a plucky teen determined to make it in the big world.
June 6, 2017
In Becoming Johanna by C.A. Pack, Josifina Charo felt the orphanage conditions stifled her talents. She craved for freedom, which came at a price; there was a tradeoff. She was not born with silver spoon in her mouth and life wasn't going give one to her either. Although she had a complete makeover from Josifina Charo to Johanna Charette, but her struggles were still real - cold, hungry and tired. However, for all her sufferings she remained loyal to her core values. Time did not harden her into something she was not, rather moulded her into something that would illuminate her for eternity. Her hardships did not tarnish her commitment to knowledge, love of books, and her empathy. Here is where she found peace at last.
July 24, 2017
Josefina is living in an orphanage. She longs to grow up and get away from an environment where children are barely able to thrive. However, she grows into an intelligent teenager. After she leaves the orphanage is where her adventure of life begins. This is a great book about a teenager who has courage and perseverance in a tough world. It's about a sweet girl who grows up and learns how to make it on her own. I would recommend it for teenagers, young adults and others who want to see how this girl makes it, even against the odds she is faced with in having grown up in the institutional setting of an orphanage.
February 4, 2018
Johanna is a plucky gal
I gave this book 5
Stars because the main character is dealing with a lot. Yet I have hope that she will have a good life.
I gave this book 5
Stars because the main character is dealing with a lot. Yet I have hope that she will have a good life.
June 2, 2022
Sweet story…well written. Heartfelt book of orphan struggles.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews