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.