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. ( )

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. ( )

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. ( )

This is a review for an ARC version of an Early Reviewers book. Although I could see the ending to this novel a mile away, I was still engaged enough with the main character and her situation to want to see her through to the end of book. I also appreciate the fact that there are a set of companion novels detailing the experiences of other characters from this book – this novel teasingly mentions the exploits of one in particular, which is a definite encouragement to read that other book. Innocent is not at all a masterpiece of YA fiction, but it is an enjoyable, easy read for teens, and would be an especially good one to recommend to a reluctant reader who prefers realistic fiction with a dash of romance and murder mystery (it is actually historical fiction, but I find that the era does not play a significant role here).

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! ( )