Frances Salomon Murphy

I love the internet. I'd been thinking of a couple of books I'd read in grade school in the '70's, old scholastic editions from the 50's and 60's. I remembered the plots, and tons of details, but no title or author...then I remembered that one had been called "A Nickle for [Girl's Name]" before it was retitled something else by the edition I read when the cost of a phone call went up to a dime.

So, I typed in "A Nickle for" and then managed to come up with the name...Alice. And found the author and titles.

Both _Runaway Alice_ and the peripheral sequel, _Ready Made Family_, deal with foster care and adoption...fairly taboo subjects in the 50's. They are--at least in my memory--nearly perfect books, with real emotions and vivid characters. I still remember the dress made out of feedbags, and the teacher who helped a child finally learn 7 x 8 by revealing that her own age was 56.

So, did anybody else read these while growing up?