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    One for the Murphys
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    One for the Murphys
    Unavailable
    One for the Murphys
    Audiobook5 hours

    One for the Murphys

    Written by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

    Narrated by Nora Hunter

    4.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    A moving debut novel about a foster child learning to open her heart to a family's love

    Carley uses humor and street smarts to keep her emotional walls high and thick. But the day she becomes a foster child, and moves in with the Murphys, she's blindsided. This loving, bustling family shows Carley the stable family life she never thought existed, and she feels like an alien in their cookie-cutter-perfect household. Despite her resistance, the Murphys eventually show her what it feels like to belong--until her mother wants her back and Carley has to decide where and how to live. She's not really a Murphy, but the gifts they've given her have opened up a new future.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMay 5, 2015
    ISBN9781101915523
    Unavailable
    One for the Murphys
    Author

    Lynda Mullaly Hunt

    Lynda Mullaly Hunt (www.lyndamullalyhunt.com) has received many honors for her debut novel, One for the Murphys, which is on over twenty state award lists, including Bank Street’s 2013 Best Books of the Year. She’s a former teacher, and holds writers retreats for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She lives in Connecticut with her husband, two children, impetuous beagle, and beagle-loathing cat.

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    Reviews for One for the Murphys

    4.5/5

    174 ratings22 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Needed a few tissues for this book! It reminded me of another one of my favorites, Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff.
    • 4/5
      Twelve year-old Carley finds her world turned upside-down when her step-father, in an angry rage, beats her and her mother. While her mother recovers, Carley is sent to live with the Murphy family. Here she learns to trust and love both herself and others and is faced with a life-changing decision whether to become a Murphy or return to her mother. An emotional story that made me both laugh and cry, "One for the Murphys" leaves you wanted a sequel and hoping for Carley's success in life. May every foster child be so lucky to have a family like this to support them.
    • 5/5
      Carley's mother is in the hospital after Carley's stepfather beat them both so she is put with a foster family temporarily. She comes to love the Murphy's and wants to be part of their family, but still wants to be with her mom.
    • 4/5
      A great look at a prickly girl who can't imagine that the foster family she is placed with is just so...nice. Normal. She doesn't get it. Some heartbreaking scenes with the mom just made me bawl. Very good and not all tied up with a perfect bow at the end, just like life.
    • 4/5
      A social worker picks Carley Connors up from the hospital and takes her to a foster home. Carley has visions of Cinderella-esque drudgery or being made to sleep in the basement and live on saltines and ketchup, but she finds herself completely unprepared for the kindness and welcome that she receives from the Murphys. Julie Murphy, the mother of the family, takes Carley into the heart of the family, even though Carley is hard, prickly, and obviously emotionally damaged. Over the course of the novel, both the Murphys and the reader learn the tragic truth of what led to Carley's placement in foster care, and they see Carley grow as she learns, for the first time in her life, what a functioning family looks like. Will Carley be able to stay and become part of the Murphy family forever?I'm warning you now, this is a bit of a tear-jerker. Hunt does an excellent job of portraying Carley's emotional struggles, and by the end of the book the reader really feels Carley's dilemma. I also appreciate the complexity of the secondary characters -- despite their almost idyllic home life, the Murphy family is not perfect, and even Carley's mother is not a one-note baddie (though she is one of the less-developed characters, since she is seen only through Carley's memories for most of the book). Readers who enjoy emotionally evocative stories of children who triumph over difficult situations will find a lot to love in this story.
    • 4/5
      A tear-inducing story of a girl moved into foster care after a violent situation with her mother and step-father.
    • 4/5
      A compassionate, poignant, emotionally honest story. An impressive debut novel.
    • 5/5
      After an attack by her stepfather leaves both her and her mother in the hospital, Carley Connors is sent into foster care to live with the Murphys. Though the mother, Julie, is especially loving and kind to her, Carley knows better than to trust appearances, and can't wait to get out of there. But slowly, she learns to trust and develops friendships with the three boys and at school.This is the type of book that completely tugs at my heartstrings, and I teared up more than once reading it. Though comparisons to The Great Gilly Hopkins were in some ways inevitable for me, the characters here are a little less quirky while just as lovable. It's a very warm, but realistic story about fallible people and unconditional love. Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      I listened to this book on a road trip with my granddaughters. It was a great story and we had a wonderful time as we laughed and cried together.
    • 5/5
      Had so many connections and memories of my dad and step mother taking in foster children. Cried tears of happiness.
    • 5/5
      As YA book, this was amazing. I read it in less than 24 hours I couldn’t put it down. You feel all the emotions and just such an amazing story line. It was a tear jerker at the end. I highly recommend this book. It expresses the struggle kids go through when they’re put into the system. You can’t help but just feel sorry for her, and her feeling undeserving of love.
    • 4/5
      Oh good lord, what a tearjerker. I mean, er, well that sure packed an emotional punch, now didn't it? Plucky kid from a difficult background finds awesome foster family and... onwards into healing and fighting and building relationships and remembering what happened that got her there. Very well written, hard to put down, it's not riding the empathy train, it's driving it at 500 miles/hour.
    • 5/5
      My goodness does this book have all the feels! Carly is taken from her mom after there is an incident with her mom and her step-dad. Carly is hurt and her mom is seriously injured.She is placed with the Murphy family for her foster care. In this home, Carly sees love like she never knew could exist. She sees a mom who loves her kids, even when the mess up. She sees a dad who is actually in the picture and loves both his wife and his children. She goes to school and makes friends. But she does still have a mom, and Mrs. Murhpy is not her mom. What a struggle!Read this book at home with tissues nearby, you will need them!
    • 5/5
      Twelve-year-old Carley Connor’s life turns upside-down when she's sent to live with a foster family hundreds of miles away from her Las Vegas home. Her life with her mom hasn’t always been easy, but Carley is tough and has been able to handle things. Now she’s worried about her mother, confused about what happened, and doing her best to be invisible at the Murphys. While Carley feels welcome by Mrs. Murphy, who never stops smiling, the oldest son (who is her age) makes it clear he wants her to leave. The two younger boys don’t take long to worm their way into Carley’s heart and every day it gets harder to ignore the affection Mrs. Murphy continues to show her. At school, she’s the new kid and for the first time has new clothes and a chance to start fresh. When a friendship forms with an unlikely classmate, Carley listens, but can’t tell her friend the truth about her situation. Will she settle into her new life? Will Carley’s mother ever reach out to her? Read this touching book about facing our fears, making changes and believing in hope to find out!

      One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt is a powerful story! I read it in a day because I had to know what happened to Carley. She is a girl that I can imagine being friends with because she has feelings that I can relate to, even though we have different lives. I think the book would be helpful for anyone that has been in foster care or had a foster child live with them because they would be able to relate to the experiences of Carley and the Murphys. It made me think about how hard it can be to make a change when we are scared or worried. We feel like our armor and our edge protects us, but they can also prevent us from feeling loved. I would recommend this book to anyone in 4th grade and up that is ready for an emotional story with characters that will really make them think. Be prepared to cry!
    • 5/5
      I loved "One for the Murphys". It was a sweet, touching book about acceptance, love, hope and the meaning of family. Carley was such a wonderful character with a tough exterior, but so vulnerable on the inside. I just wanted to give her the biggest hug, and I found myself cheering for her all the way. The Murphys were also great characters, especially Michael Eric who brought some light relief to a serious book. Unfortunately, the book didn't end the way I hoped it would. In fact I cried all through the last chapter. However, I would rate it as the best I've read this year. Thanks for the recommendation, Fiona.
    • 5/5
      This book is a tear-jerker, but in the most wonderful way possible. The reader will fall in love with Carley Connors, and the ending will leave you torn. One part of you will wish that things could be different, while the other part of you will cheer Carley on for having such amazing strength. The plot moves quickly, but by the end, you will feel as if you know each character intimately. A very special book about foster care.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Oh, I loved this book!! While the writing lacked some development at times, Lynda Mullaly Hunt gets a thousand gold stars for creating characters I loved. I will be thinking about Carly and the Murphys for a long time. Readalikes: People of my generation will remember Katherine Paterson's THE GREAT GILLY HOPKINS with fondness and this may appeal to kids who like the complicated relationships that Carly has with her own mother and her foster family. There are no easy answers in either of these books, no matter how much the reader might want them. I might also suggest ALSO KNOWN AS HARPER by Ann Leal and WAITING FOR NORMAL by Leslie Connor, as both stories feature strong girl narrators who are dealing with unfortunate home situations beyond their control (homelessness in HARPER and absentee parents in NORMAL).
    • 4/5
      When Carley is discharged from hospital her mother is still in intensive care so Carley is taken to a foster family. The Murphys seem to be a perfect, happy family and Carley feels decidedly out of place. She keeps her defenses up but is slowly won over by various family members but what will happen when she has to go?The author does a great job of portraying Carley with all her insecurities and quirks and the rest of the characters are also well-drawn although Mrs Murphy seems a little too good to be true. This is a heartwarming story that would suit tween girls who enjoy realistic fiction.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Carley has just been placed into foster care. Both she and her mother were beaten by her stepdad and her mother is still in intensive care. As Carley comes to grips with her new situation she must ajust to a homelife like she has never known before. The Murphys seem perfect - certainly too perfect for Carley's liking and she seems to be too imperfect for a few of the family members. As Carley learns what family love means she begins to love the Murphys and they begin to love her, too. I loved this book more than I thought I would. I had read reviews and heard great things, but expected it to be another Great Gilly Hopkins. Although similar, this book is much more than an updated foster care story. Carley truly is a unique character, and the Murphys are true-to-life...not all of them are happy that she is there. Showing how belivable characters get through tough situations makes this a heartwarming book that had me literally laughing out loud and tearing up within a few pages of each other.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Mentioned as one of the potential Newbery winners of 2013 -- to be announced today -- I hope very much that this is indeed awarded high ranking for this stellar first book of Lynda Mullaly HuntThis author wrote with a depth of feeling without over dramatization.Carly Connors is suddenly placed in a foster home with the loving Murphy family. So very different from her previous home life, she has a terrible time adjusting...adjusting to Love!Placing barriers in the path of the Murphys, she simply cannot relate to love and warmth. Security is not a concept she can grasp because her life centered around a mother who put her needs first instead of Carly.Numerous examples abound regarding neglect. She was left at school with no transportation; She slept in a bathtub when her mother had wild parties; She was physically and emotionally abused; She was not raised in a supportive and kind environment.Exposure to a step father who was emotionally and physically abusive, the terrible event that precipitated the need for foster care occurred when she simply could not hold it in and talked back to her step father. This resulted in a severe beating while her mother held her down for the man to harm her, thus necessitating hospitalization for both mother and child.The mother seemed to focus on herself rather than Carly's dire situation.Eventually Carly, in tiny baby steps of extreme courage, adjusted to the Murphy family and felt one of them.When her mother recovers, Carly is faced with a decision.Five Stars for this book.It tugged at my heart for many reasons, primarily because I am the mother of an adopted daughter, who, like the Murphys, faced a similar situation.The author knew her stuff---the love that foster and adopted children still have for their biological parents despite the abuse -- the feelings that no one can be trusted -- the feelings that situations of love are just too good to be true -- the feelings that one is not worthy of love and compassion -- the need to run away before you trust and get hurt all over again and again.And, the author correctly wrote that the foster parents need patience and guidance and that sometimes, as the Austrian born American child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim wrote, Love Is Not Enough: The Treatment Of Emotionally Disturbed Children
    • 5/5
      Title: One for the MurphysAuthor: Lynda Mullaly HuntPublished by The Penguin GroupGenre: Realistic FictionSummary:Carly Connors had never expected to be going to a foster home, but when she is betrayed by her mother, it's the only option. She wants her old life back, were she knew she belonged. Carly keeps her distance away from her new foster family, but it seems that whenever she pushes away, they try even harder to get closer to her. It's easy for her to stay away from Daniel, the brother who seems to hate every minute that she's there, but Mrs.Murphy is the first person to actually see Carly for herself and actually care about her. The dad is crazy about baseball, which of course Carley knows nothing about. The two little boys are very hard to dislike, they seemed to love her the first minute they saw her. Just when she thinks living there might not be so bad, her mom comes back to her life and everything changes.Recommendation:I would totally recomend this book! I would say that this is one of my favorite books! I would recomend this book because the author made Carley, the main character seem very real and it seemed that she is someone that i had known forever when I had finished the book. This book is a sad book as many people would say, but there were many happy parts too. It's a book about family and it was a very touching book.
    • 4/5
      This is the story of Carly Connors who is placed in the Murphy's home through the foster care system, and how she learns about love, family, and life.
      What a sweet book! I read this for our "One Book, One Community" read, and I enjoyed it a lot! The author will come to talk with our middle school & high school students this week, and sign books at a local coffee shop after. What a wonderful opportunity for us!