The Orphan Collector

 Ellen Marie Wiseman wrote a book about the 1918 pandemic set in Philadelphia named The Orphan Collector. Pia Lange is the main character. Pia is 13 and a German immigrant. Her father is serving in the war. She lives with her mother and twin baby brothers. Because of the anti-German sentiment in Philadelphia, her mother insists they go to the parade to celebrate the end of the war which is where her mother probably picked up the flu bug. When the mother dies, Pia is in charge. She takes care of her brothers as best she can until the food in the apartment runs out. She has to leave the kids to try and find some food. A neighbor, Bernice, just lost her baby to the flu. She sees Pia leave and while Pia is gone, she goes into the apartment and kidnaps the twin boys. Overall this was a sadly entertaining historical fiction novel but the author turns Bernice into an extravagant scoundrel. Bernice  goes around Philadelphia kidnapping children and breaking up families. She takes children from orphanages and sends them away on the orphan trains. The 1918 flu was a real event. The evil orphan collector is a work of fiction. Life in Philadelphia back then was tough enough. I can't understand why the author would make it worse by dreaming up Bernice. To be fair, there are also kind and generous characters in the story as well.