My name is July. My parents left me here at this horrible place called the Hudson Street Home for Girls sometime in 1923 I don't know exactly when were nice enough to leave a note with my name in it but they weren't very good at spelling so maybe my name is Julie but I like to think that it is July and that I was born on July 4th. I don't know when my birthday is since the mean woman who is in charge of the orphanage doesn't allow us to celebrate birthdays. The only good thing about this place is the other orphans. The girls that sleep in my dormitory are Kate who is 11, Pepper who is 13 and likes to pick on everybody, Duffy who is 10 and just a few months younger than me and Molly who is only 6 and has only been here for 2 years so she hasn't really been able to get used to the way we have to live. There used to be one other girl in the room named Annie who was a few months older than me but she left a week ago to stay with some guy named Warbucks. Ever since then I have had to take care of Molly and it has been really hard because every night she has been having nightmares and crying for Annie because Annie used to take care of her before she left. Sometimes I would take care of Molly when Annie would have to go and clean someone's house but that was only for a day or two or getting put in the cellar after she tried to run away but this time she is going to be gone a whole two weeks and be back on Christmas morning. When she told Molly and I that she was going to be leaving Molly cried and cried even though I tried to calm her down.