Janice Dembosky's The Runaway: Roza Purchase here

ROZA is the story of the incredible bravery and determination of a fifteen-year-old farm girl who ran away from home, to escape the advances of a drunken stepfather. She had tried to tell her mother but was called a liar and beaten, leaving her with no choice but to flee.

Literally with nothing but the feed-sack dress and run-down shoes she wore, she walked nine miles to the nearest town, the “college town” of Indiana, PA, determined to find work and a place to live.

Exhausted, she stopped at a big white house on a hill overlooking the town. The kind woman who opened the door listened to the story of the battered girl, let her use her bathroom and fed her. Then she wrote a note to her friend who was the manager of the dining hall at the new Indiana State Teachers College, asking if she might employ the young runaway.

Handing Roza the note, the woman also cautioned her to say that she was sixteen, the age she had to be for employment at the college. With a second wind and the encouragement of a stranger, Roza continued her journey.

The kindness of a stranger not only saved Roza’s life. It led her to self-discovery and challenges, including the challenges of love.