Onions: Hitting the High Notes
by Cy Young
Orphans & Foster HomesAdded on January 14, 2026
Description
Onions has just been sent to his 16th foster home, Despondent, he steals the purse of Sandrine, a retired circus performer. Instead of turning him in to the police, Sandrine enlists the boy in her fight against City Hall. In the process, Onions learns the importance of reading, having a worthwhile life-goal, and how to play the trumpet, his ultimate redemption. Sandrine is a strong role-model for pre-teens through 18-year-olds as she helps Charles Wesley Onions find meaning in life. A tragic event leads to the powerful, uplifting, and inspiring ending. Finally, Onions is a modern-day Holden Caulfield .. without the swearing.
Reader Reviews
A nice story of friendship between a young boy and an elderly woman who becomes a mentor to him.
I received Onions by Cy Young in exchange for an honest review. I have given this book five out of five star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This story is about the bond and friendship that blossoms between a twelve-year-old boy called Charles Wesley Onions and an eighty-year-old women called Sandrine Galano Fuller. The differences of age are set aside between the two when similarities start to form through interests and hobbies they both enjoy. Sandrine tried to teach "Onions" right from wrong after the incident of
"Charles Wesley Onions hated everything. He hated his father for dying...and leaving him alone with his alcoholic mother. He hated his mother for sending him off to a foster home. He hated...the 15 other foster parents who abused him and made him work before and after school. But most of all, [Onions] hated himself." (LOC 72)The boy had a wild-eyed charm and witty naiveté. He was a boy that was into comic books, because good always triumphed over evil. Like the heroes he reads about, he was a yo