Ronald Himler

A good historical view of the orphan trains that made their way west in the early days of the country. Children were chosen or not chosen and left with very little. It is text heavy, but each page also offers intriguing illustrations of the early American West sometime between the 1850s and the 1920s. This is a period of history that many readers might not be familiar with so it could prove interesting to have in a library. The story is narrated by Marriane, a child on the orphan train yearning to find her own mother who had promised to return to her in New York. As the book says, "Sometimes what you get turns out to be better than what you wanted in the first place." Marianne is the last child to be adopted, but she does find a good home with an elderly couple. The narration has thoughtful inclusions and memorable moments to match the well-drawn pictures. Five stars for a beautifully illustrated and written book about a challenging and under-written era.… (altro)

This book is about a group of 14 orphan children who get on the orphan train to head west to hopefully find a family to adopt them. One girl is waiting and hoping to find her mom on her stop and get adopted by her. Each stop she is waiting to see her moms face, but she doesn’t. As the reader, you can feel how sad she feels that she hasn’t found her mom on each of the stops. At the last stop, she is the last one left on the train. She looks out and doesn’t see her mom, she sees an older couple. She starts to talk to them and realizes she isn’t going to find her mother, and there sweet and she feels like she belongs to them. I loved how at the end even though she didn’t get to be with her mom, you know she will have a great life with the older couple that adopts her.… (altro)