Train to Somewhere

Train to Somewhere

Title: Train to Somewhere

Genre: Historical Fiction

Author: Eve Bunting

Illustrator: Ronald Himler

Awards: None

Age group: 8 years and up

This story takes place in 1877; the story follows an orphan girl named Marianne, back in this time orphans were sent by train from New York City to small towns and farms in the Midwest in hopes of placing these children in loving home.

Summary:

The story begins with the 14 orphans boarding a train for going west along with a chaperone named Miss Randolph. There is another orphan named Nora who thinks of Marianne like a sister but she knows that they cannot probably both be adopted together. They stop at many places throughout their journey and the kids are sort of auctioned off at each stop for homes, many kids will get placed even Nora, though she gets upset when they aren’t both taken together. But throughout this Marianne doesn’t believe she is an orphan ,she thinks her mother will be at one of these stops because her mother said she would come back for her when she was left at the orphanage; she even has a feather that she kept from her mother’s hat. After the second to last stop only Marianne is left and then she starts to worry if she’s not going to see her mother or even get adopted. At the last stop there is only one old couple there, and they brought a toy train thinking it would be a boy, and the woman asks is this the only one left. But then she looks at Marianne and smiles and they sort of discuss how they both were not what they had hoped for .But they still took her in anyway. Even though Marianne was disappointed, she believed she was ready to let go of her mother and begin this new life.

I don’t believe I would use this in my classroom because I can’t really see how to fit it in with any learning theme, but I believe it was a good heartwarming story to read.

I believe the appropriate grade level for this book would be 3rd grade and up, because it is a more complicated topic to read about and this book has a lot of words to a page. Though I believe this book is an easy story to follow (but does have some flash back moments that could be confusing) this book has some great illustrations to follow along with and it really helps you see the story come to life.

I believe I could use this book as a good way to help the students compare and contrast how living in the past is different from living now and then  I would have them write down what things in life might be the same still or different on a chart.

HAVE FUN READING!💙-Lacy