Rodzina [Hardcover]

Karen Cushman (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Rodzina Clara Jadwiga Anastazya Brodski is the new face in Karen Cushman’s gallery of unforgettable heroines. One of a group of orphans, 12-year-old Rodzina boards a train on a cold day in March 1881. She’s reluctant to leave Chicago, the only home she can remember, and she knows there’s no substitute for the family she has lost. She expects to be adopted and turned into a slave—or worse, not to be adopted at all.

As the train rattles westward, Rodzina unwittingly begins to develop attachments to her fellow travelers, even the frosty orphan guardian, and to accept the idea that there might be good homes for orphans—maybe even for a big, combative Polish girl. But no placement seems right for the formidable Rodzina, and she cleverly finds a way out of one bad situation after another, until at last she finds the family that is right for her.

Once again, Karen Cushman brings us a compelling story that is thoroughly researched, full of memorable characters, and told with wry humor and keen observation by an absolutely captivating narrator. Afterword.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7-It is 1881, and 12-year-old Rodzina Clara Jadwiga Anastazya Brodski finds herself on an orphan train bound from Chicago to the west where, she is sure, she will be sold into slavery. All of her family members have died tragically, and the large, unpretty, and standoffish girl can't believe she will be adopted into a loving home. Pressed into service to help with the younger children by tough Mr. Szprot and a stern young woman whom she calls Miss Doctor, Rodzina entertains the youngsters with colorful stories from her Polish heritage and watches as the more appealing children are adopted along the way. She, too, is placed twice, once with a pair of nasty old sisters in need of a servant and once with a crude farmer looking for a wife to replace the dying mother of his 13 children, but each time she escapes and returns to the train. As the journey progresses, she repeatedly reaches out to the woman doctor who, caught up in her own plight to be accepted in her profession, continually rebuffs the girl until the dual crises of a lost child and Rodzina's own attempt to run away finally begin to break down the barrier between them. The story features engaging characters, a vivid setting, and a prickly but endearing heroine. The first-person narrative captures the personality and spirit of a child grieving for her lost family, yet resourceful and determined to make her own way. Rodzina's musings and observations provide poignancy, humor, and a keen sense of the human and topographical landscape.
Marie Orlando, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gr. 5-9. As in Cushman's Newbery winner, The Midwife's Apprentice (1995), the hero of this lively historical novel is a mean orphan, desperate for home, and her adult mentor is both as tough and as needy as the orphan child. Here the setting is the U.S. in 1881 on the orphan train going west from Chicago to California; but the story of the wild, lonely pauper kids is like something out of Dickens, especially when they remember their desperate lives in the streets and orphanages of the city they left behind. Twelve-year-old Rodzina's first-person account of the uproar on the journey makes the dramatic history immediate. She's terrified of being given away as a slave to strangers. Indeed, as the train stops at various frontier towns along the way, she sees kids brutally exploited for their labor, and she herself escapes a nightmare forced "marriage." But she also sees successful mail-order couples, and some kids do find homes with loving families. A natural for American history or social studies classes, this is especially interesting as a women's history title, with Rodzina portrayed as an unromantic protagonist, big, angry, and tough. The boss of the orphan train is a woman doctor, cold and distant, and as lonely as Rodzina. Yes, it's clear that these two strong women will get together by the end; how that happens makes a great story. Cushman talks about the history in a lengthy final note, and she includes a bibliography of other orphan train books. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 215 pages
• Publisher: Clarion Books (March 20, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618133518
• ISBN-13: 978-0618133512
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,010,795 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #53 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > European > Polish

More About the Author

Karen Cushman was born in Chicago, Illinois and lives now on Vashon Island west of Seattle, Washington. She received an M.A. in human behavior and one in museum studies. Ms. Cushman has had a lifelong interest in history. She says, "I grew tired of hearing about kings, princes, generals, presidents. I wanted to know what ordinary life was like for ordinary young people in other times." Research into medieval English history and culture led to the writing of her first two novels, the Newbery Honor book CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY and the Newbery Medal-winner THE MIDWIFE'S APPRENTICE. She is also the author of MATILDA BONE, THE BALLAD OF LUCY WHIPPLE, RODZINA, and most recently ALCHEMY AND MEGGY SWANN.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cushman Does It Again, April 21, 2003

By 

B. Montgomery "teacher-reader" (Carlsbad, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Rodzina (Hardcover)

A gaggle of orphans leaves Chicago, bound west toward slavery or worse--at least that's the prevailing opinion among the children. Rodzina, a twelve year old Polish immigrant who lost her family to fire and illness, narrates this journey with humor, candor, sadness, and humanity. As the miles click away, we learn something of the time and places through which we are taken. In the tradition of Lucy Whipple, Catherine Called Birdy, and Matilda Bone, Rodzina is another example of a strong girl making sense of her desperate situation. This book is perfect for children in grades four through nine, and for fans of children's literature no matter what age. Karen Cushman is a gifted storyteller.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite Cushman novel, August 23, 2004

By 

Camille "at the BookMoot!" (Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Rodzina (Hardcover)

This is a sweetheart of a story. I enjoyed every page of this book. Rodzina is with a group of orphans that is being sent out West on the Orphan Train. Rodzina is grumpy and grouchy. She is also frightened and lonely. Unlike the other orphans in the group, she came from a happy home and had loving parents. She is drawn to Miss Doctor who is in charge of the girls on the train even though she seems uncaring and cold. Rodzina does have a gift for organization and caring for younger children. Some of my favorite parts of the story are where she tells stories to the lother children. She is a wonderful storyteller. The children's desire for a family is touching and heart breaking at the same time. Rodzina is looking for a home and you cheer for her as she reaches for it. I am a fan of Katherine Cushman, this is my very favorite book of hers so far.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rich and powerful tale of self-discovery., July 7, 2004

By 

A Customer (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rodzina (Hardcover)

Rodzina has seen the face of tragedy several times over, and now it seems as if hope has turned its back on this homely immigrant from Poland.

Rodzina and many other orphaned children of all ages are being shipped out of Chicago on a train. They are going west to find new homes and establish new lives. At the time, the powers-that-be believed that working on farms as laborers would be good for these city orphans. Rodzina and many of the other orphans consider this change in circumstances to be a sentence to a life of slavery, and needless to say, Rodzina would rather live in an orphanage or even on the streets than face an existence in a strange place where she has to work in the fields from sun up to sun down day after day. Bitter, sharp and angry, Rodzina isolates herself from everyone else on the train as it clatters west. At each town where the train stops, a few more orphans find homes until Rodzina is the only one left, alone and unwanted.

Carefully researched, RODZINA tells us of a time when orphans were not to be trusted and were often treated little better than slaves or beasts of burden. It was not uncommon for orphans to have their teeth and limbs examined by prospective 'parents' at the time of 'adoption' to determine their worthiness as potential farmhands. In the back of the book, the reader will find a detailed history of the Orphan Train and other similar efforts to 'rehabilitate' orphaned and unwanted children.

Karen Cushman has received great acclaim for her historical novels, as she was awarded a Newbery Honor for CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY and the Newbery Medal for THE MIDWIFE'S APPRENTICE. With skill and finesse, Cushman weaves a rich and powerful tale of self-discovery and, ultimately, hope.

--- Reviewed by Marya Jansen-Gruber