Train to Somewhere [Paperback]

Eve Bunting (Author), Ronald Himler (Illustrator)

Book Description

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

Marianne, heading west with fourteen other children on an Orphan Train, is sure her mother will show up at one of the stations along the way. When her mother left Marianne at the orphanage, hadn't she promised she'd come for her after making a new life in the West? Stop after stop goes by, and there's no sign of her mother in the crowds that come to look over the children. No one shows any interest in adopting shy, plain Marianne, either. But that's all right: She has to be free for her mother to claim her. Then the train pulls into its final stop, a town called Somewhere . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Inspired by a little-known chapter of American history, this characteristically incisive collaboration from Bunting and Himler (Someday a Tree, see p. 90; Fly Away Home) imagines a journey on one of the many "Orphan Trains" that, between the mid-1850s and the late 1920s, brought children from New York City orphanages to adoptive families in the West. The narrator of this finely crafted, heart-wrenching story is Marianne, a plain girl secretly dreaming of being reunited with her own mother, who promised to return for Marianne after making a new life for them in the West. Bunting ably weaves the girl's hopes and anxieties into her perceptive account of how each of Marianne's 13 companions is chosen for adoption at the various train stations while she futilely searches the crowd for her mother. Finally only Marianne remains. In the tale's optimistic ending, Marianne finds a new family in Somewhere, Iowa, the train's last stop. Here an elderly couple, who clearly had planned on adopting a boy, take Marianne in, with ultimately comforting, resonant words: "Sometimes what you get turns out to be better than what you wanted in the first place." Himler's watercolor and gouache paintings offer polished portraits of the period as they convey the plot's considerable emotion. Like Bunting's text, his art is at once sobering and uplifting-and assuredly memorable. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4?From the mid-19th century until after World War I, thousands of homeless "orphans" were sent West by charitable agencies to find homes with families seeking workers, children to adopt, or mother's helpers. In telling the story of one child, Bunting encapsulates the fears and sometimes happy endings of those fateful trips. Marianne is among the oldest and least attractive of the 14 children sent on a train to the Midwest, and she starts the journey with hopes that her mother will be waiting at one of the stops. At each station, papers are signed and children are placed, until only Marianne remains when the last town of Somewhere is reached. Only an elderly couple, hoping for a boy, is waiting there. They look kindly at Marianne, and the grandmotherly wife sums up the story's theme when she remarks that "Sometimes what you get turns out to be better than what you wanted in the first place." By making this slice of American history into an appealing tale, Bunting offers an opportunity to compare present-day social policies with those of times past. The book is timely yet universal in showing the desire of every child for a loving family. Himler's full-page, bordered paintings portray the people and towns in warm colors and softly blended brush strokes. Beyond this gentle story lie the social issues of our own day.?Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River,
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Sandpiper (April 17, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618040315
• ISBN-13: 978-0618040315
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #67,703 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( B ) > Bunting, Eve
  • #32 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Adoption
  • #37 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Family Life > Orphans & Foster Homes

More About the Author

Eve Bunting has written more than 200 books for children, many of which can be found in libraries around the world. Her other Clarion titles for very young readers include My Big Boy Bed, which was also illustrated by Maggie Smith, and Little Bear's Little Boat, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter. She lives in Pasadena, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An illuminating and deeply moving book, November 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Train to Somewhere (Hardcover)

I looked on the 'Returned Books' cart at my elementary school library. I had a class just sitting down and a chance to read to them. I picked the new book with a familiar author name and a 'Newbery Notable' award on the cover.

I expect anything reccommended by a Newbery award to be good. Even so, I was caught by surprise. I started tearing up and had to pause to take a deep breath several times, trying not to cry. Bunting tells us what Marianne sees and thinks and says on her train ride west as she moves away from her life at the orphanage and toward a new life. But will she find her mama waiting for her, as promised?

I did break down at the end, for a brief moment. I quickly gathered myself and finished the last few lines. I never had an experience quite like that before. 'Train to Somewhere' is a moving book, and a great read-out-loud for elementary school.

(Something I discovered: If you want to read out loud, the parts in italics--Marianne's imagined pleas to her mother--work well when read in a whisper. An emphatic whisper.)

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars True story, my grandmother told me., October 8, 2006

By 

Kimberly Owens (Texas, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Train to Somewhere (Paperback)

I enjoyed this book especially because my grandmother was a rider on an orphan train when she was around 11 years old. She is still spry at the age of 98. The story she tells me is almost identical, for she felt she was tall, plain and ugly. Her mother died in New York and her and all of her brothers and sisters (6 of them) came to Texas. I think everyone should know about this part of our history. Eve Bunting did a wonderful job of telling the story that so many orphan train riders will never have the opportunity to tell.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars stunning book on orphan/adoption theme, April 19, 2005

By 

E. Honig (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Train to Somewhere (Paperback)

I am the parent of two children who were adopted at older ages, and who remember wanting and needing a family, remember dreaming about their lost birth parents, like the heroine of this story. The first time I read this book aloud, I cried and my daughters were rigid with empathy. The second time we all cried, in a good way. It is a favorite book of our whole family now. Highly recommended for any adopted child at about age 7-8--a wonderful fable about loss, pain, being (not) chosen, and the meaning of family and happiness. Quite brilliant.