Customer Reviews

Train to Somewhere

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.)

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.

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.

This story offers hope to any child who suffers major disappointments in life. It is sad but exhilarating in the end. Great reading for adults and children.

This historical fiction for young readers is extremely well-written and remains true to the plight of the many orphans that rode the orphan trains. Without spelling out what happens to each of the 14 orphans aboard the train to "Somewhere", it does give young readers the perception that there were happy endings and some uncertain endings. At the same time, it instills the value of family and unconditional parental love to a child. A must read for children and adults alike!

Marrianne was sent to Saint Christophers and her mom said that she would be back for her. But she never came back. She was on a train with 14 orphans trying to find her mom. But she couldn't find her mom. My favorite part was the end when Marrianne met Mr and Mrs. Books and they adopted her. The story made me sad because her mom didn't want her and a little happy because she got adopted at the end of the train ride. The End.

This is a good book because the kids find a home. And hope they have a good life. You should read it because it is a good book.

It was a good story in some of the part and it was sad and happy and sad in the beginning. It was happy at the end. I think it was a good story to read. I like the end because Marianne gets a mom.

Charmingly illustrated book based on true stories of the Orphan Trains. Great book for children today to learn to
understand something of our history without "preachiness," and with a positive ending. Good book to use to discuss
what is an orphan and why the Trains were needed, as well as the fact that not all of the orphan stories had a good
ending. Some were mistreated. Some orphans had to be relocated, and some returned to the orphanages. Age seemed
to be a factor, too. So glad to have this book!

Left at an orphanage by her mother, Marianne travels west on the orphan train, secretly hoping that her mother will be waiting to claim her. Each stop brings despair when her mother doesn't appear, and when no one else seems to want her. On the last stop, in a town named Somewhere, Marianne finally realizes that "sometimes what you get turns out to be better than what you wanted in the first place." Bunting's gentle text and Himler's beautiful illustrations provide younger children with an excellent introduction to this topic.