True Heart [Hardcover]

Marissa Moss (Author), C.F. Payne (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1999 | Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Since age sixteen, Bee has loaded freight for the Union Pacific Railroad, all the while dreaming of being an engineer. Bee loves the railroad: from the roar and clatter of the wheels against the track to the names like True Heart, Roaring Wolf, and Coyote Special to the low blast of the whistle—whoooo-whoooo. Then one day, Bee gets the chance to drive the True Heart all the way from Cheyenne to Chicago. A seamless mix of history and fiction, True Heart is a story of the American frontier, of wanting something so much you can’t think of anything else--and of the little-known work of pioneer women who made the American railroad a reality.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Moss (Rachel's Journal: The Story of a Pioneer Girl; Amelia's Notebook) uses her flair for capturing girls' voices to tell a remarkable and exhilarating story. A turn-of-the-century photograph of an all-women work crew for a railroad inspired this tale of a teenager's first time driving a train, an experience that launches her career as an engineer. Newly orphaned in 1893, 16-year-old Bee takes a job loading freight on the railways to support her eight siblings. Moss evokes the love of trains that keeps Bee in the engineer's cab every spare moment, watching and asking questions, and her joy at driving for the first time, when an injured engineer and a trainful of impatient passengers pressure the station manager to give her a chance. On the final spread, Bee recalls that inaugural experience: "I felt so free and strong, galloping across whole states in my iron horse, blowing my whistle for all the sky to hear." For his first children's book, Payne uses mixed media in a crisp, realistic style. He so meticulously defines the action that the illustrations seem frozen in time, oddly tranquil: unexpected angles and tight close-ups create arresting compositions. This book will be welcomed by a wide audience: train lovers, frontier buffs, all girlsAand any adult who, like Bee, can "remember wanting something so much you can't think of anything else." Ages 5-9.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4-An engineer for the Union Pacific at the turn of the century reminisces about the event that made the dream of driving trains become a reality. As a freight loader, Bee took every opportunity to sit in the cab and watch the engineers work, and was occasionally offered a chance to drive from one station to the next. One day on a run from San Francisco to Chicago, a group of bandits shot and injured the engineer at the controls. Bee volunteered to complete the run and the station manager agreed, marking that day as the start of a new career for Bee. This comfortably paced story has a familiar feel to it and a secret that will disclose itself to attentive readers: Bee is a woman. The use of nicknames throughout and an avoidance of gender pronouns draw the attention to the heart of the story-Bee's dream-rather than her sex. Accompanying the author's note at the end of the book is a black-and-white photograph of a group of female freight loaders that inspired this book. The mixed-media illustrations are realistic but softened with sepia tones, as if with age; and except for a couple of double-page spreads, full-page illustrations on the right face text on faux-stained parchment backgrounds. Visually and textually, this quiet story is a treasure.
Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library, CA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; 1st edition (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 015201344X
• ISBN-13: 978-0152013448
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,661,386 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marissa Moss has been telling stories and drawing pictures to go with them for as long as she can remember. She sent her first book to publishers when she was nine, but it wasn't very good and it never got published. She didn't try again until she was a grown-up, but since then she hasn't stopped.

The idea for the first Amelia's Notebook came from the notebook Moss kept when she was a kid. Amelia is a lot like her and the things that happen to Amelia really happened to Marissa (mostly).

Along with Amelia, Moss has created many characters and is especially drawn to history. Historical books allows her to imagine what it's like to be alive in a different place at a completely different time. And then there are the Max Disaster books which allow her to play with scientific experiments, inventions, and comic strips.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a book you will not put down 'till you're done, June 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: True Heart (Hardcover)

true heart is an excellent book to read . even parents will love this book . this book is full of courage . its a great book!!!!!!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars : ), November 9, 2010

By 

Ulyyf "Connie" (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: True Heart (Hardcover)

This is not actually a biography. Apparently the author was surprised to find a picture of an all-women railroad work crew taken sometime around the turn of the last century, and combined that with information about a female engineer on the B&O line to come up with this story about a young woman who, through chance, has the opportunity to drive a train - and more chances after that.

It is easy to believe that at some point in the past men were men and women stayed at home, but the picture that inspired this story is just one of many small pieces of evidence that puts the lie to it. I just wish that the illustrations and the story itself weren't so ambiguous about our main character's gender. Many young readers may skip the afterword and just assume this person is male because, after all, we *all* know that people who like trains are guys. (Sometimes I think we've regressed since I was a kid. Toys weren't all blue and pink in the 80s, were they?)