Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsA Masterful Depiction of Life and Death of Those Who Took to the Rails
Bysusan carpenteron February 28, 2015
I am halfway through this book and don't want it to end. It is the story of a dark passage in our history, the Great Depression. It was a time when money and food were so scarce that families asked boys as young as twelve or fourteen to head out to fend for themselves. Others left voluntarily to ease the burden on their parents, and still others left for a chance to see the country. Girls, often dressed as boys, joined their ranks. Uys has done a masterful job of putting this book together so it flows. While narrating, he combines memories of the youths who took to the rails as children growing up all too fast. Interspersed are memoirs of many, now elderly, who put pen to paper to tell their stories. The author paints a clear picture of the reality that was the Great Depression, the hobo jungles that sprang up, the life of the migrant workers, all reminiscent of Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath." Only here it is more searing. These are no fictional characters, these are real life stories depicting great suffering as well as fond memories created. The stories of those to whom the rails still call. Don't miss this memorable book. There is also a documentary film based on the book which is available from Amazon.
