Train To Somewhere Read Free Books and Download eBooks
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 . . .
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition (April 17, 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0618040315
ISBN-13: 978-0618040315
Product Dimensions: 0.2 x 10.2 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #21,201 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #14 in Books > Children's Books > Growing Up & Facts of Life > Difficult Discussions > Homelessness & Poverty #15 in Books > Children's Books > Growing Up & Facts of Life > Family Life > Adoption #31 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > United States > 1800s
Age Range: 4 - 7 years
Grade Level: Preschool - 3
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 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!
Charmingly illustrated book based on true stories of the Orphan Trains. Great book for children today to learn tounderstand something of our history without "preachiness," and with a positive ending. Good book to use to discusswhat is an orphan and why the Trains were needed, as well as the fact that not all of the orphan stories had a goodending. Some were mistreated. Some orphans had to be relocated, and some returned to the orphanages. Age seemedto be a factor, too. So glad to have this book!
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.
I love this historical fiction story! The story is about Marianne, a little girl who's mother dropped her off at an orphanage and promised to come back and get her. Marianne and 14 other kids board the train and hope to find their family or someone to adopt them at all the stops. You feel sad for Marianne's situation and also feel as you are reading the story and her mother isn't at each stop, a sense of nervousness, hoping that her mother will show up or that someone will adopt her.True that this is a story with sad elements, but it's a great way to showcase to children that there are many children who are less fortunate than them and that there are children who don't have families like they do. It's a great reality check for kids. Sadly, these orphan trains were reality many years ago and the author does a fantastic job of bringing this concept to the modern age of children and making it understandable. Be prepared for some tough questions from kids as they try to understand how this could happen to other kids. The book is very well written and the illustrations capture that time period so well. The concept is more suited to older children between the ages of 8 and 12.
This is a very moving story. My then-second grader checked it out from the school library some years ago to read for homework, thinking it was a story about trains. After he finished, he brought it to me in tears, he said he guessed it was okay that it had a happy ending, sort of, but he was still very sad after reading it. So we sat down and read through it together, focusing on the positive parts until he felt better. It brought me to tears, too. If your child is young or very sensitive, be sure to read this one with them (maybe even read it yourself first before reading it together).
Train to Somewhere How to Train a Train Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site and Steam Train, Dream Train Board Books Boxed Set Steam Train, Dream Train Steam Train, Dream Train Sound Book Steam Train, Dream Train 1-2-3 Steam Train, Dream Train Colors Fast Train, Slow Train (Thomas & Friends) (Big Bright & Early Board Book) Cabin Porn: Inspiration for Your Quiet Place Somewhere Now and Forever: Somewhere a Band Is Playing & Leviathan '99 The Mystery in the Forbidden City (Greetings from Somewhere) The Greetings from Somewhere Collection: Mysteries Around the World: The Mystery of the Gold Coin; The Mystery of the Mosaic; The Mystery of the Stolen Painting; The Mystery in the Forbidden City If You Don't Know Where You're Going You'll Probably End Up Somewhere Else Somewhere to Belong: Daughters of Amana, Book 1 In the Middle of Somewhere Odd Man Rush: A Harvard Kid’s Hockey Odyssey from Central Park to Somewhere in Sweden—with Stops along the Way Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good (Mitford) Somewhere There Is Still a Sun: A Memoir of the Holocaust Somewhere With You (Windswept Bay Book 2) The Mystery at the Coral Reef (Greetings from Somewhere Book 8)
