Orphan Train Rider: One Boy's True Story

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Orphan Train Rider: One Boy's True Story

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Overview

Between 1854 and 1930, more than 200,000 orphaned or abandoned children were sent west on orphan trains to find new homes. Some were adopted by loving families; others were not as fortunate. In recent years, some of the riders have begun to share their stories. Andrea Warren alternates chapters about the history of the orphan trains with the story of Lee Nailling, who in 1926 rode an orphan train to Texas.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780395913628
Publisher:	Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication date:	09/28/1998
Pages:	80
Sales rank:	203,104
Product dimensions:	8.25(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	960L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 12 Years

About the Author

Andrea Warren's books about children are the result of her passion for history and her interest in young readers. She has been a professional writer for twenty years and works from her home office in the Kansas City area. Her first book for Houghton Mifflin, Orphan Train Rider, won the 1996 Boston Globe - Horn Book Award for nonfiction.

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Editorial Reviews

By the middle of the 1800's, there were thousands of orphans and abandoned children in most major cities of the East. A minister named Charles Loring Brace came up with the idea of placing the kids in homes in the West among families who wanted kids and who could provide them with a wholesome place to grow up. It wasn't perfect, but for many children like Lee Nailling, it was salvation. He rode an orphan train for days out to Texas where a loving family took him in. It is a true story, and as such is compelling in its revelation of Lee's emotions and the well-researched details of this American social experiment.

Children's Literature - Marilyn Courtot

From 1854 to 1930, in the biggest children's migration in America's history, more than 200,000 orphaned or abandoned boys and girls were given new clothes, placed on "orphan trains" and brought to towns in the midwest and south in the hope that they would be adopted and well cared for. Andrea Warren writes about this movement to "farm" out unwanted children in chapters that alternate with the moving story of Lee Nailling, one orphan who found a warm and loving home. For almost sixty years, Mr. Nailling was separated from his siblings who had been "trained" to different parts of the country. Their reunion in 1984 nicely ends Ms. Warren's look at a well-meaning, but not always successful movement to help the homeless.

Children's Literature - Beverly Kobrin

Gr 4-8Between 1854 and 1930, more than 200,000 orphaned and abandoned children from the cities of the eastern seaboard were "placed out" to new homes and families in the midwest and western states. Warren's account of the "orphan-train" phenomena, and of one man's story of how it affected his life, is an excellent introduction to researching or discussing children-at-risk in an earlier generation. The book is clearly written and illustrated with numerous black-and-white photographs and reproductions. The chapters alternate information about the largest agency, the Children's Aid Society, and its history, with the story of Lee Nailling, from whom the author has gathered the facts of his own childhood journey to Texas and his eventual reunion, late in life, with some of his long-lost siblings. Human interest is skillfully interspersed with factual information to create a fascinating book about a social movement that predated today's foster homes, adoption agencies, and homeless shelters. Annette R. Fry's The Orphan Trains (New Discovery, 1994) is written for the same age group and efficiently provides detailed information for research and reports. Eve Bunting's Train to Somewhere (Clarion, 1996), a picture book, tells the story for younger children. Together these books offer opportunities for discussion about the sometimes happy and sometimes misguided efforts to care for the orphaned and abandoned in our country's past. But if only one book can be acquired, Warren's title offers a wealth of information and is rich in human interest. It should be the primary purchase.Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ

School Library Journal

"A fascinating book about a social movement that predated today's foster homes, adoption agencies, and homeless shelters." School Library Journal, Starred

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