Product Description

They were "throwaway" kids, living on the streets or in orphanages and foster homes. Then Charles Loring Brace, a young minister in New York City, started the Children"s Aid Society and devised a plan to give these homeless waifs a chance at finding families they could call their own. Thus began an extraordinary migration of American children. Between 1854 and 1929, an estimated 200,000 children ventured forth on a journey of hope. Here, in the sequel to Orphan Train Rider: One Boy"s True Story, Andrea Warren introduces nine men and women who rode the trains and helped make history so many years ago.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #210825 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780618432356
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Warren (Orphan Train Rider) here interviews eight orphan train riders concerning their childhood experiences during "the largest children's migration in history" between 1854 and 1929 as part of a "placing out" program run by the Children's Aid Society of New York City. The stories reflect the diversity of the train itself, from Nettie, who discusses how she and her identical twin, Nellie, escaped their first sadistic adoptive mother to find a loving home with an older couple, to Art Smith, whose daydreams of an actress mother were shattered when he discovered he was a baby "left in a basket in Gimbel's Department Store." Many of the profiles include well-chosen details that will tug at readers' heartstrings, such as Sister Justina, who celebrated the wrong birth date for 57 years, or little Ruth, who initially refused to take her arms off the dinner table after years of protecting her food from grabby, hungry orphans. Black-and-white photographs effectively highlight the stories. Though some of the accounts focus too much on adult discoveries, ultimately the anecdotes about these brave and lonely children will keep readers traveling on this train. Ages 9-12.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Gr 4-8-Warren's story of nine-year-old Lee Nailling in Orphan Train Rider (Houghton, 1996) opened a window onto a disturbing period of American history in which children were both victims and heroes. In this follow-up volume, she relates the personal histories of eight men and women-now senior citizens-who were orphaned or abandoned as children and later traveled across the country in trains to meet strangers who would become their new family members. An introductory chapter describes the appalling numbers of homeless children in 19th-century America's large eastern cities and explains how poverty and disease as well as high rates of alcohol and drug addiction contributed to a problem that continued into the 20th century. The personal histories, based on interviews that Warren conducted with her subjects, are rich and compelling and so full of dramatic twists and turns that they could have been conceived by Charles Dickens. Hunger, fear, and isolation are the most common recollections of the men and women who speak from these pages. Fortunately these stories all have happy endings, testimony to the resilience of children and the kindness of strangers. The author also includes information about early social activists such as Charles Loring Brace, who established New York City's Children's Aid Society in 1853. These remarkable stories have enormous human-interest appeal and will provoke serious discussion about just how much life has really changed for children from the last century until today.

William McLoughlin, Brookside School, Worthington, OH

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 4-8. In Orphan Train Rider: One Boy's True Story (1996), Warren told the riveting drama of a destitute child sent from an eastern city to find a family in the Midwest. For this collective biography, she interviewed eight people who lived that story, all of whom are now in their eighties and nineties. It's a selective sample--these are people who really want to look back and talk about their lives--and their stories are overwhelmingly positive: moving accounts of love and acceptance, courage and resilience, success, even reunion. Many also remember the anguish before the happy ending-- the nightmare of siblings torn apart, orphans treated as hired help, teased at school, abused at home. Younger readers won't be particularly interested in the adult experiences or in the photos of the adults with their families now, but the childhood memories are unforgettable. Warren frames the personal stories with commentary and information about social conditions at the time. She also raises essential questions: Would the children have done better if they had been left in orphanages? And what about today's foster children? This is powerful nonfiction for classroom and personal reading and for discussion. Warren includes Web sites of primary sources for children who want to learn more. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

An Exciting and Terrifying Adventure
Imagine you're on a train to a place you don't know, with hundreds of other children riding with you. At the next stop you get off and you're on display for people to see. Complete strangers come over to examine you and scrutinize over whether to adopt you, one of the orphan train riders, into their homes. We Rode the Orphan Trains by Andrea Warren narrates the accounts of seven riders who experienced what is was like to ride the orphan trains. First the author gives a short review of what the orphan trains are all about and the life of one agent who rode with the children to their new homes. Any child who was orphaned or abandoned could be put on the orphan train. These trains then went from town to town where the children, some infants, others in their teens, were put on display and the townspeople wanting to adopt would come over. After that any child wanted by a family would go and live with them. In the case of Arthur Field this worked out well and he grew up living a happy life. Nettie and Nellie Enns suffered under a cruel mother and were promptly taken to a new home where they found happiness. We Rode the Orphan Trains is quite engaging and leads you into the minds of those people who rode the Orphan Trains.

The book is packed with useful information and invaluable to anyone learning about the orphan trains. Two introductory chapters help you understand what the orphan trains is all about. The next seven chapters deal with the lives of seven riders and include excerpts and background on each rider. The last chapter discusses briefly the future of the orphan trains. You don't have to wade through a huge, heavy book on the history of orphans to learn about the orphan trains. We Rode the Orphan Trains presents the material in an enjoyable manner and whether you're writing a paper or reading just for pleasure, this book fulfills both tasks.

The novel is very well written and thought provoking. Not all people agreed with the orphan trains. Some thought it unfair and cruel to "give away" children to complete strangers. Many times siblings could not be taken together. Others argued that the orphan trains were the best way to find homes for orphaned children. Shelters and orphanages were often poor and overcrowded with kids. Also, after children were placed in a home, an agent came every year to check on them, much like modern day adoption.

We Rode the Orphan Trains is, unlike some history books, fun and easy to read and understand. If you're enjoying something it's likely you'll get more out of it. Fast paced and overall fascinating are adjectives I'd use to describe this book. The narratives of the various people interviewed are interesting to read and lead you into the mind of the orphans who rode the orphan trains.

I highly recommend We Rode the Orphan Trains. It contains great historical information presented in a lucid and engaging style.

A.Marshall

Short Book
I enjoyed this book but I had not known it was so short. There are less than 125 pages. It is typed double-spaced and there are many pictures, some of them taking up a full page. I greatly enjoyed the pictures but I just hadn't expected a book I could go through so quickly.

Well written!
This is a great book. It's well written, personal, and educational. The stories are told in a narrative and are easy to read.