A good historical view of the orphan trains that made their way west in the early days of the country. Children were chosen or not chosen and left with very little. It is text heavy, but each page also offers intriguing illustrations of the early American West sometime between the 1850s and the 1920s. This is a period of history that many readers might not be familiar with so it could prove interesting to have in a library. The story is narrated by Marriane, a child on the orphan train yearning to find her own mother who had promised to return to her in New York. As the book says, "Sometimes what you get turns out to be better than what you wanted in the first place." Marianne is the last child to be adopted, but she does find a good home with an elderly couple. The narration has thoughtful inclusions and memorable moments to match the well-drawn pictures. Five stars for a beautifully illustrated and written book about a challenging and under-written era. ( )

The fact that Marianne is an orphan immediately made me sad. All children really want is a family who loves them and there are so many children out there without one. Before the last stop, I wanted to cry because I wasn't sure if she would have someone adopt her. Not every story has a happy ending and I'm really glad this one does. Life isn't always what you expect but will work out, sometimes in a better way. ( )

This book is about a group of 14 orphan children who get on the orphan train to head west to hopefully find a family to adopt them. One girl is waiting and hoping to find her mom on her stop and get adopted by her. Each stop she is waiting to see her moms face, but she doesn’t. As the reader, you can feel how sad she feels that she hasn’t found her mom on each of the stops. At the last stop, she is the last one left on the train. She looks out and doesn’t see her mom, she sees an older couple. She starts to talk to them and realizes she isn’t going to find her mother, and there sweet and she feels like she belongs to them. I loved how at the end even though she didn’t get to be with her mom, you know she will have a great life with the older couple that adopts her. ( )

The book is about a orphan girl in the early 1900's who was taken on a train from New York to a town in the west to be adopted. She is going from stop to stop hoping to be adopted in the end she is adopted by a older couple and finds a new home in somewhere.

The lesson you could use in teaching for this books is Life does'nt always turn out the way you expect but sometimes it turns out better

This was an amazing historical fiction books for young students. It does have a deep topic and will mostly likely do better with students a little older like 4th or 5th grade. This book is about a Marianne who was put on a orphan train because her mother could no longer take care of her. Her mother promised her before she got on the train that she would come back fro her and Marianne held on tight to those words. They stopped in Chicago first and all the boys were taken first. Marianne was not taken and had to get back on the train. When finally at the last stop Marianne found a wonderful new family. This is a good historical fiction book because orphan trains did actually happen and is a good lesson to have for students. ( )