This is another great read by Eve Bunting - one of my favorite authors. Bunting writes about difficult topics in a way that is relelavent and meaningful for children. This book could easily be used in classrooms with students from third grade and above, possibly even venturing into 2nd grade. This of course is dependent upon the purpose of the reading.
This heartwrenching story takes place in the mid 1800's during the peak of Orphan Train placing outs. A small band of orphans and their headmistress Miss Randolph leave New York City in search of new homes and families to love them. At each stop the narrator, Marianne is hopeful that her mother will be waiting for her and at each stop she is disappointed. Each station brings heart break for Marianne as she is split away from her friends and not chosen because she is not young enough, strong enough, sweet enough or pretty enough. As the train slowly rolls into Somewhere, Illinois Marianne is the only orphan remaining on the train - will her mother finally be there to take her home, will she find the family she has always longed for or will she return back to New York City with kindhearted Miss Randolph?
I was at first drawn to this book because I have use a few Eve Bunting books in my classroom to introduce and expand upon a variety of reading strategies and concepts and really enjoy her writing style and topics. I was also immediately interesting in the illustrations (by Ronald Himler) which are very detailed and yet mysterious at the same time. I can't wait to use this book in my third grade classroom to work on inferring character traits, motivations and feelings. There are so many dynamic feelings and actions going on in Train to Somewhere and students can really feel for Marianne and the other orphans and infererences will flow quickly. I am really excited about using this text and I think my kids will love it!
BIG questions to ponder about this text are:
- How would this story change if Marianne's mother had been at one of the stops? What if she had passed away rather than leave Marianne, how would this impact Marianne's motivations and feelings?
- How would this story be different if it took place in the present rather than the past?
- How does is this text similar/different from other Eve Bunting texts?
For your one term used, illustrations, you say detailed and yet mysterious at the same time - how do they do that? Support your use by using more illustration terms.
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