Rodzina

Rodzina is an orphan living on the streets of Chicago when she is put on an orphan train going west. The train stopped in Grand Island first. Three old ladys' adopted Rodzina and went down the road and turned around and took her back to the train station. She kept on going west with Miss Doctor and the other orphans that weren't adopted at the first stop. They stopped again in Cheyenne at another train Clench family that had twelve kids and a mother and father. It took the Clench family and Rodzina a long time to get back to the Clench's home. Rodzina had never seen a dugout and now she lived in one Rodzina found out Mrs. Clench was dying and the only reason Mr. Clench adopted her was for a new wife. When his old wife died because she was very ill. Mr. Clench took Rodzina back to the train station to Miss Doctor the very next morning. Rodzina continued to travel west with Lacy, Joe, and Sammy. On the next train Lacy found a cat and named him Dumpling. The conductor said the cat was for catching mice on the train. When the train stopped again there was a huge blizzard going on. Mr. and Mrs. Tuttle stood out on the train platform waiting for Miss Doctor and the orphans. They were in Ogden, Utah Territory. When they got into the train station Miss Doctor looked around for Lacy and found she wasn't there. The Tuttles took Joe, Sammy, Rodzina, and Miss Doctor to their hotel and called the Boss which was a sherriff. Mr. Tuttle, the Coss, and a couple of others looked for Lacy for 3 days they finally found her cuddled with a cow and Dumpling in a barn. Mr. and Mrs. Tuttle adopted Lacy and Dumpling. ...and I won't spoil the wonderful ending!! I loved this book and i thought it was one of my favorite books that I have read.

Rodzina has seen the face of tragedy several times over, and now it seems as if hope has turned its back on this homely immigrant from Poland.Rodzina and many other orphaned children of all ages are being shipped out of Chicago on a train. They are going west to find new homes and establish new lives. At the time, the powers-that-be believed that working on farms as laborers would be good for these city orphans. Rodzina and many of the other orphans consider this change in circumstances to be a sentence to a life of slavery, and needless to say, Rodzina would rather live in an orphanage or even on the streets than face an existence in a strange place where she has to work in the fields from sun up to sun down day after day. Bitter, sharp and angry, Rodzina isolates herself from everyone else on the train as it clatters west. At each town where the train stops, a few more orphans find homes until Rodzina is the only one left, alone and unwanted.Carefully researched, RODZINA tells us of a time when orphans were not to be trusted and were often treated little better than slaves or beasts of burden. It was not uncommon for orphans to have their teeth and limbs examined by prospective 'parents' at the time of 'adoption' to determine their worthiness as potential farmhands. In the back of the book, the reader will find a detailed history of the Orphan Train and other similar efforts to 'rehabilitate' orphaned and unwanted children.Karen Cushman has received great acclaim for her historical novels, as she was awarded a Newbery Honor for CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY and the Newbery Medal for THE MIDWIFE'S APPRENTICE. With skill and finesse, Cushman weaves a rich and powerful tale of self-discovery and, ultimately, hope. --- Reviewed by Marya Jansen-Gruber

This is a wonderful book. Big, grouchy Rodzina is a character with great appeal, vulnerable, strong, and funny. Her bleak situation makes for good suspense and real shudders, since we know that many orphan children actually did find themselves sent out West on trains with the (often unfounded) hope that they'd be adopted by decent families. Cushman brings this episode in history very much alive. Readers will be amused, informed (never heavy-handedly), and moved.

A gaggle of orphans leaves Chicago, bound west toward slavery or worse--at least that's the prevailing opinion among the children. Rodzina, a twelve year old Polish immigrant who lost her family to fire and illness, narrates this journey with humor, candor, sadness, and humanity. As the miles click away, we learn something of the time and places through which we are taken. In the tradition of Lucy Whipple, Catherine Called Birdy, and Matilda Bone, Rodzina is another example of a strong girl making sense of her desperate situation. This book is perfect for children in grades four through nine, and for fans of children's literature no matter what age. Karen Cushman is a gifted storyteller.