Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
37th out of 61 books
—
24 voters
A Family Apart (Orphan Train Adventures #1)
The Orphan Train saga begins in 1856 in New York City where Mrs. Kelly, a young widow, realizes that she cannot give her six children the life they deserve. Mrs. Kelly makes the ultimate sacrifice of love and sends them west on the orphan train to fred better lives with new families. The children, especially thirteen-year-old Frances Mary, feel an overwhelming sense of bet...more
Paperback, 162 pages
Published
December 18th 1995
by Laurel Leaf
(first published 1987)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
1,176)
I think I read A Family Apart in third grade. I just remember that it made a big impression on me, enough so that I related the whole plot, details and all, to my grandmother in one sitting.
I think I read this book for the first time in 6th grade. I'm feeling a bit nostalgic lately so I've been rereading books from my childhood. I remembered that while I liked the Orphan Train series, It always bugged me that at some point (I don't remember which book) the children were allowed to go back and live with their mother and most of the 6 children declined. Having reread it, it still bugs, but I can see why the children chose to live apart through the characterization of Frances Mary in...more
A Family Apart is the first book in the Orphan Train Adventures series. The books follow the paths of the six Kelly children who are sent by their mother out to St Joseph, Missouri where they can hopefully find better lives than she can provide from them back in New York City.
The first book in the series, not only tells the story of the children being sent West, but focuses on Frances Mary, the eldest of the six Kellys. In her story, Frances pretends to be a boy to be able to stay with her young...more
The first book in the series, not only tells the story of the children being sent West, but focuses on Frances Mary, the eldest of the six Kellys. In her story, Frances pretends to be a boy to be able to stay with her young...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I think I would have liked this more if I were 10 years old. It seemed more like an attempt to describe what life was like back then, hitting on various aspects briefly and shallowly (poor Irish family in New York City, Orphan Train, outlaws, bounty hunters chasing escaped slaves) than a real story about real-seeming people. A lot of issues and situations were brought up that would probably provide good discussion topics, but I never really felt like the author brought them to life. I would rath...more
This is a young adult book.
A Family Apart will help explain about ultimate sacrifice and love. The author of this novel has a unique writing style which will make you laugh and cry. Throughout the book, six children are raised in a harsh world of poverty. They are sent West on an orphan train by their mother, who feels she can't give them the life they deserve. When the children are separated, they realize how much they meant to each other. I enjoyed this novel because the compassion the mother...more
A Family Apart will help explain about ultimate sacrifice and love. The author of this novel has a unique writing style which will make you laugh and cry. Throughout the book, six children are raised in a harsh world of poverty. They are sent West on an orphan train by their mother, who feels she can't give them the life they deserve. When the children are separated, they realize how much they meant to each other. I enjoyed this novel because the compassion the mother...more
I can honestly say I haven't read this book in a long, long time. However, my entire fourth grade class was entirely obsessed with the series for, like, years on end. Whenever I see it now I want to cry because fourth grade was so amazing. Ah, those good old days when everything was innocent...Anyway, nostalgia aside, I would probably find some flaws in this book if I read it again. But for old time's sake, I would overlook them nonetheless. It left such a profound impression on me,I've never be...more
May 12, 2010
Annie (Claire McCaslin) mccaslin
is currently reading it
so far this book is pretty good. I am not very far so i have not read alot, but right now i am right after the main character is kind-of giving a back-story on what it was like when her father (da) died. the main character is a girl who is the eldest of the many children in her family. she has a job with her mom and I think that I like her. i think that ( or i am afraid that) the mom will die and then the orphan part will make sense. I would recomend this book to anyone who likes kind-of old bo...more
Feb 26, 2013
Andrew
added it
When I checked this book out I thought it would be boring. I judged it by its cover. But then I started reading it and I sort of liked it. It starts out slow but progresses and starts to get exiting. The main character is Frances Mary, she cleans at a shop to earn money for her family. One day Frances's mother decides that she needs to send the 6 children to new families in the west to give them a better life. That's we're the journey begins…
Oh, the memories! Had to read this one in early middle school as a trade book. Of course the plot line is simplified (everything has to wrap up before the end!) but I think it is still a neat way to introduce the whole concept of the Orphan Train to kids, not to mention the related feelings/issues of adoption. Always good to practice putting yourself in someone else's shoes, and a book like this really will make kids think, "How would I feel if I was living this?"
Pretty decent series. They were a very light read (I read the four in a day, no problem) and I would have liked them better a few years ago. My only real problem with them was that the ages were all wrong. Except for Mike, all of the children acted much younger than they supposedly were. Just take two years off all their ages and it would be more realistic to me. Mike acted like an 11 yr old though.
Sep 19, 2012
Becky
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
from-my-youth,
historical-fiction
I remember reading these as a child and I absolutely loved them. I figure if the memory of a book has been able to stick with me for over twenty years it deserves four stars. I also remember that these were the first characters I cried for in a book, the first time I was moved to an outburst of emotion by written word. Those are the types of things that stick with a bibliophile.
Read in fifth grade.
Read in fifth grade.
Definitely a text to be used as an anchor text in historical fiction unit. The text is told from the perspective of a young girl that is the daughter of immigrants. The family is sent on West on the orphan train. Historical fiction but does contain elements of history that can be verifiable. Focus on migration within the United States. Informational text must be included during this unit about orphans that actually rode the trains.
Frances is growing up in NYC in 1860. After her father dies, her mother struggles to keep her family of six together and in good morals. Her brother Mike suddenly gets arrested as a pick-pocket and his doomed to prison. Frances' mother decides that she is incapable of caring for her children and so she sends them off to Missouri with a children's mission to be adopted by a western family wanting children.
In attempt to keep part of the family together, Frances decides to "change" into a boy; for...more
In attempt to keep part of the family together, Frances decides to "change" into a boy; for...more
A family finds a good family on the orphan train program. Most kids who were successful didn't find families so much as survival and as servants with decent food and living conditions. Still, this added the twist of the underground railroad. A girl posing as a boy seems to exist as a plot point just to add some intrigue where there isn't any.
Apr 07, 2010
Karalee
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
8+ boys and girls
Recommended to Karalee by:
Found in my book collection
Set in the early 1900's, this story of a family split by poverty is intriguing. The mother wants something better for her children than she can give and chooses to send them away. A heartbreaking choice for a mother to make, but Frances (the oldest) finally understands her mother's love and sacrifice. Excellent values portrayed.
This book was fantastic! It looked boring, but once I got just 10-15 pages in I was absolutely in love with Francis Mary and all her siblings. Very few books have the ability to make me cry, laugh, and shout, but this one managed well.
I read these in middle school, and fell in love with them. I read each book multiple times. I'm not sure how I'd feel about them if I went back and read them now, but they sure made it on my favorite book list as a kid.
I really enjoyed this book. I don't think it would be appropriate for kids ages 8 or 9 and younger, simply because the subject matter is distressing. However I loved the book and would like to read the rest in the series. I listened to the audiobook of this and it was wonderful.
I loved this book! I had never even heard of the orphan trains and it got me really interested. It also has a little mix with homesteaders in Kansas in the 1860s. You should definitely read this wonderful book.
I remember when I read this it was only a "quartet" but later more books were added in the series. It was a pretty good topic for historical fiction, since I don't know of any other books about the orphan trains.
I loved this book and the whole series that it begins. It's an adventure and a compelling historical situation. I loved the courage of the children, especially Mary, as she dresses up like a boy in order to stay with her youngest brother which adds to the excitement and tension of the story. My favorite part was when she gets into a fist fight and actually wins.
I read this delightful quartet when I was young. What fun to re-read during our road trip that included Missouri! We passed a monument dedicated to Orphan Trains at some point (maybe in Nebraska).
I remember this book and a few after it... it made an impact on me - 3rd or 4th grade, around the time I was reading "Where the Red Fern Grows." all these books of great importance.
Greatest coming of age collection for pre-teens and teenagers hands down. All teenagers feel they have a legitament reason to complain but I think after reading this series of pain and triumph your teen will appreciate what they have (not only materialist values but family values)and feel self assured in what they can accomplish. I read the Orphan Train Quartet in middle school, high school, and again in my early 20's to keep it fresh. One of the most relevant books of my childhood. It is entert...more
Rereading this series from my youth...it's a little hunky dorey in the way things seem to just work out for these kids, but I LOVED these when I was a kid so my perception remains bias.
This is a great series for children to learn about the orphan trains of 1854-1929. Read how a set of siblings live through being split apart after riding the Orphan Train.
I read this book when I was very young. The second I finished it, I turned to page one again and reread it. I have always remembered it, it made a huge impression on me.
The orphan train saga helped many children but also harmed many because of the parents treating style. Some parents treated them as their own but some treated them as a worker.
loved this historical fiction about the orphan trains set in the civil war eara... great book for 5th grade they loved it
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Author of more than one hundred books, Joan Lowery Nixon is the only writer to have won four Edgar Allan Poe Awards for Juvenile Mysteries (and been nominated several other times) from the Mystery Writers of America. Creating contemporary teenage characters who have both a personal problem and a mystery to solve, Nixon captured the attention of legions of teenage readers since the publication of h...more
More about Joan Lowery Nixon...
Share This Book
1 trivia question
More quizzes & trivia...
