A Family Apart

Orphan Train Adventures #1

by Joan Lowery Nixon

When their mother can no longer support them, six siblings are sent by the Children's Aid Society of New York City to live with farm families in Missouri in 1860

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens, Middle Grade, Historical, Juvenile

162 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

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 her first YA novel more than twenty years ago. In addition to mystery/suspense novels, she wrote nonfiction and fiction for children and middle graders, as well as several short stories. Nixon was the first person to write novels for teens about the orphan trains of the nineteenth century. She followed those with historical novels about Ellis Island and, more recently for younger readers, Colonial Williamsburg. Joan Lowery Nixon died on June 28, 2003—a great loss for all of us.

Reviews

[Ellen Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Behold! Another book from my childhood I had forgotten completely about. But man, I read this so many times as a kid. I literally read the cover off of it!

[Mary Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book on an airplane when I was like 8; my mom looked over and I was BAWLING with tears streaming down my face. At first she thought I somehow hurt myself but nope, just sobbing about a sad book. #sensitivechildproblems

[Elise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet story about a family of children who end up orphans.

This book largely covers Frances Mary's story.

Easy read, very clean.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 this first installment. Good reason or not, their mother abandoned them. There has to be ramifications stemming from that.

Anyway, this books sets the stage for the rest of the series as the children are sent out west on the Orphan Train. History wise, at times it appears as if the author read a few textbooks and went from there trying to explain historical events like the Missouri Compromise or the Fugitive Slave Act through wooden and clunky dialogue.

The climax in which Frances Mary, who disguises herself as a boy in order to be adopted with her youngest brother is cliche and predicable. She joins her new family in helping slaves on the Underground Railroad and is nearly arrested for her part. However, once everyone realizes she's a girl all is forgiven and the charges are dropped. I can't decide if that's historically accurate or merely the stereotype of the period. The Underground Railroad part is strange as well. It is interesting to read about Frances Mary's new relatives leaving their privileged homes in New England to move to Kansas in order make it a free (non slave) state. However, Frances Mary too easily accepts (and her adoptive parents too easily tell) their views on slavery and the like. Would a very poor, uneducated, Irish girl from New York City really know as much about slaves and slavery as Frances Mary does?

Yet, A Family Apart is a young adult book that tries to educate this historical time period for young readers. In the sense the book works. It is a quick read that will have you reaching for the next book in the series not long after you turn the last page.

[Bev Walkling · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun quick read set in the years shortly before the American Civil War. When modern day children find themselves bored in Missouri their grandmother helps them take a look at the past through the Journal of their great great great grandmother.

Francis Kelly and her siblings live with lots of love and hard work but very little else. To keep her son out of jail for theft, francis's mother agrees to send her 6 children to new homes out West where they will hopefully have food and the opportunity for an education.

A theme throughout the book is Sacrifice - being willing to give up something you prize for the greater good. This is a lesson Francis has to learn over time and it includes exposure to the underground railway where people break the law to do what is morally right.

This book is set at Grade 6 reading level but I really enjoyed it and will check if my local library has other books in the series that tell what happened to the other Kelly siblings.

[Elsa K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this series in probably 3rd or 4th grade and have thought of them often over the years. For the life of me I couldn't remember what they were called, just bits and pieces of them. I even reached out to old grade school teachers and one point to see if they remembered them, they didn't. A childhood friend who also read them did remember the title. I am so thankful! I have since bought the whole series on thriftbook. They obviously impacted me a lot if I was seeking them out 20-30 years later.

I still enjoyed them as an adult. I see how the themes and aspects of the book are still things I enjoy. A strong female protagonist who overcomes difficult circumstances, learning about a historic time period, hard situations with an element of hope- all things I still enjoy reading about! This one even made me tear up a few times. If you can find a copy for the youngsters in your life or enjoy a middle grade book yourself, seek them out!

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 youngest brother Petey. She learns how to milk a cow, cut wheat from a field, and she even helps her new father with the Underground Railroad.

The story, while not necessarily true, does have basis in history. The Orphan Train was a real thing and Ms. Nixon does a great job of bringing it to life with characters that children will love for years to come.

[Kate Matson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! Such a fascinating story!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much more moving than I remembered from middle school. So much less plot than I remembered from middle school. 😄 Still, an excellent setup for a truly gripping series. This was one of the linchpins of my early love for historical fiction! I wish more of the other books featured Frances. She's such a plucky character and I would read a spinoff sequel about her adult life without hesitation!

[Heidi Honey]

It's fun reading history from a Youth's perspective. I'll have to look for the next book to find out how Mike made out!

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great middle grade reader! A heart-wrenching story of 6 siblings separated into new families after joining the Orphan Train. My son recommended I read it, after he read it in school. I think we will be reading the rest of the series.

[Cai Hopkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m currently on a journey of rereading favorite childhood books. This one touches on some tough topics. I would recommend this book to kids!

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

QUICK AND EASY. INTERESTING AND ENTERTAINING.

“Don’t dawdle here with your betters where you don't belong.”—page 11

How could I resist this pitch in goodreads.com’s synopsis:

“FOR LOVERS OF HISTORICAL ADVENTURE, A FAMILY APART IS THE MIDDLE-GRADE ANSWER TO CHRISTINA BAKER KLINE’S NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING ORPHAN TRAIN.”

I simply couldn’t. I loved Christina Baker Kline’s novel, Orphan Train (almost as much as I enjoy typing her musical name), and the temptation of a whole series of Orphan Train Adventures was just too much not to at least dabble…

Adventure is the operative word in the title A Family Apart (Orphan Train Adventures #1), by Joan Lowery Nixon. The series is intended for the eight to fifteen year old crowd; and it takes a bit of exciting adventure to grab and hold that audience. That said, A Family Apart has the ring of a genuine historical novel, with a lot of entertainment and information to share with all audiences.

Recommendation: Coax your kids to pick up on this series. They’ll learn stuff while enjoying an adventurous story. And enjoy a quick romp in middle-grade reading, yourself, while you’re at it.

“. . . and that’s the all of it.”—page 16 (among others)


Kindle edition, 162 pages

[McKaela Magaldi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book "A family apart" is a realistic fiction by Joan Lowery Nixon(it is a series) It is the first book of the series. The book is about a family being sent west for adoption because their widow mother couldn't give them the home they deserved and her brother Mike was a pocket stealer, so if she didn't send him, he would have been sent to jail. They all were angry at their mother. They get sent to the adoption place and Frances the main character knew that she had to take care of her youngest brother out of 5 siblings, but most people took two boys, so Frances cut her hair, dressed like a boy so she would get partnered up with Petey it worked. She gets partnered with Petey(her youngest brother). She learns things about her family that she must keep secret, and their life depends on it. Does her family find out that she is a girl? What is the secret her family is hiding? How are her siblings? read to find out. This book is a 4/5 but it could have talked about how the others were doing too
If you like the second book of this collection "caught in the act"
you will most likely enjoy this one and read it because the second one would make more sense.

[Tish · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 rather she have focused on one or two and delved into them a bit deeper and given the reader some real insight into that aspect of our country's history. Given the topics, though (adoption, poverty, slavery, etc.), maybe that wouldn't be appropriate for children of the target age?

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a reading specialist, I am very excited to try this novel with some of my enrichment middle school students. There are so many interesting themes and choices during the course of this book - the meaning of sacrifice, the underground railroad, theft, forgiveness, adoption, orphan trains, and the love of siblings. I hope the other books in this series are as interesting as this one.

#2 - I used this book with a group of three boys in sixth grade who are excellent readers. They are more used to science fiction with loads of action. They felt the beginning was too slow and lost interest at first, but the last few chapters won them over a little bit. They felt it got a 2.5 with them.

[BookBoaster · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book with the intention of using it in my 7th grade language arts classroom since our second semester focus is historical fiction. After watching a documentary on the orphan trains, and doing my own research, I found that these people, abandoned and forgotten as kids, were also a forgotten piece of history. In search of a novel, I came upon A Family Apart. I wanted something that was intriguing from start to finish with a lot of imagery. This book was everything I hoped it would be and I'm definitely going to use it in my classroom.

[Andrew]

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…

[Dellaknowsdobby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this series in 5-6ish grade and really liked it! I recently re-read the series because I was craving some good historical fiction. It's a believable and moving series about a separated family in a time of hardship. By far one of the better historical fiction series for middle grade readers out there.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The beginning really confused me because it is modern day descendants of the book characters learning about their family history but it wasn't clear at first. Then I just didn't connect with the characters, the setting didn't really come alive for me. It wasn't a good fit for me.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember LOVING this book as a kid. I still love it. And the entire series.

[Kassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every time Orphan Train comes up in my update feed, I'm reminded of this series that came out when I was in middle school. I loved it at the time, but haven't seen it since...

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book although I found the ending really weak. Was no one else bothered by the fact that both Frances and Mrs. Mueller thought it was a good idea to wrap the cheese in the very same shawl the bounty hunters had described at least twice by that time? A shawl that should have been burned immediately instead of being left in plain sight in the kitchen? The bounty hunters weren't the sharpest group either - they didn't search the wagon and they were put off by Katherine's happy little chuckle that she owned the very same shawl after Frances told them she found it on the ground? Very weak ending IMO This is the first in a series about five siblings sent west from NYC on the Orphan Train because their widowed mother can no longer provide for them. They are split up and the first book concentrates mostly on Frances, the eldest, who is adopted with her youngest brother Petey by pretending to be a boy - also kind of a weak plot point but believable enough for the target audience.

After numerous historically correct adventures on the train and in their new home, all ends well as Petey and Frances settle in with their new loving adoptive parents and the second book in the series moves on to Mike's story. Not being a series kind of reader, I'm not sure if I will follow through with the rest of the series, but Nixon certainly knows how to end a book with a cliff hanger!

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed to find the same tired old "story within a story" trope. If Frances Mary left behind a diary, why not just tell the story through the diary entries? Why set that up and then do nothing with it?
I find it very hard indeed to believe that none of the adults around her could see that she was a girl in spite of wearing boy's clothes and chopping off her hair! If I see a young girl in jeans and a t-shirt with short hair, I know she's a girl anyway. I also very much doubt that she would not be at least questioned by an authority for breaking the law "because she's a girl." She is supposedly twelve or thirteen; at that time girls as young as fifteen often married. She would not have been considered "a little girl."
Wooden dialogue and clunky action made me think of the poorly directed episodes of the 1970s "Hardy Boys" TV series. Then there's the "teaser for the next book in the series" when the author rushed the ending of the first one. No, thanks.
A star and a half.

[Elizabeth Emricson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Family Apart is part of The Orphan Train Adventures, and it's realistic fiction. It is written by Joan Lowery Nixon. The main characters are Frances, Meghan, Mike, Danny, Peg, and Petey. They are all siblings. The story starts off with Mike not doing some good things. As a result, their mom decides that what is best for them is for them to go to the West and have a family who can give them everything that she can’t. All the children leave to the West. Will they all get adopted? Will they live in the same house? Read and you will find out the answers, along with some great adventure that will take you by surprise. I give this book a 5 out of 5. It was a fabulous series that has a lot of great adventure and action. The theme of the book is your family will come around and be by your side through the bad and through the good. I highly recommend it! It gives some things that happened in the earlier history, and it shares family experiences

[Cheryl Neer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good introduction for middle grade readers to Irish immigration in the mid 1800's, the Underground Railroad and the Missouri Compromise and Orphan Trains. First in a series about a family of children and their Orphan Train adventure, my favorite quote comes from when the oldest child realizes the meaning of the sacrifice their mother gave when sending them west for better lives : " Sacrifice is not always easy to understand. It means that someone or something else means more to you than your own self. -It means that you can love someone or some idea enough to give up something that you prize, in order to make people’s lives better."

[Karen Malin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nixon writes about a family of six children in New Yorkwho lose their father which results in a huge struggle for the basics in life, no matter how hard their mother tries. The first half of the book tells about their struggle and the trip out west on the Orphan Train after her mother gives the children up to keep one of her sons out of jail; the second half of the book tells about Frances Mary's experiences with her youngest brother and her new family. The subject of slavery, the Underground Railroad, and sacrifice play heavily in the second. A very good read for 4th-6th grade mature readers.