Rodzina is an orphan living on the streets of Chicago when she is put on an orphan train going west. With skill and finesse, Cushman weaves a rich and powerful tale of self-discovery and, ultimately, hope. 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. 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.
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. At each town where the train stops, a few more orphans find homes until Rodzina is the only one left, alone and unwanted.Ĭarefully 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. Bitter, sharp and angry, Rodzina isolates herself from everyone else on the train as it clatters west. 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. At the time, the powers-that-be believed that working on farms as laborers would be good for these city orphans. They are going west to find new homes and establish new lives. Rodzina and many other orphaned children of all ages are being shipped out of Chicago on a train. 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.
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