Oh my gosh. This is so heartbreaking! We read this, hoping all along the way that Marianne would meet her at one of the stops.
She never did.
And it ends like that.
My class sat and stared at me. Then someone said, "That's it?"
Interesting to read a story that doesn't end happily! We thought maybe we could write an ending so that it actually feels like it ends.
I don't think it's a bad thing for kids to read books like this though. It certainly brought out some emotions. It started a great discussion about adoption and orphans and appreciating our parents. And it sounds like we will have a good writing project! We also had a good discussion about historical fiction.
Goodreads says:
Marianne, heading west with fourteen other children on an Orphan Train, is sure her mother will show up at one of the stations along the way. When her mother left Marianne at the orphanage, hadn't she promised she'd come for her after making a new life in the West? Stop after stop goes by, and there's no sign of her mother in the crowds that come to look over the children. No one shows any interest in adopting shy, plain Marianne, either. But that's all right: She has to be free for her mother to claim her. Then the train pulls into its final stop, a town called Somewhere . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment