School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-5-The lives of "real" children growing up during extraordinary circumstances are documented here in these slightly flawed fictionalized biographies. In Orphan Train Sisters, five-year-old twins Nettie and Nellie Crook are sent west on an orphan train after their neglectful parents are deemed unfit to care for them. They end up in an abusive household, only to get rescued once again and moved to yet another home, the trauma of which isn't adequately captured. The book lacks in-depth characterization and has uninspired dialogue that fails to entirely engage. Primary source photographs and maps as well as vintage-looking black-and-white drawings add an authentic element but also somewhat distract from the narrative. In Civil War Drummer Boy, nine-year-old John Lincoln Clem, who eventually becomes known as "Johnny Shiloh," runs away from home to join the Union Army but is rejected because of his age. He eventually becomes a drummer boy, fights in battle, and gets captured and sent to the Andersonville Prison. What should be a riveting story falls flat with inaccurate use of language (the word moron didn't exist at the time), clunky vernacular such as the use of the term idjit in some places and idiot in others, and excessive and repetitive use of the word fellas. A glossary of terms and drummer's calls is appended. An author's note in each book briefly describes the time period and concludes with a summary of the adult life of the main character/real person. Elementary-aged readers might do better to look for the "Dear America," "My Name is America," and "I Survived" series (all Scholastic) or even the nonfiction "Who Was?" series (Penguin) instead. VERDICT These title will appeal only to the most die-hard fans of historical fiction.-Madeline J. Bryant, Los Angeles Public Library © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Nettie and Nellie are just five years old when they are taken from their derelict parents and placed in a New York orphanage in 1910. During the next year, they have plenty of work but little to eat. Still, the twins are nervous when Miss Hill, a Children's Aid Society agent, takes them on an orphan train journey to find a new home. Taken in by a kindly storekeeper and his harsh wife, they endure her cruelty bravely until news that Nellie has been whipped reaches Miss Hill. She moves them to another household, where they find a warm welcome and a forever home. Illustrated with line drawings and archival photos, this engaging narrative portrays children facing real hardships. An appended note from Abbott (a pseudonym for Susan Hill) provides information about child welfare in the early 1900s, the orphan trains, and the lives of the real Nettie and Nellie Crook, who were profiled in Andrea Warren's We Rode the Orphan Trains (2001). An engaging entry in the Based on a True Story series.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2016 Booklist
