Labor Day Weekend and Reading

A 3 day weekend!!! F.U.N.

Be sure and spend some time reading!

If you have children around - take time to read to them! 

When you take time to read to children,

They become readers and love to read.

What are you reading this weekend?

True Sisters by Sandra Dallas

"In a novel based on true events, New York Times bestselling author Sandra Dallas delivers the story of four women---seeking the promise of salvation and prosperity in a new land---who come together on a harrowing journey.In 1856, Mormon converts, encouraged by Brigham Young himself, and outfitted with two-wheeled handcarts, set out on foot from Iowa City to Salt Lake City, the promised land. The Martin Handcart Company, a zealous group of emigrants headed for Zion, is the last to leave on this 1,300-mile journey. Earlier companies arrive successfully in Salt Lake City, but for the Martin Company the trip proves disastrous. True Sisters tells the story of four women whose lives will become inextricably linked as they endure unimaginable hardships, each one testing the boundaries of her faith and learning the true meaning of survival and friendship along the way: Nannie, who is traveling with her sister and brother-in-law after being abandoned on her wedding day; Louisa, who’s married to an overbearing church leader who she believes speaks for God; Jessie, who’s traveling with her brothers, each one of them dreaming of the farm they will have in Zion; and Anne, who hasn't converted to Mormonism but who has no choice but to follow her husband since he has sold everything to make the trek to Utah.Sandra Dallas has once again written a moving portrait of women surviving the unimaginable through the ties of female friendship." from amazon.com

This book kept my attention! I read it in one day. Very well written as is the norm for Sandra Dallas. 

I got angry while reading and was excited that Dallas produced a book that will make you angry - I laughed a couple of times and was close to tears but was too angry to cry. THIS is what makes a good book.

You may not learn to "love" the characters in this book but they will fascinate you. They are each at a different place in their faith - much like we see daily within our churches. I was glad Dallas was able to portray this rather than lump them all together in the same level of faith.

While I believe much differently than Mormons they are a big part of our history such as the "handcart" era. This book caused me to head to my computer and do some of my own research on the handcart trips and this trip particularly. Many more Mormon's died in the trip Dallas based her book on than in the Donner party.

I read a few reviews of this book on Goodreads which were interesting because several highly criticized it and then added that they were, in fact, Mormons. However, while reading the book myself, I did not feel like Dallas was highly critical of the Mormons, I believe she took that page in history and added the personalities to it.

I usually try to add a quote but as I looked at my flagged pages, I realized taken out of context, I'm not sure they would be as interesting as they were to me as I read them. Such as:

"She wondered if Brigham Young were calling the people to the valley to build up his own kingdom, not God's."

"You will marry of course. Your salvation depends on it. There are no spinsters in Utah."

And said to the non-mormon in the group while giving childbirth:

"Converting won't help you. The Lord makes childbirth as hard for Mormons as Gentiles - or apostates, for that matter."

I have been a Sandra Dallas fan since I read "The Persian Pickle Club" in 1996. She makes history through fiction very interesting to me.

"New York Times best-selling author SANDRA DALLAS, the author of ten novels as well as ten nonfiction books, was dubbed “a quintessential American voice” by Jane Smiley, in Vogue Magazine. Sandra’s novels with their themes of loyalty, friendship, and human dignity have been translated into a dozen foreign languages and have been optioned for films." from the author's web site which you can find H.E.R.E. 

I do recommend this book. 

Searching for Home by Martha Nelson Vogt & Christina Vogt

A week ago, I read and reviewed "The Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline and you can read that review H.E.R.E. The next sale-ing day for us I found "Searching for Home" by a mother and daughter team, Martha Nelson Vogt & Christina Vogt. This is the true story of that time in American history and as so often happens, I found it more interesting than the fiction.

"I will never forget my children. I have carved you on the palm of my hand." Isaiah 49 "The best adventure stories often turn out to be real life, more gripping, touching, and life-changing than any other kind. This book -- "the one that started it all" -- is the only true narrative of three families of orphan train children: orphaned, half-orphaned, and abandoned, creating a unique microcosm of the long-hidden story of Orphan Trains. From 1853 to 1929, nearly 100,000 children were brought from the East to small towns and farms in the Midwest. Yet nothing about this segment of American history has been captured from those who experienced it until "Searching for Home" was first published in 1979. This book has timeless appeal, for it shows lessons of overcoming adversity, of forging new family life, and examples of courage, character, love and commitment. Six years of primary research from these families, neighbors, friends, and other sources resulted in this unique touching family story and historic document. "Searching for Home" is a tribute to the human spirit, for it shows even young people working to survive, to fit in, to be loved, in new surroundings, and among strange faces and accents. The story also reveals the faith that many of these children found, to strengthen them in the hardest times and make their sense of belonging complete." (From the back cover)

The mother and daughter team Martha Nelson Vogt and Christina Vogt did a wonderful job of letting us understand better the attitude from all sides of the orphan trains. The orphans, the families who took them in, the communities in which they became a part of.  100,000 children are a lot of young ones to bring into the mid west and find homes for but Anna Hill and the Children's Aid Society did the best they could in placing these children in good homes.

The Vogt's have told the true stories of three families of children who rode the orphan trains, the adjustments that had to be made in their lives and the lives of the families who took them in. This 75 year period of American history should not be lost. We need to make sure our children and grandchildren learn about it. 

After reading "The Orphan Train" (fiction)  - which I greatly enjoyed, this book just seemed to add the extra ingredients. Interviews with real people that lived through this. A few pictures - all in all a very good book that I highly recommend.  

I did begin to get characters confused and suggest you make a list of the orphans - their brothers and sisters and the families with whom they were placed. - Unless of course you do better at keeping people and places straight!!

I was impressed with the Kansas modern educational system in 1911. After Bill and Ida met their new parents, they were shown where they would go to school. 

" 'We are unifying the country school districts. You'll be going to Union 5 - one of the three best in this area...' she (their new mother) pointed to a two-story brick building surrounded by a large playground. 'A team of horses and a wagon called the 'kid hack' will pick you up at the end of our lane.' This school also had a bathroom inside the building!"

"The authors Martha Pat Nelson Vogt and Christian Lynne Vogt are Mother and daughter. Pat is a retired journalist, editor and feature writer for newspapers and magazines in KS, NE, and MI. She holds a degree in Humanities from Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI.  Christina holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Nebraska College of Law, Lincoln, NE and has worked as an attorney specializing in nuclear power litigation. Both authors enjoy historical research. The authors may be contacted c/o Triumph Press, Box 93, Hillsboro, KS, 67063." (from the back cover) (this book was published in 1979 - my note)

The Orphan Train By Christina Baker Kline

"Orphan Train is a gripping story of friendship and second chances from Christina Baker Kline, author of Bird in Hand and The Way Life Should Be.

Penobscot Indian Molly Ayer is close to “aging out” out of the foster care system. A community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping Molly out of juvie and worse...

As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly learns that she and Vivian aren’t as different as they seem to be. A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by luck and chance.

Molly discovers that she has the power to help Vivian find answers to mysteries that have haunted her for her entire life – answers that will ultimately free them both.

Rich in detail and epic in scope, Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline is a powerful novel of upheaval and resilience, of unexpected friendship, and of the secrets we carry that keep us from finding out who we are."

When I pick up books for my granddaughter, there are often books for early teens about the orphan train. This book is written for adults and is very well written. It flows on the page and keeps you turning the pages quickly. I finished it in just a couple of days. 

Kline goes back and forth from the orphan train and Vivian's life to modern day and her relationship with Molly, a teen in the foster care system. Lot's of history included - the orphan train, the Indian's - just a very interesting book. Lot's of drama and actually just real life. 

I am a person who likes constancy, stability. This book was interesting to me as I read about others who want the same stability in their lives. It's not unusual for people who have moved around a lot or who have had much upheaval in their lives to want this same stability.

Molly is part Wabanaki Indian. For years this group of Indians traveled only by canoe - protaging from one body of water to another. Everything they owned needed to fit into their canoe so they learned how to "travel light." They quickly learned "what to keep and what to discard." Molly learned this art quickly in the foster care system as she was shuffled from family to family.

If you have any interest at all in this page in the history of our country, I highly recommend The Orphan Train. If you are just looking for a good read - I highly recommend this book.

"Christina Baker Kline is a novelist, nonfiction writer and editor. In addition to Orphan Train, her novels include Bird in Hand, The Way Life Should Be, Desire Lines and Sweet Water. She served as Writer-in-Residence at Fordham University from 2007 to 2011 and was the on-staff editor and writing coach at the social networking site http://www.shewrites.com/." from her website

You can learn more about Christina Baker Kline at her web site H.E.R.E.