Rodzina
Grade 4-7-It is 1881, and 12-year-old Rodzina Clara Jadwiga Anastazya Brodski finds herself on an orphan train bound from Chicago to the west where, she is sure, she will be sold into slavery. All of her family members have died tragically, and the large, unpretty, and standoffish girl can't believe she will be adopted into a loving home. Pressed into service to help with the younger children by tough Mr. Szprot and a stern young woman whom she calls Miss Doctor, Rodzina entertains the youngsters with colorful stories from her Polish heritage and watches as the more appealing children are adopted along the way. She, too, is placed twice, once with a pair of nasty old sisters in need of a servant and once with a crude farmer looking for a wife to replace the dying mother of his 13 children, but each time she escapes and returns to the train. As the journey progresses, she repeatedly reaches out to the woman doctor who, caught up in her own plight to be accepted in her profession, continually rebuffs the girl until the dual crises of a lost child and Rodzina's own attempt to run away finally begin to break down the barrier between them. The story features engaging characters, a vivid setting, and a prickly but endearing heroine. The first-person narrative captures the personality and spirit of a child grieving for her lost family, yet resourceful and determined to make her own way. Rodzina's musings and observations provide poignancy, humor, and a keen sense of the human and topographical landscape.Marie Orlando, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NYCopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.