Nettie and Nellie Crook: Orphan Train Sisters
Nettie and Nellie Crook: Orphan Train Sisters
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Square Fish
Just the Series: Based on a True Story   

Series and Publisher: Based on a True Story   

Annotation: Twin sisters Nettie and Nellie Crook are taken away from their disfunctional parents in 1910 when they are only five years old, and placed in an orphanage--at six they are put on the orphan train by the Children's Aid Society and moved from New York City to Kansas, ending up in a household where they are treated more as servants than children.
 
Reviews: 2
Catalog Number: #5885660
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Square Fish
Copyright Date: 2017
Edition Date: 2017 Release Date: 02/14/17
Illustrator: Hansen, Clint,
Pages: 161 pages
ISBN: 1-250-10413-0
ISBN 13: 978-1-250-10413-7
Dewey: Fic
LCCN: 2015004154
Dimensions: 20 cm.
Language: English
Reviews:
ALA Booklist

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.

School Library Journal

TUBB, Kristin O'Donnell . John Lincoln Clem: Civil War Drummer Boy . ISBN 9781250068378 . ea vol: 192p. (Based on a True Story). glossary. maps. photos. Feiwel &; Friends . 2016. Tr. $15.99. 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

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School Library Journal
Word Count: 22,520
Reading Level: 4.7
Interest Level: 3-6
Accelerated Reader: reading level: 4.7 / points: 3.0 / quiz: 186429 / grade: Middle Grades

Meet the twins who traveled on the orphan train to find their forever home in this middle grade historical fiction novel, part of the Based on a True Story series. Can you imagine becoming an orphan while your parents are still alive? That's what happens to Nettie and Nellie Crook, who are only five years old in 1910 when they are removed from their home in New York. No one tells Nettie and Nellie why their parents can no longer care for them, and later, no one explains why all the orphans are put on a train headed west. The girls soon find themselves put on display in various small town auditoriums, where prospective parents examine and select children for adoption. Nettie and Nellie are taken by Mr. and Mrs. Chapin, but this happy ending isn't what it seems; Mrs. Chapin is cruel and works the girls like slaves. The twins are eventually rescued, finding the "forever" home they've always wanted. Nettie and Nellie Crook: Orphan Train Sisters by Susan Hill writing as E. F. Abbott, with illustrations by Clint Hansen is a fascinating novel for young readers, featuring black-and-white illustrations and photographs throughout. This title has Common Core connections. The Based on a True Story books by E. F. Abbott are exciting historical fiction stories about real children who lived through extraordinary times in American History. Other books in the Based on a True Story series include Sybil Ludington: Revolutionary War Rider , John Lincoln Clem: Civil War Drummer Boy , and Mary Jemison: Native American Captive . "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." - Booklist


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