Nettie and Nellie Crook, Orphan Train Sisters
E. F. Abbot (pseudonym for Susan Hill), illustrated by Clint Hansen
ISBN: 9781250068354
A "based on a true story" junior novelization of the experiences of a set of twins on the orphan trains.
This was a very sad and sobering story, and even more so when I read the coda at the end and realized how very true to actual events the narrative was. Even more sobering is that this is a relatively happy story: the girls were allowed to stay together, and they were eventually matched up into a happy family in town, as opposed to being used as slave labor out in the wilds, or used for prostitution, or simply abused by their "adoptive" families. I feel for the kids involved, but also for the charities involved - trying to figure out a better option than orphanages and workhouses (which were even more horrible) or them dying on the streets or getting picked up by organized crime and abused or prostituted in the cities. Their solution was novel, and I'm sure for at least some of the kids and western families, worked out beautifully. Unfortunately, for many others, it was simply a move to a very different kind of horrible life.
Sad read, but an important chapter in American history.
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