Prairie Homestead

The Orphans' Journey #3

by arleta-richardson

The kids soon discover that life on the farm with their new family is full of challenges. Ethan is faced with saving a man from a snake bite. Alice learns to slop the hogs. And Simon disappears--again.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Christian Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Young Adult, Childrens

141 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Lindsey (Books for Christian Girls) · Rating 3 out of 5]

About this book:

“Since their mama died and their pa left, Ethan, Alice, Simon, and Will Cooper have not known much of a home. But now that the orphan train has taken them to Mr. and Mrs. Rush in Nebraska, their dreams of home may become a reality.
The kids discover that life on a farm is full of challenges. Ethan learns how to drive a plow, watch for snakes, and deal with bullies at the country school. Alice learns to slop the hogs and live with a big sister who isn’t exactly welcoming. Will seems to be the only one of the four that their new mother likes. And Simon disappears—again.”


Series: Book #3 in “The Orphans’ Journey” series. Review of Book #1 Here! and Book #2 Here!


Spiritual Content- A couple of Scriptures are mentioned & quoted; Prayers & Thanking God; Talks about God, His reasons for things that happen, & a couple discusses their spiritual welfare; 'H's are capital when referring to God; It’s said the one of the hired hands on the ranch doesn’t depend much on prayer and another tells him that he doesn’t have any guarantees on how long he’ll live (so he should get seriously about God; he tells the other man to keep praying for him and he’ll be safe; The man was upset that their prayers didn’t help heal a child, but prays for another child who is possibly in trouble); The new mother realizes that she wants to get closer to God to be able to depend on Him more & discusses it with her husband; Mentions of God, trusting Him, & faiths; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of churches, church going, services, hymns, preachers, & Sunday school lessons; Mentions of Christians & Christian duties (one man says that another man may be religious, but he doesn’t see eye to eye with him on the Christian part as he thinks that being a Christian should improve your disposition and hasn’t for the other man); Mentions of a Christian children’s home; Mentions of a Christmas celebration & the first Christmas; A few mentions of those & events in the Bible; A mention of missionaries.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’; Some of the adults roll their eyes, use sarcasm, & bicker/snap at each other; Mentions of deaths, a child falling through a frozen pond and dying from pneumonia, & grief (for a son); Mentions of someone being bitten by a rattlesnake, the near death, the injury, & the dead snake (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of a thief, stealing, & stolen money; Mentions of switches/strappings & Ethan being strapped by his new father (including Ethan being upset at the thought of his younger siblings being hit and another adult saying that the new mother won’t let the father touch them); Mentions of a father strapping his son & the son having welts and bruises frequently (including a mention of the father trying to break his son and the son now being a father and trying to do the same to his son (according to someone else)); Mentions of a bully & his mean comments towards the children who came from the Orphan Train; A few mentions of someone possibly dying on a trip (a mother’s concern); A few mentions of hunting; A couple mentions of Ethan wondering if an Indian will kill or scalp him; A couple mentions of Ethan’s biological father leaving his family; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of a saloon; A mention of a possible kidnapping; A mention of possible fires;
*Note: In the Cooper kids’ new family, there is a daughter who was adopted with another little boy, but when the boy passed away, she’s been after her parents to get “another boy to replace [him]”; Some others tell the family to send back the children if they can’t handle it; There are quite a few prejudice comments about orphans (including someone not wanting to believe a boy is innocent from a crime); Ethan is asked why he and Alice do not call their new parents mom and dad and he says “I kinda feel like they aren’t really being our parents. They’re just keeping us.” (towards the beginning); There’s some sibling bickering and one of the boys comments that “it’s no use trying to tell a girl anything”; A few comments from the hired help for a family complaining about a family adopting (because it will be more work for them); A few mentions of some Indians not liking white folks because of the government pushing them onto the reservations; A mention of the children becoming as “brown as the Indians” due to them playing in the sun.


Sexual Content- Frances is disappointed to find out a young man is already spoken for, but realizes that she was “dreaming to think he would pay special attention to her”; A mention of a teenage girl blushing over an older young man; A mention of a woman remembering of when her daydreams placed her in a “man’s favor”.

-Ethan Cooper, age 9
P.O.V. switches between many different characters
Set in 1908
192 pages

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Pre Teens- Four Stars
New Teens- Three Stars
Early High School Teens- Three Stars
Older High School Teens- Three Stars
My personal Rating- Three Stars

{Could possibly be triggering for adoptees}

I was actually incredibly nervous going into this book because the prior book didn’t set up their new family as the best with comments about the dad being stoic, the mom being flighty, and the daughter being spoiled and bratty (paraphrasing here, but that’s what I recall gathering about them). Thankfully they weren’t too bad, in reality, and there’s character development for the parents. Though my heart wished it had been more of a sweet welcoming for the kids with everything they’ve been through.


Link to review:
https://booksforchristiangirls.blogsp...



*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

[R.A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

(This review was written right after I finished the book, a couple minutes before we left for church, and while I was really tired. Read at your own risk! *winks*)

Third book finished!! It was really good and I enjoyed it! :)

I liked the adventure that the family took. There was definitely a lot of different things to watch out for, or new things to find out about! It was neat!

I'm so happy that Chad and Manda learned to love the kids!

Anyway, it was a good read! Time to read the fourth one - sometime, although I've read it a long time ago before we had the first three! ;)

[Rebekah Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though the start of this story repeats a bit of the last book, it wasn't much. At first I was feeling unsure and sorry for the Cooper children in their new home. But that feeling didn't last. Oh, Simon, what a fun little boy! I had to smile over the families trip to their new home in South Dakota. This is a story I know I'll be sharing with others. (Along with the rest of this series.)

[Karen R · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of faith-filled stories based on a real-life account! Book 3 tells how Ethan and his younger siblings become part of a new family, working hard on a farm in Nebraska, then moving up north to a new adventure in South Dakota.

Written in a straight forward, uncomplicated style, the story of Ethan Cooper and his three young siblings was uplifting, endearing, and inspirational. This collection would be perfect for a family read aloud or homeschool reading list with the discussion questions and suggested activities included at the end of each book. The stories flow well from book to book with a little recap in subsequent books, enough to remind the reader where the story left off. Faith lessons woven into each story illustrate the power of prayer, trusting God in difficult circumstances, knowing each person matters to the Good Shepherd and that He cares about the details of each person's life. I enjoyed reading the history also at the end of each book, which told what really occurred in their lives.

Recommend for all ages, especially families looking for good historically based stories with faith elements. Fans of the Grandma's Attic series will enjoy this one as well!

(Book series provided by NetGalley and David C Cook Publications in exchange for my honest review.)

[Jossie Solheim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm feeling a little sad as I write this, as if I've just left behind a group of fond friends after a long and enjoyable journey together, and I guess in a way I have.

Two days ago, NetGalley gifted me all four books in the "Beyond the Orphan Train Series" by Arleta Richardson, in return for an honest review.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I first received these books, I guess a part of me expected to cringe my way through them because the description likened them to the Little House on the Prairie, which I've always found to be a bit corny and though at times these books could indeed be that way, they still managed to absorb me completely.

The four books in the series are called, Looking for home, Whistle-Stop West, Prairie Homestead and Across the border.

All four of the books follow the story of the Cooper family which is comprised of Ethan and his younger siblings Alice, Simon and Will.

We meet the children not long after their mothers death as they are setting off on the first journey of their young lives, to a Christian orphanage.

What's great about these books, is that they came about because of the remembering of a real person, which means the majority of the happenings within its pages, really took place. Which only helps to further endear you to the characters and the amazing experiences they lived through in their younger years.

Not only that, but you get an interesting glimpse into American History that includes the little known ophan trains that transported thousands of children to Midwestern farm homes and small communities between 1854 and 1929.

As I read these books I found myself falling in love with not only the main characters but many of the bit players too and wishing that I could travel with all the children as they disembarked from the train and into the arms of their new families. So much so, that I was often holding back tears as I watched characters that I'd become attached to walk out of the story for good.

This was made even more poignant, by the thought, that many of them may have actually been real children, whose ancestors might still be alive today.

Oh how I'd love to be able to track those relatives down and discover what became of each and every child on that train, and that's the main problem with these books, the desire for them never to end.

These books; however, are not for everyone. Written in a simple fashion, no doubt due to their target audience being children, there were times when I felt as if issues resolved themselves a little too quickly and dare I say it unrealistically. This was probably in an attempt to hold children's attention, but after, what could be fairly long build up, at times, these quick endings left me feeling a little cheated. On top of that, there were times when I felt it would have been nice for the story to divulge a little more detail. Especially in the case of the other children that traveled on the orphan train. That said the stories base in reality probably made this impossible for the author to actually achieve, without adding a lot more fiction.

So who is this book for?

A young audience could definitely gain a lot from these books, not only can they enjoy a heartwarming tale of adventure, but they'll also learn some interesting American history, that could very easily open the door for some extended learning, which is always great for homeschooling mums like myself, that said, I still think there is a lot, adult readers can take away from these books if they approach them with an open mind. I've certainly enjoyed them and am really glad that I've read them.

Something else to remember is that these books are relatively short reads on their own. In fact, I found that reading all of them together, felt like reading just one novel of around 60'000 words.

If you do pick them up, remember to keep some tissues on hand.

originally appeared as a review on my blog, dreaming of publication, you can view it in it's original format at the following link
http://joss-dreamingofpublication.blo...

[Tarissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Orphans' Journey" is one story told in 4 sequential books.
The setting of the books is in the late 1800's, where you meet the Cooper family of 9 siblings, who have no parents. There are too many children to take care of, so 4 of them are sent away to Briarlane Christian Children's Home. This story centers on those 4 kids: Ethan, Alice, Simon, and Will.

Ethan, being the oldest of the four being sent to the orphanage, feels he must be the one to keep his family together. Things get a little crazy & out of hand, as the train is coming to pick up orphans to take them across the country. To add to all the chaos, more challenges are created when bullies appear at the orphanage, and also when the siblings are threatened by being adopted into separate families.
In the Cooper's adventures, they encounter Indians, a dust storm, and meet up with a horrifying bandit. It takes a lot of courage for Ethan to keep track of his other 3 siblings, plus his new friends at the orphanage. He wants to stay with everyone he loves, but decisions have to be made. He finds that looking to God will help him sort his troubles.

In this series, where one book leaves off, the next book continues. It is like reading one big story, divided into 4 books (each of which are approximately 140 pages).
Also, you might recognize the author, Arleta Richardson, writer of the "Grandma's Attic" series.

This was a wonderful series of books. I learned a lot about orphan trains, and other things going on in that time period, etc. I think a lot of kids would definitely enjoy reading these books.

Book One: Looking for Home
Book Two: Whistle-stop West
Book Three: Prairie Homestead
Book Four: Across the Border

[Maureen Timerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this story, Prairie Homestead, the children are settling in to their new family and felling that things might not be so rosy. The only one that is accepted is Will, and the boys had a hard time with this.
As time goes on things change and our little Simon has an adventure of his own, and the family is about to change again.
Seems like the children are settled and then they are on their way to South Dakota, and leaving the home they know in Nebraska. What an interesting and scary lives these children have experienced so far, and what a great way to teach children about the history of our country.
Now there is talk of another move?
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher David C. Cook and was not required to give a positive review.

[reneeNaDaCherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prairie Homstead (Beyond the Orphan 🚆 Book 3)

After riding the Orphan Train for a week, the Cooper children, Ethan, Alice, Simon & 🚼 Will arrive out west in the state of Nebraska. They have been adopted by Chad & Manda Rush, hard working farmers and land owners. Chad is a 👎 nonsense man and he moves his family from NE to a prairie homestead in S. Dakota. And what an adventure they endure.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another interesting book in the orphan train saga. In this book, we learn about the children's experiences with their new family.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Orphan Train story continued. Cool!

[Pamela Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the things I really like about the Orphans' books are how each one is sooooo very different. To me, it's odd to think how people traveled to settle areas when there were not always roads. This one was cool as Native Americans were mentioned.

I bought the audio for this one. The final disc stopped halfway through. Arg.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated learning more of the adoptive parents as they came across as cold and uncaring at the end of the 2nd book. I'm glad Ethan and his siblings had the employees of the family to show them love and help. They need stability but sounds like they'll move again in the final book.

[Amy Hitchman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book, only one more to go. Great story for all ages 😊

[Abigail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!

[Loghann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was also a little boring. I felt bad for Ethan when his adoptive father was hard on him and a little worried when Simon ran away. Other than that, that’s it.

[Donna Kale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reads

[Heidi Matheson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greatly enjoyed following the journey of Ethan and his siblings. Amazing to imagine how life was just a century ago.

[Linea Winter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable wee read.

[Sydney Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite enjoyable.

[Zandri · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice sweet and clean story for younger readers!