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Gratefully Yours

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Gratefully Yours

Paperback(Reprint)

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Paperback(Reprint)
$9.99

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Overview

In 1933, Hattie is sent to Nebraska after her parents die in a New York tenement fire. Once there, she lives on a farm with Henry and Elizabeth Jansen who are dealing with the deaths of their two children. While Elizabeth has trouble getting out of bed, Hattie feels unwanted and isolated. Together, they try to build a new life and come to terms with their personal losses.

Product Details

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780141303154
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	03/01/1999
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.74(h) x 0.36(d)
Lexile:	660L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

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Editorial Reviews

Gr 3-5--At age nine, Hattie boards an Orphan Train heading out west, hoping that she will be adopted by a family who truly wants a child to love, and not just an extra hand around the house and farm. On arriving in Nebraska, she is taken in by Henry Jansen, who has brought her home without his wife's knowledge. Hattie finds Elizabeth indifferent at best, but tries to understand her bitterness and grief for a son lost to illness that keeps the woman in bed most days. Hattie does her best to adjust to her new life, keeping up with her assigned chores and doing well in school despite the sneers and name calling she must endure, all the while remembering what she has been told over and over since her family died--that she should be grateful. When Hattie almost freezes to death while searching for their pet cat, Elizabeth realizes what the child has come to mean to her and accepts her as part of their family. Hattie finally feels that she has something to be grateful for, especially compared to many of the other children taken in by families in the area. This gentle story with a satisfying, if somewhat abrupt, ending will make a good introduction to this period of American history and to historical fiction in general. Hattie's ability to deal with being completely alone despite her fear of rejection is dealt with realistically, and readers will be as thrilled as Hattie is that she finally finds a home.--Carrie Schadle, New York Public Library

School Library Journal

In 1923, Hattie travels on one of the "orphan trains" to Nebraska to live with a couple, Henry and Elizabeth, who are still grieving after the death of their son and their daughter's stillbirth. She is not warmly welcomed, but they are not unkind; she is expected to work, but there are classic books to read on Sunday, and she regularly attends school and church. Some of the others from the orphanage haven't been as fortunate, but Hattie still finds it difficult to be grateful for her cold new home. In her first book, with neither melodrama nor pathos, Buchanan makes Hattie's story gently compelling, as is the path of Henry and Elizabeth's coming to terms with their grief. From the hardscrabble, no-nonsense tone, readers will infer that these are tough people living difficult lives, and while the topic of orphan trains has been overused of late, Buchanan's lean treatment is all her own.

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