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Forgetting Tabitha: The Story of an Orphan Train Rider by Julie Dewey & Giveaway (Open Int’l)

by

Forgetting Tabitha

Forgetting Tabitha: The Story of an Orphan Train Rider by Julie Dewey is an emotional and realistically told story of the lives of children who boarded the orphan trains bound for new homes. I have read about orphan trains before but that didn’t make the impact of reading of them again any less horrific for me. The thought of all of these poor children without homes just broke my heart.

Tabitha starts out her life happy growing up on a farm with her mom and dad. That is, until her father dies. Tabitha and her mother move to the Five Points District in New York City. Needless to say this is no place for a young girl to grow up with the brothels, thieves, and more. Yet Tabitha is happy enough as long as she has her mom even though they struggle just to survive on a day to day basis. When her mother becomes ill and dies, Tabitha is left alone on the streets of New York stealing in order to have food to eat.

It is there on the streets that the Sister of Charity work to find the homeless and destitute children and send them off on orphan trains to hopefully find homes. This is where Tabitha ends up, alone and scared. She was instructed, as were the other children, to forget her past entirely- her name, religion, and family. They were given new identities and Tabitha became Mary. The trains stopped at various towns and the children were paraded like farm animals to be chosen by families – some looking for kids to love but more often than not looking for kids to work on their farms in exchange for room and board. As Tabitha is ten years old she isn’t the prime age for families to pick her but eventually she is chosen and that is where her story really begins.

The novel has several other characters other than Mary who I thought was brave, strong, and independent. She wanted a better life but never wanted to forget where she came from. My interest in the story was the orphan trains and the lives of the children afterwards. Not all these children end up in good living environments. The author writes this novel in a blunt and real way, much like I imagine the way life was at the time. Just a note that there are some graphic scenes which may bother some people. Ultimately Forgetting Tabitha is a story of courage and hope; one worth reading!

Forgetting Tabitha by Julie Dewey is on tour with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours so be sure to check out the other tour stops.  You can connect with Julie on her website and Facebook and you can purchase your own copy of Forgetting Tabitha at Amazon and Amazon Canada.

Forgetting Tabitha_Tour Banner_FINAL

GIVEAWAY DETAILS (Open Internationally)

I have one copy of Forgetting Tabitha by Julie Dewey up for giveaway and best of all it’s open Internationally!  To enter…

  • Leave a comment for 1 entry into the giveaway.
  • Tweet, share on Facebook, or blog for 2 extra entries.

This giveaway is open Internationally and I will draw for the winner on October 23/13.  Good luck!

 

Source:  Review copy provided by the publisher.  No compensation was received for this review and all opinions are my own.

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Comments

  1. I had learned about the orphan trains in a couple of books I’ve read over the last year (The Chaperone, Orphan Train), and was compelled by the stories! On one hand, these kids would not have thrived in the environment they were in in NYC, and I know that the adults meant well. But OMG some of the places these kids ended up were no better! It is an incredible and heartbreaking piece of our history that was forgotten.

  2. Fort Worth is the end of one of the lines for those orphan trains and a children’s home was opened by Edna Gladney here. A film was made about it staring Greer Garson – Blossoms in the Dust. It is now an adoption home where young mother’s can stay until their baby is born.
    This sounds like an intriguing story.
    Some of the stories are similar to those children who although they had parents were sent to the country to live and out of the bombing in London during WWII.
    Ann

  3. Your wonderful review of this novel makes the book come alive. The story is sad but true and I would find the book fascinating and compelling reading.

  5. Wonderful review. I love learning about things through out history that we never knew happened or just never learned. This is wonderful.
    Would love to win. Thank you

    I did share on Face book and tweeted it.

  7. This sounds like a very emotional read. Thanks for the review. I would like to find out more about Tabitha and her new family. Thanks too for this giveaway.

  8. I have never heard of the orphan trains and I would love to read this story to find out more.

  13. I have been wanting to read about the Orphans train for long. I have already about the Homes for the Friendless during the Great Depression. My father’s family split up and he had to go live with his aunt. So his family was so spread out amoung relatives but at least they could get together occaisonally.

    CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com

  18. A fascinating/chilling/sad event in our history similar to London during the war. Would love to read.

  21. Thank you for reviewing the book – I’ve not heard of this one so I’ll have to check it out.
    From your description, I see one main error with the book. The Sisters of Charity actually sent children to predetermined homes while the Children’s Aid Society sent them out in the style described. Though the two agencies had similar missions with these trains, they were separate operations during the time period and it is only in modern times that we have grouped them together and dubbed them the ‘Orphan Trains.’ If anyone would like more information, I would highly encourage you to check out the ‘History’ section of our website: http://orphantraindepot.org/history/

    Amanda Wahlmeier
    Curator, National Orphan Train Complex

  27. Thank you for hosting this giveaway. The book sounds very touching. I’ll share this in my blog’s sidebar.

    suko95(at)gmail(dot)com

  28. This is the first I have heard of the orphan trains. Fascinating & quite chilling in a way.

  32. Please put my name in for a chance to win this book. I really, really do want to read it. Felt so sorry for these children and what they went through. Will Tabitha find a good home? I need to know. I also shared this on my Facebook page to try and get others to check it out. Please give me two chances. Maxie mac262(at)me(dot)com

  35. Sounds like an interesting book. Would love a chance to win and read it. Thank you.
    kmgervais(at)nycap(dot)rr(dot)com

  38. i have read one story about orphan trains, I believe it was the America series? I would love to read this book. Thank you for the review.

  40. Forgetting Tabitha: The Story of an Orphan Train Rider by Julie Dewey & Giveaway (Open Int’l)
    I tweeted
    Having a personal story about the Orphan Train will make it that much more real for me.

  42. Sounds like a very touching and interesting story. I would love to read it. Thanks for having the giveaway.

    ayancey1974(at)gmail(dot)com

  47. I really, really would love to read this book. I am adding this to my wish list. Thank you for posting this book and the giveaway.

    msbookwormlady(at)aol(dot)com