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“Whistle-Stop West” by Arleta Richardson

4 minutes, 39 seconds Read
New Roman”, serif; font-size: 12pt;”>About this book:
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New Roman”, serif; font-size: 12pt;”> “Nine-year-old Ethan Cooper has managed to keep his family together for a year in a Pennsylvania orphanage. Now he and his siblings are boarding a train headed west. He can’t help but worry: Mr. and Mrs. Rush in Nebraska have agreed to adopt all four Cooper children, but what if they change their minds?
New Roman”, serif; font-size: 12pt;”> In the meantime, Ethan and his siblings encounter their first dust storm, explore train cars, and watch friend after friend leave with new parents. The children dream that soon they will have a new ma and pa too.
New Roman”, serif; font-size: 12pt;”> Based on the story of a real family, this second book in the historical Beyond the Orphan Train series reminds us that God never leaves us, no matter how far we journey to find home.”New Roman”, serif; font-size: 12pt;”>
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New Roman”, serif; font-size: 12pt;”>Series: Book #2 in “The Orphans’ Journey” series. Review of Book #1 Here!New Roman”, serif; font-size: 12pt;”>
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New Roman”, serif; font-size: 12pt;”>Spiritual Content- Proverbs 20:7 at the beginning; Scriptures are read, quoted, ; Prayers & Blessings over food; Retelling about events from the Bible; Going to church (once); Talks about God; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; A child says that he doesn’t know Jesus (which the Matron says that they want him to know about Jesus and tells him about Him); Mentions of God, Jesus, & trusting Him; Mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; Mentions of those & events in the Bible; Mentions of prayers, praying, thanking God, & blessings over food; Mentions of churches, church going, services, pastors, sermons, hymns, & Sunday school; Mentions of Christians & a Christian duties; Mentions of a Christian children’s home; A few mentions of a mission society & missions; A couple mentions of spreading the Gospel; A mention of Heaven; A mention of being Blessed; A mention of a man doing “what he thinks the Bible tells him to” (about child rearing and teaching them to obey);
New Roman”, serif; font-size: 12pt;”> *Note: A mention of someone saying a couple doesn’t have children because of the Lord’s blessing as they don’t have a heart between them.
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New Roman”, serif; font-size: 12pt;”>Negative Content- A bit of eye rolling & children bickering; Mentions of deaths, a child falling through a frozen pond, & grief (for a son, all up to semi-detailed); Mentions of a mortician & taking care of the bodies (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of a family dying in a fire (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of (adopted) children being punished (by a new father, because that’s how he was raised (obedience and not sparing the rod being mentioned and someone else saying the new father will make a strong-minded boy feel low); Mentions of gossip & rumors; A couple mentions of smallpox & deaths (a man’s wife and son); A couple mentions of kidnapping; A couple mentions of stealing; A couple mentions of jail & arrests; A mention of a tavern;
New Roman”, serif; font-size: 12pt;”> *Note: There are many prejudice comments about orphans (quite a few mentions of people sending the kids back if it doesn’t work out, replacing a child who has passed away, having them as unpaid servants, called “street kids” and thinking they may have diseases, some saying about not knowing where the kids come from or not wanting to let them into their homes; some of the comments or attitudes are corrected by others); A few comments from the hired help for a family complaining about the daughter of the family (calling her good-for-nothing and not wanting the family to adopt because it will be more work for them); Mentions of some children living on the streets & eating food from the trash or stealing it; Mentions of a wife complaining a lot (& her husband spending a lot of time out in the field because of it); A couple mentions of fighting Indians; A mention of a woman saying that her adopted daughter is “not very pretty” and hopes that she’ll grow out of it.
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New Roman”, serif; font-size: 12pt;”>Sexual Content- N/A.
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New Roman”, serif; font-size: 12pt;”>-Ethan Cooper
New Roman”, serif; font-size: 12pt;”> P.O.V. switches between many different characters
New Roman”, serif; font-size: 12pt;”> Set in 1908
New Roman”, serif; font-size: 12pt;”> 192 pages

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New Roman”, serif; font-size: 12pt;”>Older High School Teens-

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New Roman”, serif; font-size: 12pt;”>My personal Rating-

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New Roman”, serif; font-size: 12pt;”>{Could possibly be triggering for adoptees}

New Roman”, serif; font-size: 12pt;”>I do think this particular book could possibly be trigger or a hard read for adoptees due to all the prejudice comments made from people in different towns the orphan train is coming to. I would say it was about 60/40 on what was said about the children (negative vs kind/compassionate). While it’s easy to note based on the writing that the person is in the wrong (such as their words or actions with their comments being rude or hoity-toity), not all of those comments or thoughts are corrected. Unfortunately, it’s part of history—no matter if it’s hard, uncomfortable, or just plain wrong, it’s something orphans heard during this time (and sometimes nowadays still) and were treated as less than others or as servants. It definitely makes you compare the difference from then to now in how adoptions happen.

New Roman”, serif; font-size: 12pt;”>Because we are many different points of view, including the family that’s supposed to adopt the Cooper kids, there were cute moments and then moments that I felt a bit stressed! Especially towards the ending, and I’ll admit that it didn’t end how I was hoping, but hopefully the next book will make up for that. My jury’s out on the new family.

New Roman”, serif; font-size: 12pt;”>This series has been cute so far and I’m looking forward to continuing it, though, I am concerned about the new family.

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New Roman”, serif; font-size: 12pt;”>See y’all on Friday with a new review!

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*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.

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