Discovery
The Orphan Train Saga, Book 1
By Sherry A. Burton
The Orphan Train Saga, Book 1
By Sherry A. Burton
While most use their summer breaks for pleasure, third grade teacher Cindy Moore is using her summer vacation to tie up some loose ends concerning her grandmother’s estate. When Cindy enters the storage unit that holds her grandmother’s belongings, she is merely looking for items she can sell to recoup some of the rental fees she’s spent paying for the unit.
Instead, what she finds are secrets her grandmother has taken to the grave with her. The more Cindy uncovers, the more she wants to know. Why was her grandmother abandoned by her own mother? Why hadn’t she told Cindy she’d lived in an orphanage? And how come her grandmother never mentioned she’d made history as one of the children who rode the Orphan Trains?
Join Cindy as she uncovers her grandmother’s hidden past and discovers the life that stole her grandmother’s love.
Book Title: Discovery
Series: The Orphan Train Saga, Book 1
Author: Sherry A. Burton
Publication Date: December 25, 2018
Publisher: Dorry Press
Print Length: 229 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
The Inspiration Behind The Orphan Train Saga
By Sherry A. Burton
In the mid-1850s, over 30k children were living on the streets of New York City. Children as young as four and five had to lie, cheat, and steal just to survive. Some of the children were true orphans; others were not. Either way, their situation was dire, and something had to be done. So, between 1855 and 1929, over 250k children from New York and Boston were sent west on what was later referred to as 'the orphan trains' to find new homes. Children most people haven't heard about.
Mr Charles Loring Brace was instrumental in helping the children. Brace helped found the Children's Aid Society, with the soul mission to get the orphans off the street. They took children in although they soon became overwhelmed by the number of children needing their help.
Other institutions followed but were still no match for the cities ever-growing homeless children population. This is where the trains came into play, sending children from birth to eighteen west to less populated areas to help them find new homes.
Notices were sent out, and placing agents rode with the children to oversee their placements. Committees were formed to help decide to whom the children were placed. The committee members were local business owners who knew the people who lived in their communities. While not every placement was a good one, we do know that the majority of children were better off than had they stayed in the city.
My goal with The Orphan Train Saga is to keep the children's memories alive. While the children in my books are fictional, I use real history to tell their tales. I introduce seventeen of the eighteen children in Discovery, book one of The Orphan Train Saga. Discovery tells Mileta's story, and each book after that will tell one of the children's tale. The reader will follow each child from their earliest memory and find out what caused them to be without a home. The reader will journey with the children on the train and follow them to see what life has in store for them.
When I began writing this historical fiction saga, I thought I was writing towards adults. While each book starts with the person's first memory, the children grow up, and there are real-life situations. With that said, the books are void of swearwords, and there is no overly graphic content. Since Discovery's release, December of 2018, I've received e-mails from children as young as nine, letting me know how much they are enjoying this saga and the history that surrounds it. I've received e-mails from decedents of orphan train riders telling me they are reading this with their young children so that the children can learn their family's history. So, now when I'm asked, I just say it's for ages 9 to 99+.
Lastly, while Discovery can be read and enjoyed on its own if you decide to keep reading -which I hope you do- you'll want to read the books in order. Some of the children's lives are so intertwined that a subsequent book will give you a greater understanding of something from a previous book when told from a different perspective.
Sherry A. Burton
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