Train I Ride

This is a beautifully written book and a brilliantly told story. It’s an extraordinary book and I’m putting it on my favorites shelf.

This is a children’s book about an almost 13 year old girl, narrated by her.I was completely invested in her character and her story and also in the stories/lives of some of the other characters in the book. As an eleven or twelve year old this book would have been lifesaving for me and I’d have loved it at ages nine and ten too.

This would have been a one day/one reading session book except that I started reading very late the evening before the day I finished it.

I cried at the end and felt like crying many times throughout the book. It’s a fantastic book for children ages 9-13. Adult alert: show more sensitive children and young children (under age 11) and the children who could most benefit (with experiences at all similar to the narrator) from reading this story or having it read to them, their adults might want to consider if its power would be helpful or detrimental. I would personally err on the side of recommending this book to most children. It would make a wonderful read aloud, both one to one and with groups.

We eventually learn the girl’s real last name but not her first name and that was fine, even though I wanted to know. I liked how the future is left open ended. I believe that this story is nearly perfectly told. At least I cannot think of anything different that would have improved the book. It is a terribly sad story but one that’s also funny and charming and hopeful and endearing. I love the brief on the train relationships and how meaningful and powerful they are and how they significantly impact everyone involved.

A top notch children’s book that most adults should be able to thoroughly enjoy.

I have positive feelings for trains. I was predisposed to enjoy this book. I loved riding trains when I was young. I rode the California Zephyr several times from Northern California to Chicago and back, a different route than the Southern California to Chicago this girl rides. I also rode other routes. This book inspired me to finally add a “trains” shelf and I don’t know why I hadn’t created a “trains” shelf before now. One of my first ever favorite books was The Little Engine That Could and I’m sure I’ll find plenty of books that belong on my new “trains” shelf.

“The best kind of people are people who feel, and who hold hope in their hearts. Even if it sometimes means being hurt and disappointed. Even if it always means being hurt and disappointed.”

“Lots of things that are worth seeing aren't happy things.” show less

When a book makes me cry and think and consider reading beat poetry (which I hate), I have to give it five stars.

This book is not flawless, but it's beautiful. The writing, the characters, the journey. All beautiful. I hate to hear people say this book is too sad, because I think it's actually a very optimistic book. Rydr is so strong in the face of all she's gone through with her mother's addiction and death, not to mention being cared for by a stern grandmother who then also passes away.

This book is about resilience.

I have high hopes for it come Newbery time.

Absolutely wonderful. As in full of wonder, yes. Takes a few standard tropes of upper MG fiction but totally turns them around: for example this girl actually does like and trust her school counselor. Is simultaneously a fairy tale and perfectly plausible: of course there could be a Boy Scout on the train who carries a copy of [b:Howl and Other Poems|2661333|Howl and Other Poems|Allen Ginsberg|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1203197056l/2661333._SX50_.jpg|2290688].

I need to investigate a hot air balloon in Lamy, NM in 1880. I like the 'talk it out with the girl in the mirror' therapy. And the affirmation that Rydr (we never do learn her real name) has learned, to love herself, know herself, before show more going boy crazy. ("I'm not the bad things that have happened to me. I'm nothing but who I choose to be.") I love Ryder's sense of compassion & fairness, to the old man at Bingo & to the girl selling jewelry. I love that she is reluctant to leave a bad situation, and expresses her mixed feelings by saying that her experience there was "comfortably dreadful." Etc.

I recommend this short book to every reader of MG and YA. And most especially to writers of same... make your story as creative & authentic as this and I'll give you 4 stars, too. (I'm beginning to think that I need to knock a star off a lot of books that I've read.)

4.5 stars rounded down because you won't believe me if I give it five. show less

Anyone with a heart, read this!
A Paul Theroux by a twelve year old girl and a precious coming of age. Lively written. Easily in a good way, every word is meaningful. A smile is never far away. You travel and discover. The train as a set and as a metaphor: changing landscape, a place in between, a safe territory to connect, process and growth. Friendship and more; and the lack of it. You will cry, even if it is only in your heart. It is touching, not sentimental. Closer, Clever, Star

Iedereen met een hart, lees dit!
Een Paul Theroux door een twaalfjarig meisje en een kostbare coming of age. Levendig geschreven. Gemakkelijk op een goede manier, elk zin is betekenisvol. Ook met glimlach. Je reist en ontdekt mee. De trein als decor en als show more metafoor: veranderend landschap, een plek tussenin, een veilig territorium om te verbinden, te verwerken en te groeien. Vriendschap en meer; en het gebrek daaraan. Je gaat huilen, al is het alleen in je hart. Het is ontroerend, niet sentimenteel. Dichter, Slim, Sterk. show less

Following an intense read of Crisis of Character with a wonderful YA book provides a break from trying to process what happened, and what is happening in our country.

I believe Train I Ride will be in the list of one of the top ten books of 2017. This is a story of a young girl, damaged by a life lived harshly because of the mistakes of her mother, grandmother and others along the way. As she tried to stop her mother's drug addiction, sadly, it was too much for her to handle. She landed in a down and out place with her elderly grandmother who did not particularly want her, when her grandmother died, she eventually was given to a distant relative she had never met. As she travels on a train from California to Chicago to meet the relative, show more she has no money in her pocket for food, she somehow comes up with some ingenious ways to get fed.

This is a story of a journey and the people met along the way. As the stories of others merge with the story of her life, she learns that others too are scared and simply trying to make the best of life given the hand dealt.

This is a book of hope. I laughed and cried. Mainly, I grew to have tremendous respect for this spunky, wonderful child/young lady who took a train and found some wonderful souls, who like her, were simply trying to get by one destination at a time.

Four Stars! show less

Rydr is on a train heading east, leaving California, where her gramma can’t take care of her anymore, and traveling to Chicago to live with an unknown relative. She brings with her a suitcase, memories both happy and sad, and a box containing something very important.
As Rydr meets her fellow passengers and learns their stories, her own past begins to emerge. And as much as Rydr may want to forget about her life in California, on the train she finds that maybe her past can help her deal with her present. And maybe hope and forgiveness are all around her and, most important, within her, if she’s willing to look for it.

Rydr is taking an eastbound train from California to Chicago to live with a distant family member. Because she doesn't have a parent or guardian, she is accompanied by a well-meaning, yet uninvolved chaperone. As the train makes its way across the Rockies, the reader will learn that Rydr is a very independent young woman who has had a very unstable childhood. Because of this, she has learned some street smart ways to cope and adapt. Her tough exterior, topped off with dyed green hair, contradict her thoughtful personality. As the journey continues, Rydr befriends a cast of quirky characters working or traveling on the train. Fans of Lynda Mullaly Hunt books will enjoy reading about Rydr and her cross-country adventure.