Simon & Schuster
ISBN 0689857306
$15.95 hardcover

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In 1870s small town Nebraska, nothing is easy for young Nathaniel Peale. His leg is crushed in a farming accident, so he can no longer help his father on the farm. Afraid he'll lose their homestead, Mr. Peale adopts a youn boy named John Worth through the Orphan train system. Nataniel feels replaced by this young boy and frustrated because his lost the closeness he had with his father. He also struggles to keep up with kids half his age when he attends school for the first time. John Worth doesn't have it any easier. His family died in a fire in New York City and now he's on a farm in Nebraska with no idea what to do. The boys struggle to find their place in their new family situations. Their struggle comes to a head when talk of a range war starts and they spot the person who's out to heat things up by cutting fences.

... The author convincingly conveys the boys' gradual realization of the value of one another's friendship. Other themes include the importance of reading and education, meeting challenges head on, relying on and playing a responsible role in your community, and recovering from loss. A special strength of the book is the characterization of Nathaniel's mom, whose fierce anger is emotionally balanced by her dedication to her family's well-being. Although she works as a tinker, she lets her husband take credit in deference to the mores of the time. A satisfying piece of historical fiction. —School Library Journal

LaFaye's novel is one of the first to tell the Orphan Train story from the viewpoint of a kid displaced by a newcomer. Even worse than the pain that 11-year-old Nate felt when his leg was crushed in an accident is rejection by his pa, who takes in young John Worth to pick up Nate's work on their small farm. Nate's angry first-person narrative is brutally honest, and, at first, he is bitterly resentful of John, an orphan who lost his family in a New York City tenement fire: "Just 'cause he lost his father didn't mean he had a right to mine." Through Nate's narrative comes a sense of the grueling daily work, the family struggle to try to hold on to the land and avoid failure. In addition, there's some late-nineteenth-century history about the local wars between cattle ranchers (who want grazing land) and farmers (who need room for crops), and in an exciting climax, Nate and John ride together to warn the farmers and prevent the fence-cutters from causing a cattle stampede. Only an awkward metaphor about the Greek myths seems patched on. The short, spare novel doesn't need the heavy heroic parallels; it tells its own story of darkness and courage. A great choice for American history classes. —Hazel Rochman, Booklist