Train I Ride - Hardcover

Mosier, Paul

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0062455737 ISBN 13: 9780062455734

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2017

Synopsis

4 starred reviews! "Heartbreaking, hilarious, and life-affirming" (Ami Polonsky, author of Gracefully Grayson and Threads)

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 backpack, memories both happy and sad, and a box containing something very important.

As Rydr meets her fellow passengers and learns their stories, her own story begins to emerge. It’s one of sadness and heartache, and one Rydr would sometimes like to forget.

But as much as Rydr may want to run away from her past, on the train she finds that hope and forgiveness are all around her, and most importantly, within her, if she’s willing to look for it.

From Publishers Weekly Flying Start author Paul Mosier comes a poignant story about a young girl’s travels by train from Los Angeles to Chicago in which she learns along the way that she can find family wherever she is. Perfect for fans of Rebecca Stead and Sharon Creech.

About this title

About the Author

Paul Mosier began writing novels in 2011 but has written in some fashion his entire life. He is married and the father to two daughters, one of whom has passed to the next dimension. He lives near his place of birth in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. He loves listening to baseball on the radio, eating vegetarian food, drinking coffee, and talking nonstop. He has written three critically acclaimed books for middle grade readers: Train I Ride, Echo’s Sister, and Summer and July. Visit him on his blog, novelistpaulmosier.wordpress.com.

Reviews

Gr 4–6—Rydr is Chicago-bound on an Amtrak train from Palm Springs, CA. Leaving her recently deceased grandmother, Rydr travels through the West and Midwest toward an uncertain future with a distant and unknown relative. Rydr is used to making her way through life solo and is still working through her mother's struggle with drugs and subsequent death. Armed with her SpongeBob wristwatch and subsisting on a diet of doughnut holes and veggie burgers, Rydr spends her journey meeting a variety of passengers and avoiding Dorothea, her assigned chaperone. Through her interactions with Carlos, a writer paid by the train company to put pen to paper, and Tenderchunks, a poetry-loving Boy Scout, Rydr finds comfort in words and gains a new outlook on her future. In this debut novel, Mosier gives middle grade readers a character who battles life's challenges with extreme honesty and doesn't sugarcoat her inner battles. VERDICT A tale that will stay with readers long after they reach the final destination. A strong purchase for middle grade collections.—Claire Moore, Darien Library, CT

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0062455737
• ISBN 13: 9780062455734
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192