Getting on this train had not been my idea. I wanted to go home. But I had no home anymore, except the Little Wanderers' Refuge, and they had sent me away to be sold as a slave... These are the ruminations of Rodzina Clara Jadwiga Anastazya Brodski as she boards the orphan train. Though the orphans have been told they are going west to be adopted by loving families, Rodzina is not convinced. Even if there were such people, why would they want to adopt an overlarge, unpretty, standoffish girl of Polish origin? Besides, Rodzina doesn't need a new family: at twelve she is old enough, and certainly big enough, to take care of herself. But having little choice in the matter, she soon finds herself on the train heading west, leaving behind the only home she has ever known and bringing with her little more than memories of the family she has lost. Rodzina's journey, filled with memorable characters, high humor, and no small amount of grit and grime, is a compelling and unforgettable one -- the orphan-train story as only Karen Cushman could tell it.