The Children's Train by Viola Ardone and Clarissa Botsford

 

Though Mussolini and the fascists have been defeated, the war has devastated Italy, especially the south. Seven-year-old Amerigo lives with his mother Antonietta in Naples, surviving on odd jobs and his wits like the rest of the poor in his neighborhood. But one day, Amerigo learns that a train will take him away from the rubble-strewn streets of the city to spend the winter with a family in the north, where he will be safe and have warm clothes and food to eat.

Together with thousands of other southern children, Amerigo will cross the entire peninsula to a new life. Through his curious, innocent eyes, we see a nation rising from the ashes of war, reborn. As he comes to enjoy his new surroundings and the possibilities for a better future, Amerigo will make the heartbreaking choice to leave his mother and become a member of his adoptive family.

Amerigo’s journey is a moving story of memory, indelible bonds, artistry, and self-exploration, and a soaring examination of what family can truly mean. Ultimately Amerigo comes to understand that sometimes we must give up everything, even a mother's love, to find our destiny.

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As always with a translated book; this is mostly very smooth and neatly done. There are a couple of places where the phrasing hits my ear oddly, but on the whole if I hadn't known this was translated, I wouldn't have realised it.

This book belongs in the same genre as Goodnight Mr Tom and Back Home. Amerigo is not unloved at home, but in his adoptive family he finds people more demonstrative and more able to give him what he needs, both physically and emotionally.

Even allowing for the fact that most of it was narrated by an eight year old boy, I thought that there wasn't a lot of depth in some parts; important things were skimmed over. However, it wasn't anything that put me off or made me want to stop reading, it was just something I noted.

A heart wrenching read. If you don't well up at least once while reading...well, you have better control of your emotions than I do. But I think you will. It's just that kind of read.