Stop the Train / McCaughrean, Geraldine / 289 pages

Stop the Train is a historical fiction book ideal for late elementary school to early middle school students.  Based on the Oklahoma Land Rush of the 1890’s, Stop the Train is a fast paced toothy account of what one town and its newly arrived inhabitants did to make land ownership possible. A cast of characters is laid out at the beginning of the book so one can keep track of the land dwellers.  Names like Habakkuk (Kookie) Warboys, Cissy Sissney, and Lloyd Lentz pepper the cast.  Teaching history through a novel, the reader will find out what land squatters are.  Why was train service so important to a parcel of land in an unbeknownst town of Kansas?  Would or would not the train stop in Florence, MO?  The suspenseful plot includes scandal, determination, persistence, manipulation, adventure, sacrifice, bribery, defeat, and lessons learned that have spanned generations.  Even reluctant history readers may find this book appealing.  Historical fiction buffs will want to add it to their collection. Home school teachers may classify this as a “living book.”  Who will turn this book into a movie?  Can’t wait to see it!