Book Review: Train to Nowhere by Kay Bratt

Reviewed by Tara C.

Mao's Red Guards and this time in China is not something I am familiar with so I learned a lot from reading this novelette. It was like walking into a new world. Mao believed all people should share a kitchen, share everything, share money, share children...good intentions that ended up abused, perhaps? Red Guards or bullies? 

Read this and form your own opinion. Besides giving us a look into history, it also makes one think about how political factions go too far, how power is constantly abused. These kids--in the name of Mao--just sit on a train all the time, free of charge, forcing working people off or elsewhere, as they get free food and shelter. The heroine is being forced to join them for her own protection...but by the end, through a good friend she makes and a nasty twist of events, she realizes that being with her family is preferable--no matter the conditions.

Found what the friend does...a little too implausible and not satisfactorily explained, but this was a solid and informative read. I enjoyed it. Four stars. I bought this on Amazon. This is a Historical YA book, clean in its content except for some violence, and can be shared amongst adults and teenagers alike.