On the Blue Comet

The illustrations go beautifully with this hefty story. Looking at them you feel as if you are in the 1930s. My mom has a book from her childhood with pictures just like this. Oscar's simple life is tragic but pleasant as he and his dad live a child's dream in their world of Lionel trains. Then the crash, loss of a job, left to live with an aunt, etc. The story kinda drags until he ends up in California with Dutch (a famous actor.) I am glad I stuck with the story because it had a good ending. I think all the references to history and well known financial folks: Morgan, Rockefeller, Merrel and Lynch and actors such as Joan Crawford will have no significance to a ten-year-old, but it was good to give it historical footing. I would recommend this time traveling historical fiction to upper 4th and 5th graders with an explanation about train sets and perhaps a Internet search of the model trains ahead of time.