The Children's Train is a powerful and heartfelt story of hope, finding home and family. Most of the story is told from seven-year-old Amerigo's point of view. Amerigo's voice is rambling, taking in everything as a child would see and understand it. Most interesting were the views of his mother and his home. Antoinetta came off as harsh, but surviving. Amerigo would always say that many things were not her strong point, realizing that his mother did not show affection in typical ways. The story examines Amerigo's views of politics and hospitality versus charity as he became used to life in Northern Italy. I was intrigued as Amerigo begins to see the impact of the decisions adults madee for him and that love can have many different forms. The last third of the book skips to the year 1994 when Amerigo returns to Naples and begins to see the further impact of his mother's decisions. This was the most moving part of the story for me as Amerigo realizes the different paths that his life could have taken.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.