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    The Orphan Band of Springdale
    Unavailable
    The Orphan Band of Springdale
    Unavailable
    The Orphan Band of Springdale
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Orphan Band of Springdale

    Written by Anne Nesbet

    Narrated by Kate Rudd

    4.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    With the United States on the verge of World War II, eleven-year-old Gusta is sent from New York City to Maine, where she discovers small-town prejudices—and a huge family secret.

    It's 1941, and tensions are rising in the United States as the Second World War rages in Europe. Eleven-year-old Gusta's life, like the world around her, is about to change. Her father, a foreign-born labor organizer, has had to flee the country, and Gusta has been sent to live in an orphanage run by her grandmother. Nearsighted, snaggletoothed Gusta arrives in Springdale, Maine, lugging her one precious possession: a beloved old French horn, her sole memento of her father. But in a family that's long on troubles and short on money, how can a girl hang on to something so valuable and yet so useless when Gusta's mill-worker uncle needs surgery to fix his mangled hand, with no union to help him pay? Inspired by her mother's fanciful stories, Gusta secretly hopes to find the coin-like "Wish" that her sea-captain grandfather supposedly left hidden somewhere. Meanwhile, even as Gusta gets to know the rambunctious orphans at the home, she feels like an outsider at her new school—and finds herself facing patriotism turned to prejudice, alien registration drives, and a family secret likely to turn the small town upside down.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateApr 10, 2018
    ISBN9781543687491
    Unavailable
    The Orphan Band of Springdale
    Author

    Anne Nesbet

    Anne Nesbet teaches classes on silent films and Russian novels at UC Berkeley. The author of The Cabinet of Earths and A Box of Gargoyles, she lives near San Francisco with her husband, three daughters, and one irrepressible dog.

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    Reviews for The Orphan Band of Springdale

    4.5/5

    28 ratings7 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Not a bad book. Really slow in places. Can be frustrating.
    • 5/5
      1941 is a rough year for Gusta Neubronner’s family. Her mother’s new boarding house doesn’t allow children and her father is on the lam, wanted by the government for union organizing. So Gusta is sent from New York City to stay with her grandmother and aunt, who run a home for orphans in inland Maine. With nothing but a few changes of clothes and the French horn her father taught her to play, Gusta still manages to cause some trouble. She attends school in the small town with her nearby cousin Bess and other colorful characters, gets eyeglasses and a job from a man who trains carrier pigeons, advocates for a union at the local mill, and starts a band.This book started out a little rough – we only spend a page or two in Gusta’s head before she gets separated from her father, and then are almost immediately thrown into several (at this point very confusing) flashbacks and nested stories. But a few chapters in the story evens out to a very touching tale. Based mostly on the life of the author’s mother, all the parts that seem heavy-handed are of course the truest. The attitude of the U.S. government (especially as viewed through the propaganda presented via school) toward the very people that the Nazis were targeting (Jews and anti-fascists) is depressingly relevant. Gusta is just a kid and wants the best for everyone, but lives in fear because of her last name and lack of birth certificate.It’s a sweet historical kids story playing a heavier (more realistic) hand of politics than you usually see, but I appreciated it.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Incredibly culturally relevant to today's world, this tale of America in the days before our entry into World War II is an entertaining, frustrating, and emotionally filling read. Gusta's descriptions about the world before and after she gets her glasses are particularly fine pieces of writing for Nesbet - it is so very easy to see through Gusta's eyes. There are tough topics at play here, but all handled very gently for middle grade readers. A wonderful new book!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Anne Nesbet has a gift for description and showing the world through eleven-year-old Gusta's eyes. If nothing else was excellent about The Orphan Band of Springdale (and a lot is!), I would give high marks just for how much I appreciated the writing. Nesbet very carefully makes sure that the reader only knows what Gusta knows, whether they're details that her poor vision can't make out or more complicated grown-up things that simply take experience to know. Surely the reader might be able to guess, because the clues are there for Gusta, too, and I like that a young person revisiting the book can see how they fit together.The story is about a lot of things, but I think the central themes are just two: xenophobia, and embarking on the transition from child to teenager. This is a novel for middle grade kids, so the second theme is fairly standard, and both themes are reinforced in throughout the book.A third theme, which I really liked seeing, is about worker's rights and fair labor. It is tied into the xenophobia and growing up themes, since it is the reason Gusta's German father, a union organizer and activist, has gone away and it is (unfortunately) a wishful idealism that leads Gusta to begin understanding how capricious and ugly adults can be. I'm happy that she never stops believing that people should be treated fairly, but of course grown-ups don't always like to do that.A motif that plays throughout the story is vision. It's literal: Gusta is extremely myopic, and needs a custom lens prescription, but the 5th grade classroom has a 7 Points Health program where good vision is one of the requirements to be a Patriotic American. She helps the town's oculist with dusting and the accounts to work off the debt. It's also metaphorical: the children of the town write essays on A Vision of America for a contest; the oculist has a hobby of messenger pigeons and is training them to carry tiny cameras; Gusta's great grandfather was a sea captain who built a lighthouse folly in the middle of the Maine woods, far from the ocean.I loved this book and feel that the 1941 setting is highly relevant to children today, but also interesting for being historical fiction. The writing is rich and thoughtful, and the ultimate take-away about keeping hope and working hard to correct injustices is vital for everyone.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This was a wonderful, charming middle school book. The main character is a young girl named Augusta who is sent to live with her grandmother in Maine. Her dad has mysteriously disappeared and is labeled a fugitive and her mom is busy working in New York City.This book deals with war, unions, inequality, Nazi/German suspicion and small town prejudices. There was also a hint of magic in the book. Augusta remembers a story her mom told her about an object her grandfather had hid that granted wishes. Augusta makes some great friends, encounters bullies, feels loss and learns the power of hope.I wish the book was a just a bit shorter for middle school students, but I thought it was also a great read for adults. I received a complimentary book as part of the Library thing Early Reviewers.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This is an amazing book for middle schoolers and adults alike. Augusta's journey and way of seeing the world unfold before her allows everyone to easily make connections with her. She is scared, but brave; intelligent, but humble; confused, but curious. Her experiences during WWII in a small town in Maine allow her to learn more about herself, others, and even the world.Many have talked about the beautiful and well-written story itself. I was especially drawn to the writing and the fresh figurative language throughout the book: "The French horn case between Gusta's knees flung itself from one shin to the other one, as if it couldn't decide which leg needed bruises most.""She crossed the bridge over a dark, cold smear that must have been the mill river. Vague buildings loomed along the road, holding secrets.""It was like entering a forest, coming into that house, and sensing creatures lurking behind every tree. These creatures were whispering and giggling sorts, though. Probably not with very sharp teeth."I highly recommend this engaging book.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      In 1941 in a small town in Maine, prejudice and nonacceptance rears its ugly head. Yet, when it is aimed at a young girl who is trying to adapt to profound changes in her life, it is both heart-breaking and unfathomable. Gusta has recently moved from New York to Springdale to live with her grandmother who runs a home for orphans. Strict, but fair and loving, grandmother Hoopes, guides Gusta. And, with Gusta's father on the run as a fugitive from the law and her mother working feverishly to support them, Gusta arrives alone at her grandmother's house. Her one prized possession, a French horn, comes along with Gusta. There are some, however, who are wary of Gusta's foreign sounding name, her relationship with a fugitive father, and passionate beliefs of worker's rights. Trying her best to right some wrongs, Gusta manages to stir up trouble in the small town. Secrets, once deeply hidden, have become dislodged. Now, Gusta is beside herself with sorrow and repentance as she sees some beloved people hurting from her involvement. The Orphan Band of Springdale is a story of facing prejudice in the most repugnant form. Yet, trying to find all the goodness in life, too. Gusta's love of family and music will come shining through.

      1 person found this helpful