Fly Little Bird, Fly!: The True Story
of Oliver Nordmark & America's
Orphan Trains
by Donna Nordmark Aviles

    FLY LITTLE BIRD, FLY! by Donna Nordmark Aviles
    Category:  Non-Fiction
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 6+
    Release Date:  2/24/04
    Publisher:  Wasteland Press
    Reviewed by:  Allison Fraclose
    Rating:  4 Stars


    When Oliver Nordmark decided to play hooky from school one day in 1905, he never imagined that his mistake
    would lead to a life-changing event.

    After one week in the Guarish Society Detention Center, he is told that his mother has died and his father is
    nowhere to be found. He and his little brother, Edward, are taken to the New York State Orphanage, and a few
    months later, both board one of the Orphan Trains heading west to be “resettled” with new families.

    Finding himself now in charge of his younger brother, eight-year-old Oliver struggles to keep the two of them
    together. As the brothers try to make their way against dismal odds, they learn that they must rely on nobody but
    themselves.

    Based on the true story of the author’s grandfather and his travels on the Orphan Train in 1906, this story brings
    to life the grim reality that many children faced at the dawn of today’s foster care system.