GRATEFULLY YOURS

In 1923, Hattie travels on one of the ``orphan trains'' to Nebraska to live with a couple, Henry and Elizabeth, who are still grieving after the death of their son and their daughter's stillbirth. She is not warmly welcomed, but they are not unkind; she is expected to work, but there are classic books to read on Sunday, and she regularly attends school and church. Some of the others from the orphanage haven't been as fortunate, but Hattie still finds it difficult to be grateful for her cold new home. In her first book, with neither melodrama nor pathos, Buchanan makes Hattie's story gently compelling, as is the path of Henry and Elizabeth's coming to terms with their grief. From the hardscrabble, no-nonsense tone, readers will infer that these are tough people living difficult lives, and while the topic of orphan trains has been overused of late, Buchanan's lean treatment is all her own. (Fiction. 8-12)