The Boxcar Children #1 by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Source: I got this through PaperBackSwap.com

Availability: Originally published in 1942 so you need to look for the reprints or in used book stores

Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company

I give this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars

Description from Goodreads.com: Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny, four orphaned brothers and sisters, suddenly appear in a small town. No one knows who these young wanderers are or where they have come from. Frightened to live with a grandfather they have never met, the children make a home for themselves in an abandoned red boxcar they discover in the woods. Henry, the oldest, goes to town to earn money and buy food and supplies.
Ambitious and resourceful, the plucky children make a happy life themselves- until Violet gets too sick for her brothers and sister to care for her. Will delight any child who has fantasized about being on his or her own and overcoming every obstacle.

I read this book as a part of my Revisit Your Childhood Favorite Reads Challenge.  I remember loving this book when I first read it in middle school and it was still a fun book to read again.  It was so different reading a children’s/young adult book from back in the 40s.  It was so straight forward, positive and a grand adventure.  It was also funny to read things that were so different from today, like when $1 was a great wage for a young teen or how trusting people were.  If you have not read this one it’s definitely a classic I would recommend trying out.