Arleta Richardson grew up on the shores of Lake Michigan, loving the stories her grandmother told about her childhood on a nineteenth-century farm. In the popular Grandma’s Attic series, Arleta retold those memories, capturing the hearts and imaginations of more than two million readers around the world.
Fascinated by the history of the Orphan Trains, Arleta based her Orphans’ Journey series on the true account of a boy, named Ethan Cooper in the story, who rode the Orphan Train to a new life in 1908. The Orphan Trains operated between 1854 and 1929, relocating about 250,000 orphaned, abandoned, or homeless children.
The themes of Arleta’s books reveal what was most important to her—family and friends, doing the right thing, overcoming fear during hard times, and working hard to see dreams fulfilled. She believed that God has a plan for each of us, and that His love and care will be revealed in His perfect timing.