The Train Essay, Research Paper

The Train, by Diane Hoh, is a thrilling book. It has five main characters; Hanna Deaton, Jean Marie Westlake, Lewis Joseph Reed, Kerry Oliver, and Mack Mc. Comber, who all went to Parker High School. Hanna is a not so bright girl with naturally wavy chocolate covered hair and claustrophobic. Jean Marie, on the other hand, is a red head that used to date Mack and is very nice. Lewis, the stick-thin boy, is somewhat wild and obnoxious. He has burnt orange hair, gray eyes and wears glasses. Kerry is a tall yet slender girl with waste long straight black hair.

They five teenagers are going on s fieldtrip to San Francisco. Their mode of transportation is a passenger train. They had planned to take an airplane but the teachers wanted them to see the countryside on the way there. Inside the train was different then they had expected. It was huge blue and silver. The coaches were well lit with narrow corridors. It seemed very cramped and tiny. The walls were painted gold and black. And the carpet held the same pattern. The caf had many skylights, big red tables with stools, and a red and white-checkered floor.

While riding on the train, Kerry had to go back to her luggage. When she got to the luggage car she had noticed there was a coffin sitting on a long narrow table covered with a floor length black cloth. Getting really scared she ran back to her friend Hanna to tell her about it. Hanna did not believe Kerry so they went back to investigate. Going back to the baggage car, Hanna knew Kerry was telling the truth; there really was a coffin in there. Hanna saw a tag on the coffin and read it. They found out it was a boy who went to their school. The boys name was Fredrick Roger Drummond also know as FROG. Hanna and Kerry ran back to tell Mack and Lewis about Frog s coffin being on board the train. It turns out Mack already knew about the coffin since he helped load it onto the train.

Frog was a boy whom nobody liked. He dies at age seventeen in a car wreck. He was driving real fast one day, spun out of control and hit a wall. His car turned into a blaze of melting metal. After the group talked about how Frog died, they started remembering how they were all mean to him. They all confessed what they did except Hanna.

During the whole ride to San Francisco, strange things have been happening. The lights have been going off and people have been getting hurt. Lolly Slocun, a member of a group who went alone on the ride almost got killed when the train went through a tunnel. The lights went out and when they came back on a handkerchief was found really tight around her neck. Mack was able to loosen it but not in time. Lolly was out of breath and had passed out. A strong person attacked Hanna. It grabbed her from behind and pulled her into the baggage compartment. It let her go, hit her on the back of the head, and stuck her in the coffin. She passed out and woke up with Mack. Next day Lewis got stabbed in the back and Jean Marie came up missing. Later Lewis heard rustling up on the train and saw Jean Marie s body get thrown off the top of the train.

During the end of the story you find out the real truth about the whole thing and who is really doing the mysterious killing on the train. If you want to know who it is then you need to read the book.