Orphan Train in Pick-a-Shelf

Apr 15, 2014 Kathy rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, trains

I have long been interested in the history of the orphan trains, a solution created by Charles Brace and his Children's Aid Society of New York City to the overwhelming number of homeless and/or parent-less children roaming the streets of the city and crowding the orphanages ill suited to give any quality of life. Brace's idea was to "place out" these orphans to people in the western part of the country, which at that time meant the mid-west, so that the children could find loving homes and a cl I have long been interested in the history of the orphan trains, a solution created by Charles Brace and his Children's Aid Society of New York City to the overwhelming number of homeless and/or parent-less children roaming the streets of the city and crowding the orphanages ill suited to give any quality of life. Brace's idea was to "place out" these orphans to people in the western part of the country, which at that time meant the mid-west, so that the children could find loving homes and a cleaner, healthier life. Over 200,000 children were part of the orphan train placements, and it was a mixed bag of results. Some orphans found their happy ending; some experienced a less satisfactory arrangement. In Christina Baker Kline's historical fiction account of an Irish immigrant orphan girl, the experience is one of struggle and survival. From Niamh to Dorothy to Vivian, as her name changes to suit the families with whom she lives, so do the circumstances.

Kline presents two stories in Orphan Train, and, yet, as all good stories do, both present and past have their connection and purpose. The book begins with the story of seventeen-year-old Molly Ayer, a product of the foster care system, whose father died when she was young and whose mother is unavailable. Molly's problems give the reader a less than favorable look at the foster system, but it is entirely a realistic view of how some teens struggle with it and the identity issues with which they must deal. When Molly is faced with doing some community time, her boyfriend comes up with the project of helping his mother's elderly employee clean out her attic. Although not enthusiastic about the idea, Molly approaches the task as doing her 50 hours and getting out. However, she didn't count on ninety-one-year-old Vivian Daly, an orphan train survivor, coming into her life and heart. In the process of sorting through the boxes of Vivian's personal history, both Vivian and Molly discover that beginnings can come at any time in your life, and that sometimes connections transcend age and circumstances.

The book is divided into chapters of the present and the past, with Vivian's recollection of her early days from New York City to Minnesota filling in the pieces of her life before moving to Maine. It's a format that works well for this novel of connections. The convergence of these two kindred spirits in Molly and Vivian gives the reader a story filled with heartbreak and perseverance that will long be remembered. ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Feb 20, 2020 Tien rated it really liked it

Shelves: contemporary, historical-fiction, read-on-kobo

The one annoying thing about time-slip novels, just like multiple POVs novels, is that you get to be impatient about one timeline because you really wanted to get back to the other to find out what happens next!

With Orphan Train, I was even more impatient because I just couldn't care for Molly (the present timeline). I find it hard to read angry teens, tbh, and I've even DNF books for that reason alone. Although, there is angry and there is angry. Molly has got a good reason to be angry but she ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 28, 2013 Tara rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, book-club, 2014-favorites

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 23, 2017 Rachel N. rated it liked it

Shelves: adoption, play-book-tag, maine, minnesota, ireland, historical-fiction, read-in-2017

The story alternates between Molly, a 17 year old in the foster care system in 2012, and Vivian who was a child sent on the orphan train from New York to Minnesota in 1929. I found Vivian's story to be much more compelling than Molly's. I never really felt connected to Molly. I was drawn into the main story but a few things caused me to lower my rating. First the reason Molly is doing community service work at Vivian's house is just silly. It's revealed in the first few pages of the book that Mo ...more

Like · see review

May 13, 2015 Sunflower rated it really liked it

Shelves: e-books, historical-fiction, fiction-read-2015

I'm a sucker for this kind of story: difficult childhood/people torn from their families and made to start again/ losing contact and finding people almost by chance/ supposedly bad people turning out to be good after all, merely misunderstood. This one has all this and is a work of fiction around a real occurrence. Entertaining. ...more

Like · see review