Orphan Train

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The author of Bird in Hand and The Way Life Should Be delivers her most ambitious and powerful novel to date a captivating story of two very different women who build an unexpected friendship a 91 year old woman with a hidden past as an orphan train rider and the teenage girl whose own troubled adolescence leads her to seek answers to questions no one has ever thought to ask.Nearly eighteen, Molly Ayer knows she has one last chance Just months from aging out of the child welfare system, and close to being kicked out of her foster home, a community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping her out of juvie and worse.Vivian Daly has lived a quiet life on the coast of Maine But in her attic, hidden in trunks, are vestiges of a turbulent past As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly discovers that she and Vivian aren t as different as they seem to be A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by luck and chance.The closer Molly grows to Vivian, the she discovers parallels to her own life A Penobscot Indian, she, too, is an outsider being raised by strangers, and she, too, has unanswered questions about the past As her emotional barriers begin to crumble, Molly discovers that she has the power to help Vivian find answers to mysteries that have haunted her for her entire life answers that will ultimately free them both.Rich in detail and epic in scope, Orphan Train is a powerful novel of upheaval and resilience, of second chances, of unexpected friendship, and of the secrets we carry that keep us from finding out who we are. Best Download Orphan Train [ by ] Christina Baker Kline [ Kindle ePUB or eBook ] – kino-fada.fr As a Midwesterner, I was really interested in this book after hearing it featured on NPR However, it was ruined by a small, and to some, insignificant character and narrative The main narrative about Vivian, an Orphan Train rider, was excellent The second narrative of Molly, a teen foster child, is marred by the way the author, Christina Baker Kline, portrays her oppressive foster mom Dina listens to conservative talk radio, belongs to a fundamentalist Christian church, and has a Guns d As a Midwesterner, I was really interested in this book after hearing it featured on NPR However, it was ruined by a small, and to some, ins...When I was 16 my Great Aunt Pauline told me the saddest true story I asked her about her background, she was of Polish decent in a completely German town in Washington State She told me that when her family came over from Poland her mother had pink eye, and was sent back to Poland to try again She was pregnant and when she got back, she had a child that was not listed on the papers She put the baby in a suitcase to keep the officials at Ellis Island from finding her and separating her again When I was 16 my Great Aunt Pauline told me the saddest true story I asked her about her background, she was of Polish decent in a completely German town in Washington State She told me that when her family came over from Poland her mother had pink eye, and was sent back to Poland to try again She was pregnant and when she got back, she had a child that was not listed on the papers She put the baby in a suitcase to keep the officials at Ellis Island from finding her and separating her again That baby was Pauline They went out west, and her mother died several years later in child birth Pauline remem...In my nightmares I am alone on a train, heading into the wilderness Or in a maze of hay bales Or walking the streets of a big city, gazing at lights in every window, seeing the families inside, none of them mine After my book club chose Orphan Train for our next meet up, I picked up my copy and started reading just a little of the first page to get a feel for what the book would be like I didn t intend to finish it right now, or even read anythan the first page, but I somehow endeIn my nightmares I am alone on a train, heading into the wilderness Or in a maze of hay bales Or walking the streets of a big city, gazing at lights in every window, seeing the families inside, none of them mine After my book club chose Orphan Train for our next meet up, I picked up my copy and started reading just a little of the first page to get a feel for what the book would be like I didn t intend to finish it right now, or even read anythan the first page, but I somehow ended up ...Before I became a foster adoptive parent, I would have ranked this book much higher But it rankled that yet another novel characterizes a foster mom as racist, shrill, emotionally abusive, and selfish Oh, and the foster parents are just in it for the money And of course Molly is just misunderstood, with no serious behavioral problems or alienating qualities Except for a nose ring gasp , and a tendency to steal high brow literature oh my And of course, everyone ends up happy and joyful Before I became a foster adoptive parent, I would have ranked this book much higher But it rankled that yet another novel charac...I find the orphan trains to be an interesting horrifying time in our history I thought this book would give me a deeper understanding of what it was like to be a child enslaved by this plan concocted by the Children s Aid Society Instead, I found this to be a fluffy, shallow story chock full of huge stereotypes Let s see, we have the sexually perverted foster dad, the Goth girl, the upstanding drafted man, the 91 year old lady who hoarded her life in the attic Each character was painted with I find the orphan trains to be an interesting horrifying time in our history I thought this book would give me a deeper understanding of what it was like to be a child enslaved by this plan concocted by the Children s Aid Society Instead, I found this to be a fluffy, shallow story chock full of huge stereotypes Let s see, we have the sexually perverted foster dad, the Goth girl, the upstanding drafted man, the 91 year old lady who hoarded her life in the attic Each character was painted with broad strokes that created no space for this reader to wonder or develop compassion The two narratives did not work for me at all Although it was very easy to keep the stories straight, neither story was compelling Both story ...The real truth behind this wonderful story is actually quite awful in magnitude Between 1854 and 1929,than 200,00 homeless, orphaned or abandoned children were sent to the Midwest ostensibly for adoption but oftenbecame indentured servitude, to people who wanted a worker rather than a child It is a little known fact of America s history and one I knew nothing about I love it when an author sends me hurrying to Google in order to learnabout certain facts I ve learned from t The real truth behind this wonderful story is actually quite awful in magnitude Between 1854 and 1929,than 2...I was going to say this book reads like a YA novel, but then I realized that is an insult to some really well written YA novels The Giver, To Kill a Mockingbird, Flowers for Algernon Like many other readers, I thought the book had potential with a very interesting subject orphan trains , but the writing was amateurish, with incredibly stereotypical characters, a predictable plot and way too much sentimentality I doubted throughout the book that the author had any firsthand experience with I was going to say this book reads like a YA novel, but then I realized that is an insult to some really well written YA novels The Giver, To Kill a Mockingbird, Flowers for Algernon Like many other readers, I thought the book had potential with a very interesting subject orphan trains , but the writing was amateurish, with incredibly st...From what I can tell, this book is not classified primarily as a young adult novel It definitely should be The writing style is very simplistic and elementary, which is fine for a YA book I was just expecting something a littleadult in terms of the writing style.That said, I think the subject of the book is very interesting I found Vivian Niamh s story fascinating, and I learned a lot about something in our country s history I knew nothing about The ending was a little too neat and co From what I can tell, this book is not classified primarily as a young adult novel It definitely should be The writing style is very simplistic and elementary, which is fine for a YA book I was just expecting something a littleadult in terms of the writing style.That said, I think the subject of the book is very interesting I found Vivian Niamh s story fascinating, and I learned a lot about something in our country s history I knew nothing about The ending was a little too neat and contrived, but I can forgive that because the rest of Vivian s story w...4 stars to Christina Baker Kline s Orphan Train It is a beautiful book everything from the story to the imagery Two parallel stories being told about what happens to a young girl when her family life is threatened The elder, a 90 something year old woman remembering her past The younger, a teenager doing community service for the 90 year old They bond They fight The stories nearly become one And perhaps one of them will get to answer the question who am I, really You feel so connect 4 stars to Christina Baker Kline s Orphan Train It is a beautiful book everything from the story to the imagery Two parallel stories being told about what happens to a young girl when her family life is threatened The elder, a 90 something year old woman remembering her past The younger, a teenager doing community service for the 90 year old They bond They fight The stories nearly become one And perhaps one of them will get to answer the question who am I, really You feel so connected to the characters want to help them, feel awful for what happens to children And then at the same time, you recognize yourself in parts of their emotionsAbout MeFor those new to me or my reviews here s the scoop I read A LOT I write A LOT And now I blog A LOT First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress bl...The Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline is a 2013 William Morrow Paperbacks publication I had heard such wonderful things about this book and have wanted to read it for a long time Finally, with the decision to push the pause button on so many review copies and float back into reading for pure pleasure, I found the time to work this one in the TBR pile This is just one of those really awesome stories that weaves historical details within a contemporary setting and enriches the lives of all The Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline is a 2013 William Morrow Paperbacks publication I had heard such wonderful things about this book and have wanted to read it for a long time Finally, with the decision to push the pause button on so many review copies and float back into reading for pure pleasure, I found the time to work this one in the TBR pile This is just one of those really awesome...

Orphan Train
  • English
  • 07 March 2017
  • Paperback
  • 278 pages
  • 0061950726
  • Christina Baker Kline
  • Orphan Train