Orphan Train in Retro Chapter Chicks

Oct 09, 2014 Candi rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction

"They call this an orphan train, children, and you are lucky to be on it. You are leaving behind an evil place, full of ignorance, poverty, and vice, for the nobility of country life."

This was a very interesting story about a piece of American history that was previously unknown to me. According to the author, between the years 1854 and 1929, two-hundred thousand orphaned or abandoned children were transported from the East coast to the Midwest on these so-called orphan trains. They were suppose "They call this an orphan train, children, and you are lucky to be on it. You are leaving behind an evil place, full of ignorance, poverty, and vice, for the nobility of country life."

This was a very interesting story about a piece of American history that was previously unknown to me. According to the author, between the years 1854 and 1929, two-hundred thousand orphaned or abandoned children were transported from the East coast to the Midwest on these so-called orphan trains. They were supposedly sent there to find loving homes and a sense of security that the system felt would be best for them; but in reality, the outcomes were quite questionable and the futures of these children were very uncertain. This story is about one of those children, Niamh, as told through the eyes of her older self - Vivian, a name she was given once eventually adopted by a caring couple. Before this adoption, however, Niamh's story was anything but sweet and untroubled. We learn about her harsh life as the 91-year old Vivian relates the details to a modern day teen and foster home drifter named Molly. Molly has been assigned to community service due to a minor transgression and is given the task of assisting Vivian with cleaning out her attic. As Molly and Vivian sort through a lifetime of belongings, their two stories are brought to life and Molly is able to see the similarities between her own life and Vivian's past life. The book alternates between the voices of these two that have more in common than initially meets the eye.

The voice of Molly appealed to me less than that of Niamh, or Vivian. Full of teen angst, which was quite understandable, Molly's character was not as well developed. "… it kind of feels nice to nurture her resentment, to foster it. It's something she can savor and control, this feeling of having been wronged by the world." Eventually we do get to see another side of her, but I would have liked a bit more - particularly at the end of the novel. Molly's Penobscot Indian heritage was only lightly touched upon, and further delving into this historical aspect would have appealed to me. There is a twist to the story that I found to be a bit unbelievable, given the circumstances, but I can't say more here without giving away too much. Needless to say, this did bring the book down from 5 stars. However, the Orphan Train still held my interest throughout, so I have rated it a solid 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. I would recommend this to readers of historical fiction, or even those interested in a young adult sort of story, as the portion with Molly often felt that way to me personally.

I have to throw in another favorite quote: "Vivian has come back to the idea that the people who matter in our lives stay with us, haunting our most ordinary moments. They're with us in the grocery store, as we turn a corner, chat with a friend. They rise up through the pavement; we absorb them through our soles. So very true.
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May 12, 2014 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own

I just fell in love with Vivian. All of the things she went through in her lifetime. From leaving Ireland to find a better place in America, which didn't turn out until she was older. The horrors she had to go through being picked from the Orphan Train. I didn't even know they had these, but it doesn't surprise me in this world.

I love how Vivian and Molly meet and become kindred spirits of a sort. I am also glad that Vivian, which wasn't her name to start, ended up with a good life and lived to ...more

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Nov 03, 2013 Book Concierge rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, new-york, survival, racism, abuse, library, social-commentary, concierge, strong-women

3.5***

Seventeen-year-old Molly Ayer is a troubled teen in foster care, who has to perform 50 hours of community service helping an elderly widow clean her attic in order to avoid going to “juvie.” The two couldn’t be more different. Molly is a Penobscot Indian who has never left Maine, dresses in “Goth” attire and can fit all her belongings in two duffel bags. Vivian Daly is a wealthy, ninety-year-old woman who has traveled and is now living in a large Victorian mansion. But as they get to know 3.5***

Seventeen-year-old Molly Ayer is a troubled teen in foster care, who has to perform 50 hours of community service helping an elderly widow clean her attic in order to avoid going to “juvie.” The two couldn’t be more different. Molly is a Penobscot Indian who has never left Maine, dresses in “Goth” attire and can fit all her belongings in two duffel bags. Vivian Daly is a wealthy, ninety-year-old woman who has traveled and is now living in a large Victorian mansion. But as they get to know one another they begin to recognize that they are more similar than different. As Molly unpacks the boxes, Vivian begins to reveal her history. Orphaned as a child in New York City, Vivian was sent out with hundreds of other children on a train bound for the Midwest and with the hope they would find adoptive families. The reality of their situations was frequently very different from the hoped-for outcomes.

This was a captivating novel made richer, I think, by using two time-lines, allowing the reader to compare and contrast the stories of these two women. At heart it is about the need to belong – to a family and to a community – and how opening one’s heart to making those connections results in a richer life. Molly is at the beginning of her life’s journey and in a few months she will age out of the foster care system and be on her own. She’s an astute observer and she learns much from Vivian’s story. Guarded and abrasive at the beginning of the novel, Molly comes to realize that her own attitude and behavior more than other people’s perceptions or expectations will be what shapes her future.

Kline effectively uses Molly’s Native American heritage in exploring one of the central issues. Her American History teacher assigns the students a project based on the concept of “portaging.” In Women of the Dawn, a nonfiction book, Bunny McBride writes: “In portaging from one river to another, Wabanakis had to carry their canoes and all other possessions. Everyone knew the value of traveling light and understood that it required leaving some things behind. Nothing encumbered movement more than fear, which was often the most difficult burden to surrender.” It certainly makes me reconsider all the “stuff” I have in storage and recognize that letting go of those clippings, etc will not erase the memory of those events.

The novel also shines a light on a relatively unknown episode in American history. My edition of the novel included historical notes at the back on the real orphan trains that, from 1854 to 1929, sent some 200,000 orphaned, abandoned or homeless children from the cities of the East to the Midwest for “adoption,” which frequently turned out to be indentured servitude.
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Jul 21, 2014 Kris (My Novelesque Life) rated it liked it

ORPHAN TRAIN
Written by Christine Baker Kline
2013; William Morrow (278 Pages)
Genre:fiction, history, historical fiction, contemporary, orphans

RATING: ★★★

"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 M ORPHAN TRAIN
Written by Christine Baker Kline
2013; William Morrow (278 Pages)
Genre:fiction, history, historical fiction, contemporary, orphans

RATING: ★★★

"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 more 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." (From Publisher)

First of all, I am probably in the minority when I say that this was just an okay read. I have heard of orphan trains from my history class in university, so I was really looking forward to this book. Actually, I am the one that suggested it to my book club because I had heard good things. I do want to read more on this subject - whether fiction or nonfiction - in the future. The best moment in the book was when Baker Kline described the orphans and the process they had to go through.

I never really related to Molly as one of the main character so that may have been one of the reasons the book didn't work for me. I also felt like we never really got to know Vivian - just a moment in her life. We rushed through her teens and early adulthood and got a smidge about her later life. I always felt a little on the outside - as if I was hearing this account third-hand. By 75% I was just reading to finish the book for book club. BUT people love this book so I will leave it up to you, as usual :)

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Apr 09, 2013 Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Schu rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, favorites

I enjoyed the story of Vivian's life & look forward to a few non fiction reads about the orphan trains. ...more

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Jan 07, 2014 Lory Sakay rated it liked it

I liked the story but didn't love it. I always enjoy back story and history but the way this one was written didn't absorb me into their world. I'm also still digesting the connection between the primary characters in the novel, everything seemed to flow too easily. My last book read, prior to this one, was The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult and both themes/presentations have a lot of parallels yet Picoult's writing drew me in much more. Orphan Train...Yeah it was okay. ...more

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