Orphan Train in Nothing But Reading Challenges

Nov 22, 2020 Trisha rated it really liked it

“My entire life has felt like chance. Random moments of loss and connection. This is the first one that feels, instead, like fate.”

This was a surprisingly wonderful story, full of hardship but also perseverance. I'm glad the author chose to show both the good and some the bad that these poor children had probably been exposed to. The story of the Orphan Train was new to me. I hadn't heard of shipping kids off but I guess I can see how, at the time, this organization might have thought it best.

I ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Jul 11, 2015 Jenn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, 2015-finished

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. What a wonderful and emotional read. A book group I'm in chose this book for the July read.
I wasn't aware of these Orphan Trains and knew nothing about them until this book. The way the book describes these Orphan Trains made the children sound more like merchandise rather than human beings. Most children were not chosen to be part of a family but rather as small workers. (ie farm work). The people who chose them could give them a 90 day trial and could return them if they didn't work out. I was What a wonderful and emotional read. A book group I'm in chose this book for the July read.
I wasn't aware of these Orphan Trains and knew nothing about them until this book. The way the book describes these Orphan Trains made the children sound more like merchandise rather than human beings. Most children were not chosen to be part of a family but rather as small workers. (ie farm work). The people who chose them could give them a 90 day trial and could return them if they didn't work out. I was livid at this description. Awful.

This story struck an emotional chord with me, being adopted myself. Poor vivian went through so much at such an early age. I was happy for her when things finally turned around but tragedy keeps happening in her life.

Some key scenes that stood out in my mind is when the child, Carmine, Vivian was taking care of the train gets chosen from her at the first stop. The scene was emotional and I really felt for Vivian but admired her strength.

When Duchy was chosen at the first stop you could tell how it tore both of them up. Even though they had just met on the train they established a relationship. Duchy had figured that he would get chosen only for work purposes.

This passage was full of powerful emotional. It was when Vivian( at the time Dorothy) was being removed from the Byrne's family and going to the Grote's)
"I listen to Mr sorenson and nod politely as he talks, but it's hard to concentrate. I feel myself retreating to someplace deep inside. It is a pitiful kind of childhood, to know that no one lonves you or is taking care of you, to always be on the outside looking in. I feel a decade older than my years. I know too much; I have seen people at their worst, at their most desperate and selfish, and this knowledge makes me wary. So I am learning to pretend, to smile and nod, to display empathy I do no feel. I am learning to pass, to look like everyone else, even though I feel broken inside."
It's such a shame that a young child had to feel like this. She is wise beyond her years due to her unfortunate circumstances in life that she has no control of.

Molly is a 17 year old foster child and also has had a hard life one her father was killed in a car accident and her mother turned wayward. She lives with a foster family. The mother, Dina, does not like Molly and makes life hard for her. Molly is part Indian and the symbolism of beliefs her father instilled in her helps shape her person.

What I love is how Molly and Vivian's life parallel with each other. Both have faced loss, challenges, heartache. While their stories are different they have much in common. It made me glad to see both of them opening up to each other.

The ending was joyous but I felt ended too abruptly. I was shocked when I read that Vivian had a child of Duchy's but she gave it away for adoption. It made me happy to see that she finally chose to look for her and with Molly's help was able to locate her before it was too late. The story just ended at this first meeting. Which wasn't really a meeting but more a glance at each other. I flipped the page hoping just for more.

This book's emtional aspect is what will make this book memorable. ...more

Like · see review

Dec 10, 2013 Neila rated it it was amazing

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It gave me a hopeful feeling, a feeling that things eventually work out as they are supposed to. In this book, a young girl was in foster care. She had been moved around from home to home and felt no one really cared about her. She was to do community service for stealing a book and ended up helping a 90-year-old woman clean out her attic. In the process of going through boxes of what she considered junk, she learned the story of the old woman's life. The old woma ...more

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