Christina baker klines novel orphan train has ridden the new york times bestseller list for the past 15 weeks, becoming a favorite of book clubs across the country. Instant downloads of all 1297 litchart pdfs including orphan train. After finding articles online from the new york times and other newspapers, i read hundreds of firstperson testimonials from train riders, orphan train. Books similar to orphan train meet your next favorite book. A highly theatrical story, moving, amusing, and always tellingly human of nine orphans on an orphan train that left new york city on may 28, 1914, and traveled to midwes. Orphan train by christina baker kline i remember at the age of 10 or so reading a novel about the late19th and early 20thcentury orphan trains, which took children and babies from east coast slums and brought them to the midwest, where they were given an opportunity for a potentially prosperous new life in the fresh rural air. Belonging and connection molly ayer and vivian daly, two women born in different places and eras and who were orphaned as young children, both. The orphan train movement was a supervised welfare program that transported orphaned and homeless children from crowded eastern cities of the united states to foster homes located largely in rural areas of the midwest. Moving between contemporary maine and depressionera minnesota, orphan train is a powerful novel of upheaval and resilience, of second chances, and unexpected friendship. Historical fiction books national orphan train complex.
The orphan train is a wellwritten and compelling story that is difficult to put down once you. What sort of research did you do for the book, and did you interview people who were connected to the train. Niamh pronounced neev was an irish immigrant girl sent on an orphan train from new york city to minnesota in the late 1920s. If you start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nineyearold boy. I wandered alone, i was abused, but i did, you know, meet the love of.
It is our fervent hope that each of you will find a path out of the depravity of your early lives. You mention rootlessness being a major theme of the book, which seems a result or. The storyline is a little disjointed and scattered. The milwaukee train, 1929 milwaukee road depot, minneapolis, 1929 albans, minnesota, 1929. I thought it would be more about the orphan train, like the book orphan train, and its not.
From abusive homes to reabandonment, life has been cruel to these siblings. The narrative will make you smile, laugh and occasionally it will give you a lump in the throat as james recounts his life and sorrows while growing up on a ranch in missouri in the early 20th century. Find books like the orphan train from the worlds largest community of readers. When they finally reunite, they hatch a plan to stop a. What to read next if you liked prince lestat, orphan train, the. If youve recently finished anne rices prince lestat, christina baker klines orphan train. Vivians story is the subject of the book, the orphan train. Who is the representative from the childrens aid society that comes to take vivian from the brynes. If you are the publisher or author of this book and feel that the. Orphan train a novel christina baker kline between 1854 and 1929.
Teach your students to analyze literature like litcharts does. Other chapters flash back to the period from 1929 through world war ii. Jody hedlunds orphan train series provides a riveting look at the orphan train movement with an awakenedheart free e book and with you always are now available from bethany house publishers. In three sentences, how would you describe your book. The orphan trains operated between 1854 and 1929, relocating about 200,000 orphaned, abandoned, abused, or homeless children. In orphan train, who is the first seamstress that mrs. She was deposited with the byrnes, who wanted only child labor in a dressmaking enterprise. Buy a cheap copy of orphan train book by christina baker kline. The orphan train by christina baker kline questions. Stephanie from ottawa, ontario, canada orphan train was very good and interesting. Life of orphan children has improved nowadays, but the trauma of foster homes and foster. From the cover until the last page, the story just pulled me in. It is also estimated that around 2 million people are descendents of an orphan train rider. Christina baker klines new release, a piece of the world, arrives february 21.
These questions about the novel can help foster discussion in your group. Orphan train symbols from litcharts the creators of. After tragedy, young girl shipped west on orphan train. Orphan train tells what the lives of orphans may have been like back then.
Orphan train tells what the lives of orphans may have been like back then, plus what a childs life in the foster system may be like now. Orphan train was a mix of favorite childhood books of mine such as anne of green gables, heidi, and understood betsy, and ms. Instant downloads of all 1296 litchart pdfs including orphan train. After reading something wonderful, nearly everything pales in comparison. Chosen as a one book, one read by hundreds of communities and campuses a finalist for a goodreads choice award, orphan train was included on. Later, as more money became available, the riders were able to ride in better cars. Orphan train is a wonderful novel filled with comparisons of molly and vivian. I had orphan train on my to be read list but never got around to reading the novel. The orphan train has several threads for book clubs to discuss. Litcharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in orphan train, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. The orphan train that brought kids around the country. Zoe, and drewboard an orphan train in upstate new york, and are each adopted to separate families. Perhaps half a million children, like teresa, were plucked from orphanages and shipped.
Some of he first were little better than cattle cars with seats and makeshift bathroom facilities. But upstanding, traditional cora has her own private reason for making the trip. Tell me something true orphan train is so beautifully written, and the characters are inspiring. The orphan train community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you.
Orphan train will hold you in its grip as their fascinating tales unfold. Molly ayer is living with ralph and dina in their home in spruce harbor, maine. At the beginning of the book, how old does vivian say she is. What message would you like your readers to take away from orphan train. Orphan train riders, from the riders on the orphan train multimedia performance at union depot in st. Though they vow to reunite soon, tragedy strikes before they meet again. Cathy marie buchanan, nyt bestselling author of the day the falls stood still and the painted girls i loved this book. Goodreads members who liked orphan train also liked. Getting to know the characters in each book of the orphan train series and watch their journeys and be pulled into the stories filled with tenderness, warmth and not knowing how things will work out. Orphan train is a young adult historical fiction novel about the relationship between seventeen yearold molly ayer and ninetyone yearold vivian daly who, as the result of spending time together and sharing their experiences, form a bond, learn from each other, and change in significant ways. Today, we welcome christina to the blog to discuss her experience with book clubs and the three most common questions that clubs have asked her about the novel. The relationship between molly and vivian felt like a rather clunky device. If you would like to read more about the orphan trains, here are a few excellent books.
Orphan train by christina baker kline, paperback barnes. There is misuse of the words totoo, and several runon sentences, and grammatical errors. The orphan train by christina baker kline moves back and forth between two stories that of a young orphan girl in the early twentieth century and that of a teenager in the modernday foster care system. The year is 2011 and molly is in trouble with the law. If you were astounded by the unlikely true story of a lifechanging friendship in same kind of different as. And with firm guidance and hard work transform into respectable citizens who can pull your weight in society. The orphan train experience national orphan train complex. If you ve recently finished anne rices prince lestat, christina baker klines orphan train, james dashners the maze runner, donna tartts the goldfinch, or veronica roths divergent, you might find yourself in that position. At age nine her family was killed in a tenement fire. Theres only one bad thing about reading a great bookfinding an equally great book can seem impossible. She had emigrated from ireland with her family as a young girl. Christina baker klines orphan train is an unforgettable story of friendship and second chances that highlights a littleknown but historically significant movement in americas pastand it includes a special ps section for book clubs featuring insights, interviews, and more penobscot indian molly ayer is close to aging out out of the foster care.
Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on litcharts. Vivians journey west was aboard an orphan train, a bit of misguided 1900sera social engineering moving homeless, destitute city children, mostly immigrants, into midwest families. Monica wood, new england bestselling author of when we were the kennedys. Orphan train is a book set in both the present day and the late 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Find books like orphan train from the worlds largest community of readers. What it was like to ride the orphan trains depends upon when you rode them. I really enjoyed the book and will recommend it to our library patrons when it is. Set at the beginning of the 20th century, the orphan train is the story of two children who meet on one of the infamous trains. Below, our suggestions for keeping that reading streak going strong. Once she sets her hook and starts reeling you in, struggle becomes counterproductive. Oct 9, 2018 from 1854 to 1929, approximately 250,000 orphaned, abandoned, or homeless children from crowed eastern cities were placed in new homes, mostly in the midwest.
If you like orphan train you might like similar books the invention of wings, the nightingale, the kitchen house, lilac girls, the light between oceans. At the same time, the book is the 2011 story of molly, a highschool teen getting ready to age out of foster care in new england. One is a seventeen years old living in foster care. More than 200,000 homeless children were sent west on the trains. And is there the possibility to love and live again after trauma. Come all you broken hearted come and lay your burden down come kings and queens, come royalty surrender up your crown come empty handed, come with nothing. The orphan train started out as a humanitarian endeavor to pluck children out of the slums and off of the streets and send them to good homes in the midwest. One of the books protagonists, an irish orphan, is packed onto a train. We gave the readers a series of questions to gauge their reactions to the book. What to read next if you liked prince lestat, orphan train. After tragedy, young girl shipped west on orphan train christina baker klines new novel incorporates a true piece of american history.