Orphan train girl : the young readers' edition of Orphan train

Molly Ayer has been in foster care since she was eight years old. Most of the time, Molly knows it's her attitude that's the problem, but after being shipped from one family to another, she's had her fair share of adults treating her like an inconvenience. So when Molly's forced to help an elderly woman clean out her attic for community service, Molly is wary. Just another adult to treat her like a troublemaker. But from the very moment they meet, Molly realizes that Vivian, a well-off ninety-one-year-old, isn't like any of the adults she's encountered before. Vivian asks Molly questions about her life and actually listens when Molly responds. Molly soon sees they have more in common than she thought. Vivian was once an orphan, too -- an Irish immigrant to New York City who was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children -- and she can understand, better than anyone else, the emotional binds that have been making Molly's life so hard. Together, they not only clear boxes of past mementos from Vivian's attic, but forge a path of friendship, forgiveness, and new beginnings for their future.

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Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Bayport Public Library	J FICTION KLI	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Park Grove Library (Cottage Grove)	J FICTION KLI	Searching... Unknown
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	J FICTION KLI	Searching... Unknown
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	J FICTION KLI	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

This young readers' edition of Christina Baker Kline's #1 New York Times bestselling novel Orphan Train follows a twelve-year-old foster girl who forms an unlikely bond with a ninety-one-year-old woman.

Adapted and condensed for a young audience, Orphan Train Girl includes an author's note and archival photos from the orphan train era. This book is especially perfect for mother/daughter reading groups.

But from the moment they meet, Molly realizes that Vivian isn't like any of the adults she's encountered before. Vivian asks Molly questions about her life and actually listens to the answers.

Soon Molly sees they have more in common than she thought. Vivian was once an orphan, too--an Irish immigrant to New York City who was put on a so-called "orphan train" to the Midwest with hundreds of other children--and she can understand, better than anyone else, the emotional binds that have been making Molly's life so hard.

Together, they not only clear boxes of past mementos from Vivian's attic, but forge a path of friendship, forgiveness, and new beginnings.

Author Notes

Christina Baker Kline was born in 1964 in Cambridge, England. She received a BA in English from Yale University, a MA in literature from Cambridge University, and a MFA from the University of Virginia. Her essays and articles have appeared in several periodicals including The San Francisco Chronicle, the Literarian, Coastal Living, More, and Psychology Today. Kline served as Writer-in-Residence at Fordham University from 2007 to 2011, where she taught graduate and undergraduate creative writing and literature. She also teaches in the Fordham-in-London program at the University of London, Heythrop College. She has taught literature and creative writing at Yale Univeristy, NYU, the University of Virginia, and Drew University, and has served as Writer-in-Residence at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.

She is the author of several novels including Sweet Water, Desire Lines, The Way Life Should Be, Bird in Hand, Orphan Train, and A Piece of the World. She is also the co-editor, with Anne Burt, of About Face: Women Write about What They See When They Look in the Mirror and the co-author, with Christina L. Baker, of The Conversation Begins: Mothers and Daughters Talk about Living Feminism. She has edited three other anthologies: Child of Mine, Room to Grow, and Always Too Soon.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (3)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 4-6-Molly is a product of the foster care system and has spent most of her young life being shunted from one family to another. After stealing a copy of The Secret Garden from the public library, she is assigned community service: cleaning out the attic of the elderly, well-to-do Vivian Daly. The attic is full of mementos from Vivian's girlhood. As the two unpack boxes, Vivian shares her memories with Molly. Born Niamh (Neeve), Vivian first came to New York City in 1929 from Ireland. Not long after, Niamh's parents perished in a tragic fire, and she was transported with other orphans on a train bound for the Midwest to work for families in need of an extra pair of hands. After two unsuccessful placements, Niamh finally found a loving family. Molly comes to realize that she and Vivian share a lot in common. Molly, who is Penobscot Indian on her father's side, was raised on a reservation. After her father died in a car crash, her mother could no longer care for her properly, and she was forced to enter the foster care system. Kline expertly weaves the dual narratives of both Molly and Vivian as the two form a healing friendship. VERDICT With a mix of historical and contemporary settings, this successful adaptation of an adult novel is likely to appeal to both young and old.-D. Maria LaRocco, Cuyahoga Public Library, Strongsville, OH © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Review

In a young readers' version of Kline's Orphan Train (2013), sixth-grader Molly, a foster child on the coast of Maine, helps an elderly woman, Vivian, sort through boxes of keepsakes in her attic.Molly, quietly introspective, is performing community service, assigned (surprisingly) for trying to steal a battered paperback from the public library. In Vivian, she discovers a kindred spirit. The elderly white woman is an orphan too and traveled west in 1929 on an orphan train. In the attic, Molly unwraps objects from Vivian's childhood, each providing the vehicle for a transition to Vivian's arduous experiences, first in New York, then on the orphan train, and finally in Minnesota, where she's shunted from one desperate foster home to another. By comparison, Molly's experiences under the care of her emotionally abusive foster mother, Dina, seem almost mild. The tale is painted with a broad brush, lacking the gentle nuance of the adult version. Molly, half Penobscot Indian and half white, prefers goth dress and is a vegetarian, but it's never quite clear why angry, white, unnuanced Dina so dislikes her. Vivian's more richly evoked story of immigration, poverty, and occasional kindness is more compelling but also simplistic, partly because her character is only about 10 or 11, even at the end of her story. Although interesting, this effort may leave readers wishing to explore unplumbed depths. (Fiction. 10-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

In this middle-grade adaptation of Kline's best-selling adult novel, half Penobscot Molly, a modern foster child in rural Maine, finds a kindred spirit in the wealthy nonagenarian Vivian. Caught stealing The Secret Garden from the public library, Molly is forced to help Vivian clean out her attic. Though she's wary of the elderly lady, she learns the two have something in common. Vivian herself is an orphan, having come to the U.S. from Ireland during the potato famine. When a fire destroys Vivian's NYC tenement, killing the rest of her family, she's sent off to Minnesota on an orphan train. Third-person passages alternating between Molly and 10-year-old Vivian, born Niamh and renamed by each of the families that takes her in, further flesh out common threads to their experiences. Though the book doesn't quite pack the powerful emotional punch readers may expect, the muted emotions are situated in the context of the many hardships faced during the Great Depression. Back matter provides further historical context, useful for classroom instruction and enhancing the reading experience. Quietly moving.--Barnes, Jennifer Copyright 2017 Booklist

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Bound With These Titles

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (3)

School Library Journal Review

Kirkus Review

Booklist Review

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