Book Review: Orphan Train
Books can be found through many different types of ways; people's recommendations, author recommendations, a certain feeling you get browsing through a book store. Earlier this year, I was up in Fargo, North Dakota and I came across a variety store called Zanbroz. In this store, there is a little something for everyone. By my nature, I gravitated to the book section and stumbled across the book Orphan Train. On the cover of the last book I had just finished, The Orphans Tale, a lot of reviews had compared that book to Orphan Train, and even the author of Orphan Train, had written a review saying what an amazing book it was. How could I go wrong? I had loved the last book and if people were comparing that to this book, I definitely had to check it out and see what the hype was all about. Let me just say that it was one of the best $16 purchases I've ever made.
Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline combines the modern world (of 2011) and the early 1930's and transforms it into a wonderful story, full of substance. 17-year-old Molly Ayer is a rebel who runs the risk of ending up in juvie if she doesn't volunteer 50 hours for a community service project. Not wanting to end up a delinquent, she's assigned to help out 91-year-old Vivian Daly by helping her clean out her packrat attic. Hidden inside all of the boxes, chests, and trunks are possessions of a life that Vivian has tucked away in her mind. Together, the two of them learn that, despite their age, the lives they have lived are not so different and that their personality traits are equal to each other.
The first few chapters were slow to get into, but once the story hooked me, it reeled me in and did not let me stop until I was finished. The story flips back between the two main characters perspectives every few chapters. Personally, I didn't like the modern world of Molly's character. Vivian's was much more enjoyable as it told an unknown part of US history that is never talked about. From the early 1850's to about 1930, orphan trains would take orphans from the east coast and distribute the children throughout the Midwest. Most of them were young, immigrants, scared, and had no idea what would become of them. Vivian was one of the last shipments on an orphan train trip, so her life after her adoption, shows what it was like to grow up during the Great Depression era, ending right in the midst of World War II. Depending how long you like your books to be, this one was 275 pages and it was the perfect length for me. In the back, there was a Q&A with the author and a little bit more background on the orphan trains which was a fun little treat after the story was completed.
I was skeptical from all the mixed reviews I read, but it was absolutely my favorite book I've read this year. Molly Ayer and Vivian Daly are two characters; both are different ages, yet have a lot in common with how they were raised. With chapters flipping back and forth from Molly's modern day struggles to Vivian's struggles with growing up in the early 1930's connects the story in a puzzle that wraps up perfectly. Christina Baker Kline knows how to write a novel that grabs readers and connects with the reader's emotions and how to make the readers feel something emotional. I'm not kidding when I say that there was a chapter that made me so happy, I could barely read, I was filled with so much joy. There was a chapter that tore my heart out and a few tears slipped out. Through the times of laughter and melancholy, the ultimate message concludes the novel by reminding us that even though we sometimes struggle to find our place in the world, the things we hold dearly is what's really important: friends, memories, special belongings, love, and the people who deeply care about us.
Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline combines the modern world (of 2011) and the early 1930's and transforms it into a wonderful story, full of substance. 17-year-old Molly Ayer is a rebel who runs the risk of ending up in juvie if she doesn't volunteer 50 hours for a community service project. Not wanting to end up a delinquent, she's assigned to help out 91-year-old Vivian Daly by helping her clean out her packrat attic. Hidden inside all of the boxes, chests, and trunks are possessions of a life that Vivian has tucked away in her mind. Together, the two of them learn that, despite their age, the lives they have lived are not so different and that their personality traits are equal to each other.
The first few chapters were slow to get into, but once the story hooked me, it reeled me in and did not let me stop until I was finished. The story flips back between the two main characters perspectives every few chapters. Personally, I didn't like the modern world of Molly's character. Vivian's was much more enjoyable as it told an unknown part of US history that is never talked about. From the early 1850's to about 1930, orphan trains would take orphans from the east coast and distribute the children throughout the Midwest. Most of them were young, immigrants, scared, and had no idea what would become of them. Vivian was one of the last shipments on an orphan train trip, so her life after her adoption, shows what it was like to grow up during the Great Depression era, ending right in the midst of World War II. Depending how long you like your books to be, this one was 275 pages and it was the perfect length for me. In the back, there was a Q&A with the author and a little bit more background on the orphan trains which was a fun little treat after the story was completed.
I was skeptical from all the mixed reviews I read, but it was absolutely my favorite book I've read this year. Molly Ayer and Vivian Daly are two characters; both are different ages, yet have a lot in common with how they were raised. With chapters flipping back and forth from Molly's modern day struggles to Vivian's struggles with growing up in the early 1930's connects the story in a puzzle that wraps up perfectly. Christina Baker Kline knows how to write a novel that grabs readers and connects with the reader's emotions and how to make the readers feel something emotional. I'm not kidding when I say that there was a chapter that made me so happy, I could barely read, I was filled with so much joy. There was a chapter that tore my heart out and a few tears slipped out. Through the times of laughter and melancholy, the ultimate message concludes the novel by reminding us that even though we sometimes struggle to find our place in the world, the things we hold dearly is what's really important: friends, memories, special belongings, love, and the people who deeply care about us.
Signed,
Midwestern Redhead
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