The Orphan Train By Christina Baker Kline

"Orphan Train is a gripping story of friendship and second chances from Christina Baker Kline, author of Bird in Hand and The Way Life Should Be.

Penobscot Indian Molly Ayer is close to “aging out” out of the foster care system. A community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping Molly out of juvie and worse...

As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly learns 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.

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.

Rich in detail and epic in scope, Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline is a powerful novel of upheaval and resilience, of unexpected friendship, and of the secrets we carry that keep us from finding out who we are."

When I pick up books for my granddaughter, there are often books for early teens about the orphan train. This book is written for adults and is very well written. It flows on the page and keeps you turning the pages quickly. I finished it in just a couple of days. 

Kline goes back and forth from the orphan train and Vivian's life to modern day and her relationship with Molly, a teen in the foster care system. Lot's of history included - the orphan train, the Indian's - just a very interesting book. Lot's of drama and actually just real life. 

I am a person who likes constancy, stability. This book was interesting to me as I read about others who want the same stability in their lives. It's not unusual for people who have moved around a lot or who have had much upheaval in their lives to want this same stability.

Molly is part Wabanaki Indian. For years this group of Indians traveled only by canoe - protaging from one body of water to another. Everything they owned needed to fit into their canoe so they learned how to "travel light." They quickly learned "what to keep and what to discard." Molly learned this art quickly in the foster care system as she was shuffled from family to family.

If you have any interest at all in this page in the history of our country, I highly recommend The Orphan Train. If you are just looking for a good read - I highly recommend this book.

"Christina Baker Kline is a novelist, nonfiction writer and editor. In addition to Orphan Train, her novels include Bird in Hand, The Way Life Should Be, Desire Lines and Sweet Water. She served as Writer-in-Residence at Fordham University from 2007 to 2011 and was the on-staff editor and writing coach at the social networking site http://www.shewrites.com/." from her website

You can learn more about Christina Baker Kline at her web site H.E.R.E.