We are back with a new book for March – Orphan Train, by Christina Baker Kline. I found this book to be a delightful read, but also a very quick and easy one – something of a vacation after a run of nonfiction. We will be meeting to discuss this book in person on March 25, 2017 at 10:30AM at Arden Dimick Library in Sacramento, California.
Orphan Train tells the stories of two teenage girls in different times. Molly is a modern-day teen in foster care who is sentenced to community service for stealing a copy of Jane Eyre. She works off her service by helping an elderly woman, Vivian, clean out her attic. In the process, Vivian relates the story of her own pre-teen and teenage years, when she travelled from New york City to Minnesota on one of the Orphan Trains that transported city orphans to midwest towns in hopes of finding adoptive homes.
For more about the real Orphan Trains, try these links:
This is lovely collection of people’s recollections of the experience and how it worked out for them. The webpage also has more general information about the program.
One of the “American Experience” films put together by PBS was about The Orphan Trains. At this site, you can find a full transcript of the program, with pictures.
