Library's review
In the late 1920s, a young Irish girl is orphaned when the rest of her family dies in a New York City tenement fire. She is among thousands of such abandoned children who were rounded up and put onto "orphan trains" that took them to new homes in the Midwest and elsewhere.
It all sounds so wholesome
Before reading this book, I had heard of the "orphan trains" that transported orphaned or abandoned children from New York and other Eastern cities to the Midwest, to be taken in by families. I hadn't realized how long the trains rain (from the mid-19th century through the first three decades of the 20th), or that hundreds of thousands of children were involved. No one was vetting the people who took in children, and many of the orphans were abused or used as manual laborers rather than treated as members of the family.
Kline uses a modern-day storyline to compare and contrast Niamh's situation in the 1930s with that of Molly, a 21st century foster child who has had her own struggles to find a place within a family that does not want her except for the money the state pays them to keep her. Molly and Niamh meet when the young girl is sentenced to do community service by helping out the 91-year-old woman (renamed first Dorothy and then Vivian by her adoptive "families"). As Niamh/Vivian shares her story with Molly, the two bond over their shared abandonment.
Perhaps the easy rapport between the old woman and the young rebel was a bit less than convincing, and perhaps some of the supporting characters were a bit two-dimensional in their hero/villain statuses. I still found this story of finding and making a family from the people around you a sweetly enjoyable one.
It all sounds so wholesome
Show More
— destitute orphans finding new families and better lives. Reality was rarely so rosy, as Christina Baker Kline's illustrates with her story of Niamh Power. Although Niamh is a fictional character, she is based on many first-person accounts of children who lived that experience. Kline does a good job of illustrating the widely varying situations that children found themselves in when their train reached the end of the line. "Happily ever after" wasn't the end result for most, or even the goal for the Children's Aid Society and other organizations who ran the program. Before reading this book, I had heard of the "orphan trains" that transported orphaned or abandoned children from New York and other Eastern cities to the Midwest, to be taken in by families. I hadn't realized how long the trains rain (from the mid-19th century through the first three decades of the 20th), or that hundreds of thousands of children were involved. No one was vetting the people who took in children, and many of the orphans were abused or used as manual laborers rather than treated as members of the family.
Kline uses a modern-day storyline to compare and contrast Niamh's situation in the 1930s with that of Molly, a 21st century foster child who has had her own struggles to find a place within a family that does not want her except for the money the state pays them to keep her. Molly and Niamh meet when the young girl is sentenced to do community service by helping out the 91-year-old woman (renamed first Dorothy and then Vivian by her adoptive "families"). As Niamh/Vivian shares her story with Molly, the two bond over their shared abandonment.
Perhaps the easy rapport between the old woman and the young rebel was a bit less than convincing, and perhaps some of the supporting characters were a bit two-dimensional in their hero/villain statuses. I still found this story of finding and making a family from the people around you a sweetly enjoyable one.
Show Less
Collections
Description
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.
Awards
Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award (Winner — 2013)
Lincoln Award: Illinois Teen Readers' Choice Award (Nominee — 2016)
Maine Readers' Choice Award (Longlist — 2014)
Maine Literary Award (Finalist — Fiction — 2014)
Nautilus Book Award (Silver Winner — Fiction — 2014)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2013