Marsha Woerner reviewed Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
Review of 'Orphan Train' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
The orphan train was a part of our past whose history is really unknown to the general public. The melding of the stories of Molly and Vivian was beautiful, although it took a while before I can figure out when who was speaking about what. And the story book left me wanting to know more about Molly and Jonathan as well as Molly and Vivian. Of course, all foster mothers are painted as all willful, jealous, and selfish harpies! And this book is just another illustration of the horrendous foster system which is really no better than the orphan train! It really is kind of amazing that children grow up, particularly amazing that those who are treated so poorly by society and by those who are supposed to be treating them better.
But the book: I really like the Vivian character. The author makes it clear that her original response …
The orphan train was a part of our past whose history is really unknown to the general public. The melding of the stories of Molly and Vivian was beautiful, although it took a while before I can figure out when who was speaking about what. And the story book left me wanting to know more about Molly and Jonathan as well as Molly and Vivian. Of course, all foster mothers are painted as all willful, jealous, and selfish harpies! And this book is just another illustration of the horrendous foster system which is really no better than the orphan train! It really is kind of amazing that children grow up, particularly amazing that those who are treated so poorly by society and by those who are supposed to be treating them better.
But the book: I really like the Vivian character. The author makes it clear that her original response WOULD have been negative had she known what she was getting involved with. And she, Vivian, remembers so clearly the miserable situations that she had with families and how she had to make changes in order to even live. Her resilience is evident and necessary for survival. And observing the changes in Molly is heartening. And she made me cry :-(, because she realized that she had gone a lot out of her relationship with the elderly lady; they both realized how much they had been through and had in common.
