Molly, who is at first a prickly, resentful teen, suspicious of anyone who seems to offer her a kindness is slow to warm to Vivian's genuine generosity. She goes to Vivian's house to help her as a condition of working off community service hours rather than go to 'Juvie.' In the beginning neither can imagine the transformation that will occur as they start going through Vivian's stored possessions, which both hold and evoke the memories of a life she has largely put behind her. 17 year old Molly is in the foster care system and has frequently been victimized by her treatment in various homes. She must endure many harrowing events before finding any security in life.

91 year old Vivian was a young girl who was put on the train of orphans taken to be resettled in the Midwest just prior to the Great Depression. Each has gone through childhood experiences that left them feeling at the mercy of others, not daring to trust that they could be loved just for being themselves. Each has been wounded by a series of cruel life events that have left them both feeling at times alone and vulnerable in life. Two orphans, one who is now 91 and the other 17, cautiously reveal their life experiences to each other and find healing and transformation through the sharing. This is a story of emotional, and at times, even physical survival. Moving story of sharing and transformation.

Rich in detail and epic in scope, Orphan Train 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. 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. 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. A community-service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping Molly out of juvie and worse.Īs she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly learns that she and Vivian aren’t as different as they seem to be. Penobscot Indian Molly Ayer is close to 'aging out' out of the foster care system. 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.

Fiction books about the orphan train