If you are the publisher or author of this book and feel that the. Although this particular story of molly and vivian is fictional, the orphan trains were real, and a piece of history i had never heard of. She found out that they kept his name, and he was married with a family. These questions about the novel can help foster discussion in your group. The orphan train has several threads for book clubs to discuss. Orphan train relevant reading book discussion guides. Orphan train characters from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. For example, the defining moment of her life comes when, overwhelmed by grief after the death of her husband, dutchy, she gives her newborn daughter away. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Orphan train girl by christina baker kline, paperback. Articles about about orphan train history, rider stories, and organization news.
Buy this book klines absorbing new novel after bird in the hand is a heartfelt pageturner. She also found the little boy named carmine, whom she had to take care of while on the orphan train. Between 1854 and 1929, over 250,000 orphans and surrendered children were placed out across the country. They take niamh to the childrens aid society, and the agency sends niamh out to the midwest on an orphan train. Just before dutchy goes home with a farmer in minneapolis, minnesota, he and niamh promise to find each other again someday. Molly ayer is living with ralph and dina in their home in spruce harbor, maine. Literary terms orphan train climax molly and dina get in a fight and she is forced to.
Hedlunds cinderella story, shedding light on the hardships women faced in both the east coast cities and the developing west in the 1850s, is a pleasant romance with plenty of twists to keep readers engaged until the final page. Kline reminds us that we never really lose anyone or anything orperhaps most importantlyourselves. Choose from 212 different sets of orphan train flashcards on quizlet. The orphan train by christina baker kline questions.
A community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping molly out of juvie and worse. Vivian is one of the two main characters in the book. Orphan train by christina baker kline book club discussion. Scatcherd is the matron of the orphan train during vivianniamh, dutchy and carmine s ride. Cathy marie buchanan, nyt bestselling author of the day the falls stood still and the painted girls i loved this book. Orphan train has become an international bestseller, having sold over two million copies in thirtyfive countries. A novel by christina baker kline conversation starters limited time offer. Orphan train by christina baker kline content rating and. She is smart, strict, and authoritative, but wishes the children well and does her best to take care of their needs on the train. Orphan train summary from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. Take a trip back in time to the early 20th century in america, where ethan cooper and his orphaned siblings are on a mission to find a family. A lovely novel about the search for family that also happens to illuminate a fascinating and forgotten chapter of americas history. Niamh powervivian daly is one of the protagonists of the novel.
On the train, niamh befriends dutchy, a twelveyearold boy, and takes care of carmine, a toddler. Orphan train was a mix of favorite childhood books of mine such as anne of green gables, heidi, and understood betsy, and ms. The orphan train movement was a supervised welfare program that transported orphaned and homeless children from crowded eastern cities of the united states to foster homes located largely in rural areas of the midwest. A lot of the women in this group liked the book along with our strong male contingency of one but not as much as i did. The orphan train by christina baker kline moves back and forth between two stories that of a young orphan girl in the early twentieth century and that of a teenager in the modernday foster care system. Learn orphan train with free interactive flashcards. Since my friend was so enthusiastic about the book, i. Orphan train will hold you in its grip as their fascinating tales unfold. In the attic, molly unwraps objects from vivians childhood, each providing the vehicle for a transition to vivians arduous experiences, first in new york, then on the orphan train, and finally in minnesota, where shes shunted from one desperate foster home. Christina baker klines adapts her bestselling orphan train for young readers with orphan train girl. Orphan train is an unforgettable story, at times disturbing and painful, at other times hopeful and redemptive.
After tragedy, young girl shipped west on orphan train christina baker klines new novel incorporates a true piece of american history. Collect all four volumes of the beyond the orphan train series. Dec, 2016 since the publication of her smash international bestseller orphan train, christina baker kline has met with countless readers and book clubs and is often asked the same question about a key decision one of her protagonists makes in orphan train. This is an alternate cover edition of isbn 9780061950728, found here. Christina baker klines orphan train is an unforgettable story of friendship and second chances that highlights a littleknown but historically significant movement in americas pastand it includes a special ps section for book clubs featuring insights, interviews, and more penobscot indian molly ayer is close to aging out out of the foster care. Christina baker klines orphan train has collided with the circus caravan from sara gruens water for elephants, and out of that wreck has come pam jenoffs the orphan. Need help on characters in christina baker klines orphan train. May 02, 2017 christina baker klines adapts her bestselling orphan train for young readers with orphan train girl. This 38page guide for orphan train by christina baker kline includes detailed chapter summaries and analysis covering 7 parts, as well as several more indepth sections of expertwritten literary analysis. Ann packerbetween 1854 and 1929, socalled orphan trains ran regularly from the cities of the east coast to the. Orphan train is a young adult historical fiction novel about the relationship between seventeen yearold molly ayer and ninetyone yearold vivian daly who, as the result of spending time together and sharing their experiences, form a bond, learn from each other, and change in significant ways.
Goodreads members who liked orphan train also liked. Kline has written six other novels orphan train, orphan train girl, the way life should be, sweet water, bird in hand, and desire lines and written or edited five works of nonfiction. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides for challenging works of literature. Between 1854 and 1929, socalled orphan trains ran regularly from the cities of the east coast to the farmlands of the midwest, carrying thousands of abandoned children whose. It will stop at several towns and folks looking to adopt or hire a child, will choose one of the children to come live with them. The elderly white woman is an orphan too and traveled west in 1929 on an orphan train. Kline tells this enlightening and emotionally engaging story based on true accounts of the orphan train movement in early 20th century america.
Feb 25, 2016 however, vivian was an orphan during the great depression and molly is an orphan today. Orphan train is a book set in both the present day and the late 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Orphan train by christina baker kline bookscover2cover. Today, we welcome christina to the blog to discuss her experience with book clubs and the three most common questions that clubs have asked her about the novel. Vivian traveled from nyc to minnesota as a young girl on one of the infamous orphan trains that was used to get orphans out of the cities into the country where they might have a better opportunity to find families and to be able to make a good life. This set of lesson plans consists of approximately 6 pages of tests, essay questions, lessons. After tragedy, young girl shipped west on orphan train. Christina baker klines novel orphan train has ridden the new york times bestseller list for the past 15 weeks, becoming a favorite of book clubs across the country.
Brought together by mollys community service sentence, seventeenyearold molly learns that she has much more in common with ninetyoneyearold vivian than she first thought. She was deposited with the byrnes, who wanted only child labor in a dressmaking enterprise. Christina baker klines orphan train is an unforgettable story of friendship and second chances that highlights a littleknown but historically significant movement in americas pastand it includes a special ps section for book clubs featuring insights, interviews, and more. Orphan train by christina baker kline, paperback barnes.
Niamh pronounced neev was an irish immigrant girl sent on an orphan train from new york city to minnesota in the late 1920s. According to the book cover, between 1854 and 1929, thousands of. Orphan train book series 3 books all formats kindle edition from book 1. Riders on the orphan train is a novel about a little known piece of american history.
The orphan trains operated between 1854 and 1929, relocating about 200,000 orphaned, abandoned, abused, or homeless children. Find books like orphan train from the worlds largest community of readers. In orphan train, christina baker kline seamlessly knits together the past and present of two women, one young and one old. Orphan train characters from litcharts the creators of. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. She is an immigrant from ireland whose family came to the usa in the first half of. Orphan train major character analysis supersummary. Beyond the orphan train series, volumes 14 by arleta richardson. He is sent to sit next to her because he and the boys he was sitting with were causing trouble on the train.
Two of us had heard of orphan trains before reading this book. When a friend highly recommended the book orphan train by christina baker kline, ill confess that i was a little hesitant to add it to my reading list. The central character seems to live through an amalgamation of events that likely occurred to many different children and thus her childhood. One is a seventeen years old living in foster care. Abandoned at 9, vivian rides an orphan train revealing the plight of. Orphan train summary from litcharts the creators of. Christina has longed to write a scene in which she clarifies vivians motivations. 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. Vivians journey west was aboard an orphan train, a bit of misguided 1900sera social engineering moving homeless, destitute city children, mostly immigrants, into midwest families. Sarah burghardt orphan train is a unique book because it tells two stories that come together in the end. Orphan train christina kline baker flashcards quizlet.
Historical fiction books national orphan train complex. Conditions of the adoption is to cloth, educate and feed the child as. One of the books protagonists, an irish orphan, is packed onto a train and. The main difference between the two versions, other than length, is the protagonists age.
The national orphan train complex in concordia, ks is a museum and research center dedicated to the orphan train movement, the various institutions that participated, and the children and agents who rode the trains. She is chosen along with twenty other children to join the orphan train that will travel west. National orphan train complex genealogy familysearch wiki. She was born in ireland and immigrated to new york city with her family in 1929. A novel christina baker kline, 20 harpercollins 278 pp. What character trait did you most identify with in vivian. Apr 02, 20 vivians journey west was aboard an orphan train, a bit of misguided 1900sera social engineering moving homeless, destitute city children, mostly immigrants, into midwest families.
Orphan train riders, from the riders on the orphan train multimedia performance at union depot in st. The author of bird in hand and the way life should be delivers her most ambitious and powerful novel to date. Book overview between 1854 and 1929, socalled orphan trains ran regularly from the cities of the east coast to the farmlands of the midwest, carrying thousands of abandoned children whose fates would be determined by pure luck. Apr 02, 20 a penobscot indian who has spent her youth in and out of foster homes, molly is also an outsider being raised by strangers, and she, too, has unanswered questions about the past. Books similar to orphan train meet your next favorite book. At this time, vivian is still known as niamh, she is hopeful that the life awaiting her in minnesota will be a good life. Orphan train tv movie 1979 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Moving between contemporary maine and depressionera minnesota, orphan train is a powerful novel of upheaval and resilience, of second chances, and unexpected friendship.
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