Between 1854 and 1929, so-called 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. Would they be adopted by a kind and loving family, or would they face a childhood and adoles-cence of hard labor and servitude?
As a young Irish immigrant, Vivian Daly was one such child, sent by rail from New York City to an uncertain future a world away. Returning east later in life, Vivian leads a quiet, peaceful existence on the coast of Maine, the memories of her upbringing rendered a hazy blur. But in her attic, hidden in trunks, are vestiges of a turbulent past.
Seventeen-year-old Molly Ayer knows that a community-service position helping an elderly widow clean out her attic is the only thing keeping her out of juvenile hall. But as Molly helps Vivian sort through her keepsakes and possessions, she discovers that she and Vivian aren't as different as they appear. 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.
Moving between contemporary Maine and Depression-era Minnesota, Orphan Train is a powerful tale of upheaval and resilience, second chances, and unexpected friendship
278 pages (April 2013)
Book Page at BookBrowse.
Lit Guide from LitLovers.
To find a discussion guide for this book in the NoveList Plus database, go to the Library's website, click on Novelist under "We Recommend" → "Book Services". Click on "Book Discussion Guides" in the right sidebar on NoveList's
home page. Then, either enter the title in the Search box or search for
the title alphabetically. (You will need your Salt Lake County Library
card number to access this resource outside a county library.)
Book Trailer (William Morrow):
This title is available for download as an eBook. Learn more about downloadables from the library here.
Title Read-alikes: Home for Erring and Outcast Girls by Julie Kibler; Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate; The Forgotten Seamstress by Liz Trenow; So Far Away by Meg Mitchell Moore; Austerlitz by Winfried Georg Sebald; The Lightkeeper's Daughters by Jean Pendziwol; The Home for Unwanted Girls by Joanna Goodman; Father's Day by Simon Van Booy; Along the Infinite Sea by Beatriz Williams; The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah; Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay; The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman; and The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.
