Orphan Train

12:35 pm 6 March 2015
Orphan Train - Christina Baker Kline

From Goodreads: Nearly eighteen, Molly Ayer knows she has one last chance. Just months from "aging out" of the child welfare system, and close to being kicked out of her foster home, a community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping her out of juvie and worse.

Vivian Daly has lived a quiet life on the coast of Maine. But in her attic, hidden in trunks, are vestiges of a turbulent past. As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly discovers 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.

The closer Molly grows to Vivian, the more she discovers parallels to her own life. A Penobscot Indian, she, too, is an outsider being raised by strangers, and she, too, has unanswered questions about the past. As her emotional barriers begin to crumble, 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.

Rich in detail and epic in scope, Orphan Train is a powerful novel of upheaval and resilience, of second chances, of unexpected friendship, and of the secrets we carry that keep us from finding out who we are.

 
When I first set up my OverDrive account through my local library system, I put myself on the waiting list for this novel. I had seen it everywhere and thought it sounded like an interesting book. The waiting list was massive, and it took months before I received the email letting me know I could borrow the book. 
 
I enjoyed the premise of the book. It was a subject that I had heard about before but just in a passing way without much context. I can't even remember when or how I had heard about this part of history but I know that it had not been in any history class I took.
 
Like I said, I enjoyed the premise of the book. It was nice to read a story that was somewhat unique instead of a book with a plot that had been written over and over again. Unfortunately though, that was about where my interest in this book ended. I didn't particularly think the characters were all that interesting and the switching back and forth did not work as I don't think Molly's story was developed enough. If the book had been longer, with both stories, past and present, completely formed and developed it might have worked but less than 300 pages does not do the story justice. 
 
I was not a fan of the writing style either. It was too simplistic, it felt as though it was written for a middle school age audience instead of the adult possibly YA audience it was targeted to. 
 
So this book was a disappointment for me. Not exactly a flop as I did enjoy certain elements to it but definitely not worth the months and months I had my name on the waiting list.