Review: Orphan Train Girl

Orphan Train Girl by Christina Baker Kline
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Overall, I enjoyed this book, though I did not realize it was an abridged version of a book first published for adults when I picked it up. I would have preferred to read the original version first in order to compare the two.

This story tells how the lives of two seemingly very different people happen to intersect. Vivian Daly is a somewhat wealthy, refined elderly woman who Molly assumes has had a relatively easy life and couldn't possibly understand her. Molly is a teenager who has bounced from one foster home to another, after her father's death caused her mother to become unable to care for her. Molly has become somewhat jaded, withdrawn, bitter, and slightly rebellious as a result.

But the two meet when circumstances result in Molly having to help Vivian go through all the stuff in her attack as a form of community service, and Molly is suprised to find that Vivian not only doesn't judge her like other people, she seems to actually understand her. Then a class project leads Molly to interview Vivian about her life, and Molly is surprised at what she hears. Rather than the boring, cushy life Molly assumed, she learns that Vivian sufferred through circumstances even worse than her own, and the two end up help each other.

This story is told through alternating points of view, Molly's in the present, and Viviane's in the past. At times I felt like it shifted back and forth a little too frequently, and I would have preferred to stay with each POV just a little longer, but overall it worked. Sometimes the story seemed a bit choppy, with events ending a little abruptly and pieces missing, which I realize is a result of it being edited down from a longer and more adult novel. From reading summaries and reviews of the original version, it is obvious that some of the more sordid events from both Molly and Vivian's lives have been sanitized for the children's version, and rightfully so, but I wish it had been done just a little more smoothly.

Despite these minor flaws, it is generally a well-told story and moves at a satisfying pace, and will provoke an emotional response. I think readers who enjoy stories with children dealing with and overcoming difficult circumstances and are open to historical fiction would enjoy this book, such as fans of The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan, or Paper Things by Jennifer Jacobson .

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