Orphan Train Girl

March 15, 2017
In a young readers' version of Kline's Orphan Train (2013), sixth-grader Molly, a foster child on the coast of Maine, helps an elderly woman, Vivian, sort through boxes of keepsakes in her attic.Molly, quietly introspective, is performing community service, assigned (surprisingly) for trying to steal a battered paperback from the public library. In Vivian, she discovers a kindred spirit. The elderly white woman is an orphan too and traveled west in 1929 on an orphan train. In the attic, Molly unwraps objects from Vivian's childhood, each providing the vehicle for a transition to Vivian's arduous experiences, first in New York, then on the orphan train, and finally in Minnesota, where she's shunted from one desperate foster home to another. By comparison, Molly's experiences under the care of her emotionally abusive foster mother, Dina, seem almost mild. The tale is painted with a broad brush, lacking the gentle nuance of the adult version. Molly, half Penobscot Indian and half white, prefers goth dress and is a vegetarian, but it's never quite clear why angry, white, unnuanced Dina so dislikes her. Vivian's more richly evoked story of immigration, poverty, and occasional kindness is more compelling but also simplistic, partly because her character is only about 10 or 11, even at the end of her story. Although interesting, this effort may leave readers wishing to explore unplumbed depths. (Fiction. 10-12)

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June 1, 2017

Gr 4-6-Molly is a product of the foster care system and has spent most of her young life being shunted from one family to another. After stealing a copy of The Secret Garden from the public library, she is assigned community service: cleaning out the attic of the elderly, well-to-do Vivian Daly. The attic is full of mementos from Vivian's girlhood. As the two unpack boxes, Vivian shares her memories with Molly. Born Niamh (Neeve), Vivian first came to New York City in 1929 from Ireland. Not long after, Niamh's parents perished in a tragic fire, and she was transported with other orphans on a train bound for the Midwest to work for families in need of an extra pair of hands. After two unsuccessful placements, Niamh finally found a loving family. Molly comes to realize that she and Vivian share a lot in common. Molly, who is Penobscot Indian on her father's side, was raised on a reservation. After her father died in a car crash, her mother could no longer care for her properly, and she was forced to enter the foster care system. Kline expertly weaves the dual narratives of both Molly and Vivian as the two form a healing friendship. VERDICT With a mix of historical and contemporary settings, this successful adaptation of an adult novel is likely to appeal to both young and old.-D. Maria LaRocco, Cuyahoga Public Library, Strongsville, OH

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2017
Grades 3-6 In this middle-grade adaptation of Kline's best-selling adult novel, half Penobscot Molly, a modern foster child in rural Maine, finds a kindred spirit in the wealthy nonagenarian Vivian. Caught stealing The Secret Garden from the public library, Molly is forced to help Vivian clean out her attic. Though she's wary of the elderly lady, she learns the two have something in common. Vivian herself is an orphan, having come to the U.S. from Ireland during the potato famine. When a fire destroys Vivian's NYC tenement, killing the rest of her family, she's sent off to Minnesota on an orphan train. Third-person passages alternating between Molly and 10-year-old Vivian, born Niamh and renamed by each of the families that takes her in, further flesh out common threads to their experiences. Though the book doesn't quite pack the powerful emotional punch readers may expect, the muted emotions are situated in the context of the many hardships faced during the Great Depression. Back matter provides further historical context, useful for classroom instruction and enhancing the reading experience. Quietly moving.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)