Though I had never heard about orphan trains in my American history courses, these trains were a significant part of America’s immigrant history in the early 1900s, though, and I was moved by the stories of these displaced children. Orphan trains brought children from the east to be “re-homed” with families in the west.

One of the things I loved best about this novel is that it brings to light both forgotten history and underrepresented cultures. The alternating timelines combine well, as they tell the journeys of two girls searching for family and never truly feeling wanted. Vivian’s and Molly’s stories depict the experiences of orphans in two very different eras, and yet their lives still manage to mirror each other. On her journey, she is forced to take on roles meant for someone well beyond her years, such as working long hours sewing for one family and taking care of a depressed, bedridden mother and her many young children. Children’s services places her on a train going west with hundreds of other children to find a new home. The first is the story of Vivian’s life, where she, as a young Irish immigrant, is orphaned in New York City. This novel is told in two alternating timelines, one in present day, and one starting in 1929. In order to avoid being sent to juvenile hall, Molly starts a community service project helping Vivian clean out her attic, and through the project, she learns about Vivian’s turbulent childhood as an orphan train rider. ORPHAN TRAIN is the story of Molly Ayer, a 17-year-old foster child only months away from aging out of the system, and Vivian Daly, a 91-year-old woman who seems to have lived a quiet life on the coast of Maine. So, when I found Christina Baker Kline’s acclaimed novel ORPHAN TRAIN, I immediately picked it up and convinced myself I did, in fact, need a new book. Since then, I’ve wanted to learn more about this often forgotten piece of history.

One of their books was a children’s nonfiction story about a young boy who was sent west on an orphan train in 1926. I first learned about America’s orphan train riders when I was interning for a literary agency.

Orphan train novel