What Did I Think

Orphan Train & Mrs.Kline

Earlier this week, an author visited my school to talk about her latest novel, Orphan Train.
Just a little background information  on the author and the plot of the story: Christina Baker Kline is an American novelist who lives in New Jersey. She has authored five novels, including the #1 New York Times bestseller Orphan Train( which is set to have a film adaptation sometime in the future), and has co-authored five non-fiction books. Orphan Train, is a tale about hardship and loneliness of  troubled teen, Molly Ayer and Vivian Daly  and their  search for closure and acceptance in society. Mrs. Klien's visit was educational in a sense that her presentation was factual and  somewhat personal(i.e father-in -law inspired one of characters into existence), but to be honest most of the presentation was like sitting in a history class.

My opinion of the novel is not so positive but that's not to say I thought it was a bad book all together. I felt as though the incorporation of actual American History into Vivian's childhood was cool and necessary. The author really took her time to thoroughly explain the events that lead up to and behind the existence of Orphan trains  during the 1920s, rather than just assume that every reader was educated in a particular area. On the other hand, like in most books I do believe that there a some parts that could have been left out or expanded on  such as Molly's relationship with her mother, all we know is that she's in jail.