Orphan Train, Christina Baker Kline

Orphan Train

By Christina Baker Kline

(Tansley Reads Rating: 80% -- winner for the year) 

Icebreaker

Do you have things that you don’t use or are stored away but you can’t part with? What are those things and why do you keep them?

 

Questions

 

1.  Why do you think the author writes Molly’s story in the third person and Vivian’s in the first person?  How does telling the story in these different ways affect your understanding of the characters?

 

2.  What does Vivian mean when she says, “I believe in ghosts”?

 

3.  Molly and Vivian each held on to a necklace linking them to their cultural heritage even though their early experiences within those cultures were not entirely positive. What is the significance of each necklace to the characters and does this significance change throughout the story?

 

4.  Vivian’s name changes several times over the course of the novel: from Niamh Power to Dorothy Nielsen to Vivian Daly. How are these changes significant for her? How does each name represent a different phase of her life?

 

5.  Why Is the process of organizing and sorting through her attic important to Vivian?

 

6.  When Vivian goes to live with the Byrnes, Fanny offers her food and advises, “You got to learn to take what people are willing to give.” In what ways is this good advice for Vivian and Molly?

 

7.  In what ways, large and small, does Molly have an impact on Vivian’s life? How does Vivian have an impact on Molly’s?

 

8.  It seems like the main story in this book is Vivian's; however, the novel's opening and closing chapters are in Spring Harbor in 2011 and contain Molly's story. Why do you think the author chose to frame the novel with Molly's experience?

 

9.  Were the orphan trains a good thing? Do you think the children in this book had typical experiences?  What were the motivations of the families who took in these orphans? How did these differing motivations affect the children’s lives?

10.  When Vivian and Dutchy are reunited she remarks, “However hard I try, I will always feel alien and strange. And now I’ve stumbled on a fellow outsider, one who speaks my language without saying a word.” How is this also true for her friendship with Molly?

11.  When Vivian finally shares the truth about the birth of her daughter and her decision to put May up for adoption she tells Molly that she was “selfish” and “afraid.” Were you surprised she sent her child to be adopted after her own experiences with the Children’s Aid Society?

 

12.  Why do you think Vivian eventually takes Molly up on her offer to help her reconnect with her daughter? Do you think that learning the truth about Maisie had an impact on her decision?

 

13.  Vivian’s greeting to Sarah and Becca isn’t “Hello” or “Welcome”, but “Now then where shall we begin?” How did you feel about the way the author ended the story?  If you were to write additional chapters to the book, what would happen to Vivian and to Molly?

 

 14:  Quick round: What did you think of the book? Is there anything you want to discuss that we missed?