One of the sad points in American History is the orphan train that ran from New York across the mid west, depositing children of all ages to unknown adults. In an attempt to get kids off the streets and out of crime (the kids got into trouble in the first place because they were just trying to survive), Children's Aid Society sent about 200,000 children on these trains in an attempt to give them a home, give farmers help on their land, and get the children off the streets. No surprise, many of these children ended up in abusive and enslaved situations.
Orphan Train is the fictional story of one little girl who rode the train. The book goes back forth between present day (which is 2011) and the time period of the train (1920s) and has two different narrators. I will not give much else away since this is a book that's best left untold until you read it. I will give a caveat: this book has some difficult scenes of child abuse. It's very realistic though and as such, is a good reminder of this controversial part of our nations past.
Literary speaking, the book is a very good one. The characters are absolutely endearing. It's a good look on the goodness and evil of human nature. Of how selfish and selfless people can be. And a reminder of how far we've come as a society in how we protect children and what we view as appropriate. And just how far we have yet to go.
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