Orphan Train - a novel by Christina Baker Kline

 Orphan Train - a novel  by Christina Baker Kline

Non-fiction and historical fiction reading for young adults has improved greatly in the last few years.  The variety of books that try to portray actual events throughout history offer so many perspectives for so many different kinds of readers.  Some of the most recent I can think of off the top of my head include, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys, and Tangled Threads: a Hmong Girl's Story by Pegi Deitz Shea.  These don't even include many great realistic fiction books that help build reader empathy as characters have to deal with challenges of life such as poverty, bullying, physical and cognitive disabilities, and other social issues.

In the book Orphan Train, author Christina Baker Kline combines two characters and their stories simultaneously to explain the history of the Orphan Trains in America during the 1920s, and the social dilemma of being a teenage orphan in 2011.  Seventeen year old Molly Ayer is all too familiar with the social service system. She is a juvenile delinquent, most recently for stealing a book, and probably in danger of being relocated into another foster home. Her sentence is to serve community service, cleaning the attic of ninety-three year old Vivian Daly.  Vivian is also familiar with the social service system in her day.  As an orphaned Irish immigrant, Vivian was placed on the Orphan Train on the east coast, and was sent to America's growing midwest region with the hopes to finding a safe home, and possibly a family.

These two unlikely friends eventually develop trust in each other. They begin to share their experiences as participants in the social system of their time. Kline intertwines the past stories of Vivian's life as an orphan in 1930 with the present day predicament of Molly Ayer.  The reader begins to see a change in both characters, as they become dependent on each other, Vivian trying to curate the events of her past, and Molly her present and future.

Small as an Elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson

Small as an Elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson

Jack Martel has been abandoned and is now on the run.  He needs to find his mom before anyone else, or he will most definitely be taken away.

On a camping trip in Acadia National Park, Jack wakes up one morning to find that his mother has packed up her things and left him in the middle of the night.  You might think that is unusual, but unfortunately for Jack, she has done this before. In an attempt to find his mom, Jack's adventures lead him across the state of Maine ending at an animal park, and a chance meeting with, Lydia, the elephant that motivated him through some of his most darkest times.  Along the way Jack meets a variety of characters that assist him on his journey.  As the news of a runaway boy spreads, and the search for him intensifies, Jack has to determine which of these characters he can trust, and who might turn him in to social services.  After some close calls, potentially dangerous situations, and very hungry nights, Jack finds some allies in some most unlikely places.

Jennifer Richard Jacobson certainly took a different angle toward this adventure story.  Jack is not your typical runaway, and probably would not have made it as far as he did, had it not been for similar experiences with his mother in the past. Her certainly had to be resourceful. I still had a hard time figuring out what was wrong with Jack's mom.  She had some kind of mental illness that caused her to abandon her son.  It seems that whatever it was, it was explanation enough to excuse her from responsibility for what she did. Fortunately for Jack, as he matures along his trail, he starts to realize the resources that have been put in place to help him.  I wonder how many kids in Jack's shoes never realize who the people are that want to help. For some reason they don't see it, don't want to see it, or have told so many times that there is no help.