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.

Domestic Abuse in the plot of Peg Kehret's book, Abduction

Abduction by Peg Kehret is about a six year old named Matt Sholten who is abducted by his dad Denny. His mom and sister Bonnie do everything in their power to get him back. They had to involve  the cops, because Mrs. Sholten suspects it's not someone she knows. In the real world this situation is normally someone related to the family or that has contact with the family. Domestic Abuse is a big issue in this book. Denny is the one in power over Mrs. Sholten. I am inferring that maybe he abused her when they were married. Because of Mrs.Sholten and Denny's previous marriage, the kid's lives were at risk. Denny rose above Mrs.Sholten even more when he had the kids under his arms.

Denny had serious behavior issues, he was out of control and everyone was scared of him, because they didn't know what he was capable of. While Denny had Matt and Bonnie, he was in power because of the fact he had a gun. At one point Bonnie turns the tables. She told him if he doesn't let them go she will tell his cousins as soon as they got to their house. Bonnie made him shut down and start to lose confidence and power. A lot of times in this type of situation in real life, kids may never have the power because they feel they have to listen to what the adult says. Sometimes the victim has chances to become the one in power, if only they had the courage to say something.

Throughout the whole book Bonnie was trying to give the people around her signs that she needed help. They didn't listen. The girl at the ticket both understood what Bonnie was saying, but didn't do anything about it. The lady at the restaurant could have gathered up the clues. All the clues she needed were sitting there right in front of her, she just needed to put the pieces together.

In ABC News program, What Would You Do?  people at the park had just walked by when they saw the girl being bullied. Some of them didn't have the courage to stand up and get involved. What if they were in that situation? Wouldn't they want someone to step in and say something? If Bonnie or Matt would have gotten shot, how would the bystanders have felt? They would have realized if only they would have said something when they had the chance, they could have made a difference. All of them would have to live with the guilt the rest of their lives, just like the guilt Joel had to deal with when Tony died in the book,On My Honor, by Marion Dane Bauer.

Domestic abuse occurs a lot. Depending on the source, between 600,000 and 6,000,000 , women are victims of domestic violence each year. More and more it seem like it is okay,and it is not. In this book Matt was majorly affected. He had always wanted to meet his dad and his dad used that against him.  Matt is never going to want to see his dad again. Denny wasn't very stable, he was always gambling and did not have the self confidence he needed to make good choices about his family.

Check out The Christi Aan Center in Oshkosh to see further details about domestic violence.

Hailey H.