Orphan Train

I have been trying to read a little each night before falling asleep.  This has been going on since Spring Break time, and it started as a way to blend my regular routine with trying to finish a book I had started while we were at Myrtle Beach.

The most recent book I read is Orphan Train.   This had been recommended by a friend, then another friend, and I finally broke down and bought a copy at Target.   I could stick it in my bag and carry it around with me, rather than depending on my iPad for reading purposes.  Currently I am on a 'real book' kick, and I like to turn the pages and feel the book in my hands rather then just tap the corner of a screen for the page to turn.

Anyway, as I started to read Orphan Train I had expectations.  I was a little afraid because my grandson was a Safe Haven baby and was left at a hospital for someone to find and for him to be placed with a family who would love him and care for him. I suppose for a little while he could have been termed an 'orphan' because he really had no parents.  Frequently we hear in the news about circumstances where two parents are killed, leaving behind young children with no one to care for them.  This just happened to a friend who teaches in the North Judson Elementary School. One of her students just lost both of his parents when a truck hit the motorcycle they were riding, killing them outright.

However, as I read, I knew that these situations were quite different than those featured in the novel.  The closest similarity was between a girl who was still in foster care today but at the age of 17.  Even though the children had no parents to care for them and were in the foster care system, the circumstances and the time periods were much different.

The contemporary character was so used to being labeled as 'odd' and 'strange' whenever she enrolled in a new school.  She was shunned by the groups of girls and the classmates she encountered.  It hurt.  It stung.  So she decided that if she were to be labeled as 'odd' or 'strange,' she might as well be that way, so she died her hair black and added a white streak down the middle.  She pierced her ears several times and added a piercing to her nose and her lip.  She decorated her eyes with black make-up.  She wore unconventional clothing and jewelry.  By doing this she knew that when others thought she was 'odd' or 'strange' it was because of her clothing, hairstyle, and make up, not because of 'her.'  Gradually as she became accepted by others who saw through her façade, those attributes dropped away.

How often do we judge people by the exterior presentation?  How often are those with multiple tattoos or piercings thought to be weird and strange?  And by the same token, how often are young girls who wear longer skirts and their hair up, and no make up adoring their faces thought to be equally as 'strange' and 'odd'?  How many times was I told that I must have a fiery temper because of my red hair? 

Reading Orphan Train was an experience, and I really enjoyed the novel.  However, I didn't like the ending. I wanted more.  I needed to know more about what happens to these characters.  The last few pages seemed to me to be rushed, like someone was telling the author to 'hurry up and finish that book' so she could do something else.

If you have a chance to read it, please do.  The chapters are short, the style is easy to follow, and you will learn something.  It will make you think.