Let me just start off saying that I thought that this Convocation was spectacular and I am so glad that this book was chosen for this years Freshman Common Reading. I am also so glad that Stockton was able to get Christina Baker Kline to visit, tell her story on how she wrote the book, answer our questions, and also sign our books. I loved hearing all about the real Orphan Trains and their riders, and how Kline worked her own story into her presentation.

In high school, I learned little about the Orphan Train Movement. There was some information on the movement in a small paragraph in one of my history textbooks, but when the teacher was teaching the lesson, he skimmed over the subject. It was barely talked about in my class and very little was said, with no details. After reading the Orphan Train novel, I learned a lot about the movement and what train riders actually went through. The best part about this book is that it is from the eyes of a train rider, so you saw what they witnessed, felt how they felt, and heard what they had to listen to. We got an inside look with this book, and Kline, I believe, wrote it perfectly.

At the Convocation, I loved the story that Kline told about Pat, who was an Orphan Train rider that oddly had the same story as Vivian, one of the main characters in Orphan Train. I thought it was funny that Kline pretty much wrote Pat’s life and she didn’t even know it. Hearing that Pat got to meet her family in Ireland makes me so overwhelmed with joy because she got to know the people that were “her people” before she died. When she found them, they accepted her with open arms, acting like her and her mother never went to America in the first place. I was disappointed that she never got to meet her mother, though, and I wish that she could find that essential part of her history, but not everything can come out perfectly.

After the presentation was finished, Kline opened up the room for questions. Unfortunately, I was not picked to ask my question, but one student asked if there was a movie coming out based on the book. It was a great question and I am so glad that he asked it because I would love to see it. I think it would be so interesting, unlike any other historical or non-fiction movies that have come out. I think that it could tell the story that not many people know about and with the movie, more people would be aware of the event that many people look over in history called the Orphan Train Movement.

At the end, even though I did not get the opportunity to ask Kline my question in the auditorium, I was able to ask her during the book signing. I asked, “You just told the story of Pat reuniting with her family in Ireland, and at the end of your book, Vivian got the chance to reunite with her daughter that she gave up for adoption. Are you thinking about writing a sequel to the book telling of Vivian and her daughter reuniting or a sequel from the daughter’s or great-granddaughter’s point of view?” Kline loved that I asked the question and the only thing she said was, “That is a great thought, and that might make a great book, but you will just have to keep your eyes open and see if it ever happens.” I think she was pretty much saying that it is in the making and will be coming out in a few years or so. If any sequel to Orphan Train does release, whether it is from Molly’s, Vivian’s, or her daughter Sarah’s point of view, I will be sure to grab myself a copy and read it. The ending of Orphan Train was a cliff hanger, and I really don’t like books that keep me guessing what happens next, so hearing that there might be a sequel really excited me.

To set the record straight, Kline is not like other authors, simply writing the book to make money and then charging tons of money to make appearance. Kline was so nice, sincere, and all around great person. I am so glad that I got to meet her and have a little chat. Hopefully, in the future, I will be able to read the sequel, go to another presentation, and get that book signed by Christina Baker Kline as well.