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Molly And Vivian's Orphan Train

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Molly And Vivian's Orphan Train
Orphan Train is a novel about Molly and Vivian, who spend time together and share their life experiences. Molly is a 17-year-old girl, a Penobscot Indian who is aging out of the foster care system, and her improbable friendship with a 91-year-old woman named Vivian, an Irish immigrant child that rode an orphan train. Vivian was fearful that if she allowed herself to love her daughter she would set herself up for another extreme loss. By listening to Vivian’s stories, Molly has the influence to help Vivian find answers to questions that has preoccupied her mind most of her life and gives Molly responses on how she can lead her own life.
Vivian was dejected over Dutchy's death; she was grief-stricken, helpless, and alone. Vivian says, “…ever again, to experience the loss of someone I love beyond reason.” (247). Vivian is fearful that she does not trust that she has the ability to take care of a kid on her own without her husband, Dutchy. Every person who has mattered in Vivian’s life has died or left behind, such as her grandma, her mother and father, her sister, Maisie, and her husband, Dutchy. One may think she may have
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“…It’s as if she’s been walking on a wire, trying to keep her balance, and now, for the first time, she is on solid ground.“ (259). As Molly learns Vivian's stories can help her on how she can handle difficult situations in her life, Molly understands that she and Vivian may be orphans and both have been moved from place to place, it wasn’t always their faults. Molly takes on the job at Vivian's to fulfill 50 hours of community service. She gains so much more than what she thought she would through the experience. Molly sees the comparisons between her life and Vivian's. Vivian’s story helps Molly; the story gives Molly hope. It allows her not to look at the past and have it defines her as a

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