Join the Tuesday Morning Book Group in discussing a diverse selection of fiction and nonfiction. Reap the benefits of others' insights and experiences as they apply to the stories. July's selection is Orphan Train (2013) by Christina Baker Kline. A long journey from home and the struggle to find it again form the heart of the intertwined stories that make up this moving novel. Foster teen Molly is performing community-service work for elderly widow Vivian and as they go through Vivian's cluttered attic, they discover that their lives have much in common. When Vivian was a girl, she was taken to a new life on an orphan train. These trains carried children to adoptive families for 75 years, from the mid-nineteenth century to the start of the Great Depression. Novelist Kline (Bird in Hand, 2009) brings Vivian's hardscrabble existence in Depression-era Minnesota to stunning life. Molly's present-day story in Maine seems to pale in comparison; but, as we listen to the two characters talk, we find grace and power in both of these seemingly disparate lives. Although the girls are vulnerable, left to the whims of strangers, they show courage and resourcefulness. Kline illuminates a largely hidden chapter of American history, while portraying the coming-of-age of two resilient young women. -- Booklist