Orphan Train: Prologue–Milwaukee Road Depot, Minneapolis, 1929

by Christina Baker Kline
Christina Baker Kline's historical novel follows two young women searching for a sense of belonging: Molly, a teen navigating the foster system in 2011, and Niamh, an Irish immigrant orphaned on the cusp of the Great Depression. Discover how their lives intersect as you learn these words from Orphan Train.

Here are links to our other lists for the novel: Prologue–Milwaukee Road Depot, Minneapolis, 1929; Albans, Minnesota, 1929–Spruce Harbor, Maine, 2011; Hemingford County, Minnesota, 1930–Spruce Harbor, Maine, 2011; Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1939–Spruce Harbor, Maine, 2011
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. solace
    comfort offered to one who is disappointed or miserable
    I could take solace in their presence or I could fall down in a heap, lamenting what I’d lost.
  2. persona
    an image of oneself that one presents to the world
    It was true that she hadn’t made it easy; she knows from experience that tough and weird is preferable to pathetic and vulnerable, and she wears her Goth persona like armor.
  3. wayward
    resistant to guidance or discipline
    She opens the box and stuffs in any stray unmanageable feelings, any wayward sadness or regret, and clamps it shut.
  4. suspicion
    doubt about someone's honesty
    It’s almost better with Dina, who doesn’t try to hide her suspicions. It’s easier to assume that people have it out for you than to be disappointed when they don’t come through.
  5. vulnerability
    the state of being exposed to harm
    If there is one thing she hates most about being in the foster care system, it’s this dependence on people you barely know, your vulnerability to their whims.
  6. possession
    anything owned
    Molly does have to admit, as peculiar as it is, she likes putting things in order. She’s actually kind of a neat freak. Moving around as much as she has, she learned to take care of her few possessions.
  7. crotchety
    having a difficult and contrary disposition
    Is she really going to devote fifty hours of her life to a crotchety dowager in a drafty attic, going through boxes filled with moths and dust mites and who knows what else?
  8. sprightly
    full of spirit and vitality
    She is a sprightly, spidery woman, with a narrow nose and piercing hazel eyes as bright and sharp as a bird’s.
  9. recoil
    draw back, as with fear or pain
    It’s not a happy story, and Molly has learned through experience that people either recoil or don’t believe her or, worse, pity her.
  10. orphan
    deprive of parents
    By your definition I was orphaned, too, at almost exactly the same age. So we have that in common.
  11. scarce
    deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand
    Food was scarce; days went by when we had little more than rubbery potatoes in weak broth.
  12. nuisance
    anything that disturbs, endangers life, or is offensive
    As one final act of kindness toward us—or perhaps to rid themselves of the nuisance of constant worry—Da’s parents and sisters scraped together the money for ocean passage for our family of five, and on a warm spring day we boarded the Agnes Pauline, bound for Ellis Island.
  13. peril
    a state of danger involving risk
    As I looked around our four rooms, it did seem that we were off to a fresh start, having left behind the many hardships of life in Kinvara: the damp that sank into our bones, the miserable, cramped hut, our father’s drinking—did I mention that?—that threw every small gain into peril.
  14. distinct
    clearly or sharply defined to the mind
    “I didn’t ask for this,” she hissed, the words as distinct to my ears as if she’d been in the same room.
  15. despair
    the feeling that nothing will turn out well
    And yet how can I move forward even a step without tamping down the despair I feel?
  16. burden
    a serious or difficult concern
    I am a burden to society, and nobody’s responsibility.
  17. acquire
    come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
    In one hand I clutch a small brown suitcase that, excepting the cross, contains everything I have in the world, all newly acquired: a bible, two sets of clothes, a hat, a black coat several sizes too small, a pair of shoes.
  18. relief
    the act of reducing something unpleasant
    The general feeling is that it’s best not to talk about the past, that the quickest relief will come in forgetting.
  19. poverty
    the state of having little or no money and possessions
    They call this an orphan train, children, and you are lucky to be on it. You are leaving behind an evil place, full of ignorance, poverty, and vice, for the nobility of country life.
  20. discharge
    leave or unload
    And if your behavior proves to be a problem, if you cannot adhere to these simple rules of common decency, you will be sent straight back to where you came from and discharged on the street, left to fend for yourselves.
  21. apprehensive
    in fear or dread of possible evil or harm
    None of us knows where we are headed, and I think that except for the very youngest, each of us is apprehensive and fearful.
  22. destitution
    a state without money or prospects
    But I wonder how things might have been different if my father was part of a family business that gave him structure and a steady paycheck instead of working in a bar, the worst place for a man like him—or if my mother had been surrounded by women, sisters and nieces, perhaps, who could have provided relief from destitution and loneliness, a refuge from strangers.
  23. somber
    serious and gloomy in character
    “I am tempted to throw the whole lot of you off this train. But that would not be”—she looks around at us slowly, dwelling on each somber face—“Christian. Would it? Mr. Curran and I are here to escort you to a better life.
  24. depravity
    moral perversion; impairment of virtue and moral principles
    It is our fervent hope that each of you will find a path out of the depravity of your early lives, and with firm guidance and hard work transform into respectable citizens who can pull your weight in society.
  25. glean
    gather, as of natural products
    I’ve gleaned bits and pieces: that babies are the first to be chosen, then older boys, prized by farmers for their strong bones and muscles. Last to go are girls like me, too old to be turned into ladies, too young to be serious help around the house, not much use in the field. If we’re not chosen, we get sent back to the orphanage.
  26. abode
    any address at which you dwell more than temporarily
    We become an odd little family, the boy—real name Hans, I learn, called Dutchy on the street—and Carmine and I in our three-seat abode.
  27. redeem
    save from sins
    The good citizens of Chicago no doubt view you as ruffians, thieves, and beggars, hopeless sinners who have not a chance in the world of being redeemed. They are justifiably suspicious of your character.
  28. impeccable
    without error or flaw
    Your task is to prove them wrong—to behave with impeccable manners, and comport yourselves like the model citizens the Children’s Aid Society believes you can become.
  29. meager
    deficient in amount or quality or extent
    Stripped of family and identity, fed meager rations, consigned to hard wooden seats until we are to be, as Slobbery Jack suggested, sold into slavery—our mere existence is punishment enough.
  30. respectable
    conforming to socially acceptable morals or standards
    So in addition to being respectable and polite, you must also keep your faith in God to guide you forward if the way is not clear.
  31. infraction
    a violation of a law or rule
    Dina is constantly rolling her eyes, muttering under her breath about Molly’s various infractions—didn’t put away her laundry, left a bowl in the sink, can’t be bothered to make her bed—all of which are part and parcel of the liberal agenda that’s ruining this country.
  32. grateful
    feeling or showing thankfulness
    It’s all part of Dina’s unwavering message: Be grateful. Dress like a normal person. Don’t have opinions. Eat the food that’s put in front of you.
  33. foster
    providing nurture though not related by blood or legal ties
    She isn’t expected to take care of a passel of kids, as she was at one of the places she lived, or clean up after fifteen dirty cats, as she was at another. In the past nine years she’s been in over a dozen foster homes, some for as little as a week. She’s been spanked with a spatula, slapped across the face, made to sleep on an unheated sun porch in the winter, taught to roll a joint by a foster father, fed lies for the social worker.
  34. indenture
    bind by a contract for work, as an apprentice or servant
    Molly has decided to think of this job as indentured servitude: each hour she works is another hour closer to freedom.
  35. resentment
    a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will
    But it kind of feels nice to nurture her resentment, to foster it. It’s something she can savor and control, this feeling of having been wronged by the world.
  36. fate
    the ultimate agency predetermining the course of events
    “Do you believe in fate?”
    “What’s that again?”
    “That everything is decided. You’re just—you know—living it out.”
    “God has it all planned in advance.”
  37. slovenly
    negligent of neatness especially in dress and person
    I don’t imagine you’ll think it’s quite so funny when all the adults say no thank you, I do not want a rude, slovenly child, and you’ll have to get back on the train and go to the next station.
  38. disperse
    move away from each other
    “We have reached our destination. From here, the Lord willing, you will disperse to families who need you and want you.”
  39. homely
    lacking in physical beauty or proportion
    There are about ten adults milling around, and a half-dozen train riders left—me, a few sickly looking teenage boys, and some homely children—undernourished, walleyed, beetle browed.
  40. suitable
    worthy of being chosen
    It is impossible to know what combination of factors makes a child suitable for a certain family, but to be perfectly frank, you would not want to be with a family that doesn’t welcome you wholeheartedly.
Created on Sun May 21 16:56:42 EDT 2017 (updated Tue Apr 09 13:34:31 EDT 2019)

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