Two months ago, SAM HANKIN, the owner of WELLINGTON SQUARE BOOKSHOP, interviewed CHRISTINA BAKER KLINE, the author of "THE ORPHAN TRAIN", which can be listened to HERE.
SAM convinced CHRISTINA to travel out to little old LIONVILLE, PA to talk about the book with local enthusiasts. WELLINGTON has hosted a number of "Author Book Signing Events", but with close to 150 attendees, this was their largest turnout yet. And only one person in the crowd had not yet read the book.
As a loyal supporter of the Bookstore and their monthly Book Club, I was offered a seat in the front row! How great is that?!
In the early 1900's ORPHAN TRAINS transported over 250,000 children from NYC to the Midwest, basically as a labor program for the multitude of orphans living in the streets of NYC. This was the largest migration of children in our country's history.
CHRISTINA described for us her 10-year journey of writing this book, which included personal interviews with individuals who had been a child on an Orphan Train. She was also invited to a number of reunions of Orphan Train adults. The stories she heard were so compelling - they greatly influenced the writing of her book.
After the Q&A, the actual book-signing took place back in the Bookstore. We are so fortunate to have such a wonderful INDEPENDENT BOOK STORE in our community. The interior is warm and cozy, with a number of chairs around a coffee table for "chat time" or "reading time" - this is where I enjoy 2 of my 3 monthly BOOK CLUBS with friends. There's even a ladder for the top shelf of books. LOVE THAT, don't you?!
Over 2 MILLION copies of this book are in print. If you haven't read it yet, add it to your reading list!
Joan
So sorry I had to miss the book signing. Glad you got the front row and some great pictures!
ReplyDeleteI'm a loyal follower too! :-)
Oooh la la!! Another loyal follower!! Thank you Karen. I'll have to get YOUR photo on here too. ; )
Delete