Which character or story line did you like least?
- MrsCatInTheHat
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Which character or story line did you like least?
- e-tasana-williams
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- bookowlie
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I also didn't like the Grotes and Dina. Dina's husband irritated me also for not standing up to his wife.
- Kourtney Bradley
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–Vera Nazarian
- MrsCatInTheHat
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- Kourtney Bradley
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It's sad when you are considering which of the two is the lesser evil, but I do agree with you. Dina was not a pleasant foster mom, but the Grotes were much worse.CatInTheHat wrote:I had actually forgotten about the Grotes when I first pondered this question. As much as I did not like Dina, the Grotes were far less likeable. It is beyond crazy that anyone would have left an orphan with them. If anything, their children should have been taken away for neglect.

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From what I have heard, if you are looking in to being a foster parent in current time, you have to prove that you are fit enough to care for the children in the home. Obviously if this was done back in the time of the Orphan Trains, the Grotes would have received some sort of help, but also would not have been allowed to take in another child when they couldn't even feed their own.MsMartha wrote:I have to agree with other readers who didn't like the Grotes. Apparently there wasn't too much done by the Children's Aid Society to determine if a family would be a good one to help an orphan, and it also seems obvious that the Grotes could have used some help, too.

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- MrsCatInTheHat
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This makes me really think about how the foster care system has changed during the 80ish years since the orphan trains occurred.MsMartha wrote:I have to agree with other readers who didn't like the Grotes. Apparently there wasn't too much done by the Children's Aid Society to determine if a family would be a good one to help an orphan, and it also seems obvious that the Grotes could have used some help, too.
- Taylor Razzani
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I didn't like Dina either, she was a little like Mrs. Grote in how she seemed to not even attempt to get along with her foster child and they were both very self centered. I don't know how Ralph could live with that.
- TangledinText
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- MrsCatInTheHat
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If there were a sequel, I think we might find that Ralph and Dina didn't make it as a couple.Taylor Razzani wrote:I have to agree with everyone, thr Grotes were terrible and I found it hard to have any sympathy for them. The mom seemed lazy and obviously the dad was no good. Hopefully the church mentioning them got the kids some food and other things they desperately need.
I didn't like Dina either, she was a little like Mrs. Grote in how she seemed to not even attempt to get along with her foster child and they were both very self centered. I don't know how Ralph could live with that.
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- Taylor Razzani
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I agree, I was surprised they made it as far as they did! Unless Molly brought out the ugly side of Dina, but I highly doubt that. So in a way I also agree that Dina was unbelievable to some extent since she was so mean for no reason most of the time.CatInTheHat wrote:If there were a sequel, I think we might find that Ralph and Dina didn't make it as a couple.Taylor Razzani wrote:I have to agree with everyone, thr Grotes were terrible and I found it hard to have any sympathy for them. The mom seemed lazy and obviously the dad was no good. Hopefully the church mentioning them got the kids some food and other things they desperately need.
I didn't like Dina either, she was a little like Mrs. Grote in how she seemed to not even attempt to get along with her foster child and they were both very self centered. I don't know how Ralph could live with that.