Final Chapter Of Philadelphia's 'One Book' Program For 2015
By Pat Loeb
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The Free Library closes its "One Book, One Philadelphia" season tonight, with a grand finale featuring the author of this year's selection -- which found a lot of fans in the city.
A group of students from St. Mary's gathered around Christina Baker Kline like she was a pop star, getting her autograph on their copies of her bestseller "Orphan Train" and tell KYW Newsradio they loved it:
"It was really great."
"I think it gave more people a knowledge of what orphan trains were because I didn't know what they were until I read this book."
"I loved her."
Kline has been visiting the city for book discussions in the last two months, and has been meeting with readers all week as the annual event wraps up.
"This has been the most spectacular week," she says. "I've gotten to meet so many Philadelphians of all ages, and it's just a wonderful thing to see so many people reading your book. It's every author's dream I think."
As a young adult novel, "Orphan Train" has attracted more young readers than many previous selections and Kline says some of the most interesting comments have come from teenagers, though she's also enjoyed meeting readers in their nineties:
"It's just exciting to see people engage in your work in such a thorough and interested way. What an honor for a writer to have this experience."
