Discusses the placement of over 200,000 orphaned or abandoned children in homes throughout the Midwest from 1854 to 1929 by recounting the story of one boy and his brothers.

"1976, the hottest summer for a generation and life was perfect for the two young brothers Philip and Roger. They lived an idyllic life on a farm in the picturesque dales of the north of England. With their days spent on the farm, playing on Tarzan swings, building dens and swimming outdoors, their perfect existence was plunged into darkness when tragedy struck the family. Within a ten-week period, the boys lost their parents and were left as orphans. This is the story of Philip and his brother Roger, how their grandparents stepped in to bring them up and how a family and community came together to deal with the consequences that the devastation of death had left behind. Orphan Boys is not a misery memoir. It is a story full of love, strength and hope - an uplifting tale of a family's survival and how they faced the huge challenges that life threw at them."--Amazon.com.

1976, the hottest summer for a generation and life was perfect for the two young brothers Philip and Roger. They lived an idyllic life on a farm in the picturesque dales of the north of England. With their days spent on the farm, playing on Tarzan swings, building dens and swimming outdoors, their perfect existence was plunged into darkness when tragedy struck the family. Within a ten-week period, the boys lost their parents and were left as orphans. This is the story of Philip and his brother Roger, how their grandparents stepped in to bring them up and how a family and community came together to deal with the consequences that the devastation of death had left behind. Orphan Boys is not a misery memoir. It is a story full of love, strength and hope - an uplifting tale of a family's survival and how they faced the huge challenges that life threw at them.

For readers who love the circus, and anyone who has dreamed of finding the perfect home, comes an engaging adventure from a Newbery Honor-winning storyteller. Four orphans have escaped from the Home for Friendless Children. One is Lucy, who used to talk and sing, until life at the Home silenced her. The other orphans find work and friends at the circus, but no one will hire a mute girl. Lucy must find her voice or she will be left behind when the circus goes on the rails. Meanwhile, people are searching for Lucy, and her puzzling past is about to catch up with her. This irresistible, heartfelt novel by the master storyteller of the Tales from Alcatraz series is full of marvels and surprises.

When taken from an orphanage to work on a farm in North Dakota in 1926, twelve-year-old Tree searches for a home not only for himself but also for his irrepressible younger brother.

This young readers’ edition of Christina Baker Kline’s #1 New York Times bestselling novel Orphan Train follows a twelve-year-old foster girl who forms an unlikely bond with a ninety-one-year-old woman. Adapted and condensed for a young audience, Orphan Train Girl includes an author’s note and archival photos from the orphan train era. This book is especially perfect for mother/daughter reading groups. Molly Ayer has been in foster care since she was eight years old. Most of the time, Molly knows it’s her attitude that’s the problem, but after being shipped from one family to another, she’s had her fair share of adults treating her like an inconvenience. So when Molly’s forced to help an a wealthy elderly woman clean out her attic for community service, Molly is wary. But from the moment they meet, Molly realizes that Vivian isn’t like any of the adults she’s encountered before. Vivian asks Molly questions about her life and actually listens to the answers. Soon Molly sees they have more in common than she thought. Vivian was once an orphan, too—an Irish immigrant to New York City who was put on a so-called "orphan train" to the Midwest with hundreds of other children—and she can understand, better than anyone else, the emotional binds that have been making Molly’s life so hard. Together, they not only clear boxes of past mementos from Vivian’s attic, but forge a path of friendship, forgiveness, and new beginnings.

This story of Rodney the rooster, who wants to be a father more than anything, and Jordy, the orphan duckling he adopts, parallels the real life story of Jerry Windle and his son Jordan, the Cambodian orphan he adopts. Together they face the obstacles of being a different sort of family.