Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
79th out of 136 books
—
546 voters
City of Orphans
The streets of 1893 New York are full of life: crowded, filthy, dangerous. If you are a newsboy like thirteen-year- old Maks Geless, you need to watch out for Bruno, leader of the Plug Ugly Gang whose shadowy, sinister boss is plotting to take control of all the newsies on the lower East Side. With Bruno’s boys in fierce pursuit, Maks discovers Willa, a strange girl who li...more
Hardcover, 368 pages
Published
September 6th 2011
by Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books
(first published February 29th 2000)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
1,746)
Richie's Picks: CITY OF ORPHANS by Avi, Atheneum/Richard Jackson, September 2011, 368p., ISBN: 978-1-4169-7102-3
"Twice before in American history, powerful corporate interests dominated Washington and brought America to a state of unacceptable inequity, instability and corruption. Both times a social and political movement arose to restore democracy and shared prosperity.
"The first age of inequity was the Gilded Age at the end of the 19th century, an era quite like today, when both political p...more
"Twice before in American history, powerful corporate interests dominated Washington and brought America to a state of unacceptable inequity, instability and corruption. Both times a social and political movement arose to restore democracy and shared prosperity.
"The first age of inequity was the Gilded Age at the end of the 19th century, an era quite like today, when both political p...more
The book City of Orphans by Avi is about a boy named Maks Geless who is a immigrant from Denmark who came to the U.S with his family and now works as a newsboy. Maks has to deal with street gangs that want to put him out of his work and the accusation of his sister as a thief. Together with a girl he meets on the streets, he solves the mystery and starts a new chapter of his life in New York.
This was a very interesting book in my opinion and I enjoyed the change of pace and genre from what I u...more
This was a very interesting book in my opinion and I enjoyed the change of pace and genre from what I u...more
This book can be used as a resource for the common core. Life was hard in New York City in 1893; few jobs, little pay, dirty streets, and disease running rampant. Maks and his family have immigrated from Denmark. Everyone in the family works and Max is a newsie. He has to deal with gangs who threaten him. His sister is accused of stealing a watch in the hotel where she works and the family has no money to help get her released. This job falls to Maks. Maks also befriends a homeless girl who hel...more
a) Historical fiction
b) 350 pages
c) City of Orphans takes place in the late 1800s. In Maks’ city there is a lot of misery because it is the time of the Great Depression. There are not many jobs around and Maks’ family is barely getting enough. Maks quit school when he was 11 to get a job. Maks works at a news stand; he gets 8 cents per day! That may not be much today, but that is enough back then. In his city there is a gang called the Plug Ugly Gang that robs the kids who works at the stands. T...more
b) 350 pages
c) City of Orphans takes place in the late 1800s. In Maks’ city there is a lot of misery because it is the time of the Great Depression. There are not many jobs around and Maks’ family is barely getting enough. Maks quit school when he was 11 to get a job. Maks works at a news stand; he gets 8 cents per day! That may not be much today, but that is enough back then. In his city there is a gang called the Plug Ugly Gang that robs the kids who works at the stands. T...more
I recently started a process of reading books with my 5th grade daughter and this was the first book that we read together. This is a great book for American youth. The fictional story is entertaining, but more importantly the setting of the story is richly surrounded in the historic atmosphere of 1893 New York City. The author does an outstanding job of bringing attention to issues of that time period such as: the economic divide and poverty, labor laws for children and working children, immigr...more
Dangers and dilemmas lurk around every turn; great risks come with every move on the mucky and treacherous streets of New York. Maks Geless is a newsboy, wandering the streets, selling his newspapers for 2 cents each. His mere income of eight cents, along with the small amount of money made by his father and sisters is all the family can rely on. Even along with the worries of supporting his deprived family, Mak’s has something greater to worry about: Bruno and his Plug Ugly Gang.
While having t...more
While having t...more
This book, about New York City in 1893, really gave me a glimpse of life for the poor immigrants of that city. The Geless family is from Denmark and are finding it very hard to survive. They live in a small, dirty, stinky tenement with no running water, electricity or heat. Father and Agnes work at a shoe factory; Emma is a maid at the new Waldorf Hotel; mother does ironing; and 13-year old Maks sells newspapers. But the Plug Ugly Gang are after all the newsies--taking their papers, their money,...more
Avi. (2011). City of Orphans. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
Gr. 4-6. Life was hard in New York City in 1893; few jobs, little pay, dirty streets, and disease running rampant. Maks and his family are just scrapping by with everyone who is old enough earning pennies a day to support the family; Maks is a newsie, his sister works at the Waldorf, his father and other sister work making shoes. But now Maks’s sister is accused of theft and arrested, and Maks must find a way to help her ou...more
Gr. 4-6. Life was hard in New York City in 1893; few jobs, little pay, dirty streets, and disease running rampant. Maks and his family are just scrapping by with everyone who is old enough earning pennies a day to support the family; Maks is a newsie, his sister works at the Waldorf, his father and other sister work making shoes. But now Maks’s sister is accused of theft and arrested, and Maks must find a way to help her ou...more
Maks sells newspapers every day on a street corner so his family can keep the shabby apartment they live in and so they can eat. Just eat. Nothing else. He gets 8 pennies a day.
He also gets threatened by bullies who want to steal the little bit of money he has. When the Plug Uglies gang finally corners him in an alley Maks is pretty sure he’s done for until an unlikely person steps in and saves his face from a certain pounding.
That person? A homeless kid. A girl. With a club. Willa is not a girl...more
He also gets threatened by bullies who want to steal the little bit of money he has. When the Plug Uglies gang finally corners him in an alley Maks is pretty sure he’s done for until an unlikely person steps in and saves his face from a certain pounding.
That person? A homeless kid. A girl. With a club. Willa is not a girl...more
Mar 02, 2012
Saima
added it
City of Orphans by Avi is a great historical fiction book that portrays issues of wealth, crime, and difficulties encountered by immigrant families in New York City.
Avi does a nice job in constructing the personalities of his characters. For example, the reader is able to conclude that both the main characters, Maks and Willa, are brave and quick-witted as well as tenacious in their mission. The illustrations in the book, by Greg Ruth, also help the reader to imagine the physical appearance of...more
In 1893 New York, Maks works as a newsboy. When the Plug Ugly gang threatens him, he is saved by the plucky but homeless Willa, whom he takes back to meet his hard working Danish immigrant family. Unfortunately, this is the night that they find his sister Emma has been arrested for stealing a watch from a guest at the Waldorf Hotel, where she works as a maid. Maks sister Agnes is studying but ill with tuberculosis and Agnes and the father are going to lose their jobs when the shoe factory closes...more
Jan 28, 2012
Beverly
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
10-13 year olds
Recommended to Beverly by:
indiebound.org/nextlist
Shelves:
good-reads-for-reluctant-readers
City of Orpans, by the great YA author Avi, is mostly an insightful historical fiction, with just enough mystery added to keep reluctant readers engaged. Maks is a newsie in gritty, polluted and dangerous lower east side New York City during the mass immigration period of the late 1800's. Avi powerfully tells the story of the disease filled tenements, home to immigrants who work twelve hours a day in factories and don't earn enough money to feed their families. As a newsie, Maks is on the city s...more
A gritty portrait of New York City in the late 1800's. Maks Gelles and his Danish immigrant family have a hard life living in a tenement building in NYC. Maks, a newsie, is being plagued by the plug ugly gang and their bully leader, Bruno. Bruno is in cahoots with some shady characters who don't like the stories being published about them so they are trying to shut down the sale of newspapers.
When a street girl, Willa, saves him from the gang, they form an immediate friendship. Times are tough...more
When a street girl, Willa, saves him from the gang, they form an immediate friendship. Times are tough...more
I often enjoy Avi's books, and this one, set in 1893 New York, has much to offer to readers. The division between classes is clearly delineated here, especially with the juxtaposition of the swanky world of the Waldorf Hotel and the tenements where Maks Geless and many other immigrants manage to eke out a living. The author makes readers feel the hunger that gnaws at the bones of those who haven't eaten for days and the illnesses that often accompany poverty and poor nutrition. Maks is a newsboy...more
I read this book as part of a Mock Newberry book club I am participating in with a group of colleagues. While the premise of the story did not immediately grab my attention, I gave it a try and it pulled me in fairly quickly. I was impressed with the plot setting, character development, the drawing together of the various storylines, and the satisfying, feel-good, yet still realistic conclusion. It's an action-packed quick read that I think would appeal to both boys and girls.
My one complaint wa...more
My one complaint wa...more
view all 3 comments
Avi, Newbery award-winning author of more than 60 novels for children and teens, turns once again to historical fiction in his newest novel, set in 1893 New York City. His hero, thirteen-year old Maks, makes a bit of money as a newsboy to help his impoverished immigrant family on the lower East Side. When his older sister, Emma, who works as a maid at the swank Waldorf-Astoria hotel, is falsely accused of theft and imprisoned in the city prison ominously called the Tombs, Maks teams up with a ho...more
1893 in New York is a dog eat dog world where tuberculosis and immigrant parents who don't know the language or the laws creates a City of Orphans. When Maks is beaten up by a gang of thugs, skinny, starving girl becomes his ill-likely savior. She is taken in by Maks's Danish immigrant family with troubles of their own. The oldest daughter is wrongly accused of stealing a watch while working at the Waldorf Astoria. Can Maks and Willa learn the art of sleuthing quickly enough to get her out of ja...more
Apr 24, 2013
Jackie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
historical,
mystery,
new-york,
orphans,
immigrant-experience,
gangs,
homelessness,
tween-fiction
In 1898, Maks and his family are living in the tenements of New York City. Although poor, they are a tight-knit and loving family. Maks sells newspaper on the streets to make his $.08 a day to help the family. Papa and Agnes work in the factory making shoes. Emma has the 'glamorous' job of working at the fancy, new Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. But, when Emma is accused of stealing an expensive watch, the family is distraught...and with no way to prove that she is innocent, let alone hire an attorney....more
Jul 30, 2012
El Templo de las Mil Puertas
added it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
27-eltemplo,
reseñas
1893, Nueva York. La ciudad se encuentra dividida en dos estamentos bien diferenciados: gente adinerada y de éxito que disfruta de toda clase de lujos, y quienes apenas tienen dinero para pagar un techo y un mendrugo de pan. Dos universos paralelos, apenas separados por un par de calles.
Esta es la historia de Maks, un joven de trece años que vive con su familia de ascendencia danesa en un diminuto apartamento del Lower East Side. Un día, tras vender sus periódicos a base de desgañitarse coreando...more
Esta es la historia de Maks, un joven de trece años que vive con su familia de ascendencia danesa en un diminuto apartamento del Lower East Side. Un día, tras vender sus periódicos a base de desgañitarse coreando...more
Back in fifth grade, I had read some Avi. What Do Fish Have to Do With Anything? being my current favorite. But City of Orphans has given Fish a run for its money.
Life is hard for Maks Geless, son of Danish immigrants (he came at the age of two). Money is tight, his sister is sick, and trying to sell newspapers is double hard what with Plug Uglies roughing newsies up. Then life gets extra hard when his sister Emma is accused of stealing a watch from the fancy shmancy Waldorf hotel. She wouldn't...more
Life is hard for Maks Geless, son of Danish immigrants (he came at the age of two). Money is tight, his sister is sick, and trying to sell newspapers is double hard what with Plug Uglies roughing newsies up. Then life gets extra hard when his sister Emma is accused of stealing a watch from the fancy shmancy Waldorf hotel. She wouldn't...more
Just as the Lorax speaks for the trees, we have Avi to speak for the children. The lives of the children of immigrants in New York City at the end of the 19th century were filled with dangers, suffering, and hardships utterly foreign to children living today. And yet children's lives were also filled with adventure, love, and a sense of pride and work ethic. Avi brings these facets to life through his characters Maks and Willa. City of Orphans packs a punch - sometimes literally - and will have...more
Reading my way through the Vermont Dorothy Canfield Fisher nominees this year, I Just finished this wonderful book. City of Orphans is a historical fiction book about a 13 year old boy, Maks working as a newsie in NYC in the late 1800s to try to help his family survive. But trouble arises on two fronts.
First is the Plug Uglies, a gang lead by an older boy, Bruno, who are beating up newsies and stealing their money. Maks is almost a victim, but is helped by a homeless girl, Willa. The other troub...more
First is the Plug Uglies, a gang lead by an older boy, Bruno, who are beating up newsies and stealing their money. Maks is almost a victim, but is helped by a homeless girl, Willa. The other troub...more
I'm always excited to begin reading a new historical fiction novel from the prolific pen of the inimitable Avi. Few authors among his contemporaries are able to capture a particular time in history so well, complete with authentic characterizations that ring true down to the smallest detail and accurately nuanced language that fits in perfectly with the time period being represented. City of Orphans, as with most of the author's other historical stories, effectively evokes a time and place now...more
While I agree with other reviewers that the narration is rather obnoxious as it speaks to the reader in period language, apparently from the perspective of one of Mak's compatriots. The identity of this person is never revealed and seemed to fade away over the course of the novel, although I could have gotten better at ignoring it. However, it does situate the novel firmly in time, location, and economic class in a way that might be appealing to children who may not feel that it was as affected...more
I rather enjoyed this one. I love a good historical novel and this one fit the bill. Whenever I read Avi's work I try to go in with an open mind, but I have not always enjoyed his work so that is usual in the back of my head. But this was different. Taking place in New York when those in power have all the money and those who are trying to struggle through life are barely squeaking by (sounds like today). Newspapers were sold on street corners and kids had to work to help put food on the table....more
Sep 10, 2011
Linda Cat
added it
Review posted on www.books4hearts.com
I haven't read a really good middle-grade in quite a while (aside that I'm currently re-reading "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" at a snail like pace to go along with Pottermore). I don't read middle-grade very often, but when I do I usually enjoy it (well, actually, specifically, I've said it before and I'll say it again: I enjoy any kind of book, as long is it's good, to me. That's the obvious requirement, and that's all.) "City of Orphans" fulfilled...more
I haven't read a really good middle-grade in quite a while (aside that I'm currently re-reading "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" at a snail like pace to go along with Pottermore). I don't read middle-grade very often, but when I do I usually enjoy it (well, actually, specifically, I've said it before and I'll say it again: I enjoy any kind of book, as long is it's good, to me. That's the obvious requirement, and that's all.) "City of Orphans" fulfilled...more
Life for 13-year-old Maks Geless is hard enough, treasuring every penny he makes selling newspapers to help his Danish immigrant family get by. But when his older sister is accused of and arrested for stealing a gold watch, it threatens to tear his whole family apart. With the help of a plucky orphan friend, Maks has to get to the bottom of things... and fast!
Newsies! Gangs! Robberies! Mystery! Murders! This is a historical novel rife with intrigue and adventure. The setting is, of course, well-...more
Newsies! Gangs! Robberies! Mystery! Murders! This is a historical novel rife with intrigue and adventure. The setting is, of course, well-...more
An interesting peek into the world of NYC tenements at the end of the 19th century. Maks is a newsboy, trying to make his 8¢ a day, which is his share of the family's income. Things get pretty bad when his sister is arrested for stealing a watch, and Maks ends up with a nasty gang on his tail that tries to put him out of business. Life is so tight for his family that if he doesn't bring home his 8¢ a day, they could lose their apartment. Can Maks figure out how to get his sister out of jail, and...more
Sep 01, 2011
Julie
added it
I don't really do middle grade. It just doesn't work for me most of the time. But this is historical fiction in New York City and I was intrigued.
I actually really enjoyed it. It was this fun little mystery and while bad things are happening all around, it never felt heavy. The realities and the horrors of the time hovered on the pages, but it wasn't distracting and it wasn't the focus. It was all about Maks and Willa and their family. While they weren't going through the best times, having it m...more
I actually really enjoyed it. It was this fun little mystery and while bad things are happening all around, it never felt heavy. The realities and the horrors of the time hovered on the pages, but it wasn't distracting and it wasn't the focus. It was all about Maks and Willa and their family. While they weren't going through the best times, having it m...more
The year is 1893 and New York City may be a melting pot of immigrants, but it is also a "City of Orphans," a city where the children must take care of parents who don't speak English or understand how to navigate their new country. Thirteen-year-old Maks is a newsie and depends on his eight cents a day to keep his family in their tenement home and food in their bellies. His older sister Emma has a sweet job at the new Waldorf Hotel and his other siblings do their best to contribute as well. Momm...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oprah's Book Club...: City of Orphans | 2 | 66 | Dec 01, 2012 06:19am |
Avi is a pen name for Edward Irving Wortis, but he says, "The fact is, Avi is the only name I use."
Born in 1937, Avi has created many fictional favorites such as The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Nothing but the Truth, and The Crispin series. His work is very much desired by readers young and old.
More about Avi...
Born in 1937, Avi has created many fictional favorites such as The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Nothing but the Truth, and The Crispin series. His work is very much desired by readers young and old.
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“People are freer in America. But there are more tears.”
—
5 people liked it
More quotes…
