This list is for the best books about orphans. Lest there be any dispute about whether a character is technically an orphan, it is also for books about children who believe they are orphans, or are practically orphans...
1

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4.47 avg rating — 11,443,063 ratings
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2

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4.33 avg rating — 1,116,197 ratings
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3

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4.17 avg rating — 1,299,131 ratings
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4

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4.16 avg rating — 2,329,427 ratings
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5

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4.23 avg rating — 324,877 ratings
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6

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4.04 avg rating — 211,523 ratings
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7

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4.03 avg rating — 160,468 ratings
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8

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4.02 avg rating — 424,189 ratings
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9

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3.80 avg rating — 875,545 ratings
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10

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4.13 avg rating — 139,796 ratings
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11

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4.02 avg rating — 321 ratings
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12

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4.02 avg rating — 571,481 ratings
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13

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4.71 avg rating — 35,702 ratings
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14

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4.15 avg rating — 209,552 ratings
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15

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4.24 avg rating — 1,199 ratings
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16

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3.88 avg rating — 428,530 ratings
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17

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4.20 avg rating — 175,511 ratings
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18

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3.90 avg rating — 128,561 ratings
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19

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4.13 avg rating — 54,495 ratings
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20

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3.82 avg rating — 209,688 ratings
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21

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3.83 avg rating — 1,338,373 ratings
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22

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4.07 avg rating — 38,646 ratings
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23

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3.67 avg rating — 6,078 ratings
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24

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4.03 avg rating — 30,645 ratings
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25

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4.15 avg rating — 566,452 ratings
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26

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4.05 avg rating — 78,328 ratings
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27

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4.04 avg rating — 359,976 ratings
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28

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4.13 avg rating — 75,806 ratings
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29

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4.18 avg rating — 429,156 ratings
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30

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4.31 avg rating — 3,446,896 ratings
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31

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3.78 avg rating — 112 ratings
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32

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3.75 avg rating — 2,358 ratings
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33

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 513,088 ratings
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34

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4.04 avg rating — 259,094 ratings
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35

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4.11 avg rating — 27,759 ratings
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35

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3.84 avg rating — 2,050 ratings
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37

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4.06 avg rating — 54,803 ratings
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38

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4.06 avg rating — 22,454 ratings
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38

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3.84 avg rating — 8,374 ratings
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40

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3.95 avg rating — 245,366 ratings
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41

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3.98 avg rating — 23,298 ratings
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42

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4.25 avg rating — 15,239 ratings
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43

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3.95 avg rating — 2,908 ratings
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44

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3.70 avg rating — 1,893 ratings
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45

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4.01 avg rating — 39,783 ratings
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46

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3.72 avg rating — 10,989 ratings
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47

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3.90 avg rating — 133,079 ratings
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48

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4.12 avg rating — 38,179 ratings
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49

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3.78 avg rating — 80,820 ratings
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50

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3.68 avg rating — 3,664 ratings
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51

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4.04 avg rating — 328 ratings
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51

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3.86 avg rating — 10,565 ratings
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53

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3.69 avg rating — 93,856 ratings
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53

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4.15 avg rating — 129,348 ratings
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55

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4.14 avg rating — 19,981 ratings
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56

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4.17 avg rating — 23,424 ratings
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57

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3.91 avg rating — 393,092 ratings
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58

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3.59 avg rating — 313 ratings
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59

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4.02 avg rating — 91,931 ratings
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60

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4.09 avg rating — 233,048 ratings
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61

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4.02 avg rating — 31,743 ratings
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62

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3.70 avg rating — 51,381 ratings
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63

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4.08 avg rating — 15,336 ratings
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64

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4.23 avg rating — 13 ratings
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64

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3.36 avg rating — 14 ratings
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64

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4.20 avg rating — 40 ratings
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64

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4.32 avg rating — 4,627 ratings
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64

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2.80 avg rating — 5 ratings
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64

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4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings
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64

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4.13 avg rating — 47 ratings
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64

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3.90 avg rating — 1,742 ratings
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64

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3.89 avg rating — 23,104 ratings
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64

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4.21 avg rating — 28 ratings
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64

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4.18 avg rating — 34 ratings
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64

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4.19 avg rating — 17,575 ratings
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76

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3.40 avg rating — 5 ratings
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76

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3.54 avg rating — 1,671 ratings
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76

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4.07 avg rating — 9,981 ratings
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76

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4.10 avg rating — 1,119 ratings
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76

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4.25 avg rating — 4,635 ratings
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81

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4.23 avg rating — 3,034 ratings
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81

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3.71 avg rating — 696 ratings
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81

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4.17 avg rating — 6,888 ratings
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84

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4.17 avg rating — 4,568 ratings
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84

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3.92 avg rating — 1,020,721 ratings
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84

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4.29 avg rating — 126,746 ratings
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84

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4.25 avg rating — 1,338 ratings
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88

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4.01 avg rating — 2,458 ratings
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89

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3.69 avg rating — 2,557 ratings
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89

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4.07 avg rating — 104,345 ratings
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91

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3.80 avg rating — 100,805 ratings
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91

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3.60 avg rating — 2,140 ratings
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91

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4.13 avg rating — 113,711 ratings
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91

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4.05 avg rating — 94,252 ratings
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95

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3.54 avg rating — 1,576 ratings
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95

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3.83 avg rating — 9,709 ratings
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95

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3.80 avg rating — 780 ratings
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95

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4.34 avg rating — 20,891 ratings
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99

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3.98 avg rating — 4,789 ratings
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99

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3.91 avg rating — 3,651 ratings
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162 books · 70 voters · list created January 17th, 2012 by Lydia (votes) .
10 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Lydia 829 books
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Manybooks 22381 books
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Annie 12582 books
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Apostrophe 51 books
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Andréa 51044 books
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Faith 271 books
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Comments Showing 1-6 of 6 (6 new)

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message 1: by Surendran (new)

Surendran Murugesan Can somone suggest some indian books in this theme


message 2: by Christine (new)

Christine Jeffords If you mean Indians as in India, Mowgli in "The Jungle Books" would qualify; his parents may or may not be dead, but they ran away when Shere Khan started "humming" in the brush, and he never meets them.

If Indians as in "Native Americans," there's a Cinderella variant in Native myth, and a Blackfoot story about Scarface, who is "an orphan and poor." That's just a start; I'd guess that if you searched worldcat under Subject: Orphans: Native American: Juvenile, you might find some.


message 3: by Janice (new)

Janice Kuharski This is a wonderful list--bringing so many great children's titles under the searchable heading of "orphan books." Didn't find what I was looking for. But I discovered this great list!


message 4: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Nov 23, 2019 08:35AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Pippi Longstocking (#13) has a father... (I know the description says 'it is also for books about children who believe they are orphans, or are practically orphans', but she does have a father...)


message 5: by Georgina (new)

Georgina Warren BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) wrote: "Pippi Longstocking (#13) has a father... (I know the description says 'it is also for books about children who believe they are orphans, or are practically orphans', but she does have ..."

I agree with you, Pippi Longstocking does have a father, but he is absent except when she visits him in Pippi in the South Seas. I think this book should be removed from this list.


message 6: by Georgina (new)

Georgina Warren The most iconic orphan stories familiar to readers are Pollyanna, Anne of Green Gables, Heidi, Oliver Twist, Little Orphan Annie, Mary Lennox (The Secret Garden) and Sarah Crewe (A Little Princess).

Other well-known fictional orphans in the modern era:

The Beaudelaire siblings Violet, Klaus and Sunny (A Series of Unfortunate Events) and Harry Potter.

Roald Dahl has written many orphans stories
James Henry Trotter (James and the Giant Peach), Sophie (The BFG), the little boy (The Witches)


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