Orphan Runaways

by Kristiana Gregory

When twelve-year-old Danny and six-year-old Judd lose their parents to pneumonia in 1878, they are sent to an orphanage in San Francisco. The headmaster wants to separate the brothers and send them to different families, but because they have only each other they escape. They make their way to the dangerous mining camp of Bodie, California in the High Sierras to be with their Uncle Hank. A tenderhearted croupier named Madame Mustache takes them under her wing, along with other orphans roaming the raucous town. When the boys find their Uncle Hank and learn he's involved with a Chinese woman, they realize life with him won't be what they had expected. Then Judd becomes sick, and Danny must decide if he's willing to set aside his prejudice to have a real family again.

Historical fiction at its short chapters & high adventure for reluctant readers. Great for classrooms studying California history; highly recommended by 4th grade teachers.

Genres: Historical Fiction

160 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1998

About the author

Kristiana Gregory grew up in Manhattan Beach, California, two blocks from the ocean. She's always loved to make up stories [ask her family!], telling her younger siblings whoppers that would leave them wide-eyed and shivering. Her first rejection letter at age ten was for a poem she wrote in class when she was supposed to be doing a math assignment. She's had a myriad of odd jobs: telephone operator, lifeguard, camp counselor, reporter, book reviewer & columnist for the LA Times, and finally author.

Her award-winning books include STALKED, which earned the 2012 Gold Medal for Young Adult Mystery from Literary Classics and is hailed as "historical fiction with a thrilling twist." KIRKUS calls it "an atmospheric confection that will thrill YA readers ... Gregory achieves a realistic, rich atmosphere with insightful details about the immigration process and New York tenements in the early 1900s." Now available on Kindle and in paperback.

JENNY OF THE TETONS [Harcourt] won the Golden Kite Award in 1989 and was the first of two-dozen historical novels for middle grade readers. Several of Kristiana's titles are now available on Kindle including "Curiously Odd Stories: Vol. 1 and Vol. 2" with the celebrated 'Paper Monument', a futuristic book-banning with horrific consequences.

BRONTE'S BOOK CLUB [Holiday House] is set in a town by the sea and is inspired by the girls' book club Kristiana led for several years.

Her most recent title with Scholastic's Dear America series is CANNONS AT DAWN, a sequel to the best-selling THE WINTER OF RED SNOW, which was made into a movie for the HBO Family Channel.

New re-releases in ebooks and paperback on Amazon:
**PRAIRIE RIVER SERIES #1-4
**ORPHAN RUNAWAYS: THE PERILOUS ESCAPE TO BODIE
**CABIN CREEK MYSTERIES #7: THE PHANTOM OF HIDDEN HORSE RANCH
**THE WAITING LIGHT: CLEMENTINE'S STORY -- originally titled "My Darlin' Clementine" [Holiday House] this riveting historical mystery takes place in an Idaho mining camp of 1866, and was Idaho's representative for the 2010 National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Library of Congress.

Kristiana and her husband have two adult sons, and live in Idaho with their two golden retrievers. In her spare time she loves to swim, walk, hike, read, and hang out with friends. She's trying to learn to knit, but isn't yet having much success.

Check out Kristiana's blogs at http://notesfromthesunroom.blogspot.com/ for behind-the-scenes stories about her books, and with photos from her childhood.

Reviews

[6thbreed · Rating 2 out of 5]

Orphan Runaways was an okay book on the low side of the scale. There wasn’t anything glaringly wrong with it, but at the same time, it wasn’t amazingly awesome. It was just….unimpressive.
There was a lot about saloons seeing how Daniel and Judd, who ran away from an orphanage, slept under a table in one for a long time in the book. So, there were mentions of gambling, Daniel guessing that girls were from saloons by the way they were cheering/acting, shooting, and stuff like that. Daniel even sees a man die, and one of the kids he runs with skis down a hill and breaks his neck. A lady also dies out in the cold, and the children discover a skeleton.
Asian-prejudice was a valid problem during this time period (I’m pretty sure I read that somewhere in history) but I wish the author would’ve given facts about why people were against Asians. The main character was a twelve-year-old, so if someone told him Asians were bad, I could see how he would believe them. I still wanted to see the historical facts of why people didn’t like them though, and the reasons why the prejudice was wrong.
Madame Mustache was … interesting. I hadn’t noticed her portrait in the front of the book at first, and when I did I was like, “Whoa!” It almost looked like someone had penciled it in. :D It piqued my interest enough to look it up on Wikipedia. She did not seem like a nice lady even though they portray her in a good light here.
Daniel's uncle swims naked (or in his underwear?) in front of his fiancee. I was also not sure if they were living together before they were married.
I don’t think I'm going to read this again. Overall, my feelings about the Orphan Runaways is in the first paragraph.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Children’s historical fiction
Gregory, Kristina. (1998). Orphan Runaways.

Characters: Danny, Jude, Uncle Hank, and Lu-Chen

Theme: Racism, Survival, Perseverance, Love

Target Audience: Upper Elementary (3rd-5th)

Danny, Jude, and their younger sister became orphans when both their parents died of an epidemic that hit and 1878 would become known as the Year of the Orphan. Danny, being twelve years old, knew he would not be adopted, but his adorable six year old brother Jude with his red cheeks was an easy target for adoption. When a family came to try to adopt Jude, Danny begged them to adopt him as well and their younger sister, who was with the nuns. Seeing that the family only wanted Jude and was taking him away, Danny grabbed his brother and ran for it.
With no money or food, the only thing Danny could do was to figure out a way to get to Bodie, where he knew their Uncle Hank was working in the mines.
Once they reached Bodie, Danny met Captain Billy, Madame Mustache, and other orphans. At Bodie, Danny learned about how to survive, take care of his younger brother, find his uncle, but most importantly about racism. The Chinese were treated with disrespect, little did he know that soon his uncle would be marrying a Chinese girl.
Danny grows in the story from an orphan boy to a boy that accepts his new family with his Uncle Hank and Aunt Lu-Chen.
This novel was an easy read where students can get a different perspective of the Gold Rush Era. In history books, they mainly focus on major events of adults. Usually there is a paragraph about what children did, but this book gives a perspective of a child during the era. Children too had hardships and major events in their lives. This book can help my fourth graders get a different perspective of California history.

[Raegan Justus · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book Orphan Runaways by Kristiana Gregory is about the 2 brothers who ran away from the orphanage back in the 1800’s. They hid in the back of a stagecoach and ended up somewhere far from home with their uncle, leaving their baby sister back in the orphanage. I personally love books about the 1800’s or anything back in that time. It was very well written and was a great story. I give it a strong 5 stars. It never skipped any major parts of the story and ended with a theme of always go back for someone even if it takes work.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elementary level book that I wanted to read before I gave it away. Interesting to me because of the Nevada history I learned about when I lived in California.

[michele caudill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome
Uncle hank has a gf
and they find him and the boys friend buster dies

[Abigail G · Rating 4 out of 5]

A childhood favorite set in the days of the California gold rush.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, engaging story. Lots of historical accuracy which led to me enjoying it more.

[Hannah Kahrs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember reading this back in 4th grade and absolutely loving it -which was pretty uncommon for me since I had just about zero interest in reading throughout my elementary school years.
It's a good book for young adventurous children who are into adventures. Although I wouldnt just hand it to a little kid. The reader should be old enough to appreciate it which means old enough to at least somewhat grasp the concept of an orphanage and an epidemic, in text (so at least 8.5 years old maybe). A basic back story in American history is helpful but not essential. If the child is going to be read to, though, then he can be as young as 6 if the narrator will explain a few things here and there.

[Brittney · Rating 4 out of 5]

its for younger people but its okay.

[Heather Spiva · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is truly a fantastic book.
Historically accurate, and intriguing characters,
this is a perfect book for kids and adults.