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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 — 11,461,930 ratings
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2

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4.33 avg rating — 1,118,017 ratings
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3

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4.17 avg rating — 1,301,028 ratings
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4

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4.16 avg rating — 2,333,508 ratings
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5

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4.23 avg rating — 330,971 ratings
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6

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4.04 avg rating — 211,702 ratings
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7

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4.03 avg rating — 160,571 ratings
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8

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4.02 avg rating — 424,316 ratings
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9

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3.80 avg rating — 876,623 ratings
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10

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4.13 avg rating — 139,890 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 — 572,120 ratings
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13

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4.71 avg rating — 35,789 ratings
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14

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4.15 avg rating — 209,704 ratings
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15

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4.25 avg rating — 1,204 ratings
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16

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3.88 avg rating — 429,075 ratings
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17

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4.20 avg rating — 175,721 ratings
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18

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3.90 avg rating — 128,582 ratings
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19

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4.13 avg rating — 54,549 ratings
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20

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3.82 avg rating — 209,954 ratings
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21

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3.83 avg rating — 1,339,333 ratings
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22

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4.07 avg rating — 38,685 ratings
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23

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3.67 avg rating — 6,082 ratings
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24

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4.03 avg rating — 30,657 ratings
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25

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4.15 avg rating — 566,694 ratings
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26

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4.05 avg rating — 78,345 ratings
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27

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4.04 avg rating — 360,731 ratings
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28

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4.13 avg rating — 75,944 ratings
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29

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4.18 avg rating — 429,577 ratings
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30

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4.31 avg rating — 3,453,123 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 — 2,361 ratings
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33

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 513,824 ratings
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34

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4.04 avg rating — 259,541 ratings
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35

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4.11 avg rating — 27,762 ratings
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35

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3.84 avg rating — 2,054 ratings
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37

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4.06 avg rating — 54,957 ratings
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38

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4.06 avg rating — 22,463 ratings
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38

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3.84 avg rating — 8,370 ratings
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40

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3.95 avg rating — 245,610 ratings
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41

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3.98 avg rating — 23,311 ratings
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42

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4.25 avg rating — 15,261 ratings
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43

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3.95 avg rating — 2,910 ratings
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44

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3.70 avg rating — 1,895 ratings
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45

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4.01 avg rating — 39,821 ratings
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46

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3.72 avg rating — 10,992 ratings
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47

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3.89 avg rating — 133,223 ratings
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48

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4.12 avg rating — 38,205 ratings
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49

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3.78 avg rating — 80,957 ratings
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50

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3.68 avg rating — 3,666 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 — 10,573 ratings
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53

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3.69 avg rating — 93,993 ratings
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53

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4.15 avg rating — 129,501 ratings
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55

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4.14 avg rating — 20,010 ratings
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56

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4.17 avg rating — 23,435 ratings
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57

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3.91 avg rating — 393,746 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 — 92,021 ratings
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60

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4.09 avg rating — 233,247 ratings
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61

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4.02 avg rating — 31,766 ratings
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62

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3.70 avg rating — 51,428 ratings
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63

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4.08 avg rating — 15,355 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 — 1,745 ratings
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64

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3.89 avg rating — 23,127 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 — 17,602 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 — 9,983 ratings
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76

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4.10 avg rating — 1,124 ratings
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76

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4.25 avg rating — 4,637 ratings
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81

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4.23 avg rating — 3,037 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 — 6,891 ratings
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84

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4.17 avg rating — 4,576 ratings
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84

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3.92 avg rating — 1,022,000 ratings
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84

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4.29 avg rating — 127,060 ratings
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84

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4.25 avg rating — 1,339 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 — 2,563 ratings
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89

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4.07 avg rating — 104,404 ratings
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91

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3.80 avg rating — 100,813 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 — 113,799 ratings
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91

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4.05 avg rating — 94,376 ratings
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95

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3.54 avg rating — 1,577 ratings
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95

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3.83 avg rating — 9,711 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 — 20,926 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 — 3,653 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 22407 books
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Annie 12583 books
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Apostrophe 51 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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