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 — 11,669,814 ratings
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2

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4.33 avg rating — 1,141,379 ratings
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3

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4.17 avg rating — 1,324,148 ratings
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4

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4.16 avg rating — 2,383,457 ratings
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5

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4.23 avg rating — 333,868 ratings
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6

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4.04 avg rating — 213,786 ratings
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7

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4.03 avg rating — 161,815 ratings
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8

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4.02 avg rating — 426,338 ratings
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9

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3.80 avg rating — 888,121 ratings
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10

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4.14 avg rating — 141,057 ratings
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11

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4.01 avg rating — 322 ratings
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12

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4.03 avg rating — 579,845 ratings
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13

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4.71 avg rating — 36,923 ratings
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14

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4.15 avg rating — 211,430 ratings
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15

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4.25 avg rating — 1,273 ratings
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16

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3.88 avg rating — 434,462 ratings
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17

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4.20 avg rating — 178,363 ratings
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18

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3.90 avg rating — 129,348 ratings
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19

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4.13 avg rating — 55,385 ratings
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20

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3.83 avg rating — 213,563 ratings
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21

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3.83 avg rating — 1,348,021 ratings
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22

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4.07 avg rating — 39,096 ratings
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23

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3.68 avg rating — 6,131 ratings
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24

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4.03 avg rating — 30,849 ratings
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25

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4.15 avg rating — 569,798 ratings
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26

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4.05 avg rating — 78,657 ratings
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27

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4.04 avg rating — 370,659 ratings
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28

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4.13 avg rating — 77,359 ratings
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29

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4.18 avg rating — 434,693 ratings
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30

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4.31 avg rating — 3,520,359 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 — 2,416 ratings
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33

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 521,246 ratings
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34

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4.05 avg rating — 264,107 ratings
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35

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4.11 avg rating — 27,939 ratings
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35

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3.85 avg rating — 2,071 ratings
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37

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4.06 avg rating — 56,776 ratings
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38

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4.06 avg rating — 22,660 ratings
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38

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3.84 avg rating — 8,427 ratings
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40

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3.95 avg rating — 248,779 ratings
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41

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3.98 avg rating — 23,454 ratings
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42

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4.25 avg rating — 15,531 ratings
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43

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3.95 avg rating — 2,928 ratings
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44

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3.70 avg rating — 1,903 ratings
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45

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4.01 avg rating — 40,092 ratings
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46

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3.72 avg rating — 11,055 ratings
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47

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3.89 avg rating — 134,781 ratings
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48

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4.12 avg rating — 38,505 ratings
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49

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3.78 avg rating — 83,203 ratings
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50

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3.68 avg rating — 3,671 ratings
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51

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4.04 avg rating — 332 ratings
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51

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3.86 avg rating — 10,650 ratings
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53

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3.70 avg rating — 95,355 ratings
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53

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4.15 avg rating — 131,564 ratings
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55

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4.14 avg rating — 20,485 ratings
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56

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4.17 avg rating — 23,542 ratings
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57

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3.91 avg rating — 401,197 ratings
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58

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3.58 avg rating — 315 ratings
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59

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4.02 avg rating — 92,496 ratings
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60

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4.10 avg rating — 235,628 ratings
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61

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4.02 avg rating — 32,158 ratings
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62

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3.70 avg rating — 52,092 ratings
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63

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4.08 avg rating — 15,571 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 — 4,638 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 — 1,788 ratings
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64

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3.89 avg rating — 23,280 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 — 17,839 ratings
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64

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3 ratings
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77

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3.40 avg rating — 5 ratings
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77

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3.53 avg rating — 1,672 ratings
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77

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4.07 avg rating — 10,033 ratings
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77

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4.11 avg rating — 1,156 ratings
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77

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4.25 avg rating — 4,683 ratings
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82

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4.23 avg rating — 3,065 ratings
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82

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3.71 avg rating — 702 ratings
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82

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4.17 avg rating — 6,931 ratings
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85

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4.17 avg rating — 4,655 ratings
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85

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3.92 avg rating — 1,036,373 ratings
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85

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4.29 avg rating — 131,620 ratings
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85

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4.25 avg rating — 1,350 ratings
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89

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4.01 avg rating — 2,466 ratings
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90

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3.69 avg rating — 2,600 ratings
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90

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4.07 avg rating — 105,550 ratings
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92

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3.80 avg rating — 101,099 ratings
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92

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3.60 avg rating — 2,145 ratings
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92

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4.13 avg rating — 114,815 ratings
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92

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4.05 avg rating — 95,845 ratings
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96

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3.54 avg rating — 1,575 ratings
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96

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3.82 avg rating — 9,735 ratings
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96

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3.81 avg rating — 790 ratings
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96

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4.34 avg rating — 21,458 ratings
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100

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3.98 avg rating — 4,824 ratings
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163 books · 71 voters · list created January 17th, 2012 by Lydia (votes) .
10 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Lydia 885 books
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Manybooks 22806 books
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Annie 12633 books
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Apostrophe 51 books
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Andréa 51327 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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