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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 — 11,594,614 ratings
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2

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4.33 avg rating — 1,133,120 ratings
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3

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4.17 avg rating — 1,315,721 ratings
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4

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4.16 avg rating — 2,365,874 ratings
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5

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4.23 avg rating — 332,838 ratings
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6

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4.04 avg rating — 212,985 ratings
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7

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4.03 avg rating — 161,324 ratings
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8

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4.02 avg rating — 425,595 ratings
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9

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3.80 avg rating — 883,964 ratings
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10

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4.14 avg rating — 140,636 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 — 577,050 ratings
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13

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4.71 avg rating — 36,474 ratings
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14

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4.15 avg rating — 210,809 ratings
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15

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4.25 avg rating — 1,254 ratings
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16

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3.88 avg rating — 432,594 ratings
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17

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4.20 avg rating — 177,371 ratings
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18

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3.90 avg rating — 129,010 ratings
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19

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4.13 avg rating — 55,076 ratings
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20

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3.83 avg rating — 212,266 ratings
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21

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3.83 avg rating — 1,346,177 ratings
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22

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4.07 avg rating — 38,996 ratings
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23

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3.68 avg rating — 6,113 ratings
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24

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4.03 avg rating — 30,781 ratings
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25

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4.15 avg rating — 568,632 ratings
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26

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4.05 avg rating — 78,564 ratings
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27

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4.04 avg rating — 367,077 ratings
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28

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4.13 avg rating — 76,767 ratings
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29

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4.18 avg rating — 432,974 ratings
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30

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4.31 avg rating — 3,496,379 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 — 2,400 ratings
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33

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 518,742 ratings
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34

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4.05 avg rating — 262,593 ratings
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35

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4.12 avg rating — 27,864 ratings
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35

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3.84 avg rating — 2,057 ratings
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37

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4.06 avg rating — 56,123 ratings
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38

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4.06 avg rating — 22,601 ratings
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38

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3.84 avg rating — 8,400 ratings
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40

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3.95 avg rating — 247,597 ratings
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41

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3.98 avg rating — 23,406 ratings
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42

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4.25 avg rating — 15,450 ratings
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43

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3.95 avg rating — 2,920 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 — 39,986 ratings
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46

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3.72 avg rating — 11,038 ratings
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47

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3.89 avg rating — 134,245 ratings
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48

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4.12 avg rating — 38,398 ratings
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49

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3.78 avg rating — 82,363 ratings
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50

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3.68 avg rating — 3,670 ratings
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51

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4.04 avg rating — 331 ratings
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51

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3.86 avg rating — 10,622 ratings
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53

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3.70 avg rating — 94,856 ratings
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53

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4.15 avg rating — 130,882 ratings
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55

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4.14 avg rating — 20,318 ratings
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56

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4.17 avg rating — 23,493 ratings
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57

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3.91 avg rating — 398,560 ratings
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58

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3.59 avg rating — 315 ratings
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59

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4.02 avg rating — 92,618 ratings
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60

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4.10 avg rating — 234,816 ratings
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61

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4.02 avg rating — 32,024 ratings
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62

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3.70 avg rating — 51,851 ratings
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63

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4.08 avg rating — 15,496 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 — 4,635 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 — 1,770 ratings
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64

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3.89 avg rating — 23,231 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 — 17,751 ratings
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64

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4.94 avg rating — 49 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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3.54 avg rating — 1,671 ratings
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77

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4.07 avg rating — 10,013 ratings
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77

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4.11 avg rating — 1,148 ratings
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77

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4.25 avg rating — 4,664 ratings
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82

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4.23 avg rating — 3,059 ratings
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82

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3.71 avg rating — 699 ratings
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82

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4.17 avg rating — 6,922 ratings
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85

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4.17 avg rating — 4,623 ratings
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85

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3.92 avg rating — 1,031,220 ratings
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85

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4.29 avg rating — 129,955 ratings
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85

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4.25 avg rating — 1,347 ratings
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89

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4.01 avg rating — 2,462 ratings
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90

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3.69 avg rating — 2,580 ratings
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90

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4.07 avg rating — 105,111 ratings
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92

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3.80 avg rating — 100,985 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 — 114,454 ratings
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92

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4.05 avg rating — 95,370 ratings
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96

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3.54 avg rating — 1,576 ratings
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96

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3.82 avg rating — 9,728 ratings
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96

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3.81 avg rating — 789 ratings
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96

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4.34 avg rating — 21,249 ratings
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100

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3.98 avg rating — 4,809 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 853 books
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Manybooks 22663 books
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Annie 12620 books
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Apostrophe 51 books
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Andréa 51180 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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