There are one hundred orphans at the Russian orphanage, but Nikolai is the only bear. He growls when he speaks and claws the air when he plays. “Play nice, Nikolai,” the keepers say. No one wants to take Nikolai home. Until one day, when a fur-faced man and a smooth-faced woman come to visit from America. They growl with him and play with him, and sing songs that make him feel soft-bearish. And when it’s time for them to go home, Nikolai knows that he has found the right family at last.
The beloved original text now offered in a definitive gift edition by esteemed illustrator Inga Moore. First published in 1909, THE SECRET GARDEN has entranced readers with the courage and strength of two unhappy and withered children who become determined to make their lives and the lives of others around them more joyful. In this remarkable new edition, Inga Moore’s beautifully observed illustrations capture the wonder of the secret garden springing to life under the tender care of Mary Lennox; her spoiled invalid cousin, Colin; and Dickon, a Yorkshire boy.
Orphan Rossamünd Bookchild has been sworn into the Emperor’s service—his duty is to light the lamps along the Emperor’s highways and protect travelers from the ferocious bogles that live in the wild. But he’s found it no easier to fit in with the lamplighters than he did with the foundlings—always too small and too meek—and his loneliness continues no matter how hard he tries to succeed. But when a haughty young girl, a member of a suspiciously regarded society of all-women teratologists— monster hunters—is forced upon the lamplighters for training, Rossamünd is no longer the most despised soul around. As Rossamünd begins to make new friends in the dangerous world of the Half-Continent, he also seems to make more enemies, finding himself pushed toward a destiny that he could never have imagined.
Erin Law and her friends are Damaged Children. At least that is the label given to them by Maureen, the woman who runs the orphanage that they live in. Damaged, Beyond Repair because they have no parents to take care of them. But Erin knows that if they care for each other they can put up with the psychologists, the social workers, the therapists — at least most of the time. Sometimes there is nothing left but to run away, to run for freedom. And that is what Erin and two friends do, run away one night downriver on a raft. What they find on their journey is stranger than you can imagine, maybe, and you might not think it’s true. But Erin will tell you it is all true. And the proof is a girl named Heaven Eyes, who sees through all the darkness in the world to the joy that lies beneath.
The newest boy at Mrs. Timmins’s Home for Orphans and Foundlings awakes at first light with no name and no memory. But a strange girl who hides among the shadows of the orphanage tells him that a mysterious wizard’s creation, the Book of Lies, holds the answers, and then gives him one clue: “Your name is Marcel.” With that knowledge, and the help of three new friends, Marcel begins a quest to find the truth about his real identity—a truth that is hidden in the Book of Lies. As Marcel learns more about his past, he realizes that truth can change at any moment and can be manipulated by anyone, and he begins to wonder if the old book’s so-called magical truth might be the greatest lie of all.
A young boy unites with thousands of other orphaned boys to walk to safety in a refugee camp in another country, after war destroys their villages in southern Sudan. Based on true events.
Awards:
Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Books
The three novels in Gary Blackwood’s award-winning Shakespeare Stealer series are in one volume, which includes the complete texts of The Shakespeare Stealer, Shakespeare’s Scribe, and Shakespeare’s Spy. Each novel is about the adventures of an orphan named Widge who becomes an actor with Will Shakespeare’s acting troupe. He navigates intrigue, betrayal and romance in Elizabethan London.
CONRAD THE GOOD serves as court jester to a most unworthy master: Lord Otto “the Witless,” who rarely appreciates jesting and acrobatics and more often rewards his good fool with a good whipping. So one night, Conrad flees, leaving Otto’s realm in search of a more enlightened master—taking with him only his noble horse, Blackspur, and his beloved, the servant girl Christa the Fair. As they take to the road, they soon learn that along with their quest comes hardship. But for all the hardships they encounter, there are as many unexpected joys and friends in unexpected places, and there is always their love for one another. And always, their destination lies before them: somewhere, a sanctuary where they’ll have the freedom to be together and be themselves.
It was just supposed to be a routine exam. But when the doctors snake the fiber-optic tube down Robert Smith’s throat, what they discover doesn’t make medical sense. Plastic casings. Silver filaments. Moving metal parts. In his naked, anesthetized state on the operating table, Robert hears the surgeons’ shocked comments: “What the hell is that?” “It’s me,” Robert thinks, “and I’ve got to get out of here.” Armed with a stolen automatic and the videotape of his strange organs, he manages to escape, and to embark on an orphan’s violent odyssey to find out exactly who–exactly what–he is.
In this tale, a mischievous group of orphans attempts to show their new headmistress how to have a good time. They build forts under tables, hang from the orphanage balconies and ride a cart down the stairwell. Each time, the fretful headmistress’s curious refrain is “Elephants are strong and sturdy but children, remember, are not elephants,” as she puts them all to bed under orange-and-white checkered coverlets. The children soon tire of bedrest, and one morning, the woman discovers they have fled, and only an orange-and-white checked elephant remains.