Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

Maryland

A moving novel about love, loss, and an extraordinary lifelong passion for golf, by the acclaimed author of The Cliff Walk and Fallen Angel. Ross Lansdale never knew his mother and father and grew up at St. Luke's Orphanage for Boys in the 1950s. The one person who took an interest in him was Father Martin, a Benedictine monk who understood the loneliness of an orphan’s life. He instilled in Ross an enduring love of two solitary, reliable pursuits: golf and books. Over the years, and through the loss of his beloved mentor, Ross comes to rely on these trustworthy tools, sure that they will never abandon him. As an adult and a college professor of literature, Ross encounters two people who will challenge and forever change his life: Julia, the student who opens his heart only to make him feel more vulnerable than ever, and Johnny Durocher, a spit-fire new professor–and terrifically talented golfer–who becomes Ross’s first true friend. Durocher’s one serious dream is to play the amateur tournament on the Old Course at Saint Andrews, but when an unforeseen tragedy keeps Johnny from playing, Ross must make the boldest decision of his life. As he travels to Scotland to confront his failures and fears, Ross embraces his wonder of the ancient game and plays a round of golf in honor of his friend, and the boy he used to be. With characteristic poignancy and style that have earned Don J. Snyder critical acclaim for his novels and screenplays, WINTER DREAMS is a remarkable new work filled with compassion, heartache, and the grace that comes from the triumph of personal courage.

Winter Dreams

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Kaye Gibbons

Winner of the Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and letters.

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

A Novel

After the death of her mother, an eleven-year-old girl finds that life with her father is too dangerous and tries to find a new home.

Ellen Foster

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#hardcover #youngadult #ya #orphan #poverty #fiction 

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

New York

The storm skipped round, digging out its swath like skipping rocks through town, mashing a house here to matchsticks, leaving one next door to stand untouched. Our farm was spared, but that don't mean we were the lucky ones.

For twelve-year-old Mony (short for Ramona Louise), a small town in Georgia and the stories her pa tells are all she knows of life. Her family is poor, but they work hard to make ends meet. And Mony has Georgie, her beloved older sister and very best friend.

Then, in horrifying succession, one disaster after another strikes and Mony, Georgie, and their baby sister are suddenly on their own. They must learn to survive, just the three of them. But Mony alone must cope with the one secret she fears will destroy them as a family.

Told in a funny, sensitive, and heartbreakingly original voice, the story of Mony and her sister is the story of family, and the unbreakable ties of love, devotion, and family history.

Say You Are My Sister

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Delaware

Beholding Bee

Minnesota

Orphan Train Girl

Award-winning author Sid Fleischman blends the broadly comic with the deeply compassionate in this memorable novel, winner of the Newbery Medal. 

A Prince and a Pauper . . . Prince Brat and his whipping boy inadvertently trade places after becoming involved with dangerous outlaws. The two boys have nothing in common and even less reason to like each other. But when they find themselves taken hostage after running away, they are left with no choice but to trust each other. "A rollicking tale of adventure and mistaken identity . . . . Robust scenes and characters are vividly evoked."—Kirkus Reviews

This briskly told tale of high adventure, taut with suspense and rich with colorful characters, was named an ALA Notable Book. Sid Fleischman's celebrated novel features brief, action-packed chapters and includes black-and-white illustrations by Caldecott Honor artist Peter Sís. "An 18th century tale about the escapades of a resourceful orphan and a spoiled young prince. . . . Full of adventure, suspense, humor, and lively characters."—The New York Times



Texas

The Whipping Boy

Andrea White

In 2083, orphan Shama Katooee, who has just stolen an expensive pet bird, is mysteriously selected to attend the elite Chronos Academy to be trained in the practice of TimeWatch, although she has no idea how or why she has been given this honor.

Windows on the World

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A New York Times Notable Book and the March 2001 selection of Oprah's Book Club® ! Icy Sparks is the sad, funny and transcendent tale of a young girl growing up in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky during the 1950’s. Gwyn Hyman Rubio’s beautifully written first novel revolves around Icy Sparks, an unforgettable heroine in the tradition of Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird or Will Treed in Cold Sassy Tree. At the age of ten, Icy, a bright, curious child orphaned as a baby but raised by adoring grandparents, begins to have strange experiences. Try as she might, her "secrets"—verbal croaks, groans, and physical spasms—keep afflicting her. As an adult, she will find out she has Tourette’s Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder, but for years her behavior is the source of mystery, confusion, and deep humiliation. Narrated by a grown up Icy, the book chronicles a difficult, but ultimately hilarious and heartwarming journey, from her first spasms to her self-acceptance as a young woman. Curious about life beyond the hills, talented, and energetic, Icy learns to cut through all barriers—physical, mental, and spiritual—in order to find community and acceptance. Along her journey, Icy faces the jeers of her classmates as well as the malevolence of her often-ignorant teachers—including Mrs. Stilton, one of the most evil fourth grade teachers ever created by a writer. Called willful by her teachers and "Frog Child" by her schoolmates, she is exiled from the schoolroom and sent to a children’s asylum where it is hoped that the roots of her mysterious behavior can be discovered. Here Icy learns about difference—her own and those who are even more scarred than she. Yet, it isn’t until Icy returns home that she really begins to flower, especially through her friendship with the eccentric and obese Miss Emily, who knows first-hand how it feels to be an outcast in this tightly knit Appalachian community. Under Miss Emily’s tutelage, Icy learns about life’s struggles and rewards, survives her first comical and heartbreaking misadventure with romance, discovers the healing power of her voice when she sings, and ultimately—takes her first steps back into the world. Gwyn Hyman Rubio’s Icy Sparks is a fresh, original, and completely redeeming novel about learning to overcome others’ ignorance and celebrate the differences that make each of us unique.

Icy Sparks

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Gwyn Hyman Rubio

Heavy Paperback (2 to 4 lbs)

Ohio

#fiction #paperback #netflix #drama #chess #bestseller #orphan #adaptation #movie

Michigan

Engaging and fast-paced, this gripping coming-of-age novel of chess, feminism, and addiction speeds to a conclusion as elegant and satisfying as a mate in four. Now an acclaimed Netflix series. Eight year-old orphan Beth Harmon is quiet, sullen, and by all appearances unremarkable. That is, until she plays her first game of chess. Her senses grow sharper, her thinking clearer, and for the first time in her life she feels herself fully in control. By the age of sixteen, she's competing for the U.S. Open championship. But as Beth hones her skills on the professional circuit, the stakes get higher, her isolation grows more frightening, and the thought of escape becomes all the more tempting.

The Queen's Gambit (Television Tie-In)

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#paperback #fiction #tourettesyndrome #comingofage #illness #kentucky #orphan #womanhood 

Aline Ohanesian

Virginia

They found him inside one of seventeen cauldrons in the courtyard, steeping in an indigo dye two shades darker than the summer sky. His arms and chin were propped over the copper edge, but the rest of Kemal Türkoglu, age ninety-three, had turned a pretty pale blue. When Orhan’s brilliant and eccentric grandfather, who built a dynasty out of making kilim rugs, is found dead in a vat of dye, Orhan inherits the decades-old business. But his grandfather’s will raises more questions than it answers. Kemal has left the family estate to a stranger thousands of miles away, an aging woman in a retirement home in Los Angeles. Her existence and secrecy about her past only deepen the mystery of why Orhan’s grandfather would have left their home to this woman rather than to his own family. Intent on righting this injustice, Orhan boards a plane to Los Angeles. There, over many meetings, he will unearth the story that eighty-seven-year-old Seda so closely guards--the story that, if told, has the power to undo the legacy upon which Orhan’s family is built, the story that could unravel Orhan’s own future. Moving between the last years of the Ottoman Empire and the 1990s, Orhan's Inheritance is a story of passionate love, unspeakable horrors, incredible resilience, and the hidden stories that haunt a family. “A remarkable debut from an important new voice . . . Beautiful and terrible and, finally, indelible.” —Luis Alberto Urrea, author of Queen of America “To take the tumultuous history of Turks and Armenians in the early part of the past century, to tell the stories of families and lovers from the small everyday moments of life to the terrible journeys of death, to make a novel so engrossing and keep us awake--that is an accomplishment, and Aline Ohanesian’s first novel is such a wonderful accomplishment.” —Susan Straight, author of Highwire Moon “From its first startling image, Orhan’s Inheritance will seep under your skin and leave an indelible mark upon your heart. What lucky readers we are to inherit Aline Ohanesian’s gorgeous work.” —Gayle Brandeis, author of Delta Girls “Readers who were moved by the work of Carol Edgarian, Mark Mustian, and Nancy Kricorian will appreciate the historical authenticity and passion that Aline Ohanesian brings to this story of the Armenian Genocide. Orhan’s Inheritance is heartfelt and sincere.” —Chris Bohjalian, author of The Sandcastle Girls “A harrowing tale of unimaginable sacrifice . . . A novel that delves into the darkest corners of human history and emerges with a tenuous sense of hope.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Orhan's Inheritance

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#paperback #fiction #historicalfiction #newyorkcity #coneyisland #sideshows #orphan #orphanfiction #asylum #lowereastside 

New Jersey

A ravishing first novel, set in vibrant, tumultuous turn-of-the-century New York City, where the lives of four outsiders become entwined, bringing irrevocable change to them all. New York, 1895. Sylvan Threadgill, a night soiler cleaning out the privies behind the tenement houses, finds an abandoned newborn baby in the muck. An orphan himself, Sylvan rescues the child, determined to find where she belongs. Odile Church and her beautiful sister, Belle, were raised amid the applause and magical pageantry of The Church of Marvels, their mother’s spectacular Coney Island sideshow. But the Church has burnt to the ground, their mother dead in its ashes. Now Belle, the family’s star, has vanished into the bowels of Manhattan, leaving Odile alone and desperate to find her. A young woman named Alphie awakens to find herself trapped across the river in Blackwell’s Lunatic Asylum—sure that her imprisonment is a ruse by her husband’s vile, overbearing mother. On the ward she meets another young woman of ethereal beauty who does not speak, a girl with an extraordinary talent that might save them both. As these strangers’ lives become increasingly connected, their stories and secrets unfold. Moving from the Coney Island seashore to the tenement-studded streets of the Lower East Side, a spectacular human circus to a brutal, terrifying asylum, Church of Marvels takes readers back to turn-of-the-century New York—a city of hardship and dreams, love and loneliness, hope and danger. In magnetic, luminous prose, Leslie Parry offers a richly atmospheric vision of the past in a narrative of astonishing beauty, full of wondrous enchantments, a marvelous debut that will leave readers breathless.

Church of Marvels

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Frances Burnett

Some aging of covers - library stamp on inside page

The Story of Sara Crewe

Sara Crewe's privileged status at her boarding school ends when her father dies. Left penniless, Sara retains her pluck and optimism, which attract the notice of a mysterious benefactor.

A Little Princess

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I have other books available by this author 

A critically acclaimed tearjerker from a master storyteller: On one side of the border is brutality and heartache; on the other side--a new life.14yo Manny is an orphan in Juarez, Mexico. He competes with his bigger, meaner rivals for the coins American tourists throw off the bridge between Texas and his town. Across that heavily guarded bridge await a different world and a better existence.On the night when Manny dares the crossing--through the muddy shallows of the Rio Grande, past the searchlights and the border patrol--the young man encounters an old stranger who could prove to be an ally or an enemy. Manny can't tell for certain. But if he is to achieve his dream, then he must be willing to risk everything--even his life.

The Crossing

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R. B. Mitchell

One Man's Search for Hope and Home

R.B. Mitchell reflects on his life being raised in an orphanage and discusses how his relationship with God helped him survivor many challenges, reconnect with his family, and become a successful businessman.

Castaway Kid

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Illinois

#brandnew #firstedition #hardcover #fiction #deckledpages #orphan #blessingandcurse #kidsbook #ivypocket

Florida

Brand new first Edition Hardcover 

Are you ready for Ivy Pocket? A darkly whimsical and wickedly funny tale of a twelve-year-old maid of no importance who finds herself at the very heart of a conspiracy involving mischief, ghosts, and murder. School Library Journal says, "Fans of . . . Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events will love Ivy Pocket's zany adventures." Featuring extensive black-and-white interior art by Barbara Cantini.

Ivy Pocket is a walking disaster, at every turn enraging and appalling the aristocrats she works for. But our protagonist doesn't see herself that way at all. In fact, she's convinced that she's rather wonderful, perfectly charming, and extremely talented. When Ivy finds herself abandoned and penniless in Paris, she has no idea how she will get back to England. Fate intervenes when Ivy is called to the sickbed of a dying duchess and is charged with delivering a spectacular (and possibly cursed) diamond necklace to Matilda Butterfield on her twelfth birthday. From that moment on, Ivy Pocket is propelled towards her remarkable destiny in a surprising adventure full of intrigue, villains, mayhem, and misunderstandings. ALA Booklist calls Anyone but Ivy Pocket "A droll chapter book with a Victorian setting and a one-of-a-kind protagonist."

Anyone but Ivy Pocket

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Gary Blackwood

A young orphan boy is ordered by his master to infiltrate Shakespeare's acting troupe in order to steal the script of "Hamlet," but he discovers instead the meaning of friendship and loyalty.

The Shakespeare Stealer

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Good reading condition but does have yellowing and spottiness. Stickermark on back cover

Missouri

Harvey Angell

Vintage paperback #youngadult #uglymut #greathuntingdog #courage #panther #orphan #comingofage #struggles #brutaluncle #runaway

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

Utah

Vintage Paperback 

Bristle Face

#paperback #fiction #comingofage #illness #kentucky #orphan #tourettesyndrome #womanhood 

Katherine Applegate

A man I helped to settle here taught me a saying from Africa. I'll bet you would like it: A cow is God with a wet nose. Kek comes from Africa where he lived with his mother, father, and brother. But only he and his mother have survived. Now she's missing, and Kek has been sent to a new home. In America, he sees snow for the first time, and feels its sting. He wonders if the people in this new place will be like the winter—cold and unkind. But slowly he makes friends: a girl in foster care, an old woman with a rundown farm, and a sweet, sad cow that reminds Kek of home. As he waits for word of his mother's fate, Kek weathers the tough Minnesota winter by finding warmth in his new friendships, strength in his memories, and belief in his new country.

Home of the Brave

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Jerry Spinelli

New with external scratches. I have other books available by this author.

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Don J. Snyder

Winter Dreams

Kaye Gibbons

Ellen Foster

Laurel Stowe Brady

Say You Are My Sister

Kimberly Newton Fusco

Beholding Bee

Christina Baker Kline

Orphan Train Girl

Sid Fleischman

The Whipping Boy

Andrea White

Windows on the World

Gwyn Hyman Rubio

Icy Sparks

Gwyn Hyman Rubio

Icy Sparks

Walter Tevis

The Queen's Gambit (Television Tie-In)

Gwyn Hyman Rubio

Icy Sparks

Aline Ohanesian

Orhan's Inheritance

Leslie Parry

Church of Marvels

Frances Burnett

A Little Princess

Gary Paulsen

The Crossing

R. B. Mitchell

Castaway Kid

Gwyn Hyman Rubio

Icy Sparks

Caleb Krisp; Barbara Cantini (Illustrator)

Anyone but Ivy Pocket

Gary Blackwood

The Shakespeare Stealer

Diana Hendry

Harvey Angell

Zachary Ball

Bristle Face

Gwyn Hyman Rubio

Icy Sparks

Katherine Applegate

Home of the Brave

Jerry Spinelli

Maniac Magee