What’s in it
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24 books with the same feel
Include books by the same authorIn The Face of Danger
Joan Lowery Nixon · 151 pages
Deeply unhappy about the separation of her family because of poverty, twelve-year-old Megan gradually finds contentment and purpose in her new home on the Kansas prairie with a kind and loving adopted family.
The Great Railroad Race: the Diary of Libby West
Kristiana Gregory · 203 pages
As the daughter of a newspaper reporter, fourteen-year-old Libby keeps a diary account of the exciting events surrounding her during the building of the railroad in the West in 1868.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Brian Selznick · 534 pages
ORPHAN, CLOCK KEEPER, AND THIEF, twelve-year-old Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric girl and the owner of a small toy booth in the train station, Hugo’s undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen
The Mark of the Dragonfly
Jaleigh Johnson · 400 pages
Since her father's death in a factory in the Dragonfly territories, thirteen-year-old Piper has eked out a living as a scrapper in Merrow Kingdom, but the arrival of a mysterious girl sends her on a dangerous journey to distant lands. (From LOC data.)
Audacity Jones to the Rescue
Kirby Larson · 216 pages
In 1910, Audacity Jones is an eleven-year-old orphan living a monotonous life at Miss Maisie's School for Wayward Girls, and wondering why nothing exciting ever happens--but when the mysterious Commodore Crutchfield whisks her away to Washington D.C., she finds herself involved in a sinister and dangerous plot against the president of the United States.
Spring Pearl: The Last Flower
Laurence Yep · 218 pages
Called boyish by her new family for being able to read and write, twelve-year-old, orphaned Spring Pearl's "odd ways" help save the family during the 1857 Opium War in Canton, China.
When the Whistle Blows
Fran Cannon Slayton · 162 pages
Jimmy lives in Rowlesburg, West Virginia, during the 1940s. He does all the things boys do in the small mountain town: plays a mean game of football, pulls the unforgettable Halloween prank with his friends in the Platoon, and promises to head off into the woods on the first day of hunting season no matter what. He also knows his father belongs to a secret society, and is determined to uncover the
Bud, Not Buddy
Christopher Paul Curtis · 249 pages
It's 1936, in Flint, Michigan. Times may be hard, and ten-year-old Bud may be a motherless boy on the run, but Bud's got a few things going for him: 1. He has his own suitcase filled with his own important, secret things. 2. He's the author of Bud Caldwell's Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself. 3. His momma never told him who his father was, but
Beyond the Bright Sea
Lauren Wolk · 283 pages
Twelve-year-old Crow has lived her entire life on a tiny, isolated piece of the starkly beautiful Elizabeth Islands in Massachusetts. Abandoned and set adrift in a small boat when she was just hours old, Crow's only companions are Osh, the man who rescued and raised her, and Miss Maggie, their fierce and affectionate neighbor across the sandbar. Crow has always been curious about the world around
On the Blue Comet
Rosemary Wells · 336 pages
When the Depression hits in Cairo, Illinois, and Oscar Ogilvie's father must sell their home and vast model train set-up to look for work in California, eleven-year-old Oscar is left with his dour aunt, where he befriends a mysterious drifter, witnesses a stunning bank robbery, and is suddenly catapulted onto a train that takes him to a different time and place.
Way Down Deep
Ruth White · 197 pages
In the West Virginia town of Way Down Deep in the 1950s, a foundling called Ruby June is happily living with Miss Arbutus at the local boarding house when suddenly, after the arrival of a family of outsiders, the mystery of Ruby's past begins to unravel
Eight Cousins
Louisa May Alcott · 216 pages
Rose, a shy orphan, blossoms in the company of her spirited relatives when she takes up residence at "The Aunt Hill." This captivating novel by the author of Little Women offers readers of all ages endearing, inspiring stories about growing up, making friends, and facing life with kindness and courage.
Parvana's Journey
Deborah Ellis · 204 pages
Parvana sets out alone to walk across war torn Afghanistan in search of her family. Her mother, sister and little brother are missing and she has just buried her father. A look at the situation in Afghanistan and the courage and resilience that can keep children afloat even in the most terrible circumstances.
The Callender Papers
Cynthia Voigt · 214 pages
In nineteenth-century Massachusetts, orphan Jean, employed to sort out the family papers of a reclusive artist, becomes curious about the mysterious, long-ago death of his wife and the subsequent disappearance of their young child.
Emily of New Moon
L.M. Montgomery · 314 pages
Making Bombs for Hitler
Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
No Promises in the Wind
Irene Hunt · 223 pages
"No Promises in the Wind", by Irene Hunt, is about a 15-year-old boy and his little brother that run away from their home. It takes place in the Great Depression, 1932. After a long journey, the boys go back home and make things better.
Jolly Foul Play
Robin Stevens · 357 pages
Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong have returned to Deepdean School for Girls for a new school term, but nothing is the same. There s a new Head Girl, Elizabeth Hurst, and a team of Prefects and these bullying Big Girls are certainly not good eggs. Then, after the fireworks display on Bonfire Night, Elizabeth is found murdered.
City of Orphans
Avi · 359 pages
The streets of 1893 New York are full of life: crowded, filthy, dangerous. If you are a newsboy like thirteen-year-old Maks Geless, you need to watch out for Bruno, leader of the Plug Ugly Gang whose shadowy, sinister boss is plotting to take control of all the newsies on the lower East Side. With Bruno's boys in fierce pursuit, Maks discovers Willa, a strange girl who lives alone in an alley. It
Keeping Safe the Stars
Sheila O'Connor
In rural Minnesota in 1974, thirteen-year-old Pride Star, raised to be independent, must accept help from friends and neighbors to care for eleven-year-old Nightingale and six-year-old Baby when her grandfather is hospitalized with a brain infection.
The Devil and His Boy
Anthony Horowitz · 182 pages
Tom Falconer is in trouble. Pursued by the notorious criminal Ratsey, Tom soon finds himself alone and hungry on the streets of London. Luckily enough, the mysterious Dr. Mobius soon recruits Tom to play an important role in a play to be performed in front of Queen Elizabeth. Tom knows there's something not right about Mobius, but he's willing to take a risk in order to keep his neck out of Ratsey
A Little Princess
Frances Hodgson Burnett · 224 pages
This is a story about a different kind of princess than one might imagine; a princess that is an orphan - lonely, cold, hungry and abused. Sara Crewe begins life as the beloved, pampered daughter of a rich man. When he dies a pauper, she is thrown on the non-existent mercy of her small-minded, mercenary boarding school mistress. Stripped of all her belongings but for one set of clothes and a doll,
What Elephants Know
Eric Dinerstein · 273 pages
In the threatened jungle of the Borderlands between Nepal and India during the 1970s, an orphaned boy discovers his fate as a great elephant driver.