The Last Orphans


Book Description




The Last Orphan


Book Description

Parowan, Utah Territory - August 12, 1859Two years after his mother and father were murdered in an attack on their California-bound wagon train, little Tommy Dunning crouches in an old root cellar, quivering with cold-and raw fear. Somewhere just above him, men are searching, army men who want to take him away from the only home he remembers.The Last Orphan is the journey of a courageous five-year old and two strong women, each of whom believes God has chosen her to raise the boy in love and the "correct" faith tradition. Praise for The Last Orphan-"Lowder immerses the reader in the spectacular red-rock desert of what is now Southern Utah. It is 1859, a time of mistrust, polygamy, and a theocracy defended by armed militias. Your heart will go out to a five-year-old orphan boy trapped in the turmoil, and two indomitable women, each of whom claim him as her own." - David Nelson, writer San Francisco Chronicle, ret."Over the course of the novel, the author keeps up a quick pace, even as he juggles many different characters in locales across the country. ... the book has a compelling premise at its center, and the story is alive with emotional truth." - Kirkus Reviews "A terrific story that examines a powerful range of human experience and emotions. I loved the authentic voices of a precocious little boy and the two women whose maternal love and undying beliefs will tested to the end."-Karla M. Jay, author of When We Were Brave, a 2019 DISTINGUISHED FAVORITE, New York City Big Book Award.




Orphan Island


Book Description

A National Book Award Longlist title! "A wondrous book, wise and wild and deeply true." —Kelly Barnhill, Newbery Medal-winning author of The Girl Who Drank the Moon "This is one of those books that haunts you long after you read it. Thought-provoking and magical." —Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson series In the tradition of modern-day classics like Sara Pennypacker's Pax and Lois Lowry's The Giver comes a deep, compelling, heartbreaking, and completely one-of-a-kind novel about nine children who live on a mysterious island. On the island, everything is perfect. The sun rises in a sky filled with dancing shapes; the wind, water, and trees shelter and protect those who live there; when the nine children go to sleep in their cabins, it is with full stomachs and joy in their hearts. And only one thing ever changes: on that day, each year, when a boat appears from the mist upon the ocean carrying one young child to join them—and taking the eldest one away, never to be seen again. Today’s Changing is no different. The boat arrives, taking away Jinny’s best friend, Deen, replacing him with a new little girl named Ess, and leaving Jinny as the new Elder. Jinny knows her responsibility now—to teach Ess everything she needs to know about the island, to keep things as they’ve always been. But will she be ready for the inevitable day when the boat will come back—and take her away forever from the only home she’s known? "A unique and compelling story about nine children who live with no adults on a mysterious island. Anyone who has ever been scared of leaving their family will love this book" (from the Brightly.com review, which named Orphan Island a best book of 2017).




The Last Orphan


Book Description

Evan Smoak returns in The Last Orphan, the next New York Times bestselling Orphan X thriller--when everything changes and everything is at risk. As a child, Evan Smoak was plucked out of a group home, raised and trained as an off-the-books assassin for the government as part of the Orphan program. When he broke with the program and went deep underground, he left with a lot of secrets in his head that the government would do anything to make sure never got out. When he remade himself as The Nowhere Man, dedicated to helping the most desperate in their times of trouble, Evan found himself slowly back on the government's radar. Having eliminated most of the Orphans in the program, the government will stop at nothing to eliminate the threat they see in Evan. But Orphan X has always been several steps ahead of his pursuers. Until he makes one little mistake... Now the President has him in her control and offers Evan a deal - eliminate a rich, powerful man she says is too dangerous to live and, in turn, she'll let Evan survive. But when Evan left the Program he swore to only use his skills against those who really deserve it. Now he has to decide what's more important - his principles or his life.




Orphans of the Tide


Book Description

Winner of the Branford Boase Award 2021, a breathtaking fantasy adventure for fans of His Dark Materials that The Times calls 'Unputdownable'. The City was built on a sharp mountain that jutted improbably from the sea, and the sea kept trying to claim it back. That grey morning, once the tide had retreated, a whale was found on a rooftop. When a mysterious boy washes in with the tide, the citizens believe he's the Enemy - the god who drowned the world - come again to cause untold chaos. Only Ellie, a fearless young inventor living in a workshop crammed with curiosities, believes he's innocent. But the Enemy can take possession of any human body and the ruthless Inquisition are determined to destroy it forever. To save the boy, Ellie must prove who he really is - even if that means revealing her own dangerous secret . . . 'Unputdownable' - The Times 'Enthralling' - The Daily Express 'Sumptuously atmospheric . . . tirelessly inventive' - The Daily Telegraph 'Gripping' - The Guardian 'Energetic and inventive' - Sunday Times 'Gripping and original' - The Observer 'Singularly brilliant' - Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Girl of Ink and Stars and The Mercies 'Compellingly inventive and unpredictable' - Piers Torday, author of The Last Wild 'A terrific debut of strange myths and dark secrets' - The Bookseller (Editor's Choice)




The Last Orphan


Book Description

The truth is that I never did know my mother - my mum - and now I don't even know what happened to her after she had left us, what became of her - even whether she is now alive or dead. She gave life to me and, not long after, she went away. I was probably three when I last saw her. My dad died soon after. And then it was just me and my two brothers Kevin and Brucie left to fend for ourselves in a big bad world. We didn't - and couldn't - possibly know then, as defenceless little kids, just how big, and just how bad it was. But we were about to find out. So begins a life-long journey for Rex, who at the age of 11 left the children's home in Cornwall along with his brother, and travelled to Australia on the promise of a better life. It was the early 1970s and the two boys were believed to be the last orphans to be transported under the Child Migrants Programme, which began in the 1930s and was thought to have ended by 1967. They would soon find out just how much harder their already tough upbringing was about to get. For the first time ever Rex, the survivor, will tell his story of childhood innocence, unforgivable abuse at the hands of the people who were meant to care for them, and his long journey back to England to seek the truth of what really happened to his mother, and why he was sent away in the first place.




When We Were Orphans


Book Description

From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and author of the Booker Prize–winning novel The Remains of the Day comes this stunning work of soaring imagination. Born in early twentieth-century Shanghai, Banks was orphaned at the age of nine after the separate disappearances of his parents. Now, more than twenty years later, he is a celebrated figure in London society; yet the investigative expertise that has garnered him fame has done little to illuminate the circumstances of his parents' alleged kidnappings. Banks travels to the seething, labyrinthine city of his memory in hopes of solving the mystery of his own painful past, only to find that war is ravaging Shanghai beyond recognition—and that his own recollections are proving as difficult to trust as the people around him. Masterful, suspenseful and psychologically acute, When We Were Orphans offers a profound meditation on the shifting quality of memory, and the possibility of avenging one’s past.




Last Airlift


Book Description

Recounts the story of Tuyet Son Thi Ahn, a girl from a Saigon orphanage who is airlifted out of Saigon in spring of 1975, and finally adopted by a Canadian family.




The Adult Orphan Club


Book Description

A vulnerable, honest and deeply personal guide to finding your way through grief. Flora Baker was only twenty when her mum died suddenly of cancer. Her coping strategy was simple: ignore the magnitude of her loss. But when her dad became terminally ill nine years later, Flora was forced to confront the reality of grief. She had to accept that her life had changed forever. In The Adult Orphan Club, Flora draws on a decade of experience with grief and parent loss to explore all the chaotic ways that grief affects us, and how we can learn to navigate it. Written with the newly bereaved in mind and packed with practical tips and advice, this book guides the reader through every step of their grief journey and opens up the death conversation in an honest, heartfelt and accessible way. Whether you’re grieving your own loss or supporting someone else through grief, The Adult Orphan Club will show you that you’re not broken, and you’re not alone.




Orphans of Earth


Book Description

The sole survivors of the human race... and their time is running out. In the wake of Earth’s fall, Peter Alander has just one choice: to use the alien Gifts left behind on his distant colony world to warn other missions of their impending demise, a second wave of alien ships, this time intent on destroying everything in their path. Without the Gifts, humanity would have no hope at all--although no one truly understands them, and it is becoming increasingly certain that the very use of them is what draws the enemy on. Out of the dark comes help from an entirely unexpected quarter. Peter Alander and his fellow survivors are not the only victims of the terrible Starfish. But what if the cost of that help is too high? What if the price is humanity itself? “This book shines” —Cinescape “High adventure in deep space for fans of far-future SF.” —Library Journal Nominated for the Aurealis and Ditmar Awards.