abandoned children

Cinnamon Haynes has fought hard for a life she never thought was possible--a good man by her side, a steady job as a career counselor at a local community college, and a cozy house in a quaint little beach town. It may not look like much, but it's more than she ever dreamed of or what her difficult childhood promised. Her life's mantra is to be good, quiet, grateful. Until something shifts and Cinnamon is suddenly haunted by a terrifying question: "Is this all there is?".

The Cane family's idyllic facade covers a dysfunctional family headed by an absentee, military father and a depressed, addicted mother. And though the five beautiful, teenage sisters who round out the family put on a good show, behind closed doors, they can't stand one another. But when the youngest and most beloved sister, Rose, dies, their mother abandons them and the remaining sisters band to together. You see, Rose comes back from the dead with a need to feed on human flesh in order to remain undead, and her sisters are determined to keep her with them--dead or alive.

After seventeen-year-old Summer's parents go on the run, she is placed in the care of Olu, a cousin she barely knows, but with Olu's and friends' efforts, stoic Summer eventually learns to open up.

"After being abandoned by her mother in an amusement park, twelve-year-old Mouse is determined to secretly live in the park on her own, even though getting caught could mean saving her life"--Provided by publisher.

When twelve-year-old Raymond and his pup Rosie are abandoned by his family, he uses his wilderness skills to survive in the woods, but as winter comes, he realizes his wits are not enough, and that perhaps it is time he starts trusting others with his secret.

"Thirteen-year-old Eli likes baggy clothes, baseball caps, and one girl in particular. Her seventeen-year-old sister Anna is more traditionally feminine; she loves boys and staying out late. They are sisters. . . . Their dad has long been out of the picture, and their mom lives at the mercy of her next drink. When their mom lands herself in enforced rehab, Anna and Eli are left to fend for themselves. Eli and Anna have each gotten used to telling lies as a means of survival, but as they navigate a world without their mother, they must learn how to accept help, and let other people in"--.

Abandoned by her drug-addicted mother at the age of eleven, high school student Taylor Markham struggles with her identity and family history at a boarding school in Australia.

"In the world of Norse mythology, humans revere the mighty gods and fear the mystical nature-wielding Jotuns. Abandoned by her own kind and raised in a human orphanage Gunhild, a 12-year-old fire Jotun, longs to prove that she's more than a little troublemaker. As the world heads toward a potential disaster, Gunhild must fight for what's right and follow her own sense of justice, even if no one else will fight for her"--Back cover.

"Seventeen-year-old Bliss Walker has been stuck in a home that doesn't feel like hers for six years. Ever since Mama dropped her off and never came back. Then, the summer before her senior year of high school, two things happen: Mama returns out of the blue, and Bliss meets Blake, a boy who listens like everything she has to say is worth hearing. It should be a dream come true. But as the summer spins on, Bliss finds herself facing a painful choice: between the life she's always longed for, and the world she's starting to make for herself"--Provided by publisher.

On the Road Less Traveled is the inspirational story of Edmund A. Hajim, an American financier and philanthropist who rises from dire childhood circumstances to achieve professional success and personal fulfillment. At age three, Hajim is kidnapped by his father, driven from St. Louis to Los Angeles, and told that his mother is dead. His father soon abandons him in order to seek employment -- mostly in vain -- leaving his son behind in a string of foster homes and orphanages. This establishes a pattern of neglect and desertion that continues for Hajim's entire childhood, forever leaving its mark. From one home to another, the lonely boy learns the value of self-reliance and perseverance despite his financial deprivation and the trauma of being an orphan.