orphans

An orphan girl and her invalid cousin bring new life to their home on the moors when they discover the secret garden.

Four orphans are shocked when their beloved friend, sculptor Siegfried Eckleberger, is murdered. As they investigate, they find clues that his death may be tied to the murder of a rich New York heiress as well as to their own past.

The woeful saga of the Baudelaire orphans continues as evil Count Olaf discovers their whereabouts at Esme Squalor's seventy-one bedroom penthouse and concocts a new plan for stealing their family fortune.

After the death of the stern aunt who raised them since they were orphaned, eleven-year-old Sallie and her fifteen-year-old sister escape their self-serving guardians and begin an adventure resembling those in the dime novels Sallie loves to read.

Kidsnatched from her orphanage by a BFG (Big Friendly Giant), who spends his life blowing happy dreams to children, Sophie concocts with him a plan to save the world from nine other man-gobbling cannybull giants.

Learning that her missing twin is on the mysterious Dark Island of Astaroth, Dessa and her friends Topper and Fisk contend with pirate treachery and navigate other obstacles in hopes of reuniting her family.

In the aftermath of the Civil War Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, an aging itinerant news reader, agrees to transport a recently rescued captive of the Kiowa back to her relatives in San Antonio. Four years earlier, a band of Kiowa raiders killed Johanna's parents and sister; sparing the little girl, they raised her as one of their own. Johanna has forgotten the English language, tries to escape at every opportunity, and refuses to act "civilized." Yet as the miles pass, the two lonely survivors begin to trust each other, forming a bond that marks the difference between life and death in this dangerous land. Arriving in San Antonio, the reunion is neither happy nor welcome as her aunt and uncle, whom she does not remember, regard her as an unwanted burden. A respectable man, Captain Kidd is faced with a terrible choice: abandon the girl to her fate or become--in the eyes of the law--a kidnapper himself.

"Defense lawyer Andy Carpenter usually tries to avoid taking on new cases at all costs. But this time, he's happy--eager, even--to take the case that's just come his way. Andy's long-time friend Martha "Pups" Boyer takes in stray puppies that the local dog rescue center can't handle, raises them until they're old enough to adopt, and then finds good homes for them. Not everyone admires the work Pups does as much as Andy does, however. With Christmas just around the corner, one of Pups's neighbors has just reported Pups to the city for having more than the legal number of pets in her home under the local zoning laws. Andy happily takes Pups's case, and he feels confident in a positive outcome. Who could punish someone for rescuing puppies, after all, especially at Christmastime? But things get a lot more complicated when Randy Hennessey, the neighbor who registered the complaint against Pups, turns up dead. Pups had loudly and publicly threatened Hennessey after he filed his complaint, and Pups was also the one to find his body. All the evidence seems to point to Pups as the killer, and suddenly Andy has a murder case on his hands. He doesn't believe Pups could be guilty, but as he starts digging deeper into the truth behind Hennessey's murder, Andy may find himself facing a killer more dangerous than he ever imagined. "--.

When seventeen-year-old orphaned shapechanger Tessa Gray is kidnapped by the villainous Mortmain in his final bid for power, the London Institute rallies to save her, but is beset by danger and betrayal at every turn.