orphans

"For Adam Reed, basketball is a passport. Adam's basketball skills have taken him from an orphanage in Poland to a loving adoptive mother in Minnesota. When he's tapped to play on a select AAU team along with some of the best players in the state, it just confirms that basketball is his ticket to the good life: to new friendships, to the girl of his dreams, to a better future. But life is more complicated off the court. When an incident with the police threatens to break apart the bonds Adam's finally formed after a lifetime of struggle, he must make an impossible choice between his new family and the sport that's given him everything"--Amazon.com.

"Blue arrives in the capital city of Altalus, where she is determined to find her friend Crow, the boy who was created to be a flying war machine, and Jack, the engineer who built him. But soon she is inadvertently kidnapped by Snow and Red, twins from the enemy side of their ten-year war. They set off on a dangerous adventure that brings them to the front lines of the war, and eventually realize that they must work together to help end it. But with larger, more powerful forces at work, the fight for peace--and survival--will be more difficult than they ever imagined"--Provided by publisher.

Elin's family was responsible for caring for the terrifying water serpents that form the center of their kingdom's army, but when some of them mysteriously die, Elin's mother is executed as punishment. Her mother used her last breath to send Elin to safety, and now, alone, far from home, Elin learns she can communicate not only with the water serpents but also the majestic winged beasts who guard the queen. She must find a way to use this new skill to save herself and stop the beasts from being used in war.

"In 1912, orphaned Irish street musician Jonathan Harker accidentally stows away on the Titanic, where he is befriended by Wallace Hartley, called 'the bravest man in the world' for playing violin with the band as the Titanic sank. Includes historical note"--Provided by publisher.

Looks at how Mitch Albom and his wife take Haitian orphan Chika Jeune home with them in order to seek medical help for a condition she has.

New member Emily helps the Magic Misfits when a ventriloquist with a dastardly plan comes to town.

Tova lives amongst the Svell, the people who found her washed ashore as a child and use her for her gift as a Truthtongue, but when two neighboring clans bury their age-old blood feud and join together as one, her world is dangerously close to collapse.

Orphaned thirteen year-old Carlos learns what it truly means to be a teammate when he must help save his new wheelchair basketball team's gym from destruction.

Presents the story of four refugees from Sudan that typifies the refugee experience. Describes these young men's attempts to make it in a strange place after years on the run or in refugee camps. Examines the excitement of new opportunities and the adjustments to a new society.

Soon after she turns 25, Libby Jones gets a letter telling her who her parents were and also that she inherited an old mansion in London worth millions. It might not be the windfall she thinks though, as police are investigating a bizarre murder case at the house where the only person left alive was a 10-month-old baby in an upstairs bedroom.