abandoned children

Discusses a number of issues related to the laws regarding adoption and parenthood.

"After months of living without electricity or parents, Tig and Peter are forced to move in with their Uncle Scott and his partner, Manny. The transition from down-and-out to picture-perfect isn't easy, especially in pristine Wensleydale with the idyllic couple and their beautiful home. Tig, with Peter's support, decides to make their new life messy, starting with daily arguments and her plans to become a competitive cheese racer. She'll run circles around her new guardians, outrun a wheel of cheese, and leave her past buried in her dust. But things don't always go as planned, and Tig must decide what to truly leave behind in order to move forward"--Provided by publisher.

Eleven-year-old Essie, who was abandoned as a baby and lovingly raised by four librarians, meets a mysterious boy whom she believes is her twin brother, but as she gets to know him better, she discovers nothing is as simple as it seems.

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.