Most of these stories are about orphans and other children who are trying to find their place in other people's families. Most have an old-fashioned, nolstalgic appeal.

Bawden, Nina. Carrie's War. 1973. 159p. Carrie and her younger brother spend World War II as evacuees in a small Welsh village where Carrie, upset by a family feud, commits an act that haunts her for thirty years.

Bawden, Nina. The Peppermint Pig. 1975. 191p. Polly, the youngest, finds it difficult to adjust to a sudden change in the family's fortunes until she acquires a special pet pig.

Burnett, Frances Hodgson. A Little Princess: Being the whole story of Sarah Crewe Now Told for the First Time. 1938. 266p. Sara Crewe, a pupil at Miss Minchin's London school, is left in poverty when her father dies, but is later rescued by a mysterious benefactor.

Canfield, Dorothy. Understood Betsy. 1916. 188p. Great-Aunt Harriet has fallen ill, so sensitive, pampered, nine-year-old Elizabeth Ann must leave the city and go the wilds of Vermont to live with her relatives.

Carlson, Natalie Savage. A Brother for the Orphelines. 1959. 100p. When a baby is left in the orphanage's breadbasket, all the little girls hope to keep it, even though it is a boy and should be in the boys' home.

Chase, Mary. Loretta Mason Potts. 1958. 221p.

Curry, Jane Louise. The Magical Cupboard. 1976. 138p. Ten-year-old Felicity's existence in a dreadful eighteenth-century orphanage, owned and run for profit by Parson Grout, is changed forever when the Parson steals a sturdy wooden cupboard, believing it to be magical.

Forbus, Ina B. Melissa. 1962. 190p. In 1915, Melissa leaves her grandparents' farm to live with her city relatives for the next four years.

Holland, Isabelle. The Journey Home. 1990. 212p. Two orphan sisters in the late 1800's leave New York on the orphan train to seek a new home in the West.

Nesbit, E. Railway Children. 188p. When their father is taken away, three children move to the country where they stay busy saving the train from accidents, befriending a nice old gentleman, and trying not to quarrel.

Nordstrom, Ursula. The Secret Language. 1960. 167p. At first, Victoria feels alone and homesick her first few days at boarding school. Then she meets Martha, who helps her adapt. By the time summer vacation comes, they are thinking about next year.

Porter, Eleanor H. Pollyanna. 1913. 192p. The enduring story of an orphan girl with an irrepressible love for life, who is sent East to live with her spinster aunt.

Rich, Louise Dickinson. Three of a Kind. 1970. 151p. An eleven-year-old orphan girl living in a foster home in Maine helps draw out an emotionally disturbed four-year-old boy.

Vining, Elizabeth Gray. The Taken Girl. 1972. 190p. An orphan girl taken on as helper in a Quaker household that includes John Greenleaf Whittier becomes involved in the anti-slavery movement in Philadelphia.

Vipont, Elfrida. The Lark in the Morn. 1948. 224p. The seemingly untalented child of a musical family finally discovers where she fits in.

Welch, Christina M. Home on Star Island. 1962. 166p. The four Deane children go to live with their grandparents on the remote Isle of Shoals after the death of their parents.

Wiggin, Kate Douglas Smith. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. 1903. 341p. Talkative, ten-year-old Rebecca goes to live with her spinster aunts, with whom she spends seven difficult but rewarding years growing up.