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Lexile/Reading Level
Recommended for Grades 7-12

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical | Westerns

Historical Time Period
American West
Date
1800s
Topic
Abandonment | Growing Up - Coming of Age | Westerns
Geographic Region
California | United States - America
Main Character
Boy(s)
Format
Audiobook | Book | Ebook

Lonesome Gods

Author: L'Amour, Louis

This was the boy’s mantra as he plodded through the desert alone, left to die by his vengeful grandfather. Johannes Verne was soon to be rescued by outlaws, but no one could save him from the lasting memory of his grandfather’s eyes, full of impenetrable hatred. Raised in part by Indians, then befriended by a mysterious woman, Johannes grew up to become a rugged adventurer and an educated man. But even now, strengthened by the love of a golden-haired girl and well on his way to making a fortune in bustling early-day Los Angeles, the past may rise up to threaten his future once more. And this time only the ancient gods of the desert can save him.

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
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Lexile/Reading Level
Recommended for 9-12 Grade & Adult

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical

Historical Time Period
Modern
Date
1800s
Topic
Abandonment | Diseases | Poverty | Survival
Geographic Region
New York | United States - America
Main Character
Woman/Women
Format
Book | Ebook

Virgin Cure: A Novel

Author: McKay, Ami

Following in the footsteps of The Birth House, her powerful debut novel, The Virgin Cure secures Ami McKay’s place as one of our most beguiling storytellers. (Not that it has to… that is pretty much taken care of!)

“I am Moth, a girl from the lowest part of Chrystie Street, born to a slum-house mystic and the man who broke her heart.” So begins The Virgin Cure, a novel set in the tenements of lower Manhattan in the year 1871. As a young child, Moth’s father smiled, tipped his hat and walked away from his wife and daughter forever, and Moth has never stopped imagining that one day they may be reunited – despite knowing in her heart what he chose over them. Her hard mother is barely making a living with her fortune-telling, sometimes for well-heeled clients, yet Moth is all too aware of how she really pays the rent.

Life would be so much better, Moth knows, if fortune had gone the other way – if only she’d had the luxury of a good family and some station in life. The young Moth spends her days wandering the streets of her own and better neighbourhoods, imagining what days are like for the wealthy women whose grand yet forbidding gardens she slips through when no one’s looking. Yet every night Moth must return to the disease- and grief-ridden tenements she calls home.

The summer Moth turns twelve, her mother puts a halt to her explorations by selling her boots to a local vendor, convinced that Moth was planning to run away. Wanting to make the most of her every asset, she also sells Moth to a wealthy woman as a servant, with no intention of ever seeing her again.

These betrayals lead Moth to the wild, murky world of the Bowery, filled with house-thieves, pickpockets, beggars, sideshow freaks and prostitutes, but also a locale frequented by New York’s social elite. Their patronage supports the shadowy undersphere, where businesses can flourish if they truly understand the importance of wealth and social standing – and of keeping secrets. In that world Moth meets Miss Everett, the owner of a brothel simply known as an “infant school.” There Moth finds the orderly solace she has always wanted, and begins to imagine herself embarking upon a new path.

Yet salvation does not come without its price: Miss Everett caters to gentlemen who pay dearly for companions who are “willing and clean,” and the most desirable of them all are young virgins like Moth. That’s not the worst of the situation, though. In a time and place where mysterious illnesses ravage those who haven’t been cautious, no matter their social station, diseased men yearn for a “virgin cure” – thinking that deflowering a “fresh maid” can heal the incurable and tainted.

Through the friendship of Dr. Sadie, a female physician who works to help young women like her, Moth learns to question and observe the world around her. Moth’s new friends are falling prey to fates both expected and forced upon them, yet she knows the law will not protect her, and that polite society ignores her. Still she dreams of answering to no one but herself. There’s a high price for such independence, though, and no one knows that better than a girl from Chrystie Street.

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
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Lexile/Reading Level
Recommended for 9-12 Grade & Adult

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical

Historical Time Period
Early Modern
Date
1700s
Topic
Abandonment | Music | Search
Geographic Region
Europe | Italy
Main Character
Woman/Women
Format
Book | Ebook

Vivaldi’s Virgins

Author: Quick, Barbara

“QUICK’S DESCRIPTIONS…SOAR OFF THE PAGE EVOKING VIVALDI’S OWN COMPOSITIONS.”-SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Abandoned as an infant, fourteen-year-old Anna Maria Dal Violin is one of the elite musicians living in the foundling home where the “Red Priest,” Antonio Vivaldi, is maestro and composer. Fiercely determined to find out where she came from, Anna Maria embarks on a journey of self-discovery that carries her into a wondrous and haunting world of music and spectacle, bringing eighteenth-century Venice magically to life.
“Quick gives us a vivid sense of both the pleasures and the frustrations of living within [the] cloistered world…of Venice….An accomplished novel.”-Chicago Tribune
“Anna Maria’s strong spirit shines throughout….Quick creates a hauntingly authentic setting rife with cruel punishments and brief moments of grand rewards.”-Publishers Weekly
“An affecting tale…a diverting and entertaining read.”-Philadelphia Inquirer
“Captivating.”-iRedbook
“Quick has chosen a fascinating backdrop. Her novel shimmers with details about music and Venice in the early 1700s, as well as life within the Piet�…A good read.”-Booklist

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
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Lexile/Reading Level
830L

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical

Historical Time Period
Modern
Date
1930s
Topic
Abandonment | Girls disguised as boys | Great Depression | Growing Up - Coming of Age | Hardships
Geographic Region
Alabama | United States - America
Main Character
Girl(s)
Format
Book

Hard Times for Jake Smith: A Story of the Depression Era

Author: Henderson, Aileen Kilgore

It’s 1935 and from a child’s eye view, the hard times of the Depression era are becoming more and more real. Each day, coming home from school, there is something else missing. First the sow pig, then the cow, then the truck. On one wrenching day the beloved hunting dog is sold. Finally the whole family packs up in the car and leaves—the children wonder where, but their parents are silent. Suddenly, the car stops at the edge of the road and Mother leans into the back seat, giving Mary Jake a handkerchief with something tied inside and the instructions to walk down the path into the forest, take the LEFT fork into town, and present the handkerchief at the stone house.
So begins the adventure of a girl who chooses her own in path (neither left fork nor right), dyes herself in a stump full of walnut-colored water and disguises herself as a boy. “Jake” Smith soon meets Miz Bennett and hires on to help with her garden and animals. In this rags-to-riches story, rich with descriptions of Alabama during the Depression a strong female character copes with abandonment with courage and resilience.

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
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Lexile/Reading Level
Recommended for 1-4 Grade

Genre/Category
Biographies | Nonfiction | Picture Books

Date
1800s
Topic
Abandonment | Children | Wild Child
Geographic Region
Europe | France
Main Character
Boy(s)
Format
Book | Ebook

Wild Boy

Author: Gerstein, Mordicai

Once there was a boy who lived in the mountain forests of southern France. He lived completely alone, without mother, father, or friends. He didn’t know what a mother or father was. He was naked. He didn’t know what clothes were. He didn’t know he was a boy, or even a person. He didn’t know what people were. He was completely wild.

In simple prose and an abundance of sharp, vivid illustrations that capture the energy of youth, this extraordinarily touching picture book brings to life the child who was Victor in a way that will delight and engage young readers.

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
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Lexile/Reading Level
HL740L Recommended for 8-12 Grade

Genre/Category
Fantasy | Fiction | Historical

Historical Time Period
Reformation | Rennaisance
Date
1500s
Topic
Abandonment | Family Relationships
Geographic Region
England | Europe
Main Character
Girl(s)
Award-Winning Book
Indie Next Pick
Format
Audiobook | Book | Ebook

Stolen One

Author: Crowley, Suzanne

No one wanted you. But I did.

Kat’s true identity is a secret, even from her. All she has ever known are Grace and Anna and their small village. Kat wants more—more than hours spent embroidering finery for wealthy ladies and more than Christian, the gentle young farmer courting her.

But there are wolves outside, Grace warns. Waiting, with their eyes glowing in the dark . . . and Grace has given Kat safety and a home when no one else would.

Then a stranger appears in their cottage, bringing the mystery of Kat’s birth with her. In one night, Kat’s destiny finds her: She will leave. She will journey to London, and her skill with the needle will attract the notice of the magnificent Queen Elizabeth—and of the wolves of the court. She will discover what Grace would never tell her.

Everything will unravel.

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
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Lexile/Reading Level
HL680 Recommended for 7-9 Grades

Genre/Category
Classics | Fiction | Historical

Historical Time Period
Civil War
Date
1800s
Topic
Abandonment | Choices | Fear | Military and Wars | Survival
Geographic Region
United States - America
Main Character
Boy(s)
Format
Audiobook | Book | Ebook | Free Audiobook | Free Ebook

Red Badge of Courage

Author: Crane, Stephen

During an unnamed battle, 18-year-old private Henry Fleming survives what he considers to be a lost cause by escaping into a nearby wood, deserting his battalion. He finds a group of injured men in which one of the group, the “Tattered Soldier”, asks Henry, who’s often referred to as “The Youth”, where he’s wounded. Henry, embarrassed that he’s whole, wanders thru the forest. He ultimately decides that running was the best thing, & that he’s a small part of the army responsible for saving himself. When he learns that his battalion had won the battle, Henry feels guilty. As a result, he returns to his battalion & is injured when a cannon operator hits him in the head because he wouldn’t let go of his arm. When he returns to camp, the other soldiers believe he was harmed by a bullet grazing him in battle. The next morning he goes into battle for a 3rd time. While looking for a stream from which to attain water, he discovers from the commanding officer that his regiment has a lackluster reputation. The officer speaks casually about sacrificing Henry’s regiment because they’re nothing more than “mule drivers” & “mud diggers”. With no regiments to spare, the general orders his men forward. In the final battle, Henry becomes one of the best fighters in his battalion as well as the flag bearer, finally proving his courage as a man.

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
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Lexile/Reading Level
830L

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical

Historical Time Period
Reformation | Rennaisance
Date
1500s
Topic
Abandonment | Banishment | Biography | British History | Hatred | King Henry VIII | Kings and Queens
Geographic Region
England | Europe
Main Character
Girl(s)
Award-Winning Book
ALA's Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults | Other Awards | Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Reader's Choice Award
Format
Book

Mary, Bloody Mary (Young Royals #1)

Author: Meyer, CarolynPart of a Series: Young Royals

The story of Mary Tudor’s childhood is a classic fairy tale: A princess who is to inherit the throne of England is separated from her mother; abused by an evil stepmother who has enchanted her father; stripped of her title; and forced to care for her baby stepsister, who inherits Mary’s rights to the throne. Believe it or not, it’s all true. Told in the voice of the young Mary, this novel explores the history and intrigue of the dramatic rule of Henry VIII, his outrageous affair with and marriage to the bewitching Anne Boleyn, and the consequenceshttp://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&index=books&keywords=Mary%2C%20Bloody%20Mary%20meyer&linkCode=ur2&tag=myhomelibr-20 of that relationship for his firstborn daughter. Carolyn Meyer has written a compassionate historical novel about love and loss, jealousy and fear – and a girl’s struggle with forces far beyond her control.

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
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Lexile/Reading Level
Recommended for K-4 Grades

Genre/Category
Fiction | Humor | Picture Book

Topic
Abandonment | Animals | Cats | Mice, mouse or rats | Seaside
Geographic Region
England | Europe
Main Character
Animal
Format
Book

Church Mice Take a Break (The Church Mice #12)

Author: Oakley, GrahamPart of a Series: Church Mice

Humphrey, one of the Church Mice, decides that it is time they took a break from their busy lives. So when the parson sets out for his seaside holiday, he is also carrying some stowaways. Sampson, the cat and the mice are fine while the weather holds out and the natives are friendly, but then the parson goes home without them!

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
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Lexile/Reading Level
Recommended for 4-8 Grades

Genre/Category
Adventure | Fiction | Historical

Historical Time Period
Roman Empire
Topic
Abandonment | Adoption | Celtic | Culture and Traditions | Roman | Survival
Main Character
Boy(s)
Format
Audiobook | Book | Ebook

Outcast

Author: Sutcliff, Rosemary

Book OutcastSole survivor of a shipwreck as a baby, Beric is an outsider from the start. the village druid warns that he is cursed by the sea, and when death come to the tribe, the fingers of blame point in only one direction. Cast out by the warriors, Beric is left alone without friends or family. With no home and little money, he must survive in the harsh Roman world by himself, with death, danger, and enemies always around the corner…

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
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What is my Child’s Lexile Measure?

GRADELEXILE
1st0-300L
2nd140-500L
3rd330-700L
4th445-810L
5th565-910L
6th665-1000L
7th735-1065L
8th805-1100L
9th855-1165L
10th905-1195L
11th/12th940-1210L
College+1210+

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There are currently 5240 books in our database, and we're adding more every day!
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