San Antonio College Library

A study of the system known as "placing out," which was practiced in America between 1853 and 1929, in which children, and in some cases women and entire families, were relocated from crowded urban areas and placed in homes in the west, traveling on orphan trains to their new lives.

In 1880s Texas after his father dies, Joey Shipman, 12, runs away from home to avoid being killed by his mother's lover who doesn't want Joey to inherit the ranch. Joey joins a band of outlaws and after many adventures returns to the ranch for a shootout to take possession of what is by right his.

Years after being abandoned at an orphanage by her father, Gabrielle Chanel finds a job in a tailor shop where she meets, and soon begins an affair with French millionaire Etienne Balsan. Through Baron Balsan she is introduced into French society and given the opportunity to design her own style of hats. Though her career takes off, her personal life becomes more complicated when she falls in love with Balsan's former best friend Arthur Capel.

Although Mbi, an orphan boy, is constantly asked to "do this" and "do that" by his many unkind relatives until a special tree grows, just for him.

Unclear about his future career path, Steve Reifenberg found himself in the early 1980's working at a small orphanage in a poor neighborhood in Santiago, Chile, where a determined single woman was trying to create a stable home for a dozen or so children who had been abandoned or abused. With little more than good intentions and very limited Spanish, the 23 year-old Reifenberg plunged into the life of the Hogar Domingo Savio, becoming a foster father...

Already a Christmas classic, The Christmas Shoes, is an extraordinary tale based on the remarkably popular song of the same name. The heartwarming story by NewSong instantly soared to the top of the charts, mesmerizing listeners. The book has captured the hearts of readers everywhere. It follows the paths of a man and a boy through one fateful, snowy Christmas. Beautifully rendered and poignantly touching VanLiere tells the story of hope, love, and...

Henry James' chilling ghost tale about a governess hired by a charming bachelor to look after two young children in a grand mansion in rural England where sinister events place their lives in jeopardy.

When their parents are brutally murdered by bandits, two young girls, Matti and Joslyn are left completely alone in a world destroyed by the financial meltdown. With the weight of responsibility on her shoulders, a shotgun in hand, and only 5 shells to protect them. Matti decides they must go find the only relative they know of, their grandmother, whom they have never actually met.

Having escaped from their orphanage on a raft, Erin, January, and Mouse float down into another world of abandoned warehouses and factories, meeting a strange old man and an even stranger girl with webbed fingers and little memory of her past.