City of Orphans by Avi takes place in New York City but in 1893. It tells the story of two young teenagers, Maks Geless and his new friend Willa. Maks is a newsie just trying to help his family make ends meet when he starts getting harassed by the Plug Ugly Gang. One day he unintentionally gets cornered in the same alley Willa happens to live in and she comes to his defense. Deciding to stick together he takes Willa back home to meet the rest of the family only to get there and discover that one of his older sisters has been arrested for a theft from the hotel she works at. Determined to prove her innocence Maks works with a private detective/lawyer to discover what actually happened in an attempt to save her from the Tombs, a rather horrible city jail where she is currently imprisoned awaiting trial. At the same him and Willa start to learn more about Willa’s past, why the Plug Ugly Gang is harassing newsies and what actually happened at the hotel.
This book was rather interesting in many ways as it showed a side of life that is frequently overlooked but still a rather important part of the time period. I say that because many books that depict the same or a similar time period focus more on the day to day things where this one focuses more on how the everyday people can so easily get caught up in the corrupt and almost broken criminal justice system of the time with practically no recourse for any kind of help. That was something I hadn’t really thought about before reading this but now I am really wondering just how bad it was. Something that I did enjoy and was really well done was the characters. Much like with Avi’s other works these characters were a delight to get to know and they seemed to be well-rounded and well thought out characters. Extremely three-dimensional so to speak which is always something I enjoy. While the story did draw my attention it was the characters that definitely hooked me for this one. The slight juxtaposition of Maks coming from this large immigrant family and Willa being an orphan living on the streets was fascinating but what really grabbed my attention about them is how ultimately they were both adults before their time and ended up being the ones responsible for taking care of themselves and their family in Maks’ case. I can see why the book has the title it does as it seems curiously fitting all things considered. On top of that it was also a good story as it had a remarkably complex and interconnected plot that was in some ways overly foreshadowed but in other ways wasn’t. It was as much a mystery as it was historical fiction, in its own way anyway. The book was an incredible read and one that I thoroughly enjoyed which is not surprising coming from this author. I am happy giving this book four out of five stars.
This book is a teen historical fiction book but with elements of the mystery genre so if you happen to be a teen reader who enjoys either historical fiction or mysteries than this book should hold some appeal, at least I hope it does. Considering the characters are about thirteen it would probably hold the most appeal for readers between the ages of eleven to fifteen though it could potentially be read by readers older than that as well. There are references to numerous potential issues such as poverty, potential racism or classism, some minor bigotry in various other forms and some outright bullying. None of these are really big issues but they are present though as they would have been common for the time period. Overall it was still a pretty good book and I hope you will consider trying it. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments if you do.