The Unadoptables

Five babies are abandoned at Little Tulip Orphanage within months of each other, and they are left in the care of a cruel matron named Elinora Gassbeek. Lotta, who has an extra finger on each hand, was the first to arrive. The second baby was Egbert, or Egg, wrapped in a once-colorful but now coal-blackened shawl. Fenna was the third baby, named after the fennel seeds found in her hair. Sem was the fourth, found in a wheat sack with the words “Semolina Flour” printed on it. Finally, there was the baby who arrived in a coffin-basket, clutching a cat puppet. She already had a name: Milou. After enduring twelve years of Gassbeek’s abuses, the matron eventually declares Lotta, Egg, Fenna, Sem, and Milou “unadoptable.” But Milou is determined to find her birth parents, and she has many theories about why they abandoned her. She leads the other four on a daring escape, but they are in danger of being adopted by a sinister man named Rotman.

Hana Tooke’s The Unadoptables is an adventurous romp through the frozen canals of 1880’s Amsterdam, complete with spooky and mustache-twirling characters. The children are in danger at every turn, but their loyalty to one another and brave spirit helps them discover their real family.