In the fall of 1918, thirteen-year-old German immigrant Pia Lange longs to be far from Philadelphia’s overcrowded slums and the anti-immigrant sentiment that compelled her father to enlist in the U.S. Army. But as her city celebrates the end of war, an even more urgent threat arrives: the Spanish flu. Funeral crepe and quarantine signs appear on doors as victims drop dead in the streets and desperate survivors wear white masks to ward off illness. When food runs out in the cramped tenement she calls home, Pia must venture alone into the quarantined city in search of supplies, leaving her baby brothers behind. Powerful, harrowing, and ultimately exultant, The Orphan Collector is a story of love, resilience, and the lengths we will go to protect those who need us most.

There will be two opportunities to discuss the book with other California DAR members on Zoom. The Zoom discussion will be on Wednesday, June 15 at 10:00 a.m. and the second meeting at 7:00 p.m. Sign up for your choice of meeting times by emailing this officer.

Deborah Foley-King
State Librarian
librarian@californiadar.org