It is 1880, and at Little Tulip Orphanage, Elinora Gassbeek finds five babies left in outrageous circumstances: in a toolbox, a coal bucket, a picnic hamper, a wheat sack, and a coffin-shaped basket. Although Elinora is sure that Lotta, Egg, Fenna, Sem, and Milou are "unadoptable," they are determined to stay together. When a sinister gentleman appears and threatens to separate them, the gang make a daring escape across the frozen canals of Amsterdam. But in this novel for readers 9 to 12, is their real home—and their real family—already closer than they realize?