Children’s book editor Leila Sales conveys a disgruntled attitude towards kidlit featuring half/fully-orphaned protagonists. She offers a pseudo-quote from Oscar Wilde: “To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose a parent in nearly every children’s book looks like lazy writing. (I assume that is what Wilde meant.)”
Sales gives three reasons why she deems this as “lazy writing.” First, the author has one less character to incorporate into the story. Second, it instantaneously invokes sympathy in readers thereby making the orphans more likable. Finally, “grown-ups are boring.” She goes on to say, “The classic example is the Boxcar Children series, which was awesome for exactly one book, in which the siblings roamed wild and inspired a generation of wannabe runaways. It’s all downhill after they’re adopted by their grandfather. No more scrounging in town dumps or self-medicating after that.”
Considering the popularity of series such as J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series (two dead parents), Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy (one deceased father), and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy (not entirely dead due to parental drama), there is no denying the trend is dominantly present. One noted exception is Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga where Bella Swan’s parents are divorced, but alive. (Via Publishers Weekly)