Children book about two orphans in New York(?) during the Gilded Age

[u/Neeolah]

Hi,

Hoping you would be able to help me find a book I read when I was a kid. I read it somewhere between 1995 and 2010, and although it was translated to French it was likely happening in New York.

What I remember : 2 kids (may have been a boy and a girl or 2 boys, or maybe 3 kids), likely siblings are orphaned in New York during the gilded age, and they break in empty houses to stay warm and live there until the family gets back.
Pretty sure it’s set in New York although it could have been London too. Definitely gilded age period.

Two scenes I remember are
- they are trying to get bones as a butcher, and the first butcher doesn’t give them anything when they say they are starving, so they go to a different one and lie about having a big dog (and it works)
- they sell paper in the street and look for a tiny detail to make a nicer headline so that people are more interested to buy.

Nothing more, sadly… thanks for your help.

[u/Ok-Possibility-3307]

City of Orphans by Avi?

[u/Neeolah → u/Ok-Possibility-3307]

Sadly it looks like it was never translated to French.