Here are 100 books that American Mermaid fans have personally recommended if you like
American Mermaid.
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As a writer and child therapist, I believe in the importance of connecting with our families. Sometimes that means making sacrifices for our loved ones who need our support. When my parents moved to be near our family, we learned how to adapt to their changing needs. Like the books I choose, sometimes a grandparent moves in with you, sometimes you navigate them being grumpy, or other times you just listen to their wishes. But mostly, it’s just being there in the moment with a grandparent that opens our eyes, and heart, to something larger than ourselves.
This book is so fun! The child explains how to play, entertain, feed, and draw for your grandpa.
My personal favorite is when grandpa says, “naptime,” and we see that napping is what grandpa needs, obviously not the child. This story gives the young child the autonomy to be in charge, but most importantly… connect with their grandpa.
The perfect story to make the distance between you and grandad feel a little smaller whilst you're stuck at home . . .
A New York Times bestselling title, illustrated by the winner of the Red House Children's Book Award 2013.
When your grandad rings the doorbell, it's babysitting time! This is a hilarious and accessible picture book about a child spending time with his grandad.
Written in a how-to style, the narrator gives important tips for 'babysitting' a grandad, including what to eat for snack (anything dipped in ketchup, ice cream topped with cookies, cookies topped with ice cream),…
The dragons of Yuro have been hunted to extinction.
On a small, isolated island, in a reclusive forest, lives bandit leader Marani and her brother Jacks. With their outlaw band they rob from the rich to feed themselves, raiding carriages and dodging the occasional vindictive…
If one of the main reasons we marry is to raise a family, what happens to the couple once the children grow up and no longer need daily care?
A few years ago, I completed an MSc in Psychology, and my dissertation explored exactly this question. After interviewing many couples, it became clear that unless parents are emotionally prepared for life after children, the sense of loss can be overwhelming. That research raised deeper questions about why we commit—and what keeps us committed.
From the first page I was caught up in the whirlwind of Toby’s post-marriage Manhattan—dating apps, sexting and catching up on years of fidelity—which all seems to be going very well until his ex-wife vanishes.
Then Toby Fleishman has to start getting to know Rachel Fleishman all over again, and in that search, himself.
The quirky narrative shifts from biting to moving to philosophical. Sharply observed and wildly entertaining.
'Sharp and wicked, insightful and funny, and then suddenly so touching' DAVID NICHOLLS
'It is a Great Novel . . . It has depth, wit, nuance and life. Heartbreaking and funny' NIGELLA LAWSON
'This is the novel of the summer . . . There is no one that this book isn't for. I can't believe it's a first novel. Pure brilliance' INDIA KNIGHT, THE SUNDAY TIMES
'Could be one of the books of my entire lifetime. I've never felt so seen' GRACE DENT, GUARDIAN
'This book is a work of utter perfection' ELIZABETH GILBERT
I grew up in a small, Midwestern town where people sinned Monday through Saturday, then went to church on Sunday to stock up on absolution for the coming week. It was also a place where people wanted to be well-thought of, if thought of at all, and could be at their best when things were at their worst. I wanted to escape as soon as possible, yet now as old memories become more accessible than recent ones, I realize that I never escaped at all. I write about small towns, perhaps to avenge, perhaps as homage; perhaps because it is still, after all these years, what I best know.
It is laugh-out-loud funny in places, but the humor also sees the pettiness, pride, and obstinance that can affect human behavior.
Pearson’s narrator is cloaked in childhood innocence that makes his incisive observations not cruel, but simply honest. After I first read this book many years ago, I decided that I would never again make my readers feel wretched nor would I cheat them. Like Pearson, I will, however, trick them.
Marvelously funny, bittersweet, and beautifully evocative, the original publication of A Short History of a Small Place announced the arrival of one of our great Southern voices. Although T. R. Pearson's Neely, North Carolina, doesn't appear on any map of the state, it has already earned a secure place on the literary landscape of the South. In this introduction to Neely, the young narrator, Louis Benfield, recounts the tragic last days of Miss Myra Angelique Pettigrew, a local spinster and former town belle who, after years of total seclusion, returns flamboyantly to public view-with her pet monkey, Mr. Britches. Here…
Jake Sledge, a rugged ex-cop turned private eye, teams up with his colossal partner Bobo to navigate the gritty streets of River City.
A murdered lawyer drags them into a web of political intrigue, neo-Nazi thugs, and bloody showdowns. With sharp wit and hard-hitting action, Jake tackles scumbags the only…
I am a picture book author/illustrator who writes humorous stories. One of my favorite techniques for instilling humor in my writing is for the illustrations to show the reader more than the characters’ know. It’s so much fun for kids to realize and be in on the joke before the characters in the book. I love a storytime where the kids get engaged and start pointing out what’s really happening and start talking to the characters to try to change their actions. I also love a good twist ending that makes the reader say, “How did I not see that coming?!” and these are the perfect kind of books for it.
In this book, three thieves make a plan to dig a tunnel to rob a bank, and I just love a mischievous picture book topic.
The art is so clever because we can see where the thieves are digging and the hilarious mistakes they have made as they end up in places that are definitely not the bank. The art is so charming and the digging teacher is perfection.
Sometimes the real treasures are the people you meet along the way.
Fans of Mac Barnett, Jory John, and Chris Haughton will adore this hilarious story of a bank robbery that doesn't go according to plan. Loosely inspired by the most famous bank heist in Argentina, Joaquin Camp decided to explore what would happen if the thieves had not been successful and had instead been content with what they already have. If instead of arriving at the bank, our thieves had landed in all sorts of other surprising places. The result is a story of upending expectations, teamwork, acceptance, and…
Both as a writer and reader, I adore stories of fantasy and magic. The thing is, these stories have what I call a “price of admission,” which is the time and effort it takes to learn the world of the story in order to immerse yourself in it. That's one reason I am passionate about reading series books: they welcome me back to a world I already love and understand. Speaking as a writer, multiple volumes allow me to make the world I've created richer and deeper with each new book. A new book in a beloved series feels like catching up with an old friend, whether you're reading or writing.
I love to laugh, I love fantasy, I love dragons, and this book provides hilarity and dragons in rich measure. Patricia C. Wrede has a delightful way of twisting old tropes into something fresh and new.
Even better, she is a master of creating feisty female characters...the kind that I wanted my daughter and my students to read about.
Meet Princess Cimorene-a princess who refuses to be proper. She is everything a princess is not supposed to be: headstrong, tomboyish, smart . . . and bored. So bored that she runs away to live with a dragon. And not just any dragon, but Kazul-one of the most powerful and dangerous dragons around. With a new look and new introduction from the author, this story is sure to acquire a new generation of fans. AGES: 10-13 AUTHOR: Patricia C. Wrede has written many novels, including all four books in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles as well as 'Sorcery and Cecilia', 'The…
As an author of experimental and genre-bending books, I evangelize people not only to read more books but to read books outside of their comfort zone. And while it doesn’t take much work to get adult readers to consider Young Adult titles, getting them to read Middle-Grade books has been a much greater challenge, which is a shame because middle school has a lot to offer. Some of the best and most life-changing books exist within the Middle-Grade category. My own Middle-Grade books were written with readers of many age ranges in mind.
There’s nothing childish about this rip-roaring fantasy adventure. I loved it long before Brandon Sanderson became a household name. While the book is steeped in whimsy, it sidesteps the pitfalls that render most Middle-Grade books inaccessible to adults. With realistic character motivations, a (strangely plausible) explanation for how all librarians could be secretly evil, and a cohesive magic system that could stand right beside any of Sanderson’s adult offerings.
I especially loved the way the book sucks the reader in with its deftly executed frame story. There are layers upon layers of storytelling here. I loved that, and I am not embarrassed to say it.
Experience the action-packed first book in #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson's laugh-out-loud middle-grade fantasy series like never before—now in paperback with all new covers!
AN ANCIENT RIVALRY REAWAKENS.
Everything I'd known about the world was a lie.
On my thirteenth birthday, I, Alcatraz Smedry (yes, I got named after a prison, don’t ask) received my inheritance: a bag of sand. And then I accidentally destroyed my foster parents’ kitchen. It’s not my fault, things just break around me, I swear!
I thought the sand was a joke until evil Librarians came to steal it. You’re probably thinking,…
Caroline Herschel has always lived in the shadows. Beholden to her wildly popular older brother, William, who rescued her from servitude, she's worked hard to build a life for herself – one where she can go unnoticed and repay the debt she believes she owes him. But when her brother…
I grew up in a small, Midwestern town where people sinned Monday through Saturday, then went to church on Sunday to stock up on absolution for the coming week. It was also a place where people wanted to be well-thought of, if thought of at all, and could be at their best when things were at their worst. I wanted to escape as soon as possible, yet now as old memories become more accessible than recent ones, I realize that I never escaped at all. I write about small towns, perhaps to avenge, perhaps as homage; perhaps because it is still, after all these years, what I best know.
Faulkner has great names: Lucius Priest, Boon Hogganbeck, Miss Carrie.
He uses humor to make us like them, heart to make us love them, and a crime they must commit for true justice to prevail. My most recent book follows the same humor, heart, dash of crime roadmap. Faulkner also likes long, complex sentences. I’m no Faulkner, but it’s an affection we share.
One of Faulkner’s comic masterpieces, The Reivers is a picaresque that tells of three unlikely car thieves from rural Mississippi. Eleven-year-old Lucius Priest is persuaded by Boon Hogganbeck, one of his family’s retainers, to steal his grandfather’s car and make a trip to Memphis. The Priests’ black coachman, Ned McCaslin, stows away, and the three of them are off on a heroic odyssey, for which they are all ill-equipped, that ends at Miss Reba’s bordello in Memphis. From there a series of wild misadventures ensues—involving horse smuggling, trainmen, sheriffs’ deputies, and jail.
I was once a little girl who loved reading, and now I'm a mother who shares that passion with my kid. Over the past few years, I've been revisiting my own childhood favorites with him (it's been a serendipitous mix of work and pleasure as I was also researching a book on one of the all-time great children's book authors, Judy Blume). The novels I've recommended here are ones that seemed to spark pleasure in the most discerning—and honest—of audiences: an 8-year-old. And unlike some old books that will go unnamed, they didn't make me cringe as a 21st-century parent.
This is the first book that made me laugh out loud as a kid. When I read it to my son, I remembered why. Not only is Fudge just a bonkers character, but this novel—the second in the Fudge series—features the silliest pet ever, a myna bird named Uncle Feather.
Uncle Feather’s catchphrase is "Bonjour, Stupid" and of course, he says it at inappropriate times. As an adult, I still think "Bonjour, Stupid" is funny. You can imagine the effect it has on an 8-year-old.
He knows a lot of big words, but he doesn't know where babies come from. He's never heard of a stork, but he plans to be a bird when he grows up. He's Superfudge, otherwise known as Farley Drexel Hatcher. And, according to his older brother Peter, the biggest pain ever invented. Among other things.
As fans of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing already know, nothing is simple for Peter Hatcher. He is far from overjoyed at the turn the family fortunes are taking. It looks as if Peter will be spending the sixth grade far from Central Park,…
Anyone who knows me knows that Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year! I devour all things Christmas, from decor to movies to music to cookies, so curling up with a magical holiday book is my idea of a very merry holiday!
A Christmas Story is my all time favorite Christmas movie so as a gift to myself I bought a copy of the short stories book that it was based on. Jean Shepard was a great writer and radio personality, and it comes through every page of this book. Such a great companion piece to the film.
A collection of humorous and nostalgic Americana stories—the beloved, bestselling classics that inspired the movie A Christmas Story
Before Garrison Keillor and Spalding Gray there was Jean Shepherd: a master monologist and writer who spun the materials of his all-American childhood into immensely resonant—and utterly hilarious—works of comic art. In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash represents one of the peaks of his achievement, a compound of irony, affection, and perfect detail that speaks across generations.
In God We Trust, Shepherd's wildly witty reunion with his Indiana hometown, disproves the adage “You can never go back.” Bending the ear…
Rodney Bradford comes into Lindsay's restaurant, offers to buy her small house for double its value, eats her brownies, and drops dead on the sidewalk in front. Next, her almost-ex-husband offers to sign the divorce papers, but only if she'll give him her small,…
I’ve been an avid reader and a professional writer my entire life—from writing for newspapers, magazines, and television to developing, producing, and writing award-winning projects for TV and film and writing best-selling fiction and nonfiction. My experience as a journalist, author, screenwriter, and producer has always interested me in headline news, historical subjects, and modern-day topics and issues that resonate with humanity. In doing so, I’ve consciously decided to create projects and share stories that entertain, inspire, educate, and uplift with themes that revolve around faith, family, hope, healing, forgiveness, timeless friendships, enduring romances, and the wondrous mysteries of life.
After her husband's death, thirty-six-year-old Sophie Stanton tries to hold it together, attempting to be a graceful widow à la Jackie Kennedy. However, Sophie is a mess, and in a funny and heartwarming fashion, the book chronicles Sophie’s rise from the ashes as she struggles to pull herself out of depression and forge a new life.
Anyone who has ever lost a loved one, partner, or spouse will relate to this book and Sophie’s grappling with keeping her sanity while facing a crushing loss.
A brilliantly funny and heartwarming debut about a young woman who stumbles, then fights to build a new life after the death of her husband. The perfect book for anyone who has ever been heartbroken, lost someone they loved, or eaten too many Oreos.
Thirty-six-year-old Sophie Stanton wants to be a good widow—a graceful, composed, Jackie Kennedy kind of widow. Alas, she's been drowning her sorrows in ice cream and showing up to work in her bunny slippers and bathrobe. Determined to start over, she moves to Ashland, Oregon, where she finds herself in the middle of a darkly madcap…
