Books like Can You Sue Your Parents for Malpractice? — picked by fans

I loved the bravery of the author in tackling a controversial question.

This book deals with the US Supreme Court’s “parental rights doctrine.” Through a complete overview of jurisprudence from the earliest days of the country’s existence, Shulman challenges the commonly-held modern idea that parental rights have long held an exalted position in American jurisprudence. He demonstrates that, on the contrary, the American state originally entrusted parents with custody of the child for the purpose of meeting the child's needs and that the notion of the custody of one’s child as an entitlement is a relatively modern one.

I think this is a message that is vital to be brought out into the public sphere, and I am happy that the author was willing to devote an entire book to it.

I liked that this book was specifically aimed at the Canadian market. It shows compassion for children, framing their rights as an important value and their advancement as a valid goal for Canadian society.

I am pleased that, unlike many others, the authors show some agreement with the premise that children should be able to have choices and participate in the decisions that affect their lives. I think this is a perspective that is lacking in many publications on the subject of children’s rights, which often focus more on the protectionist aspect of the issue than on the autonomy aspects.

This is a young adult literature novel from Canada. I found this book very inspiring when reading it as a kid. I enjoyed its subversive nature as it portrays a group of boys and girls, from two private schools, who conspire to overthrow the tyrannical assistant headmaster and headmistress that their respective schools have appointed.

The novel, while written as a comedy, is suggestive of the idea that adults should not be allowed to micromanage and tyrannize their young charges and that such administrators can be ousted. I like that it conveys this message in an entertaining way while still showing a youth’s eye perspective on unreasonable adult actions toward them.

This is my favorite manifesto monograph for children’s rights. It is very radical for its date of publication (1974) and argues for emancipating kids as much as possible from adult control. His message is laid out in a number of clear, simple, and explicit points and is accompanied by appropriate argumentation.

I love that the book does not shrink from controversy and that it adopts explicit recommendations for diametrically altering the status of young people without beating about the bush. The message is still timely today, and it would be good if more people thought to act upon it. It is a classic that should be rediscovered by today’s generations.

This type of book taught me much about my own country, Zambia. It starts with the story of David Livingstone’s “discovery” of Victoria Falls, and many characters, including a choir of mosquitos, took me for a wild ride through colonial history, the struggle for independence, modern-day Zambia, and then into the future.

I had learned about some of the historical events in school, but many were revelations unearthed by Serpell’s meticulous research. I found the characters riveting, and the storytelling complex, creative, and exciting. Reading this incredible book has also made me richer in my knowledge of my home country. 

I still think about the topics raised in the novel, Culpability, on a regular basis.

Holsinger’s drama about moral responsibility and Artificial Intelligence raises issues that are increasingly relevant in daily life, but the book delivers its thought-provoking points through a fascinating storyline and entertaining characters.

The novel is highly provocative while weaving in mundane topics like sibling rivalry, high school sports, and marital troubles to make it relatable.

As the title suggests, this book lingers like a disquieting dream. A mother to a toddler myself, I think of what the protagonist Amanda calls the “rescue distance” often – the ground between herself and her child, should something perilous occur.

This book distills maternal protectiveness and anxiety into something as potent as poison or as powerful as a curse. It makes me want to look over my shoulder, lock the doors, draw the blinds. It carries an air of contagion. I can think of few other reads that evoke such a visceral reaction with such subtle strokes.

California stories are frequently immigrant stories, and there are many to choose from.

I loved Elaine Castillo’s debut novel about three generations of Filipinos who settle in the Bay Area and fight their way to a place for themselves. The characters are vibrant and alive, querulous, sexy, ambitious, dreamy. They never completely overcome the shadow of the past in the Philippines or the conflicts of the present in the United States, but despite sadness and tragedy, the book ends with love.

I love this book because it puts me inside the heartbreaking experience of a singular character named Francis Phelan—a homeless man from Albany, New York—as he wrestles with his past and journeys home after a long, self-imposed absence. By the time Ironweed begins, Francis has been homeless for many years and is haunted by his past.

I love how the main character is a mystery, yet the author uses interiority to place the reader inside his experience. Ghosts of the past become palpable to Francis, and he struggles to make his way back home while struggling to survive the hardscrabble existence of the homeless. This book unravels the mystery of its main character and employs striking, beautiful, and direct prose. This book haunted me.

A lower-middle-class girl grows up in provincial England, and we follow her from early childhood through middle age. That’s it. She has a few relationships, a few kids, and some friendships. She fights with her mother, she works, and she thinks about her life, but only in passing because she’s busy living.

The kind of book that’s not supposed to work, except it does. It was technically marketed as a novel but exists on the disputed border between connected short story collections and novels. Each section can be read by itself and is a world unto itself. This book is full of moments that express how strange it is to have consciousness, how we are caught, suddenly, in the midst of ourselves, unable to believe we are here.