Books like Harmoney & the Empty Piggy Bank — picked by fans

Growing up I noticed that a lot of my friends would avoid conversations about the stock market mainly because a lack of confidence or knowledge around how it works. I also saw a visible gap in financial literacy among kids that I volunteered with. The school system is doing the best they can, but we can’t rely on them to plant every seed within our kids. With the knowledge gained from friends and countless hours of research from taking classes on the stock market, I created a book that focused on teaching kids about all things stock related but also could be used as a tool of learning for all ages.  

Growing up I noticed that a lot of my friends would avoid conversations about the stock market mainly because a lack of confidence or knowledge around how it works. I also saw a visible gap in financial literacy among kids that I volunteered with. The school system is doing the best they can, but we can’t rely on them to plant every seed within our kids. With the knowledge gained from friends and countless hours of research from taking classes on the stock market, I created a book that focused on teaching kids about all things stock related but also could be used as a tool of learning for all ages.  

Growing up I noticed that a lot of my friends would avoid conversations about the stock market mainly because a lack of confidence or knowledge around how it works. I also saw a visible gap in financial literacy among kids that I volunteered with. The school system is doing the best they can, but we can’t rely on them to plant every seed within our kids. With the knowledge gained from friends and countless hours of research from taking classes on the stock market, I created a book that focused on teaching kids about all things stock related but also could be used as a tool of learning for all ages.  

Growing up I noticed that a lot of my friends would avoid conversations about the stock market mainly because a lack of confidence or knowledge around how it works. I also saw a visible gap in financial literacy among kids that I volunteered with. The school system is doing the best they can, but we can’t rely on them to plant every seed within our kids. With the knowledge gained from friends and countless hours of research from taking classes on the stock market, I created a book that focused on teaching kids about all things stock related but also could be used as a tool of learning for all ages.  

A lot of people feel intimidated by fantasy. Admittedly, the classics of the genre can be hard to get into, with their epic worldbuilding and thousand-page counts. But what made me fall in love with fantasy was the way it made me feel. Growing up queer, Jewish, fat, and chronically ill in the American South made it impossible for me to relate to the people around me. But fantasy, with its stories of outcasts becoming saviors, resonated with me. That’s why I started writing Queen of All when I was only twelve years old—I wanted to make people feel seen and understood. That’s what these books have done for me. 

My family loudly expressed emotions as a normal way of life. We shouted, we laughed, we wept, we sang (think My Big Fat Greek Wedding!). Emotional intelligence helps me understand the world and learn empathy for others. I illustrate dynamic character emotions through my science fiction and fantasy, and often through the themes of family, memory, and healing. Emotional roller coasters and high-stakes adventures are my jam! The books on this list got my feels firing on all cylinders and didn’t leave me bereft on their final page. Enjoy these gems!

I’ve always felt myself to be different, odd, and a bit of a loner. As a child, people said I was "too clever by half," and I both hated and loved being able to understand things that other kids did not. Being good at maths and science in a girls’ boarding school does not make you friends! Escaping all that, I became a psychologist and, after a dramatic out-of-body experience, began studying lucid dreams, sleep paralysis, psychic claims, and all sorts of weird and wonderful experiences. This is why I love all these books about exceptional children.

In school, I wasn’t fond of physics. Most of my education focused on the history of human civilization and culture. I rediscovered physics partly thanks to the books mentioned here—and the strangeness of quanta. My studies, exposure to Tao and Zen philosophies, and exploration of physics have given me a unique perspective and awareness: humanity is merely a tiny particle in the universe, neither central nor the king of all creation. Nothing new, of course—Buddha, Heraclitus, and Shakespeare all knew it well.

I’ve always been drawn to the woods. There’s something strange and mysterious about the trees. It’s a place where true magic feels possible. I enjoy stories that recreate this feeling. That keep that sense of mystery. That don’t feel the need to explain every detail or every strange occurrence within their pages. Stories that build deep worlds over time, but maintain a sense of wonder. I love stories that are funny, that aren’t afraid to be weird or dark, and that have a strong heart. They are the type of stories I try to tell in my own work and the ones I most love to get lost in.

“Hope in dark places” has been the theme of my life, beginning at age 17 when my parents disowned me for my faith. I’ve walked through the “valley of the shadow of death” twice, battling cancer, and endured many other struggles, which everyone faces at some time in their lives. Reading Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey as a teen gave me the courage to face the darkness, and so the characters in the stories I write and prefer to read do likewise.