Here are 100 books that Lost Kites and Other Treasures fans have personally recommended if you like
Lost Kites and Other Treasures.
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When I think of great novels, I don’t recall plot twists, beautiful language, or exotic settings. I remember the characters. How they met or didn’t meet, the challenges put before them. Great, unforgettable characters create great stories. They take risks, become friends with people society tells them not to, and don’t hide their motivations or fears. They show their humanity. A great character can make walking down a supermarket aisle an exciting adventure. Boring, one-dimensional ones can make a rocket launch seem like you’re reading about paint drying. All the books I discuss hit the character checklist tenfold.
After I heard author Rita Williams-Garcia speak at a NYC book event, I knew I had to read this book, even if it was for kids. After all, in 1968, I was the same age as the main character, Delphine, and from Brooklyn, just like her. That year, the Vietnam War, antiwar protests, and the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kenedy punctuated headlines.
Delphine and her younger sisters make a trek to California to visit their estranged mother. Instead of meeting Mickey and friends at Disney, they find Mom works for Huey, Bobby, and the Black Panthers! I was impressed with the way Rita used warmth and humor to chisel out difficult social issues we still face today. I learned a lot reading this family saga.
In this Newbery Honor novel, New York Times bestselling author Rita Williams-Garcia tells the story of three sisters who travel to Oakland, California, in 1968 to meet the mother who abandoned them. Eleven-year-old Delphine is like a mother to her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern. She's had to be, ever since their mother, Cecile, left them seven years ago for a radical new life in California. But when the sisters arrive from Brooklyn to spend the summer with their mother, Cecile is nothing like they imagined. While the girls hope to go to Disneyland and meet Tinker Bell, their…
In a time of alternative facts and the loss of a shared sense of reality, A Foot is Not a Fish playfully illustrates the difference between what is true and what is not through absurd fun comparisons that every child—and parent—will instantly understand.
I was raised in a home where one parent was an acute alcoholic and the other parent was the child of an acute alcoholic, codependency and boundary issues flourished, and there was a touch of end-times religion to top it all off. This made me a kid who was highly tuned in to everything going on around me as a way to maintain a sense of control. Though that probably wasn’t the best thing for my emotional development, it’s turned me into a writer who strives to delve into the authentic human experience and a reader who wants that, too. The books on this list meet that bar!
My loyalty as a reader and writer is to realism, and this is about as real as it gets. The narrator gets an older foster brother who comes with real complications and a backstory that’s more than a bit scary.
At the same time, the book is so full of familial love that I leaked tears from about chapter three until the end as I watched these characters try to give and receive it.
Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal. A heartbreaking story, narrated by twelve-year-old Jack, whose family is caring for fourteen-year-old Joseph. Joseph is misunderstood. He was incarcerated for trying to kill a teacher. Or so the rumours say. But Jack and his family see something others in town don't want to. What's more, Joseph has a daughter he's never seen. The two boys go on a journey through the bitter Maine winter to help Joseph find his baby - no matter the cost.
I was raised in a home where one parent was an acute alcoholic and the other parent was the child of an acute alcoholic, codependency and boundary issues flourished, and there was a touch of end-times religion to top it all off. This made me a kid who was highly tuned in to everything going on around me as a way to maintain a sense of control. Though that probably wasn’t the best thing for my emotional development, it’s turned me into a writer who strives to delve into the authentic human experience and a reader who wants that, too. The books on this list meet that bar!
As a writer, I absolutely worship the spare, unique voice that Ellis gives her main character, thirteen-year-old Logan.
Logan is intensely awkward and reluctant to tell the whole story of how he betrayed a friend, and as a reader, that kept me turning the pages. “Last week, Bruce kicked me in the balls at Scouts, and all his buddies were there laughing, and I started crying.” What an opening line for a book for any reader who has been through that no-man’s-land of thirteen.
Imagine if you had witnessed something horrific. Imagine if it had happened to your friend. And imagine if you hadn't done anything to help.
That's what it's like to be Logan, an utterly frank, slightly awkward, and extremely loveable outcast enmeshed in a mysterious psychological drama. This story allows readers to piece together the sequence of events that has changed his life and changed his perspective on what it means to be a good friend and what it means to be a good person.
This is What I Did: is a powerful read with clever touches, such as palindrome notes,…
When a girl in India discovers a Stone slab on a weedy patch of land she calls to her friends, "Look! Look!" The children clear away the weeds and garbage and find more stones. They called their families to come and see. Word travels to villages nearby and more and…
I was raised in a home where one parent was an acute alcoholic and the other parent was the child of an acute alcoholic, codependency and boundary issues flourished, and there was a touch of end-times religion to top it all off. This made me a kid who was highly tuned in to everything going on around me as a way to maintain a sense of control. Though that probably wasn’t the best thing for my emotional development, it’s turned me into a writer who strives to delve into the authentic human experience and a reader who wants that, too. The books on this list meet that bar!
This 1977 novel is one of the books that made me want to be a writer, and I’ve read it more times than I can count.
I love the fact that it’s about a tomboy who lets a new friend believe that she is a boy. The historical background of the polio epidemic is interesting (and newly relevant). And I especially like that it breaks one of the “rules” about books for kids, which is that they shouldn’t include too much about the adults. But why not? Adults had a huge impact on me as a kid, for better or worse, and they’ve always interested me as characters.
The vulnerability of thirty-three-year-old Dwayne Pickens, whose mind has never grown beyond that of a boy, leads to a disaster that unites Casey, her family, and their Southern community in an effort to keep Dwayne from being sent to the "home" he dreads.The vulnerability of thirty-three-year-old Dwayne Pickens, whose mind has never grown beyond that of a boy, leads to a disaster that unites Casey, her family, and their Southern community in an effort to keep Dwayne from being sent to the "home" he dreads
Diane C. McPhail is the award-winning author of The Abolitionist’s Daughter, her debut novel based on family history and little-known impediments to Southern Abolitionism and anti-slavery. Her yet-to-be-titled second novel, a historical 1900 Chicago & New Orleans psychological mystery, is due for release in the spring of 2022. As an experienced therapist, Diane has a passionate interest in the complex, sometimes conflicting, qualities of character and culture, and how those intricacies complicate the plot. Diane holds an M.F.A., M.A., and Doctor of Ministry.
This riveting American Gothic novel, set in 1865, follows a widowed Civil War Army nurse home to New Hampshire after her bloody stint of tending the wounded and sick, only to find that her beloved, but unstable, sister is dead in a fall from the roof of the asylum. The cause is ruled a suicide, but she is not convinced and determines to find the truth at all costs. The period is synchronic with that of The Abolitionist’s Daughter and the depth of research fascinated me. Blakemore’s writing and extensive attention to sensual detail is exceptional. Since I have my own yet-to-be-titled historical mystery due for release in the Spring of 2022, I loved delving into this twisting page-turner with a woman of determination in an equivalent period of history.
Until she discovers the truth of her sister's death, no one will rest in peace.
New Hampshire, 1865. Marion Abbott is summoned to Brawders House asylum to collect the body of her sister, Alice. She'd been found dead after falling four stories from a steep-pitched roof. Officially: an accident. Confidentially: suicide. But Marion believes a third option: murder.
Returning to her family home to stay with her brother and his second wife, the recently widowed Marion is expected to quiet her feelings of guilt and grief-to let go of the dead and embrace the living. But that's not easy in…
My expertise and passion for these topics stem from my lived experiences. I never understood why I would be the only girl to suffer so much, but now, having written my memoir, I know it all had a purpose. Some people with similar backgrounds write to me, and I try to offer them compassion, encouragement, hope, and understanding. I advise them to write their own memoirs to shed light on different life issues and inspire meaningful conversations. I have been a platinum member of Audible since 2016 and have more than 1000 memoirs in my library—I hope this helped me to choose the best five memoirs for this list!
I lived Augusten Burroughs’ life while walking in the U.S. National Arboretum through the medium of his audiobook. Augusten Burroughs’ parents had the same issues as my parents, and his life was as eclectic as mine. This allowed me to heal my long-time wounds in a way.
The more I read about the emotional struggles of others, the easier it is for me to fully remember the darkest moments of my childhood. This particular memoir also made it difficult for me to put it down because of its very bizarre plot and dark humor. Additionally, I was fascinated to read about the time before I was born. Isn’t it odd that the world once existed without us?
This is the true story of a boy who wanted to grow up with the Brady Bunch, but ended up living with the Addams Family. Augusten Burroughs's mother gave him away to be raised by her psychiatrist, a dead ringer for Santa Claus and a certifiable lunatic into the bargain. The doctor's bizarre family, a few patients and a sinister man living in the garden shed completed the tableau. The perfect squalor of their dilapidated Victorian house, there were no…
A fresh, fun, inspiring illustrated poetry collection you can put in the hands of any reader.
Curated by the award-winning duo Irene Latham and Charles Waters, this collection contains 30 poems that all begin with the same word: "if." Subject matter moves from the practical "if you have a pencil"…
My passion for mental health is both personal and professional. I have Bipolar Disorder, and I am a law professor who teaches and researches in this area. The books on this list go deeper than the usual narrative of mental illness, telling inspiring success stories and laying bare the dysfunctions of our current approach to mental illness. I have found in these books comfort and motivation to push for change.
The heart of this book is the stories of individuals with serious mental illness based on repeated interviews over the course of years, which illustrate the dysfunction of our mental health system.
These stories are woven together with interviews of experts, research, and the author’s experiences living with a sister who had schizophrenia. I learned as much from this book as any other single book I have read in the field.
A psychiatrist and award-winning documentarian sheds light on the mental-health-care crisis in the United States.
When Dr. Kenneth Rosenberg trained as a psychiatrist in the late 1980s, the state mental hospitals, which had reached peak occupancy in the 1950s, were being closed at an alarming rate, with many patients having nowhere to go. There has never been a more important time for this conversation, as one in five adults--40 million Americans--experiences mental illness each year. Today, the largest mental institution in the United States is the Los Angeles County Jail, and the last refuge for many of the 20,000 mentally…
I’m a therapist and Jungian analyst who has been writing and speaking about the transgender phenomenon since 2016. Across the Anglosphere, teen girls have begun identifying as transgender in significant numbers since around 2011. Many are quickly accessing medical interventions. When I became aware of these trends, I got curious about them. I’m especially fascinated by the way that social and psychological factors can shape our understanding of mental health and mental illness, and I’ve been exploring these topics as they relate to trans adolescents. I’ve worked with trans-identifying young people and their parents, as well as detransitioners.
I loved this book because it addressed what I think is at the heart of much of our mental health crisis – that the stories that we tell ourselves can shape our mental health.
As a therapist, I know intuitively that how we think about our distress can shape the course that our illness takes. Does the story promote resilience and flexibility? Or does it fragilize us and lead to worse mental health?
Aviv tells compelling stories from a number of cultures that helped me explore these important questions further.
The highly anticipated debut from the award-winning New Yorker writer Rachel Aviv is a ground-breaking exploration of illness and the mind
Strangers to Ourselves is a compassionate, courageous and riveting look at the ways we talk about and understand ourselves in periods of crisis and distress. Drawing on unpublished journals and letters, along with deep reporting, it follows people who feel as if they have reached the limits of psychiatric explanations for who they are. Their diagnosis, while giving their experiences a name, also shapes their sense of what their future may look like-and their identities, too.
Like all writers, I am first and foremost a reader, with deep appreciation for a great story. I’m also a veteran book club member who meets with book clubs all over the U.S. and Canada (usually via Zoom) three or four times a week to discuss my own work. They are, as I am, invariably pleased by a plot twist. It All Comes Back to You delivers a big one, along with emotional involvement in two worlds, as it’s a dual timeline. I consider myself an expert as a result of hundreds (thousands?) of hours discussing books with groups who are, without exception, smart, fun, funny women who educate me.
This book rocked my world with a stunning disclosure at the end.
I remember staring at its pages, befuddled and eager to find someone to discuss it with. The Double Bind is perfect for book clubs, with a rich story that draws you in from the first pages.
Throughout his career, Chris Bohjalian has earned a reputation for writing novels that examine some of the most important issues of our time. With Midwives, he explored the literal and metaphoric place of birth in our culture. In The Buffalo Soldier, he introduced us to one of contemporary literature’s most beloved foster children. And in Before You Know Kindness, he plumbed animal rights, gun control, and what it means to be a parent.
Chris Bohjalian’s riveting fiction keeps us awake deep into the night. As The New York Times has said, “Few writers can manipulate a plot with Bohjalian’s grace…
Discover the first adventure in the Curious Bunny series!
In Boomer Sees the Town, Boomer leaves the forest to explore the wonders, sounds, and surprises of the big city. Perfect for curious minds and early readers, this heartwarming children’s story encourages imagination, discovery, and kindness.
My PhD work focused on horror fiction and film, and I spent ten years teaching about horror (I even included two of my recommended books in courses). The academic stuff is more a symptom than a cause of my passion for the scary. I’ve been a horror freak forever, becoming interested in vampires by age four, reading Stephen King and writing stories to frighten classmates by age nine, and putting a poster of Freddy Krueger on my wall at age ten. Extremes of fiction take me away from extremes of real life, which are much harder to handle.
I’ve been blown away by the high quality in a lot of 21st-century splatterpunk/hardcore/extreme horror, but nobody’s extremes have impressed me quite like Wrath James White’s.
I love the insane magic he works with a deceptively simple premise: a young man can resurrect people who forget the circumstances of the deaths and return, but he’s a bad young man. The result is a blend of classic Gothic tropes related to a woman terrorized by a powerful man combined with just about every kind of physical violation imaginable.
I respect White’s gross-outs, but more than that, I respect the bleakness, the deep, deep horror of the premise taken so far in such a bad way.
Dale McCarthy has a unique and miraculous ability. He can bring the dead back to life, though the resurrected have no memory of their deaths. But not every miracle comes from God, and not every healer is a saint.
Ever since her new neighbor moved in, Sarah Lincoln has been having terrible nightmares. Last night she dreamed she and her husband were brutally murdered in their beds. This morning she found bloody sheets in the laundry and bloodstains on her mattress. And the nightmare is the same, night after night after night. With no one prepared…
