Here are 100 books that Missing fans have personally recommended if you like
Missing.
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I have loved reading since I was a child. Books can take you places you will never go otherwise. That’s why it’s so important to have good, clean books that take you places you want to go and books that don’t strand you somewhere you don’t want to be. As a YA author myself, I am passionate about providing literature for teens that is adventurous and relatable, without the spice that often flavors today’s books. I hope you love diving into this list of clean recommendations!
I’m a big Gordon Korman fan, especially his older books, and this is one of my favorites! The humor is timeless, the descriptions are witty, and the adventures are crazy. I have reread this book many times over the years, and it never fails to produce a few laughs…the out-loud, can’t-keep-it-in kind of laughs!
I have many memories of chuckling over scenes in this book with my family. This story is hilarious, wild, and a great clean read for younger readers!
Gordon Korman’s uproarious, outrageous, and all-too-familiar summer camp adventure is BACK!
Rudy Miller really isn’t into the whole camping thing. So when his parents send him to Camp Algonkian “for his own good” all he wants to do is go home.
Rudy teams up with his cabin-mate Mike for a series of carefully planned ― yet hilariously bungled ― escape attempts. Unfortunately, their counsellor (and nemesis) Chip is as determined to keep them there as they are to get away.
Rudy and Mike spend their days plotting, playing chess, and working off punishments for their failed escapes. Hmmm, maybe it…
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
I have loved reading since I was a child. Books can take you places you will never go otherwise. That’s why it’s so important to have good, clean books that take you places you want to go and books that don’t strand you somewhere you don’t want to be. As a YA author myself, I am passionate about providing literature for teens that is adventurous and relatable, without the spice that often flavors today’s books. I hope you love diving into this list of clean recommendations!
As a country gal myself, I love books where a big-city chic is forced into a backwater town. Meet Penny—a girl I fell in love with and cheered for through every stage of the book. I love Penny’s creativity, strength, and character growth.
This book definitely cycles through my re-read list, and for good reason. It deals with common teen problems like bullying, divorce, and homesickness in relatable ways, with just the right touch of humor. If there’s ever a bus headed to Hog’s Hollow, I just might be on it!
A confection of a novel, combining big city sophistication with small town charm.
When her mother moves them from the city to a small town to open up a cupcake bakery, Penny?s life isn?t what she expected. Her father has stayed behind, and Mom isn?t talking about what the future holds for their family. And then there?s Charity, the girl who plays mean pranks almost daily. There are also bright spots in Hog?s Hollow?like Tally, an expert in Rock Paper Scissors, and Marcus, the boy who is always running on the beach. But just when it looks as though Penny…
I have loved reading since I was a child. Books can take you places you will never go otherwise. That’s why it’s so important to have good, clean books that take you places you want to go and books that don’t strand you somewhere you don’t want to be. As a YA author myself, I am passionate about providing literature for teens that is adventurous and relatable, without the spice that often flavors today’s books. I hope you love diving into this list of clean recommendations!
If I met Eric Walters, I would ask him how he, as a middle-aged male writer, got so effectively inside a teen girl’s head. I enjoyed following Alexandria’s journey from a rich suburb to a small non-profit in Kenya.
The dusty plains of Kenya are a far cry from her walk-in closets and piles of expensive clothes, but they hold valuable lessons for one used to being coddled by society. I loved the character development, the experiences, and the true friendship Alexandria discovered over the course of the story.
For Alexandria Hyatt having a fabulous life is easy: she knows what she wants and she knows how to get it. Being glamorous and rich is simply what she was born to be. When Alexandria is arrested for shoplifting, having to drag herself into court to face a judge just seems like a major inconvenience. But Alexandria has been in trouble before–and this time she can’t find a way to scheme out of the consequences. Before she knows it, she’s on a plane headed to Kenya where she has been ordered to work for an international charity.
Across America, a wave of brutal, inexplicable killings leaves hardened detectives and desperate federal agents grasping for answers.
But what appears to be vigilante terror is something far more ancient - an invisible war between the forces of light and the agents of darkness, playing out on the streets of…
I have loved reading since I was a child. Books can take you places you will never go otherwise. That’s why it’s so important to have good, clean books that take you places you want to go and books that don’t strand you somewhere you don’t want to be. As a YA author myself, I am passionate about providing literature for teens that is adventurous and relatable, without the spice that often flavors today’s books. I hope you love diving into this list of clean recommendations!
I love it when the main character is determined, and Dani is exactly that—she’s going to hike the Appalachian trail alone from Georgia to Maine.
I loved following Dani’s journey as she worked through grief, hard questions, and the divorce of her parents. She’s gutsy yet sensitive, afraid yet strong. The descriptions and emotions were great, and, in a way, I felt like I got to ‘hike’ the trail along with her!
Twelve-year-old Dani is running away from home, or what’s left of home anyway. Her older brother, who had muscular dystrophy, died a few months ago. Then her father left and her parents got divorced. Now home is just Dani and her sad, silent mother, and Dani’s got to get away. She plans to do something amazing, and go where her parents will never find her: she’s going to hike the whole Appalachian Trail, from Georgia to Maine. The trail is a legend in her family, the place where her parents met, fell in love, and got married 14 years before.…
I was born into the heart of American religious fundamentalism and spent years helping build the Religious Right before walking away from it. My book tells the story of that journey: from certainty to doubt, from dogma to paradox, from fear to love.
I’ve lived at the crossroads of faith, politics, family, and art—and these recommendations reflect the questions that still haunt me: How do we live with compassion in a divided world? How do we raise our children with tenderness in the absence of certainty? These books moved me because they don’t preach. They search. They speak in the voice of those of us who are done with black-and-white thinking, but still believe in grace.
Melanie’s memoir is a testament to how love and grief can live side by side.
Her story of grappling with faith, family, and loss resonated deeply with me, and her prose is simply luminous—elegant, honest, and profoundly moving. Like my own path, Melanie’s journey is about making peace with life’s messiness—finding the courage to create beauty in the ruins and hold fast to love, even when faith itself is in doubt.
I came away reminded that doubt is not the opposite of faith, but the companion that keeps it real and tender.
"A profound and riveting journey through shame and grief, A Hard Silence is, quite simply, unforgettable." Monica Wood, author of When We Were the Kennedys
In the mid 1980s, Canada's worst public health disaster was unfolding. Catastrophic mismanagement of the country's blood supply allowed contaminated blood to be knowingly distributed nationwide, infecting close to two thousand Canadians with HIV. Among them was Melanie Brooks's surgeon father who, after receiving a blood transfusion during open-heart surgery in 1985, learned he was HIV positive.
At a time when HIV/AIDS was widely misunderstood and public perception was shaped by fear, prejudice, and homophobia,…
I’m a writer who grew up in the Midwest, moved away for a while, and has now raised my own kids here. I love reading other writers' takes on what kinds of stories they see unfolding here. As I get older, I realize that great stories can grow out of the ground anywhere, with the right amount of sunshine, darkness, and water.
I'm not usually much for food writing. (I mean, it's good, or it's bad, right ?). But this novel, which centers around food and what it means to us, kept me riveted all the way through.
It's hard to explain exactly why the book is so compelling, but it's by turns funny and moving, and the plot sort of spirals inward in a way I’ve never seen before.
“An impressive feat of narrative jujitsu . . . that keeps readers turning the pages too fast to realize just how ingenious they are.”—The New York Times Book Review, Editor’s Pick
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Lager Queen of Minnesota, Kitchens of the Great Midwest is a novel about a young woman with a once-in-a-generation palate who becomes the iconic chef behind the country’s most coveted dinner reservation.
When Lars Thorvald’s wife, Cynthia, falls in love with wine—and a dashing sommelier—he’s left to raise their baby, Eva, on his own.…
The Amazing Afterlife of Animals
by
Karen A. Anderson,
My book is for anyone grieving the loss of a beloved pet. If your heart feels shattered and you are searching for understanding, comfort, and connection, these chapters were written with you in mind.
I share uplifting and life-changing stories that help you move beyond the devastation of grief, including…
As a reader and an author, I prefer young adult novels because they tend to focus more on character growth and development than other genres, but I’m particularly drawn to both historical and fantasy period pieces in books and film. The medieval ages especially, with their castles and feudalistic way of life, have always fascinated me. This fascination was largely filled by reading and watching fairy tales and novel adaptations while growing up. Nowadays, I gravitate toward retellings like a moth to the flame, as I get to relive stories that have a special place in my heart in a fresh new way.
This atmospheric novel, a retelling of The Island of Doctor Moreau, is a perfect blend of gothic romance and haunting mystery. It’s beautifully written, well-paced, and filled with unexpected twists. I love the feminist theme presented through the main character, Juliet, who is independent despite the hardships she endures, is not dissuaded from pursuing her passion for science even though it wasn’t proper for a woman to do so at the time. There is also an underlying theme throughout the book that expertly juxtaposes sanity and madness, eliciting the question of where the line should be drawn.
For fans of Libba Bray, this first book in a gothic suspense trilogy is inspired by H. G. Wells's The Island of Dr. Moreau and has been hailed by New York Times bestseller Carrie Ryan as having "beautiful writing, breakneck pacing, a pulse-pounding mystery, and an irresistible romance."
Following accusations that her scientist father gruesomely experimented on animals, sixteen-year-old Juliet watched as her family and her genteel life in London crumbled around her—and only recently has she managed to piece her world back together. But when Juliet learns her father is still alive and working on a remote tropical island,…
I’m a bit fairy tale obsessed. I love how the characters go into the woods and face wolves, witches, stepmothers, and ogres. But despite the abuse and neglect and trauma, they somehow emerge whole. These five books each have a unique heroine, not with a sword, but with her own quiet strength. Each one is a cathartic but reassuring guide into the woods and out again, acknowledging that though there will be hurt and heartbreak, transformation and healing will follow. If you love fairy tales for the same reasons I do, come, step onto the path. The magic of hope and healing awaits.
Before reading Deerskin, I wouldn’t have believed any author could get away with writing a retelling of the "Donkeyskin"/"All Kinds of Fur" tale—and yet, Robin McKinley does a superb job.
McKinley keeps readers at a bit of a remove from this triggering tale (the one in which a lecherous king wants to marry his daughter), giving it a bit of a darkly dreamlike, dissociative quality. I love the way she focuses on the heroine’s healing rather than the trauma or its perpetrator.
It’s the tale of a long, dark teatime of the soul, and a quiet, very spiritual book.
“A fierce and beautiful story of rage and compassion, betrayal and loyalty, damage and love...A fairy tale for adults, one you'll never forget.”—Alice Hoffman, New York Times bestselling author of The Rules of Magic
The only daughter of a beloved king and queen, Princess Lissar has grown up in the shadow of her parent’s infinite adoration for each other—an infatuation so great that it could only be broken by the queen’s unexpected passing. As Lissar reaches womanhood, it becomes clear to everyone in the kingdom that she has inherited her late mother’s breathtaking beauty. But on the eve of her…
COVID killed my father early on during the pandemic. Every day, I blogged about him. First, when he was in the ICU and I was begging the universe to save him. Then, after he died, as I grieved in a world that seemed cold and lonely. I wrote about Dad, telling stories of happier times, to keep him alive through my memories and to share his life with others. Soon, friends started recommending books about grief. In reading, feeling, and absorbing the pain of others, I somehow felt less alone.
I loved this book because it was another daughter reminiscing about her relationship with her father following his death.
I could empathize with the emptiness Schultz felt in the midst of her father’s absence, but also feel the joy she experienced when remembering him. Also, I like reading books written by other lesbians, especially books about family.
In hard times, we rely on family to support us emotionally, and Schulz, through her relationship with her partner, demonstrated that beautifully.
'Extraordinary . . . a profound and beautiful book . . . a moving meditation on grief and loss, but also a sparky celebration of joy, wonder and the miracle of love . . . Witty, wise, beautifully structured and written in clear, singing prose' - Sunday Times
Longlisted for the 2022 National Book Award for Nonfiction
Eighteen months before Kathryn Schulz's beloved father died, she met the woman she would marry. In Lost & Found, she weaves the stories of those relationships into a brilliant exploration of how all our lives are shaped by loss and discovery - from…
Jose Castillo is a cynical, wise-cracking Cuban-American who restores classic cars. He’s also a private eye whose sarcastic ways sometimes get him into trouble.
One day, in the process of installing a four-barrel carburetor on a 1965 Mustang, into his shop walks trouble—in the shape of a mysterious, beautiful woman…
A great book can supplant your consciousness and bring you into a new headspace of altered mood and perception. Good writing about elevated human experiences can elevate the reader, as the words on the page inspire the release of "feel-good" neurochemicals like endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine. These are the effects I seek to produce in my readers’ experience – I want them to feel the buzzes and the highs and lows my characters feel. In Death By Cannabis, by focusing on the legalization of weed in Canada, I sought to tap into the passionate subculture and complex emotions the emancipation of pot brought to the surface after simmering so long underground.
What I loved most about Night Boat to Tangier is the same thing I love about all of Kevin Barry’s books – the delivery.
Whether it’s City of Bohane, The Heart in Winter, Beatlebone, or this book, the best part of a Kevin Barry novel is always the writing and the voice. The story is almost secondary.
You might expect the story of a seasoned drug importer reuniting with his estranged daughter to be a spectacle, but what I loved about this book was the way many of the tendrils of the story were allowed to uncurl slowly, and some not at all.
I like to imagine Kevin Barry was at the ferry station one day and looked at a couple of aging, shaved-head, tattooed Irish thugs leaning against a wall waiting, and asked, “What’s their story?” Then he wrote it.
LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE IRISH TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR NOVEL OF THE YEAR AT THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS, THE DALKEY LITERARY AWARDS AND THE KERRY GROUP AWARDS A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE NEW YORK TIMES, NEW STATESMAN, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT, BIG ISSUE, i, THE ATLANTIC and LITERARY HUB
'A true wonder' Max Porter 'Beautifully written' Guardian
It's late one night at the Spanish port of Algeciras and two fading Irish gangsters are waiting on the boat from Tangier. A lover has been lost, a daughter has gone missing, their world has come asunder - can…
