100 Books Like The Book of Polly

This book is my favorite in Lisa Wingate’s Tending Roses series.

I could so relate to Karen Sommerfield and her struggles. Karen’s life is falling apart. The passion in her marriage has cooled, she is unable to have the children she longs for, and on the same day she receives frightening news from her doctor and is let go from a company she put her whole heart and soul into.

On impulse, she returns to her grandmother’s farm in the Ozarks to try and regroup. Right away the old tensions resurface between her and her sister, who seems to have it all together, and Karen feels returning may have been a mistake.

But then she begins to hear her grandmother’s wisdom whispering in the century-old sycamore trees and finds the courage to examine her heart and reconstruct her life.

I loved that Grandma Rose’s influence lived on in her granddaughters… show more.

What drew me to this book was the inspiring journey of the main character, Victoria Jones. A victim of the sometimes cruel foster care system, she learns to express herself through the Victorian language of flowers.

Each flower embodies a specific meaning, and Victoria uses this understanding to transform from a victim of trauma to a survivor, forging relationships with others along the way.

I came across this little gem at a garage sale. I am not a big reader of YA fiction, but the blurb on the back jacket spoke to me, so I bought it. I’m so glad I did!

This astoundingly beautifully written book chronicles the journey of twelve-year-old Grace in the aftermath of her mother’s death. A free but tormented spirit, Grace’s “Mama” could never seem to put down roots after leaving her small town behind as a teen. But Grace longs for a real home.

After her mother’s tragic death, she goes to live with the grandmother she never knew in a town she has never set foot in. All she knows is that her grandmother sent her Mama away when she was young and pregnant.

I love small-town stories and the town and its characters come alive in this book in the most loving of ways as Grace… show more.

This lovely story is one of loss, tragedy, hope, family, and new beginnings that come in the most unexpected ways.

Seventy-five-year-old Sarah has a good life. She’s been married to Charles, a man she adores, for fifty years. She assumes they will live out the rest of their lives together in the tranquil setting of their Vermont country home. But when Charles unexpectedly passes away, Sarah’s beautiful life is shattered.

With her children grown and raising families of their own, she finds herself alone in her big house, no one to nurture, no place to put her love. Until a collection of displaced characters begin to find shelter in her home. Working through her grief, Sarah discovers interests she never took the time to explore, and in pouring into others, soon finds her own cup overflowing. 

This story provides perspective on what things are important, and what are not. So… show more.

This book caught me completely by surprise. The narrative, following teenaged Alex, who is hauled from their bed one day and dragged on a seemingly random and endless road trip by their mother, Ma, is brim-full of vibrant, fascinating characters who you begin to realize all make significant elements of Ma’s history. The narrative is intricately woven in a way that seems effortless, and the characters lived on in my head for a long time after I’d turned the last page.

I particularly loved how Alex’s identity was handled, as it informs and enriches the narrative without being the central focus. This book deserves to be far more widely read!

What spoke to me the most was the concept of innate magical talent, and that power can be unlocked in an individual.

I liked how Bender’s constructed world made sense to me—a contemporary reality that could also contain the imaginative. Rose discovers her talent at an early age, tasting people’s emotions by their food; I loved the brilliance and simplicity of this idea. I also appreciated the layered story beyond the magic as I got to follow Rose’s emotional growth journey.   

This book is pure poetry to me. It follows the lives of three sisters on the precipice of adulthood during 1930s Greece.

I love that when it was published in the 1940s here in Greece, it was seen as a scandalous piece of literature. I can see why - Liberaki writes fervently and openly about the trials and tribulations of female teenhood, detailing gossip, romance, and even the loss of virginity with such poise and vim that it is still relevant and relatable to women today.

It was the kind of book that my own Greek Yiayia (grandmother) was absolutely not allowed to get her hands on. This book, for me, has it all. It’s bucolic, romantic, and oozes beautiful imagery of the hot, dry summers in Athens and the surrounding countryside. A perfect character study.

I picked out this book because I wanted to read more indie Canadiana YA, and OMG, am I ever glad that this was my first pick!

It had music and private school drama (not the club), it was fun, I was invested, and I was really sad when it ended because I wanted to know what happened next.

I also loved the epistolary format. It made it feel like they were being written to me. I borrowed this one from the library and then bought it because I loved it so much.

I’ve just reread the opening of Our Endless Numbered Days and whoosh – I’m back in the story, with so many questions, prime among them why the narrator’s father – the liar, the north London survivalist – is removed from all photographs but this last, hidden one that she cuts and conceals under her breast.

Fuller’s story is a page-turner in all the best ways, going back in time to follow nine-year-old Peggy and her father as they run from their family home to a remote cabin in a European forest and a life of barely surviving despite all his plans.

Why? Who is the strange man on the mountain? And how does she get back home? Maybe that isolated mountain hut wasn’t so idyllic after all?

I really don't know how Catriona Ward manages to balance the languid sadness and unrelenting tension so well.

Ward's profound empathy for every single character, no matter how flawed, is what twists your heart. At the same time, you feel as though you're on a roller coaster barreling at breakneck speed through pitch-black tunnels.

I wasn't always sure I understood what was going on from moment to moment, and that seems very much by design because, wow, what a twist! And the deeply felt depiction of the characters never made me feel like I was truly lost. I will indulge a great deal of mystery as long as it is presented by such a steady and skillful hand.