Books like The Root Cellar — picked by fans

I have recommended this book to so many people over the years! I loved the unique setting—deep beneath the sewers of New York City—and the way Gregor travels to this world—through a chute in his apartment’s laundromat. 

My ten-year-old son and I both read this one and loved all the talking creatures and subterranean adventure—giant anthropomorphic rats, cockroaches, and bats you can ride! All those creepy crawlies might sound a little icky to some, but I loved how inventive and unexpected it all was. One of my favorite characters is a smart-mouthed, grumpy warrior rat named Ripred, who, deep down, has a soft side (plus a powerful love for stinky food).  

This was a hard book to put down. Nearly every chapter ends with a high-stakes, dangerous development. I just had to keep turning the pages to find out what would happen next. 

As someone who loves books, a novel where the characters travel into classic stories was too enticing to resist. This is such a cozy read with plenty of steaming mugs of hot cocoa, glowing candles, sweet grandparents, and a black cat named Alice.

I’m a big fan of Anne of Green Gables and was delighted to meet a version of her in The Book Wanderers. Other famous literary characters also make fun cameos. Our heroine, Tilly, is an avid book lover who’s mostly content at her grandparents’ delightful bookshop in London except for some lingering questions about her missing mom.

The story pulled me right in with a looming family mystery and dangerous bookish folk on the prowl. All the answers lie within the pages of a book, of course! This is the kind of book I like to read on a rainy day with a cup of my… show more.

I love main characters who are a little bit quirky, awkward, or just plain misfits. Isabelle Bean is all of those things. For starters, Isabelle would rather dig through her neighbor’s junk piles than go shopping for new clothes with her mom. Her taste in fashion is zany at best—oversized, pointy-toed, red leather boots paired with baggy jeans and hoodie.

Plus, she’s the only one who can hear the weird buzzing sound coming from somewhere inside her middle school. Isabelle is quiet but odd, which tends to annoy her teachers. This lands her in the principal’s office, which, in a unique turn of events, ends up being the gateway to another world. 

From a dark and spooky forest to a witchy old woman who gathers herbs, Falling In feels like an old-time fairytale but with modern and hilarious sensibilities. I really enjoyed the themes of belonging and finding our place… show more.

This book charmed me from the very beginning. I loved all the enchanting characters that populate the story—a mysterious flying bird woman, an invisible tiger, a magical messenger parrot, and a powerful magician known as The Man Who Bends Light.

As the story opens, Micah needs a miracle—his grandfather is dying, and the only one who might be able to save him is a magician who owes the family a favor.

The Circus Mirandus is a wonderous, whimsical world of its own. This book made me want to find my own circus ticket, swing from a trapeze, and befriend a wise old elephant. I love stories that highlight the joys and complexities of family life, and this does just that. It’s also a tale filled with wonder, intrigue, and all the sparkle of a one-of-a-kind circus. 

James D. Houston is an underrated California novelist, and Continental Drift is his best book.

I love this story of a family trying to re-establish a life in a world haunted by the aftermath of the Vietnam War and threatened by a string of inexplicable murders.

Houston’s descriptions of the land rival Steinbeck’s, and he situates the family’s home on the legendary San Andreas Fault—symbolically invoking the potential for disaster that lurks beneath the fertile soil.   

I still remember reading this book, which takes place on a farm in Iowa. It was my first glimpse of the idea that something so epic could be set in a place that I thought of as so boring.

Smiley's retelling of King Lear is one for the ages and a good lesson that greatness is only limited by your imagination, not your geography.

John Steinbeck’s third novel (written in 1933) explores faith and belief with a heavy dose of mysticism, pagan rites, and fantasy. The story follows Joseph Wayne to California where he establishes a thriving ranch. With a fierce connection to the land, Joseph’s beliefs are at times a raw blend of biblical and pagan. After his father dies and a drought strikes the land, Joseph’s good fortune disappears and his faith is tested. Steinbeck was better known for East of Eden and Grapes of Wrath, but this book is my favorite. It feels at times gritty and uncomfortable, but it is also intensely authentic.

My only fiction pick, this classic novel set in Florida in the 1870s is about 12-year-old Jody Baxter and his friendship with a fawn. I became familiar with this coming-of-age tale in an unusual way. In seventh grade, I was on a school speech team, and one of the other kids competed in the storytelling competition using an excerpt from The Yearling. That excerpt included the moment when Jody’s father talks to him about becoming a man: “What’s he to do when he gits knocked down? Why, take it for his share and go on.” That phrase stuck with me, and was even more powerful years later when I read the novel in its entirety and learned all that Jody had gone through by the time he and his father reached that moment.

This touching tale, set on a farm, captures the timeless desire we all have to give the perfect gift to those we love. Rob learns the true meaning of love as he gives of himself, and finds a way to surprise his father. Buck has a beautiful way of showing rather than telling, and pulls us in with hope and vulnerability. A gift of love is the best gift of all, and Christmas is the perfect time to share this tender family story.

You’d have a hard time finding a funnier, more captivating first-person narrator than D.J. Swank. Growing up on her family’s farm, hoisting hay bales, and playing pick-up football with her brothers, it’s no wonder D.J. has the strength, ability, and desire to play on her high school’s football team. The two things I love most about this book are D.J.’s sheer joy in physical movement and Murdock’s depiction of how the hard work required to master sports skills can build self-confidence and a sense of achievement in young people. The characters are a bit older than those in most middle-grade books, but with nothing more controversial than the drinking of a beer, this is a book kids in the upper range of middle grade will love.