Here are 100 books that The Year We Fell from Space fans have personally recommended if you like
The Year We Fell from Space.
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I think any kid wishes they could save their parent, or a loved one, from suffering. I know I did. When I was a pre-teen, my mom began to withdraw from friendships, church, and community, and she took me and my siblings with her. Her moods were unstable, and sometimes I blamed myself, and other times I just tried to keep her happy. I grew up inside her fairytale, until as an adult, I could recognize the signs of mental illness. I found myself wishing there was a magical reason she was the way she was. All the books on this list are linked by the fantastical way they explore family grief, isolation, and hope.
This middle-grade horror novel follows Corinne, a courageous girl who isn’t afraid to go into the forest she’s been warned about, but when she does, something evil follows her back out.
The jumbies of Caribbean folklore are malevolent tricksters, and there is one image from this book that I will never, ever get out of my head. I’m not going to tell you what it is! But it’s toward the end and has to do with the douens and backward feet. It’s a great spooky read, but I really love how the heart of the story is rooted in loss, memory, and trying to save a parent. And not for nothing, it’ll make you crave oranges!
Corinne La Mer isn't afraid of anything. Not scorpions, not the boys who tease her, and certainly not jumbies. They're just tricksters parents make up to frighten their children. Then one night Corinne chases an agouti all the way into the forbidden forest. Those shining yellow eyes that followed her to the edge of the trees, they couldn't belong to a jumbie. Or could they? When Corinne spots a beautiful stranger speaking to the town witch at the market the next day, she knows something unexpected is about to happen. And when this same beauty, called Severine, turns up at…
This biography for middle-grade readers and up explains who Jane Addams was and why she caused such a stir worldwide. The story follows Addams' first childhood realization of how poverty limits lives, livelihoods, and health to her becoming one of the most beloved―and disliked―women of her day. She worked to…
I think any kid wishes they could save their parent, or a loved one, from suffering. I know I did. When I was a pre-teen, my mom began to withdraw from friendships, church, and community, and she took me and my siblings with her. Her moods were unstable, and sometimes I blamed myself, and other times I just tried to keep her happy. I grew up inside her fairytale, until as an adult, I could recognize the signs of mental illness. I found myself wishing there was a magical reason she was the way she was. All the books on this list are linked by the fantastical way they explore family grief, isolation, and hope.
When I think about magical books that talk about real-world stuff, my first thought is this incredible retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses that examines (through a magical lens) the toll of parental alcoholism.
Four sisters all have different ways of coping with the dysfunction caused by their mother’s alcoholism, but together they escape into magical worlds through their house’s closets. The youngest sister, Silly, has been left out for a long time, but she makes their magic stronger once her sisters finally let her join them.
The metaphors are so rich here—the escapism, the secrets and shadows hidden in family closets, and the seemingly perfect but oblivious dad—that this story goes beyond fairytale and becomes personal myth. I love it so much. It’s gorgeous.
In the tradition of Sharon Creech and Wendy Mass, Corey Ann Haydu's sparkling middle grade debut is a sister story with a twist of magic, a swirl of darkness, and a whole lot of hope. Silly is used to feeling left out. Her three older sisters think she's too little for most things-especially when it comes to dealing with their mother's unpredictable moods and outbursts. This summer, Silly feels more alone than ever when her sisters keep whispering and sneaking away to their rooms together, returning with signs that something mysterious is afoot: sporting sunburned cheeks smudged with glitter and…
I think any kid wishes they could save their parent, or a loved one, from suffering. I know I did. When I was a pre-teen, my mom began to withdraw from friendships, church, and community, and she took me and my siblings with her. Her moods were unstable, and sometimes I blamed myself, and other times I just tried to keep her happy. I grew up inside her fairytale, until as an adult, I could recognize the signs of mental illness. I found myself wishing there was a magical reason she was the way she was. All the books on this list are linked by the fantastical way they explore family grief, isolation, and hope.
The first half of the book takes place in Minnesota, and the second half is in a fairy tale world peopled by Hans Christian Anderson characters.
It’s a jarring reading experience, probably similar to how Hazel (our main character) feels when her best friend Jack seemingly doesn’t want to be friends with her anymore. When Jack follows a strange ice woman into the forest and disappears, Hazel goes after him to bring him back.
As magical as this book is, Jack’s disappearance and Hazel’s pursuit have real-world consequences, and this blurring of fairy tale and friendship is one of the best I’ve ever read. It touches on divorce, parents with mental illness, and how friendships evolve as we grow up. It’s so good.
The winner of numerous awards and recipient of four starred reviews, Anne Ursu's Breadcrumbs is a stunning and heartbreaking story of growing up, wrapped in a modern-day fairy tale.
Once upon a time, Hazel and Jack were best friends. But that was before he stopped talking to her and disappeared into a forest with a mysterious woman made of ice. Now it's up to Hazel to go in after him. Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen," Breadcrumbs is a stunningly original fairy tale of modern-day America, a dazzling ode to the power of fantasy, and a heartbreaking meditation…
Reeni is wild about birds so naturally, when she and her friend Yasmin have to pick a topic for a school assignment, birds in the city are an obvious choice. But when the upcoming bird count is threatened, Reeni has to detour from birding to activism. This is a global…
I think any kid wishes they could save their parent, or a loved one, from suffering. I know I did. When I was a pre-teen, my mom began to withdraw from friendships, church, and community, and she took me and my siblings with her. Her moods were unstable, and sometimes I blamed myself, and other times I just tried to keep her happy. I grew up inside her fairytale, until as an adult, I could recognize the signs of mental illness. I found myself wishing there was a magical reason she was the way she was. All the books on this list are linked by the fantastical way they explore family grief, isolation, and hope.
As a big fan of cryptids like Nessie, mermaids, and catamounts, I was all in when I saw there was a book about Mothman.
This novel-in-verse is about grief, growing into who you truly are, being confused by friendship and crushes, and of course, Mothman! Noah is a trans boy whose best friend Lewis died in a car crash, and since his passing, Noah’s begun writing letters to Mothman, a cryptid that looks like a big moth with big red glowing eyes. And maybe Mothman is answering?
I was crossing my fingers with every page and hoping with Noah that Mothman was real. This is a wonderfully warm book about queerness, feeling monstrous and misunderstood, and how beautiful we all are in our weirdness.
A moving middle-grade novel in verse, about a young trans boy dealing with the loss of his friend by writing to his favorite cryptid, MothmanHalfway through sixth grade, Noah's best friend and the only other trans boy in his school, Lewis, passed away in a car accident. Lewis was adventurous and curious, always bringing a new paranormal story to share with Noah. Together they daydreamed about cryptids and shared discovering their genders and names. After his death, lonely and yearning for someone who could understand him like Lewis once did, Noah starts writing letters to Mothman, wondering if he would…
When I began compiling stories for my collection, I noted the theme of disappearance throughout. I’m not sure why that’s the case. Perhaps because I’ve dealt with disappearance on a personal level. Perhaps almost all stories deal with the theme. I have also always been fascinated by people who disappear (such as Agatha Christie), especially into the wild. As a former book editor, my reading standards are very high. The books I’ve recommended are superb and still resonate with me years after I’ve read them. I hope you explore this list and that the characters in these unique and well-crafted stories linger on, even after you’ve finished the last page.
Daisy Johnson is a force of her own. I’ve read all three of her books and was the most taken with her more recent novel, Sisters. This has a moody, gothic feel to it. Very well narrated by one of the two sisters, and is the ultimate story about disappearance, and the traumatic effect it can have on a loved one. Brutal, surreal, and with a setting as real as its characters: a crumbling moldy cottage, near the shore, that lives and breathes with the characters. And includes a twist you won’t see coming.
The electrifying novel from the Booker shortlisted author of Everything Under.
'A short sharp explosion of a gothic thriller' Observer
Something unspeakable has happened to sisters July and September.
Desperate for a fresh start, they move across the country to an old family house that has a troubled life of its own. Noises come from behind the walls. Lights flicker of their own accord. Sleep feels impossible, dreams are endless.
In their new, unsettling surroundings, July finds that the fierce bond she's always had with September - forged with a blood promise when they were children - is beginning to…
I fell in love with fantasy and science fiction when I was a boy and began reading Greek and Roman mythology, DC Comics, and Tom Swift kids' books. The interest never waned. Of course, I made my way through Asimov, Tolkien, Herbert, Clarke, Heinlein, and LeGuin when I was older, and that hooked me to be a forever science fiction/fantasy reader. So when I began my own writing career, I had ample role models to fall back on in my chosen genre. It helped that I obtained a Master's degree in English. Now I have written seven books in the Patch Man series, with five already published, and a fantasy entitled Gray Riders.
Did I mention that I love academies? Yes, this series is immersed in fantasy academics with twists I enjoyed throughout the books. And, of course, what novels about schools wouldn’t be complete without different houses for students with special powers. Throw in two heroines from the everyday world I know today, and the conflicts blossom.
Be forewarned, this, too, is a fantasy romance, so I kept my focus on the rivalries between the houses and enjoyed the fast-paced action.
The Amazon.com and Wall Street Journal #1 bestselling dark fantasy romance series from authors Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti
I’m a Gemini. Impulsive. Curious. Headstrong. A twin. Heir to a throne I know nothing about. And it turns out, I’m Fae.
But of course there’s a catch - all I have to do to claim my birth right is prove that I’m the most powerful supernatural in the whole of Solaria. And sure, technically that’s true as I’m the daughter of the Savage King. But the bit they didn’t put in the brochure was that every single Fae in this…
A gay retelling of the classic fairy tale--a scrumptious love story featuring ungrateful stepsiblings, a bake-off, and a fairy godfather.
Cinderelliot is stuck at home taking care of his ungrateful stepsister and stepbrother. When Prince Samuel announces a kingdom-wide competition to join the royal staff as his baker, the stepsiblings…
Don’t Mess with Coleman Stoops is a semi-autobiographical account of my own experiences in middle school. As an adult, I am still dealing with the echoes of trauma I felt when I was eleven and twelve years old. Now that I’m also a father, I believe that it is up to the adults in a child’s life to contradict much of the “kids can be so cruel” aspects of growing up in America. Coleman isn’t just me; he is every kid at one time or another. Even the bullies of the world get bullied themselves. Kindness and compassion are two lessons that never cease to be important.
Judy Blume books are classics! One of the aspects I love most about this one is that the main character is neither the victim nor the bully. She’s a classmate stuck in the middle. Jill is, depending on the chapter, either a bully or a victim—but her role is to witness the bullying events in her class and report them back to the reader.
The reader judges for himself how Jilly fits into the bigger picture of bullying. It’s very easy for younger readers to relate to Jill because chances are they have been in both roles at different times. Jill learns the hard way throughout the story that it isn’t fun to be the bully because sooner or later, even bullies end up being bullied.
Bullying sucks, but true friendship is worth fighting for. From the author of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, Judy Blume's Blubber is a sensitive exploration of bullying and self-esteem.
Blubber is a thick layer of fat that lies under the skin and over the muscles of whales . . .
When Linda innocently reads out her class project, everyone finds it funny. Linda can't help it if she's fat, but what starts as a joke leads to a sustained and cruel ritual of humiliation. Jill knows she should defend Linda, but at first she's too scared. When she…
I am the author of Cracked, Empty, and Ultimatum, three contemporary Young Adult novels that each focus on the hideous effects of bullying. I’ve presented to thousands of students, adults, teachers, and librarians from the elementary through university level on the topic of “The Power of Human Kindness”. I spent twelve years as a public-school teacher (ten of them in middle school), where I developed highly successful ways to stop bullying, resulting in me presenting to my entire faculty, school board, and eventually, my district. I was also the director/owner of Camp Kindness, a summer day camp, and have contributed to numerous news articles on bullying.
If you’ve never read an A.S. King book, well, all I can say is: fix that immediately. King’s brilliance shines through her witty dialogue and her ability to peel back the layers on the uncomfortable parts of life all while managing to use magical realism perfectly. Her books are that good. I’m not kidding. This book focuses on 15-year-old Lucky Linderman, who is the target of Nader McMillan’s relentless bullying. You’ll fall in love with Lucky. You’ll fall in love with this book.
Lucky Linderman didn't ask for his life. He didn't ask his grandfather not to come home from the Vietnam War. He didn't ask for a father who never got over it. He didn't ask for a mother who keeps pretending their family is fine. And he certainly didn't ask to be the recipient of Nader McMillan's relentless bullying, which has finally gone too far.
Lucky has a secret--one that helps him wade through the daily dysfunction of his life. Grandad Harry, trapped in the jungles of Laos, has been visiting Lucky in his dreams--and the dreams just might be real:…
For the last 14 years, I've written books that aim to tackle the most pressing worries for parents and educators – and to understand and connect with kids better. It’s a sad fact that research continues to show that our kids are not as happy as they might be, often due to feeling overwhelmed by academic pressures at school, and growing up in a more ‘stressed’ society. So, as a parent and a parenting journalist, I believe it’s never been more important to understand how the world looks to them – and give both parents and kids evidence-based tools to help them navigate this. I aim to make my books enlightening, readable, and practical.
This book was another eye-opener. Educator Rachel Simmons lifted the lid on how not all meanness and bullying among children is overt, obvious, or easily spotted. She decodes relational aggression between young people - a kind of stealth attack, using words and exclusion, and techniques like seat-saving, gossip, and silent treatment. This kind of behaviour can be particularly painful for young people to understand or process because it is so hard to name. But in this book, Simmons put her finger on it, so it can be understood and recognized. It means that when young people experience it, they will not feel so hurt and singled out by it.
Rooted in the extensive expertise she has developed since "Odd Girl Out" was first published as well as up-to-date research, Simmons offers a new chapter on technology, including a focus on cyber bullying and what parents and teachers can do to deal with the problem, as well as advice to girls on how to avoid drama online. Working directly from her experiences with schools and families over the past decade, she also brings us new classroom initiatives and step-by-step suggestions for parents. With illuminating, timely additions, this definitive resource is now even more relevant, still shining a powerful spotlight on…
Lois Lowry looks back at history through a personal lens as she draws from her own memories as a child in Hawaii and Japan, as well as from historical research, in this stunning work in verse for young readers.
On the Horizon tells the story of people whose lives were…
I always used food to cope with painful feelings, and I developed Binge Eating Disorder as a child. As an adult, I was in therapy to deal with traumatic stuff, and I lost 100 pounds. I finished therapy with a whole new set of tools with which to navigate the world, but I still regained the weight and started hating myself again. I said, “Whoa. Time-out. I am worthy of love. That has not changed, so why do I hate myself again?” That is what I explore in Big Fat Disaster: what is our worth, and why should that worth depend on what we look like?
Jennifer Mathieu writes fearlessly; in this book, she exposes the real nature of slut-shaming and bullying, but more importantly, she reveals what it is to see a person as “other”; to reduce them to nothing more than words on a bathroom wall. I desire to build empathy for others through my writing, and The Truth about Alice holds up a mirror to those who denigrate others, in this case, Alice, for personal fulfillment.
From the author of Moxie, soon to be a major Netflix production
Fans of THIRTEEN REASONS WHY will love this powerful book about stereotypes, secrets and standing up for gender equality, from the author of Zoella Book Club book MOXIE.
There are all sorts of rumours about Alice Franklin. And after star quarterback Brandon Fitzsimmons dies in a car accident, the rumours start to spiral out of control blaming Alice for Brandon's death.
In this remarkable novel, four Healy High students - the party girl, the car accident survivor, the ex best friend and the boy next door - tell…
