This is one of those novels that confounds me in the best way: The story is so propulsive, I wanted to race through to learn what happens in the end. But the writing is so lyrically delicious, I often needed to stop and absorb the sentence I’d just read.
One of the most fascinating aspects of this gem is that you’re kept wondering until the very end whether something supernatural is happening – it’s definitely not your parents’ coming-of-age story. Crucially, the characters are richly drawn in all of their glimmering strengths and very human flaws. In short, the novel is un-put-down-able.
A sumptuous, gothic story about an obsessive female friendship cursed to end in tragedy, a marriage unraveled by dark secrets, and the danger of believing in fairy tales - the breathtaking adult debut from New York Times bestselling author Roshani Chokshi.
Once upon a time, a man who believed in fairy tales married a beautiful, mysterious woman named Indigo Maxwell-Castenada. He was a scholar of myths. She was heiress to a fortune. They exchanged gifts and stories and believed…
This young adult novel nails the complex challenge of making the Holocaust – and antisemitism in general – relevant to contemporary teens.
Based on true events, the book chronicles the fallout after a favorite teacher instructs students to argue in favor of the Nazis’ Final Solution against the Jews. This story is close to my heart for many reasons, not the least of which is that I’ve personally witnessed a sixth-grade teacher assigning the class to argue in defense of the blood libel, the accusation that Jewish people murder Christian children to use their blood in religious rituals.
Inspired by a real-life incident, this riveting novel explores the dangerous impact discrimination and antisemitism have on one community when a school assignment goes terribly wrong.
Would you defend the indefensible?
That's what seniors Logan March and Cade Crawford are asked to do when a favorite teacher instructs a group of students to argue for the Final Solution--the Nazi plan for the genocide of the Jewish people.
Logan and Cade decide they must take a stand, and soon their actions draw the attention of the student body, the administration, and the community at large. But not everyone feels as Logan…
This classic appears regularly on my read-this-year list – I can’t get enough of it.
Vonnegut describes the horror and absurdity of war through a unique speculative fiction lens that punches me in the gut every time. Based on the WWII firebombing of Dresden, which Vonnegut personally experienced, the story makes its case in crisp, rye prose without ever preaching.
Billy Pilgrim, the main character, is one of my all-time favorite fictional characters; I just wish I knew whether he actually traveled through space and time to Tralfamadore, or if his PTSD-riddled mind was playing tricks on him.
A special fiftieth anniversary edition of Kurt Vonnegut’s masterpiece, “a desperate, painfully honest attempt to confront the monstrous crimes of the twentieth century” (Time), featuring a new introduction by Kevin Powers, author of the National Book Award finalist The Yellow Birds
Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of all time
Slaughterhouse-Five, an American classic, is one of the world’s great antiwar books. Centering on the infamous World War II firebombing of Dresden, the novel is the result of what Kurt Vonnegut described as a twenty-three-year struggle to write a book about what he had…
MG/YA fiction: Nellie and Tamiko live on opposite sides of the world, on opposite sides of WWII. What could they possibly have in common?
In rural Oregon, Nellie waits for her father to come home from the army, filling her days with salvage drives, a secret crush, rationing, and annoying twin brothers. In southern Japan, Tamiko finds a secret way to support her country’s war effort while her brother goes off to fight the Americans. Nellie’s and Tamiko’s spheres couldn’t be more different … until their worlds collide in shocking, life-changing ways. Based on true events, The Sky We Shared weaves real history with unforgettable characters who must deal with war and hatred right alongside friendship, first love, and family.
