I’m a multi-award-winning author of speculative and contemporary fiction, who loves to translate the beauty and horror of the world into intoxicating stories for readers of any age – adults, young adults, and children. I believe that stories are our best invention. Through stories we can connect with each other across time and space, and we can better understand both the world around us and the world within. I loved reading every book on this list. Young adult protagonists are among the most courageous of heroes, SFF adventures are among the best stories of all time, and we’ve all thought that it’ll ‘be better when I get there’. Enjoy the list!
As a child, I loved reading and re-reading Dorothy’s imaginative adventures in Oz, not only for the captivating escape they gave me, but because Dorothy herself was so courageous and resilient, despite being vulnerable in such a strange land.
She was an idol guiding me in how to handle unfamiliar situations, as well as giving me hope that one day I’d find an idyllic place where everything would be easier.
I’d like to think I’ve reached that place now and, since Dorothy undoubtedly played a part in that, it’s important for me that the characters I write find guidance, hope, and courage through their own strength of belief, no matter how dangerous their trials in the unfamiliar worlds around them.
Robert Sabuda has created a resplendent pop-up version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the original publication. This glorious edition is told in a shorter version of L. Frank Baum's original text, with artwork in the style of W. W. Denslow. With sparkling touches of colored foil and Emerald City eyeglasses, this classic tale is certain to find an honored place on the family bookshelf.
A work of magical realism, Haroun and the Sea of Stories captured my imagination through Rushdie’s exquisite dreamlike storytelling, which begins in a city so sad and ruinous that it has forgotten its name.
I especially loved Haroun’s perilous journey through the Sea of Stories, all to restore balance to his world and save it from itself.
In my own SFF stories, I also love to intoxicate readers with adventurous worlds of lush imagination – filled perhaps with giant ants or enormous carnivorous trees – while also reflecting real-world problems, as Rushdie had done with Haroun.
A captivating fantasy novel for readers of all ages, by the author of Midnight's Children and The Satanic Verses
"This is, simply put, a book for anyone who loves a good story. It's also a work of literary genius." -Stephen King
Set in an exotic Eastern landscape peopled by magicians and fantastic talking animals, Haroun and the Sea of Stories inhabits the same imaginative space as The Lord of the Rings, The Alchemist, The Arabian Nights, and The Wizard of Oz. Twelve-year-old Haroun sets out on an adventure to restore his father's gift of storytelling by reviving the poisoned Sea…
Life choices are often based on the idea that everything will be better once we’re doing something or living somewhere new and unfamiliar.
The reality is usually more complex of course, and Divergent brings this into sharp focus. I thoroughly enjoyed accompanying Tris as she discovers this complexity for herself, as well as how she learns who to trust. It continually inspires me to write stories with characters who must also navigate the consequences of their life choices, all while discovering the complexities of an unfamiliar life and realising that trust is a risk.
Ultimately, all we can do is trust in ourselves, and hope that is enough.
The explosive debut by No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth.
DIVERGENT - a major motion picture series.
For sixteen-year-old Tris, the world changes in a heartbeat when she is forced to make a terrible choice. Turning her back on her family, Tris ventures out, alone, determined to find out where she truly belongs.
Shocked by the brutality of her new life, Tris can trust no one. And yet she is drawn to a boy who seems to both threaten and protect her. The hardest choices may yet lie ahead....
What’s not to love about The Hobbit, a classic quest that demands more from its hero than they think they can undertake?
But perhaps what I love most about Bilbo Baggins is his consistent desire to be done with danger, yet his courage to face it anyway. In doing so, he discovers his true strength and displays an admirable and inspiring humility. The world doesn’t need to know every sacrifice you make for others, it’s enough that you’re making a difference.
The main characters I write often share many of Bilbo’s values and traits, being the hero that their worlds need, while staying humble and yearning for somewhere safe.
Special collector's film tie-in hardback of the best-selling classic, featuring the complete story with a sumptuous cover design inspired by THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY and brand new reproductions of all the drawings and maps by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely travelling further than the pantry of his hobbit-hole in Bag End.
But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard, Gandalf, and a company of thirteen dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an unexpected journey 'there and back again'. They have a plot to raid…
It’s horrifying to think you might risk everything you have for freedom, only to discover it isn’t what you thought.
I appreciate the depth of disillusionment at the heart of The Maze Runner, and how its characters persist despite it, because the alternative is to simply give up, and that’s not who they are. I’m always inspired by stories of perseverance, which is why the dedication of one of my books reads: “Because trying is all anyone can do”.
My main characters often have to sacrifice everything they have for the better life they believe exists; but in the end they’re not drive by the hope of any gain, or the pain of any loss, but by the simple fact that they can’t give up – because trying is all any one of us can do.
The first book in the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series - now a series of major movies starring Dylan O'Brien!
SEE THE FILMS. READ THE BOOKS. ENTER THE MAZE ...
When the doors of the lift crank open, the only thing Thomas remembers is his first name. But he's not alone.
He's surrounded by boys who welcome him to the Glade - a walled encampment at the centre of a bizarre and terrible stone maze. Like Thomas, the Gladers don't know why or how they came to be there - or what's happened to the world outside.
Don’t go out onto the lake. Wyann trees search the shallows to spear passing prey with their roots. Giant water-ants hunt anything that moves on the water-skin. Sala’s village survives hidden behind a wall of poisonous ivy, because everyone agrees: don’t go out onto the lake. But then a strange comet crosses the night sky, throwing Sala and her pet pointer into a race through wyann-infested swampland that has her risking it all, unearthing long-hidden truths and stirring rivalries into a terrifying conflict set to change the world of Palude forever. Sala must do whatever it takes to face the truth of who she is: to save her village, to save her family, to save herself.
I’m an OB/GYN, passionate about adventuring beyond what’s expected. This has led me to pivot multiple times in my career, now focusing on writing. I’ve written a play, The Post-Roe Monologues, to elevate women’s stories. I cherish the curiosity that drives outer and inner exploration, and I love memoirs that skillfully weave the two. The books on this list feature extraordinary women who took risks, left comfort and safety, and battled vulnerability to step into the unknown. These authors moved beyond the stories they’d believed about themselves–or that others told about them. They invite you to think about living fuller and bigger lives.
Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctor—and only woman—on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.
The team attempts a new route up the East Face without the use of supplemental oxygen, Sherpa support, or chance for rescue. When three climbers disappear during their summit attempt, Zieman reaches the knife edge of her limits and digs deeply to fight for the climbers’ lives and to find her voice.
The plan was outrageous: A small team of four climbers would attempt a new route on the East Face of Mt. Everest, considered the most remote and dangerous side of the mountain, which had only been successfully climbed once before. Unlike the first large team, Mimi Zieman and her team would climb without using supplemental oxygen or porter support. While the unpredictable weather and high altitude of 29,035 feet make climbing Everest perilous in any condition, attempting a new route, with no idea of what obstacles lay ahead, was especially audacious. Team members were expected to push themselves to their…
