100 books like Living with Viola

By Rosena Fung,

Here are 100 books that Living with Viola fans have personally recommended if you like Living with Viola. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Sunny Side Up

Sylvie Kantorovitz Author Of Sylvie

From my list on kids you’d want to be friends with.

Why am I passionate about this?

My family was from Morocco and settled in France when I was five. Moreover, we were Jewish in a very Catholic world. Even with my friends, I often felt like I didn’t fit in. I now live in the US and still feel very drawn to stories of people who have felt at odds with their surroundings, who have had a difficult upbringing, who tried so hard to fit in. I find comfort in the book-company of others who also have struggled and yet found their own ways to deal with their difficulties. I have chosen books where the characters felt like friends to me.

Sylvie's book list on kids you’d want to be friends with

Sylvie Kantorovitz Why did Sylvie love this book?

Sunny is spending the summer with her grandfather in his retirement community after the family’s plan of a beach vacation is cancelled. I loved the connection between Sunny and her grandfather. Neither one was counting on this long visit and they both make the best of it. At first, it seems there is nothing much for Sunny to do. Luckily she meets the only other kid in the community and they become good friends, bonding over his beloved comics collection. 

But there are things Sunny sees and doesn’t tell, secrets that weigh on her, troubling memories of home. From funny moments to poignant ones, I couldn’t put this book down. 

By Jennifer L. Holm, Matthew Holm (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Sunny Side Up as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

Sunny Lewin has been packed off to Florida to live with her grandfather
for the summer. At first she thought Florida might be fun
-- it is the home of Disney World, after all. But the place where
Gramps lives is no amusement park. It's full of . . . old people.
Really old people.
Luckily, Sunny isn't the only kid around. She meets Buzz, a boy who
is completely obsessed with comic books, and soon they're having
adventures of their own: facing off against golfball-eating alligators,
runaway cats, and mysteriously disappearing neighbors.
But the question remains -- why is…


Book cover of Pilu of the Woods

Marla Lesage Author Of AWOL

From my list on graphic novels that tackle tough topics.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always enjoyed reading true stories and stories that feel like they could be true. I enjoy learning about other people’s lives and experiences. If a character’s life experiences have been very different than my own, it is eye-opening and informative. If we’ve had similar experiences it helps me feel less alone. When writing, I usually draw inspiration from my own life experiences. With AWOL, I wanted to share military family culture and help readers affected by PTSD feel less alone. 

Marla's book list on graphic novels that tackle tough topics

Marla Lesage Why did Marla love this book?

Mai K. Nguyen pairs really tough topics: grief, loss, and overwhelming emotions with beautiful and soothing artwork and a little bit of magic. When Willow gets upset and runs off into the woods she meets Pilu, a lost wood sprite. Together, Willow and Pilu help each other learn to deal with their emotions and find their way home. I love that the reader can learn alongside the characters without feeling like they are being taught a lesson.

By Mai K. Nguyen,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Pilu of the Woods as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 9, 10, 11, and 12.

What is this book about?

A heartwarming story of friendship, loss, and finding your way home from debut author/illustrator Mai K. Nguyen!

Willow loves the woods near her house. TheyaEURO (TM)re calm and quiet, so different from her own turbulent emotions, which she keeps locked away. When her emotions get the better of her one day, she decides to run away into the woods.

There, she meets Pilu, a lost tree spirit who canaEURO (TM)t find her way back homeaEURO"which turns out to be the magnolia grove WillowaEURO (TM)s mom used to take her to. Willow offers to help Pilu, and the two quickly become…


Book cover of Stargazing

Marla Lesage Author Of AWOL

From my list on graphic novels that tackle tough topics.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always enjoyed reading true stories and stories that feel like they could be true. I enjoy learning about other people’s lives and experiences. If a character’s life experiences have been very different than my own, it is eye-opening and informative. If we’ve had similar experiences it helps me feel less alone. When writing, I usually draw inspiration from my own life experiences. With AWOL, I wanted to share military family culture and help readers affected by PTSD feel less alone. 

Marla's book list on graphic novels that tackle tough topics

Marla Lesage Why did Marla love this book?

I love Stargazing! On its surface, Stargazing is about friendship and family but it has many layers, making it the perfect book to read again and again. The story of Christine and Moon touches on the diverse experiences of growing up Asian in America, jealousy & conflict, social expectations & feeling comfortable in your own skin, and a little bit of magic. Except the magic turns out to be symptoms of a serious medical condition. With writing as beautiful as the art, this is a story not to be missed! 

By Jen Wang,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Stargazing as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

Moon is everything Christine isn't. She's confident, impulsive, artistic . . . and though they both grew up in the same Chinese-American suburb, Moon is somehow unlike anyone Christine has ever known.

But after Moon moves in next door, these unlikely friends are soon best friends, sharing their favorite music videos and painting their toenails when Christine's strict parents aren't around. Moon even tells Christine her deepest secret: that she has visions, sometimes, of celestial beings who speak to her from the stars. Who reassure her that earth isn't where she really belongs.

Moon's visions have an all-too-earthly root, however,…


Book cover of Snapdragon

Kelly Fernández Author Of Manu

From my list on middle grade magic and the supernatural.

Why am I passionate about this?

My name is Kelly Fernández (she/her) and I’ve been making comics since 2014. I’ve always been fascinated by stories about ghosts, monsters, and witches because I grew up in a family that believes in them. While writing my graphic novel Manu, I researched and spoke to Latinx friends and colleagues about their personal experiences with brujería (the Spanish word for witchcraft) to try and learn more about it across different cultures. I love comics because, like oral storytelling, it’s just another way for people to share their stories with each other!

Kelly's book list on middle grade magic and the supernatural

Kelly Fernández Why did Kelly love this book?

The setting, characters, and lore in Snapdragon are so refreshing, that I consider this a must-read for fantasy fans. It’s about a middle-school outcast named Snapdragon (or just “Snap”) who befriends the local witch, Jacks. Leyh’s story seamlessly bounces back between the present, the past, and Snap’s creepy stories about the ghost who haunts her family: One-Eyed Tom. This is a fun book with a lot to chew on! 

By Kat Leyh,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Snapdragon as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 10, 11, 12, and 13.

What is this book about?

Snap's town has a witch.

And when Snap's dog goes missing, the first place she looks is the witch's house. She finds her dog there, recovering from being hit by a car, in the care of a woman named Jacks. She is a crocks-wearing, internet-savvy older woman who's collects roadkill, put their spirits to rest, and cleans and sells their articulated skeletons online.

They make a deal: If Jacks teaches Snap how to take care of a crate of orphaned baby opossums that Snap rescued, Snap will assist Jacks with her work. But as Snap starts to gain an appreciation…


Book cover of Streets of Gold: America's Untold Story of Immigrant Success

Kimberly Clausing Author Of Open: The Progressive Case for Free Trade, Immigration, and Global Capital

From my list on big economic policy debates.

Why am I passionate about this?

I became an economist because I realized that economics was a powerful tool that would help society solve vexing problems. While economics has limits, it has so much to offer in terms of better policy design for tackling everything from climate change to economic inequality. My life’s work has been devoted to both economic research and helping others understand the insights of economics. I spent many years in academia teaching economics and writing papers, and I authored Open in an attempt to make the complexities of international economics more transparent. I’ve also had the chance to work firsthand on some of these issues in the early part of the Biden Administration at the US Treasury.

Kimberly's book list on big economic policy debates

Kimberly Clausing Why did Kimberly love this book?

When I began researching the economics of immigration, I expected to find that my prejudice in favor of immigrants needed more nuance. However, even more than I suspected, the economic literature is resounding in describing the many large economic benefits of immigration. Streets of Gold describes how essential immigration has been to American economic success, and it provides a strong argument for a more open immigration policy. 

By Ran Abramitzky, Leah Boustan,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Streets of Gold as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Immigration is one of the most fraught, and possibly most misunderstood, topics in American social discourse-yet, in most cases, the things we believe about immigration are based largely on myth, not facts. Using the tools of modern data analysis and ten years of pioneering research, new evidence is provided about the past and present of the American Dream, debunking myths fostered by political opportunism and sentimentalized in family histories, and draw counterintuitive conclusions, including:

* Upward Mobility: Children of immigrants from nearly every country, especially those of poor immigrants, do better economically than children of U.S.-born residents - a pattern…


Book cover of Comrades and Chicken Ranchers

Stuart Rojstaczer Author Of The Mathematician's Shiva

From my list on the immigrant experience.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m the child of immigrants and my role in the family was to be my parents’ American expert and translator. I learned my expertise by living, of course, but my understanding of the interior life and thoughts of Americans often came from reading American novels. Immigration-themed novels are catnip to me because they remind me, often with warmth, of my own childhood and parents. 

Stuart's book list on the immigrant experience

Stuart Rojstaczer Why did Stuart love this book?

This book is a true labor of love, an oral history about a community of Eastern European Jewish chicken ranchers that lived in Petaluma, California for decades. The voices ring with the cadence and language of my own childhood although the era is older and the political leanings of those interviewed are different than those in my own neighborhood. What distinguishes this book from many is that the community has no wish to assimilate.

By Kenneth L. Kann,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Comrades and Chicken Ranchers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Given its tumultuous history, one would hardly have expected Petaluma, California, to become transformed into the San Francisco bedroom suburb that it is today. It had been a small-town agricultural community, where Jewish chicken ranchers and radicals enjoyed a vigorous Yiddish cultural life, maintained intense political commitments, and took part in sharp conflicts among themselves and with the society beyond.

In this unique work of oral history, Kenneth Kann has ingeniously arranged and edited interviews with more than two hundred people, some of them telling their life stories in their own Yiddishized English. We meet an array of striking characters…


Book cover of Becoming Americans: Four Centuries of Immigrant Writing

Seth Mallios Author Of The Deadly Politics of Giving: Exchange and Violence at Ajacan, Roanoke, and Jamestown

From my list on alternate perspectives on Jamestown.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was Site Supervisor at the Jamestown Rediscovery Project in the late 1990s and early 2000s. My fondness for the people involved with the archaeological excavations is only rivaled by my love for the subject matter that involves the collision of cultures as Chesapeake Algonquians, Spanish Jesuits, and English colonists first encountered one another during the 16th and 17th centuries. Though I have been fortunate to write many books, my first book was on Jamestown, and this topic will always hold a special place in my scholarly heart (there is such a thing, I swear!).

Seth's book list on alternate perspectives on Jamestown

Seth Mallios Why did Seth love this book?

Ilan Stavans’s edited volume, Becoming Americans: Four Centuries of Immigrant Writing demonstrates how immigration is central to the origin story of the United States. In compiling selections from over 400 years of first-generation immigrant accounts, Stavans is able to shed light on the immigration experience—starting at Jamestown—from the perspective of the immigrant, as opposed to those already living in the destination country.

By Ilan Stavans (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Becoming Americans as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Immigration is the essential American story. From London or Lvov, Bombay or Beijing, Dublin or Dusseldorf, people have come to America to remake themselves, their lives, and their identities. Despite political obstacles, popular indifference, or hostility, they put down roots here, and their social, cultural, and entrepreneurial energies helped forge the open and diverse society we live in. The history of American immigration has often been told by those already here. Becoming Americans tells this epic story from the inside, gathering for the first time over 400 years of writing—from seventeenth-century Jamestown to contemporary Brooklyn and Los Angeles—by first-generation immigrants…


Book cover of The House of Broken Angels

Connie Kronlokken Author Of So Are You to My Thoughts

From my list on deepening your understanding of California history.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a transplant to California, albeit more than 50 years ago, I am still fascinated by what makes this place at the edge of the Pacific so unique. It has accepted so many people, from so many places over a fairly recent period. I always feel I can deduce more history from well rendered characters set in specific times and places. Their wholeness and their meaning, as well as that of their culture, are to be found in literature.

Connie's book list on deepening your understanding of California history

Connie Kronlokken Why did Connie love this book?

In San Diego, “Little Angel” visits his half-brother, the patriarch of a large Hispanic clan at what they both suspect will be his last birthday party. “Big Angel,” grew up in Mexico and Urrea treats us to the story of his life, how he won his wife, how he ended up in San Diego. “Little Angel,” the author, tries to locate himself in this family, though he is half Gringo.

I loved the deep honesty that goes on in this family gathering, the fun and the sorrow. And it certainly locates the reader in place, in time, and in a culture. All of Urrea’s books are amazing.

By Luis Alberto Urrea,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The House of Broken Angels as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"All we do, mija, is love. Love is the answer. Nothing stops it. Not borders. Not death."

In his final days, beloved and ailing patriarch Miguel Angel de La Cruz, affectionately called Big Angel, has summoned his entire clan for one last legendary birthday party. But as the party approaches, his mother, nearly one hundred, dies herself, leading to a farewell doubleheader in a single weekend. Among the guests is Big Angel's half brother, known as Little Angel, who must reckon with the truth that although he shares a father with his siblings, he has not, as a half gringo,…


Book cover of The One-In-A-Million Boy

Roisin Meaney Author Of Life Before Us

From my list on the messiness of life and love.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m Irish, writing since 2001. I’m fascinated by the impulses that propel us towards or away from another person, the ways we are hurt or charmed or offended or beguiled by another, and how we react to all of the above. I’m not married or in a relationship myself; somewhere along the way I realised that I’m happier alone, and I think it puts me in a good position to observe the behaviours of friends and family, and sometimes strangers (yes, I’m that person sitting nearby on the train or at the airport or in the cafe, tapping furiously into her laptop as you converse with your partner).

Roisin's book list on the messiness of life and love

Roisin Meaney Why did Roisin love this book?

I’m recommending this because it will break your heart, and everyone needs that experience now and again with a book. It tells the story of a unique and unlikely love that blossoms slowly between a 104-year-old woman (whom you will learn to adore) and a young boy scout who calls to her house to fulfill one of his tasks. There’s a tragic twist early on that introduces us to the boy’s parents, and there are some lovely subsequent turns in this most magical tale. It’s the first Monica Wood book that I read, but I must hunt her down and read more. 

By Monica Wood,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The One-In-A-Million Boy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

She may be 104 years old, but Ona Vitkus is on a mission and it's all because of THE ONE-IN-A-MILLION-BOY...

Monica Wood's unforgettable novel about a boy in a million and the 104-year-old woman who saves his family is not to be missed by readers who loved THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY, ELIZABETH IS MISSING or THE SHOCK OF THE FALL.

'A lovely, quirky novel about misfits across generations' Daily Mail

'A bittersweet story about finding friendship in the most unlikely of places' Good Housekeeping.

The story of your life never starts at the beginning. Don't they teach you…


Book cover of Lubna and Pebble

Jyoti Rajan Gopal Author Of American Desi

From my list on children figuring out their place in the world.

Why am I passionate about this?

As someone straddling multiple cultures, growing up everywhere and belonging nowhere, I know what it feels like to not fit in. I know what it feels like to want to hide parts of yourself so you can fit in. And so, as a picture book writer and a Kindergarten teacher, I'm always looking for books that share stories about children trying to figure out their place in the world. I didn't have those books growing up. What a difference that would have made in my own journey. The books that I picked are unique in the way they portray belonging. I hope you love these gems as much as I do!

Jyoti's book list on children figuring out their place in the world

Jyoti Rajan Gopal Why did Jyoti love this book?

Such a tenderly written refugee story. I’ve included this picture book because it offers a gentle but much-needed glimpse into the lives of refugee children and reminds us how we all, but especially those who are fleeing their homelands through no fault of their own, seek a place to belong. Through Pebble, Lubna reminds us that we all need someone who sees and accepts us without judgment and with unconditional love. And that we can also be that person for someone else. Such a joy to read!

By Wendy Meddour, Daniel Egnéus (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Lubna and Pebble as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

In an unforgettable story that subtly addresses the refugee crisis, a young girl must decide if friendship means giving up the one item that brings her comfort during a time of utter uncertainty.

Lubna's best friend is a pebble. Pebble always listens to her stories. Pebble always smiles when she feels scared. But when a lost little boy arrives in the World of Tents, Lubna realizes that he needs Pebble even more than she does.

This emotionally stirring and stunningly illustrated picture book explores one girl's powerful act of friendship in the midst of an unknown situation.

TIME Magazine's Top…


Book cover of Sunny Side Up
Book cover of Pilu of the Woods
Book cover of Stargazing

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