Here are 76 books that Maya's Song fans have personally recommended if you like
Maya's Song.
Shepherd is a community of 10,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.
Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.
I am the author of many acclaimed books for children. Connection, compassion, and family are common themes in my work. My books include Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur: One Girl Can Make a Difference, Flying High: The Story of Gymnastics Champion Simone Biles, and Brave Ballerina: The Story of Janet Collins. I also contributed research and writing to Black Ballerinas: My Journey to Our Legacy by Misty Copeland. I studied journalism and literature at Syracuse University.
This book offers delightful details about Judy Blume, from her time growing up in New Jersey to the purchase of her first electric typewriter.
With the publication of Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret in 1970, Judy made history with a unique book about a 12-year-old girl exploring religion and friendship.
I appreciate how Kathleen Krull takes us on the rollercoaster of Judy’s life, showing us her heartbreak when facing rejection letters, her steadfast determination to keep writing, and her joy when she finally achieved her goals. Judy Blume never gave up!
"Well-behaved women seldom make history." -Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Many awe-inspiring women have changed the course of history. From fighting for social justice and women's rights to discovering and shaping our amazing country, women have left an indelible mark on our past, present, and future. But it's not easy to affect change, and these women didn't always play by the rules to make a difference! Kathleen Krull blends history and humor in this accessible young biography series.
Judy Blume wrote her way through controversy and censorship to become a pioneer who helped make it okay for kids and teens to discuss…
I am the author of many acclaimed books for children. Connection, compassion, and family are common themes in my work. My books include Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur: One Girl Can Make a Difference, Flying High: The Story of Gymnastics Champion Simone Biles, and Brave Ballerina: The Story of Janet Collins. I also contributed research and writing to Black Ballerinas: My Journey to Our Legacy by Misty Copeland. I studied journalism and literature at Syracuse University.
This clever graphic novel is sure to inspire kids.
It features a wonderful variety of writers, including Sandra Cisneros, Roald Dahl, Gene Luen Yang, and Beatrix Potter. In an easy-to-read format with colorful illustrations, Elizabeth Haidle highlights key moments about each writer’s childhood.
My favorite fun facts: J.K. Rowling wrote a story about a rabbit when she was six, and Dr. Seuss drew animals on his sister’s bedroom walls.
What makes a writer? What inspires them? Where do their stories come from? Striking illustrations and a popular graphic novel format bring to life this anthology of literary legends and their childhoods. Featuring beloved authors such as Maya Angelou, C.S. Lewis, Gene Luen Yang and J.K. Rowling, these stories capture the childhood triumphs, failures, and inspirations that predated their careers.
Children ages ten and up will see themselves in these humanised portraits and wonder if they, too, might have it in them to write. A celebration of creativity, this collective graphic biography is sprinkled throughout with writing wisdom and inspiring…
I am the author of many acclaimed books for children. Connection, compassion, and family are common themes in my work. My books include Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur: One Girl Can Make a Difference, Flying High: The Story of Gymnastics Champion Simone Biles, and Brave Ballerina: The Story of Janet Collins. I also contributed research and writing to Black Ballerinas: My Journey to Our Legacy by Misty Copeland. I studied journalism and literature at Syracuse University.
With charming illustrations, this picture book biography tells the story of E.B. White with exquisite language.
I love how Barbara Herkert provides details about his interest in animals from a young age, such as how he collected pigeons, snakes, polliwogs, caterpillars, chameleons, and more.
In a fitting ending, the book shows how E.B. White gets the idea for one of my favorite books, Charlotte’s Web. I love these lines from A Boy, a Mouse, and a Spider:“One cold October evening, Andy watched a spider spin. He climbed a ladder for a closer look. He’d found the hero of his story…”
A lyrical biography of E. B. White, beloved author of Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little, written by Barbara Herkert and illustrated by Caldecott honoree Lauren Castillo.
When young Elwyn White lay in bed as a sickly child, a bold house mouse befriended him. When the time came for kindergarten, an anxious Elwyn longed for the farm, where animal friends awaited him at the end of each day. Propelled by his fascination with the outside world, he began to jot down his reflections in a journal. Writing filled him with joy, and words became his world.
I am the author of many acclaimed books for children. Connection, compassion, and family are common themes in my work. My books include Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur: One Girl Can Make a Difference, Flying High: The Story of Gymnastics Champion Simone Biles, and Brave Ballerina: The Story of Janet Collins. I also contributed research and writing to Black Ballerinas: My Journey to Our Legacy by Misty Copeland. I studied journalism and literature at Syracuse University.
I love how this book describes what Ida B. Wells was like as a young child, as well as her parents. Ida learned about standing up for what’s right from them. Dinah Johnson effectively weaves this theme throughout the whole book.
I think kids can learn so much from this story of courage. Page by page, kids will see how Ida wasn’t afraid to write newspaper articles about Black people being lynched so that she could bring attention to racism and injustice. Kids will also see how she wasn’t afraid to step forward in the Women’s March of 1913.
I was especially drawn to the back matter of this book, which includes rare pictures of Ida with her family from the 1900s and a comprehensive timeline of her life.
A stunning picture book biography about the early life of Ida B. Wells, her incredible work as a suffragist, and her critical role in the Women's March of 1913.
Ida B. Wells grew up during a time when women did not have the right to vote. But Ida aspired for equality; she had learned from her parents to forge a life through hope and bravery, so she worked tirelessly to fight for an America that was fair to everyone regardless of race and gender. Her courageous activism made her one of the most influential civil rights leaders in American history.…
I’ve always been interested in the interconnected lives of women and of womanhood. I find that it's also important to acknowledge the diversity in women’s experiences in all cultures and points in history. My first academic essay, which was published, was “Reevaluating of the Role of Women in Beowulf” which, in my youth, helped to not only flesh out the historical and contemporary roles women or persons who identify as women have had but also to begin to understand what that means to myself and to those around me. Since then, when writing about women in my numerous stories and novels, I focus on how she exists within her world and how she defines herself.
Alice Walker is one of my constant and favorite authors and I find myself re-reading her works often. I was fortunate enough to be part of a discussion of this book with Alice Walker present and was in awe of how forthright she was. Gathering Blossoms Under Fire is a collection of her journals that shared such intimate moments from her life.
'These journals are a revelation, a road map and a gift to us all' TAYARI JONES, author of An American Marriage
From the acclaimed author Alice Walker - winner of the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize - comes an unprecedented compilation of four decades' worth of journals that draw an intimate portrait of her development as an artist, intellectual and human rights activist.
In Gathering Blossoms Under Fire, Walker offers a passionate, intimate record of her intellectual, artistic and political development. She also intimately explores - in real time - her thoughts and feelings as a woman, a…
I’m a picture-book author who wrote about Mahalia Jackson so more people would feel the sense of awe about her that I do. When I first read how she was treated by our own country, I was furious. But her amazing grace allowed me to focus on the positive aspects of her life, like she did.
Soaring words honor the phenomenal wordsmith, Maya Angelou. Tough topics are tackled with compassion. The broad range of colors in the illustrations echo the broad range of emotions in this beautiful tribute to a national treasure. A forward by Ms. Angelou’s grandson and helpful backmatter cradle the text (like the cover art cradles).
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the publication of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, this beautiful biography of Maya Angelou describes how she rose above a childhood of trauma and emotional pain to become one of the most inspiring voices of our lifetime.
Writer, activist, trolley car conductor, dancer, mother, and humanitarianMaya Angelou's life was marked by transformation and perseverance. In this comprehensive picture-book biography geared towards older readers, Bethany Hegedus lyrically traces Maya's life from her early days in Stamps, Arkansas through her work as a freedom fighter to her triumphant rise as a poet of…
I'm an author from New Zealand, who writes fiction and non-fiction for adults, but I'm also an accidental children's book writer. Accidental? I never thought I would write books for children, but the then 10-year-old in our family demanded a children's book, and the popular Elastic Island Adventures series was born. I always remember how much joy I got from discovering books as a child, so I'm interested in books that are fun for children but encourage creativity and literacy. I love when books are so enjoyable that children don't realize how much they are learning, where they can enjoy exploring the 'theater of the mind'.
The Treehouse series of books have got thousands of reluctant readers hooked on books, so all the books in this series are winners, in my view. With the fun premise of characters living in a multi-layered treehouse, making books and having fun adventures, who wouldn't love these stories? The books are a perfect blend of a page-turning story and fantastic illustrations that will keep children turning the pages.
Andy and Terry live in a treehouse. But it's not just any old treehouse, it's the most amazing treehouse in the world!
This treehouse has thirteen stories, a bowling alley, a see-through swimming pool, a secret underground laboratory, and a marshmallow machine that follows you around and automatically shoots marshmallows into your mouth whenever you are hungry.
Life would be perfect for Andy and Terry if it wasn't for the fact that they have to write their next book, which is almost impossible because there are just so many distractions, including thirteen flying cats, giant bananas, mermaids, a sea monsters…
As a child I would invent stories to entertain my cousins but at school I developed a passion for thrillers, devouring every Agatha Christie novel I could get my hands on and delighted in discovering new authors to satisfy my appetite. However, after my encounter with a man on a train, who went on to become a serial killer and after suffering a few other attacks, I crafted a novel using my experiences and melded fact with fiction to create my first psychological thriller, Killing Me Softly. It was extremely cathartic and now is a series of six, with another on the way. I’ve written eighteen books and even my historical novels are thrillers.
Never Forget, Never Forgive really
draws the reader in. This is a debut novel by a new writer and the first in a
proposed series and I am eager for the next. This well-crafted novel is
beautifully written, in an engaging way, almost conversational, and very easy to
read. There is just the right amount of description and a believable protagonist,
likable, strong, and capable. The novel has plenty of intrigue, twists, and
turns. As a murder mystery it is to be commended. It’s thoroughly enjoyable and
primes you for the next in the series as there is an ongoing thread to be
picked up in the second. Ms. Smith looks to be an excellent author.
"Patience and planning. That's what Mother taught me. If you have patience, she said, and wait until the timing is perfect, and if you plan carefully, you can get away with anything. Even murder."
The death of her father and disappearance of her mother spurs Beatrice Styles into relocation and a change of career. However, her new venture in Lincoln, as a private investigator, takes an unexpected turn when she finds her first client dead.
The police think he died of natural causes, but his widow is not convinced. Beatrice digs into the life of the dead man, only to…
I’m the author of the short story collection I Meant It Once. I often say it’s a book about being a mess in your twenties, but to speak more personally, writing it was a necessity, a way to make sense of both the intensity and mundanity of my own experiences. I love a book where you can palpably feel the author working to make sense of their own life, through language—and, in turn, sorting out what it is for any of us to be a person. Books like these are essential reading when life feels thorny, beautiful, and impossible to make sense of, and all you can do is try to write it down.
This brief and atmospheric account of a year Levy left her marriage and began sorting out how to live a different life is one I return to again and again.
I can’t overstate my affection for the scene in which, traveling through London on her beloved electric bike with groceries in tow, Levy loses a raw whole chicken under the wheels of a passing car. Talk about someone who can turn even life’s most mundane frustrations into a totally transcendent piece of writing.
A GUARDIAN BEST BOOK OF THE 21ST CENTURY WINNER OF THE PRIX FEMINA ETRANGER 2020
Following on from the critically acclaimed Things I Don't Want to Know, discover the powerful second memoir in Deborah Levy's essential three-part 'Living Autobiography'.
'I can't think of any writer aside from Virginia Woolf who writes better about what it is to be a woman' Observer _________________________________
'Life falls apart. We try to get a grip and hold it together. And then we realise we don't want to hold it together . . .'
The final instalment in Deborah Levy's critically acclaimed 'Living Autobiography', Real…
I’ve always adored stories of courageous, sometimes outrageous women who forge aheadinto the unknown, survive in strange lands in troubled times, pursue their career dreams. Like my favourite picks, I’ve relished my own adventures in distant countries (Libya, Czechia, Kyrgystan, Mongolia…), while always earning my crust from writing. From motivational research in Dublin and London, I switched to financial journalism in Holland, where I met and was inspired by ground-breaking journalist Nel Slis whose story I’ve told in my book Hellcat of the Hague. Now I’m settled in London to concentrate on my novels and short stories and be near my family, I hope you love these books too.
Award-winning novelist Molteno takes us on a mesmerising journey of discovery, tracing the origins of her fictional worlds. From the mountains of Tajikistan to remote parts of Africa, in small English towns or huge Indian literary festivals, she engages with people she meets and is inspired by them. Through these vignettes she threads reflections on the creative process—why we write, and what fiction does for us. Through Marion’s clear and involving writing, we encounter not one but several truly remarkable women, as she weaves the emergence of her writing life into her own much-travelled and absorbing story.
Award-winning author Marion Molteno takes us on a magical journey of discovery into the life of a writer and her readers.
From book events in small English towns to huge literary festivals in India and Pakistan, from the mountains of Tajikistan to remote parts of Africa, she traces the roots of the fictional worlds she has so brilliantly created in her novels.
Weaving through these vignettes are reflections on the creative process, her own and anyone's - her own journey as a writer, what fiction does for us, and the vital relationship between writers and readers.
With an ability to…
Interested in
authors,
Martin Luther King Jr.,
and
James Baldwin?
10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them.
Browse their picks for the best books about
authors,
Martin Luther King Jr.,
and
James Baldwin.
