10 books like The Outsiders

By S.E. Hinton,

Here are 10 books that authors have personally recommended if you like The Outsiders. Shepherd is a community of 7,000+ authors sharing their favorite books with the world.

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On the Road

By Jack Kerouac,

Book cover of On the Road

On the Road is the mother of all 20th-century American road trips. It’s a mad rush West, an impetuous quest for life and friendship, as experienced by the protagonist, Sal Paradise. This is Kerouac’s episodic account of his own restless relationships among transients who question, postpone, reject, or can’t afford the post-World War II American dream of house, spouse, car, career, and kids. What I love about this iconic American road story is Kerouac’s authenticity, his thirst for life, his human fallibility, his truth. 

On the Road

By Jack Kerouac,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked On the Road as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The legendary novel of freedom and the search for authenticity that defined a generation, now in a striking new Pengiun Classics Deluxe Edition

Inspired by Jack Kerouac's adventures with Neal Cassady, On the Road tells the story of two friends whose cross-country road trips are a quest for meaning and true experience. Written with a mixture of sad-eyed naivete and wild ambition and imbued with Kerouac's love of America, his compassion for humanity, and his sense of language as jazz, On the Road is the quintessential American vision of freedom and hope, a book that changed American literature and changed…


The Lord of the Rings

By J.R.R. Tolkien,

Book cover of The Lord of the Rings

Founding text of the modern fantasy genre, expander of Homer's beautiful or horrific fantastic gallery; but unlike Odysseus or Christian, Tolkien's characters change, either to grow or become "better," or to spectacularly regress. This novel-type flux matches his unique gift, the modulation of style. Most good writers can find one "voice" and maintain it. But unlike the films, the books will show you Tolkien starting in a cozy-children's-story mode in the Shire, rising to the King James Bible or mythic level of Gandalf's resurrection story, or the Fields of Cormallen and then drawing the whole vast arc of quest and war down into Sam's circle to the Grey Havens, and the six concluding so-simple monosyllables: "'Well, I'm back," he said."

The Lord of the Rings

By J.R.R. Tolkien,

Why should I read it?

49 authors picked The Lord of the Rings as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell by chance into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.

From Sauron's fastness in the Dark Tower of…


Friday Night Lights

By H.G. Bissinger,

Book cover of Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream

A superb and gripping account of the hold that American Football has over a small town in the USA. In telling the story of a season, Bissinger captures the glory, tragedy, and futility of sport, and its connection to racial politics, ambition, local rivalries, and a passionate fan base. Led to a brilliant TV series. Elegiac and path-breaking.

Friday Night Lights

By H.G. Bissinger,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Friday Night Lights as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The 25th anniversary edition of the #1 New York Times bestseller and Sports Illustrated 's best football book of all time, with a new afterword by the authorReturn once again to the timeless account of the Permian Panthers of Odessa,the winningest high-school football team in Texas history. Socially and racially divided, Odessa isn't known to be a place big on dreams, but every Friday night from September to December, when the Panthers play football, dreams can come true.With frankness and compassion, H. G. Bissinger unforgettably captures a season in the life of Odessa and shows how single-minded devotion to the…


Eleanor & Park

By Rainbow Rowell,

Book cover of Eleanor & Park

This is one of the great love stories in young adult literature. Eleanor and Park are each dealing with their own issues, as teenagers do. They are completely different from each other, and yet, after an incident on the school bus brings them together one day, everything changes. Similar to so many of the characters in these other books, their paths might never have crossed, or, if they did, the wall would never be broken down so that they could actually see each other and yet they did and it was, which to me is what sets up the best stories of all.

Eleanor & Park

By Rainbow Rowell,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked Eleanor & Park as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Reminded me not just what it's like to be young and in love, but what it's like to be young and in love with a book' John Green, author of The Fault in our Stars

Eleanor is the new girl in town, and she's never felt more alone. All mismatched clothes, mad red hair and chaotic home life, she couldn't stick out more if she tried.

Then she takes the seat on the bus next to Park. Quiet, careful and - in Eleanor's eyes - impossibly cool, Park's worked out that flying under the radar is the best way to…


Wonder

By R.J. Palacio,

Book cover of Wonder

How does ten-year-old August Pullman go about getting everyone to overlook his severe facial malformation, so they can get to know him as an otherwise normal kid?

Auggie’s charm grew on me a lot faster than it did with his classmates, setting Auggie up for disappointments and betrayal. I loved how other brilliant characters, like the English teacher with the precepts, Auggie’s amazing family, or his best friend, help him through some dark times. It was touching to see how Auggie’s very rare condition impacts everyone who cares for him.

I believe that the brilliance of this story should be appreciated by middle graders on up to the wisest of adults.

Wonder

By R.J. Palacio,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked Wonder as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Has the power to move hearts and change minds' Guardian

'Tremendously uplifting and a novel of all-too-rare power' Sunday Express

'An amazing book . . . I absolutely loved it. I cried my eyes out' Tom Fletcher

Read the award-winning, multi-million copy bestselling phenomenon that is WONDER in this new tenth anniversary edition.

'My name is August. I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.'

Auggie wants to be an ordinary ten-year-old. He does ordinary things - eating ice cream, playing on his Xbox. He feels ordinary - inside. But ordinary kids don't make other…


The Grapes of Wrath

By John Steinbeck,

Book cover of The Grapes of Wrath

As most people know, this classic novel is about poor farmers suffering during the Great Depression and trying to make their way to a better life in California. They endure drought, foreclosure, displacement, homelessness, and, most heartbreakingly, indifference from those in a position to help. The protagonist’s resilience and determination to make the world a better place no matter the odds and regardless of the adversity he faces is truly an inspiration, particularly for those of us with so many fewer obstacles than he had.  

The Grapes of Wrath

By John Steinbeck,

Why should I read it?

10 authors picked The Grapes of Wrath as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'I've done my damndest to rip a reader's nerves to rags, I don't want him satisfied.'

Shocking and controversial when it was first published, The Grapes of Wrath is Steinbeck's Pultizer Prize-winning epic of the Joad family, forced to travel west from Dust Bowl era Oklahoma in search of the promised land of California. Their story is one of false hopes, thwarted desires and powerlessness, yet out of their struggle Steinbeck created a drama that is both intensely human and majestic in its scale and moral vision.


Beartown

By Fredrik Backman,

Book cover of Beartown

If you want a break from fantasy and sci-fi, and you love a book with morally grey characters, then this is it.

Beartown is a town that survives on hockey. The kids play it, the grown-ups work in anything related, and just like in sports, both sides consider themselves the good side in every action they take.

We follow the manager of the hockey club as he must make impossible decisions, then the players, each making their own mistakes. We see villains grow from a place that we can understand, and we see good people making bad calls because no one can be perfect all the time.

And most importantly, we see how sometimes, no choice is the right choice. Especially for the victim.

Beartown

By Fredrik Backman,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked Beartown as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

FROM THE MULTI-MILLION COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF ANXIOUS PEOPLE AND A MAN CALLED OVE, FREDRIK BACKMAN

**NOW A MAJOR HBO TV SERIES**

'I utterly believed in the residents of Beartown and felt ripped apart by the events in the book' JOJO MOYES

'I couldn't put it down. Heart-rending and engrossing' 5***** Reader Review
_________

In a large Swedish forest, Beartown hides a dark secret . . .

Cut-off from everywhere else, it experiences the kind of isolation that tears people apart.

And each year, more and more of the town is swallowed by the forest.

Then the town is offered…


The Art of Racing in the Rain

By Garth Stein,

Book cover of The Art of Racing in the Rain

Why must we tell a story from a person’s point of view? Done effectively, an animal’s view is refreshing and even innocent in the telling. Stein does a beautiful job of speaking as a dog without falling into a child’s book. Enzo the dog takes us into a philosophic realm of existence that manages to open the reader’s mind. 

The Art of Racing in the Rain

By Garth Stein,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked The Art of Racing in the Rain as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Soon to be a major motion picture, this heart-warming and inspirational tale follows Enzo, a loyal family dog, tells the story of his human family, how they nearly fell apart, and what he did to bring them back together.

Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: he thinks and feels in nearly human ways. He has educated himself by watching extensive television, and by listening very closely to the words of his master, Denny Swift, an up-and-coming race car driver. Through Denny, Enzo realizes that racing is a metaphor: that by applying the techniques a driver would apply on…


On the Beach

By Nevil Shute,

Book cover of On the Beach

As dark and depressing as this Cold War cautionary tale is, the author’s use of creeping ecological doom in the aftermath of a world-shattering war was profound to me. The story is told from several points of view by characters who have different motivations. I found their choices to be just as understandable as they were heartbreaking. This isn’t a “happily ever after” story. Even so, I found myself appreciating the whole story, from start to end.

On the Beach

By Nevil Shute,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked On the Beach as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Pearson English Readers bring language learning to life through the joy of reading.



Well-written stories entertain us, make us think, and keep our interest page after page. Pearson English Readers offer teenage and adult learners a huge range of titles, all featuring carefully graded language to make them accessible to learners of all abilities.



Through the imagination of some of the world's greatest authors, the English language comes to life in pages of our Readers. Students have the pleasure and satisfaction of reading these stories in English, and at the same time develop a broader vocabulary, greater comprehension and reading…


The Hunger Games

By Suzanne Collins,

Book cover of The Hunger Games

Written for young adults, this is a modern classic.

In the book, what used to be North America has become “Panem”, a country where an authoritarian government keeps itself in power by turning regions of the country against each other through “hunger games”, where young people must hunt and kill each other to survive.

I believe the future hope for our country is for people getting back together and learning to care for each other again. Rather than “us against them,” a healthy democracy should be “all of us against oppression.” 

The Hunger Games

By Suzanne Collins,

Why should I read it?

29 authors picked The Hunger Games as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. But Katniss has been close to death before - and survival, for her, is second nature. The Hunger Games is a searing novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present. Welcome to the deadliest reality TV show ever...


5 book lists we think you will like!

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