Reading Room Blog

Here are some titles like Fairest you might like:

Beast by Donna Jo Napoli.

Elaborates on the tale of "Beauty and the Beast," told from the point of view of the beast and set in Persia.

Owl in Love by Patrice Kindl.

A fourteen-year-old girl, who can transform herself into an owl at will, discovers interesting new relationships with both humans and owls when she develops a crush on her science teacher.

Alanna: The First Adventure (first in the series about Alanna adventures) by Tamora Pierce.

Here are some other titles you may like:

Sabriel by Garth Nix.
Sabriel, daughter of the necromancer Abhorsen, must journey into the mysterious and magical Old Kingdom to rescue her father from the Land of the Dead. The first in a trilogy.

Revenge of the Witch (book 1, The Last Apprentice series) by Joseph Delaney.
Young Tom, the seventh son of a seventh son, starts work as an apprentice for the village spook, whose job is to protect ordinary folk from "ghouls, boggarts, and all manner of wicked beasties."

I just listened to an interview on Amazon with the author, Stephenie Meyer, and she said all the books have a classic book as their inspiration. Twilight: Pride and Prejudice; New Moon: Romeo and Juliet; Eclipse: Wuthering Heights; and Breaking Dawn was inspired by two classic titles: A Midsummer Night's Dream and another title she wouldn't mention for fear of ruining Eclipse for those who haven't read it yet! (If you want to hear the interview, here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Dawn-Twilight-Saga-Book/dp/031606792X/ref...)

If you liked Marley and Me, I hope you enjoy reading some of these books:

A dog year : twelve months, four dogs, and me by Jon Katz.

In case you don’t know, it is the first in a series (Frogs and French Kisses; Spells and Sleeping Bags; and Parties and Potions). You mention liking books about growing up but that you also like fantasy. Since Bras and Broomsticks is about a modern teenage witch, it has a little fantasy and a lot of modern humor. So, I wasn’t sure if you wanted something modern and funny or something fantasy about growing up, so I’ve included both:

Modern/not fantasy:

Clique by Lisi Harrison.

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE

Here is one of my favorite mother-daughter poems, by Marie Howe, who lives in New York City and who has a charming little girl.

Hurry

We stop at the dry cleaners and the grocery store
and the gas station and the green market and
Hurry up honey, I say, hurry,
as she runs along two or three steps behind me
her blue jacket unzipped and her socks rolled down.

If you enjoyed The Perks of Being a Wallflower, here are three titles I hope you might enjoy.

Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Choi.
A young Korean girl survives the oppressive Japanese and Russian occupation of North Korea during the 1940s, to later escape to freedom in South Korea.

If you like the V.C. Andrews books, you might try one of these:

Right Behind You by Gail Giles.

After spending over four years in a mental institution for murdering a friend in Alaska, fourteen-year-old Kip begins a completely new life in Indiana with his father and stepmother under a different name, but not only has trouble fitting in, he finds there are still problems to deal with from his childhood.

The Christopher Killer by Alane Ferguson.

Kirsten Miller has written another Kiki Strike novel called Kiki Strike: The Empress’s Tomb. Here are a few more titles you might enjoy:

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins.

When eleven-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister are pulled into a strange underground world, they trigger an epic battle involving men, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders while on a quest foretold by ancient prophecy. The first book in the Underland Chronicles.

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy.

I hope you have a chance to read the other books in the Bloody Jack series:

Curse of the Blue Tattoo: being an account of the misadventures of Jacky Faber, midshipman and fine lady, by L.A. Meyer.