1. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
Eleven-year-old Owen Meany hits a foul ball and kills his best friend's mother. We follow Owen and his best friend both before and after this traumatic event.
2. The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler
A powerful book about the 1.5 million women who surrendered children for adoption in the several decades before Roe v. Wade.
3. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
In this book we follow the students at Hailsham, an English boarding school. This school is far from the city, and the students are taught nothing of the outside world and are allowed very little contact with it. It's only when some of the students students leave the grounds that they learn the truth of what their school really is.
4. And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman
A short book about a grandfather's struggle to hold on to his most valued memories, and his family's efforts to care for him.
5. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Ove is a grumpy old man who just wants to be left alone. But when a new family moves in next door, Ove's world begins to change.
6. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
This book is set in Afghanistan in the 1970s. Twelve-year-old Amir really wants to win a kite fighting contest and his friend Hassan helps him. That afternoon, an unforeseeable event takes place that will change their lives forever.
7. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Fifteen-year-old Mariam is sent to Kabul to marry the miserable Rasheed, who is decades older than her. Almost twenty years later, fifteen-year-old Laila joins Mariam and Rasheed's household and we follow how both Mariam and Laila live with each other during a time of war and love and loss.
8. Atonement by Ian McEwan
Thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis misinterprets the flirtation between her older sister, Cecilia and Robbie Turner, the son of a servant. This misinterpretation brings about harmful insinuations about a crime that will change all their lives forever.
9. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Ever since Conor's mom fell ill, he dreams about the same ting every night. But one night is different from the others, in that when he wakes up, there's a special visitor at his window.
10.A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
In this book we follow four main characters who are brought together during the 1975 State of Emergency in India. Their individual stories are told and we see how they come together through difficult times.
11. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
This book takes place in France, 1939. Vianne Mauriac has to say goodbye to her husband as he heads off to war. The Nazis invade France and a German soldier requisitions Vianne's home. Now, Vianne and her daughter have to endure living with this German soldier and are forced to make terrible choices in order to survive. Vianne's sister, Isabelle is a rebellious teenager who joins the Resistance as she tries to save others, risking her life to do so. We follow these two sisters during the war, and we see the various decisions they have to make in order to survive during the war.
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