Coming of Age Novels

50 years of an iconic classic! This international bestseller and inspiration for a beloved movie is a heroic story of friendship and belonging.

No one ever said life was easy. But Ponyboy is pretty sure that he's got things figured out. He knows that he can count on his brothers, Darry and Sodapop. And he knows that he can count on his... Read more »

Red at the Bone

“Although you can read Jacqueline Woodson’s newest novel over the course of one evening, there is nothing breezy about the richness of its story, nothing short about the depth of its characters, nothing quick about the way this book stays with you after you finish reading. Told through five distinct voices, Red at the Bone tracks an African-American family through time and place as an unexpected pregnancy upends and reshapes family and class expectations as well as individual trajectories. Ultimately, the novel is about legacy in every sense of the word. And since Woodson’s writing packs the emotional punch of an epic in a novella number of pages, the legacy of her book is to be read over and over and over again.”

Kelly Brown, Magic City Books

Before We Were Yours

“Based loosely on a very real institution, I was quickly drawn into the story. The narrative went back and forth in time and I could hardly wait to reach the connection between the past and present.”

Constance, Fenton's Open Book

An intoxicating debut novel of "one motherless daughter's discovery of...the strange and wonderful places we find love" —The Washington PostSue Monk Kidd's ravishing debut novel has stolen the hearts of reviewers and readers alike with its strong, assured voice. Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily... Read more »

Ask Again, Yes

“"Love is only part of the story" is a quote taken from one of the last pages of "Yes, Again Yes." Love may be just a fraction of this fabulous novel but it is also the thread that weaves this heartbreaking tale together. The novel centers around two families who are next-door neighbors. The patriarchs are policemen. The families are not friends due to one of the family member's mental illness. However, there is a deep friendship that develops between the teenage daughter and son. An unthinkable tragedy occurs and one of the families moves away. "Yes, Again Yes" explores life, love, family ties, tragedy, heartbreak, mental illness and the strong power fo love. I enjoyed every moment of this moving novel and highly recommend it. The narration is well-done.”

Melinda, Buttonwood Books and Toys

From "New York Times "bestselling author William Kent Krueger comes a brilliant new novel about a young man, a small town, and murder in the summer of 1961. New Bremen, Minnesota, 1961. The Twins were playing their debut season, ice-cold root beers were at the ready at Halderson's Drug Store soda counter, and "Hot Stuff "comic books were a... Read more »

Wall Street Journal and New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni’s coming-of-age story is, according to Booklist, “a novel that, if it doesn’t cross entirely over into John Irving territory, certainly nestles in close to the border.”Sam Hill always saw the world through different eyes. Born with red pupils, he was called “Devil Boy” or... Read more »

In hardcover for the first time--on the tenth anniversary of its initial publication--the greatly admired and bestselling book about a young girl growing up in the Latino section of Chicago. Sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous, this novel depicts a new American landscape through its multiple characters. Read more »

A Stunning Novel of Hope and Redemption

Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable and beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan grow up in different worlds: Amir... Read more »

If you enjoyed This Tender Land, then you’ll love The Lincoln Highway.

“THIS BOOK EXCEEDED ALL EXPECTATIONS! As a huge fan of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility, The Lincoln Highway had a lot of pressure and holy cow did it surpass anything I could have hoped for. From the first page, I was immediately drawn into Towles' magical writing and superb characters. This felt like a modern classic, the new and updated version of Huckleberry Finn that I actually wanted to read in high school. You cannot beat the quirkiness of Towles' characters. You feel so deeply about every single one of them and it feels like they leap off the page with specificities with which they are written. Duchess and Woolly, the stowaways, felt like a modern day George and Lennie from Of Mice and Men with Woolly's gentle giant innocence and Duchess' take-the-lead wile. Emmett is the stoic, do-right midwesterner who always fixes the messes. And Billy is the smartest, sweetest kid who inspires those around him. You fall in love with them and are left with all the feels. A glorious five out of five stars for me, The Lincoln Highway will be my go-to recommendation this fall.”

Kimi, Buttonwood Books and Toys

Cold Sassy Tree is the undeniably entertaining and extraordinarily moving account of small-town Southern life in a bygone era. Brimming with characters who are wise and loony, unimpeachably pious and deliciously irreverent, Olive Ann Burns’s charming tale is a classic.One thing you could depend on in Cold Sassy, Georgia, was that word got... Read more »

A PBS Great American Read Top 100 PickThe beloved American classic about a young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the twentieth century.From the moment she entered the world, Francie Nolan needed to be made of stern stuff, for growing up in the Williamsburg slums of Brooklyn, New York demanded fortitude, precocity, and strength of spirit.... Read more »

This favorite book for children, based on the author’s own youthful experiences, describes the life of the March family in a small New England community in the 1800s.Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March are raised in genteel poverty by their loving mother while their father serves as chaplain during the American Civil War. Jo at fifteen is ungainly,... Read more »

Normal People

“What a treat to discover Sally Rooney! This novel stands out shining from the current onslaught of mediocre prose and less-than-suspenseful thriller plots. Normal People is the story of a relationship between two high school classmates in a small town in Ireland, and how it changes over time, through their last year of college in Dublin. Rooney’s spare and brilliant writing illuminates her insight and makes the unfolding of these two personalities completely compelling.”

Georgiana Dix Blomberg, Magnolia's Bookstore

Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow.This improbable story of Christopher's quest to investigate the suspicious death of a... Read more »

Voted America's Best-Loved Novel in PBS's The Great American ReadHarper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork of honor and injustice in the deep South—and the heroism of one man in the face of blind and violent hatredOne of the most cherished stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than forty languages, sold... Read more »

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Who has the right to change the world forever? 
How will we live online? 
How do we find comfort in an increasingly isolated world?
 
The Carls disappeared the same way they appeared, in an instant. While the robots were on Earth, they caused confusion and destruction with only their presence. Part of their... Read more »

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

“Brilliant! Hank Green has written an engrossing debut novel with a fun, vibrant, emotionally powerful and completely non sequitur plot. In a New York crosswalk, protagonist April May’s discovery of giant, sentient, maybe even alien omnipotent robots completely upends her life, both professionally and romantically. Through the eyes of this young, queer antihero and her robots, we see humanity in its modern context: how people love, connect, and create belief in a media landscape that sometimes degrades humanity.”

a.c., Bookshop Santa Cruz

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • John Grisham takes you to a different kind of court in his first basketball novel. Samuel “Sooley” Sooleymon is a raw, young talent with big hoop dreams—and even bigger challenges off the court.

“Hard to put down ... the pages turn quickly ... building to a climax that won’t leave readers doubting whether this is... Read more »

The Goldfinch

“The Goldfinch was always one of those books I was intimidated to start. It's so long! And sprawling! Was I really going to commit to thirty hours of a book about a painting? The answer is: I waited much too long to get to this truly incredible story, and if you--like me--are daunted by this book's length and scope, the audiobook is for you. Read by veteran stage actor David Pittu (and award winning audiobook narrator), I was rapt from the opening scene to the very last. The story follows Theo Decker from the day he loses his mother in a terrorist attack inside New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art through the rest of his youth. Theo is bounced through households, adrift without his mother, from the Upper East Side apartment of a wealthy schoolmate to his father's Las Vegas subdivision, always accompanied by the small, precious painting he took from the museum on the fateful day his mother died. It's an incredible coming of age tale, read by Pittu with humor and perfect dramatic timing. Despite the many hours I spent with this audiobook, I was sad when it was over. It is just that good.”

Liv, Books Are Magic