Book picks similar to
Under the Haystack by Pat Engebrecht
5-star-read
child-or-younger-hero-or-heroine
childhood-friends
coming-of-age
Airman
Eoin Colfer - 2007
Conor spends his days studying the science of flight with his tutor and exploring the castle with the king’s daughter, Princess Isabella. But the boy’s idyllic life changes forever the day he discovers a deadly conspiracy against the king. When Conor tries to intervene, he is branded a traitor and thrown into jail on the prison island of Little Saltee. There, he has to fight for his life, as he and the other prisoners are forced to mine for diamonds in inhumane conditions.There is only one way to escape Little Saltee, and that is to fly. So Conor passes the solitary months by scratching drawings of flying machines on the prison walls. The months turn into years; but eventually the day comes when Conor must find the courage to trust his revolutionary designs and take to the air.
Lord Loss
Darren Shan - 2005
Grubbs Grady has stiff red hair and is a little big for his age, which means he can get into R-rated movies. He hates history and loves bacon, rats, and playing tricks on his squeamish older sister. When he opts out of a family weekend trip, he never guesses that he is about to take a terrifying journey into darkness. Hungry demons and howling werewolves haunt his waking nightmares... and threaten his life.
Stolen: A Kidnapper’s Threat- Book 1
James Hunt - 2016
If there is dirt, your opposition will find it. If you have a weakness, they will exploit it. But when her daughter is taken in the middle of a high-stakes vote, Lena Hayes is about to find out just how cut throat the game can be.
So You Want to Be a Wizard
Diane Duane - 1983
until she discovers a mysterious library book that promises her the chance to become a wizard. But she has no idea of the difference that taking the Wizard's Oath is going to make in her life. Shortly, in company with fellow beginner-wizard Kit Rodriguez, Nita's catapulted into what will be the adventure of a lifetime—if she and Kit can both live through it. For every wizard's career starts with an Ordeal in which he or she must challenge the one power in the universe that hates wizardry more than anything else: the Lone Power that invented death and turned it loose in the worlds. Plunged into a dark and deadly alternate New York full of the Lone One's creatures, Kit and Nita must venture into the very heart of darkness to find the stolen, legendary Book of Night with Moon. Only with the dangerous power of the wizardly Book do they have a chance to save not just their own lives, but their world...
A Beautiful Friendship
David Weber - 2011
. . until her parents relocated to the frontier planet of Sphinx in the far distant Star Kingdom of Manticore. It should have been the perfect new home --- a virgin wilderness full of new species of every sort, just waiting to be discovered. But Sphinx is a far more dangerous place than ultra-civilized Meyerdahl, and Stephanie’s explorations come to a sudden halt when her parents lay down the law: no trips into the bush without adult supervision!Yet Stephanie is a young woman determined to make discoveries, and the biggest one of all awaits her: an intelligent alien species.The forest-dwelling treecats are small, cute, smart, and have a pronounced taste for celery. And they are also very, very deadly when they or their friends are threatened . . . as Stephanie discovers when she comes face-to-face with Sphinx's most lethal predator after a hang-gliding accident.But her discoveries are only beginning, for the treecats are also telepathic and able to bond with certain humans, and Stephanie’s find --- and her first-of-its kind bond with the treecat Climbs Quickly --- land both of them in a fresh torrent of danger. Galactic-sized wealth is at stake, and Stephanie and the treecats are squarely in the path of highly-placed enemies determined to make sure the planet Sphinx remains entirely in human hands, even if that means the extermination of another thinking species.Unfortunately for those enemies, the treecats have saved Stephanie Harrington’s life. She owes them . . . and Stephanie is a young woman who stands by her friends.Which means things are about to get very interesting on Sphinx.
The Summer I Turned Pretty
Jenny Han - 2009
Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer—they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.
My Mother Wore a Yellow Dress
Christina McKenna - 2004
A remarkable memoir which is often humorous and ultimately very moving as a young Catholic girl struggles to break away from destructive influence of her father in 1960s Ulster.
Wrush: The Secret Worlds Of Tabetha Bright
Tyler Enfield - 2009
Her days in the hospital are spent daydreaming and writing magical tales, but when she receives a mysterious gift, a pen with magic of its own, her stories become dangerously real. Suddenly Tabetha is thrown into a perilous adventure in the strange and wondrous world of Wrush...With the help of a Mungling, a captain, and a tattooed boy-wizard Tabetha must stop a dark sorcerer from finding the Pyramid Map and destroying the protective wall between worlds. But how much can one girl, unable to walk, help against Wrush's most powerful foe?More than anyone ever imagined.
The Lost Twin
Sophie Cleverly - 2015
And if you are, well, I suppose you're the new me...When shy Ivy's troublemaking twin Scarlet vanishes from Rookwood boarding school, Ivy is invited to "take her place." But when Ivy arrives, she discovers the school's true intention; she has to pretend to be Scarlet. She must think like Scarlet, act like Scarlet, become Scarlet. What on earth happened to the real Scarlet, and why is the school trying to keep it a secret?Luckily for Ivy, Scarlet isn't about to disappear without a fight. She's left pieces of her journal carefully hidden all over the school for Ivy to find. Ivy's going to figure out what happened to Scarlet. She's got to.But the staff of Rookwood is always watching, and they'll do anything to keep their secrets buried...
Shadow Baby
Alison McGhee - 2000
When Clara begins interviewing Georg Kominsky--her elderly neighbor--she finds that he is equally reticent about his own concealed history. Precocious and imaginative, Clara invents versions of Mr. Kominsky’s past, just as she invents lives for the people missing from her own shadowy history. Her journey of discovery is at the heart of this beautiful story about unlikely friendship and communion, about discovering what matters most in life, and about the search to find the missing pieces of ourselves.
Citizen of the Galaxy
Robert A. Heinlein - 1957
But his new owner, Baslim, is not the disabled beggar he appears to be: adopting Thorby as his son, he fights relentlessly as an abolitionist spy. When the authorities close in on Baslim, Thorby must ride with the Free Traders — a league of merchant princes — throughout the many worlds of a hostile galaxy, finding the courage to live by his wits and fight his way from society's lowest rung. But Thorby's destiny will be forever changed when he discovers the truth about his own identity...
Erimentha Parker's To Do List: A Bullying Story
Ruby Granger - 2017
Joining at Lady Nightingale's School in Year Seven, she is excited and anticipating the term ahead; however, when she gets on the wrong side of Kimberly, one of the most popular girls in her class, everything starts to go wrong. In light of the girls' cruel and relentless behaviour, Erimentha begins to doubt herself, unwilling to confide in anybody and convinced that she can sort it out for herself. 'Erimentha Parker's To Do List' follows the story of a young, ambitious girl and her struggles with one of the greatest hardships for schoolchildren: bullying. Ruby Granger has a YouTube channel where she posts Study Tips videos and book reviews. She has created Erimentha for her viewers, more than anything, in the hopes that the protagonist can act as a point of motivation when studying and as a guiding force for all those children who are picked on for loving to learn.
The Secret Garden
Frances Hodgson Burnett - 1910
Initially published as a serial story in 1910 in The American Magazine, it was brought out in novel form in 1911. The plot centers round Mary Lennox, a young English girl who returns to England from India, having suffered the immense trauma by losing both her parents in a cholera epidemic. However, her memories of her parents are not pleasant, as they were a selfish, neglectful and pleasure-seeking couple. Mary is given to the care of her uncle Archibald Craven, whom she has never met. She travels to his home, Misselthwaite Manor located in the gloomy Yorkshire, a vast change from the sunny and warm climate she was used to. When she arrives, she is a rude, stubborn and given to stormy temper tantrums. However, her nature undergoes a gradual transformation when she learns of the tragedies that have befallen her strict and disciplinarian uncle whom she earlier feared and despised. Once when he's away from home, Mary discovers a charming walled garden which is always kept locked. The mystery deepens when she hears sounds of sobbing from somewhere within her uncle's vast mansion. The kindly servants ignore her queries or pretend they haven't heard, spiking Mary's curiosity. The Secret Garden appeals to both young and old alike. It has wonderful elements of mystery, spirituality, charming characters and an authentic rendering of childhood emotions and experiences. Commonsense, truth and kindness, compassion and a belief in the essential goodness of human beings lie at the heart of this unforgettable story. It is the best known of Frances Hodgson Burnett's works, though most of us have definitely heard of, if not read, her other novel Little Lord Fauntleroy. The book has been adapted extensively on stage, film and television and translated into all the world's major languages. In 1991, a Japanese anime version was launched for television in Japan. It remains a popular and beloved story of a child's journey into maturity, and a must-read for every child, parent, teacher and anyone who would enjoy this fascinating glimpse of childhood. One of the most delightful and enduring classics of children's literature, The Secret Garden by Victorian author Frances Hodgson Burnett has remained a firm favorite with children the world over ever since it made its first appearance. Initially published as a serial story in 1910 in The American Magazine, it was brought out in novel form in 1911."
The Gifts We Keep
Katie Grindeland - 2015
When she reluctantly agrees to care for Addie, a young Native Alaskan girl, she discovers she must seek help from the family she’s kept at arm’s length for years, and returns to the big home on Looking Lake and all her memories there.Her sister Tillie, the gardener, the artist, still has unspoken questions about the teenage accident with Emerson that claimed her legs from the knee down. Their aging mother Eve spreads her joy for life indiscriminately and wonders how she could ever have failed her daughters. Their neighbor Henry, the handsome sculptor, has his own silent history with Emerson, and knows more than he’s telling about her husband’s suicide.And ten-year-old Addie has come into this house full of strangers, bringing her own grief over her mother's illness, and an uncanny ability to recognize the aches these grown-ups carry inside themselves. As the five come together, new alliances are forged and old secrets are forced to the surface, weaving together questions of identity, forgiveness, and the bravery it takes to open our true selves to the ones we love.
In the Shadow of the Mountains
Rosanne Bittner - 1991
From penniless settlers to wealthy mine owners to Denver's regal first family, together—and separately—they pursued their dazzling dreams of love and glory. From the era of the covered wagon to the rise of the western railroad, from the gold rush years through the golden age of the American West, IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOUNTAINS is the breathtaking saga of a remarkable family who endured tragedy and hardship to build a glorious mountain empire.