Book picks similar to
Madison Morgan: When Dogs Blog by Pam Torres


middle-grade
first-reads
books-with-less-than-300-reviews
novels-w-animal-characters

Kay's Lucky Coin Variety


Ann Y.K. Choi - 2016
    Family secrets, a lost sister, forbidden loves, domestic assaults—Mary discovers as she grows up that life is much more complicated than she had ever imagined. Her secret passion for her English teacher is filled with problems and with the arrival of a promising Korean suitor, Joon-Ho, events escalate in ways that she could never have imagined, catching the entire family in a web of deceit and violence.A unique and imaginative debut novel, Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety evocatively portrays the life of a young Korean Canadian girl who will not give up on her dreams or her family.

The Day My Husband Left


Amy Miller - 2021
    But can she piece together the clues?At the moment he knows he is dying, Johnny Eagle takes a photograph, which is later discovered by his heartbroken wife, Heidi. Heidi pores over the image and sees a busy street scene and a pavement full of strangers – she has no idea what this last message from her beloved husband could mean.Heidi has spent her days – and her years – giving cherished old furniture a second chance. But there are some parts of Heidi’s own life she believes are beyond repair. Secrets that Heidi and Johnny kept throughout their long marriage. Things that they were never brave enough to speak about, not even to each other.All Heidi knows now is that this picture of her husband’s final moments is where she has to start looking for clues, and when she visits the busy street from the photograph, Heidi finally comes face to face with the person she’s been waiting to meet her entire life. But are they ready to meet her?

Blue Waters


India R. Adams - 2016
    Her motto, "Live life to the fullest" is derailed when the young man, who's captured her attention, turns out to be the son of a drug tycoon- the same that provided the drugs that killed her brother. Whitney believes she simply need to heal from her first heartache, not knowing she is a part of a devious trade, one against human rights, and she has been… since the day age was born.Blue Waters is the first Novella in a Tainted Waters, and begins a story of deception, corruption, self-discovery, and love with all that it demands you sacrifice…"There was a beauty in dying that day…"

Invisibly Breathing


Eileen Merriman - 2019
    Numbers have superpowers and they’re safe – any problem they might throw up can be solved.'If I were a five, I’d be shaped like a pentagon … there’d be magic in my walls, safety in my angles.'People are so much harder to cope with. At least that’s how it seems until Bailey Hunter arrives at school. Bailey has a stutter, but he can make friends and he’s good at judo. And Bailey seems to have noticed Felix:‘Felix keeps to himself mostly, but there’s something about him that keeps drawing me in.’Both boys find they’re living in a world where they can’t trust anyone, but might they be able to trust each other, with their secrets, their differences, themselves?

We Said Forever


Marie James - 2017
    Second chances are meant only for those that deserve them.Love isn’t enough to heal when you’ve shattered a heart.Love isn’t enough to make you forget.Love isn’t enough to make you look back when you’re supposed to be moving forward.Love just—isn’t enough.I broke Fallyn McIntyre, and in doing so I broke myself.Betrayal, addiction, and years separate us.I’m no longer the man I used to be.But I’m still not sure I’m man enough.

Purple Lotus


Veena Rao - 2020
    Ignored and lonely, Tara finds herself regressing back to childhood memories that have scarred her for life. When she was eight, her parents had left her behind with her aging grandparents and a schizophrenic uncle in Mangalore, while taking her baby brother with them to make a new life for the family in Dubai.Tara’s memories of abandonment and isolation mirror her present life of loneliness and escalating abuse at the hands of her husband. She accepts the help of kind-hearted American strangers to fight Sanjay, only to be pressured by her patriarchal family to make peace with her circumstances. Then, in a moment of truth, she discovers the importance of self-worth—a revelation that gives her the courage to break free, gently rebuild her life, and even risk being shunned by her community when she marries her childhood love, Cyrus Saldanha.Life with Cyrus is beautiful, until old fears come knocking. Ultimately, Tara must face these fears to save her relationship with Cyrus—and to confront the victim-shaming society she was raised within.Intimate and deeply moving, Purple Lotus is the story of one woman’s ascension from the dark depths of desolation toward the light of freedom.

Lark Song


Jane Bailey - 2018
    But there are secrets afflicting Freya’s family, some more sinister than others, that could destroy their relationship before it has a chance to flourish.While Freya’s older children are less than welcoming, six-year-old Sophie helps Duncan find his place in the family—but even Sophie harbours fears that threaten to overshadow any chance of a new start. The past is hard to leave behind when pictures of Freya’s idolised late husband hang in every room, and the more Duncan tries to find the source of Sophie’s anxiety, the more he is convinced that Reuben was not the perfect husband and father Freya remembers.Tormented by concern and his own insecurity, Duncan begins an obsessive investigation into the dead man’s past. But when his good intentions lead him in too deep, he risks destroying everything he has built with Freya—and the whole family’s second chance at happiness.

Asha & the Spirit Bird


Jasbinder Bilan - 2019
    She’s determined to seize the property – and the treasure rumoured to be hidden on the land. Guided by a majestic bird which Asha believes to be the spirit of her grandmother, she and her best friend Jeevan embark on a journey to the city, across the Himalayas, to find her father and save her home …

Any Other Girl


Rebecca Phillips - 2016
    When it comes to boys--especially other people's boys:Don't touch.Don't smile. Don't charm.In the past, drawing attention to herself helped distract people from what really makes Kat different--having two gay parents. But it also cost her friendships. Kat can't afford to lose any more of those, especially not her cousin, Harper. They're spending one last summer together at the lake, where they run into an intriguing newcomer named Emmett Reese. After years of trying to prove she's just like everybody else, Kat has found someone who wants her because she's not. A boy who could be everything she wants too--if Harper hadn't liked him first. . .

The Fox & Little Tanuki, Vol. 1


Mi Tagawa - 2020
    but not all those animals used their magical abilities for good! Senzou the Fox Spirit in particular grew too brash and arrogant, abusing his strength until the gods imprisoned him for his bad behavior. Three hundred years later, he's finally been released, but only on one condition-- he can't have his any of his abilities back until he successfully helps a tanuki cub named Manpachi become an assistant to the gods. Unfortunately for Senzou, there's no cheating when it comes to completing his task! The magic beads around his neck make sure he can't wander too far from his charge or shirk his duties, and so... Senzou the once-great Fox Spirit must now figure out how to be an actually-great babysitter to a mischievous little tanuki or risk being stuck without his powers forever!

Dragon Post


Emma Yarlett - 2018
    He isn't sure what to do - but luckily he knows just who to ask for help. Open the envelopes and read the hilarious letters Alex receives from the fire brigade, the butcher and more as he tries to take care of his new friend. Who would have thought having a dragon for a pet would be so tricky? A joyful, touching and vibrantly-illustrated interactive book.

The Dominant Animal


Kathryn Scanlan - 2020
    Sentences have been relentlessly trimmed, tuned, and teased for maximum impact, and a ferocious attention to rhythm and sound results in a palpable pulse of excitability and distress. The nature of love is questioned at a golf course, a flower shop, an all-you-can-eat buffet. The clay head of a man is bought and displayed as a trophy. Interior life manifests on the physical plane, where characters--human and animal--eat and breathe, provoke and injure one another.With exquisite control, Scanlan moves from expansive moods and fine afternoons to unease and violence--and also from deliberate and generative ambiguity to shocking, revelatory exactitude. Disturbances accrue as the collection progresses. How often the conclusions open--rather than tie--up. How they twist alertly. No mercy, a character says--and these stories are merciless and strange and absolutely masterful.

Women Like Us


Jason Pomerance - 2016
    But after her marriage to Andrew fell apart, she ceded most of the raising of the baby to her mother-in-law, the very opinionated Edith Vale, a woman as formidable and steely as her stiff blond bouffant, the veritable helmet that helps her soldier through life. Now, after letting Henry drift away, Susan is determined to make things right, but just as mother and son seem to make headway after embarking on a cross-country road-trip, things take a darker turn. When the family reconvenes in California, everybody must fight to find humor and courage in the face of a situation that threatens to change them all forever.

All We Never Knew


Elena Aitken - 2020
    On the cusp of her fortieth birthday and with her only child almost grown, it's time to start putting herself and her marriage first. But when the butterflies in her tummy turn out to be morning sickness, Maren’s world is flipped upside down with an unplanned, high risk pregnancy—one she's ashamed to admit is unwanted.Overnight, everything changes and the ripple effect of the baby she's so unsure of is felt in every corner of her life. Her perfect life slowly disappears. Her teenage daughter looks for attention in the wrong places. Her best friend inexplicably blows up and stops speaking to her. And worse, her once doting husband pulls away when she needs him the most.Just when she's sure things couldn't possibly be worse, a shocking discovery rocks Maren's world. Faced with a devastating deception, a truth she can no longer ignore, and an impossible choice, can Maren stop her life from completely unraveling? Or is All We Never Knew too much for love to overcome?

Thorns


Feliz Faber - 2013
    But Nic Pithiviers and Louis Meerow seem to have no desire to set the record straight: they refuse the interview and send attorney Francis LeBon to question Will’s motives.Francis has a special place in his heart for Nic and Louis, who taught him to take pride in himself as a gay man, and he’ll stop at nothing to protect them from a gossipmongering reporter. However, Francis doesn’t expect the reporter’s honesty and genuine determination to exonerate two men falsely accused… or the growing attraction to Will he feels.While visiting with Nic and Louis at their horse training center in France, Will uncovers a web of intrigue, secrets, and old lies, and he unwittingly sets a series of perilous events into motion that not only threaten to destroy his budding relationship with Francis, but Nic and Louis’s decades-long commitment as well.