Book Finder

Did you ever wonder what an author was thinking when they wrote their book? Explore the quirky back-stories of the world’s most famous 50 books.

“After running away from a group home, 17-year-old Kidd Ellison sets up camp at a beach, where he is put to work by Mr. Red, an aging surfer who runs a maintenance shop. Hardworking and handsome, if somewhat slow, Kidd begins to make friends with some of the camp’s teens, especially Olivia, a blond beauty who wears a ski cap that covers part of her face regardless of the weather. Then Devon, Kidd’s former best friend and nemesis, finds Kidd and threatens to destroy the peaceful life that he has fallen into.” — Booklist

Rue, a Black teen from inner-city Houston, learns to use her ancestral magic to protect her sister and her East Row neighborhood and bring the truth about the origins of magic to the people of Ghizon.

Lia and Cassie are both “wintergirls” — frozen in bodies and minds that strive for the impossible. Cassie’s death — was it accidental or suicide? — haunts Lia in this plausible, evocative, and unforgettable look at eating disorders.

Based on his autobiography, this novel in verse follows the life of Nicaraguan author Rubén Darío from his abandonment by his mother to his early fame as the Poet Boy of Central America to his growth as an artist and person as he traveled the world. (Also available in Spanish as Con una estrella en la mano: Rubén Darío.)

A coming-of-age story for one of the world’s greatest superhero: Wonder Woman. But first she is Diana, Princess of the Amazons. And her fight is just beginning… Diana longs to prove herself to her legendary warrior sisters. But when the opportunity finally comes, she throws away her chance at glory and breaks Amazon law—risking exile—to save a mere mortal.

Seventeen-year-old Bo has always had delusions that he can travel through time. When he was ten, Bo claimed to have witnessed the Titanic hit an iceberg, and at fifteen, he found himself on a Civil War battlefield, horrified by the bodies surrounding him. So when his concerned parents send him to a school for troubled youth, Bo assumes he knows the truth: that he’s actually attending Berkshire Academy, a school for kids who, like Bo, have “superpowers.”

At Berkshire, Bo falls in love with Sofia, a quiet girl with a tragic past and the superpower of invisibility. Sofia helps Bo open up in a way he never has before. In turn, Bo provides comfort to Sofia, who lost her mother and two sisters at a very young age. 

But even the strength of their love isn’t enough to help Sofia escape her deep depression. After she commits suicide, Bo is convinced that she’s not actually dead. He believes that she’s stuck somewhere in time — that he somehow left her in the past, and now it’s his job to save her.  

Using a complicated literary format (heroic crown of sonnets) and wrenching subject matter (the lynching of Emmett Till) poet Marilyn Nelson creates a work of complete beauty. Each of the 15 sonnets feature a part of Till’s story, using imagery and metaphor rather than straightforward graphic language. The illustrations by Philippe Lardy are a lovely complement to the poetry.

One morning before school, someone tells Piddy Sanchez that Yaqui Delgado hates her and wants to “kick her ass.” Piddy doesn’t even know who Yaqui is, never mind what she’s done to get her attention. But as the harassment escalates, avoiding Yaqui and her gang starts to take over Piddy’s life. Is there any way for Piddy to survive without closing herself off or running away? In an all-too-realistic novel dealing head-on with bullying, Meg Medina draws upon her own experiences to portray a sympathetic heroine who is forced to decide who she really is. Winner Pura Belpré award.

Teenage Rayona is abandoned by her parents and goes to live with her grandmother, called Aunt Ida, on the reservation where her Mother was raised. Three generations of Native American women are beautifully portrayed in the audiobook by Dorris and acclaimed narrator Rosenblat.

Five girls. Three generations. One great American love story. You Bring the Distant Near explores sisterhood, first loves, friendship, and the inheritance of culture — for better or worse. Ranee, worried that her children are losing their Indian culture; Sonia, wrapped up in a forbidden biracial love affair; Tara, seeking the limelight to hide her true self; Shanti, desperately trying to make peace in the family; Anna, fighting to preserve her Bengali identity. Award-winning author Mitali Perkins weaves together a sweeping story of five women at once intimately relatable and yet entirely new. Winner of the Walter Dean Myers Honor Award for Young Adult Literature.

You Say It First is a propulsive, layered novel about how sometimes the person who has the least in common with us can be the one who changes us most.

When her music scholarship falls through, Black teen Liz Lighty is forced to turn to her school’s scholarship for prom king and queen, which plunges her into the gauntlet of social media which she hates and leads her to discoveries about her own identity and the value of true friendships.

In 1991, during Cuba’s el período especial en tiempos de paz — the special period in times of peace — Liana and Amado find love after their severe hunger gives both courage to risk government retribution by skipping a summer of labor to seek food.