swap_horiz Hey, Kiddo Alternatives

1

The Mill on the Floss

The Mill on the Floss is a Victorian bildungsroman by George Eliot. It chronicles Maggie Tulliver’s journey of self-disc...

Education Family British Victorian

9.1 Excellent

2

Black Boy

Richard Wright's 1945 autobiographical account of growing up Black under Jim Crow in the South and migrating north, a la...

American 20TH Century Race Autobiographical

9.0 Excellent

3

The Red Badge of Courage

Stephen Crane's 1895 American Civil War novel tracing young Henry Fleming's psychological journey from romantic illusion...

American 19TH Century Courage War

8.9 Great

4

The House on Mango Street

Sandra Cisneros's 1984 American novel-in-vignettes following Chicana teenager Esperanza Cordero's coming-of-age in a Chi...

American 20TH Century Immigration Female Protagonist

8.7 Great

5

Bastard Out of Carolina

1992 debut novel by Dorothy Allison about a girl nicknamed Bone enduring poverty and abuse in South Carolina; a finalist...

American Contemporary Female Protagonist Trauma

8.5 Great

6

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

1976 Newbery Medal–winning novel by Mildred D. Taylor following a Black landowning family in 1930s Mississippi as they r...

American Family Historical Fiction Race

8.3 Great

7

Goodbye, Columbus

1959 debut by Philip Roth comprising a novella and five stories examining Jewish-American identity in New Jersey; the co...

American 20TH Century Identity Jewish American

8.3 Great

8

The Song of the Lark

Willa Cather's 1915 American novel tracing singer Thea Kronborg's artistic coming-of-age from a small Colorado town to o...

American 20TH Century Female Protagonist Artistic Growth

8.2 Great

9

Bless Me, Ultima

Rudolfo Anaya's 1972 Chicano novel set in post-WWII New Mexico, tracing young Antonio Márez's spiritual and cultural com...

American Identity Spirituality Chicano

8.2 Great

10

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963

1995 Newbery Honor novel by Christopher Paul Curtis about a Black family's drive from Flint, Michigan to Birmingham, Ala...

American Historical Fiction Race Ya

8.2 Great

11

My Name Is Asher Lev

1972 novel by Chaim Potok following a Brooklyn Hasidic boy whose compulsion to become a painter creates an irreconcilabl...

American 20TH Century Religion Artistic Growth

8.1 Great

12

Bud, Not Buddy

1999 novel by Christopher Paul Curtis, winner of the 2000 Newbery Medal, about a Black orphan in Depression-era Michigan...

American Family Race Depression Era

8.1 Great

13

Patron Saints of Nothing

2019 YA novel by Randy Ribay about a Filipino-American teenager who travels to the Philippines to uncover the truth behi...

American Identity Philippines Ya

8.1 Great

14

Walk Two Moons

1994 novel by Sharon Creech, winner of the 1995 Newbery Medal, about a girl traveling cross-country with her grandparent...

American Identity Grief Ya

8.0 Great

15

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

1958 novel by Elizabeth George Speare set in 1687 Puritan Connecticut, winner of the 1959 Newbery Medal, about a Caribbe...

American Female Protagonist Historical Fiction Colonial

7.9 Good

16

The Raven Boys

2012 first entry in Maggie Stiefvater's Raven Cycle YA series, set in Virginia, following a psychic's daughter and four...

Fantasy American Identity Ya

7.9 Good

17

Johnny Tremain

1943 novel by Esther Forbes, winner of the 1944 Newbery Medal, following a silversmith's apprentice swept into the Ameri...

American Coming Of Age Historical Fiction Revolution

7.7 Good

18

American Street

2017 YA debut novel by Ibi Zoboi about a Haitian-American girl adjusting to life in Detroit after her mother is detained...

American Immigration Identity Ya

7.4 Good

19

Anna and the French Kiss

2010 debut YA novel by Stephanie Perkins about an American senior sent to a Paris boarding school who falls for a charmi...

American Romance Identity Perkins

6.9 Fair

20

Internment

2019 YA novel by Samira Ahmed set in a near-future United States where a Muslim-American teenager leads resistance from...

American Dystopian Identity Ya

6.6 Fair