What to Read Next If You Loved Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse as a Kid
Nobody’s perfect, but we all have the power to be better tomorrow than we were yesterday. These tales of forgiveness and redemption remind us that we are better together.
Forget the perfectly behaved children of mid-century children’s books — one of the best things we can show our children is that it’s OK to mess up — and that there are real ways to move on from our mistakes. Lilly is every kid who’s ever been too excited to settle down. Nobody’s perfect, but we all have the power to be better tomorrow than we were yesterday. These tales of forgiveness and redemption remind us that we are better together.
Because of Mr. Terupt
Mr. Terupt’s fifth grade class isn’t like other classrooms — it’s actually fun, and the seven kids whose perspectives shape Because of Mr. Terupt enjoy being there. But when a tragedy changes everything, no one knows how to move forward. How can you be forgiven for something unforgivable? Sometimes it’s weird to ready school-y books like this one with homeschooled kids, but Because of Mr. Terupt is a great reminder of the personal relationship that’s at the heart of good learning — and of our homeschools. (Middle grades)
Bob
Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead teamed up with illustrator Nicholas Gannon for Bob, which would honestly be enough to put this slim volume on my middle grades reading list. Bob has been waiting in the closet for five years for his friend Livy to return — but when she finally does, she’s almost completely forgotten her imaginary friend. This is a lovely meditation on growing up and changing friendships that taps into the essential me-ness at the heart of all us. (Middle grades)
New Kid
Seventh-grader Jordan is the New Kid at his prestigious private school, but being one of the only Black students in a privileged bubble is hard. Being one of the few kids in his neighborhood enrolled at a fancy school is hard, too, and Jordan often feels like he doesn’t fit in anywhere. (Like middle school isn’t hard enough!) One of the best things about this book is how realistic it is: Jordan is about to confront some of the problems with the system, but he can’t dismantle them by himself. (Middle grades)
Ida B... and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World
This book — about a homeschooler! — tackles the tough question of what to do when your whole life falls apart — and you don’t react in the best possible way. Ida B. gets a major life upheaval after her mom’s cancer diagnosis, and it takes time for her to make peace with her new normal. Homeschool characters in middle grades books can be complicated for actual homeschooler, but this one doesn’t feel unrealistic. (Middle grades)
I’ll Give You the Sun
In I’ll Give You the Sun, Noah and Jude have gone from being super-close twin siblings to barely speaking to each other — and they’re both carrying burdens of loss and guilt in the wake a family tragedy. Jude and Noah alternate telling the story of their lives, including a tangle of misunderstandings that must be unraveled for them to move on. (High school)
Early Departures
In Early Departures, Jamal has the chance to make things right with his ex-best friend Q — something he never expected since Q died two years into their estrangement. But thanks to new technology, Q can be reanimated for a short time, and Jamal may be able to make amends. Unsurprisingly, the result is an emotionally heavy book — hopeful but heartrending — so read accordingly. (High school)
Darius the Great Is Not Okay
Darius the Great is not, in fact, okay: He’s about to take his first trip to visit family in Iran, but he fully expects to be as lonely, depressed, and disappointing to everyone in his life as he is at home. Then he meets boy-next-door Sohrab, who turns out to be the friend Darius has been waiting his whole life for. This is a lovely reminder that sometimes we need someone else to really see us before we can find ourselves. (High school)
Autobiography of Red
A reimagining of the myth of Herakles, Autobiography of Red is novel-in-verse from the perspective of Geryon, a winged red monster who is also a boy. Part love story, part bildungsroman, part myth, this is a compact, dense tale that rewards slow reading. (High school)
Cry the Beloved Country
Cry the Beloved Country is a novel about two South Africas and about two men on either side of South Africa’s color line. When Stephen goes to Johannesburg to find his sister and his son, he finds more sorrow and hope than he could have imagined. This is one of the most profound books about the cycle of violence, the effects of systemic justice, and whether hope is enough without action. (We have a reading guide for this one.) (High school)
The 57 Bus
Sasha and Richard were co-passengers for about eight minutes every weekday on The 57 Bus — eight minutes where Sasha’s white, private school life intersected with Richard’s experiences as a Black public high school student in Oakland, California. That eight minutes, though, was long enough to lead to a tragedy that would change both their lives forever. (High school)
A Prayer for Owen Meany
John and Owen are unlikely best friends who grow up together in A Prayer for Owen Meany — gravel-voiced, short-statured, peculiarly superstitious Owen isn’t always an easy friend to have, but John can’t imagine his life without him. (High school)
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