The Silver Star Jeannette Walls Historical Fiction It is 1970 in a small town in California. “Bean” Holladay is twelve and her sister, Liz, is fifteen when their artistic mother, Charlotte, takes off to find herself, leaving her girls enough…
Snow Falling On Cedars David Guterson Historical Fiction San Piedro Island, north of Puget Sound, is a place so isolated that no one who lives there can afford to make enemies. But in 1954 a local fisherman is found suspiciously drowned,…
The Light Between Oceans M.L. Stedman Historical Fiction After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast.…
Moloka’i Alan Brennert Historical Fiction Rachel Kalama, a spirited seven-year-old Hawaiian girl, dreams of visiting far-off lands like her father, a merchant seaman. Then one day a rose-colored mark appears on her skin, and those dreams are stolen from her.…
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Mary Ann Shaffer & Anne Barrows World War II “I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to…
Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen Classics When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself…
The Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas Classics “A piece of perfect storytelling.” — Robert Louis Stevenson. First published in 1844, The Count of Monte Cristo remains one of literature’s greatest adventures. Based on actual events, this sweeping historical romance,…
Janet Eyre Charlotte Brontë Historical Fiction “Jane Eyre” is a classic novel by Charlotte Brontë that follows the life of its orphaned protagonist, Jane Eyre. Set in 19th-century England, the story explores Jane’s experiences as she grows up, faces hardships,…
The Red Tent Anita Diamant Historical Fiction In the Bible, Dinah’s life is only hinted at in a brief and violent detour within the more familiar chapters of the Book of Genesis that tell of her father, Jacob, and his…
The Color Purple Alice Walker Historical Fiction A powerful cultural touchstone of modern American literature, The Color Purpledepicts the lives of African American women in early-twentieth-century rural Georgia. Separated as girls, sisters Celie and Nettie sustain their loyalty to and…