Books like 'The Grass Dancer'
Readers who enjoyed The Grass Dancer by Susan Power also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical fantasy 20th century historical-fiction magical-realism indigenous-mc literary-fiction realistic poc-mc coming-of-age
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The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 72 ratings“Spectacular...an absorbing and distinguished work...The House of the Spirits...is a unique achievement, both personal witness and possible allegory of the past, present, and future of Latin America...Categorized as:
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Boy's Life by Robert McCammon
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsAn Alabama boy’s innocence is shaken by murder and madness in the 1960s South in this novel by the New York Times–bestselling author of Swan Song. It’s 1964 in idyllic Zephyr, Alabama. People either work for the paper mill up the Tecumseh River, or for the local dairy. It’s a simple life, but it stirs the impressionable imagination of twelve-year-old aspiring writer Cory Mackenson...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction magic magical-realism paranormal -
The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges, Erik Desmazieres
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsJorge Luis Borges's famous 1941 meditation on language, alphabets, and the library that contains all knowledge is an allegory of our Universe, and in this edition is complemented and enhanced by the etching of the French artist, Érik Desmazières... -
The Hollow Hills by Mary Stewart
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsKeeping watch over the young Arthur Pendragon, the prince and prophet Merlin Ambrosius is haunted by dreams of the magical sword Caliburn, which has been hidden for centuries. When Uther Pendragon is killed in battle, the time of destiny is at hand, and Arthur must claim the fabled sword to become the true High King of Britain...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age high-school historical-fiction literary-fiction magic myths paranormal -
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The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsJo, Bessie and Fanny take their cousin Rick on an adventure he'll never forget to the magic Faraway Tree, where he meets Moon-Face, Silky the fairy and Saucepan Man, and visits all the different lands at the top of the Faraway Tree...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age family literary-fiction magic magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure -
The Aleph by Jorge Luis Borges
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsTranslation to English of the Spanish short story "El Aleph", originally published in 1945...Categorized as:
classics magical-realism literary-fiction university fiction fantasy 20th-century anthologies -
This I Know by Eldonna Edwards
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsSet in a small Midwest town in the late 1960s and helmed by an unforgettable young protagonist—compassionate, uncannily wise Grace—This I Know is a luminous coming-of-age story from an astonishing new voice. Eleven-year-old Grace Carter has a talent for hiding things... -
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 89 ratingsIn this beloved story, readers travel with Mary Lennox, a spoiled and sullen orphan, from colonial India to Misselthwaite Manor, a forbidding estate on the Yorkshire moors. There, in the unlikeliest of places, Mary discovers and helps restore an abandoned garden and, in the process, blossoms herself into a creature of loving kindness...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age family historical-fiction industrial-era literary-fiction magic paranormal -
The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsFifth century Britain is a country of chaos and division after the Roman withdrawal. This is the world of young Merlin, the illegitimate child of a South Wales princess who will not reveal to her son his father's true identity. Yet Merlin is an extraordinary child, aware at the earliest age that he possesses a great natural gift - the Sight...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age high-school historical-fiction magic magical-realism myths paranormal -
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 100 ratingsPeter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy find their way through an old wardrobe into the world of Narnia. There, they unite with Aslan to fight the White Witch and save Narnia from perpetual Darkness...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction magic myths paranormal -
The Garden of Forking Paths by Jorge Luis Borges, George Guidall
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"The Garden of Forking Paths" (original Spanish title: "El jardín de senderos que se bifurcan") is the title story in the collection El jardín de senderos que se bifurcan (1941), which was republished in its entirety in Ficciones (Fictions) in 1944... -
The House of Asterion by Jorge Luis Borges
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOne of Borges's shortest stories, The House of Asterion was written over a period of two days. The story explores themes of death, redemption, and the nature of monstrosity. Its narrative style has been referred to as a "literary puzzle", with the narrator's identity not fully revealed until the end of the story... -
The Forest Song by Lesia Ukrainka
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratings"The Forest song" - drama-fairy-tale in three acts. The play, which became a masterpiece of Ukrainian drama, was written in 1911. It was first put on stage on November 22, 1918 at the Kyiv Drama Theater. The product is one of the first prototypes of fantasy in Ukrainian literature. The original drama of the poet is published in two languages in one book - in Ukrainian and in English... -
Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 53 ratingsIn this timeless tale of two mortal princesses- one beautiful and one unattractive- C.S. Lewis reworks the classical myth of Cupid and Psyche into an enduring piece of contemporary fiction. This is the story of Orual, Psyche's embittered and ugly older sister, who posessively and harmfully loves Psyche...Categorized as:
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The Lightning Queen by Laura Resau
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen Esma and her caravan come to Teo's Oaxacan village in the mid-1900's, she sparks new ideas and life. Can the two friends make their impossible fortune come true and save each other when no one else can? Historical fiction meets magical realism in this award-winning middle-grade novel by acclaimed author Laura Resau...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction indigenous-mc magic magical-realism paranormal poc-mc -
The Philosopher's War by Tom Miller
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe second book in the thrilling series that began with The Philosopher’s Flight finds Robert Canderelli Weekes as a rookie Rescue and Evacuation flier on the front lines of World War I in France. He came to save lives, but has no idea how far he’ll have to go to win the war... -
Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsDoro is an entity who changes bodies like clothes, killing his hosts by reflex--or design. He fears no one--until he meets Anyanwu. Anyanwu has also died many times. She can absorb bullets and make medicine with a kiss, give birth to tribes, nurture and heal, and savage anyone who threatens those she loves. She fears no one--until she meets Doro...Categorized as:
classics family historical-fiction literary-fiction magic magical-realism paranormal poc-mc -
The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsIn Berlin in 1941 during humanity's darkest hour, three unforgettable young women must act with courage and love to survive, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Dovekeepers and The Marriage of Opposites Alice Hoffman. In Berlin, at the time when the world changed, Hanni Kohn knows she must send her twelve-year-old daughter away to save her from the Nazi regime...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction magic magical-realism myths paranormal -
Wise Child by Monica Furlong
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsIn a remote Scottish village, nine-year-old Wise Child is taken in by Juniper, a healer and sorceress. Then Wise Child's mother, Maeve, a black witch, reappears. In choosing between Maeve and Juniper, Wise Child discovers the extent of her supernatural powers - and her true loyalties...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age family historical-fiction magic magical-realism myths paranormal -
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 53 ratingsProbably García Márquez finest and most famous work. One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of a mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendia family. Inventive, amusing, magnetic, sad, alive with unforgettable men and women, and with a truth and understanding that strike the soul...Categorized as:
classics family high-school historical-fiction literary-fiction magic magical-realism paranormal -
The Changeling by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIvy Carson belonged to the notorious Carson family, which lived in a run-down house in suburban Rosewood. But Ivy was not a typical Carson. There was something wonderful about her. Ivy explained it by saying that she was a changeling, a child of supernatural parents who had been exchanged for the real Ivy Carson at birth. This classic book was first published in 1970...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age family magic magical-realism realistic 20th-century action-adventure -
Russian Short Stories from Pushkin to Buida by Robert Chandler, Various
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom the reign of the Tsars in the early 19th century to the collapse of the Soviet Union and beyond, the short story has long occupied a central place in Russian culture... -
The Secrets of Hawthorn Place by Jenni Keer
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTwo houses, hundreds of miles apart...yet connected always.When life throws Molly Butterfield a curveball, she decides to spend some time with her recently widowed granddad, Wally, at Hawthorn Place, his quirky Victorian house on the Dorset coast...Categorized as:
historical-fiction magical-realism industrial-era family paranormal romance fiction womens-fiction -
People of the Sea by W. Michael Gear, Kathleen O'Neal Gear
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA spellbinding tale of life and love, death and adventure, in North America eleven thousand years ago, when mammoths roamed the continent. Award-winning archaeologists Michael and Kathleen Gear, using the best archaeological information, have created a stunning vision of our pre-history, and of the men and women who lived in this rapidly changing world... -
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Dreamtigers by Jorge Luis Borges
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsDreamtigers has been heralded as one of the literary masterpieces of the twentieth century by Mortimer J. Adler, editor of Great Books of the Western World. It has been acknowledged by its author as his most personal work. Composed of poems, parables, and stories, sketches and apocryphal quotations, Dreamtigers at first glance appears to be a sampleralbeit a dazzling oneof the master's work...Categorized as:
classics literary-fiction magic magical-realism poc-mc 20th-century adult anthologies -
To The Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsSet again in the Alaskan landscape that she brought to stunningly vivid life in The Snow Child, Eowyn Ivey's second novel is a breathtaking story of discovery and adventure, set at the end of the nineteenth century, and of a marriage tested by a closely held secret...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction indigenous-mc industrial-era literary-fiction magic magical-realism myths -
La Maravilla by Alfredo Véa
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"Buckeye Road wasn't much of a town, just a place where a pocked and pitted road met an invisible street....It was less that unincorporated, it was unknown..."Yet it is here in the desert outside the Phoenix city limits that Alfredo Vea, Jr., finds a world of marvels spilling out of the adobe homes, tar-paper shacks, rusted Cadillacs, and battered trailers that are otherwise known as "Buckeye... -
A Glastonbury Romance by John Cowper Powys
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFirst published in 1932, here is John Cowper Powys's masterwork, an epic novel of terrific cumulative force and lyrical intensity...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction literary-fiction myths 20th-century adult arthurian book -
The Woman Who Had Two Navels and Tales of the Tropical Gothic by Nick Joaquín, Gina Apostol
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsNick Joaquin is widely considered one of the greatest Filipino writers, but he has remained little-known outside his home country despite writing in English. With the post-colonial sensibilities of Junot Diaz, Teju Cole, and Jhumpa Lahiri and an ironic perspective of colonial history resonant with Marques and Llosa, Joaquin is a long-neglected writer ready to join the ranks of the world classics... -
Katerina's Wish by Jeannie Mobley
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn this moving debut, an immigrant girl discovers that hard work and determination can make dreams come true.Katerina has a dream. It's her papa's dream, too. Her family came to America to buy their own farm. But a year later, Papa is still working in the dangerous coal mine. Each day, the farm seems farther away.Then Katerina is reminded of the carp that granted three wishes in an old folktale...Categorized as:
family high-school historical-fiction magical-realism myths poc-mc realistic 20th-century -
Cinderella by Amy Ehrlich, Charles Perrault
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsCinderella's transformation from poor girl to princess never fails to captivate young ones, and this stellar retelling, exquisitely illustrated by Susan Jeffers, is a must for every library. When the original version of this book was published in 1985, Publishers Weekly called it "a treasure for all ages," and The New York Times declared, "Fairy-tale aficionados will be mesmerized... -
The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen he found himself unable to find a publisher for his story, author Philip Van Doren Stern printed up copies of the “The Greatest Gift” and gave them out as Christmas cards in 1943. Eventually, the story came to the attention of director Frank Capra, who explained later, “It was the story I had been looking for all my life! A good man, ambitious...Categorized as:
classics family historical-fiction literary-fiction magical-realism 20th-century adult audiobook -
A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power, Susan Power
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe long-awaited, profoundly moving, and unforgettable new novel from PEN Award–winning Native American author Mona Susan Power, spanning three generations of Yanktonai Dakota women from the 19th century to the present day... -
The Disappearances by Emily Bain Murphy
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhat if the ordinary things in life suddenly…disappeared?Aila Quinn’s mother, Juliet, has always been a mystery: vibrant yet guarded, she keeps her secrets beyond Aila’s reach. When Juliet dies, Aila and her younger brother Miles are sent to live in Sterling, a rural town far from home--and the place where Juliet grew up.Sterling is a place with mysteries of its own...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family high-school historical-fiction magic magical-realism paranormal 20th-century -
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The Seven Songs by T.A. Barron
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsTHE SAGA CONTINUES...Merlin has brought hope to Fincayra, the enchanted isle that lies between earth and sky. But Fincayra is still in great danger - and its first victim is Merlin's mother. Merlin's only hope to save her is to master the Seven Songs of Wisdom, but to do that he must defeat an ogre whose merest glance could mean death."A delightfully original story of magic and myth...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age high-school historical-fiction magic myths paranormal 20th-century -
The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz, Mikolaj Dutsch
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsThe Street of Crocodiles in the Polish city of Drogobych is a street of memories and dreams where recollections of Bruno Schulz's uncommon boyhood and of the eerie side of his merchant family's life are evoked in a startling blend of the real and the fantastic... -
Mules And Men by Zora Neale Hurston
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsMules and Men is a treasury of black America's folklore as collected by a famous storyteller and anthropologist who grew up hearing the songs and sermons, sayings and tall tales that have formed an oral history of the South since the time of slavery...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction literary-fiction magic myths poc-mc university 20th-century -
A House Between Sea and Sky by Beth Cato
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn 1920s California, two people in need of healing find strange refuge in a house with a mind of its own in an enthralling fantasy by the author of A Thousand Recipes for Revenge.Grieving Hollywood writer Fayette Wynne arrives in Carmel-by-the-Sea in 1926 to finish her latest project in peace...Categorized as:
historical-fiction magical-realism myths paranormal romance fantasy fiction historical -
Journey to Ixtlan by Carlos Castaneda
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsIn Journey to Ixtlan, Carlos Castaneda introduces readers to this new approach for the first time and explores, as he comes to experience it himself, his own final voyage into the teachings of don Juan, sharing with us what it is like to truly “stop the world” and perceive reality on his own terms... -
People of the River by W. Michael Gear, Kathleen O'Neal Gear
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA gripping new saga of pre-historic America that takes us to the Mississippi Valley and the tribe known as the Mound builders. It is a time of troubles. In Cahokia, the corn crop is failing again and a warchief--and the warrior woman he may never possess--are disgusted by their Chief's lust for tribute. Now even the gods have turned their faces, closing the underworld to the seers... -
Bees in June by Elizabeth Bass Parman
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSet against the optimism and excitement of the first moon landing in the summer of 1969, a feat many said was impossible, one woman struggles to achieve something she thinks is impossible--living a happy and fulfilling life.Rennie King's world isn't at all what she expected when she married the hotshot baseball player from her small town of Spark, Tennessee...Categorized as:
historical-fiction magical-realism family magic literary-fiction paranormal romance audiobook -
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Fleming, John Burningham
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhen an inventor brings home an old racing car and rebuilds it, the family gets more than they counted on--because the car has some hidden talents of her own. The family's jaunt to France gets the children kidnapped and involved in a counterfeiting plot.. -
The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTally Hamilton is furious to hear she is being sent from London to a horrid, stuffy boarding school in the countryside. And all because of the stupid war. But Delderton Hall is a far more" "unusual and " interesting" place than Tally ever imagined, and she soon falls in love with its eccentric staff and pupils. Now she's even organizing an exciting school trip to the kingdom of Bergania . .Categorized as:
coming-of-age family high-school historical-fiction magic paranormal poc-mc realistic -
I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem by Maryse Condé, Angela Y. Davis
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"Stunning... Maryse Condé's imaginative subversion of historical records forms a critique of contemporary American society and its ingrained racism and sexism." —THE BOSTON SUNDAY GLOBEAt the age of seven, Tituba watched as her mother was hanged for daring to wound a plantation owner who tried to rape her...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction literary-fiction magic magical-realism paranormal poc-mc university -
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Damascus Nights by Rafik Schami
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsRafik Schami's award-winning novel. In the classical Arab tradition of tale-telling, here is a magical book that celebrates the power of storytelling, delightfully transformed for modern sensibilities by an award-winning author. The time is present-day Damascus, and Salim the coachman, the city's most famous storyteller, is mysteriously struck dumb... -
The Ice People 33 - Demon of the Night by Margit Sandemo
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratings(Description from the back of the book)SAGAEN OM ISFOLKET - etterkommerne til den onde Tengel, som hadde inngått en pakt med djevelen...Han var Tamlin, nattens demon, sendt av Tengel den onde for å spionere på Isfolket. Han oppsøkte dem i deres mareritt og fralistet dem deres planer for fremtiden... -
Above Us Only Sky by Michele Young-Stone
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom the author of The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors, which Library Journal called, “ripe for Oprah or fans of Elizabeth Berg or Anne Tyler,” comes a magical novel about a family of women separated by oceans, generations, and war, but connected by something much greater—the gift of wings.On March 29, 1973, Prudence Eleanor Vilkas was born with a pair of wings molded to her back... -
The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsA landmark new translation of a Calvino classic, a whimsical, spirited novel that imagines a life lived entirely on its own terms Cosimo di Rondó, a young Italian nobleman of the eighteenth century, rebels against his parents by climbing into the trees and remaining there for the rest of his life... -
The Song of the Blue Bottle Tree by India Hayford
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDisguised by years in exile and a name she found on a gravestone, an unconventional young woman returns to her childhood home in rural 1967 Arkansas in this hauntingly visceral Southern tale of desperate choices, found family, folk magic and noisy ghosts. Genevieve Charbonneau talks to ghosts and has a special relationship with rattlesnakes... -
Once and Forever: The Tales of Kenji Miyazawa by Kenji Miyazawa
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe magic of Miyazawa's tales reaches out to people of all ages and lands. The sophisticated reader can savor them consciously as literature, while the younger reader can delight in them as imaginative stories that comment on and deepen his own experience. The underlying themes are universal, but the forms and treatment can be appreciated at many levels and vary subtly from piece to piece...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction literary-fiction magical-realism myths 20th-century adult animals
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