Books like 'Some Kind of Courage'
Readers who enjoyed Some Kind of Courage by Dan Gemeinhart also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical action / adventure mystery historical-fiction animals realistic family friendship children western
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Heck's Journey by John Deacon
Rated: 4.61 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAn epic tale of strength, compassion, and adventure on the western frontier.Orphaned at fourteen, Hector “Heck” Martin heads west, determined to see the far country and make a man of himself.Along the way, he falls in love with bold and beautiful Hope Mullen. But Heck is too young and poor to marry, so he heads west again...Categorized as:
western historical-fiction coming-of-age industrial-era romance fiction mystery historical -
This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsIn the summer of 1932, on the banks of Minnesota's Gilead River, the Lincoln Indian Training School is a pitiless place where Native American children, forcibly separated from their parents, are sent to be educated. It is also home to Odie O’Banion, a lively orphan boy whose exploits constantly earn him the superintendent’s wrath...Categorized as:
children coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction indigenous-mc journey outdoors -
I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys
Rated: 4.51 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsRomania, 1989. Communist regimes are crumbling across Europe. Seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu dreams of becoming a writer, but Romanians aren’t free to dream; they are bound by rules and force. Amidst the tyrannical dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu in a country governed by isolation and fear, Cristian is blackmailed by the secret police to become an informer... -
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsIn their remote mountain village, Li-yan and her family align their lives around the seasons and the farming of tea. For the Akha people, ensconced in ritual and routine, life goes on as it has for generations—until a stranger appears at the village gate in a jeep, the first automobile any of the villagers has ever seen...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction journey poc-mc realistic survival -
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The Orphan Keeper by Camron Wright
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsBased on a remarkable true story of Taj Rowland. Seven-year-old Chellamuthu's life is forever changed when he is kidnapped from his village in India, sold to a Christian orphanage, and then adopted by an unsuspecting couple in the United States. It takes months before the boy can speak enough English to tell his parents that he already has a family back in India...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction journey realistic action-adventure audiobook -
Centennial by James A. Michener
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 31 ratings"Michener is America's best writer, and he proves it once again in CENTENNIAL."THE PITTSBURGH PRESSA stunning panorama of the West, CENTENNIAL is an enthralling celebration of our country, brimming with the glory and the greatness of the American past that only bestselling author James Michener could bring to stunning life...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction indigenous-mc industrial-era male-mc outdoors poc-mc western -
Ride the Wind by Lucia St. Clair Robson
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn 1836, when she was nine years old, Cynthia Ann Parker was kidnapped by Comanche Indians. This is the story of how she grew up with them, mastered their ways, married one of their leaders, and became, in every way, a Comanche woman. It is also the story of a proud and innocent people whose lives pulsed with the very heartbeat of the land. It is the story of a way of life that is gone forever...Categorized as:
animals family historical-fiction horses indigenous-mc industrial-era poc-mc realistic -
Lake in the Clouds by Sara Donati
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsLake in the CloudsIn her extraordinary novels Into the Wilderness and Dawn on a Distant Shore, award-winning author Sara Donati deftly captured the vast, untamed wilds of late-eighteenth-century New York and the trials and triumphs of the spirited Bonner family...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction indigenous-mc industrial-era outdoors poc-mc western action-adventure -
Louisiana's Way Home by Kate DiCamillo
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom two-time Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo comes a story of discovering who you are — and deciding who you want to be.When Louisiana Elefante’s granny wakes her up in the middle of the night to tell her that the day of reckoning has arrived and they have to leave home immediately, Louisiana isn’t overly worried. After all, Granny has many middle-of-the-night ideas... -
Pony by R.J. Palacio
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA story about a boy on a quest to rescue his father, with only a ghost as his companion, and a mysterious pony as his guide.Twelve-year-old Silas is awoken in the dead of night by three menacing horsemen who take his father away. Silas is left shaken, scared, and alone, except for the presence of his companion, Mittenwool . . . who happens to be a ghost...Categorized as:
animals anthropomorphism children coming-of-age family friendship grief historical-fiction -
Listen to the Moon by Michael Morpurgo, Mike Grady
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe stunning new novel of World War One from Michael Morpurgo, the nation’s favourite storyteller and multi-million copy bestseller. May, 1915. Alfie and his fisherman father find a girl on an uninhabited island in the Scillies - injured, thirsty, lost…and with absolutely no memory of who she is, or how she came to be there. She can say only one word: Lucy... -
The Poacher’s Daughter: A Western Story by Michael Zimmer
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsThe Poacher’s Daughter is an extraordinary story of betrayal and redemption, set within an uncompromising landscape of raw brutality and unimaginable beauty. In 1885 young Rose Edwards is widowed by Montana vigilantes who hang her husband for an alleged theft, then burn her Yellowstone Valley cabin to the ground as a warning for her and others of her kind to quit the territory...Categorized as:
historical-fiction western indigenous-mc industrial-era poc-mc fiction audiobook action-adventure -
They Went Left by Monica Hesse
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsGermany, 1945. The soldiers who liberated the Gross-Rosen concentration camp said the war was over, but nothing feels over to eighteen-year-old Zofia Lederman. Her body has barely begun to heal; her mind feels broken... -
Traitor's Chase by Stuart Gibbs
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsGreg Rich is beginning to get the hang of things in 1615 Paris. Having assumed the identity of a young D'Artagnan, Greg united the legendary three Musketeers and succeeded in freeing his parents from a dank prison cell. But he hasn't figured out how to get home. Or how to defeat the dangerous Michel Dinicoeur...Categorized as:
children family friendship historical-fiction male-mc quest action-adventure audiobook -
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Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsSent in 1910 to live with distant relatives who own a rubber plantation along the Amazon River, English orphan Maia is excited. She believes she is in for brightly colored macaws, enormous butterflies, and "curtains of sweetly scented orchids trailing from the trees." Her British classmates warn her of man-eating alligators and wild, murderous Indians... -
Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsMatt Cruse is a cabin boy on the Aurora, a huge airship that sails hundreds of feet above the ocean, ferrying wealthy passengers from city to city. It is the life Matt's always wanted; convinced he's lighter than air, he imagines himself as buoyant as the hydrium gas that powers his ship. One night he meets a dying balloonist who speaks of beautiful creatures drifting through the skies...Categorized as:
animals children coming-of-age friendship historical-fiction industrial-era male-mc survival -
More Adventures of the Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald, Mercer Mayer
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsHas Tom, a.k.a. the Great Brain, given up his con-artist ways for a bicycle? Not for long. Soon the Great Brain is back to his old tricks, swindling and trading, even convincing the whole town there's a prehistoric monster on the loose. But when someone robs the bank, even the police are stumped...Categorized as:
children family historical-fiction industrial-era realistic western action-adventure audiobook -
Sooley by John Grisham
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsNew York Times bestselling author John Grisham takes you to a different kind of court in his first basketball novel. Samuel "Sooley" Sooleymon is a raw, young talent with big hoop dreams...and even bigger challenges off the court...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction male-mc realistic sad action-adventure -
Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsLondon, 1876 and Hetty Feather is just a tiny baby when her mother leaves her at the Foundling Hospital. The Hospital cares for abandoned children - but Hetty must first live with a foster family until she is big enough to go to school.Life in the countryside is hard but with her 'brothers' Jem and Gideon, she helps in the fields and plays imaginary games...Categorized as:
children coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction industrial-era realistic 21st-century -
Fire the Sky by W. Michael Gear, Kathleen O'Neal Gear
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsNew York Times bestselling novelists W. Michael and Kathleen O’Neal Gear have long been considered the foremost chroniclers of early Native American life. Now, in a critically acclaimed, sweeping new series, they recreate the conflict-filled years following one of the first European invasions...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction indigenous-mc industrial-era poc-mc western action-adventure adult -
Sackett's Land by Louis L'Amour, John Curless
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAfter discovering six gold Roman coins buried in the mud of the Devil’s Dyke, Barnabas Sackett enthusiastically invests in goods that he will offer for trade in America. But Sackett has a powerful enemy: Rupert Genester, nephew of an earl, wants him dead. A battlefield promise made to Sackett’s father threatens Genester’s inheritance...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction indigenous-mc industrial-era poc-mc survival western 20th-century -
The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald, Mercer Mayer
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe best con man in the Midwest is only ten years old. Tom, a.k.a., the Great Brain, is a silver-tongued genius with a knack for turning a profit. When the Jenkins boys get lost in Skeleton Cave, the Great Brain saves the day...Categorized as:
children family friendship historical-fiction industrial-era realistic western 20th-century -
The Return of Kid Cooper by Brad Smith
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsThe year is 1910. Nate Cooper is an old-school cowboy who has spent nearly thirty years in a Montana prison of a wrongful life sentence for a false murder conviction. Nate's moral compass is true and unwavering: he does all the wrong things for all the right reasons. Upon his release he learns that the turn of the century has brought great change--none of it good...Categorized as:
historical-fiction western friendship animals indigenous-mc industrial-era poc-mc north-america -
Out of the Embers (Mesquite Springs (1)) by Amanda Cabot
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTen years after her parents were killed, Evelyn Radcliffe is once more homeless. The orphanage that was her refuge and later her workplace has burned to the ground, and only she and a young orphan girl have escaped...Categorized as:
children family historical-fiction industrial-era western action-adventure adult audiobook -
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A Distance Too Grand by Regina Scott
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMeg Pero has been assisting her photographer father since she was big enough to carry his equipment, so when he dies she is determined to take over his profession--starting with fulfilling the contract he signed to serve on an Army survey of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in 1871. What she doesn't realize is that the leader of the expedition is none other than the man she once refused to marry...Categorized as:
animals family grief historical-fiction horses industrial-era western action-adventure -
The Vanishing by Christopher Holt
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen all the humans in his world disappear, Max, a yellow Labrador Retriever, begins the search for his family. He knows that if he can just find Madame Curie, a wise, old black Lab, she'll be able to help. Madame had a premonition of astonishing events to come -- she might know where Max's family is.But Max can't make the journey alone...Categorized as:
animals anthropomorphism children friendship industrial-era survival western action-adventure -
The 1000 Year Old Boy by Ross Welford
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA heartstopping, poignant, epic adventure story about a boy destined to live forever, who only wants to grow up. Without death, life is just existence.Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live forever? Well, Alfie Monk can tell you... -
Jubal Sackett: The Sacketts by Louis L'Amour
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn Jubal Sackett, the second generation of Louis L’Amour’s great American family pursues a destiny in the wilderness of a sprawling new land. Jubal Sackett’s urge to explore drove him westward, and when a Natchez priest asks him to undertake a nearly impossible quest, Sackett ventures into the endless grassy plains the Indians call the Far Seeing Lands...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction indigenous-mc industrial-era poc-mc western 20th-century action-adventure -
The Way of the Warrior by Chris Bradford
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsAugust 1611. Jack Fletcher is shipwrecked off the coast of Japan - his beloved father and the crew lie slaughtered by ninja pirates.Rescued by the legendary sword master Masamoto Takeshi, Jack's only hope is to become a samurai warrior. And so his training begins.But life at the samurai school is a constant fight for survival...Categorized as:
children coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction male-mc poc-mc realistic -
The Box-Car Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsThe Boxcar Children is a children's literary franchise originally created and written by American writer and first-grade school teacher,[1] Gertrude Chandler Warner. Today, the series includes well over 100 titles. The series is aimed at readers in grades 2-6...Categorized as:
animals children coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction realistic survival -
Butcher's Crossing by John Williams
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn his National Book Award–winning novel Augustus, John Williams uncovered the secrets of ancient Rome. With Butcher’s Crossing, his fiercely intelligent, beautifully written western, Williams dismantles the myths of modern America.It is the 1870s, and Will Andrews, fired up by Emerson to seek “an original relation to nature,” drops out of Harvard and heads west...Categorized as:
animals coming-of-age historical-fiction indigenous-mc industrial-era outdoors poc-mc survival -
Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhen Michael is washed up on an island in the Pacific after falling from his parent's yacht, the Peggy Sue, he struggles to survive on his own. But he soon realises there is someone close by, someone who is watching over him and helping him to stay alive...Categorized as:
animals children coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction journey outdoors -
Dark Waters by Christopher Holt, Jeff Sampson
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsHaving narrowly escaped a pack of vicious wolves, canine heroes Max, Rocky, and Gizmo are happy to find a moment of peace as they travel down the mighty river. Soon, the trio come across a lavish boat moored close to shore. They're wary of facing another community of dogs, but when they climb on board, they discover that things are different on this ship...Categorized as:
animals anthropomorphism children friendship industrial-era survival western 21st-century -
The Long Road by Christopher Holt, Jeff Sampson
Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsA science experiment gone horribly awry has granted Max, Rocky, and Gizmo the unique ability to read and understand human words. Armed with this know-how, they continue to journey south, on the lookout for beacons planted by a trusted friend's owner -- beacons that promise to lead the trio to their people. When the companions reach the ocean's edge they find a free-spirited beachfront community...Categorized as:
animals anthropomorphism children friendship industrial-era survival western action-adventure -
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People of the Morning Star by W. Michael Gear, Kathleen O'Neal Gear
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAward-winning archaeologists and New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear begin the stunning saga of the North American equivalent of ancient Rome in People of the Morning Star. The city of Cahokia, at its height, covered more than six square miles around what is now St. Louis and included structures more than ten stories high... -
Sullivan by Linda Winstead Jones, Linda Devlin
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEden Rourke bravely makes her way toward Rock Creek, Texas, determined to join the only family she has left. Her brother, Jed. As she’s making her way through a small town she finds herself rescuing a man who’s badly outnumbered and being beaten by ruffians...Categorized as:
historical-fiction indigenous-mc industrial-era poc-mc western action-adventure adult book -
Addison Cooke and the Treasure of the Incas by Jonathan W. Stokes
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSmooth-talking, refined twelve-year-old Addison Cooke loves a grand adventure, especially one that involves using his vast knowledge of history and archaeology, learned from his aunt and uncle, both world-famous researchers. If that adventure includes an expertly-knotted Windsor tie and an Arnold Palmer on the rocks, all the better.Luckily for Addison, adventure has a way of finding the Cookes... -
A Lone Star Christmas by William W. Johnstone, J.A. Johnstone
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSmoke Jensen, Matt Jensen, Falcon And Duff Maccallister—Together For The First Time They just wanted to get home for Christmas. . .but fate had other plans. It's December 1890. A Texas rancher named Big Jim Conyers has a deal with Scottish-born, Wyoming cattleman named Duff MacAllister...Categorized as:
animals historical-fiction horses industrial-era male-mc survival western action-adventure -
The Renegade Wife by Caroline Warfield
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBetrayal by his cousin and the woman he loved may have made Rand Wheatly crave solitude, but his heart isn’t as hard as he likes to pretend. When he discovers that the squatters in his house include sick and injured children, he lets them stay.Meggy Campeau is harboring a secret, but she’ll do whatever it takes to keep her children safe...Categorized as:
historical-fiction western industrial-era romance historical fiction mystery action-adventure -
Moonlocket by Peter Bunzl
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIt’s hard to escape the secrets from the past. Storm clouds gather over Lily and Robert’s summer when criminal mastermind the Jack of Diamonds appears. Jack is searching for the mysterious Moonlocket—but that’s not the only thing he’s after. Suddenly, dark secrets from Robert’s past plunge him into danger. Jack is playing a cruel game that Robert is wrapped up in...Categorized as:
children family friendship historical-fiction industrial-era action-adventure audiobook book -
Lemons by Melissa Savage
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe search for Bigfoot gets juicy in this funny and touching story that’s perfect for fans of Kate DiCamillo’s Flora & Ulysses and Katherine Applegate’s Crenshaw! Lemonade Liberty Witt’s mama always told her: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade... -
The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had by Kristin Levine
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe last thing Harry "Dit" Sims expects when Emma Walker comes to town is to become friends. Proper -talking, brainy Emma doesn't play baseball or fish too well, but she sure makes Dit think, especially about the differences between black and white. But soon Dit is thinking about a whole lot more when the town barber, who is black, is put on trial for a terrible crime...Categorized as:
children coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction poc-mc realistic action-adventure -
The Boxcar Children Beginning: The Aldens of Fair Meadow Farm by Patricia MacLachlan
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBefore they were the Boxcar Children, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden lived with their parents at Fair Meadow Farm. Although times are hard, the Aldens are happy--"the best family of all," Mama likes to say. One day, a blizzard hits the countryside, and a car is stranded on the road near their farm...Categorized as:
historical-fiction realistic children family animals children-books fiction middle-grade -
Epitaph by Mary Doria Russell
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMary Doria Russell, the bestselling, award-winning author of The Sparrow, makes her Ecco debut with Epitaph—an American Iliad, this richly detailed and meticulously researched historical novel continues the story she began in Doc, following Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday to Tombstone, Arizona, and to the gunfight at the O.K. CorralA deeply divided nation. Vicious politics...Categorized as:
family friendship historical-fiction industrial-era survival western 21st-century action-adventure -
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Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe moon is missing from the remote Village of Clear Sky, but only a young boy named Rendi seems to notice! Rendi has run away from home and is now working as a chore boy at the village inn... -
Airman by Eoin Colfer
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsOne dark night on the island of Great Saltee, fourteen-year-old Conor is framed for a terrible crime he didn’t commit. Thrown into prison by the dastardly Hugo Bonvilain, Conor is trapped in a seaswept dungeon and branded a traitor. He must escape and clear his name; he wants his old life back – his family, his friends . . . and his princess.Conor knows there is only one way out...Categorized as:
children coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction industrial-era male-mc realistic -
Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA haunting novel about identity, love, and loss by the author of Three Day RoadWill Bird is a legendary Cree bush pilot, now lying in a coma in a hospital in his hometown of Moose Factory, Ontario. His niece Annie Bird, beautiful and self-reliant, has returned from her own perilous journey to sit beside his bed...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction indigenous-mc outdoors poc-mc 21st-century action-adventure adult -
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsA brave mouse, a covetous rat, a wishful serving girl, and a princess named Pea come together in Kate DiCamillo's Newbery Medal–winning tale.Welcome to the story of Despereaux Tilling, a mouse who is in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea. It is also the story of a rat called Roscuro, who lives in the darkness and covets a world filled with light...Categorized as:
animals anthropomorphism children coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction male-mc -
Rise of the Wolf by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsA powerful amulet. A vengeful goddess. A deadly quest.Nic may have escaped enslavement in the mines outside of Rome, but his troubles are far from over. The Praetor War—the battle to destroy Rome from within—is in full force, and Nic is caught in the crossfire. The secretive Praetors are determined to unlock a powerful amulet—one sure to bring the empire to its knees...Categorized as:
animals children family friendship historical-fiction male-mc survival action-adventure -
The Case of the Measled Cowboy by John R. Erickson
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen Sally May and Loper head off to visit the relatives?leaving Slim in charge of Little Alfred?Hank knows that trouble is sure to come knocking. But not even the Head of Ranch Security could have predicted what would happen next. First, Slim is struck down with the measles. Then a blizzard hits the ranch, trapping them in the house with no heat or electricity...
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