Books like 'Gemma and Sisters'
Readers who enjoyed Gemma and Sisters by Noel Streatfeild also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary 20th century children classics historical-fiction
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Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney, Anita Jeram
Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsThis bestselling storybook--a Publishers Weekly Best Book, an American Bookseller Best Book of the Year, and a Booklist Editors' Choice--is now available in this extra-sized read-aloud picture book. Full color... -
A Ballad for Georg Henig by Viktor Paskov
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe poignant story of an elderly, impoverished violin maker, a master craftsman who refuses to trim his values for the modern age, as seen through the eyes of his young protégé. A best-seller in Bulgaria, this is one of Paskow's major works... -
Hurry Up, Franklin by Paulette Bourgeois
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn this Franklin Classic Storybook, Franklin sets off to Bear's house for a birthday party, but it's far from a straightforward journey. Like most preschoolers, Franklin is a dawdler, slow even for a turtle. The trip becomes an opportunity to play leapfrog with Rabbit, slip and slide in the mud with Otter, and maybe even play hide-and-seek with Fox... -
Captains of the Sands by Jorge Amado
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsLiving by their wits in the steamy slums of Bahia, a gang of orphans and runaways, led by fifteen-year-old "Bullet," spend their time stealing from Brazil's rich and privileged until public outcry demands their capture...Categorized as:
children classics historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book coming-of-age -
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Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsOne evening Harold decided to go for a walk in the moonlight. But there wasn't any moon, and Harold needed a moon for a walk in the moonlight. Fortunately, he had brought his purple crayon. So he drew a moon. He also needed something to walk on. So he drew a path...And thus begins one of the most imaginative and enchanting adventures in all of children's books...Categorized as:
children classics 20th-century action-adventure book children-books contemporary fiction -
Chica Chica Bum Bum ABC by Bill Martin Jr., John Archambault
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 67 ratingsA le dijo a B, y B le dijo a C, --Nos vemos en la copa del cocotero-- So begins the lively alphabet rhyme that children and their parents will love to recite... -
The Short Novels of John Steinbeck by John Steinbeck
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsCollected here for the first time in a deluxe paperback volume are six of John Steinbeck's most widely read and beloved novels...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction 20th-century anthologies contemporary drama fiction literary -
Ours: A Russian Family Album by Sergei Dovlatov
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSergei Dovlatov’s The Compromise (“Fresh and funny!” said Kurt Vonnegut) and The Zone won him acclaim throughout the American literary establishment. His writings in The New Yorker and other prominent periodicals have made him one of the most widely read of Russian émigré authors... -
The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsHere are sixty-one stories that chronicle the lives of what has been called "the greatest generation." From the early wonder and disillusionment of city life in "The Enormous Radio" to the surprising discoveries and common mysteries of suburbia in "The Housebreaker of Shady Hill" and "The Swimmer," Cheever tells us everything we need to know about "the pain and sweetness of life...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction 20th-century adult anthologies contemporary fiction literary -
Selected Stories by Alice Munro
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSpanning almost thirty years and settings that range from big cities to small towns and farmsteads of rural Canada, this magnificent collection brings together twenty-eight stories by a writer of unparalleled wit, generosity, and emotional power...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction 20th-century adult anthologies audiobook contemporary family -
Pierre: A Cautionary Tale in Five Chapters and a Prologue by Maurice Sendak
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsA story with a moral air about Pierre, who learned to care. Young Pierre, whose favorite line is I don't care! changes his mind after meeting a hungry lion. Three-color illustrations... -
The Mixed Up Chameleon by Eric Carle
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe chameleon's life was not very exciting until the day it discovered it could change not only its color but its shape and size,too. When it saw the wonderful animals in the zoo, it immediately wanted to be like them -- and ended up likeall of them at once -- with hilarious results...Categorized as:
children classics 20th-century animals anthropomorphism book children-books contemporary -
The Man Who Planted Trees by Jean Giono
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsSimply written, but powerful and unforgettable, The Man Who Planted Trees is a parable for modern times. In the foothills of the French Alps the narrator meets a shepherd who has quietly taken on the task of planting one hundred acorns a day in an effort to reforest his desolate region. Not even two world wars can keep the shepherd from continuing his solitary work... -
The Grapes of Wrath/The Moon is Down/Cannery Row/East of Eden/Of Mice & Men by John Steinbeck
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Grapes of Wrath / The Moon Is Down / Cannery Row / East of Eden / Of Mice and...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction 20th-century adult anthologies contemporary drama family -
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The Sweet Cheat Gone by Marcel Proust
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsLarge format paper back for easy reading...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook bildungsroman book contemporary -
The Collected Poems, Vol. 2: 1939-1962 by William Carlos Williams
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratings'And when the second and final colume of Williams' 'Collected Poems' is published, it should become even more apparent that he is this century's major American poet... -
Beatles by Lars Saabye Christensen
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBeatles is the story of Kim Karlsen and his three buddies, Gunnar, Ola and Seb - and, yes, they occasionally like to think of themselves as the Fab Four. They were born in 1951, and the story starts with the first wave of Beatlemania in Norway, in the spring of 1965...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction 20th-century audiobook bildungsroman book coming-of-age contemporary -
Father Bear Comes Home by Else Holmelund Minarik
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsWELCOME HOMELittle Bear’s father is finally coming home from a long fishing trip... -
The Black Stallion Returns by Walter Farley
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn this, the second book in the series, the heart-stopping adventures of the Black Stallion continue as Alec discovers that two men are after the Black. One claims to be the Black’s rightful owner and one is trying to kill the beautiful steed. An Arab chieftain proves his ownership of the Black and takes him away, but Alec is determined to find his horse again... -
Barren Lives by Graciliano Ramos
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA vivid chronicle of the solitary life of a peasant family in a harsh and unforgiving land, austerely told by a classic Brazilian writer... -
Novecento by Alessandro Baricco
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe story was made into The Legend of 1900, a 1998 film starring Tim Roth. Told through the eyes of Novecento’s (the greatest pianist who ever played on the ocean) best friend, trumpeter Tim Tooney, Baricco’s virile text echoes heroic fables and great myths, whilst winking at the beautiful and terrible minutiae that makes up life... -
Follow My Leader by James B. Garfield
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAfter Jimmy is blinded in an accident with a firecracker, he has to relearn all the things he used to know. With the help of a determined therapist, he learns to read Braille and to use a cane. Then he's given the chance to have a guide dog. Learning to work with Leader is not easy, but Jimmy tries harder than he ever has before...Categorized as:
children classics historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure animals book children-books -
Island: The Complete Stories by Alistair MacLeod
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe sixteen exquisitely crafted stories in Island prove Alistair MacLeod to be a master. Quietly, precisely, he has created a body of work that is among the greatest to appear in English in the last fifty years.A book-besotted patriarch releases his only son from the obligations of the sea. A father provokes his young son to violence when he reluctantly sells the family horse...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction 20th-century adult anthologies contemporary family fiction -
Malgudi Days by R.K. Narayan
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsFour gems, with new introductions, mark acclaimed Indian writer R. K. Narayan’s centennialIntroducing this collection of stories, R. K. Narayan describes how in India “the writer has only to look out of the window to pick up a character and thereby a story... -
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The Burning Plain and Other Stories by Juan Rulfo
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsA major figure in the history of post-Revolutionary literature in Mexico, Juan Rulfo received international acclaim for his brilliant short novel Pedro Paramo (1955) and his collection of short stories El llano en llamas (1953), translated as a collection here in English for the first time...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction 20th-century adult anthologies contemporary drama fiction -
Tow-Truck Pluck by Annie M.G. Schmidt, David Colmer
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsPluck has a little red tow truck. He drives it all over town looking for a place to live. Then Dolly the pigeon tells him that the tower of the Pill Building is empty. In the Pill Building, Pluck meets Mr. Penn and Zaza the cockroach. Pluck makes lots more friends and solves all kinds of problems. But the biggest problem is Dove Grove...Categorized as:
children classics 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book children-books contemporary -
Upper Fourth at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe girls are in a higher form now. This year there is the tension of exams for the first time, but there is all the fun of the summer term as well - and the high spirits of a lively and imaginative form of girls...Categorized as:
classics children historical-fiction europe british-isles united-kingdom children-books fiction -
Little Red Riding Hood by Trina Schart Hyman
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsEveryone loves the little girl who wears a red-hooded cloak, but no one more than her grandmother. One day, Grandmother gets sick, and Little Red Riding Hood sets out to visit her, carrying a basket of food as a present...Categorized as:
children classics historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure animals audiobook book -
Fully Empowered by Pablo Neruda
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAn engaging and accessible collection that includes some of the Nobel Prize winner's own favorite poems, with the English translations and original Spanish presented on facing pages."The Sea"A single entity, but no blood.A single caress, death or a rose.The sea comes in and puts our lives togetherand attacks alone and spreads itself and singsin nights and days and men and living creatures... -
Lotta's Bike by Astrid Lindgren
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLotta is determined to have a bicycle, and when she hears that her neighbor keeps one in a shed, she decides to take it for a ride. But Lotta learns that not all bicycles are easy to ride! Full-color illustrations...Categorized as:
children classics 20th-century action-adventure book children-books contemporary family -
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing / Superfudge by Judy Blume
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsACE 0330483633 (ISBN13: 9780330483636)Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Superfudge are the first two books about the adventures of the Hatcher family.Peter Hatcher's younger brother Fudge may only be little, but he's one BIG heap of trouble... -
Teresa Batista, Cansada de Guerra by Jorge Amado
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAt thirteen Tereza is sold by her aunt to a ranch owner who treats her like a piece of property, and sexually abuses her. When caught in bed with her lover she defends herself against the ranch owner’s violence with a knife and ends up in jail. Freed by a long-time admirer, she eventually ends up in a brothel... -
The Castle of Adventure by Enid Blyton
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhat is the secret of the old castle on the hill, and why are the locals so afraid of it? When flashing lights are seen in a distant tower, Philip, Dinah, Lucy-Ann, and Jack decide to investigate—and discover a very sinister plot concealed within its hidden rooms and gloomy underground passages...Categorized as:
children classics historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book children-books -
The Dead Girls by Jorge Ibargüengoitia
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThis is the first appearance in English of a Mexican novelist of enormous talent. His brilliant novel is based on fact: the discovery in the yard of a small-town brothel of the corpses of six prostitutes... -
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The Outsiders of Uskoken Castle by Kurt Held, Kurt Held
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsKnown to the people of the town as Zora's Gang and known to themselves as the Uskoken, a group of five homeless youngsters ranged over the countryside near the Adriatic coast in Yugoslavia (Croatia). Sleeping, eating, all everyday concerns were difficult for them, but every day brought new adventure and new challenge...Categorized as:
children classics 20th-century action-adventure book children-books contemporary fiction -
Shadowed Paths by Ivan Bunin
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe collection consists of the best of his early works - Sukhodol, The Last Rendezvous, Apple Fragrance, The Gentleman from San Francisco - and stories written in his last years - Leka, Sunstroke, Shadowed Paths, and others. They may be called stories about love and about the unforgettable Russian landscape. For here, Bunin writes about himself, in the hushed stillness of the fields..Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction 20th-century adult anthologies contemporary fiction literary -
The Black Stallion's Blood Bay Colt by Walter Farley
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsYoung Tom Messenger has been taking care of Bonfire, the second son of the famous Black Stallion, since Bonfire’s birth. Tom has earned the trust of Jimmy Creech, the veteran driver who owns Bonfire, and Tom is eager to work with the young colt, building his strength and endurance.But suddenly Jimmy’s health takes a bad turn, and Tom must pick up Bonfire’s reins himself...Categorized as:
children classics historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure animals anthropomorphism book -
The Golden Gate by Vikram Seth
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThis novel in verse about a group of California yuppies was one of the most highly praised books of 1986 and a bestseller on both coasts... -
How to Become King by Jan Terlouw
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsSeventeen years after the king of Katoren dies, a boy aspires to win the crown and is tested with seven impossible tasks by six Ministers...Categorized as:
classics children historical-fiction fantasy children-books fiction young-adult action-adventure -
Ramona and Her Mother by Beverly Cleary
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThis is a previously published edition of edition of ISBN 9780380709526. An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.Ramona Quimby is no longer seven, but not quite eight...Categorized as:
children classics historical-fiction 20th-century audiobook book children-books comedy -
Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 53 ratingsDanny’s life seems perfect: his home is a gypsy caravan, he’s the youngest car mechanic around, and his best friend is his dad, who never runs out of wonderful stories to tell. And when Danny discovers his father’s secret, he’s off on the adventure of a lifetime. Here’s Roald Dahl’s famous story about a 9-year-old boy, his dad, and a daring and hilarious pheasant-snatching expedition...Categorized as:
children classics historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure animals audiobook book -
Last of the Curlews by Fred Bodsworth
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"The story of this migration is magnificent, informative, breathtaking and exotic". Los Angeles TimesMore than three million readers around the world have been touched by this conservation classic, the story of a solitary Eskimo curlew's last perilous migration and search for a mate. The lone survivor comes to stand for the entirety of a lost species...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction 20th-century adult animals anthropomorphism book contemporary -
The Penguin Anthology of Twentieth-Century American Poetry by Rita Dove
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsPenguin’s landmark poetry anthology, perfect for learning poems by heart in the age of ephemeral media Recipient of the Academy of American Poets' Wallace Stevens Award (Dove)Rita Dove, Pulitzer Prize winner and former Poet Laureate of the United States, introduces readers to the most significant and compelling poems of the past hundred years in The Penguin Anthology of Twentieth-Century... -
Light a Single Candle by Beverly Butler
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen Cathy lost her sight at the age of 14, she faced a very different way of life, where her other senses had to take over the work of her eyes. Adjusting to blindness was often easier than handling the reactions of people. One friend who now avoided her her. Another smothered her with too much kindness... -
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The Poor Mouth: A Bad Story about the Hard Life by Flann O'Brien
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Poor Mouth relates the story of one Bonaparte O'Coonassa, born in a cabin in a fictitious village called Corkadoragha in western Ireland equally renowned for its beauty and the abject poverty of its residents. Potatoes constitute the basis of his family's daily fare, and they share both bed and board with the sheep and pigs... -
The Roominghouse Madrigals: Early Selected Poems, 1946-1966 by Charles Bukowski
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Roominghouse Madrigals is a selection of poetry from Charles Bukowski's early work. It shows a slightly softer side to the beloved barfly.Charles Bukowski is one of America's best-known contemporary writers of poetry and prose, and, many would claim, its most influential and imitated poet. He was born in Andernach, Germany, and raised in Los Angeles, where he lived for fifty years... -
Her Lover by Albert Cohen
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsHandsome, worldly, and intelligent, Solal holds a position of enviable power in 1930s Geneva. But as Under-Secretary-General of the League of Nations, he has become bitterly disillusioned by international affairs and the self-serving people who surround him...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction 20th-century adult book contemporary dark-academia fiction -
A Man Asleep by Georges Perec
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA Man Asleep (French: Un homme qui dort) is a 1967 novel by the French writer Georges Perec. It uses a second-person narrative, and follows a 25-year-old student, who one day decides to be indifferent about the world. A Man Asleep was adapted into a 1974 film, The Man Who Sleeps... -
The Naughtiest Girl is a Monitor by Enid Blyton
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen Elizabeth is chosen to be a school monitor, she's delighted. But the harder she tries, the more things go wrong...Categorized as:
children classics 20th-century boarding-school children-books contemporary female-author feminism -
Forbidden Notebook by Alba de Céspedes
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOut running an errand, Valeria Cossati gives in to a sudden impulse - she buys a shiny black notebook. She starts keeping a diary in secret, recording her concerns about her daughter, fears her husband will discover her new habit and the constant churn of the domestic routine. With each entry Valeria plunges deeper into her interior life, uncovering profound dissatisfaction and restlessness...Categorized as:
historical-fiction classics fiction feminism literary-fiction audiobook contemporary female-author
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