Books like 'The Distance Between Us'
Readers who enjoyed The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary action / adventure family coming-of-age latinx-mc social-commentary poc-mc journey politics poverty
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American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars · 45 ratingsJeanine Cummins's American Dirt, the #1 New York Times bestseller and Oprah Book Club pick that has sold over two million copies, is finally available in paperback.Lydia lives in Acapulco. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction journey latinx-mc poc-mc politics social-commentary 21st-century -
The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q. Raúf, اونجلی رئوف
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsTold with humor and heart, 'THE BOY AT THE BACK OF THE CLASS' offers a child's perspective on the refugee crisis, highlighting the importance of friendship and kindness in a world that doesn't always make sense.There used to be an empty chair at the back of my class, but now a new boy called Ahmet is sitting in it.He's eight years old (just like me), but he's very strange... -
We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA ripped-from-the-headlines novel of desperation, escape, and survival across the U.S.-Mexico border.Pulga, Chico, and Pequeña have no false illusions about the town they've grown up in and the dangers that surround them. Though their families--both biological and found--create a warm community for them, threats lurk around every corner...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction latinx-mc poc-mc politics poverty social-commentary -
Islandborn by Junot Díaz
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsEvery kid in Lola's school was from somewhere else. Hers was a school of faraway places. So when Lola's teacher asks the students to draw a picture of where their families immigrated from, all the kids are excited. Except Lola. She can't remember The Island—she left when she was just a baby...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction journey latinx-mc poc-mc social-commentary action-adventure -
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Jabari salta by Gaia Cornwall
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsJabari is definitely ready to jump off the diving board. He's finished his swimming lessons and passed his swim test, and he's a great jumper, so he's not scared at all. "Looks easy," says Jabari, watching the other kids take their turns. But when his dad squeezes his hand, Jabari squeezes back... -
Ban This Book by Alan Gratz
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 20 ratings-Readers, librarians, and all those books that have drawn a challenge have a brand new hero.... Stand up and cheer, book lovers. This one's for you... -
Land of the Cranes by Aida Salazar
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom the prolific author of The Moon Within comes the heart-wrenchingly beautiful story in verse of a young Latinx girl who learns to hold on to hope and love even in the darkest of places: a family detention center for migrants and refugees.Nine-year-old Betita knows she is a crane. Papi has told her the story, even before her family fled to Los Angeles to seek refuge from cartel wars in Mexico...Categorized as:
family social-commentary latinx-mc poc-mc historical-fiction north-america usa california -
Road to Love by Nicole Falls
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEmerson Parker is a walking ball of stress. Still reeling from the untimely demise of a relationship that she thought would last forever, work strain, & longstanding family drama, she is in dire need of respite. A freak occurrence coupled with a little bit of desperation to get away from it all leads her on an adventure—a cross-country road trip back to her hometown of Ragston, MI... -
My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen Daisy Ramona zooms around her neighborhood with her papi on his motorcycle, she sees the people and places she's always known. She also sees a community that is rapidly changing around her.But as the sun sets purple-blue-gold behind Daisy Ramona and her papi, she knows that the love she feels will always be there... -
Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsCJ and his Grandma take a bus ride together, discovering the beauty and wonder of their vibrant neighborhood...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction latinx-mc poc-mc poverty social-commentary action-adventure audiobook -
Answers in the Pages by David Levithan
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA bold, timely novel about speaking up and coming out as parents lobby to ban a beloved book from the school curriculum by New York Times-bestselling author David Levithan. When Donovan left his copy of The Adventurers on the kitchen counter, he didn't think his mom would read it--much less have a problem with it. It's just an adventure novel about two characters trying to stop an evil genius..Categorized as:
family coming-of-age social-commentary politics middle-grade lgbtq fiction realistic -
The Rainbow Troops by Andrea Hirata
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsPublished in Indonesia in 2005, "The Rainbow Troops," Andrea Hirata's closely autobiographical debut novel, sold more than five million copies, shattering records. Now it promises to captivate audiences around the globe.Ikal is a student at the poorest village school on the Indonesian island of Belitong, where graduating from sixth grade is considered a remarkable achievement...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction journey poc-mc action-adventure bildungsroman book -
The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Adjoa Andoh
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsFrom Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the Orange Prize-winning author of Half of a Yellow Sun, come twelve dazzling stories in which she turns her penetrating eye on the ties that bind men and women, parents and children, Nigeria and the West...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction journey poc-mc politics social-commentary 21st-century action-adventure -
Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed, Priya Ayyar
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsLife is quiet and ordinary in Amal's Pakistani village, but she had no complaints, and besides, she's busy pursuing her dream of becoming a teacher one day. Her dreams are temporarily dashed when--as the eldest daughter--she must stay home from school to take care of her siblings. Amal is upset, but she doesn't lose hope and finds ways to continue learning...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction journey poc-mc politics poverty social-commentary -
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The Only Road by Alexandra Diaz
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPURA BELPRÉ HONOR BOOK ALA NOTABLE BOOK Twelve-year-old Jaime makes the treacherous and life-changing journey from his home in Guatemala to live with his older brother in the United States in this gripping and realistic middle grade novel.Jaime is sitting on his bed drawing when he hears a scream. Instantly, he knows: Miguel, his cousin and best friend, is dead...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction latinx-mc poc-mc social-commentary action-adventure animals -
Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA picture book which takes the matter of grave concern, "homelessness" and helps explain it to children. Eve Bunting explores the dynamics of family relatinships and addresses contemporary social issues...Categorized as:
family poc-mc poverty social-commentary action-adventure book children children-books -
Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez, Sol Madariaga
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsAn #ownvoices contemporary YA set in Argentina, about a rising soccer star who must put everything on the line—even her blooming love story—to follow her dreams.In Rosario, Argentina, Camila Hassan lives a double life... -
Scarlet Lies: Book One in the Scarlet Series by Lani Young
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLies are beautiful – when the truth hurts. Sixteen years ago, Scarlet’s family sent her away in disgrace. She’s been back once – with disastrous consequences. Now, her little sister is getting married and Scarlet's headed home once more... -
The Truce by Mario Benedetti
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratings'Perhaps that moment had been exceptional, but still, I felt alive. That pressure on my chest means being alive.' Forty-nine, with a kind face, no serious ailments (apart from varicose veins on his ankles), a good salary, and three moody children, widowed accountant Martín Santomé is about to retire. He assumes he'll take up gardening, or the guitar, or whatever retired people generally do...Categorized as:
coming-of-age journey latinx-mc poc-mc 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
The Havoc of Choice by Wanjiru Koinange
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratings2007, KenyaLong held captive by her father’s shadow of corruption, Kavata has spent her life suffocated by political machinations. When her husband decides to run in the next election, these shadows threaten to consume her home. Unable to bear this darkness,Kavata plots to escape. As her family falls apart, so too does her country...Categorized as:
politics historical-fiction journey family fiction contemporary corruption literary-fiction -
Daughters of Smoke and Fire by Ava Homa
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe unforgettable, haunting story of a young woman’s perilous fight for freedom and justice for her brother, the first novel published in English by a female Kurdish writer Set in Iran, this extraordinary debut novel takes readers into the everyday lives of the Kurds. Leila dreams of making films to bring the suppressed stories of her people onto the global stage, but obstacles keep piling up... -
The Bitter Side of Sweet by Tara Sullivan
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFor fans of Linda Sue Park and A Long Way Gone, two young boys must escape a life of slavery in modern-day Ivory CoastFifteen-year-old Amadou counts the things that matter. For two years what has mattered are the number of cacao pods he and his younger brother, Seydou, can chop down in a day. The higher the number the safer they are...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction journey poc-mc poverty social-commentary 21st-century -
East of the West by Miroslav Penkov
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA brilliant debut from a rising talent praised by Salman Rushdie, among others.A grandson tries to buy the corpse of Lenin on eBay for his Communist grandfather. A failed wunderkind steals a golden cross from an orthodox church. A boy meets his cousin (the love of his life) once every five years in the waters of the river that divides their village into East and West...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction journey 21st-century action-adventure adult anthologies contemporary -
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsFrom the internationally best-selling, Pulitzer Prize–winning author, a superbly crafted new work of fiction: eight stories—longer and more emotionally complex than any she has yet written—that take us from Cambridge and Seattle to India and Thailand as they enter the lives of sisters and brothers, fathers and mothers, daughters and sons, friends and lovers...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction journey poc-mc 21st-century action-adventure adult -
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The Time of the Hero by Mario Vargas Llosa
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsSet among a community of cadets in a Lima military school, it is notable for its experimental and complex employment of multiple perspectives. The novel was so accurate in its portraiture of the academy that the academy's authorities burned one thousand copies and condemned the book as a plan by Ecuador to denigrate Peru...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction latinx-mc poc-mc 20th-century action-adventure adult bildungsroman -
My Friends by Hisham Matar
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsA young man leaves behind more than he realizes to follow his passions in this major, luminous novel of friendship, family, and the unthinkable realities of exile from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Return.The trick time plays is to lull us into the belief that everything lasts forever, and although nothing does, we continue, inside our dream...Categorized as:
historical-fiction politics family journey coming-of-age africa northern-africa libya -
From Afar by Frank Scozzari
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFor centuries, poets have argued that unrequited love is love in its strongest form. From Afar is a timeless tale of Morgan Stanfield’s search for love in the far northern city of Saint Petersburg, Russia...Categorized as:
coming-of-age journey action-adventure adult book contemporary fiction literary-fiction -
The Walk (A Stroll to the Poll): A Picture Book by Winsome Bingham
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom award-winning creators Winsome Bingham and E.B. Lewis, The Walk (A Stroll to the Poll) is a powerful, full-color picture book story celebrating a journey crucial to our the walk to vote—a perfect read aloud.My granny is taking me on THE WALK.“Because leaders are not born,” she says. “They’re made through molding and modeling.”“What’s the walk?” I ask.“You’ll see...Categorized as:
social-commentary politics family poc-mc historical-fiction children-books fiction realistic -
Sanctuary by Paola Mendoza, Abby Sher
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA near future dystopian where a young girl and her brother must escape a xenophobic government to find sanctuary.It's 2032, and in this near-future America, all citizens are chipped and everyone is tracked--from buses to grocery stores. It's almost impossible to survive as an undocumented immigrant, but that's exactly what sixteen-year-old Vali is doing...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family journey latinx-mc poc-mc politics social-commentary action-adventure -
With Love from London by Sarah Jio
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA librarian inherits a bookshop from her estranged mother, leading her halfway across the world on a journey of self-discovery that transcends time and honors the unbreakable bonds of love and family. When librarian Valentina Baker was a teenager, her mother, Eloise, unexpectedly fled to her native London, leaving Val and her father on their own...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction journey action-adventure adult audiobook book -
The Disoriented by Amin Maalouf
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAfter 25 years in exile, Adam travels from France to his homeland in the Middle East to bid farewell to his dying childhood friend.One night, a phone rings in Paris. Adam learns that Mourad, once his closest friend, is dying. He quickly throws some clothes in a suitcase and takes the first flight out, to the homeland he fled twenty-five years ago... -
The Golden Son by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe first of his family to go to college, Anil Patel, the golden son, carries the weight of tradition and his family’s expectations when he leaves his tiny Indian village to begin a medical residency in Dallas, Texas, at one of the busiest and most competitive hospitals in America...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction journey poc-mc action-adventure adult audiobook -
The Future's Not Ours To See by Jean Grainger
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsCarmel is stuck. The future could be bright, but something is stopping her. Despite the promise of a bright future away from Ireland, Carmel Sheehan is drawn back to the miserable marriage she feels duty-bound to honour. But when she returns to her monosyllabic husband and his malicious sister, she begins to realize that she cannot endure them any longer...Categorized as:
historical-fiction journey family fiction contemporary audiobook romantic-love friendship -
The Library Bus by Bahram Rahman
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Middle East Book Award winner and Governor General’s Literary Award finalist inspired by Kabul, Afghanistan’s first library bus is now in paperback! It is still dark in Kabul, Afghanistan when the library bus rumbles out of the city. There are no bus seats—instead there are chairs and tables and shelves of books...Categorized as:
poc-mc historical-fiction poverty children-books fiction realistic children contemporary -
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The Karma Map by Nisha Sharma
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA youth group’s temple road trip through India is a liberating escape for a former mean girl and sunshine boy to explore their past and their feelings for each other in the much-anticipated novel about self-discovery by the award-winning author of My So-Called Bollywood Life.Born and raised in the US, Tara Bajaj hides her family secrets... -
An Unlasting Home: A Novel by Mai Al-Nakib
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"So fresh and unsettling that it will enchant you from the first page and linger for days after reading...Its epic family saga style echoes that of Hala Alyan’s Salt Houses and The Arsonists’ City , Ayad Akhtar’s Homeland Elegies , and Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko...Categorized as:
historical-fiction family poc-mc journey fiction literary-fiction contemporary audiobook -
And Then He Sang a Lullaby by Ani Kayode Somtochukwu
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe inaugural title from Roxane Gay Books, And Then He Sang a Lullaby is a searingly honest and resonant debut from a 23-year-old Nigerian writer and queer liberation activist, exploring what love and freedom cost in a society steeped in homophobia.August is a God-fearing track star who leaves Enugu City to attend university and escape his overbearing sisters... -
The Bone Fire by György Dragomán
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFrom an award-winning European writer, a Gothic page-turner with all the menace and promise of a fairy tale In the aftermath of a revolution that has plunged her country into chaos, thirteen-year-old Emma’s small corner of the world is shattered after her dissident parents' death in a car crash...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction journey action-adventure adult book contemporary -
Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions: A Novel in Interlocking Stories by Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratings6 hrs. 10 min.Nigerian author Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi makes her American debut with this dazzling novel which explores her homeland's past, present, and possible future through the interconnected stories of four fearless globe-trotting women...Categorized as:
historical-fiction poc-mc family journey fiction contemporary audiobook literary-fiction -
Abuela by Arthur Dorros, Elisa Kleven
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhile riding on a bus with her grandmother, a little girl imagines that they are carried up into the sky and fly over the sights of New York City... -
How Not to Disappear by Clare Furniss
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsOur memories are what make us who we are. Some are real. Some are made up. But they are the stories that tell us who we are. Without them we are nobody.Hattie's summer isn't going as planned. Her two best friends have abandoned her: Reuben has run off to Europe to 'find himself" and Kat is in Edinburgh with her new girlfriend...Categorized as:
coming-of-age journey family historical-fiction romance young-adult contemporary fiction -
Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsNaomi Soledad Leon Outlaw has had a lot to contend with in her young life, her name for one. Then there are her clothes (sewn in polyester by Gram), her difficulty speaking up, and her status at school as "nobody special." But according to Gram, most problems can be overcome with positive thinking...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction journey latinx-mc poc-mc action-adventure audiobook -
Born Behind Bars by Padma Venkatraman
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSet in Chennai, India, this is the story of a boy who's unexpectedly released into the world after spending his whole life in jail with his mom.Kabir has been in jail since the day he was born, because his mom is serving time for a crime she didn't commit...Categorized as:
family social-commentary historical-fiction coming-of-age poverty poc-mc asia south-asia -
A Girl Within a Girl Within a Girl by Nanda Reddy
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA girl takes on a series of identities to survive, shrouding herself in layer upon layer of secrets, until one morning years later when she is forced to reckon with her past."This debut is a beautiful, if sometimes harrowing, exploration of one woman’s journey. . . to a life built by her own grit and determination." -Library Journal, Starred Review...Categorized as:
historical-fiction coming-of-age journey family fiction contemporary audiobook literary-fiction -
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Q & A by Vikas Swarup
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsVikas Swarup's spectacular debut novel opens in a jail cell in Mumbai, India, where Ram Mohammad Thomas is being held after correctly answering all twelve questions on India's biggest quiz show, Who Will Win a Billion? It is hard to believe that a poor orphan who has never read a newspaper or gone to school could win such a contest...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction journey poc-mc poverty social-commentary 21st-century -
Near to the Wild Heart by Clarice Lispector
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNear to the Wild Heart is Clarice Lispector's first novel, written from March to November 1942 and published around her twenty-third birthday...Categorized as:
coming-of-age journey latinx-mc poc-mc 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
Jackpot by Nic Stone
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom the author of the New York Times bestseller Dear Martin --which Angie Thomas, the bestselling author of The Hate U Give, called "a must read"--comes a pitch-perfect romance that examines class, privilege, and how a stroke of good luck can change an entire life...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family poc-mc poverty social-commentary action-adventure audiobook black-mc -
The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSubhi is a refugee. Born in an Australian permanent detention center after his mother and sister fled the violence of a distant homeland, Subhi has only ever known life behind the fences. But his world is far bigger than that—every night, the magical Night Sea from his mother's stories brings him gifts, the faraway whales sing to him, and the birds tell their stories...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction poc-mc politics poverty social-commentary abuse -
In the Country by Mia Alvar
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThese nine globe-trotting, unforgettable stories from Mia Alvar, a remarkable new literary talent, vividly give voice to the women and men of the Filipino diaspora. Here are exiles, emigrants, and wanderers uprooting their families from the Philippines to begin new lives in the Middle East, the United States, and elsewhere—and, sometimes, turning back again...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction journey poc-mc 21st-century action-adventure adult anthologies -
The Wrong End of the Telescope by Rabih Alameddine
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsBy National Book Award and the National Book Critics’ Circle Award finalist for An Unnecessary Woman, Rabih Alameddine, comes a transporting new novel about an Arab American trans woman’s journey among Syrian refugees on Lesbos islandMina Simpson, a Lebanese doctor, arrives at the infamous Moria refugee camp on Lesbos, Greece, after being urgently summoned for help by her friend who runs an NGO...Categorized as:
historical-fiction poc-mc family journey coming-of-age fiction lgbtq literary-fiction
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