Books like 'The Children's Crusade'
Readers who enjoyed The Children's Crusade by Ann Packer also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
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Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsJonathan Franzen’s gift for wedding depth and vividness of character with breadth of social vision has never been more dazzlingly evident than in Crossroads.It’s December 23, 1971, and heavy weather is forecast for Chicago...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic 21st-century adult -
Body and Soul by Frank Conroy
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn the dim light of a basement apartment, six-year-old Claude Rawlings sits at an old white piano, picking out the sounds he has heard on the radio and shutting out the reality of his lonely world.The setting is 1940s New York, a city that is "long gone, replaced by another city of the same name...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic 20th-century book -
All the Forgivenesses by Elizabeth Hardinger
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSet in Appalachia and the Midwest at the turn of the twentieth century, this exquisite debut novel paints an intimately rendered portrait of one resilient farm family's challenges and hard-won triumphs--helmed by an unforgettable heroine. Growing up on their hardscrabble farm in rural Kentucky, fifteen-year-old Albertina "Bertie" Winslow has learned a lot from her mama, Polly...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction north-america usa 20th-century audiobook -
Whistledown Woman by Josephine Cox
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn 1898, Kathleen Wyman lies in labor at Bessington Hall, her husband Edward sure that she has been unfaithful to him. In his blind, jealous rage, he gives away the baby to gypsy Rona Parrish, summoned to help with the delivery. Kathleen, frenzied with grief, is soon locked away in an asylum... -
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The Sorrow of Angels by Jón Kalman Stefánsson
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Sorrow of Angels is the second novel in an epic and elemental trilogy by the winner of the Icelandic Prize for Literature Jón Kalman Stefánsson, and the follow up to Heaven and Hell (publishing in paperback 3/11/15...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama historical-fiction literary-fiction action-adventure book fiction historical -
'Til Morning Light by Ann Moore
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsShe crossed an ocean to escape the suffering of famine-torn Ireland. Haunted by loss, but determined to build a life in the New World, Gracelin O'Malley then crosses the country with her young children to accept a San Francisco sea captain's practical proposal of marriage. But when she arrives, he is not there, and the City of Gold is no place for widows and children... -
দূরবীন by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsসাপ্তাহিক ‘দেশ’ পত্রিকায় দু-বছরেরও বেশি কাল ধরে ধারাবাহিকভাবে বেরিয়েছিল ‘দূরবীন, শীর্ষেন্দু মুখোপাধ্যায়ের জোরালো, সংবেদনশীল কলমে অন্যতম মহৎ সৃষ্টি। চলমান শতাব্দীর দুইয়ের দশকের শেষ ভাগ থেকে শুরু করে আটের দশক পর্যন্ত বিস্তৃত সময়ের প্ৰেক্ষাপটে সামাজিক জীবনের যাবতীয় পরিবর্তনকে এক আশ্চর্য কৌতুহলকর বিশাল কাহিনীর মধ্য দিয়ে ধরে রাখার প্রয়াসেরই অভিনন্দিত ফলশ্রুতি ‘দূরবীন উপন্যাস।তিন প্রজন্মের এই... -
Gabrielle by Marie Laberge
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsQuébec, 1930. Gabrielle est mariée avec Edward depuis bientôt dix ans. Entre la maison de l’île d’Orléans et celle de la Grande-Allée, elle mène une vie bien remplie, entourée de ses cinq enfants. De toute évidence, il s’agit d’un mariage heureux. Mais cette chose qui devrait être si simple fait pourtant froncer bien des sourcils dans l’entourage de Gabrielle... -
The Outside Boy by Jeanine Cummins
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIreland, 1959: Young Christy Hurley is a Pavee gypsy, traveling with his father and extended family from town to town, carrying all their worldly possessions in their wagons. Christy carries with him a burden of guilt as well, haunted by the story of his mother's death in childbirth. The peripatetic life is the only one Christy has ever known, but when his grandfather dies, everything changes...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction audiobook book fiction -
Gordo by Jaime Cortez
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe first ever collection of short stories by Jaime Cortez, Gordo is set in a migrant workers camp near Watsonville, California in the 1970s. A young, probably gay, boy named Gordo puts on a wrestler's mask and throws fists with a boy in the neighborhood, fighting his own tears as he tries to grow into the idea of manhood so imposed on him by his father...Categorized as:
north-america usa california realistic coming-of-age historical-fiction family literary-fiction -
Beneficence by Meredith Hall
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAfter a sudden and terrible loss, how does a loving family find their way back to the goodness and peace they once shared? Reviewers and readers have called this literary historical novel “hauntingly beautiful,” “a masterpiece of compassion,” “a page-turner and an artistic triumph.”Written by a masterful storyteller, this is a book that illuminates the journey we make through grief to healing...Categorized as:
north-america usa historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic family domestic-drama maine -
Blood Sisters by Barbara Keating, Stephanie Keating
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsKenya 1957. During their childhood years in the Kenya Highlands three girls from vastly different backgrounds become blood sisters, promising that nothing will ever destroy the bond between them. But the legacy of the Mau Mau rebellion, and the tensions and upheavals of newly independent Kenya, tear their childhood dreams apart... -
Bata, Bata...Pa'No Ka Ginawa? by Lualhati Bautista
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratings...Hanggang sa ang bata ay hindi na bata kundi ama, o ina. Ano ang ituuro niya ngayon sa kanyang mga anak? Lahat ng dapat niyang matutuhan ngayon pa lang, hindi pagkamasunurin at pagkakimi, kundi pagkibo pag may sasabihin at paglaban pag kailangan. Lahat ng panahon ay hindi panahon ng mga takot at pagtitmpi; lahat ng panahon ay panahon ng pagpapasiya... -
The Forbidden by Beverly Lewis
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Church Split Has Not Extinguished Their Love, But the Demands of One Man Still Stand in Their Way. Caleb Yoder's father has forbidden him to court Nellie Mae Fisher, but words alone cannot stop Caleb's devotion. Yet if he continues to pursue Nellie, he risks losing everything. Nellie, too, is torn... -
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Call of the Kiwi by Sarah Lark, D.W. Lovett
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn the exhilarating conclusion to the internationally bestselling In the Land of the Long White Cloud trilogy, the spirited Warden and McKenzie clan continues its trials—and triumphs—in New Zealand and beyond...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction audiobook book fiction -
The Distant Land of My Father by Bo Caldwell
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratings'My father was a millionaire in Shanghai in the 1930s.'Anna Schoene was a golden child. Her parents, Joseph and Genevieve, were rich American expats in Shanghai before the Japanese invaded, before the war intervened. Joseph Schoene had made his fortune living on his wits. He was in love with Shanghai, with China, with the idea of taking risks...Categorized as:
california family historical-fiction literary-fiction north-america usa 20th-century adult -
All the Children Are Home by Patry Francis
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA sweeping saga in the vein of Ask Again, Yes following a foster family through almost a decade of dazzling triumph and wrenching heartbreak—from the author of The Orphans at Race Point...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic abuse audiobook -
Outbound Train by Renea Winchester
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn 1976, memories from a night near the railroad tracks sixteen years earlier haunt Barbara Parker. She wrestles with past demons every night, then wakes to the train’s five-thirty whistle. Exhausted and dreading the day, she keeps her hands busy working in Bryson City’s textile plant, known as the “blue jean plant,” all the while worrying about her teenage daughter, Carole Anne... -
Indian Paintbrush by John A. Heldt
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsArizona, December 1943. After surviving perilous six-month journeys to 1889 and 1918, the Carsons, five siblings from the present day, seek a respite in their home state. While Adam and Greg settle down with their Progressive Era brides, Natalie and Caitlin start romances with wartime aviators and Cody befriends a Japanese family in an internment camp...Categorized as:
california coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction north-america usa 20th-century -
The Secret Years: An emotional drama of love and survival by Judith Lennox
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA moving story about life in the East Anglian Fens after the First World War, evoking the emotions of the men who came through their ordeals and the women who survived the trauma of separation.During the golden summer of 1914, four young people played in the gardens of Drakesden Abbey... -
The Kudzu Queen by Mimi Herman
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 7 ratings“Funny, sad, and tender… Mimi Herman has written a novel that possesses a true and hard won understanding of the South.” —David Sedaris, author of Happy-Go-Lucky Fifteen-year-old Mattie Lee Watson dreams of men, not boys. So when James T...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic family coming-of-age fiction historical audiobook -
Signed, A Paddy by Lisa Boyle
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe gruesome truth hung in the air, and none of us wanted to go near it. Not yet.Ireland, 1848. Fourteen-year-old Rosaleen watches her mother die. Her country is reeling from the great potato famine, which will ultimately kill more than one million people. Driven by a promise and her will to survive, Rosaleen flees her small coastal town...Categorized as:
historical-fiction drama literary-fiction coming-of-age fiction historical female-mc friendship -
Gold Mountain by Karen J. Hasley
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA Remarkable Woman. An Unforgettable Love Story. When Dinah Hudson leaves China in 1901, she hopes to leave behind dark memories of violence and sudden death, as well. Spending time with her sister in San Francisco will be just what she needs to help her forget China’s murderous Boxer Uprising... -
Matilda's Last Waltz by Tamara McKinley
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAfter the tragic death of her husband, Jenny travels to Churinga, a remote sheep-station in the Australian Outback that he intended to give to her for reasons she doesn't understand.Churinga is harsh and unforgiving, but also has its beauty...and its secrets... -
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Clover Blue by Eldonna Edwards
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSet against the backdrop of a 1970s commune in Northern California, Clover Blue is a compelling, beautifully written story of a young boy's search for identity. There are many things twelve-year-old Clover Blue isn't sure of: his exact date of birth, his name before he was adopted into the Saffron Freedom Community, or who his first parents were...Categorized as:
california coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction north-america realistic -
Entrok by Okky Madasari
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratings'Entrok' merupakan kisah perempuan daripada dua generasi yang berdepan dengan segala penindasan dan ketidakadilan daripada masyarakat, negara dan bahkan orang agama. Namun 'Entrok' bukan tentang kepasrahan dan ketidakupayaan perempuan, melainkan rakaman kesungguhan si ibu dan anak untuk memahami persekitarannya dan bangkit menguasai serta menentukan hidup mereka... -
Road Ends by Mary Lawson
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOn a perfect August morning in 1967, above a river just outside a small town in the north of Canada, a young man meets his death. And so begins the unravelling of his best friend Tom's already precarious family.Eighteen months on, and the town of Struan is in the grip of winter. Still reeling from his friend's death, Tom has dropped out and spends his days driving a snow plough...Categorized as:
domestic-drama drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction north-america realistic adult -
Where The Winds Dwell by Böðvar Guðmundsson, Bovar Gumundsson
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWritten as a letter from a father to a daughter, Where the Winds Dwell is compassionate and real. Guðmundsson brings together past and present in this tragic story of the historic journey to Nýja Ísland, the world's largest Icelandic community outside of Iceland... -
El prisionero enmascarado by Juliette Benzoni, Francisco Rodriguez de Lecea
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWearing a dress that is splattered with blood and clasping a doll to her chest, Sylvie de Valaines, a four-year-old girl, wanders the streets of the small village of Anet. The year is 1626 and her entire family has just been murdered, likely on the orders of Cardinal Richelieu. When a young boy of 10--Francois de Borbon-Vendome, the prince of Martigues--finds her, he brings her to his castle... -
The Last Carolina Girl by Meagan Church
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA searing book club novel for fans of Where the Crawdad's Sing and The Girls in the Stilt House following one girl fighting for her family, her body, and her right to create a future all her ownSome folks will do anything to control the wild spirit of a Carolina girl...For fourteen-year-old Leah Payne, life in her beloved coastal Carolina town is as simple as it is free...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction adult audiobook book female-mc -
Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe eagerly awaited follow-up to Pulitzer Prize-finalist Tommy Orange’s breakout best seller There There —winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award, the John Leonard Prize, the American Book Award, and one of the New York Times 10 Best Books of 2018— Wandering Stars traces the legacies of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School through to the shattering aftermath of...Categorized as:
north-america usa historical-fiction literary-fiction family colorado fiction historical -
In Revere, In Those Days by Roland Merullo
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn this richly evocative novel--the moving story of one boy's coming of age--acclaimed author Roland Merullo will make you nostalgic for a small Massachusetts city called Revere even if you've never been there. Providing a window into an unspoiled America of forty years ago, In Revere welcomes you to the fiercely loyal and devoted Italian-American family of the Benedettos...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic adult boarding-school book fiction -
Olivia, Mourning by Yael Politis
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsHistorical Fiction (USA 1840s) Available on Amazon in eBook and paperback. Newly orphaned and forced to live with her brother and the overbearing woman who will soon be his wife, Olivia Killion is determined to gain her independence by inheriting 80 acres of farmland in far off Michigan...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction action-adventure book fiction historical -
El color del silencio by Elia Barceló
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratings16 de julio de 1936, Islas Canarias. Un asesinato desencadena el golpe de Estado de Franco y el inicio de la Guerra Civil española.20 de julio de 1969, Rabat, Marruecos. Una familia celebra el aterrizaje en la Luna en el jardín de una antigua mansión. Un asesinato tendrá lugar esa misma noche, destrozando el destino de la familia.Madrid, época actual...Categorized as:
historical-fiction drama family literary-fiction fiction audiobook historical female-author -
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Tommo and Hawk by Bryce Courtenay
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBrutally kidnapped and separated in childhood, Tommo and Hawk are reunited at the age of fifteen in Hobart. Together they escape their troubled pasts and set off on a journey into manhood...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction action-adventure adult audiobook book -
Setting Free the Kites by Alex George
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFor Robert Carter, life in his coastal Maine hometown is comfortably predictable. But in 1976, on his first day of eighth grade, he meets Nathan Tilly, who changes everything. Nathan is confident, fearless, impetuous--and fascinated by kites and flying...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction north-america realistic usa -
The Bartender's Tale by Ivan Doig
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFrom a great American storyteller, a one-of-a-kind father and his precocious son, rocked by a time of change. Tom Harry has a streak of frost in his black pompadour and a venerable bar called The Medicine Lodge, the chief watering hole and last refuge of the town of Gros Ventre, in northern Montana...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction north-america realistic usa -
Everything My Mother Taught Me by Alice Hoffman
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIn this haunting short story of loyalty and betrayal, a young woman in early 1900s Massachusetts discovers that in navigating her treacherous coming-of-age, she must find her voice first.For fatefully observant Adeline, growing up carries an ominous warning from her adulterous mother: don’t say a word. Adeline vows to never speak again. But that’s not her only secret...Categorized as:
north-america usa historical-fiction coming-of-age literary-fiction drama family massachusetts -
Les Frères Lehman by Stefano Massini
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratings11 septembre 1844, apparition. Heyum Lehman arrive de Rimpar, Bavière, à New York. Il a perdu 8 kg en 45 jours de traversée. Il fait venir ses deux frères pour travailler avec lui.15 septembre 2008, disparition. La banque Lehman Brothers fait faillite. Elle a vendu au monde coton, charbon, café, acier, pétrole, armes, tabac, télévisions, ordinateurs et illusions, pendant plus de 150 ans...Categorized as:
historical-fiction drama family literary-fiction fiction audiobook historical 21st-century -
The Smell of Other People's Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsIn Alaska, 1970, being a teenager here isn’t like being a teenager anywhere else. Ruth has a secret that she can’t hide forever. Dora wonders if she can ever truly escape where she comes from, even when good luck strikes. Alyce is trying to reconcile her desire to dance, with the life she’s always known on her family’s fishing boat... -
The First Lie by Diane Chamberlain
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe First Lie gives readers an early glimpse into the life of thirteen-year-old Ivy Hart. It’s 1958 in rural North Carolina, where Ivy lives with her grandmother and sister on a tobacco farm. As tenant farmers, Ivy and her family don’t have much freedom, though she and her best friend, Henry, often sneak away in search of adventure…and their truest selves...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction adult anthologies female-mc fiction -
The Keeper of Secrets by Julie Thomas
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBeautiful and mysterious, this debut novel follows a priceless violin across five decades-from WWII to Stalinist Russia to the gilded international concert halls of today-and reveals the loss, love, and secrets of the families who owned it.A priceless violin. A family torn apart. A decision that could change everything.Berlin, 1939. Fourteen year old Simon Horowitz is awash in a world of music...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century book fiction -
1933 Was a Bad Year by John Fante
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTrapped in a small, poverty-ridden town in 1933, under pressure from his father to go into the family business, seventeen-year-old Dominic Molise yearns to fulfill his own dreams...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction north-america usa 20th-century book -
The Hungry Road by Marita Conlon-McKenna
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn its brilliant recreation of the Great Irish Famine, the children's historical novel Under the Hawthorn Tree is beloved by millions and is considered a classic. Now, the Number One Irish bestseller and award-winning author is turning her hand to the definitive adult novel of those hard times, with The Hungry Road...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction adult audiobook book female-author -
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More Than I Love My Life by David Grossman, Jessica Cohen
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom the internationally best-selling author--and revered moral voice--a remarkable novel of suffering, love, and healing, the story of three generations of women and a secret that needs to be told.More Than I Love My Life is the story of three strong women: Vera, age ninety; her daughter, Nina; and her granddaughter, Gili, who at thirty-nine is a filmmaker and a wary consumer of affection... -
Random Passage by Bernice Morgan, Marie McCarthy
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe chill Atlantic lies between Lavinia Andrews and the home she loves after a shattering incident topples her family fortunes. Shocked, she can barely comprehend that Cape Random is home from now on - this tiny Newfoundland settlement perched on rock between dense forest and the ocean... -
Stars of Alabama: A Novel by Sean of the South by Sean Dietrich
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsUnlikely heroes form unlikely bonds in this poignant and redemptive new novel from Sean Dietrich. When two Depression-era migrant workers, Paul and Vern, find an abandoned baby in the woods, they take it upon themselves to care for the mysterious child.When fifteen-year-old Marigold, reviled by her family after an unwanted pregnancy, loses her baby in the forest, her whole world is painted black...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction north-america usa action-adventure -
The Usual Rules by Joyce Maynard
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt's a Tuesday morning in Brooklyn--a perfect September day. Wendy is heading to school, eager to make plans with her best friend, worried about how she looks, mad at her mother for not letting her visit her father in California, impatient with her little brother and with the almost too-loving concern of her jazz musician stepfather. She's out the door to catch the bus...Categorized as:
california coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction north-america realistic usa -
Whistling Woman by C.C. Tillery
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn the waning years of the 19th century, Bessie Daniels grows up in the small town of Hot Springs in western North Carolina. Secure in the love of her father, yet troubled with her mother's desire that she be a proper Southern belle, Bessie is determined to forge her own way in life. Or, as her Cherokee great- grandmother, Elisi, puts it, to be a whistling woman...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction adult book fiction historical rural -
Jephte's Daughter by Naomi Ragen
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA modern classic of Jewish-American literature, a remarkable journey into the shrouded world of Chassidic women. Naomi Ragen's first novel has been called "one of the too most important Jewish books." Abraham Ha-Levi is a wealthy American businessman and the last male survivor of an important Orthodox Jewish family...
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