Books like 'First Confession'
Readers who enjoyed First Confession by Frank O'Connor also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
20th century religion unreliable-narrator university coming-of-age humor family realistic
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The Brothers K by David James Duncan
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsDuncan took almost 10 years to follow up the publication of his much-praised first novel, The River Why, but this massive second effort is well worth the wait. It is a stunning work: a complex tapestry of family tensions, baseball, politics and religion, by turns hilariously funny and agonizingly sad... -
![The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Pinkwater]()
The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Pinkwater
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA beautiful lyrical story that introduces the concept of individuality, accepting of others differences, and respect for those around us.This is a tale about conformism and individualism, as Mr. Plumbean's expression of creativity and individuality challenges his neighbor's ideas about the importance of having a “neat street.” By repainting his house to reflect his colorful dreams, Mr... -
![Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst]()
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsThe perennially popular tale of Alexander's worst day is a storybook that belongs on every child's bookshelf.Alexander knew it was going to be a terrible day when he woke up with gum in this hair.And it got worse...His best friend deserted him. There was no dessert in his lunch bag... -
![Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger]()
Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsNine Stories (1953) is a collection of short stories by American fiction writer J. D. Salinger published in April 1953. It includes two of his most famous short stories, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" and "For Esmé – with Love and Squalor". (Nine Stories is the U.S. title; the book is published in many other countries as For Esmé - with Love and Squalor, and Other Stories... -
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![A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote]()
A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFirst published in 1956, this much sought-after autobiographical recollection of Truman Capote's rural Alabama boyhood has become a modern-day classic. We are proud to be reprinting this warm and delicately illustrated edition of A Christmas Memory--"a tiny gem of a holiday story" (School Library Journal, starred review)... -
![Run with the Horsemen by Ferrol Sams]()
Run with the Horsemen by Ferrol Sams
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsPorter Osborne Jr. is a precocious, sensitive, and rambunctious boy trying to make it through adolescence during the depression years. On a red-clay farm in Georgia he learns all there is to know about cotton chopping, hog killing, watermelon thumping, and mule handling. School provides a quick course in practical joking, schoolboy crushes, athletic glory, and clandestine sex... -
![All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor]()
All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIt's the turn of the century in New York's Lower East Side and a sense of adventure and excitement abounds for five young sisters - Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte and Gertie. Follow along as they search for hidden buttons while dusting Mama's front parlor, or explore the basement warehouse of Papa's peddler's shop on rainy days... -
![This I Know by Eldonna Edwards]()
This I Know by Eldonna Edwards
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsSet in a small Midwest town in the late 1960s and helmed by an unforgettable young protagonist—compassionate, uncannily wise Grace—This I Know is a luminous coming-of-age story from an astonishing new voice. Eleven-year-old Grace Carter has a talent for hiding things... -
![My Name Is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok]()
My Name Is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsAsher Lev is a Ladover Hasid who keeps kosher, prays three times a day and believes in the Ribbono Shel Olom, the Master of the Universe. Asher Lev is an artist who is compulsively driven to render the world he sees and feels even when it leads him to blasphemy... -
![Rose by Li-Young Lee, Gerald Stern]()
Rose by Li-Young Lee, Gerald Stern
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn this outstanding first book of poems, Lee is unafraid to show emotion, especially when writing about his father or his wife. "But there is wisdom/ in the hour in which a boy/ sits in his room listening," says the first poem, and Lee's silent willingness to step outside himself imbues Rose with a rare sensitivity... -
![King Of Camberwell by Mary Jane Staples]()
King Of Camberwell by Mary Jane Staples
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSammy was the sharp one of the Adams family.Since he was nine-years-old - when he'd charged his mother interest on a loan to make up the rent money - he'd been busy setting up deals and expanding the family business - a china stall in East Street market. But as his mighty empire grew - two shops and a factory in Shoreditch - so did the determination of his assistant, Susie Brown... -
![Rose's Choice by Chrissie Bradshaw]()
Rose's Choice by Chrissie Bradshaw
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsRationing, bombing, disease and pit disasters are part of Rose Kelly’s World War 2 childhood. When the spirited coalminer’s daughter discovers a family secret, she makes a choice that overshadows her teenage years. Rose tries to make the most of post-war opportunities but family tragedy pulls her back to a life in the colliery rows... -
![A Wing and a Prayer: A young womans journey to love and happiness by Lyn Andrews]()
A Wing and a Prayer: A young womans journey to love and happiness by Lyn Andrews
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFor Mary Callaghan marriage has brought heartaches and disappointment. But with it have come joys, the greatest of which are her daughters, Daisy and Nell. Mary longs for them to have the one thing denied to her -- a husband who will offer them kindness, security and love. But when Daisy confesses she's pregnant, Mary knows the future looks grim, for the father's a rough, pleasure-loving man... -
![Autumn Daffodils - Charlie's Story: Heart warming, thought provoking story. A look back on life and relationships. by Peter Turnham]()
Autumn Daffodils - Charlie's Story: Heart warming, thought provoking story. A look back on life and relationships. by Peter Turnham
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThis is the first book in the two-part "Autumn Daffodils" story. Five extraordinary people, having retired early in order to escape their past, find themselves reliving the very past they came to the 'Village' to forget. What unites the group is the guilt, shame or sorrow they have each tried so hard to leave behind... -
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![Assassins by Stephen Sondheim, John Weidman]()
Assassins by Stephen Sondheim, John Weidman
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEvoking a fraternity of political assassins and would-be assassins across a hundred years of our history, Sondheim and Weidman daringly examine success, failure and the questionable drive for power and celebrity in American society. "Dark, demented humor, as horrifying as it is hilarious... -
![This Is Happiness by Niall Williams, Shashi Martynova]()
This Is Happiness by Niall Williams, Shashi Martynova
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAbout This Is HappinessThe most enchanting novel you'll read this year, from the acclaimed author of Man Booker-longlisted History of the RainChange is coming to Faha, a small Irish parish that hasn't changed in a thousand years.For one thing, the rain is stopping. Nobody remembers when it started; rain on the western seaboard is a condition of living... -
![Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters & Seymour: An Introduction by J.D. Salinger]()
Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters & Seymour: An Introduction by J.D. Salinger
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsThe author writes: The two long pieces in this book originally came out in The New Yorker ? RAISE HIGH THE ROOF BEAM, CARPENTERS in 1955, SEYMOUR ? An Introduction in 1959. Whatever their differences in mood or effect, they are both very much concerned with Seymour Glass, who is the main character in my still-uncompleted series about the Glass family... -
![Birds of America by Lorrie Moore]()
Birds of America by Lorrie Moore
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA long-awaited collection of stories--twelve in all--by one of the most exciting writers at work today, the acclaimed author of Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? and Self-Help. Stories remarkable in their range, emotional force, and dark laughter, and in the sheer beauty and power of their language... -
![RNWMP: Bride for Wesley by Kirsten Osbourne]()
RNWMP: Bride for Wesley by Kirsten Osbourne
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLisa Allen has spent her entire life being different, and being different was perfectly fine with her as long as her two best friends were at her side. But now both of her friends have gone West to marry Mounties, leaving Lisa without their constant companionship... -
![The Kudzu Queen by Mimi Herman]()
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:
realistic family coming-of-age fiction historical-fiction literary-fiction historical audiobook -
![Selected Poems 1923-1958 by E.E. Cummings]()
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![Betsy and the Great World by Maud Hart Lovelace]()
Betsy and the Great World by Maud Hart Lovelace
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNow available for the first time in paperback--the final books in the Betsy-Tacy series. Betsy's childhood dream is finally coming true: she's off to Europe just like she and Tacy planned so long ago. Despite her travels and many adventures, Betsy's heart won't let her forget Joe Willard, her high school sweetheart... -
![Ira Sleeps Over by Bernard Waber]()
Ira Sleeps Over by Bernard Waber
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom the beloved author-illustrator of Lyle, Lyle Crocodile comes a charming and relatable picture book about a child's first sleepover experience...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family realistic 20th-century children children-books classics fiction -
![Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary]()
Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsIn this Newbery Honor Book from beloved author Beverly Cleary, eight-year-old Ramona Quimby's zest for life is infectious as ever. Whether speaking her mind to her third-grade teacher, or befriending her schoolyard bully, Ramona can't be kept down!Then one day an embarrassing incident in the classroom leaves Ramona completely humiliated... -
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![Violet’s Children by Maureen Lee]()
Violet’s Children by Maureen Lee
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBeginning in 1950s Liverpool, VIOLET'S CHILDREN is a warm and nostalgicstory of a young woman who must adopt her sister's children after tragedy strikes... -
![Ordinary Jack by Helen Cresswell]()
Ordinary Jack by Helen Cresswell
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEverybody in Jack's family seems to be brilliant - apart from Jack and his downtrodden dog Zero. Even his little sister can beat him at swimming. But Jack's uncle Parker has come up with a plan to make him and Zero shine: they'll pretend that Jack can tell the future! If only they could foresee what chaos the plan will cause.Helen Cresswell is the much-loved writer of over 40 children's books... -
![Carry Me Home by Sandra Kring]()
Carry Me Home by Sandra Kring
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe love of family. The heartbreak of war. The triumph of coming home. 1940. Rural Wisconsin. Sixteen-year-old Earl “Earwig” Gunderman is not like other boys his age. Fiercely protected by his older brother, Earwig sees his town and the world around him through the prism of his own unique understanding. He sees his mother’s sadness and his father’s growing solitude... -
![Girl by Jamaica Kincaid]()
Girl by Jamaica Kincaid
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratings"Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; wash the color clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline to dry;..." Girl, a short story by Jamaica Kincaid, was originally published in the June 26, 1978 issue of The New Yorker and subsequently included in the short story collection At the Bottom of the River in 1983... -
![The Risk Pool by Richard Russo]()
The Risk Pool by Richard Russo
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Risk Pool is a thirty-year journey through the lives of Sam Hall, a small-town gambling hellraiser, and his watchful, introspective son Ned... -
![The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig]()
The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsNovelist Ivan Doig revisits the American west in the early twentieth century, bringing to life the eccentric individuals and idiosyncratic institutions that made it thrive. “Can't cook but doesn't bite." So begins the newspaper ad offering the services of an "A-1 housekeeper, sound morals, exceptional disposition" that draws the attention of widower Oliver Milliron in the fall of 1909... -
![Superfudge by Judy Blume]()
Superfudge by Judy Blume
Rated: 3.99 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsHe knows a lot of big words, but he doesn’t know where babies come from. He’s never heard of a stork, but he plans to be a bird when he grows up. He’s Superfudge, otherwise known as Farley Drexel Hatcher. And, according to his older brother Peter, the biggest pain ever invented. Among other things.As fans of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing already know, nothing is simple for Peter Hatcher... -
![I Have to Go! by Robert Munsch, Michael Martchenko]()
I Have to Go! by Robert Munsch, Michael Martchenko
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAndrew's mother and father always ask very clearly if Andrew needs to go pee, and his answer is always, "No, no, no, no." Unfortunately, that answer never seems to last long!" "This is an attractive, well-designed, sturdy package.. -
![Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger]()
Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
Rated: 3.97 of 5 stars · 40 ratings‘Everything everybody does is so—I don’t know—not wrong, or even mean, or even stupid necessarily. But just so tiny and meaningless and—sad-making. And the worst part is, if you go bohemian or something crazy like that, you’re conforming just as much only in a different way... -
![A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck]()
A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOne of children's literature's most memorable characters returns in this Christmastime companion to the Newbery Medal-winning A Year Down Yonder and Newbery Honor-winning A Long Way from Chicago. The eccentric, larger-than-life Grandma Dowdel is back in this heart-warming tale... -
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![The Snapper by Roddy Doyle]()
The Snapper by Roddy Doyle
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom the Booker Prize-winning author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, the follow up to his acclaimed debut novel The CommitmentsWatch for Roddy Doyle's new novel, Smile, coming in October of 2017Twenty-year-old Sharon Rabbitte is pregnant. She's also unmarried, living at home, working in a grocery store, and keeping the father's identity a secret. Her own father, Jimmy Sr., is shocked by the news... -
![City Boy by Herman Wouk]()
City Boy by Herman Wouk
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAn "enormously entertaining" portrait of "a Bronx Tom Sawyer" ( San Francisco Chronicle ), City Boy is a sharp and moving novel of boyhood from Pulitzer Prize winner Herman Wouk... -
![Raney by Clyde Edgerton]()
Raney by Clyde Edgerton
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThis book is too good to keep to yourself. Read it aloud with someone you love, then send it to a friend. But be sure to keep a copy for yourself, because you'll want to read it again and again.Elizabeth Forsythe HaileyRaney is a small-town Baptist. Charles is a liberal from Atlanta. And RANEY is the story of their marriage. Charming, wise, funny, and truthful, it is a novel for everyone to love... -
![Pablo Diablo by Francesca Simon]()
Pablo Diablo by Francesca Simon
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsHorrid Henry and his neighbor Moody Margaret decide to make the most sloppy, slimy, sludgy, sticky, smelly, gooey, gluey, gummy, greasy, gloppy glop possible. Is it the best glop in the world or the worst thing that's ever happened to them? Plus three other stories so funny we can't even mention them here... -
![Our Spoons Came from Woolworths by Barbara Comyns]()
Our Spoons Came from Woolworths by Barbara Comyns
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsMarry in haste, repent at leisure. Sophia is twenty-one years old, carries a newt -- Great Warty -- around in her pocket and marries -- in haste -- a young artist called Charles. Swept into bohemian London of the thirties, Sophia is ill-equipped to cope. Poverty, babies (however much loved) and her husband conspire to torment her... -
![The Pavilion in the Clouds by Alexander McCall Smith]()
The Pavilion in the Clouds by Alexander McCall Smith
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt is 1938 and the final days of the British Empire. In a bungalow high up in the green hills above the plains of Ceylon, under a vast blue sky, live the Ferguson family: Bella, a precocious eight-year-old, her father Henry – owner of Pitlochry, a tea plantation – and her mother Virginia. The story centres around the Pavilion in the Clouds, nestled in idyllic grounds carved out of the wilderness... -
![See Under: Love by David Grossman]()
See Under: Love by David Grossman
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn this powerful novel by one of Israel's most prominent writers, Momik, the only child of Holocaust survivors, grows up in the shadow of his parents' history. Determined to exorcise the Nazi "beast" from their shattered lives and prepare for a second holocaust he knows is coming, Momik increasingly shields himself from all feeling and attachment... -
![Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself by Judy Blume]()
Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself by Judy Blume
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIt's 1947, and Sally J. Freedman is full of wild ideas. She's got her eye on handsome Peter Horstein, the Latin lover of her dreams . . . on old Mr. Zavodsky, who looks suspiciously like Hitler in disguise . . . and on her father, who Sally misses terribly. There are so many things to worry and wonder about--but what ever happens, Sally's school year will certainly be exciting--and unforgettable... -
![אנסטסיה by Lois Lowry, לויס לורי]()
אנסטסיה by Lois Lowry, לויס לורי
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAges 8-12. The first and best book in the very popular series describes the ups and downs of a precocious ten-year-old girl. Anastasia loves keeping lists of important information in her green notebook; when she discovers that her mother is pregnant, she instantly adds two new items to her "things I hate" list: "My parents" and "babies... -
![White People by Allan Gurganus]()
White People by Allan Gurganus
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn these eleven stories, Allan Gurganus—author of the highly acclaimed Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All—gives heartbreaking and hilarious voice to the fears, desires and triumphs of a grand cast of Americans... -
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![Seventeen and In-Between by Barthe DeClements]()
Seventeen and In-Between by Barthe DeClements
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAnother story about Barthe DeClements's bestselling heroine, Elsie Edwards... -
![The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? by Edward Albee]()
The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? by Edward Albee
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThree-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward Albee’s most provocative, daring, and controversial play since Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Goat won every major award for best new play of the year: the Tony, New York Drama Critics Circle, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards... -
![Velva Jean Learns to Drive by Jennifer Niven]()
Velva Jean Learns to Drive by Jennifer Niven
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn this spellbinding debut, Velva Jean Hart finds true love-and then risks everything to follow her dreams. Set in Appalachia in the years before World War II, Velva Jean Learns to Drive is a poignant story of a spirited young girl growing up in the gold-mining and moonshining South. Before she dies, Velva Jean's mother urges her to "live out there in the great wide world"... -
![Swimming Lessons and Other Stories from Firozsha Baag by Rohinton Mistry]()
Swimming Lessons and Other Stories from Firozsha Baag by Rohinton Mistry
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFirozsha Baag is an apartment building in Bombay. Its ceilings need plastering and some of the toilets leak appallingly, but its residents are far from desperate, though sometimes contentious and unforgiving... -
![Anastasia Again! by Lois Lowry]()
Anastasia Again! by Lois Lowry
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 16 ratings"As soon as I finish this chocolate pudding, I'm going to jump out the window." Twelve-year-old Anastasia Krupnik has just discovered that her parents are planning a move to the suburbs. And she happens to know that people in the suburbs do not have meaningful paintings on their walls. They have paint-by-numbers pictures of kittens with big eyes playing with balls of yarn... -
![Anastasia at Your Service by Lois Lowry]()
Anastasia at Your Service by Lois Lowry
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA long, boring summer--that's what Anastasia has to look forward to when her best friend goes off to camp. She's thrilled when old Mrs. Bellingham answers her ad for a job as a Lady's Companion. Anastasia is sure her troubles are over--she'll be busy and earn money!But she doesn't expect to have to polish silver and serve at Mrs...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family humor realistic 20th-century children children-books female-author
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