Books like 'Chicago'
Readers who enjoyed Chicago by Brian Doyle also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
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West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge
Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsAn emotional, rousing novel inspired by the incredible true story of two giraffes who made headlines and won the hearts of Depression-era America.“Few true friends have I known and two were giraffes…”Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave... -
![Doctor Rose and the Outlaw by R.O. Lane]()
Doctor Rose and the Outlaw by R.O. Lane
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsDoctor Rose Devereaux moves to Durango, Colorado, after her father is killed by a business associate. She sets up her medical practice there. One night she's called out to help a gang of outlaws that have been shot to pieces while trying to rustle cattle. One of the outlaws is a young man that she develops feelings for, but he's in and out of her life for months on end... -
![Silva Rerum II by Kristina Sabaliauskaitė]()
Silva Rerum II by Kristina Sabaliauskaitė
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsRomāna darbība notiek no 1707. līdz 1710.gadam. Karš, mēris, bads, nesamērīga greznība un nāvīgs izsalkums, zviedru un krievu karavīri, jūdu ārsti, holandiešu kāršu spēlmaņi, turku konkubīnes, franču dāmas, spītīgi žemaiši un ironiski viļņieši, bezvārda mūks, kurš apglabājis vairāk nekā divdesmit tūkstošus mēra upuru, un, protams, vēl viena bajāru Norvaišu dzimtas paaudze... -
![The Reindeer Hunters by Lars Mytting]()
The Reindeer Hunters by Lars Mytting
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe Reindeer Hunters is the second in a thrilling historical trilogy that began with The Bell in the Lake.The year is 1903, and twenty-two years have passed since Astrid Hekne died in childbirth. Her son Jehans lives on a modest smallholding up in the hills near Butangen, having withdrawn from his community...Categorized as:
historical-fiction magical-realism literary-fiction fiction historical audiobook fantasy book -
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![Sarah and Solomon: Only A Stone Should Be Alone by Roberta Kagan]()
Sarah and Solomon: Only A Stone Should Be Alone by Roberta Kagan
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratings“…Fathers and Give me your children!” – Chaim RumkowskiIt is September 1942, and the already battered occupants of the Lodz Ghetto have just been dealt another horrendous blow from Hitler’s iron fist. They must surrender their sick, elderly, and children for ‘deportation... -
![A Tree Grows in Brooklyn & Maggie-Now by Betty Smith]()
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn & Maggie-Now by Betty Smith
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratings...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction book classics fiction historical literary -
![Northern Borders: A Novel by Howard Frank Mosher]()
Northern Borders: A Novel by Howard Frank Mosher
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA New York Times Notable A novel about growing up in a remote corner of Vermont, from the author Richard Russo calls “one of our very best writers... -
![The Financier by Theodore Dreiser]()
The Financier by Theodore Dreiser
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrank Cowperwood, a fiercely ambitious businessman, emerges as the very embodiment of greed as he relentlessly seeks satisfaction in wealth, women, and power. As Cowperwood deals and double-deals, betrays and is in turn betrayed, his rise and fall come to represent the American success story stripped down to brutal realities-a struggle for spoils without conscience or pity...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction north-america urban usa 20th-century adult audiobook -
![All the Forgivenesses by Elizabeth Hardinger]()
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 historical-fiction literary-fiction north-america usa 20th-century audiobook book -
![Erin's Child by Sheelagh Kelly]()
Erin's Child by Sheelagh Kelly
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFamily ties have united the Feeneys through famine and poverty, but can they withstand success? It is 1875 and the Feeneys have left the squalor of York’s slums behind them. Yet all is not well. Patrick remains a man of simple tastes, increasingly out of touch with Thomasin’s ambition to expand her business empire still further across Yorkshire... -
![A Family’s Heartbreak by Kitty Neale]()
A Family’s Heartbreak by Kitty Neale
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAll they ever wanted was somewhere to call home… Beaten When Jenny’s mother abandons her and her younger siblings, Jenny is left at the mercy of her abusive father Henry. And when Henry beats his eldest daughter so badly that she ends up in the hospital, it seems like there’s nowhere left for them all to go...Categorized as:
historical-fiction urban literary-fiction romance historical family audiobook fiction -
![The Sorrow of Angels by Jón Kalman Stefánsson]()
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 historical-fiction literary-fiction action-adventure book drama fiction historical -
![The Return by Dulce Maria Cardoso]()
The Return by Dulce Maria Cardoso
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsLuanda, 1975. The Angolan War of Independence has been raging for at least a decade, but with the collapse of the Salazar dictatorship, defeat for the Portuguese is now in sight. Thousands of settlers are fleeing back to Portugal to escape the brutality of the Angolan rebels.Rui is fifteen years old...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction 21st-century adult book female-author fiction -
![Togo by Kate Klimo]()
Togo by Kate Klimo
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSmall, feisty Siberian husky Togo—the overlooked sled-dog hero of the 1925 serum run to Nome—sets the record straight in Dog Diaries #4! When a diptheria epidemic breaks out in isolated Nome, Alaska, in January 1925, the only way to get life-saving serum to the town is by using dog-sled relay teams...Categorized as:
animals dogs historical-fiction action-adventure book children children-books fiction -
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![The Girl in the Photo by Catherine Hokin]()
The Girl in the Photo by Catherine Hokin
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsTheresienstadt Concentration Camp, 1944. ‘I have to go away, my darling. Please, be brave, stay alive, for me.’ Mama’s voice breaks. The little girl tries to stop the forbidden tears from falling, as the train takes her mother, and she is left alone…Berlin, six years later. Hanni Winter glows with pride as she shows her new husband around her first solo photography exhibition...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult book female-mc fiction -
![The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman]()
The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIt's never too late for new beginnings.On the cusp of turning eighty, newly retired pharmacist Augusta Stern is adrift. When she relocates to Rallentando Springs—an active senior community in southern Florida—she unexpectedly crosses paths with Irving Rivkin, the delivery boy from her father’s old pharmacy—and the man who broke her heart sixty years earlier...Categorized as:
north-america usa urban historical-fiction magical-realism literary-fiction florida new-york-state -
![Spinning Jenny by Sylvia Ann McLain]()
Spinning Jenny by Sylvia Ann McLain
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratings"I guess I'll name you Jenny, something I can say easy. That was my mammy's name, anyway. Jenny. You be Jenny from now on..." Cornelius Carson's mother cautioned him never to own slaves, but in 1830s Louisiana, land and slaves are proof of a man's worth. At 23 Cornelius is ambitious, and in love. He owns one elderly slave, Malachi, and a small cotton farm along Bayou Cocodrie...Categorized as:
north-america usa historical-fiction literary-fiction louisiana fiction historical slavery -
![The Distant Land of My Father by Bo Caldwell]()
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:
historical-fiction literary-fiction north-america urban usa 20th-century adult anthologies -
![Earl, Honey by D.S. Getson, Denise Getson]()
Earl, Honey by D.S. Getson, Denise Getson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsEARL HAHN is slow, the last one to catch on to things. Since the day his father hit him in the head with a two-by-four of loblolly pine, he’s struggled with a “thickness in his brain.” It takes him longer to make the connections others arrive at easily. When his father is prosecuted for the crime of incest, it feels like deliverance for Earl, his mother Lizzie Belle and the entire Hahn family... -
![Indian Paintbrush by John A. Heldt]()
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... -
![Born in a Treacherous time by Jacqui Murray]()
Born in a Treacherous time by Jacqui Murray
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBorn in the harsh world of East Africa 1.8 million years ago, where hunger, death, and predation are a normal part of daily life, Lucy and her band of early humans struggle to survive. It is a time in history when they are relentlessly annihilated by predators, nature, their own people, and the next iteration of man. To make it worse, Lucy’s band hates her... -
![Hannah's Moon by John A. Heldt]()
Hannah's Moon by John A. Heldt
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAfter struggling for years to have a child, Claire Rasmussen, 34, turns to adoption, only to find new obstacles on the path to motherhood. Then she gets an unlikely phone call and soon learns that a distant uncle possesses the secrets of time travel...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction north-america urban usa action-adventure book california -
![Lily by Leigh Greenwood]()
Lily by Leigh Greenwood
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsZac Randolph owns and runs the Little Corner of Heaven Saloon in San Francisco's notorious Barbary Coast. He's a gambler by trade and by nature. He takes care of the girls who work for him, but no woman is as exciting as gambling, no woman means as much to him as his saloon. His life is perfect until a distant cousin, Lily Sterling, arrives from Virginia and upsets everything... -
![Signed, A Paddy by Lisa Boyle]()
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 literary-fiction coming-of-age fiction drama historical female-mc friendship -
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![Child Bride by Jennifer Smith Turner]()
Child Bride by Jennifer Smith Turner
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn the segregated South of the mid-1900s, fourteen-year-old Nell bears witness to a world that embraces the oppression of women. She is fascinated with the prospect of being an independent person—but when she turns sixteen, she is married off and brought to the city of Boston as a bride. Nell is a shy girl who must quickly learn how to be a wife and mother...Categorized as:
north-america usa urban historical-fiction literary-fiction coming-of-age massachusetts romance -
![Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks]()
Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSeptember 2003 marked the 50th anniversary of Maud Martha, the only novel published by esteemed poet Gwendolyn Brooks. Initially entitled "American Family Brown" the work would eventually come to symbolize some of Brooks' most provocative writing. In a novel that captures the essence of Black life, Brooks recognizes the beauty and strength that lies within each of us...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction illinois literary-fiction north-america urban usa 20th-century -
![Isaac's Song by Daniel Black]()
Isaac's Song by Daniel Black
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe beloved author of Don’t Cry for Me and Perfect Peace returns with a poignant, emotionally exuberant novel about a young queer Black man finding his voice in 1980s Chicago—a novel of family, forgiveness and perseverance, for fans of The Great Believers and On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous.Isaac is at a crossroads in his young life...Categorized as:
north-america usa illinois urban historical-fiction literary-fiction coming-of-age arkansas -
![The Call of the Wild/White Fang/To Build a Fire by Jack London]()
The Call of the Wild/White Fang/To Build a Fire by Jack London
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsThe Call of the Wild—Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of all timeTo this day Jack London is the most widely read American writer in the world," E. L. Doctorow wrote in The New York Times Book Review. Generally considered to be London's greatest achievement, The Call of the Wild brought him international acclaim when it was published in 1903...Categorized as:
animals coming-of-age dogs historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure book -
![An Apartment Called Freedom by Ghazi A. Algosaibi]()
An Apartment Called Freedom by Ghazi A. Algosaibi
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFirst published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company... -
![Ward by Leigh Greenwood]()
Ward by Leigh Greenwood
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe freedom of the range, the bawling of the longhorns, the lonesome night watch beneath a vast, starry sky--they get into a man's blood until he knew there was nothing better than the life of a cowboy ... except the love of a good woman. MARINADevastated by a ruthless betrayal, disillusioned by the War Between the States, Ward Dillon swore he'd escape his bitter past and start anew .. -
![Sean by Leigh Greenwood]()
Sean by Leigh Greenwood
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe freedom of the range, the bawling of the longhorns, the lonesome night watch beneath a vast, starry sky—they got into a man's blood until he knew there was nothing better than the life of a cowboy...except the love a good woman. Pearl In the West there were only two kinds of women—the wives and mothers and daughters, and the good-time girls... -
![The Last Carolina Girl by Meagan Church]()
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 historical-fiction literary-fiction adult audiobook book family female-mc -
![With Love from Booky by Bernice Thurman Hunter]()
With Love from Booky by Bernice Thurman Hunter
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBook by Hunter, Bernice...Categorized as:
north-america urban historical-fiction canada children-books fiction young-adult historical -
![Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange]()
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 colorado fiction historical indigenous-mc -
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![In Revere, In Those Days by Roland Merullo]()
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 adult boarding-school book fiction historical -
![Tales of Protection by Erik Fosnes Hansen]()
Tales of Protection by Erik Fosnes Hansen
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAn eccentric scientist lies dead in his coffin reflecting on the past and his last experiment--collecting random incidents from human history and finding the underlying pattern that connects them... -
![Love & Sleep by John Crowley]()
Love & Sleep by John Crowley
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe long-awaited new novel by one of the most important American authors of magical realism. In Aegypt Crowley opened the gates on a world of magic and mystery lying just beyond our own. In Love & Sleep, the second novel in a projected tetralogy, he renews his claim on the exalted territory of the imagination...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction magical-realism adult book fiction historical -
![Misteriosa Buenos Aires by Manuel Mujica Lainez]()
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![Tiffany Girl by Deeanne Gist]()
Tiffany Girl by Deeanne Gist
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of It Happened at the Fair and Fair Play comes a compelling historical novel about a progressive “New Woman”—the girl behind Tiffany’s chapel—and the love that threatens it all... -
![A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power, Susan Power]()
A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power, Susan Power
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe long-awaited, profoundly moving, and unforgettable new novel from PEN Award–winning Native American author Mona Susan Power, spanning three generations of Yanktonai Dakota women from the 19th century to the present day...Categorized as:
north-america usa illinois urban historical-fiction literary-fiction magical-realism coming-of-age -
![River on Fire by Scott Pratt]()
River on Fire by Scott Pratt
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"River on Fire" is the story of Randall Smith, a foundling orphan growing up in the midwestern United States in the late 1960s. Without the intimate guidance of loving parents, Randall struggles to understand a dangerous and confusing world during one of the most tumultuous times in modern history...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction bildungsroman book christian fiction historical -
![The Jealous Kind by James Lee Burke]()
The Jealous Kind by James Lee Burke
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom New York Times bestselling author James Lee Burke—an atmospheric, coming-of-age story set in 1952 Texas, as the Korea War rages.On its surface, life in Houston is as you would expect: drive-in restaurants, souped-up cars, jukeboxes, teenagers discovering their sexuality... -
![Everything My Mother Taught Me by Alice Hoffman]()
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 massachusetts fiction audiobook -
![Well Behaved Wives by Amy Sue Nathan]()
Well Behaved Wives by Amy Sue Nathan
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsPerfect wives, imperfect lives, and upending the rules of behavior in 1960s America.Law school graduate and newlywed Ruth Applebaum is acclimating to life and marriage in a posh Philadelphia neighborhood. She’ll do almost anything to endear herself to her mother-in-law, who’s already signed up Ruth for etiquette lessons conducted by the impeccably accessorized tutor Lillian Diamond...Categorized as:
north-america usa urban historical-fiction pennsylvania fiction historical womens-fiction -
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![The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry]()
The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsInspired by a true literary mystery, New York Times bestselling author of the mesmerizing The Secret Book of Flora Lea returns with the sweeping story of a legendary book, a lost mother, and a daughter’s search for them both.In 1927, eight-year-old Clara Harrington’s magical childhood shatters when her mother, renowned author, Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham, disappears off the coast of South Carolina... -
![Memoir from Antproof Case by Mark Helprin]()
Memoir from Antproof Case by Mark Helprin
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAn old American who lives in Brazil is writing his memoirs. An English teacher at the naval academy, he is married to a woman young enough to be his daughter and has a little son whom he loves. He sits in a mountain garden in Niterói, overlooking the ocean...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction magical-realism action-adventure adult book crime -
![1933 Was a Bad Year by John Fante]()
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 historical-fiction literary-fiction north-america usa 20th-century book classics -
![The Hungry Road by Marita Conlon-McKenna]()
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 historical-fiction literary-fiction adult audiobook book family female-author -
![Trail To Yesterday by Duane Boehm]()
Trail To Yesterday by Duane Boehm
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTrail To Yesterday is the newest novel by Bestselling Western author Duane Boehm. He has written another western novel with enough humor, heartbreak, love, and outlaws to keep you turning the page.When Ike and Luka Gunther moved to the Montana Territory to start new lives, they thought they'd left behind all their troubles from their days in Colorado... -
![Stars of Alabama: A Novel by Sean of the South by Sean Dietrich]()
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 historical-fiction literary-fiction north-america usa action-adventure audiobook book
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