Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan illustrates a jarring coming of age tale steeped in history. After a tragic incident, Esperanza is forced to abandon her family ranch in Mexico and join a farm labor camp in California. Deplorable work…
Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan illustrates a jarring coming of age tale steeped in history. After a tragic incident, Esperanza is forced to abandon her family ranch in Mexico and join a farm labor camp in California. Deplorable work…
Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s 2001 novel La Sombra del Viento, or The Shadow of the Wind in English, was love at first sight for me. Zafón tells the story of a boy who finds a rare work of an obscure writer…
By the time I read the third chapter of Lois Lowry’s The Giver, my 13-year-old mind had been blown and my lifelong love for futuristic dystopian novels was officially born. The brilliance with which Lowry slowly peels back the perfection…
With 16 main series books and a television series that spanned 7 seasons, Pretty Little Liars has made a significant impact on the teen mystery genre, despite some of its controversial subplots. The series follows a tight knit friend group…
Almost seven decades after the publication of its first volume, J.R.R. Tolkien’s foundational epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings remains incredibly influential. A success upon initial publication, it soared to cultural dominance when the counterculture of the 1960s discovered…
After nearly two decades, readers and adventurers are still magnetized by Into The Wild, Jon Krakauer’s story of Christopher McCandless. Though he was inexperienced, McCandless traveled into the Alaskan wilderness. He lived and died by the majesty of nature, and…
Unlike the ghosts and dark gothic castles that used to scare our great-great-grandparents, science going wrong is one of the cornerstones of modern horror. An experiment with devastating consequences, the creation of a monster that defies the laws of nature,…
Every artist has their magnum opus–the greatest work of their career. For Nobel Prize winner John Steinback, this was East of Eden. Set in the fruitful lands of Salinas Valley, the novel follows two families whose destinies intertwine, and explores…
Since its release in 2017, The Hate U Give has appeared on the NYT Best Sellers list. The novel is destined to become a timeless classic because of the impactful and personal way it addresses social justice issues. Told from…
Over the course of 26 novels and counting, Jack Reacher has become one of the most popular characters in the thriller world. Physically imposing, Reacher is a brilliant character. He’s a patriot who served his country honorably in the military…