Book Lists

Books make it onto the recommended titles list in several ways:

• I read a book with one of my book clubs that I believe moms and daughters will learn something from, find something important to talk about, or have fun reading.
• I review a book outside of my book club that meets the same criteria above.
• Other readers and members of mother-daughter book clubs send in their lists of recommended books along with reviews.

Books are listed by age group, and you’ll also find lists of favorite authors, books to make you laugh out loud, and even a list of good books for boys. You can find reviews for many of the books listed here; just click on the live link to be taken to a specific review. If a book doesn’t have a review, that means it’s been recommended by a club or a librarian, but no one has written a review yet.

Review Policy

Most of the book reviews at Mother Daughter Book Club.com have been written by me, Cindy Hudson. If there’s a guest review, I let everyone know who has written the review. I generally look for titles that may be widely available in libraries so book club members don’t necessarily have to buy copies to read it. I sometimes make exceptions, depending on the topic and how many books are on my review schedule. I get books for review from the library and from publishers who send me copies to read. I always give my honest opinion regardless of how I obtain books for review.

While reviewing a book I focus less on whether I liked it or not and more on the issues to discuss in mother-daughter book clubs. I have been in clubs long enough to know that every reader has likes and dislikes. Each book typically is liked by some in the group and disliked by some in the group. It is rare to find a book that everyone likes, and that’s not always the best book for discussion. My philosophy in general is that if the issues are worth discussing and the book is fairly well written, it’s a good book club choice.

The age recommendations are often my own, and they don’t always reflect publisher recommendations. If you feel strongly about a book you or your club has read and want to recommend it for other groups, feel free to send me your review at info@motherdaughterbookclub.com. When you send in a review, please include your first name and last initial, city and state, and whether you are a mother, daughter, librarian, author or other interested reader.

A

A Match Made in High School—Kristin Walker

A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

A Regular Guy: Growing Up with Autism by Laura Shumaker

A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck

A Taste for Rabbit by Linda Zuckerman

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

According to Kit by Eugenie Doyle

Adios, Nirvana by Conrad Wesselhoeft

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson—Two reviews: 1 and 2

All You Get is Me by Yvonne Prinz

Alligator Bayou by Donna Jo Napoli

Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison

Aries Rising by Bonnie Hearn Hill

Artichoke’s Heart by Suzanne Supplee

Awesome Plays for Teens and Tweens by Christina Hamlett

B

Beautiful Dead, Book 1—Jonas by Eden Maguire

The Big Crunch by Pete Hautman

Blue Plate Special by Michelle D. Kwasney

The Bone Magician by F. E. Higgins

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Boy by Roald Dahl

C

The Candidates by Inara Scott

The Cardturner by Louis Sachar

Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral

City of Spies by Susan Kim and Laurance Klavan

Cleavage: Breakaway Fiction for Real Girls edited by Deb Loughead and Jocelyn Shipley

The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

The Color of Earth by Kim Dong Hwa

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Creepers by Joanne Dahme

D

Dark Parties by Sara Grant

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Daughter of Xanadu by Dori Jones Yang

Dear Big V by Ellen Leroe

Doggirl by Robin Brande

Driver’s Ed by Caroline Cooney

Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pies by Jordan Sonnenblick

E

The Egg and I by Betty MacDonald

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

Every Crooked Pot by Renée Rosen

Everybody Sees the Ants by A. S. King

Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath

Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin

F

Fair Weather by Richard Peck

The Fetch by Laura Whitcomb

Flash Burnout by L. K. Madigan

Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce

G

Getting the Girl by Markus Zusak

Girlwood by Claire Dean

The Girls from Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow

Going Solo by Roald Dahl

Goth Girl Rising by Barry Lyga

H

Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson

The Healing Spell by Kimberley Griffiths Little

Heart with Joy by Steve Cushman

The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss

The Heroine’s Bookshelf by Erin Blakemore

Holes by Louis Sachar

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

How I Made It to Eighteen by Tracy White

How I Stole Johnny Depp’s Alien Girlfriend by Gary Ghislain

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

I

I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

I’ll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan

If I’d Known Then, Women in Their 20s and 30s Write Letters to Their Younger Selves, edited by Ellyn Spragins

In a Hearbeat by Loretta Ellsworth

In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Instructions for a Broken Heart by Kim Culbertson

Ireland by Frank Delaney

J

Jane in Bloom by Deborah Lytton

The Julian Game by Adele Griffin

K

The Keening by A. LaFaye

L

The Last Will of Moira Leahy by Therese Walsh

Letters from Home by Kristina McMorris

Lips Touch, Three Times written by Laini Taylor, illustrated by Jim Di Bartolo

Lipstick Apology by Jennifer Jabaley

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O’Connor McNees

Love, Meg by C. Leigh Purtill

M

The Magician King by Lev Grossman

The Magnolia League by Katie Crouch

Mates, Dates and Inflatable Bras by Cathy Hopkins

Merlin’s Harp by Anne Eliot Crompton

The Midnight Palace by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce—Two reviews: 1 and 2

Monsoon Summer by Mitali Perkins

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

Mostly Good Girls by Leila Sales

The Mother-Daughter Cookbook by Lynette Rohrer Shirk

Movie Girl by Christina Hamlett

N

The New York Stories of Edith Wharton

The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh

Nissa’s Place by A. LaFaye

Nonna’s Book of Mysteries by Mary Osborne

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

The Not So Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen by Mitali Perkins

O

Ophelia’s Oracle by Donna DeNomme and Tina Proctor

The Other Side of Blue by Valerie O. Patterson

OyMG by Amy Fellner Dominy

P

P. S. Longer Letter Later by Paula Danziger and Ann M. Martin

The Pages in Between by Erin Einhorn

The Painter From Shanghai by Jennifer Cody Epstein

Picture the Dead written by Adele Griffin, illustrated by Lisa Brown

Pies and Prejudice by Heather Vogel Frederick

Pobby and Dingan by Ben Rice

Poetry Speaks Who I Am edited by Elise Paschen

The Power of Half by Kevin Salwen and Hannah Salwen

The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Prince of Persia by Jordan Mechner

The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

Prisoners in the Palace: How Princess Victoria Became Queen with the Help of Her Maid, a Reporter, and a Scoundrel by Michaela MacColl

Purple Daze by Sherry Shahan

Q

The Queen’s Daughter by Susan Coventry

R

The Real Real by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

Red: The Next Generation of American Writers edited by Amy Goldwasser

Red Scarf Girl by Ji Li Jiang

Remember Me to Harold Square by Paula Danziger

Resistance, Book 1 by Carla Jablonski and Leland Purvis

Restoring Harmony by Joelle Anthony

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

Ringside 1925 by Jen Bryant

Ruby in the Smoke by Phillip Pullman

Runaround by Helen Hemphill

S

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Savvy by Ingrid Law

Screenwriting for Teens by Christina Hamlett

Sean Griswold’s Head by Lindsay Leavitt

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

The Secret Society of the Pink Crystal Ball by Risa Green

The Shattering by Karen Healey

Shock Point by April Henry

The Silence of Our Friends by Mark Long, Jim Demonakos and Nate Powell

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

Songs for a Teenage Nomad by Kim Culbertson—Two reviews: 1 and 2

Solomon’s Thieves by Jordan Mechner

Sorta Like a Rock Star by Matthew Quick

The Soul Taker by Celia Rees

The Space Between Trees by Katie Williams

Spinning Out by David Zahler Jr.

Stalker Girl by Rosemary Graham

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Still Life with Chickens by Catherine Goldhammer

Stolen Voices edited by Zlata Filipovic and Melanie Challenger

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells

The Sweetest Thing by Christina Mandelski

T

Tangerine by Edward Bloor

The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff

This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff

The Time-Traveling Fashionista by Bianca Turetsky

The Traitor’s Wife by Kathleen Kent

Tombstone Tea by Joanne Dahme

Torched by April Henry

The Turning: What Curiosity Kills by Helen Ellis

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Tyger Tyger by Kersten Hamilton

U

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

The Ultimate Teen Book Guide edited by Daniel Hahn and Leonie Flynn

Under the Green Hill by Laura L. Sullivan

Unforgettable by Loretta Ellsworth

Unraveling by Lynn Biederman and Michelle Baldini

W

Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy by Carlos Eire

Water Steps by A. LaFaye

We Hear the Dead by Dianne K. Salerni

West with the Night by Beryl Markham

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape by Peter Hedges

What I Would Tell Her: 28 Devoted Dads on Bringing Up, Holding On To, and Letting Go of Their Daughters, edited by Andrea N. Richesin

Wildwing by Emily Whitman

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

Winter Town by Stephen Emond

Witch Dreams by Vivian Vande Velde

Women Making America by Heidi Hemming and Julie Hemming Savage

Y

The Year of Goodbyes by Debbie Levy

The Year of My Miraculous Reappearance by Catherine Ryan Hyde