Apr 6Blubber: Recommended ReadalikesThe crew of this podcast represent a wide range of body types, personalities, physical features, abilities, and colors. We’re a diverse group, which unfortunately means we’re familiar with a diverse range of insults. For our recommended reads for this week, we tried to pick books where characters overcome and rise…Books4 min readBooks4 min read
Mar 23A Wrinkle in Time: Recommended Readalikes(Mrs.) Who? (Mrs.) Whatsit? (Mrs.) Which? Is this a novel by beloved author Madeline L’Engle or is it an Abbott and Costello routine? As kids, we loved the adventure of finding out the answers to all of these questions as we time-traveled and jumped around the universe with Meg, Charles…Books4 min readBooks4 min read
Mar 23Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants: Recommended ReadalikesI guess we should call this one the Sisterhood of the Time Traveling Pants, since our episode came out a while ago. Maybe the pants just wanted to travel beyond the limits of their international visa. To be honest, the phrase “traveling pants” always makes us think of that Dr…Books4 min readBooks4 min read
Mar 9Babysitter’s Club: Recommended ReadalikesThere are several rites of passage that tweens typically go through. Discovering your first zit. Wearing the wrong color shoes to school. Calling the teacher “mom.” Convincing an adult that you’re perfectly capable, at 12 years old, to be in charge of another child. Babysitting can be a fun, rewarding…Books6 min readBooks6 min read
Feb 2Anne of Green Gables: Recommended ReadalikesThe process of growing up is filled with emotional extremes. Like Anne Shirley, one moment you may be filled with sublime joy at the beauty of the trees along the pathway you’ve dubbed the White Way of Delight and the next, you are in the depths of despair — your…Books4 min readBooks4 min read
Jan 5Pride and Prejudice: Recommended ReadalikesAccording to E.M. Dadlez, a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Central Oklahoma, there are only two types of Jane Austen fans: Pride and Prejudice/Emma fans or Persuasion/Sense and Sensibility fans. We’re not surprised. Fans of Jane Austen (Janeites, or sometimes Austenites) are some of the most loyal and…Books4 min readBooks4 min read
Dec 8, 2022Nancy Drew, the Secret of the Old Clock: Recommended ReadalikesMove over Sherlock Holmes, this is a series for the girls*. Created as the counterpart to the Hardy Boys series, Nancy Drew became the female detective for generations of women. The Nancy Drew series did a surprisingly good job of disregarding stereotypical gender roles, considering that the books came out…Books5 min readBooks5 min read
Nov 17, 2022Heaven: Recommended ReadalikesA lot of heavy concepts are covered in Angela Johnson’s Heaven: adoption, death, identity, and broken trust. It’s a lot for readers to take in. You would think that it’s too much for a middle-grade book but, when you’re going through some of the same raw emotions as the main…Books5 min readBooks5 min read
Nov 3, 2022Ella Enchanted: Recommended ReadalikesIf you weren’t around during the 2000s, you missed out on an absolute tsunami of reimagined fairy tales that flooded the market. A Cinderella Story (2004), Enchanted (2007), and Sydney White (2007) flew off the shelves of Blockbuster. The Princess Diaries series (by Meg Cabot), the Princess Academy series (by…Books5 min readBooks5 min read
Oct 25, 2022Coraline: Recommended ReadalikesHorrific, deformed monsters are imitating friends and family. Souls are being devoured and trapped in the eternal unrest of the afterlife. Women with rusty sewing needles for fingers and sentient doppelgänger dolls are working to replace eyes with plastic buttons. When Neil Gaiman decided to pitch his horrifying idea to…Books5 min readBooks5 min read
