Here are 80 books that The Labors of Hercules Beal fans have personally recommended if you like
The Labors of Hercules Beal.
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When I was in school, I often struggled to figure out where I āfitā. Yeah, I know thatās a common struggle among angsty teens. But as a biracial, bisexual kid who loved basketball and books, I didnāt feel totally at home in any of the stereotypical Breakfast Club-style categories that showed up even in many of the books I read: jock, nerd, prep, etc. Now, as a dad, coach, and writer, I know those boxes arenāt real. Iām passionate about giving kids stories that challenge old ideas about what boys are āsupposedā to be and help them explore the full range of who they can be.
Between his cruel older brother and his rigid, overbearing father, Alan Cole doesnāt have it easyāespecially when his brother discovers he has a crush on a boy. But with some help from his friends, Alan learns to stand up for himself and challenge his familyās expectations. This is the kind of book I wish I could send back in time to my younger self, and I know a lot of kids will relate to Alanās strugglesāand celebrate his triumphs.
Perfect for fans of Tim Federle and Gary Schmidt, this is a hilarious and poignant tale about the trials of middle school when youāre coming of ageāand coming out.
Alan Cole canāt stand up to his cruel brother, Nathan. He canāt escape the wrath of his demanding father, who thinks heās about as exceptional as a goldfish. Andāscariest of allāhe canāt let the cute boy across the cafeteria know he has a crush on him.
But when Nathan discovers Alanās secret, his older brother announces a high-stakes round of Cole vs. Cole. Each brother must complete seven nearly impossible tasks;ā¦
One review of my books mentioned that I make heroes out of damaged people, so itās natural I would read that kind of book. I love to see lost souls, losers, battlers for justice, and the underdogs rise above all the elements that hold them down. I think most people root for the underdogs, whether in life, in sports, or the weaker in any competition. Itās in our nature to do so. Iām a wife, mother, writer, former commercial artist, former store owner, former importer, which makes me ripe to be something new. But I think Iām done. Iāve shot my wad, done my best at whatever, and itās always been fun.
Iron House, short for the Iron Mountain Home for Boys, is a thriller that features orphaned brothers: weakling Julian, and his strong and fiercely protective brother, Michael. After being bullied to the point of cracking, Julian kills his abuser. Michael escapes Iron House and takes the blame as he leaves.
This leads the brothers on two very different paths. Julian is adopted and, though mentally unbalanced, becomes a writer of dark childrenās stories. Michael is also adopted off the streets by the head of a crime syndicate who teaches him how to kill. Iron House is a complicated story of abuse, torment, and love. The book is not for the faint of heart.
John Hart has written three New York Times bestsellers and won an unprecedented two back-to-back Edgar Awards. His books have been called "masterful" (Jeffery Deaver) and "gripping" (People) with "Grisham-style intrigue and Turow-style brooding" (The New York Times). Now he delivers his fourth novelāa gut-wrenching, heart-stopping thriller no reader will soon forget.
HE WOULD GO TO HELL
At the Iron Mountain Home for Boys, there was nothing but time. Time to burn and timeā¦
Iāve always been drawn to stories that feature mysterious locales and secret objects and strange or magical occurrences, so books with these elementsāparticularly when the main characters in the books are young people learning about themselves and the world around themāare often very satisfying to me. Thereās something naturally engaging, I believe, in tales where someone is thrust into a disorienting situation and has to make sense of the uncertainty he or she faces. The books Iāve written for young readers all tend in this direction, and so Iām always on the hunt for stories along these same lines.
Long a favorite of mine, every couple of years I enjoy returning to this book about two brothers who fall in with a group of Venetian street children and the young master-thief who oversees them. Funke's classic, assured style grants this relatively contemporary novel (first published in Germany in 2000) a charming, old-fashioned sensibility, while the pacing and characterization should appeal to the most modern of readers, at least to my eyes. The book has everything I love in stories for young readersāmystery, magic, friendship, and startling plot twistsāand the interior illustrations done by Funke herself are lovely.
The magical multi-award-winning modern classic from master storyteller and New York Times-bestselling author, Cornelia Funke - over a million copies sold worldwide!
'A completely delicious read.' THE OBSERVER
'Today's young readers will probably love this book as they love the Harry Potter series' THE NEW YORK TIMES
'My enjoyment of The Thief Lord grew and grew as I read it' DIANA WYNNE JONES
Winter has come early to Venice.
Two orphaned children are on the run, hiding among the crumbling canals and misty alleyways of the city. Befriended by a gang of street children and their mysterious leader, the Thiefā¦
Iām an Australian writer and journalist. Iāve written several humour books, as well as a history of Australia in the 1960 and 1970s called The Land Before Avocado. I also write for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Washington Post and present a radio show on ABC Radio Sydney. Of the books Iāve written, the one thatās closest to my heart is my memoir Flesh Wounds.
After losing both parents to cancer, almost simultaneously, twenty-something Dave becomes father to his much younger brother. Donāt be put off by the jokey title, this book is a heartfelt and hilarious celebration of young men and the way their competitive, raucous humour can be an expression of love and support. I guarantee you will love these two boys-on-the-way-to-be-men.
The author chronicles his life in the years after the deaths of his parents, when he assumed responsibility for the care and upbringing of his eight-year-old brother.
While writing this book, a study on a professionally competent woman who is taken out by grief when her partner dies due to an act of violence, my grandfather passed away and my theoretical study of grief quickly became a real one. Working through Stellaās grief helped me work through my own and allowing her to heal and fall in love aided in my healing immensely. Grief is brutal and feels endless, but coming out of the other side of it with the support of the people around me changed me for the better.
Besides well written non-fiction and sapphic romance, my favorite type of book is always going to be middle grade fiction.
In AfterMath, 12-year-old Lucy is struggling with the death of her younger brother from heart failure. When she changes school, she comes into the aftermath of a school shooting where her classmates struggle with grief of a different kind. Chock full of character development and with a solid plot, this takes a gentle look at grief, trauma, gun violence, terminal illness, and the real-life things that we have to face, no matter our age.
I love a story where children are resilient, though I wish they didnāt have to be so resilient all the time.
"This book is a gift to the culture." āAmy Schumer, writer, actor, and activist
After her brother's death from a congenital heart defect, twelve-year-old Lucy is not prepared to be the new kid at schoolāespecially in a grade full of survivors of a shooting that happened four years ago. Without the shared past that both unites and divides her classmates, Lucy feels isolated and unable to share her family's own loss, which is profoundly different from the trauma of her peers.
Lucy clings to her love of math, which provides the absolute answers she craves. But through budding friendships andā¦
I remember how it was to be an awkward teen, misunderstood, questioning, and having nowhere to turn. I remember living in a violent world where I had to grow up to survive. The world was a scary place for a neurodivergent who lived more in her head than in real life. I want to be able to bring stories to our young people where they might see themselves and not feel so alone because we all are a bit awkward, a bit misunderstood, and filled with stories that deserve to be told.
Coming out sometimes happens slowly. This book is about two boys who meet over one summer and become best friends. Although theyāre different, they find the pieces of themselves that fit together.
Throughout the story, it felt as if they were meant to be together. The Universe made it so. All Ari had to do was believe.
This Printz Honor Book is a "tender, honest exploration of identity" (Publishers Weekly) that distills lyrical truths about family and friendship.
Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When they meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the two loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special kind of friendship--the kind of friendship that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through their friendship that Ari and Dante will learnā¦
As horror writer, Iām often asked what scares me most, and almost every fear I have is, at its core, about the Unknown. Not just what we donāt know but the things we cannot know. In all my books, Iāve tried to lean into that personal fear as much as possible, and with Heavy Oceans, I was inspired by the cases Mulder and Scully investigated back when the idea of a government lying to and spying on its own citizens seemed almost quaint by comparison to the moments weāre living. And, as the showās title credit often said, in glowing words that blazed over a darkened skyā¦"The Truth is Out There."
This book damn near ticked every single box I have when it comes to what I love in a novel.
A complex and conflicted addict as the main character? Check. Regrets? Check. Deep childhood friendships? Check. An evil magician and a creepy carnival? Check and check.
Black Mouth is dark and intense, and even though it plunges straight into the supernatural, itās very much grounded in the real world. A world full of pain, heartache, loss, and broken people.
It also features a character with a disability, and heās drawn with such love and tenderness that I canāt help but think more novels would benefit from disability representation. The character of Dennis is often seen most clearly in the way others interact with him, revealing much about the kindness or cruelty of the other characters.
A special book that I didnāt so much read as live inside.
A group of friends return to their hometown to confront a nightmare they first stumbled on as teenagers in this mesmerising odyssey of terror.
An atmospheric, haunting page-turner from the bestselling author of Come with Me
For nearly two decades, Jamie Warren has been running from darkness. He's haunted by a traumatic childhood and the guilt at having disappeared from his disabled brother's life. But then a series of unusual events reunites him with his estranged brother and their childhood friends, and none of them can deny the sense of fate that has seemingly drawn them back together.
Have you noticed the scarcity of YA novels told solely from a guyās point of view? If you arenāt a boy, the parent of one, or maybe a savvy librarian, you probably havenāt. Iām two out of three. I have two awesome sons. Theyāre avid readers and burned through the YA section and into adult fantasy and sci-fi long before I was ready for them to. Boys read! Thereās a need for protagonists who identify as male. No surprise, my YA novels often feature ordinary boys doing heroic things. Thanks to years of spying on my sons and their friends, I have plenty of fodder to feed my muse.
This rare story had me laughing out loud, sobbing, and sighing at the beauty of it from beginning to end. Itās not about a ghost in the paranormal sense, but the story revolves around a family haunted by the death of a son.
Pup (James) Flannigan, the youngest of eight siblings, is used to being the silent observer at his raucous family gatherings. When his oldest brother dies suddenly, grief and denial rattle the family to its core.
I fell in love with Pup immediately! Heās a funny, sensitive guy whoās powerless against his familyās tide of sadness until an art teacher encourages him to pick up a camera. Pupās slow transformation from helplessly observing to using the camera lens to bring the damaged, grieving people he loves into clear focus is a beautiful thing to watch.
From Printz Honor winner and Morris Award finalist Jessie Ann Foley comes a comitragic YA novel that will appeal to fans of Jandy Nelson and Jeff Zentner.
As the youngest of eight, painfully average Pup Flanagan is used to flying under the radar. Heās barely passing his classes. He lets his longtime crush walk all over him. And heās in no hurry to decide on a college path.
The only person who ever made him think he could be more was his older brother Patrick. But that was before Patrick died suddenly, leaving Pup with a family who wonāt talkā¦
Iām the youngest of five, and my siblings are what shaped me and my world. Growing up, I never felt alone, except climbing the stairs to bed half an hour before anyone else (such an injustice!). We played cards and games and had noisy discussions throughout my childhood and youth, and we still do. I wouldnāt be me without siblings. Itās the relationship that most fascinates me. There are siblings in all the books Iāve written and probably in all the books Iāll ever write. Itās not a theme I look for when I read, but I recognize the feeling when I encounter it and it feels like home.
I read this book accidentally. When ordering The Witchās Boy by Michael Gruber (so good! no siblings), this title came up alongside it. Barnhill won the Newbery with The Girl who Drank the Moon, but this one won my heart first. I loved the woods that separated the two worlds and the two main characters; I loved the image of magic pulsing in the veins; and I loved the subtle sibling theme. The title character, Ned, is defined in part by his dead twin. He fears that the villagers are right in saying the wrong boy survived. Having siblings is not all cozy belonging. Thereās guilt and insecurity and competition and heartbreak too. This book captures some of those lost feelings among its thrills and terrors, while being ultimately uplifting.
When Ned and his identical twin brother tumble from their raft into a raging river, only Ned survives. Villagers are convinced the wrong boy lived. But when a Bandit King comes to steal the magic Ned's mother, a witch, is meant to protect, it's Ned who safeguards the magic and summons the strength to protect his family and community. Meanwhile, across the enchanted forest that borders Ned's village lives Aine, the resourceful and pragmatic daughter of the Bandit King, who is haunted by her mother's last words to her: "The wrong boy will save your life and you will saveā¦
Iām a childrenās book author and regularly read 2-3 middle grade books a week. I love books that respect kids enough to make them think, and I seek out good books constantly, whether they are intended for kids, youth, or adults. Iām the author of the early education books Itās OK Not to Share andItās OK to Go Up the Slide, and the ghost adventure The Griffins of Castle Caryfor kids ages 8-12. Iām a graduate of Swarthmore College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and besides writing, I host two podcasts: BookSmitten (childrenās books), and Renegade Rules (early childhood). Enjoy the books!
I like books that make you think, and this book satisfies. Charlie remembers his brother. But thatās odd, because Charlie is an only child. Besides being a mystery, this book excited me because it probes the idea of loving someone and missing someone who doesnāt exist. Or doesnāt exist anymore. Not too scary, this book gives plenty of adventure. The children have to enter an abandoned orphan asylum to find the ghostly, missing children.
āAs puzzle pieces click into place, The Missing Piece of Charlie OāReilly reveals that itās storiesāand familyāthat make us whole. A deeply satisfying and beautiful book.ā āElana K. Arnold, National Book Award finalist and author of The Question of Miracles
Charlie OāReilly is an only child. Which is why it makes everyone uncomfortable when he talks about his brother.
Liam. His eight-year-old kid brother, who, up until a year ago, slept in the bunk above Charlie, took pride in being as annoying as possible, and was the only person who could make Charlie laugh until it hurt.
