Read These Books

fabulous stories and recommendations

Feb 24, 2026

Books I Read and Loved This Month (required MFA reading):

Young Adult Non-Fiction that reads like a thriller:

Accountable: A True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whole Lives Changed by Dashka Slater* (absolutely incredible)

Middle Grade Fiction:

The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman by Gennifer Choldenko (oh my heart)

Love Sugar Magic: A Dash of Trouble by Anna Meriano (cute and witchy)

When We Ride: A Novel by Rex Ogle* (fabulous and told in verse)

The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin by Kip Wilson (gay cabaret during the rise of Hitler)

From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks* (the wrongful conviction of a father)

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (a clever, witty hero)

The Girl and the Ghost by Hanna Alkaf* (haunting and totally original)

Twenty-Four Seconds from Now by Jason Reynolds (teenage sexuality & a whole novel compressed into 24 seconds!)

Craft Book:

WRITING FICTION: A GUIDE TO NARRATIVE CRAFT by Janet Burroway* (a classic)

Picture Books:

The Rock from the Sky by Jon Klassen (always good and dry humor)

Saturday by Oge Mora (Caldecott winning author-illustrator)

LOVE, VIOLET by Charlotte Sullivan Wild (cute with crushes)

WE ARE WATER PROTECTORS by Carole Lindstrom (Caldecott winner & Hamline faculty)

*favorites

How to Read Like a Writer

Whew! That’s a lot of books read - and a great way to learn how to write. I’m just starting to dive into Jane Eyre (a book I love love love - what writing techniques did Charlotte Bronte use?)

Here’s what my MFA advisor is really pushing me to do: identify WHAT the literary element is, and HOW the author uses it effectively (or doesn’t).

Try it. Because once you can identify the technique, you can start using it in your own work.

Most of these books have major awards attached to them, and the only book I didn’t love was The Thief, but it won the 1997 Newbery and turned into a series of six. So…it must be me!