Recommendations based on The Underneathby Kathi Appelt

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. One Crazy Summer

    by Rita Williams-Garcia
    A young girl's summer adventure in Oakland, California, as she learns about her family's past.

    Delphine, aged eleven, Vonetta, nine, and Fern, seven, live with their father and grandmother in Brooklyn , New York. However, the girls’ father sends them to Oakland, California one summer to stay ... (Wikipedia)

  2. Princess Academy

    by Shannon Hale
    A young girl's journey of self-discovery and empowerment, finding her own strength and potential.

    Miri is a fourteen-year-old girl from Mount Eskel, an isolated territory of Danland, who has never been allowed to work with the rest of the villagers in the quarry that keeps the community alive. ... (Wikipedia)

  3. The Graveyard Book

    by Neil Gaiman
    A young boy's journey through a graveyard, learning the secrets of the dead.

    The story begins as the man Jack murders most of the members of a family (later revealed to be the Dorian family) except for the toddler upstairs. Unknown to him, the toddler has climbed out of his ... (Wikipedia)

  4. The Invention of Hugo Cabret

    by Brian Selznick
    An orphaned boy's journey to unravel the secrets of a mechanical man and find his place in the world.

    In 1930s Paris, young Hugo Cabret and his father repair an automaton at the museum where his father works. When Hugo's father dies in a fire, his uncle brings him to live and work at the train ... (Wikipedia)

  5. When You Reach Me

    by Rebecca Stead
    A young girl in 1970s New York City receives mysterious notes that seem to predict the future. She must unravel the mystery before it's too late.

    Miranda is an ordinary sixth grader, until she starts receiving mysterious messages from somebody who knows all about her, including things that have not even happened yet. Each message brings her ... (Goodreads)

  6. The Art of Racing in the Rain

    by Garth Stein
    An uplifting story of a race car driver and the bond between humans and animals.

    Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with opposable thumbs), he has educated himself by watching television extensively, and by ... (Goodreads)

  7. Book of a Thousand Days

    by Shannon Hale
    A lady's maid and her mistress are locked in a tower for seven years. The maid's journal tells of their struggles and eventual escape.

    Dashti, a mucker from steppes of the Eight Realms, begins a diary as she looks for a job after her mother dies of illness. Eventually, she finds and accepts a position as the new maid of Lady Saren, ... (Wikipedia)

  8. Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side

    by Beth Fantaskey
    Adopted Jessica discovers she is a vampire princess betrothed to a handsome vampire prince. Can she embrace her destiny and love?

    The undead can really screw up your senior year ... Marrying a vampire definitely doesn’t fit into Jessica Packwood’s senior year “get-a-life” plan. But then a bizarre (and incredibly hot) new ... (Goodreads)

  9. How to Steal a Dog

    by Barbara O'Connor
    A young girl and her brother hatch a plan to steal a dog in order to get the reward money to help their homeless family.

    Don't miss Barbara O'Connor's other middle-grade work—like, Wish; Wonderland; Greetings from Nowhere; Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia; The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester;, and more! Half of me ... (Barnes & Noble)

  10. The Chosen One

    by Carol Lynch Williams
    A young girl is forced into a polygamous marriage and must escape to save herself and her family.

    Kyra Carlson is a thirteen-year-old girl who has grown up in an isolated community. She has always ignored the fact that her father has three wives, and that she has twenty siblings, and two more on ... (Wikipedia)

  11. The Adoration of Jenna Fox

    by Mary E. Pearson
    A young girl's struggle to uncover her past and find her identity amidst a future of genetic engineering.

    Who is Jenna Fox? Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. She has just awoken from a coma, they tell her, and she is still recovering from a terrible accident in which she was ... (Barnes & Noble)

  12. Home of the Brave

    by Katherine Applegate
    A young Sudanese refugee struggles to adapt to life in America after fleeing his war-torn homeland.

    Kek comes from Africa. In America he sees snow for the first time, and feels its sting. He's never walked on ice, and he falls. He wonders if the people in this new place will be like the winter – ... (Goodreads)

  13. Revolution

    by Jennifer Donnelly
    A young woman's journey of self-discovery, unlocking the secrets of her ancestor's past.

    Andi Alpers is doing the best she can to take care of her mother's deep depression while popping pills for her own. Her father is off living with his pregnant 25-year-old girlfriend, her grades are ... (Wikipedia)

  14. Enna Burning

    by Shannon Hale
    A young girl's journey of self-discovery, unlocking the secrets to mastering her magical powers.

    Enna has returned to the forest to live with her elder brother, Leifer. After finding a vellum scroll, Leifer learns the secret of 'fire-speaking', the ability to control the element of fire. ... (Wikipedia)

  15. Loser

    by Jerry Spinelli
    Donald Zinkoff is a lovable, quirky kid who struggles to fit in with his peers. He learns to embrace his uniqueness and find his own path.

    From renowned Newbery-winning author Jerry Spinelli comes a powerful story about how not fitting in just might lead to an incredible life. This classic book is perfect for fans of Gordon Korman and ... (Barnes & Noble)

  16. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

    by Jonathan Safran Foer
    A young boy's quest to find the lock that matches a mysterious key his father left behind.

    Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is an inventor, amateur entomologist, Francophile, letter writer, pacifist, natural historian, percussionist, romantic, Great Explorer, jeweller, detective, vegan, and ... (Goodreads)

  17. Savvy

    by Ingrid Law
    A family discovers the power of their special inherited magical gifts.

    For generations, the Beaumont family has harbored a magical secret. They each possess a "savvy" -a special supernatural power that strikes when they turn thirteen. Grandpa Bomba moves mountains, her ... (Goodreads)

  18. The Pox Party

    by M.T. Anderson
    A historical fiction novel set during the American Revolution, following the life of a young slave boy named Octavian.

    It sounds like a fairy tale. He is a boy dressed in silks and white wigs and given the finest of classical educations. Raised by a group of rational philosophers known only by numbers, the boy and ... (Goodreads)

  19. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

    by Sherman Alexie
    A young Native American boy's struggles to survive in a difficult world.

    The book follows a fourteen-year-old boy living with his family on the Spokane Indian Reservation near Wellpinit, Washington for a school year. It is told in episodic diary style, moving from the ... (Wikipedia)

  20. A Tale Dark & Grimm

    by Adam Gidwitz
    A humorous and thrilling retelling of classic Grimm fairy tales.

    In this mischievous and utterly original debut, Hansel and Gretel walk out of their own story and into eight other classic Grimm-inspired tales. As readers follow the siblings through a forest ... (Goodreads)

  21. The City of Ember

    by Jeanne DuPrau
    A city on the brink of destruction, two young people race against time to unlock its secrets.

    As the book starts off, a coalition of architects, scientists, and doctors known as "The Builders" have built Ember, an isolated, underground city with enough supplies for its inhabitants to survive ... (Wikipedia)

  22. Chains

    by Laurie Halse Anderson
    A young girl's mission to secure her and her sister's freedom from enslavement.

    As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight...for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become ... (Goodreads)

  23. The Tale of Despereaux

    by Kate DiCamillo
    An epic adventure of an unlikely hero, on a quest to save his kingdom and restore justice.

    A noble mouse named Despereaux saves a princess named Princess Pea. Book one tells a story about a small, sickly mouse named Despereaux who was born in a castle with his eyes open. Despereaux, unlike ... (Wikipedia)

  24. The Brothers K

    by David James Duncan
    Story of the Kavna family and their struggles with faith, morality, and the changing times.

    Papa Chance is a former MLB pitcher who has settled down with his wife in the mill town of Camas, Washington . They have six children. Everett Chance, the eldest, is a natural politician and powerful ... (Wikipedia)

  25. Close Range: Wyoming Stories

    by Annie Proulx
    A collection of short stories set in the rural landscape of Wyoming, exploring the lives of its inhabitants.

    From the Pulitzer Prize-winning and bestselling author of The Shipping News and Accordion Crimes comes one of the most celebrated short story collections of our time. Annie Proulx's masterful ... (Barnes & Noble)

  26. The Cricket in Times Square

    by George Selden
    A friendship between a mouse, a cricket, and a cat in New York City.

    The story is about a cricket from Connecticut named Chester who gets caught on a train for New York. After stumbling on the subway, Chester ends up in Times Square. Mario Bellini, who helps his ... (Wikipedia)

  27. The Midwife's Apprentice

    by Karen Cushman
    A young girl's journey from poverty to independence as she learns the craft of midwifery.

    In medieval Europe, a homeless orphan girl who has no name, and can recall being named Brat, attempts to nestle in a warm dung heap on a cold night. She wakes up to the taunts of village boys, and ... (Wikipedia)

  28. Little, Big

    by John Crowley
    A multigenerational family's journey of magical discovery in a fantastical realm.

    Turn-of-the-century American architect John Drinkwater begins to suspect that within this world there lies another (and within that, another and another ad infinitum, each larger than the world that ... (Wikipedia)

  29. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

    by Jacqueline Kelly
    A young girl in rural Texas discovers her passion for science and nature.

    In the summer of 1899, Calpurnia Virginia Tate is about to turn twelve and worries about the adult responsibilities that loom on the horizon. She would much rather swim in the river near her family's ... (Wikipedia)

  30. Among the Betrayed

    by Margaret Peterson Haddix
    A young girl discovers the truth about her identity when her government starts rounding up children with special powers.

    Elodie Luria had left a dreary but emotionally comfortable life with her three aunts and grandmother. For the sake of giving her a chance to live out of hiding, they managed to scrounge together ... (Wikipedia)