Recommendations based on Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skatesby Mary Mapes Dodge

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

  1. Cold Sassy Tree

    by Olive Ann Burns
    A coming-of-age story set in a small Southern town in the early 1900s, exploring love, loss, and family dynamics.

    On July 5, 1906, Enoch Rucker Blakeslee announces that he intends to marry Miss Love Simpson, a milliner at his store who is years younger than he. This news shocks his family, since his wife Mattie ... (Wikipedia)

  2. The Complete Sherlock Holmes: Volume II

    by Arthur Conan Doyle
    The second volume of the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes stories, featuring the famous detective's adventures and mysteries.

    The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Volume II, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general ... (Goodreads)

  3. Five Little Peppers and How They Grew

    by Margaret Sidney
    The heartwarming story of five siblings and their widowed mother, who struggle to make ends meet but find joy in their simple life.

    Times are tough around the little brown house! The widowed Mrs. Pepper has to sew all day long just to earn enough to pay the rent and to feed the five growing Peppers. But she faces poverty and ... (Goodreads)

  4. Eight Cousins

    by Louisa May Alcott
    A young girl's journey of self-discovery and transformation through the guidance of her seven uncles and one aunt.

    When Rose Campbell, a shy orphan, arrives at "The Aunt Hill" to live with her six aunts and seven boisterous male cousins, she is quite overwhelmed. How could such a delicate young lady, used to the ... (Goodreads)

  5. A Child's Garden of Verses

    by Robert Louis Stevenson
    A collection of poems that capture the joys and wonders of childhood, from playing outside to dreaming of far-off lands.

    Up into the cherry tree Who should climb but little me? I held the trunk with both my hands And looked abroad on foreign lands. Here is a delightful look at childhood, written by master poet and ... (Goodreads)

  6. The Crystal Cave

    by Mary Stewart
    Arthurian legend comes to life as Merlin embarks on a quest to use his magical powers to protect the young king.

    This novel covers the time from Merlin's sixth year until he becomes a young man. The Romans have recently left Britain , which is now divided into a number of kingdoms loosely united under a High ... (Wikipedia)

  7. L'Assommoir

    by Émile Zola
    An exploration of poverty and alcoholism in the Parisian working class.

    The novel is principally the story of Gervaise Macquart, who is featured briefly in the first novel in the series,, La Fortune des Rougon, , running away to Paris with her shiftless lover Lantier to ... (Wikipedia)

  8. The Man in the Iron Mask

    by Alexandre Dumas
    A thrilling story of a mysterious prisoner in the court of Louis XIV, who may be the king's twin brother.

    In the concluding installment of Alexandre Dumas's celebrated cycle of the Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan remains in the service of the corrupt King Louis XIV after the Three Musketeers have retired ... (Goodreads)

  9. The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

    by Howard Pyle
    Legendary outlaw Robin Hood fights injustice and defends the oppressed with his band of merry men.

    The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood of Great Renown in Nottinghamshire is an 1883 novel by the American illustrator and writer Howard Pyle. Consisting of a series of episodes in the story of the ... (Goodreads)

  10. King Solomon's Mines

    by H. Rider Haggard
    Explorers' epic journey to find a lost African kingdom and its legendary treasure.

    H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines has entertained generations of readers since its first publication in 1885. Following a mysterious map of dubious reliability, a small group of men trek into ... (Goodreads)

  11. The Diaries of Adam and Eve

    by Mark Twain
    A humorous exploration of the differences between men and women, as seen through the eyes of Adam and Eve.

    "Good deal of fog this morning. I do not go out in the fog myself," notes Adam in his diary, adding, "The new creature does. It goes out in all weathers. And talks. It used to be so pleasant and ... (Goodreads)

  12. The Witch of Blackbird Pond

    by Elizabeth George Speare
    A young girl's struggles to find her place in a Puritan Connecticut town.

    In April 1687, 16-year-old Katherine Tyler (known throughout the story as Kit Tyler) leaves her home in Barbados after her grandfather dies and a 50-year-old man tries to marry her. She relocates to ... (Wikipedia)

  13. Johnny Tremain

    by Esther Forbes
    A young apprentice's journey of bravery, patriotism and heroism during the American Revolution.

    The story begins on July 23, 1773, in the Boston silversmith shop of elderly Ephraim Lapham, where Johnny is a promising 14-year-old apprentice. It is understood that someday he will marry Mr. ... (Wikipedia)

  14. Heidi

    by Johanna Spyri
    A young girl's journey of discovery, learning the joys of friendship and nature.

    Heidi , is an orphaned girl initially raised by her maternal grandmother and aunt Dete in Maienfeld , Switzerland after the early deaths of her parents, Tobias and Adelheid (Dete's brother-in-law and ... (Wikipedia)

  15. The Swiss Family Robinson

    by Johann David Wyss
    A family is shipwrecked on a desert island, using their ingenuity and resourcefulness to survive.

    The novel opens with the family in the hold of a sailing ship, weathering a great storm. The ship's crew evacuate without them, and William and Elizabeth and their four children (Fritz, Ernest, Jack ... (Wikipedia)

  16. A Wizard of Earthsea

    by Ursula K. Le Guin
    A young wizard embarks on a quest to master his own magical powers and battle a mysterious force of evil.

    Ged, the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, was called Sparrowhawk in his reckless youth. Hungry for power and knowledge, Sparrowhawk tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon ... (Goodreads)

  17. Ivanhoe

    by Walter Scott
    An epic tale of chivalry, heroism and romance set in 12th century England.

    For this novel, Scott moved far away from the setting of his own turbulent time. He went back to the late 12th century, and to England rather than the Scottish settings of all his previous novels. He ... (Goodreads)

  18. MeruPuri, Vol. 1

    by Matsuri Hino
    High school girl, Airi, is transported to a magical kingdom where she meets a prince who turns into a child at night.

    All high school freshman Airi Hoshina ever wanted was to someday live in a cozy home with a loving husband, and find joy in the little things in life. As a result, she makes it her daily mission to ... (Goodreads)

  19. Little Dorrit

    by Charles Dickens
    A tale of injustice, exploring the social and economic inequalities of Victorian England.

    The novel begins in Marseilles "thirty years ago" (c. 1826), with the notorious murderer Rigaud telling his prison cellmate John Baptist Cavalletto how he killed his wife, just prior to being ... (Wikipedia)

  20. The Road Not Taken and Other Poems

    by Robert Frost
    Collection of poems exploring the power of choice, the passage of time, and the beauty of nature.

    "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I– I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." These deceptively simple lines from the title poem of this collection suggest Robert ... (Goodreads)

  21. Roots: The Saga of an American Family

    by Alex Haley
    A multigenerational saga tracing the journey of an African American family in the U.S.

    Roots tells the story of Kunta Kinte —a young man taken from the Gambia when he was seventeen and sold as a slave—and seven generations of his descendants in the United States. Kunta, a Mandinka ... (Wikipedia)

  22. Wizard's First Rule

    by Terry Goodkind
    A magical journey of self-discovery as a young man embarks on a quest to save the world.

    The primary protagonist in Wizard's First Rule is Richard Cypher , a young woods guide. Richard lives in an area of the world known as Westland, which is one of three parts of the known world, ... (Wikipedia)

  23. Little Town on the Prairie

    by Laura Ingalls Wilder
    A young girl's story of growing up on the prairie, facing the joys and struggles of pioneering life.

    The novel opens in May 1880, after the Hard Winter . At the Ingalls' claim, Pa begins planting the corn and oats that will serve as cash crops for the family, after which he builds the second half of ... (Wikipedia)

  24. Miracles on Maple Hill

    by Virginia Sorensen
    A family moves to a farm in Maple Hill to heal from the effects of war. They find joy and healing in nature and community.

    Marly's father just returned from the war; he is suffering from mood swings and depression, and seems to be tired all the time. Lee, Marly's mother, moves the family to Maple Hill, a town where the ... (Wikipedia)

  25. A Little Princess

    by Frances Hodgson Burnett
    A young girl's courageous spirit as she overcomes adversity and discovers a life of joy.

    Captain Richard Crewe, a wealthy English widower, has been raising his only child, Sara, in India where he is stationed with the British Army. Because the Indian climate is considered too harsh for ... (Wikipedia)

  26. Gideon

    by Jacquelyn Frank
    Gideon, a powerful demon, is summoned by a human woman and they embark on a dangerous journey to save the world from destruction.

    They're called the Nightwalkers–proud, ancient beings who live in the shadows, existing just beyond the human world. But there are also dangerous humans who hunt them--necromancers who use the ... (Goodreads)

  27. The Moffats

    by Eleanor Estes
    The Moffat family, consisting of four siblings and their widowed mother, have adventures and mishaps in small-town America during the Great Depression.

    The Moffats are a fatherless family in Cranbury, Connecticut, which Estes modeled after her hometown of West Haven . Mama is a dressmaker with four children: Sylvie, Joey, Janey and Rufus. The two ... (Wikipedia)

  28. Middlemarch

    by George Eliot
    A grand narrative of life in a small English town, exploring the lives of its inhabitants.

    Middlemarch centres on the lives of residents of Middlemarch, a fictitious Midlands town, from 1829 onwards – the years up to the 1832 Reform Act . The narrative is variably considered to consist of ... (Wikipedia)

  29. High School Debut, Vol. 01

    by Kazune Kawahara
    Haruna enlists the help of popular Yoh to teach her how to make a high school debut. But will she lose herself in the process?

    Haruna Nagashima gave her all to softball in middle school, now that she has made her high school debut, she has decided to give her all for a new goal: getting a boyfriend and falling in love. ... (Wikipedia)

  30. Walk Into Silence

    by Susan McBride
    A woman returns to her hometown to investigate the disappearance of her childhood friend, uncovering dark secrets along the way.

    A woman vanishes from a Texas town. Did she simply run off, or is something darker at play?, When Patrick Dielman shows up at Detective Jo Larsen’s desk insisting that his wife, Jenny, is missing, Jo ... (Barnes & Noble)