1. Jellicoe Road
This book by Melina Marchetta will bombard readers with various emotions- and from hilarious dialogue to complex characters- the story has it all. I remember reading this book at the beginning of my freshman year, and it actually took me a while to fully comprehend it. The narrator is a teenage girl in Australia named Taylor, who lives with her aunt in a boarding school. The book splits off into two different stories at the beginning, alternating between two different perspectives, and everything eventually ties together at the end. The story follows Taylor and her friends as they try to find her aunt while dealing with their own complicated relationships and even more complicated history. I would definitely recommend this book, and even though it is a little slow-paced at the beginning, the story picks up soon after. It is beautifully descriptive and the characters seem both raw and authentic at the same time.
2. I Am the Messenger
This is a novel by another Australian author named Markus Zusak. It follows the life of painfully average Ed Kennedy. He works at a dead-end job as a cab driver and alternates spending his free time between getting coffee with his dog and listening to his three other friends argue. But his monotonous life soon changes after he witnesses a bank robbery, and he soon receives the addresses of places with horrific crimes. He meets people who need help and discovers that he may not have an average life after all. In my opinion, I feel as though this story goes deep into character development as well as character relationships. It’s easy to empathize with the characters and there is an element of mystery to the book that kept me wanting to read more.
3. And the Mountains Echoed
Khaled Hosseini wrote this book that captures the stories of different characters and generations. It tells the story of two siblings who were literally broken apart by poverty and familial promises. Their separation affects generations, and the novel follows their efforts to reconnect and truly understand identity. I love this book because, while there is a definite climax and resolution action, it is still a story focused on the characters. The story is focused on human nature and shows how actions don’t always connect to intentions. Humanity isn’t simple enough to be classified as either good or bad.
4. Their Eyes Were Watching God
Zora Neale Hurston wrote this book in the 1930s. It tells the story of Janie Crawford, an African American woman who was raised by her grandmother. The book explains how Janie was forced to marry an older man, but she eventually runs away with a younger man who also has a more violent side. Her husband then dies and she finds another man who she decides to run away with. I believe that her story is beautifully told and the writing is incredibly poetic. The main character’s grief and endurance made me marvel at her resilience toward the end.
5. The Little Prince
I had to read this book my junior year for French class. It is written by Antoine de Saint-Exupery and is often described as a children’s book for adults. It follows the story of a pilot who crashes into the desert and finds a young prince. The prince is from an asteroid and talks to the pilot about his experiences on other planets. The work as a whole can be viewed as a metaphor for human nature, as the descriptions of the people on the other planet match interesting human character traits. On the whole, I thought it was a poignant and cute story that’s a really fast read.
