If You Liked “The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise”

 …which you probably did, if you read it.

The Lonely Heart of Maybelle Lane by Kate O’Shaughnessy

Maybelle Lane has never met her father; the only piece of him she has is an old voicemail of his laugh. Though she's happy with her life with her mom, living in a trailer park in Louisiana, she feels like there's something missing. So when she hears that exact laugh--the laugh she's replayed on her mom's old flip phone hundreds of times--she discovers that her dad hosts a radio station, and that that station is having a singing contest in Nashville, Tennessee in a few months. Maybelle instantly has her heart set on going, despite the fact that her mom would never allow it, despite the fact that she hasn't dared to sing since her singing betrayed her.

When her mom is accepted for a guitar gig aboard a three-week cruise, Maybelle is heartbroken--but maybe this will be the perfect opportunity. With help from her strict neighbor, Mrs. Boggs, a not-so-friendly boy from school, and a dog with a gas problem, Maybelle might just make it in time for the singing contest.

I put this book on my to-read list just because it sounded similar to Coyote Sunrise, and it didn’t disappoint!

 

 

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

When Opal and her father, who she called the preacher because that's what he is, move to a new trailer park in Naomi, Florida, Opal visits the Winn-Dixie grocery store and finds a dog there. A dog she names Winn-Dixie.

The preacher is skeptical at first, but one look at Winn-Dixie's huge smile shows him that the dog is a part of their family whether he likes it or not. So he starts to tell Opal things about her mother, who left before Opal was born. Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal meets the local librarian, Miss Franny Block; Gloria Dump, a nearly-blind woman; and Otis, a jailbird who works at a pet store and plays his guitar for the animals at night.

Opal is still determined to meet her mother somehow, but Winn-Dixie and her new friends show her that family can also be created by oneself.

Even though I'm a big fan of Kate DiCamillo and this is one of her most famous books, I actually only read it for the first time a year or so ago. This book, just like all of DiCamillo's other books, weaves a rich and beautiful set of characters who seem both real and too good to be true.

 

A Kind of Paradise by Amy Rebecca Tran

At the end of last school year, Jamie made a huge mistake. A humiliating mistake. And now she has to spend her entire summer working it off with volunteer hours at the library.

To Jamie's surprise, she enjoys working at the library. The rest of the staff are friendly and funny, and the patrons each have their own unique stories. Maybe this summer won't be such a waste after all.

Like Coyote Sunrise, this book offers a comfort blanket of characters who draw you in like real friends.

 

Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo

Raymie Clarke's father left her and her mother two days ago; but Raymie has a plan to get him back. All she has to do is win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition--which includes taking rigorous baton-twirling lessons with a dreamy, fainting girl who misses her cat and a grouchy girl who plans on sabotaging the whole competition--and her picture will appear in the paper and bring her father back. To Raymie's surprise, however, the biggest adventure in the competition is becoming friends with Louisiana, the fainting girl, and Beverly, the angry girl. Through their shared experiences, the three girls might be able to heal each other's wounds. 

One of my absolute favorites! Raymie is a brilliant character, as are Louisiana and Beverly. In fact, Louisiana gets her own book in Louisiana's Way Home and Beverly in Beverly, Right Here, which are both amazing and definitely must-reads for fans of Raymie Nightingale. 

 

 

My Grandmother Asked Me You Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman 

Seven-year-old Elsa knows she's different. Both she and her granny are--the granny who stands on the balcony firing paintballs at solicitors and who tells Elsa stories about the Land of Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas, where no one needs to be "normal."

When Elsa's granny dies, she leaves Elsa with an impossible task: deliver letters apologizing to every person she's wronged. The letters lead Elsa to discover things about the people in her apartment building, people she's lived with for years but never looked into too closely. As Elsa tries to find everyone on her granny's list, she learns more about the people around her, her grandmother, and herself.

This is not technically a middle-grade novel but it's fine for ages 11+. 

I hope this list was helpful for fans of The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart! 

Images from Amazon.