Reading Counts
Discover powerful stories that celebrate the transformative power of reading with our curated book list. From Wendy Mass's poignant YA novel *A Mango-Shaped Space* to Lucy Grealy's unforgettable memoir *Autobiography of a Face*, explore tales of resilience, identity, and hope. Perfect for fans of moving fiction and inspiring biographies.
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A Land Remembered
by Patrick D. Smith
"In 1858 Tobias MacIvey abandoned his Georgia farm, loaded his meager possessions and his wife and infant son in a wagon and headed south into the Florida wilderness to search for a new life. What follows in A LAND REMEMBERED is a big rough-tough, folksy Florida saga -- three generations of the MacIvey family (1858-1968) from a dirt-poor cattle-droving cracker to a Miami real estate tycoon."--Front flap.
Book
A Mango-Shaped Space
by Wendy Mass
An award-winning book from the author of Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life and The Candymakers for fans for of Wonder and Counting by Sevens. Thirteen-year-old Mia Winchell is far from ordinary: she suffers from a rare condition called synesthesia, the mingling of perceptions whereby a person can see sounds, smell colors, or taste shapes. But because she has kept it a secret from everyone, she appears to be the most normal kid in her family. Her younger brother Zack keeps a chart of all the McDonald's hamburgers he's eaten in his lifetime. Her older sister Beth dyes her hair a different color every week and might be a witch. When trouble in the school finally convinces Mia to reveal her secret, she feels like a freak; and as she embarks on an intense journey of self-discovery, her family and friends have trouble relating to her. By the time she realizes she has isolated herself from all the people who care about her, it is almost too late. Mia has to lose something very special in order to understand and appreciate her special gift in this coming-of-age novel.
Book
Autobiography of a Face
by Lucy Grealy
"I spent five years of my life being treated for cancer, but since then I've spent fifteen years being treated for nothing other than looking different from everyone else. It was the pain from that, from feeling ugly, that I always viewed as the great tragedy of my life. The fact that I had cancer seemed minor in comparison." At age nine, Lucy Grealy was diagnosed with a potentially terminal cancer. When she returned to school with a third of her jaw removed, she faced the cruel taunts of classmates. In this strikingly candid memoir, Grealy tells her story of great suffering and remarkable strength without sentimentality and with considerable wit. Vividly portraying the pain of peer rejection and the guilty pleasures of wanting to be special, Grealy captures with unique insight what it is like as a child and young adult to be torn between two warring impulses: to feel that more than anything else we want to be loved for who we are, while wishing desperately and secretly to be perfect.
