Recommendations based on Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gangby Joyce Carol Oates

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

  1. We Were the Mulvaneys

    by Joyce Carol Oates
    A family unravels after a traumatic event shatters their close-knit bond.

    Michael and Corinne Mulvaney are the parents of four children: Michael Jr., Patrick, Marianne, and Judd. Living in a picture perfect farm in upstate New York , the Mulvaneys own a successful roofing ... (Wikipedia)

  2. The Virgin Suicides

    by Jeffrey Eugenides
    A dark and mysterious tale about the mysterious suicides of five teenage sisters in a suburban town.

    As an ambulance arrives for the body of Cecilia Lisbon, a group of anonymous adolescent neighborhood boys recalls the events leading up to her death. The Lisbons are a Catholic family living in the ... (Wikipedia)

  3. The Falls

    by Joyce Carol Oates
    A family tragedy unfolds at Niagara Falls, revealing the dark secrets and hidden desires of those involved.

    It is 1950 and, after a disastrous honeymoon night, Ariah Erskine's young husband throws himself into the roaring waters of Niagara Falls. Ariah, "the Widow Bride of the Falls," begins a relentless ... (Goodreads)

  4. The Gravedigger's Daughter

    by Joyce Carol Oates
    Rebecca Schwart, daughter of a gravedigger, struggles to escape her past and build a new life.

    Fleeing Nazi Germany in 1936, the Schwarts immigrate to a small town in upstate New York. Here the father—a former high school teacher—is demeaned by the only job he can get: gravedigger and cemetery ... (Goodreads)

  5. Brief Lives

    by Neil Gaiman
    A journey of self-reflection as a man discovers the power of stories and their ability to shape our lives.

    Dream's youngest sister, the loopy Delirium, convinces him to go on a quest for their missing brother, Destruction. But Dream may learn that the cost of finding his prodigal sibling is more than he ... (Goodreads)

  6. Stone Butch Blues

    by Leslie Feinberg
    A transgender woman's journey of self-discovery and search for acceptance in a hostile society.

    The narrative of Stone Butch Blues follows the life of Jess Goldberg, who grows up in a working-class area of upstate New York in the 1940s. Her parents, frustrated with Jess's gender nonconformity, ... (Wikipedia)

  7. Worlds' End

    by Neil Gaiman
    A mythical road trip through a surreal landscape of forgotten stories and folk tales.

    A "reality storm" draws an unusual cast of characters together. They take shelter in a tavern, where they amuse each other with their life stories. Although Morpheus is never a focus in these ... (Goodreads)

  8. No One Belongs Here More Than You

    by Miranda July
    Short stories of everyday people struggling to find their place in the world.

    Screenwriter, director, and star of the acclaimed film Me and You and Everyone We Know, Miranda July brings her extraordinary talents to the page in a startling, sexy, and tender collection. ... (Goodreads)

  9. A Game of You

    by Neil Gaiman
    A woman's journey of self-discovery, exploring the mysterious, magical world of her imagination.

    The central character of A Game of You is Barbie, introduced as a resident of the house where Rose Walker stayed during the events of, The Doll's House, , wherein Barbie dreamt a vivid dream of ... (Wikipedia)

  10. Flawless

    by Sara Shepard
    A teenage girl's battle to uncover the truth behind her best friend's murder.

    #1 New York Times bestselling series The second book in the #1, New York Times, bestselling series that inspired the hit ABC Family TV show, Pretty Little Liars., In ultra-exclusive Rosewood, ... (Barnes & Noble)

  11. The Way the Crow Flies

    by Ann-Marie MacDonald
    A girl growing up in the Cold War era, struggling to make sense of the secrets and lies that surround her.

    The optimism of the early sixties, infused with the excitement of the space race and the menace of the Cold War, is filtered through the rich imagination of high-spirited, eight-year-old Madeleine, ... (Goodreads)

  12. The Forest House

    by Marion Zimmer Bradley
    Fantasy epic of a young woman who must fight to save her people from an ancient darkness.

    In the early days of the conquest, when the Roman Legions are aggressively persecuting the Druids , the sanctuary of the Goddess on the isle of Mona is destroyed and its Druids are murdered and its ... (Wikipedia)

  13. 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)

  14. Prep

    by Curtis Sittenfeld
    A teenage girl's struggle to find her place and identity in an elite prep school.

    Curtis Sittenfeld’s debut novel, Prep , is an insightful, achingly funny coming-of-age story as well as a brilliant dissection of class, race, and gender in a hothouse of adolescent angst and ... (Goodreads)

  15. We Have Always Lived in the Castle

    by Shirley Jackson
    A family isolated from society, struggling to cope with prejudice and tragedy.

    My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood. I am eighteen years old, and I live with my sister Constance. I have often thought that with any luck at all I could have been born a werewolf, because the two ... (Goodreads)

  16. East of Eden

    by John Steinbeck
    Exploration of the timeless struggle between good and evil, set against a backdrop of a family saga.

    In his journal, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck called East of Eden “the first book,” and indeed it has the primordial power and simplicity of myth. Set in the rich farmland of California’s Salinas ... (Goodreads)

  17. Interpreter of Maladies

    by Jhumpa Lahiri
    Collection of stories exploring the struggles of Indian-American immigrants in the US.

    A married couple, Shukumar and Shoba, live as strangers in their house until an electrical outage brings them together when all of sudden "they [are] able to talk to each other again" in the four ... (Wikipedia)

  18. The Rules of Attraction

    by Bret Easton Ellis
    A darkly humorous and nihilistic portrayal of college life, exploring the interconnected relationships of a group of privileged and self-destructive students.

    The novel is written in the first-person, continuing the aesthetic of Ellis' earlier, Less Than Zero, , and is told from the points of view of multiple characters. The main narrators are three ... (Wikipedia)

  19. Kindred

    by Octavia E. Butler
    A modern woman is thrown back in time, forced to confront the harsh realities of slavery.

    Kindred scholars have noted that the novel's chapter headings suggest something "elemental, apocalyptic, archetypal about the events in the narrative," thus giving the impression that the main ... (Wikipedia)

  20. Winter's Bone

    by Daniel Woodrell
    A teenage girl's struggle to save her family from poverty and despair in the rural Ozarks.

    In the rural Ozarks of Missouri , seventeen-year-old Ree Dolly looks after her mentally ill mother, twelve-year-old brother Sonny, and six-year-old sister Ashlee. She makes sure her siblings eat and ... (Wikipedia)

  21. Black Swan Green

    by David Mitchell
    A young boy confronts personal and social challenges as he navigates adolescence.

    Jason Taylor is a 13-year-old with a stammer in the small village of Black Swan Green in Worcestershire . The first chapter starts with a rule Jason's father has: "Do not set foot in my office" and ... (Wikipedia)

  22. Jonathan Livingston Seagull

    by Richard Bach
    An exploration of self-expression and personal growth as a seagull learns to defy the boundaries of his flock.

    The book tells the story of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, a seagull who is bored with daily squabbles over food. Seized by a passion for flight, he pushes himself and learns everything he can about ... (Wikipedia)

  23. White Oleander

    by Janet Fitch
    A young girl's struggles to survive in a series of foster homes, finding strength in her resilience.

    Astrid Magnussen is a 12-year-old girl living in Los Angeles , California with her mother, Ingrid Magnussen, a self-centered and eccentric poet. Astrid's father, Klaus Anders, left before Astrid was ... (Wikipedia)

  24. The Night Watch

    by Sarah Waters
    A suspenseful story of ordinary people living through the turmoil of World War II.

    Kay The novel begins with Kay Langrish-a woman broken by the war. She spends her days locked in her room in London, watching her landlord's patients arrive and leave at precisely the same hours every ... (Wikipedia)

  25. Written on the Body

    by Jeanette Winterson
    A genderless narrator recounts their passionate love affairs with a married woman, exploring the complexities of desire and identity.

    Written on the Body is a secret code only visible in certain lights: the accumulation of a lifetime gather there. In places the palimpsest is so heavily worked that the letters feel like braille. I ... (Goodreads)

  26. Locke & Key, Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft

    by Joe Hill
    A family's mysterious journey of unlocking supernatural secrets, discovering their destiny.

    This plot is presented in chronological order. During the American Revolution , a group of Rebels, hiding beneath the future Keyhouse, discover a portal to another dimension, the plains of Leng , ... (Wikipedia)

  27. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

    by Haruki Murakami
    A surreal journey of self-discovery, exploring the inner and outer worlds.

    The first part, "The Thieving Magpie", begins with the narrator, Toru Okada, a low-key and unemployed lawyer's assistant, being tasked by his wife, Kumiko, to find their missing cat. Kumiko suggests ... (Wikipedia)

  28. Rebel Angels

    by Libba Bray
    Teen girl investigates mysterious history of her family, uncovering dark secrets and uncovering her own powers.

    The story picks up two months after the events in the first book. The opening chapter is narrated by Kartik, who has been brought before a council of the Rakshana. He is told that by destroying the ... (Wikipedia)

  29. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

    by Susanna Clarke
    A whimsical tale of two magicians mastering the mysteries of English magic.

    The novel opens in 1806 in northern England with The Learned Society of York Magicians, whose members are "theoretical magicians" who believe that magic died out several hundred years earlier. The ... (Wikipedia)

  30. Pretty Little Liars

    by Sara Shepard
    Four teenage girls uncover secrets and lies as they investigate the disappearance of their best friend.

    EVERYONE HAS SOMETHING TO HIDE - ESPECIALLY HIGH SCHOOL JUNIORS SPENCER, ARIA, EMILY, AND HANNA Spencer covets her sister's boyfriend. Aria's fantasizing about her English teacher. Emily's crushing ... (Goodreads)