Tales With Tails: Book Girls and Their Animals

The compelling new novel from National Book Award finalist Yoko Ogawa is the story of a young girl’s curiosity and courage, an unconventional family, and their pygmy hippo.

A remarkable story about a girl and her brother from another (furrier) mother. Journey through the forest and back in time in this tale of friendship, family and hope.

Smart and unexpected, funny and unforgettable, big-hearted and hopeful, The Last Animal is a story of mothers and daughters, teenage sisters, love and grief (and consequences), big ideas and bigger dreams, and a woolly mammoth.

Sometimes a short synopsis is all you need: A detective octopus helps a grieving aquarium employee solve the mystery of her missing son. It’s certainly unique in vessel, but the themes of coping, recovering, and moving forward resonate whether you have two arms or eight.

Sisterhood is the stuff of fairytales, and Julia Phillips has written a wild story about the collision between people’s dreams and animals’ realities. Equal parts mythology and modernity, playful and ominous, and fantastically realistic.

Slow down and smell the skunks! Fiona Warnick explores the odd in-between of feeling not quite grown and not quite a child in this novel of crushes and coming-of-age, friendship and its follies.

An absolute marvel of a book, Open Throat packs a serious punch in its 176 unforgettable pages. It’s both a literal and emotional journey, and it’s all told in the completely original voice of a mountain lion living beneath the Hollywood sign.

A tender coming-of-age story that explores complicated families, failure (and redefining success), the depths of loss and the lengths we’ll go to find what’s missing. You’ll be rooting for Ro as she searches for her long-lost father — and her place in a world transformed. If you loved Crying in H-Mart, read this next.