Around the World in Fiction

In this novel, a Pakistani girl is forced to work as a servant on the estate of a corrupt businessman.

Sixteen-year-old Melati must brave a riot and grapple with her obsessive-compulsive disorder as she attempts to reunite with her mother in 1969 Malaysia.

Kambili and Jaja's life among the elite in Nigeria isn't so easy under the thumb of their oppressive father. When the country becomes mired in political turmoil, they are sent to stay with their aunt, where they learn a different way of life.

This historical novel follows Sun-hee and her brother Tae-yul as their family grapples with political change, prejudice, and war during the Japanese occupation of Korea.

Darius has always struggled to fit in: he suffers from depression, he is bullied at school, and he can never seem to meet his father's high expectations. When Darius's family travels to Iran to visit his grandparents, Darius finds a place where he belongs, and a true friendship, for the first time.

Twelve-year-old Mai travels to Vietnam to find her grandfather and learn about her heritage.

High school senior Jay Reguero travels to the Philippines to investigate his cousin's murder — and grapples with his identity as a Filipino American.

After 14-year-old Marcus gets into a fight at school, his mom decides to take him to Puerto Rico, where Marcus searches for his absentee father.

This novel tells the story of Ifemelu and Obinze, Nigerians who immigrate to the United States and London, respectively, and eventually reunite in their homeland.

In this powerful novel-in-verse, a twelve-year-old Sudanese girl must make her way to a refugee camp after her village is attacked.

This novel, which incorporates magical realism, follows several generations of one family as they experience personal and political turmoil in Chile.

Translated from the original Spanish by Gregory Rabassa, this classic of magical realism relates the saga of the Buendía family and the isolated town they founded in Colombia.

Based on the historical Mirabal sisters, this is a fictionalized account of why and how they decide to fight dictator Rafael Trujillo's oppressive regime in the Dominican Republic.

Based on true events, this graphic novel tells the harrowing story of a boy forced to be a child soldier in Uganda.

Fourteen-year-old Sophie rescues a young chimp named Otto while visiting a wildlife sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But when the president is assassinated, Sophie must figure out how to protect Otto in a country at war.

Set in Nigeria, this play depicts the destruction and chaos that are unleashed when tribal ritual and the English legal system collide.

Based on a true story, this novel follows an eleven-year-old Iraqi boy and his family as they endure turmoil and violence during the 1991 Gulf War.

After her mother's death, Leigh travels to Taiwan, where she tries to piece together her family history while also coming to terms with her grief.

After she gets suspended from school, Zayneb takes a trip to Qatar, where she meets Adam, who is coping with the loss of his mother and keeping a major secret from his father.

During World War II, a Lithuanian girl named Lina is detained by Soviet soldiers and taken to a work camp in Siberia, where she must fight to survive.

In this dystopian novel, indigenous people of North America are hunted by sinister Recruiters who hope to harvest the bone marrow that allows them to dream.

Struggling with his sense of identity, a biracial teen decides to spend the summer with his family in Mexico.

In medieval England, an unconventional teenage girl records events in her daily life, including her attempts to thwart her father's plans to marry her off.

In this comic novel, a nineteenth-century engineer is magically transported back to medieval England.

Like many Japanese-Americans, Hanako and her family are imprisoned in an American internment camp during World War II. After the war ends, they emigrate to Japan — but they struggle to make a home in a country that is unfamiliar to them.

Troubled eleven-year-old Jaden and his parents journey to Kazakhstan to adopt a baby.

Fleeing to America to escape the Vietnam War, Hà and her family end up in Alabama, where they must adapt to a new culture. This novel in verse was inspired by author Thanhha Lai's own experiences.

After running away from home, Viji and her sister Rukku join up with a group of orphans struggling to survive in the city of Chennai, India.

In this graphic novel, a teen girl discovers a magical shawl and learns about her family's history in India.

In the year 2194, three daring children are on the run in Zimbabwe—but three detectives are hot on their trail.

This novel, set in Elizabethan England, tells the story of an orphan boy who attempts to steal a copy of Shakespeare's Hamlet.

This novel by Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro explores the interior life of a traditional English butler.

Ted and Kat watch their cousin Salim board the London Eye, a famous Ferris wheel. When the ride ends, Salim is nowhere to be found — but Ted and Kat are determined to solve the mystery.

During the Great Depression, the Joad family leaves a failing farm in Oklahoma in hopes of a better life out west.

In this companion to Wonder, Julian's grandmother tells the story of her life in France during World War II.

In order to win a bet, Phileas Fogg attempts to complete a journey around the world. Learn these words from the translation be George M. Towle.

This award-winning novel follows a year in the life of a young Ojibwa girl named Omakayas.

May Amelia Jackson grows up on the American frontier at the end of the 19th century.

Forced to work as a servant in a Burmese village during World War II, Nick plans a daring escape.

During World War II, ten-year-old Ada and her brother are sent from London to the countryside, where Ada experiences freedom and kindness for the first time.

Three desperate teens make a perilous journey from Guatemala in hopes of finding safety in the United States.

Ove is known around his neighborhood as an irritable, bitter man — until a new family moves in next door and befriends him.

This novel traces five generations of a single family from their enslavement on a plantation through contemporary times.

In this historical novel, an upper-class Chinese girl refuses to have her feet bound and must face the social consequences of her decision.

When five people are killed after a bridge collapses, a friar attempts to find meaning in the tragedy. Read the full text here.

Growing up in the Dominican Republic, Ana Rosa longs to become a writer. When her brother leads a protest against the construction of a hotel on their village's land, Ana Rosa discovers both the power and limitations of words.

After suffering under the Japanese occupation of Korea during World War II and the subsequent rule by communist Russia, Sookan and her family attempt a daring escape to South Korea.

Set in Afghanistan during a time of political and social upheaval, this novel traces the decades-long friendship of two boys from different social classes.

In this modernist classic, Stephen Dedalus develops into an artist and challenges the traditional Irish values with which he grew up.

The year is 1773, and fourteen-year-old Johnny is an apprentice silversmith in Boston. When a terrible accident threatens his future, Johnny must quickly adapt — just as the American colonists join forces to break free from British rule.

An American girl named Zola arrives in a small Swiss village and encounters an angel awaiting a mission.

Peaches, Squeezie, Monkeyman, Benny, Mack and Kitty—these are just some of the Harlem residents with vivid stories to tell in this collection from Newbery-winner Walter Dean Myers.

A classic of Russian literature, this novel explores the psyche of a poor young man who plots to murder and rob a wealthy pawnbroker.

In seventeenth-century Holland, Griet's life is changed when she poses for a portrait by the brilliant painter Johannes Vermeer.

Born in a Canadian settlement for runaway slaves, naive and well-meaning Elijah is forced to confront the realities of slavery when he attempts to recover stolen money that would help free a friend's enslaved family.

Considered a seminal work of African-American literature, Their Eyes Were Watching God is notable for its strong and independent female protagonist.

Growing up in a traditional Indian village, Koly expects to enter into an arranged marriage at a young age. But Koly's husband and his family are not what they seemed, and she must forge a new path to independence.

Lakshmi's stepfather tells her she must leave their impoverished Nepalese village and work in the city — but when Lakshmi arrives, she discovers that she is a victim of trafficking.

A Single Shard tells the story of a homeless orphan who helps a potter earn a royal commission in 12th-century Korea. Master these words that Linda Sue Park shaped into a Newbery Medal winner.

Set in China in the early twentieth story, this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel tells the story of a struggling farmer and his family.

In 15th-century Korea, brothers Kee-sup and Young-sup impress the king with their ability to construct and fly kites.

In this classic novel, a young Indian woman attempts to forge a stable, happy life as she contends with personal and social change.

In King Arthur's England, a young boy encounters knights and robbers as he tries to restore peace to the land.

A Japanese-American boy and a French girl become unlikely pen pals during World War II.

Growing up in a nomadic community in Pakistan, Shabanu must make difficult choices between her own desires and her obligations to her family.

In the aftermath of World War II, Philippa Hunter is sent to a Swiss boarding school, where she meets a boy suffering from memory loss.

Based on the author's own experiences, this novel explores tensions between British colonizers and native Indians in the 1920s. Read the full text here.

In 1947, British India was divided into two separate and independent countries: India, a mostly Hindu nation, and Pakistan, a predominantly Muslim nation. The partition leaves Nisha, a girl with both Hindu and Muslim heritage, without a clear place to call home. She and her family must make a treacherous journey to try to find a safe haven in a country rocked by turmoil and violence.

An Indian merchant experiences uncertainty, love, and hardship when he relocates to a town in central Africa.

This classic novel explores social class and conventions in early 20th-century England. Read the full text here.

Fearing that a sinister group will get its hands on a powerful equation devised by Einstein, the CIA enlists a young genius to find the hidden equation first.

This suspenseful novel, told in reverse chronological order, follows Jule West Williams, a scrappy and resourceful orphan who develops an intense friendship with Imogen, a privileged heiress.

When a passenger is murdered on a stalled train, detective Hercule Poirot must investigate which of the other passengers committed the crime.

A pair of magical jeans helps four best friends feel close even when they can't be together.

Stuck in his New Jersey house during the Covid pandemic, thirteen-year-old Matthew helps his hundred-year-old great-grandmother organize her stuff and learns about her life as a Young Pioneer in 1930s Ukraine.

Saved by a djinni as a child, eighteen-year old Fatima Ghazala has a magical fire within her that vexes a commander named Zulfikar and draws her into royal conflicts in the city of Noor.

In this verse novel based on Romeo and Juliet, Ronit and Jamil are star-crossed lovers who try to overcome geographical and familial barriers in Israel and Palestine.

In this companion novel to Amal Unbound, seventh grader Omar Ali, the first in his village to get into a prestigious boarding school in Pakistan, is determined to meet the academic and community service requirements to keep his scholarship.

Mariam and Laila belong to different generations, but they develop a deep bond as their home city of Kabul, Afghanistan becomes more dangerous.

The youngest of four daughters, ten-year-old Obayda must pretend to be a boy to help her family in Afghanistan.

Named after her Native American mother, eighteen-year-old Louisa Norquay must decide whether she wants to meet her criminal father in order to save her family's ice cream business and pay for an education at Canada's University of Alberta.

In this twist on the musical My Fair Lady that was inspired by George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion, Helena Higgins and Penelope Pickering, students at 19th-century London's Royal Academy of Culinaria Artisticus, disagree on whether transforming street vendor Elijah Little into a gentleman chef is a worthwhile project.

In eleven interconnected stories inspired by her family in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Spain, and the United States, the author describes the lives of several generations of the Beléns.

When all the young people of their tiny Polish village emigrate to America, Ashmedai the demon eventually convinces Uriel the angel to follow them to the rumored Golden Land.

This novel is a fictionalized account of the life of Juan de Pareja, the half-African slave of famed painter Diego Velázquez in 17th century Spain.

When war destroys their life in Syria, Nuri Ibrahim tries to hold onto hope that he and his grieving wife will survive the dangerous journey to a new home.

Set in Spain during the 1950s, this novel tells the story of how Daniel, an eighteen-year-old American tourist, falls in love with a local girl, Ana, who lost her family during the Spanish Civil War.

Following the murder of her mother, sixteen-year old Tina is on a quest for revenge. She must survive Sangui City's dangerous streets while waiting for a chance to avenge her mother's death.

As the oldest of five sisters and the only one who can legally drive, Odilia must lead a supernatural odyssey from the Rio Grande to Mexico to return the body of a drowned man.

Moving back to California from Hong Kong, ten-year-old Knox, his older brother Bowen, and younger sister Lea, must deal not only with the coronavirus but also the separation from their father and fearful suspicions of their background.

In Kaleria, Nigeria, twelve-year-old Nnamdi is on a mission to avenge his father's death with the help of his best friend and newly acquired supernatural powers.