Speaking Volumes

I’ve been reading a lot of YA and Junior Fiction lately, and often times I find that these books seem like children or teen versions of adult books I’ve read. I got thinking about this after talking with one of our volunteers about When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead. I had just read it and recommended it to her (it’s so good!) and after she finished she commented that it reminded her of a kids version of The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger. I’ve read both and could definitely see her point. Even saying that they are alike almost gives away too much, so I won’t elaborate on this one!

When I read The London Eye Mystery, by Siobhan Dowd, all I could think of was the adult book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon. Both are mysteries and both are told from the point of view of a teen boy who falls somewhere on the autism spectrum.

The YA book, Alphabet of Dreams, by Susan Fletcher reminded me of The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant. Both stories take place in biblical times and (in my opinion) conjure up beautiful imagery.

When I read The Rules of Survival, by Nancy Werlin, I was reminded of The Wolf at the Table, by Augusten Burroughs. Both are about young men dealing with abusive parents who play some serious mind games. Except, The Wolf at the Table is a memoir of Augusten Borroughs relationship with his father – very disturbing. Even the covers have similar look!

This one might be a stretch, but this summer I read The Girl Who Could Fly, by Victoria Forester, and parts of it reminded me of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey. 

SPOILER ALERT: In The Girl Who Could Fly, the main character, Piper, gets sent to an underground school for kids with special/unusual talents. The Headmaster of the school tries to ‘fix’ the kids to be normal with drugs and sometimes lobotomies…. Nurse Ratchett anyone? The covers look a lot a like as well:

It’s impossible to tell if any of these similarities are on purpose or not, but they do make interesting comparisons. Has anyone else read any other adult/child read-alikes? Let me know!