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5 Stars - Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park

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5 Stars - Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park

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Mini Review under Immigrant Focus in the Category Card.

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5 Stars - Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park

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5 Stars - Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park

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Mini Review under Immigrant Focus in the Category Card.

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Snowflower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

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Snowflower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

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Set in 19th century China, 2 young girls from very different backgrounds grow up spending time together at the request of their parents and become best friends. As adults, they continue to keep in touch once they are matched and get married. A book about friendship and forgiveness.

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The main character is diagnosed with leprosy and exiled to the island of Moloka’i at the age of 5 to be raised in a facility by nuns. She sentenced to live there, away from her family, for life.

Also Daughter of Moloka’i (set in WWII)—Japanese internment.

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Set during the AIDS epidemic in Chicago and covering a span of about 20 years—following Yale and his friends and Fiona the sister of a young man who recently died from AIDS.

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Set in Port Townsend just following WWII. A woman finds a baby in the water with gills. Lightly addresses domestic abuse, witchcraft and LGBTQ+ in this era.

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3 kids and 3 storylines: Nazi Germany, 1990s Cuba and present day Syria. Their connection  being children during conflict with another surprise connection in the end. This is a YA book.

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A Polish family is split up and sent to different places during the war.

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This could go in a few of these categories: feminine protagonists, fantasy, . . . it’s  been one of my top 3 books for the past 7-8 years. Set in biblical times on Masada as the Jews were being persecuted by the Romans.

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Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman 

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Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman 

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Loosely based on PT Barnum’s mermaid.

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Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy)

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Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy)

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Witches, vampires and other creatures set in 1500s to present day.

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Anything by Jane Austen

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Around the World in 80 Days - Jules Verne

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When the Nightingale Sings
Under a Sky on Fire
When we were Brave
A View Across the Rooftops

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War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

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Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

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Fatherland by Robert Harris

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A woman travels between the present and the past. It’s a time when slavery was still ok. She face some challenges that may cause her her life.

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Any of the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey/Maturin books

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Any of the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey/Maturin books

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Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon.  (Oregon Trail journey)  5 stars from me a couple of years ago.

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Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon.  (Oregon Trail journey)  5 stars from me a couple of years ago.

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5 stars - Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park

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5 stars - Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park

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I'm not sure this officially fits the "Western" category, but it's set in the American West in 1880. Park loved the Little House books as a child, and recognized some of the problems with the stories as an adult. She still loved the spirit of stories of survival and determination. She researched the Asian immigrants trying to make it during this time, despite prejudices and hardship. In this middle grade novel, she reimagined the world of Little House with a main character who is half-Asian.

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4 stars - The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin

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4 stars - The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin

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I got a bit tired of literary-themed stories of WWII over the past few years, but this is actually a cool story of the power of stories to transcend tragedy and the importance of community. This is based on a small number of bookstores that actually survived the Blitz.

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5 stars - The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue

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5 stars - The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue

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Beyond having a female protagonist, it's all about the women running and suffering in a maternity ward for those who have influenza during the pandemic of 1918 in Ireland. (Could also fit for WWI Era.) It seemed fitting to read last year during another pandemic. Be warned that it's very dark, but I thought it was fascinating (including the lack of knowledge about basic medical protocols like cleanliness and misconceptions about childbirth).

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3 stars - Find Me in Havana by Serena Burdick

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3 stars - Find Me in Havana by Serena Burdick

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While I thought this was good, but not amazing, it was an interesting, fictionalized story based on Estelita Rodriguez, who got her start in Havana, struggled in New York, and then launched a career (and a difficult life) in Hollywood. When I read The Seven Husbands... I thought it might have gotten some inspiration from this tale, as well.

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4 stars - The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

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4 stars - The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

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Kristin Hannah weaves compelling historical fiction. The Nightingale tells the story of how differently the members of a family (and a community) cope with the arrival of Nazis in a small French village, as they are all forced to make impossible choices.

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4 stars - The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Tara Jenkins Reid

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4 stars - The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Tara Jenkins Reid

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I couldn't put this book down! While it's not an important book, it was a compelling story about a fictional Hollywood icon, who's essentially been in hiding for a few decades, deciding it was time to finally tell her story of being different in an industry trying to force stars to fit a certain image.

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A fictionalized story based on the last Africans brought to the US as slaves, after it was already illegal to do so. Tells the story of their introduction to life as enslaved people, and how they worked to create their own community, African Town, after they gained their freedom post-Civil War. Fascinating story told in verse. Intended for a YA audience.