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Out Stealing Horses
Per Petterson

Out Stealing Horses is a poignant and moving tale of a changing perspective on the world, from youthful innocence to the difficult acceptance of betrayal, and of nostalgia for a simpler way of life. (Book jacket).

The Summer Without Men
Siri Hustvedt

Mia’s husband just had an affair and left her. She has a breakdown and decides to spend the summer near her mother’s house and give poetry workshops to pre-teen girls. As the summer advances, she gets to know her neighbours: a struggling family with two young children; her mother’s friends who are all vital but aging and ailing women; and, her very dramatic set of pupils.

It will be a summer of self-discovery for Mia as she analyses and reflects on the different stages of womanhood and learns that she can survive on her own.

Map of the Invisible World
Tash Aw

Adam, a 16 year old Malaysian, lives with his adopted father Karl, who is white and Dutch. Adam is troubled because he would like to find his brother Johan who he was separated from while at the orphanage. Malaysia is in unrest and on the brink of a civil war. Karl is kidnapped and Adam doesn’t know where to find him so he enlists the help of Margaret, who hasn’t seen Karl for years but who comes to realize, through her search for him, that she really cares for Karl. Adam will also realize that his real family is Karl.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian
Sherman Alexie

Bittersweet and humorous account of one year in the life of 14 year old Arnold Spirit, a Spokane Indian who lives on a reservation. At the urging of a teacher, he leaves his school on the "Rez" and goes to an all-white school 20 miles away. There he strives to fit in all the while being shunned by the people of the reservation, including his best friend.

Through clever narrative and illustrations, the author explores themes of acceptance, prejudice, family, and alcoholism in this excellent coming of age story.

Mister Pip
Lloyd Jones

Matilda is 14 years old. She lives on an island in the South Pacific with her mother. There is only one white man in her village, Mr. Watts, and they call him Pop Eye. The island has been blockaded and a war has broken out between the rebels and the red skins. In the midst of this turmoil Mr Watts starts teaching the children and reads Great Expectations by Charles Dickens to them, one chapter a day. Matilda and the other children will immerse themselves in the story and will forget for a while their terrible reality.

Man in the Dark
Paul Auster

August Brill cannot sleep. He lies in the dark and tries not to think of his recently dead wife Sonia, of the murder of his granddaughter Katya's boyfriend Titus, or of the sadness of his daughter Myriam whose husband left her. In order not to think of these events, Brill imagines a story set in a parallel America caught in a civil war. His hero, Owen Brick, must kill the person responsible for the war, none other than August Brill himself. Brill weaves his story in his head but will be interrupted by the memories and thoughts that he cannot escape.

Sunset Park
Paul Auster

Miles Heller is a young man who is fleeing his past. Though he is an intelligent and educated person he works in menial jobs and has no ambition. In Florida, he meets and falls in love with Pilar, a seventeen year old high-school student. Pilar's sister threatens Miles so he has no choice but to go back to New York and confront his past. He has not seen his father, step-mother, and mother for over seven years and finally contacts them and tries to come to terms with himself.

The Imperfectionists
Tom Rachman

Through a series of funny, touching, or sad vignettes the author explores the intertwining lives of several people who work at an international newspaper in Rome. The stories mainly focus on their relationships with a piercing and uncompromising eye. The frailty of these relationships surface glaringly.