Books like Dear America by Barry Denenberg
Following a tragic sledding accident, nine‑year‑old Bess Brennan loses her sight and must navigate a frightening, altered world. At the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts, she learns braille and finds new friends who support her in overcoming her disability. With the help of her twin sister Elin, who records Bess’s journey in a shared diary, the novel explores resilience and friendship against the backdrop of the Great Depression.
Set in the United States during the 1930s, the story offers young readers an inspiring look at life with a disability, while highlighting the supportive community of the Perkins School and the enduring bond between twins.
First publish date: 2002
Genre: History/Modern History
Authors: Barry Denenberg
★
★
★
★
★
3.5 (2 community ratings)
How are these books recommended?
The books recommended for Dear America by Barry Denenberg are shaped by reader interaction. Votes on how closely books relate, user ratings, and community comments all help refine these recommendations and highlight books readers genuinely find similar in theme, ideas, and overall reading experience.
Have you read any of these books?
Your votes, ratings, and comments help improve recommendations and make it easier
for other readers to discover books they’ll enjoy.
Books similar to Dear America (20 similar books)
In 1943 Copenhagen, ten‑year‑old Annemarie Johansen helps her Jewish friend Ellen Rosen escape Nazi persecution, learning courage and resilience while navigating war‑time hardships.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A 15-year-old boy who is suddenly and inexplicably invisible is forced to adapt to a world where seeing isn't as important as it used to be.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Blinded 16‑year‑old Cheyenne Wilder wakes to find her car stolen in a pharmacy parking lot. Stuck in a kidnapping, she must outwit her captor, a package‑thief, who turns desperate when Cheyenne’s father is revealed to be Nike’s president.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A rainy day brings mystery to an apartment building as two brothers hunt for the source of a harmonica tune, exploring friendship and family life in the city.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Florrie Ryder’s diary chronicles her family’s courageous journey from Missouri to New Mexico along the Santa Fe Trail, filled with hardships, discoveries, and the promise of a new life.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A sports novel about a teenager's chance to throw a football for a million dollars, set against the backdrop of family struggles and disability.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A first‑person diary of fourteen‑year‑old Dawn Rae Johnson as she confronts racism while attending the first integrated school in her Virginia town after Brown v. Board.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
In "Dear America," Quaker Catharine Carey Logan and her family face a fragile peace with the Delaware Indians shattered by violence, leading to her captivity by the Lenape and a journey that reveals shared hopes and fears.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
When a young blind boy discovers a surprise gift left by his grandmother after she passes, he learns to navigate the world around him with new hope and a deeper understanding of family and loss.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Polly Rodgers, a teenage Baptist in 1858, records her family’s perilous migration from England to the Minnesota prairie in a heartfelt diary that explores faith, frontier life, and the reality behind the promise of religious freedom.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Young Minnie Swift chronicles a Christmas season in the Great Depression, exposing Midwestern family struggles and resilience through her diary entries.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Blind orphan Jocelyn, whose seeing‑eye dog goes missing, takes on a detective quest to solve the mystery and prove she can be a hero.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A blind girl runs on Field Day in her first grade class.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Twelve‑year‑old Tru maintains an electronic diary, documenting her hopes to cure her handicapped twin brother and her ambitious plan to create a television show.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
An orphan searches for her twin sister, but can't find the family she's been longing for.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Thirteen‑year‑old Alison Shandling lives in the shadow of her autistic twin brother, Adam, and the constant focus of their parents. When the taunting Rabbi’s son, Harry Roth, is injured, Alison discovers a hidden truth that changes her view of herself and others.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Two brothers embark on a daring challenge that takes an unexpected turn, exploring courage, family bonds, and the realities of living with a disability.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Blinded teenage Laureth and her brother Benjamin travel from London to New York to find their missing father, relying on their father's training to read patterns, clues, and numbers in a dangerous mystery.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Some Other Similar Books
Dear America: A Journey to the New World by Barbara FeiganThe American Girl: A Diary of a Young Girl in the Civil War by Elizabeth B. Welter
Survivors: True Stories of Children in the Holocaust by Erin Pringle
The Journal of Jesse Smoke: A Cherokee Boy by Joseph Bruchac
Chain by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
Have a similar book in mind? Let others know!
Please login to submit books!