Laurie Frankel is the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas of Love, Goodbye for Now, and the Reese's Book Club x Hello Sunshine Book Pick. This is always the case. Frankel and her husband, daughter, and border collie live in Seattle.

This is how a family keeps a secret...and how the secret keeps them. This is how a family lives happily ever after...until it becomes complicated. This is how children transform...and then transform the world.

This Is How It Always Is is a story of Claude. He is the youngest of five brothers and is five years old. He enjoys peanut butter sandwiches. He also enjoys wearing dresses and aspires to be a princess. Claude says he wants to be a girl when he grows up. Rosie and Penn want Claude to be able to be whoever he wants to be. They just aren't sure they're ready to share that with the rest of the world. Claude's secret is soon kept by the entire family. Until it explodes one day.

This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel is a novel about revelations, transformations, fairy tales, and family. And it's about how this is always the case: change is always difficult, miraculous, and difficult again, parenting is always a leap into the unknown with crossed fingers and full hearts, and children grow but not always in the way we expect. And families who have secrets do not get to keep them indefinitely.

Author: Laurie Frankel

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/This-How-Always-Laurie-Frankel/dp/1250088550/

Ratings: 4.5 out of 5 stars (from 12692 reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #475,471 in Books

#377 in LGBTQ+ Literary Fiction (Books)

#10,677 in Family Life Fiction (Books)

#25,346 in Literary Fiction (Books)

Barbara Kingsolver is the bestselling author of ten novels, including Unsheltered, Flight Behavior, The Lacuna, The Poisonwood Bible, Animal Dreams, and The Bean Trees, as well as poetry, essays, and creative nonfiction books. Her narrative nonfiction work includes the best-selling Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. Kingsolver's work has been translated into over twenty languages, earning her literary awards and a devoted following both at home and abroad. For her body of work, she received the National Humanities Medal, our country's highest honor for service through the arts, as well as the Dayton Literary Peace Prize.

The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by Nathan Price's wife and four daughters, who travel to the Belgian Congo with his family and mission in 1959. They bring everything they think they'll need from home, but everything—from garden seeds to Scripture—is disastrously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic about one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction in postcolonial Africa over three decades.

The novel is set against one of the twentieth century's most dramatic political sagas: the Congo's struggle for independence from Belgium, the assassination of its first elected prime minister, the CIA coup to install his replacement, and the insidious progress of a world economic order that robs the fledgling African nation of its autonomy. This ambitious novel establishes Kingsolver as one of the most thoughtful and daring modern writers, standing alongside classic works of postcolonial literature.

Author: Barbara Kingsolver

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061577073/

Ratings: 4.5 out of 5 stars (from 6474 reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #6,987 in Books

#276 in Family Saga Fiction

#577 in Family Life Fiction (Books)

#879 in Literary Fiction (Books)

Jeannette Walls attended Barnard College and worked as a journalist in New York. For more than eight years, her memoir, The Glass Castle, has been a New York Times best-seller. She is also the author of the instant New York Times bestsellers The Silver Star and Half Broke Horses, which The New York Times Book Review editors named one of the ten best books of 2009.

The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, as well as a revelatory look into a deeply dysfunctional but uniquely vibrant family. When Jeannette's father was sober, he captured his children's imaginations by teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. When he drank, however, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who despised domesticity and the responsibility of raising a family.

The Walls kids learned to look after themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another until they arrived in New York. Their parents chose to be homeless while their children prospered, so they followed them.

The Glass Castle is a truly remarkable memoir, permeated by the intense love of a strange but devoted family. In 2017, Lionsgate released a major motion picture based on the memoir, starring Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson, and Naomi Watts.

Author: Jeannette Walls

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/Glass-Castle-Memoir-Jeannette-Walls/dp/074324754X/

Ratings: 4.6 out of 5 stars (from 19180 reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #1,391 in Books

#1 in Author Biographies

#20 in Women's Biographies

#86 in Memoirs (Books)

Celeste Ng is the best-selling author of Everything I Never Told You and Little Fires Everywhere on the New York Times. Our Missing Hearts, her third novel, will be released in October 2022. Ng has received National Endowment for the Arts and Guggenheim Foundation fellowships, and her work has been published in over thirty languages. Celeste Ng's enthralling novel - Little Fires Everywhere follows the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and the mysterious mother and daughter who upend their lives.

Everything in Shaker Heights, a peaceful, progressive Cleveland suburb, is planned, from the layout of the winding roads to the colors of the houses to the successful lives its residents will lead. Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is following the rules, epitomizes this spirit.

Enter Mia Warren, a mysterious artist and single mother who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her adolescent daughter Pearl and rents a house from the Richardsons. Mia and Pearl quickly become more than just tenants, attracting the attention of all four Richardson children. Mia, on the other hand, has a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to destabilize this carefully ordered community.

When the Richardsons' old family friends try to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle breaks out, dividing the town and pitting Mia and Elena against each other. Elena is determined to uncover Mia's past secrets, despite her suspicions about Mia and her motivations. But her obsession will have unanticipated and devastating consequences.

Little Fires Everywhere delves into the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood—as well as the danger of believing that adhering to the rules will save you. It is among the best books on family.

Author: Celeste Ng

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/Little-Fires-Everywhere-Celeste-Ng/dp/0735224293/

Ratings: 4.5 out of 5 stars (from 57108 reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #23,679 in Books

#71 in Asian American Literature & Fiction

#1,348 in Family Life Fiction (Books)

#2,198 in Literary Fiction (Books)

Erika L. Sánchez is a poet, a feminist, and an advocate for all young women. For three years, she wrote a sex and love advice column for Cosmopolitan for Latinas, and her work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Salon, and the Paris Review. Erika has dreamed of writing complex, empowering stories about girls of color since she was a 12-year-old nerd in giant bifocals and embroidered vests—what she wanted to read as a young adult. She lives in Chicago, not far from where I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter is set.

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter is a "stunning" YA novel about a teen coming to terms with the loss of her sister and navigating the pressures, expectations, and stereotypes of growing up in a Mexican American household. "Alive and crackling—a gritty story encased in a page-turner." (The New York Times)

Perfect Mexican daughters don't attend college. They also do not leave their parents' home after graduating from high school. Perfect Mexican daughters never leave their families behind. Julia, on the other hand, is not your ideal Mexican daughter. Olga was in charge of that.

Then, in a tragic accident on Chicago's busiest street, Olga is killed, leaving Julia to reassemble the shattered pieces of her family. And no one seems to notice that Julia is also broken. Instead, Julia's mother appears to channel her grief by pointing out every way Julia has failed.

But it isn't long before Julia realizes that Olga was not as perfect as everyone thought. Julia is determined to find out with the help of her best friend Lorena and her first love, first everything boyfriend Connor. Was Olga really who she seemed to be? Or was there something else to her sister's story? In any case, how can Julia even attempt to live up to a seemingly impossible standard?

Author: Erika L. Sánchez

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1524700487

Ratings: 4.7 out of 5 stars (from 7150 reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #14,210 in Books

#24 in Teen & Young Adult Siblings Fiction

#39 in Teen & Young Adult Fiction about Death & Dying

#62 in Teen & Young Adult Social Issues

Michael Patrick MacDonald grew up in the Old Colony housing project in South Boston. He became a leading Boston activist after losing four siblings and witnessing his generation decimated by poverty, crime, and addiction. He helped launch many antiviolence initiatives, including gun-buyback programs. He is still working for social change on a national scale, collaborating with survivor families and young people. MacDonald received the American Book Award in 2000 and has contributed to the Boston Globe Op-Ed Page with numerous essays. All Souls, his national bestseller, and Easter Rising: A Memoir of Roots and Rebellion, his follow-up, have been adopted by university curricula across the country.

All Souls is the written equivalent of an Irish wake, at which revelers dance and sing praises to the deceased. In the same vein, the book balances tragedy with a dash of levity while retaining the heartbreaking details. All Souls, a runaway bestseller since its first printing, takes us deep into Michael Patrick McDonald's Southie, the proudly insular neighborhood with America's highest concentration of white poverty.

MacDonald's Southie, roiled by Whitey Bulger's crime schemes and busing riots, is populated by rough-hewn characters. We meet Ma, Michael's accordion-playing, miniskirted single mother who has lost four of her eleven children. There are also Michael's older siblings, Davey, a sweet artist-dreamer; Kevin, a child genius of a con; and Frankie, a Golden Gloves boxer and neighborhood hero, whose lives are high-wire acts performed in a world of poverty and pride.

MacDonald tells his family story with gritty but moving honesty, nearly suffocated by his grief and his community's code of silence. All Souls is a heartbreaking testament to lives lost far too soon, as well as the story of how a place so full of pain can still be "the best place in the world." The book is regarded as one of the best books on family.

Author: Michael Patrick MacDonald

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0807072133

Ratings: 4.5 out of 5 stars (from 864 reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #270,774 in Books

#312 in Sociology of Urban Areas

#4,007 in U.S. State & Local History

#10,023 in Memoirs (Books)

Carol Rifka Brunt's work has appeared in literary journals such as North American Review and The Sun. She was one of three fiction writers to receive the New Writing Ventures award in 2006, and in 2007, she received a generous Arts Council grant to write her first novel, Tell the Wolves I'm Home.

Tell the Wolves I'm Home is a story about family, loss, first loves, and the chaos of the 1980s AIDS epidemic. Readers see a 14-year-old girl thrust into adulthood with knowledge of her beloved uncle's condition through June's eyes. Despite the harsh realities of prejudices, strained relationships, and mourning, June's love for her uncle is what saves her and someone else. Reading this book transports you to another world, and you sink into it - it's not a quick read, but it's well worth it.

The only person who has ever truly understood June Elbus, fourteen, is her uncle, renowned painter Finn Weiss. June, who is shy at school and estranged from her older sister, can only be herself in Finn's company; he is her godfather, confidant, and best friend. June's world is turned upside down when he dies far too young of a mysterious illness her mother can barely speak about.

However, Finn's death brings a new acquaintance into June's life. June notices a strange man lingering just beyond the crowd at the funeral. A few days later, she gets a package in the mail with a beautiful teapot from Finn's apartment and a note from Toby, the stranger, asking for a chance to meet. As the two spend more time together, June realizes she isn't the only one who misses Finn, and that this unexpected friend may be exactly what she needs.

Author: Carol Rifka Brunt

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0812982851

Ratings: 4.4 out of 5 stars (from 3560 reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #17,419 in Books

#490 in Coming of Age Fiction (Books)

#1,064 in Family Life Fiction (Books)

#1,720 in Literary Fiction (Books)

Jennette McCurdy has appeared in Nickelodeon's iCarly and its spin-off, Sam & Cat, as well as Netflix's Between. She left acting in 2017 to pursue writing and directing. Her films have been shown at the Florida Film Festival, Salute Your Shorts Film Festival, Short of the Week, and other festivals. Her work has appeared in Huffington Post and The Wall Street Journal. Her one-woman show, I'm Glad My Mom Died, had two sold-out runs in Los Angeles at the Lyric Hyperion Theatre and the Hudson Theatre. She hosts the podcast Empty Inside, which has topped Apple's charts and features guests discussing difficult topics.

I'm Glad My Mom Died is the Jennette McCurdy's heartbreaking and hilarious memoir about her struggles as a former child actor, including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother, and how she retook control of her life.

Jennette McCurdy had her first acting audition when she was six years old. Jennette's mother's dream was for her only daughter to become a celebrity, and she would go to any length to make her mother happy. So she agreed to "calorie restriction," eating little and weighing herself five times a day, as Mom put it. She had extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chastised her, saying, "Your eyelashes are invisible, okay?" Do you think Dakota Fanning's isn't tinted? " She was even showered by Mom until she was sixteen years old while sharing her diaries, email, and all of her earnings."

Jennette recounts all of this in unflinching detail in I'm Glad My Mom Died, just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. She becomes famous after being cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly. Though Mom is overjoyed, emailing fan club moderators and getting to know the paparazzi by first name ("Hi Gale!"), Jennette is plagued by anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifests as eating disorders, addiction, and a string of unhealthy relationships. These problems are exacerbated when her mother dies of cancer shortly after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on a journey of recovery and, for the first time in her life, determines what she truly desires.

Among the best books on family, I'm Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair, told with refreshing candor and dark humor.

Author: Jennette McCurdy

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1982185821/

Ratings: 4.8 out of 5 stars (from 23510 reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #18 in Books

#3 in Television Performer Biographies

#4 in Actor & Entertainer Biographies

#7 in Memoirs (Books)

Lindsay C. Gibson, PsyD, is a private-practice clinical psychologist who specializes in individual psychotherapy with adult children of emotionally immature parents. She is the author of Who You Were Meant to Be and contributes a monthly well-being column to Tidewater Women magazine. She has previously worked as an adjunct assistant professor of graduate psychology at both the College of William and Mary and Old Dominion University.

You may have lingering feelings of anger, loneliness, betrayal, or abandonment if you grew up with an emotionally immature, unavailable, or selfish parent. You may remember your childhood as a time when your emotional needs were unmet, when your feelings were dismissed, or when you assumed adult levels of responsibility to compensate for your parent's behavior. These wounds can heal, and you can move on with your life.

Lindsay Gibson, a clinical psychologist, exposes the destructive nature of emotionally immature or unavailable parents in this ground-breaking book- Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents. You'll see how these parents instill a sense of neglect in their children, and you'll learn how to heal from the pain and confusion caused by your childhood. You can recover your true nature, control how you react to them, and avoid disappointment by freeing yourself from your parents' emotional immaturity. Finally, you'll discover how to cultivate positive, new relationships in order to build a better life.

Learn about the four types of difficult parents:

• The unstable and anxious feelings are instilled by the emotional parent.
• The driven parent is constantly striving to improve everything and everyone.
• The passive parent avoids confronting anything upsetting.
• The rejecting parent is distant, dismissive, and disparaging.

Author: Lindsay C. Gibson

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/Adult-Children-Emotionally-Immature-Parents/dp/1626251703/

Ratings: 4.8 out of 5 stars (from 13896 reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #79 in Books

#1 in Parent & Adult Child Relationships (Books)

#2 in Dysfunctional Families (Books)

#7 in Personal Transformation Self-Help

Dr. Becky Kennedy is a clinical psychologist and mother of three who has been dubbed "The Millennial Parenting Whisperer" by TIME Magazine and is rethinking how we raise our children. She specializes in delving deeply into what's going on for children and translating these ideas into simple, actionable strategies for parents to implement in their homes. Dr. Becky's goal is to help parents feel stronger and more prepared to face the challenges of parenting.

Over the last few years, Dr. Becky Kennedy, also known as "Dr. Becky"—has started a parenting revolution. Millions of parents have embraced Dr. Becky's empowering and effective approach, a model that prioritizes connecting with our children over correcting them, after becoming tired of following advice that either doesn't work or simply doesn't feel good.

Parents have long been sold a childrearing model that simply does not work. Many popular parenting methods, from reward charts to time outs, are based on shaping behavior rather than raising humans. These techniques do not help children develop life skills or address their complex emotional needs. Add in parents' complicated relationships with their own upbringings, and it's easy to see why so many caregivers feel lost, burned out, and concerned about failing their children. Dr. Becky shares her parenting philosophy, complete with actionable strategies, in Good Inside, to help parents transition from uncertainty and self-blame to confidence and strong leadership.

Good Inside is a comprehensive resource for a generation of parents looking for a new way to raise their children while still setting them up for a lifetime of self-regulation, confidence, and resilience. It offers perspective-shifting parenting principles and troubleshooting for specific scenarios such as sibling rivalry, separation anxiety, tantrums, and more. It is considered one of the best books on family.

Author: Dr. Becky Kennedy

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0063159481/

Ratings: 4.9 out of 5 stars (from 348 reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #174 in Books

#2 in Family Conflict Resolution

#2 in Popular Child Psychology

#3 in Conflict Management