After weeks of spending every waking hour dedicated to studying and assignments, the week-long Thanksgiving break provides students ample time for some much-needed freedom and rest. What better way to fill these newfound gaps in your schedule than with a good book? With countless options making it difficult to decide which stories are most worth spending time with, it’s helpful to have a list of titles that can best represent themes of family, love, and community, as well as simply provide you with a good time as Thanksgiving rolls around and you begin to unwind. 

There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins is a story as chilling as its title that follows teen Makani Young, who just moved to Nebraska from Hawaii, fleeing a haunted past, as her classmates begin to be slaughtered by a killer with a penchant for grotesque deaths. TL’s own Project Lit Book Club has selected this book as their fall semester read and intends to watch the Netflix movie adaptation of it as a group. With the deadline to finish reading the book after the break, many of the members will choose to dedicate some of their Thanksgiving break time to this spooky, fall-themed book. TL freshman and book club member Lana Duca is not a reader who is often drawn to horror novels; however, she really enjoyed this one. “I think the book had a good mix of character relationships, mystery elements, and gory details,” Duca summarized. While certainly mysterious and filled with anticipation, the book also focuses on Makani’s growing relationships with the people in her life in this new environment and how she holds on to these connections in times of darkness and fear. “My favorite thing about this book was the alternating perspectives and the chapters that were focused on other characters,” Duca said. There’s Someone Inside Your House often shifts between perspectives to keep readers on edge. 

“This is the weirdest, cutest, most fun book I’ve read in a long time. Also, it made me cry.” writes Goodreads user Cati Jacobs. The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston is a romance book with strong themes of family surrounding loss and grief. It follows Florence Day, a ghostwriter for a popular romance author who has the power to see ghosts. Florence is met with trouble when she is unable to get an extension for her latest book from her new editor. The book is told in first person as Florence gets an urgent call leading her back to her hometown. Upon her return, she is met with her new ghostly editor. Jacobs sums it up as a book of ghosts, returning to the home/hometown you fled from with an abundance of family dynamics. With the quick-paced writing and these strong themes of family, it’s perfect to add to your Thanksgiving reading list.

TL Senior Kai McCarthy states, “If you’re into books that are emotionally devastating containing characters that live in your head rent-free and stay with you for days after you’ve read it, then I Fell in Love with Hope is definitely a good recommendation.” I Fell in Love with Hope by Lancali is told from the first-person perspective of the narrator, Sam. It’s filled with strong themes of found family and showcases what it means to be there for each other. It’s very character-centric and follows the relationships between teen residents in a hospital. McCarthy explains it does a good job of tackling difficult topics “such as mental health struggles, eating disorders, self-harm, conflicting family situations, and terminal illness.” The writing style allows you to live through the eyes of the narrator as they interact with characters past and present, revealing the intricately woven relationship between one another. McCarthy states that “it’s a book you might want to have time set aside to take it in and enjoy it fully. Thanksgiving break would be a great time to do so!”

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir is at once heartfelt and heartbreaking and will have you cheering on the main characters until the very end. With multiple perspectives and timelines, the story is told predominantly through the perspectives of childhood best friends Salahudin and Noor, a pair of Pakistani-American teenagers, as they navigate grief, trauma, and straining family relations. TL Teacher Librarian Kendra Rose thinks of this book as a full five out of five stars. “It’s a great Thanksgiving read because it’s one you can get through in that week. And I think it’s a great book to help emphasize the themes that we often relate to Thanksgiving about forgiveness and connection and both biological and chosen families,” Rose said. According to Rose, the characters were incredibly complex and well-developed, which made her root for them the whole way through. “I thought that it was a really authentic teen voice. The characters were complex in a way that you don’t always get in YA,” Rose explained, referring to the popular Young Adult genre that All My Rage falls under. While the messages of friendship and love shine in this novel, they go hand in hand with descriptions of hardship and struggle that make it the touching and fulfilling story that Rose and many others enjoy. 

Thanksgiving is a marvelous time to spend with family and friends, but when you need a book break, be sure to pick one of these up. There’s something for everyone, and if There’s Someone Inside Your House happens to be on that list, be sure to listen out for announcements about the book-to-movie adaptation showing with TL’s project lit book club. Have an amazing Thanksgiving week and happy reading!