To explore this trend in depth, we recently chatted with the faculty of the Writing Shorter Retreat: Why and How Less Can Be More—Christina Soontornvat, Hena Khan, Minh Lê, and Ellen Oh. They all provided insights into the shorter novels and picture books trend, why less can be more, and how brevity can unlock magic for the reader.
You can find a Q&A with these authors here, and below are some of their short novel picks.
Because of Winn-Dixie
By Kate DiCamillo
Candlewick Press
One summer’s day, ten-year-old India Opal Buloni goes down to the local supermarket for some groceries—and comes home with a dog. But Winn-Dixie is no ordinary dog. It’s because of Winn-Dixie that Opal begins to make friends. And it’s because of Winn-Dixie that she finally dares to ask her father about her mother, who left when Opal was three. In fact, as Opal admits, just about everything that happens that summer is because of Winn-Dixie.
By Ellen Oh
HarperCollins Publishers
Eleven-year-old Luke and his dog, Haru, are the best of friends. Totally inseparable. But when their nasty landlord falsely accuses Haru of biting her, Haru is kidnapped!
As Luke and his friends go on a serious mission to find and bring Haru home again, they discover mysterious experiments happening at the old laboratory at Painted Lake, owned by an evil multibillionaire named Mr. Thomas Sinclair. And Luke and his friends soon fear that Sinclair’s scientists could be doing illegal testing that may endanger Haru and their whole town.
As more strange clues emerge, the boys realize their world is changing fast, and soon Painted Lake is plagued by zombie attacks. But the love between Luke and Haru endures, ultimately helping to save them all.
Karen Cushman
HarperCollins Publishers
A girl known only as Brat has no family, no home, and no future until she meets Jane the Midwife and becomes her apprentice. As she helps the short-tempered Jane deliver babies, Brat—who renames herself Alyce—gains knowledge, confidence, and the courage to want something in life for the first time.
Hands
By Torrey Maldonado
Penguin Random House
Trev would do anything to protect his mom and sisters, especially from his stepdad. But his stepdad’s return stresses Trev—because when he left, he threatened Trev’s mom. Rather than live scared, Trev takes matters into his own hands, literally. He starts learning to box to handle his stepdad. But not everyone is a fan of his plan, because Trev’s a talented artist, and his hands could actually help him build a better future. And they’re letting him know—but their advice for some distant future feels useless in his reality right now. Ultimately, Trev knows his future is in his hands, and his hands are his own, and he has to choose how to use them.
By K.A. Holt
Chronicle Books
Kevin has a bad attitude. He has a real knack for rubbing people the wrong way. And he’s even figured out a secret way to do it with poems. But what happens when the tables are turned and he is the one getting picked on? Using elements of subversive found poetry, Rhyme Schemer is an accessible novel in verse that is both touching and hilarious, and will inspire voracious and reluctant readers alike. It is a celebration of the power of words and their ability to transform lives.
When You Reach Me
By Rebecca Stead
Penguin Random House
Shortly after a fall-out with her best friend, sixth grader Miranda starts receiving mysterious notes, and she doesn’t know what to do. The notes tell her that she must write a letter—a true story, and that she can’t share her mission with anyone.
It would be easy to ignore the strange messages, except that whoever is leaving them has an uncanny ability to predict the future. If that is the case, then Miranda has a big problem—because the notes tell her that someone is going to die, and she might be too late to stop it.
By Linda Sue Park
HarperCollins Publishers
A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about two eleven-year-olds in Sudan, a girl in 2008 and a boy in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours’ walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the “lost boys” of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay.
Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya’s in an astonishing and moving way. Includes an afterword by author Linda Sue Park and the real-life Salva Dut, on whom the novel is based, and who went on to found Water for South Sudan.
Renée Watson
Bloomsbury
Sage’s thirteenth birthday was supposed to be about movies and treats, staying up late with her best friend and watching the sunrise together. Instead, it was the day her best friend died. Without the person she had to hold her secrets and dream with, Sage is lost. In a counseling group with other girls who have lost someone close to them, she learns that not all losses are the same, and healing isn’t predictable. There is sadness, loneliness, anxiety, guilt, pain, love. And even as Sage grieves, new, good things enter her life-and she just may find a way to know that she can feel it all.
In accessible, engaging verse and prose, this is a story of a girl’s journey to heal, grow, and forgive herself. To read it is to see how many shades there are in grief, and to know that someone understands.
Jasmine Warga
HarperCollins Publishers
A painting has been stolen…!
When Rami sees a floating girl in the museum, he knows he has seen her somewhere before. Then he realizes: She looks just like the girl in the painting that has gone missing. But how does her appearance connect to the theft?
Agatha the turtle knows—she has been watching from the garden. But she can’t exactly tell anyone…can she?
Will Rami, with the help of his classmate, Veda, be able to solve the mystery? The clues are all around them, but they’ll have to be brave enough to really look.
This is a whimsical, moving story about the universal desire to be seen and understood and how art can help us find connection, even when we are at our loneliest.
By Daniel Nayeri
Penguin Random House
1941. The German armies are storming across Europe. Iran is a neutral country occupied by British forces on one side, Soviet forces on another. Soldiers fill the teahouses of Isfahan. Nazi spies roam the alleyways.
Babak and his little sister have just lost their father. Now orphans, fearing they will be separated, the two devise a plan. Babak will take up his father’s old job as a teacher to the nomads. With a chalkboard strapped to Babak’s back, and a satchel full of textbooks, the siblings set off to find the nomad tribes as they make their yearly trek across the mountains.
On the treacherous journey they meet a Jewish boy, hiding from a Nazi spy. And suddenly, they are all in a race for survival.
Want to explore writing shorter in depth?
Join us for the upcoming Writing Shorter Retreat: Why and How Less Can Be More. It is a deep dive into the craft of narrative economy, helping writers understand how many words in a short novel are truly necessary to tell a resonant story.
