Pairing Fiction to Nonfiction Book Pairings About Family in All Its Forms
How do we define “family?”
It’s a simple question—and there are many answers. There are those families we’re born into…and those we choose to build with others. Not every family looks or feels the same. What works for some may not work for others. Every type of family is unique.
In this month’s Page & Pairing, we’re spotlighting fiction books about family dynamics then pairing them with a nonfiction family book that expands on those themes. These selections that explore the complexities of different types of family invite you to reflect and initiate conversations around identity, relationships, and belonging.
Chosen / Found Family
The House in the Cerulean Sea
by Tj Klune
Klune’s New York Times-bestselling contemporary fantasy about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.
The Outsiders
by S E Hinton
Published in 1967, Hinton’s beloved novel about rival teenage gangs explores themes family and found family, identity and belonging, and the futility of violence.
Nonfiction Pairing:
A Kids Book about Chosen Family
by Madi Bourdon
Written to help youngsters understand what a chosen family is and how it works, this is a perfect nonfiction family book for sharing. Chosen family looks unique to each of us, but they should all make us feel safe and supported.
Multicultural or Blended Family
The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing
by Mira Jacob
Taking readers on a journey from 1970s India to suburban 1980s New Mexico to Seattle during the dot.com boom, Jacob’s irreverent, bestselling debut novel follows a family wrestling with its future and its past.
Commonwealth
by Ann Patchett
In her #1 New York Times-bestselling family themed literary fiction, Patchett tells the enthralling story of how an unexpected romantic encounter reverberates through the lives of the four parents and six children involved.
Nonfiction Pairing:
Families
by Shelley Rotner - Sheila M Kelly
Some families have one parent, and some have two; some have aunts and uncles and grandparents living with them. Some have adopted children; some have children born to them. Showcasing the wide variety of modern families, this full-color collection celebrates the diverse types of families.
Estranged / Complicated Relationships
My Name Is Lucy Barton
by Elizabeth Strout
A simple hospital visit becomes a portal to the tender relationship between mother and daughter in this #1 New York Times bestseller from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Olive Kittridge. An emotional choice for book clubs.
Everything I Never Told You
by Celeste Ng
The debut novel from New York Times bestseller Ng (Little Fires Everywhere) follows a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. When the body of the favorite daughter is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the family together is destroyed.
Nonfiction Pairing:
Make Peace with Anyone: Breakthrough Strategies to Quickly End Any Conflict, Feud, or Estrangement
by David J Lieberman
From ending a family feud to getting an apology, Dr. Leiberman explains how to quickly resolve any situation, no matter how long it's been going on, or how many people are involved. The techniques and psychological strategies presented are simple, easy to understand, and work...fast.
Adoption / Surrogacy / Guardianship
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane
by Lisa See
A #1 New York Times-bestselling author pens a powerful story about circumstances, culture, and distance that explores the lives of a Chinese mother and her daughter who has been adopted by an American couple.
Then Came You
by Jennifer Weiner
Told with her trademark wit and sharp observations, this hilarious, tender, and timely tale from #1 New York Times-bestselling author Weiner explores themes of class and entitlement, surrogacy and charity, the rights of a parent and the measure of a mother.
Nonfiction Pairing:
Love & Genetics: A true story of adoption, surrogacy, and the meaning of family
by Mark MacDonald - Rachel Elliott
When Mark, adopted at birth, set out to find his genetic family as an adult, he found something he never expected—three full-blood siblings, including a persistent sister who would alter the course of his life. A true story of adoption, surrogacy, and the meaning of life.
Coming-of-Age Within Family Expectations
The Joy Luck Club
by Amy Tan
Exploring the relationships between four Chinese women, who immigrated to the U.S. in 1949, and their daughters in 1980s San Francisco, Tan’s New York Times bestseller shows how the inheritance of pain and unspoken secrets can lead to misunderstanding—and how love can lead to reconciliation.
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
by Erika L Sánchez
A National Book Award finalist and #1 New York Times bestseller— a poignant but funny contemporary novel about a teenage girl who loses her sister and finds herself amid the pressures, expectations, and stereotypes of growing up in a Mexican American home.
Nonfiction Pairing:
Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic-And What We Can Do about It
by Jennifer Breheny Wallace
Today’s kids and teens face unprecedented pressure to succeed. Parents want their children to be happier but also want them to secure the best possible future. Award-winning journalist Wallace examines the rise of “toxic achievement culture” and offers a practical framework for how to help in this instant New York Times bestseller.
Affluent / Impoverished Families
The Age of Innocence
by Edith Wharton
The first novel written by a woman to win the Pulitzer, Wharton’s masterful portrait of desire and betrayal in 1870s New York City was inspired by her insider’s knowledge of the upper-class New York “aristocracy” of the Gilded Age, its morals and standards, and its fastidious and rigid society rules. It also explores societal expectations can dictate whether a marriage is made for money…or for love.
The Grapes of Wrath
by John Steinbeck - Robert Demott - Robert Demott
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, Steinbeck’s powerful landmark novel, set during the Great Depression, tells the story of the Joads, an Oklahoma tenant farm family who, because of the Dust Bowl and its economic devastation, are driven from their home. They head west for the promised land of California with other “Okies”—migrants seeking jobs, land, dignity, and a future.
Nonfiction pairing:
Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune
by Bill Dedman - Paul Clark Newell
The story of New York copper heiress Huguette Clark is a fairy tale in reverse: the bright, talented daughter, born into a family of extreme wealth and privilege, who secrets herself away from the outside world. This #1 New York Times bestseller reveals a complex portrait of an eccentric of the highest order, a last jewel of the Gilded Age who lived life on her own terms.
These aren’t just books about relatives—they’re stories about connection, rupture, reconciliation, and what it means to belong. Whether you're navigating connection, healing old wounds, or building something new, these books offer a place to begin.
They are meant to remind readers that there is no one right way to be a family, and there are many other stories—real and imagined—that can help us process our own histories and relationships, and affirm what makes us human.