If you loved
Books like Hero
A high-stakes coming-of-age adventure where a grieving son must decide whether to shoulder his father's dangerous, super-powered legacy. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with Hero.
- tense
- adventurous
- grief-tinged
- high-stakes
- 01
The million dollar throw
Mike Lupica · 2009
A high-stakes sports story wrapped around a tender core of friendship and family resilience.
- 02
Summer Ball
Mike Lupica · 2007
A sweaty, fast-paced summer on the court where the biggest opponent is your own self-doubt.
- 03
Babe & me
Dan Gutman
A crack-of-the-bat time-travel adventure that brings baseball's greatest legends to life while mending a fractured father-son bond.
- 04
Stormbreaker
Anthony Horowitz
A cinematic, adrenaline-soaked thrill ride where childhood ends and a deadly game of espionage begins.
- 05
Deadline
Chris Crutcher · 2007
A fiercely funny, ticking-clock tearjerker about living a lifetime's worth of rebellion and love in a single year.
- 06
Half-resurrection blues
Daniel José Older
A shadowy, supernatural mystery that explores the eerie, liminal space between the living and the dead.
- 07
Ask the dark
Henry Turner
A gritty, high-stakes thriller that plunges a troubled teen into a deadly game of cat and mouse.
- 08
Miracle's Boys
Jacqueline Woodson
A tender, aching exploration of brotherhood and grief that finds hope in the spaces between fractured relationships.
- 09
Ways to live forever
Sally Nicholls
A tender, tear-jerking exploration of what it means to truly live when time is running out.
- 10
I Hunt Killers
Barry Lyga
A chilling psychological thriller that asks if a monster's son is destined to become a monster himself.
- 11
Elsewhere
Gabrielle Zevin
A bittersweet, imaginative exploration of what it means to live, even after life has ended.
- 12
Powerless
Matthew Cody · 2009
An action-packed, comic-book-infused mystery that explores the bittersweet transition of growing up and the hidden strength of being ordinary.
