If you liked
Books like Dear Edward
by Ann Napolitano
Dear Edward is Ann Napolitano's novel about a twelve-year-old who is the only survivor of a plane crash, and the town and family that help him find a way to live. It is a book about grief and, quietly, about hope. If you want more tender, life-affirming fiction, these are the reads.
The shortlist
What to read next
Hello Beautifulby Ann Napolitano
“Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano 2023 review. Four sisters in 1980s Chicago and the graduate-student basketball player who marries into the family. Napolitano's breakout literary commercial novel.”
The Storied Life of A. J. Fikryby Gabrielle Zevin
“The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin 2014 review. A curmudgeonly bookstore owner finds a two-year-old left in his shop. Zevin's literary commercial breakout before Tomorrow x3.”
A Man Called Oveby Fredrik Backman
“A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman 2012 review. A fifty-nine-year-old Swedish curmudgeon plans his suicide until a young family moves in across the courtyard. Backman's debut.”
The Midnight Libraryby Matt Haig
“A gorgeous concept executed with warmth and wit. The Midnight Library will make you think differently about the choices you have made - and the ones still ahead.”
Wonderby R. J. Palacio
“Wonder by R. J. Palacio 2012 review. August Pullman, born with a facial difference, attends a mainstream school for the first time in fifth grade. The middle-grade novel that became required reading in U. S. school curricula across the late 2010s and 2020s.”
Tom Lakeby Ann Patchett
“Tom Lake by Ann Patchett 2023 review. A mother tells her three adult daughters about her brief romance with a future movie star while picking cherries during the COVID lockdown. Patchett's late-career literary commercial novel and the most-discussed Meryl Streep audiobook narration of 2023.”
FAQ
Common questions about Dear Edward read-alikes
- I want more Ann Napolitano.
- Hello Beautiful is the natural pairing, her warm family novel about four sisters and the man who marries into their lives. Same tenderness, same big beating heart.
- I want the grief-and-second-chances feeling.
- A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman and The Midnight Library by Matt Haig both take a broken person and slowly reopen their world. Both share Dear Edward's belief that life can start again after loss.
- I want a warm, bookish, uplifting read.
- The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin follows a grieving bookseller whose life reopens when a child arrives. It hits the same tender, hopeful note.
- I want a book about resilience and kindness.
- Wonder by R. J. Palacio and Tom Lake by Ann Patchett both center kindness, resilience, and the way communities carry people. Good companions to Dear Edward's spirit.
The original