What are you in the mood for?
Find a starting point among David’s books. Each recommendation includes its audience and a quick note on tone.
Dark comedy & complicated lives
For readers who like humor tangled up with family secrets, cruelty, and consequence.
Adults · novel
UGLY
Dark · sprawling · satirical
Three generations of women confront orphanages, privilege, and the predatory world of modeling in a tragicomedy of defiance.
Adults · novel
Fun & Games
Funny · painful · nostalgic
An ’80s coming-of-age story in which friendship and outrageous family antics collide with betrayal and loss.
Suspense with a speculative edge
For readers drawn to dangerous secrets, desperate escapes, and an extraordinary twist on reality.
Teens · novel
Sparks
Fast · mysterious · speculative
Two teenagers go on the run to uncover what lies behind a seemingly idyllic home for children.
Teens & adults · novel
The Vanishing
Intense · historical · magical realism
A Jewish girl becomes invisible after a traumatic loss and uses her newfound power to resist the Nazis.
Reader note: Holocaust themes and traumatic loss. May not suit younger or highly sensitive readers.
Magic, mystery & adventure
For readers who want hidden powers, strange creatures, and a world bigger than it first appears.
Teens · series opener
The Book of Nonsense
Mysterious · fantastical · high stakes
An unreadable old book draws twins Dexter and Daphna into a struggle over Words of Power. Start the seven-volume Forbidden Books series here.
Children · early chapter book
Bigfoot!
Funny · mysterious · adventurous
The Mattigan siblings search for a creature their famous father insists cannot exist. The first of six Mysterious Monsters adventures.
Children · early chapter book
A Dire Situation
Oddball · funny · action-packed
When the usual heroes fail, a family with very unusual superpowers steps in. Meet the Super Doopers in A Dire Situation.
Books, words & playful invention
For readers who enjoy language doing surprising things—and stories about the books themselves.
Adults · short stories
Dictionaries Out of Order
Surreal · comic · philosophical
Intersecting stories set around Portland’s City of Books explore the strange power of words, from farce to philosophy.
Children · picture book
Seven Ate Nine
Silly · pun-filled · mischievous
One is having a terrible day—and things get worse when Seven eats Nine. A counting story full of verbal and numerical mischief.
Children · wordless picture book
The Boy & the Book
Playful · affectionate · visual
A library book tries to escape an enthusiastic little boy in a story told entirely through pictures.
Heart, humor & imagination
For young readers finding courage, making friends, or learning how to do the right thing.
Children · picture book
Bear With Me
Warm · funny · reassuring
Max brings his stuffed bear to face the first day of school, where things get wild and an unexpected friendship offers help.
Children · picture book
Cheese Louise!
Whimsical · adventurous · encouraging
A cheese who doubts herself becomes the unlikely hero of a refrigerator rescue, with plenty of food puns along the way.
Children · early chapter book
The Mysterious Mr. Mensch
Magical · thoughtful · adventurous
Climb aboard Mr. Mensch’s magical Meshugenahmobile for adventures that explore ethics and the choices we make.
Ideas that invite an argument
For readers who enjoy questioning assumptions about schools, politics, and public life.
Adults · nonfiction
We’re Doing It Wrong
Questioning · practical · reform-minded
A teacher examines 25 familiar ideas in education, asking what fails students and how schools could change.
Adults · nonfiction
Wingnuts
Provocative · humorous · analytical
An examination of everyday extremism that challenges readers across the political spectrum to rethink how they argue and what they believe.
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