Families who loved The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart often look for books with a similar feel. These 20 recommendations were selected for their similarity in style, theme, and reading level.
Reach for this book when your child is grappling with a deep loss or the complex feeling of being 'stuck' in their grief. This moving contemporary novel follows twelve-year-old Coyote and her father, Rodeo, who have spent five years living on a renovated school bus to outrun the pain of the car accident that killed Coyote's mother and sisters. When Coyote learns that a park in her hometown is being demolished, she must trick her father into driving across the country to retrieve a precious memory box buried there. It is a masterclass in navigating grief through adventure, emphasizing that healing requires facing the past rather than fleeing it. The story is poignant and heavy at times, but balanced by a colorful cast of hitchhikers and a deep, resilient bond between father and daughter. It provides a secular, realistic, and ultimately hopeful framework for families to discuss the permanence of loss and the possibility of joy.
