Saturday Seven is hosted by Long and Short Reviews.
Raise your hand if you love xenofiction! There’s something about experiencing the world through non-human eyes that makes just about any plot more exciting to me.
I ended up coming up with so many books for this list that I’m going to have to revisit this topic on a future Saturday Seven post so I can include everything I had to leave out of this week’s list. I need to read a few books before I share part two, though, so it might be a while before I publish it.
Animal Farm by George Orwell
I was so young when I first read this book that I didn’t pick up on the satirical or allegorical messages in the plot at all. What I knew was that I was fascinated by the idea of animals revolting and running their own farm, and I only enjoyed the storyline more once I learned enough about world history to understand it on a deeper level.
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
There are a lot of stories out there written from the perspective of dog narrators, but this is my favourite one because of how differently Enzo saw the world when compared to how a human would describe the same event. He behaved exactly how a dog would behave, and his explanations for why he did certain silly things made total sense from that point of view.
Raptor Red by Robert T. Bakker
It’s been so long since I read this book that the only things I can tell you about it for sure is that the main character is incredibly brave and that I loved the plot twists in it. It was like nothing I’ve ever read before or since.
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Fair warning: this one’s a tearjerker. One of my uncles has owned at least one horse for as long as I can recall, and I remember paying closer attention to his horses after reading Black Beauty. (Don’t worry! All of my uncle’s horses have always been looked after nicely).
The Inheritors by William Golding
This is one of those stories that made me want to jump into the plot about twenty pages into it and change how things were going. I adored the Neanderthal characters and wanted to do everything I could to help them. That’s all I can say about them without giving away spoilers.
Grendel by John Gardner
Beowulf was by far my favourite assigned read in college. Grendel told the same story as the original, but it explored this universe from the perspective of the monster instead of the hero. I loved it every bit as much as I expected to when I first found it at my local library.
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Did my mom read this book to us a chapter at a time before bed, or am I mixing it up with other children’s adventure stories she read to us? I hope she’ll remember!
What is your favourite book that features a non-human main character?
I would add Watership Down (rabbits) and Duncton Wood (moles). Black Beauty was my favorite ever book growing up, which is odd for me since I had sad books. But he was always so good. My heart absolutely broke when Ginger died…
My kid had to read Animal Farm her junior year in high school and the class (she went to a very small school…her class was 6 kids) discussed it all down to the tiniest detail. She loved the book.
This is me: http://www.mariannearkins.com/saturday-seven-writing-lessons/
That should say “…I *hate* sad books.” Oy.
Oh, Watership Down was such a good story. I’ve never heard of Duncton Wood before, but now I have to read it.
I’m glad your daughter liked Animal Farm.
Duncton Wood is a lot deeper than Watership Down… a little harder to read. I enjoyed it, but I’m glad I was a bit older than middle grade when I read it. Hope you enjoy!
These are all great books! Thanks for sharing our list.
You’re welcome. I’m glad you liked my post, too.
I rather liked the Dachshund in Lily and the Octopus. I loved how the author wrote her talking. I! Liked! The! Steak! Cracked me up. Great post!!
I’ve requested Lily and the Octopus from my local library. Thanks for the recommendation.
Loved every one of these Lydia. Nice looking blog
Thank you! Your compliment made my day.