Top 100 Inspirational Books: 40 - 21

40 - The Outsiders

The Outsiders is a coming-of-age novel written by a teenager, S. E. Hinton, and first published in 1967. An instant, surprise bestseller, today it remains a cult classic. Hinton wrote it at age 15 as a sophomore at Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma – describing the life of a bunch of downtrodden “Greasers” – patterned after 1960s Tulsa hard-working, cigarette-smoking, low-income kids, scorned by the idle, bored, rich southside teens -- the Socs (“soshes”). I first read the book in 1970 as a junior at Tulsa’s working class East Central High School. Although we were sure the Greasers had been patterned after westside Webster High School kids and not us – we, teens with nicknames such as Teddy Bear, Pistol and Squirrel devoured the book, agreeing totally with the injustice of rich vs. poor as Hinton described the tragic melodrama of Ponyboy, Two-Bit and Sodapop’s struggle with life’s inequities. Francis Ford Coppola of The Godfather fame came to Tulsa in 1983 to create the film adaptation – which has its own cult status today, watched by high school English classes reading the book … as they are inspired to tell their own stories just like Susan Eloise Hinton did so successfully at their age.

~ Rob Kerby

Purchase "The Outsiders" here.

37 - The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

My experience with The Best Christmas Pageant Ever was watching the made-for-TV movie (from 1983) every year at Christmas with my family. Many of the lines become family in jokes and would make appearances in our conversation all year round (not just at Christmastime). The story of the ragtag Herdmans and their hostile takeover of the local Christmas pageant was not only hilarious, but also deeply touching. The story is pure chaos and anarchy at first, but then takes a step back to truly focus on the power of Christ’s birth to change even the craziest of individuals.

~ Evan Derrick

Purchase "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" here.

36 - Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Actually a short novella, Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach tells the simple story of a seagull who dares to soar. It was first published in 1970 as Jonathan Livingston Seagull — a story. By the end of 1972, over a million copies were in print and Reader's Digestpublished a condensed version. The book reached the top of theNew York Timesbestseller list, where it remained for 38 weeks – then was transformed into a film. In 1972 and 1973 the book topped the Publishers Weeklylist of bestselling novels in the United States – defying all who scoffed at the idea that readers could be inspired by a seagull who was not content to fight and bicker over scraps of fish, but chose to soar majestically and climb to the heights.

~ Rob Kerby

Purchase "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" here.

33 - Playing the Enemy

Writer John Carlin was inspired to write Playing the Enemy from his relationship with South African leader Nelson Mandela. The story centers on the 1995 Rugby World Cup, which was significant for South Africa, because it was the nation’s first time competing. It was also the first large scale sporting event to be held in the country after apartheid ended. Nelson Mandela’s presentation of the Webb Ellis Cup to the captain of South African team was a high profile step towards racial reconciliation. Carlin’s book showed how a nation can begin to heal from past wounds, and it was eventually turned into a movie by Clint Eastwood called Invictus staring Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman.

~ Jennifer Jones

Purchase "Playing the Enemy" here.

32 - Horton Hears a Who

Dr. Suess is famous for making us consider things that we would have never thought of, and in Horton Hears a Who he invites us to consider the value of a speck of dust. Horton the elephant discovers, in grand Dr. Suess fashion, the remarkable fact that a seemingly insignificant piece of dust can actually be a whole planet of creatures. Since he has especially large ears, he is the only one who can actually hear them, and the other animals ridicule and terrorize him for it. Horton never gives up hope though, that "even though you can’t see or hear them at all, a person’s a person, no matter how small." It is a splendid allegory for disenfranchised people all across the globe, one that will really get you thinking.

~ Stephen Russ

Purchase "Horton Hears a Who" here.

30 - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

The unprecedented worldwide success of the Harry Potter franchise (to date it is the highest grossing franchise of all time with $2.4 billion in revenue) can make it difficult to recall why the first book was so successful. That success was based on a number of factors but, for a moment, lets ignore some of them: the wildly imaginative magical world that author J.K. Rowling created; the unforgettable and idiosyncratic characters she gave life to; the readable prose that appealed to children but didn’t insult older readers. All partial reasons why Harry Potter became the phenomenon that it did.

But the real reason, and the reason this book is on our list, is that Harry Potter was really a simple story of an unloved boy who discovered that his life had a grand purpose. All children wonder, to varying degrees, if they are important and loved. Are they simply what their parents and peers think of them and say about them? Or are they more than that? Are they destined for great things? The story of Harry Potter inspired an entire generation of children to dream big and believe that no matter what the world might say about them, their lives had purpose and value. Even if they lived in the cupboard under the stairs, they could become the child who saved the world.

~ Evan Derrick

Purchase "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" here.

29 - Black Like Me

Black Like Me is a stirring, non-fiction book by journalist John Howard Griffin first published in 1961. A white Texan, Griffin artificially darkens his skin with sunlamps and shoe polish, then passes himself off as a black man. He spends a difficult six weeks hitchhiking and travelling on Greyhound buses throughout the racially segregated South, keeping a journal that describes how he was regarded as a black man by both whites and blacks, then removing the shoe polish and returning to the same scene – where he was treated differently. In 1959, at the time of the book's writing, race relations were particularly strained in America – and his book was not particularly well received in circles where the politically correct view was that blacks were content to be second-class citizens and would never rise any higher. I was given the book at Christmas by a liberal Canadian uncle who annually liked to stir his teenage nephew’s complacency with thought-provoking inspiration. The title of the book is taken from the last line of the Langston Hughes poem Dream Variations: “Rest at pale evening... A tall slim tree... Night coming tenderly -- Black like me.”

~ Rob Kerby

Purchase "Black Like Me" here.

27 - Black Beauty

Black Beauty is an 1877 inspiring novel by a bedfast invalid Anna Sewell, written during the last years of her life. The story of courage of a beautiful black horse, it became an immediate bestseller, but Sewell died five months after its publication – just long enough to see its success. Today with 50 million copies sold, Black Beauty remains an inspirational favorite – even though it is the first-person autobiography of a horse. The story begins with his carefree days as a colt on an English farm, through his difficult life pulling cabs seven days a week in London, then his happy retirement in the country. Each chapter recounts an incident in the animal’s tumultuous life that relates our need to treat horses and people with kindness, sympathy and respect. “There is no religion without love,” observes the equine narrator, “and people may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to man and beast, it is all a sham."

~ Rob Kerby

Purchase "Black Beauty" here.

26 - Matlida

5-year old Matilda Wormwood is a special little girl. A voracious reader, she blazes through the children’s section of the local library and quickly moves on to adult books. Her family, however, has no appreciation for education, and her gifts go completely unnoticed. When her father enrolls her in a private school, her life changes. Not only does she meet Miss Honey, a teacher who truly appreciates her talents, but she also encounters Miss Agatha Trunchbull, the headmistress and as vile a villain as ever haunted the pages of a children’s book. A wonderful, empowering book for children and adults alike that ends in an epic, satisfying David-and-Goliath style showdown.

~ Evan Derrick

Purchase "Matilda" here.

24 - Charlotte's Web

Unlikely friendships are a common theme in children’s literature, but none may be more unlikely than that of a spider and a pig. That is exactly what happens in Charlotte’s Web, where Wilbur the pig is spared from slaughter at the insistence of the farmer’s daughter, who eventually outgrows his companionship. The ever active Wilbur eventually finds himself with the spider Charlotte, who uses her web to write about how wonderful the pig is in the hopes that he wouldn’t be slaughtered. It’s a book about great triumph, but most of all it is about the power of friendship and how it can change the lives of everyone involved. “Some pig,” indeed!

~ Stephen Russ

Purchase "Charlotte's Web" here.

21 - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

The opening book of CS Lewis’ sprawling fantasy epic is perhaps the best in the entire series. I recall distinctly being captivated by its vivid world, well-written characters, and insightful links to the Christian religion that Lewis is so known for writing about. Every child dreams of a land of fantasy, and Lewis brings it to life through the eternally winter land of Narnia. The amazing lion Aslan, the evil White Witch, and Father Christmas all become a part of this great childhood novel that revolves around the eventual death and resurrection of Aslan. It is truly a beautiful retelling of the crucifixion story, ripe with theological meaning and depth-filled insights into Lewis’ own spiritual life. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe will undoubtedly touch everyone who reads it.

~ Stephen Russ

Purchase "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" here.