Picture
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Miss Bridie Chose a Shovel | 2004 | Buy |
Standalone Novels
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Dead on Town Line | 2005 | Buy |
| Waiting for Normal | 2008 | Buy |
| Crunch | 2010 | Buy |
| The Things You Kiss Goodbye | 2014 | Buy |
| All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook | 2016 | Buy |
| The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle | 2018 | Buy |
| A Home for Goddesses and Dogs | 2020 | Buy |
| Anybody Here Seen Frenchie? | 2022 | Buy |
Leslie Connor writes books for young readers that deal with real-world struggles without sugar-coating them. Her characters are kids who face situations like family instability, economic hardship, and social pressure, and they respond with grit and humor. Waiting for Normal and Crunch both explore what happens when children have to step up while the adults around them falter.
Her later novels have earned increasing recognition. All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook tells the story of a boy raised inside a prison where his mother is an inmate, and it handles questions of justice and belonging with care. The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle, narrated by a large, sweaty boy who struggles to read and write, earned a National Book Award nomination and connected with readers who rarely see themselves in fiction.
Connor started her career with the picture book Miss Bridie Chose a Shovel before moving into longer fiction. Whether she is writing about a gas crisis in a small town or a girl searching for a missing dog, her books share a common thread: ordinary kids doing their best in situations that are anything but ordinary.