Can Novels Shape World Events? Can They Shape You?

In the video above, Jessica Wise answers the question posed in the title of this post in the affirmative.  In doing so she states:

"When we pick up a book...we're carried away down the currents of story into a world of imagination, and when we land on a shore that is both new and familiar, something strange happens.  Stepping onto the shore we're changed."

Reading Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War had a profound influence on my teenage self.  Without question, I'd identify it as a book that shaped the way I thought about the world and my place in it.  I'd put Saul Bellow's Henderson the Rain King on that list as well.  Are there books--young adult or otherwise--that changed the way you think about the world?  Can you point to specific books that shaped or challenged your own philosophy, and in doing so changed you?  How specifically did they do so?  Feel free to share your stories using the comment feature below.