From Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita to Raven Leilani's Luster, the texts in this collection investigate themes related to the power and promise of many types of art — from the written word to visual arts such as painting and cinema.
Publication year 2024
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Identity: Masculinity, Identity: Mental Health, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: The Past, Relationships: Friendship, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal
Tags Self Help, Biography, Psychology
Publication year 2019
Genre Graphic Memoir , Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Mental Health, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Values/Ideas: Art
Tags Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Children's Literature, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Mental Illness
Guts is the third mid-grade graphic memoir in a trilogy by author/illustrator Raina Telgemeier through which she relates the true story of her childhood. Guts specifically records Raina’s fourth- and fifth-grade years, when she transitioned from nine to 10 years old. During this period, she first experiences gastrointestinal issues, eventually diagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Panic attacks accompany the IBS, and the two conditions exacerbate each other, intensifying her distress. Her narrative chronicles how... Read Guts Summary
Publication year 2025
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Gender, Identity: Race, Self Discovery, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Fame, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Literature
Tags African American History, African American Literature, Historical Fiction
Publication year 2008
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Literature
Tags Children's Literature, Education, Education, Animals, Realistic Fiction
Publication year 2004
Genre Novel/Book in Verse, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Aging, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Teams, Relationships: Siblings, Relationships: Friendship, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Values/Ideas: Art, Life/Time: Birth, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Family
Tags Relationships, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Children's Literature, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2024
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Gender, Self Discovery, Society: Community, Society: Economics, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Fame, Values/Ideas: Music
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: The Future, Life/Time: The Past, Relationships: Family, Society: War, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Music, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology
Tags Military / War, History: World, Literary Fiction, Historical Nonfiction
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Family, Self Discovery, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Values/Ideas: Art
Tags Romance, Humor
Publication year 2014
Genre Graphic Novel/Book, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Natural World: Place, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Natural World: Environment, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Joy, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Indigenous, Life/Time: Aging, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: The Future, Life/Time: The Past, Natural World: Climate, Natural World: Objects, Natural World: Space & The Universe, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Mothers, Values/Ideas: Beauty
Tags Historical Fiction, Drama / Tragedy, History: World, Arts / Culture
Here by Richard McGuire is a graphic novel published on December 4, 2014, by Pantheon Books. The graphic novel focuses on the same corner of a room over billions of years. It depicts the area long before the house is built and long after it falls. By using different visual styles, overlapping panels, and non-chronological narration, McGuire creates a narrative that comments on the nature of time and life. Here is considered a transformative work... Read Here Summary
Publication year 1977
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Art
Tags Religion / Spirituality, Science / Nature, Philosophy, Philosophy
SummaryHoly the Firm is a 1977 book on Christian spirituality by American naturalist and author Annie Dillard. Dillard, whose 1974 Pilgrim at Tinker Creek won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction, is often championed for her ability to describe and narrativize the natural world. In Holy the Firm, Dillard applies this ability to what happened during a three-day period on an island in Puget Sound. Dillard ultimately stayed on this Island for two years... Read Holy the Firm Summary
Publication year 2024
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Values/Ideas: Art, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies
Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Psychological Fiction
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Natural World: Animals, Life/Time: The Past
Tags Historical Fiction, Animals, Race / Racism, American Civil War, Sports, History: World, Arts / Culture
Publication year 1910
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Art, Society: Class
Tags Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Relationships, Class, British Literature, History: World, Romance
E. M. Forster’s Howards End (1910) tells the story of two families, the Schlegels and the Wilcoxes, who represent different aspects of society in Edwardian England. Specifically, it follows the Margaret Schlegel, the novel’s protagonist, amid her attempts to manage her own family as she becomes engaged to and marries the widowed Mr. Wilcox. In 1992 it was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film, directed by James Ivory, and in 2017 it was adapted into... Read Howards End Summary
Publication year 2014
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Music, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology
Tags Music, Science / Nature, History: World, Philosophy, Philosophy, Arts / Culture, Biography
Publication year 2014
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Identity: Gender, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: The Future, Life/Time: The Past, Self Discovery, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Tags Historical Fiction, LGBTQ
How to be Both is a 2014 novel by Scottish author Ali Smith. The narrative explores common threads of grief, identity, and memory from the perspectives of recently bereaved 16-year-old English schoolgirl George and a character named Francescho, inspired by the real 15th-century Italian artist Francesco del Cossa. The book, exploring themes such as The Impact of Grief on Personality, Ambiguity as an Inescapable Feature of Life, and Everyday Resistance to Injustice, was a critical... Read How to Be Both Summary
Publication year 2024
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Society: Community, Society: Immigration, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Literature
Tags Romance, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2012
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: The Past, Natural World: Animals, Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Art
Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Asian Literature, Magical Realism, Fantasy, Japanese Literature, Animals
Publication year 1924
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Emotions/Behavior: Gratitude
Tags Free verse, Modernism, Arts / Culture
Publication year 1979
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Art, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Beauty
Tags Magical Realism, Post Modernism, Italian Literature, Science / Nature, Arts / Culture, Politics / Government, Sociology, History: World, Classic Fiction
If on a winter’s night a traveler is a 1979 postmodernist novel by Italo Calvino. The dual narrative is composed of two parallel strands: numbered chapters in which the narrator directly describes to the audience the process of reading the book, and titled chapters constructed from hypothetical first chapters of various books that the audience is reading. The innovative novel has been praised by critics and hailed as highly influential.This guide uses the 1998 Vintage... Read If on a Winter's Night a Traveler Summary
Publication year 1965
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies
Tags Historical Fiction, Children's Literature, Education, Education, Arts / Culture, History: World, Classic Fiction
Elizabeth Borton de Treviño’s I, Juan de Pareja is a young adult historical fiction novel published in 1965. Its complicated portrayal of slavery, art, and self-expression earned it the Newbery Medal in 1966. In 1656, Spanish Golden Age painter Diego Velázquez unveiled his newest portrait: a simple study of one of his enslaved workers entitled Portrait of Juan de Pareja. Upon viewing the painting, de Treviño was inspired to imagine the story of this man... Read I, Juan de Pareja Summary