Books About Art

This assortment of study guides focuses on the arts, from cinema to cuisine. Read on to explore Aristotle’s Poetics, which analyzes the nature and uses of poetry; An Actor Prepares by Constantin Stanislavski, a manual for actors based on the author’s work and teachings at the Moscow Art Theatre in Russia; and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, which chronicles the art of fine dining.

Publication year 1981

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Identity: Race

Tags Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Education, Education, Arts / Culture


Publication year 2015

Genre Memoir in Verse, Nonfiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Identity: Language, Society: War

Tags History: World, Latin American Literature, Cold War, Children's Literature, Arts / Culture, Biography


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Society: Politics & Government, Relationships: Family, Identity: Race, Society: Nation, Society: War, Values/Ideas: Art

Tags Arts / Culture


Publication year 2001

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Literature, Identity: Language, Identity: Race

Tags Humor, Race / Racism, Arts / Culture, African American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2000

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Society: Immigration, Life/Time: Coming of Age

Tags Historical Fiction, Children's Literature, Education, Education, Realistic Fiction, History: World, Arts / Culture, Poverty, Class

Pam Muñoz Ryan is the award-winning author of over 40 books for new readers, middle-grade students, and young adults. Esperanza Rising (2000) is one of her most popular works and was honored with the 2001 Southern California Judy Lopez Award and the 2001 Arizona Young Adult Book Award. It also became a 2001 Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist. Other titles by the same author include Riding Freedom (1998), Becoming Naomi Léon (2004), Paint the... Read Esperanza Rising Summary


Publication year 1979

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Identity: Gender, Identity: Sexuality

Tags Lyric Poem, Modernism, Arts / Culture


Publication year 2009

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Friendship, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Values/Ideas: Equality

Tags Realistic Fiction, Children's Literature, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, Arts / Culture

Extra Credit is a 2009 young adult novel by American author Andrew Clements. This book follows two sixth-grade students from different countries and cultures whose lives intersect through a pen pal exchange. Abby Carson, an athletic girl from Illinois, needs to complete an extra credit project to ensure she passes the sixth grade. She begins to exchange letters with Sadeed Bayat, an academic overachiever from Bahar-Lan, Afghanistan. As the two share personal memories, pictures, and... Read Extra Credit Summary


Publication year 1914

Genre Poem, Fiction

Tags Lyric Poem, Sociology, Arts / Culture, American Literature, Realism, Food


Publication year 2001

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Food, Society: Economics, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Food, Sociology, Education, Education, Science / Nature, Arts / Culture, History: World, Health / Medicine, Agriculture, Business / Economics, Journalism, Politics / Government, Social Justice

IntroductionFast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal is a 2001 nonfiction book by Eric Schlosser that investigates the business practices of the American fast food industry and the associated agricultural industries that supply it. Following the precedent of Upton Sinclair’s famous 1906 work The Jungle, Schlosser provides readers with a glimpse into the questionable ethics of these large food corporations. Schlosser likewise provides brief historical accounts of fast food’s origins and traces... Read Fast Food Nation Summary


Publication year 1999

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Life/Time: Coming of Age

Tags Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Indian Literature, Asian Literature, Asian Literature, Arts / Culture

Fasting, Feasting is divided into two parts: Part I, set in a strict and authoritarian household in India and Part II, set in a cold and isolating home in the Massachusetts suburbs. Both sections of the novel are told in third-person-limited-omniscient point of view, chronicling two members of the same Indian family. In Part I, the narrator, through flashback, explores Uma’s quest to find independence and identity within the repressive and regimented household atmosphere of Mama... Read Fasting, Feasting Summary


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Family, Society: Immigration

Tags Children's Literature, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, Arts / Culture, Realistic Fiction


Publication year 1986

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Identity: Gender, Identity: Race

Tags Magical Realism, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Gender / Feminism, American Literature, Education, Education, Arts / Culture, History: World, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction

“Fleur” is a magical realist short story by Chippewa American author Louise Erdrich. It was first published in Esquire in 1986 and won an O. Henry Award, a prize for excellence in short story writing. Erdrich expanded on the story and characters in her novel Tracks, published in 1988. This guide, which discusses sexual abuse, uses the version of “Fleur” published in the 2009 collection The Red Convertible: Selected and New Stories 1978-2008. The narrator... Read Fleur Summary


Publication year 2006

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice

Tags Race / Racism, Sports, Business / Economics, History: World, Arts / Culture, Politics / Government

Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete is a work of journalistic nonfiction by former New York Times columnist William C. Rhoden. The paperback edition used here, published in 2006 by Three Rivers Press, follows the hardback version, by Crown Publishers, of the same year. In 2007, Forty Million Dollar Slaves was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, Nonfiction.In this book, Rhoden, an African American sports journalist—and himself... Read Forty Million Dollar Slaves Summary


Publication year 2022

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Mental Health, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Life/Time: Midlife

Tags Arts / Culture, Humor, Addiction / Substance Abuse, Biography, Mental Illness


Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Race, Identity: Gender, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Family

Tags Historical Fiction, Children's Literature, Realistic Fiction, History: World, Arts / Culture

Winner of the APALA Literature Award, Marilyn C. Hilton’s Full Cicada Moon (2015) is a historical novel-in-verse that examines themes of racism and gender norms in 1969 New England. Composed of poems, the novel delves into the experiences of Mimi, a middle-school student of African American and Japanese descent who initially struggles with her identity but eventually learns to feel confident in herself. This study guide references the 2017 Puffin Books Reprint Edition, an imprint... Read Full Cicada Moon Summary


Publication year 2024

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Beauty, Society: Economics

Tags Arts / Culture


Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Life/Time: The Past

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Historical Fiction, Auto/Biographical Fiction, Arts / Culture, Poverty, History: World

Susan Vreeland, author of Girl in Hyacinth Blue, (Penguin Books, 2000) was an internationally known author of art-related historical fiction who, after a long and notable literary career, died in 2017. A New York Times bestseller, the novel was originally published in 1999 by McMurray and Beck, but subsequent editions were published by Penguin Books. The novel’s popularity gave rise to a 2003 Hallmark Hall of Fame production based on the novel. The painting in... Read Girl In Hyacinth Blue Summary


Publication year 2000

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Art

Tags Historical Fiction, Arts / Culture, History: World, Romance, Classic Fiction

In Tracy Chevalier’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, the subject of Johannes Vermeer’s most famous painting is brought to life. The “girl with the pearl earring” is Griet, the Vermeers’ housemaid, hired in particular to clean Vermeer’s studio without disturbing its order. For this task, Vermeer needs someone who is exceedingly careful and invested in his artistic endeavors, beyond the promise of (meager) payment. Griet is fascinated by Vermeer’s way of seeing the world, his... Read Girl With a Pearl Earring Summary


Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Gender, Identity: Sexuality, Values/Ideas: Art

Tags Historical Fiction, LGBTQ, Gender / Feminism, Arts / Culture, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Action / Adventure