Sexual Harassment & Violence

“Hop-Frog” (originally titled “Hop Frog; Or, the Eight Chained Ourang-Outangs”) is among the last short stories by American horror and fiction author Edgar Allan Poe. First published in The Flag of Our Union in 1849, “Hop-Frog” explores themes of revenge, “madness,” and dehumanization. Poe explores similar themes in another short story published several years earlier, “The Cask of Amontillado,” a tale of betrayal and vengeance. Such thematic elements recur often in Poe’s work, given that... Read Hop-Frog Summary

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How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child is a 2017 memoir by Sandra Uwiringiyimana. It recounts Sandra’s life in the volatile Democratic Republic of the Congo, her immigration to America, and her dedication to activism. This nonfiction autobiography is the winner of multiple awards, including the New York Public Library’s Best Books for Teens; Chicago Public Library’s Best of the Best Books for Teens: Nonfiction; and Bank Street’s 2018 Best Books of... Read How Dare the Sun Rise Summary

Published in 2013 by Tim Tingle, How I Became a Ghost is a work of middle grade fiction that follows a young boy in the Choctaw nation and his death on the Trail of Tears. The Choctaw Trail of Tears refers to The Indian Removal Act of 1830 and the forced relocation of Choctaws from their homes in the deep south to areas further west. How I Became a Ghost has received an American Indian... Read How I Became a Ghost Summary

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Content Warning: Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body describes and references rape and sexual violence, emotional abuse, and verbal abuse.Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body (2017) is a memoir by Roxane Gay that addresses the emotional, physical, and psychological effects of sexual assault—and how they tie into self-image. Though Gay’s memoir centers her body, food, and self-image, she also confronts society’s fatphobia—the world’s unwillingness to accept fat people as they are due to assumptions about... Read Hunger Summary

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I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings is an autobiographical novel by Maya Angelou. Angelou discusses the struggles of growing up African American in the 1950s. The novel has themes of overcoming adversity and trauma, both used as a general metaphor for the struggle against racism. Angelou wrote the novel as a challenge to create literature out of an autobiography, and what emerged is a classic that is still revered today.The novel begins on a... Read I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings Summary

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The memoir Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) is an account of the life of Harriet Ann Jacobs, who calls herself “Linda Brent” in the narrative. It is a key text in the slave narrative genre, which were first-person narratives written by formerly enslaved people that hoped to convert readers to the abolitionist cause. While most slave narratives were written by men, such as The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1791), Narrative of... Read Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Summary

Interview with the Vampire is a 1976 novel by Anne Rice. It tells the story of Louis de Pointe du Lac and his experiences after he becomes a vampire in 1791. Louis’s dissatisfaction with his mortal life extends into his immortal life, allowing Rice to explore themes of morality, love, loyalty, and immortality. This guide references the 2010 Ballantine Books eBook.Content Warning: This guide references the book’s discussion of suicide.Anne Rice ControversyThough her Vampire Chronicles... Read Interview with the Vampire Summary

Carmen Maria Machado’s memoir In the Dream House chronologizes her experiences in an abusive relationship with a woman. In the Dream House was published in 2019 and won the 2021 Folio Prize and the 2020 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Nonfiction. The memoir discusses potential modes for queer representation through the use of multiple narrative techniques. As of 2022, Machado lives in Pennsylvania with her wife and works at the University of Pennsylvania.Other work by... Read In the Dream House Summary

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