Daughters & Sons

"How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child," exclaims William Shakespeare's King Lear. The fragility or strength of the bond between parents and their children is an eternally relevant theme in literature. In this study guide collection, we've put together texts that examine what it means to be a son or daughter.

Publication year 1961

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Femininity, Identity: Masculinity, Identity: Race, Identity: Sexuality, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Marriage, Society: Community, Society: Immigration, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal

Tags Asian Literature, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction


Publication year 1965

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Femininity, Identity: Mental Health, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Marriage, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Literature

Tags Depression / Suicide, Confessional, Free verse, Grief / Death


Publication year 1987

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Gratitude, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: The Past, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Grandparents, Relationships: Mothers, Natural World: Nurture v. Nature, Natural World: Appearance & Reality

Tags Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, Classic Fiction, Southern Literature, Auto/Biographical Fiction, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Race / Racism

Ellen Foster is a work of adult fiction by US novelist Kaye Gibbons, first published by Algonquin Books in 1987. The novel was Gibbons’s debut, and it won the Sue Kaufman Prize for literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a notable citation from the Ernest Hemingway Foundation. Critics praised the novel for its unsentimental outlook and the wry, distinct voice of its protagonist. Ellen, a young girl living in the American... Read Ellen Foster Summary


Publication year 1923

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Place, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Friendship, Self Discovery, Society: Class, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality

Tags Classic Fiction, Children's Literature, Historical Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman


Publication year 2015

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger

Tags Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance

Everything, Everything was published in 2015 and written by Jamaican American author Nicola Yoon. It is a contemporary young adult novel that focuses on family relationships, grief, and teenage romance. Told primarily through the first-person narration of protagonist Madeline Whittier, the novel also uses a nontraditional storytelling method that incorporates various “documents,” like drawings, emails, and book reviews. Everything, Everything was adapted into a feature film in 2017.Plot SummaryMadeline Whittier, an 18-year-old living in a... Read Everything, Everything Summary


Publication year 2001

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Joy, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Society: Community, Relationships: Family

Tags Realistic Fiction, Children's Literature, Humor

Renowned Canadian/American author Polly Horvath published the middle-grade novel everything on a Waffle in 2001. Over two years, the book received numerous accolades, including Mr. Christie’s Book Award, the Boston Globe Horn Book Award, the ALSC Notable Children’s Book, a Newbery Honor Medal, and the Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize. Written in the first person, 11-year-old narrator Primrose tells of her parents disappearing in a typhoon off the coast of British Columbia. Primrose discounts... Read Everything on a Waffle Summary


Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Society: Immigration, Natural World: Place, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Siblings, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Fathers, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Natural World: Animals, Life/Time: The Past, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Society: Education, Relationships: Marriage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Society: Politics & Government, Society: Nation, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Relationships: Grandparents

Tags Auto/Biographical Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Immigration / Refugee, History: Middle Eastern, Children's Literature, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Friendship, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Romance, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction


Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Siblings, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Parenting


Publication year 2014

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Natural World: Environment

Tags Psychological Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Magical Realism, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 1979

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Daughters & Sons

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Gothic Literature, Drama / Tragedy, Romance, Classic Fiction

The American writer Virginia C. Andrews was born Cleo Virginia Andrews, in Portsmouth, Virginia. Known popularly as V.C. Andrews, she became a novelist late in life, having previously worked as a commercial artist, illustrator, and portrait painter. Flowers in the Attic (1979), which she wrote an early draft of in 1975, became a bestseller, although The Washington Post declared the book “deranged swill” and Andrews possibly the “worst writer I have ever read.” However, for... Read Flowers In The Attic Summary


Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Relationships: Daughters & Sons

Tags Historical Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World


Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Society: Class

Tags Humor, Absurdism, Modern Classic Fiction, French Literature


Publication year 2024

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Fame, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Joy, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Identity: Mental Health, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Natural World: Place, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Mothers

Tags Music


Publication year 2006

Genre Graphic Memoir , Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Sexuality, Identity: Gender, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Identity: Femininity, Identity: Masculinity

Tags LGBTQ, Auto/Biographical Fiction, Relationships, Love / Sexuality, Parenting, Depression / Suicide, Mental Illness, Grief / Death, Gender / Feminism, Biography

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic (2006) is a graphic novel memoir written and illustrated by underground cartoonist Alison Bechdel. The book centers on Bechdel’s relationship with her late father Bruce Allen Bechdel, who died in what she believes was a death by suicide. Fun Home is a non-linear narrative that rehashes events from Alison Bechdel’s youth and adolescence. Her memories are presented in the comic panels, overlayed with her prosaic, retrospective musings in text boxes... Read Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic Summary


Publication year 2004

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Daughters & Sons

Tags Historical Fiction, Christian literature, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Classic Fiction

Published in 2004, Gilead is Marilynne Robinson’s second novel and the first in the Gilead trilogy, which includes Home (2008) and Lila (2014). The story is written as a letter from dying Congregationalist minister John Ames to his young son. The letter is a bittersweet account of John’s life. With a slow, thoughtful pace and intimate tone, John shares past family memories and resolves an old personal grievance with his best friend’s son. As John... Read Gilead Summary


Publication year 2016

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Relationships: Family

Tags Free verse, Parenting, Science / Nature, Gender / Feminism


Publication year 1955

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Southern Gothic, Education, Education, American Literature, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction

“Good Country People” first appeared in Flannery O’Connor’s short story collection A Good Man is Hard to Find in 1955 and is widely regarded as an exemplary work of Southern Gothic literature. Like many of O’Connor’s works, “Good Country People” contains a critique of the American South and religious hypocrisy rooted in O’Connor’s worldview informed by her Catholic faith. This study guide uses the 1988 Library of America edition of Flannery O’Connor’s Collected Works. The... Read Good Country People Summary


Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Space & The Universe, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Love

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Fantasy


Publication year 2019

Genre Graphic Memoir , Nonfiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Identity: Race, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Siblings, Relationships: Marriage, Relationships: Fathers, Society: Community, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: The Future, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness

Tags Race / Racism, Politics / Government, September 11 Attacks, Relationships, LGBTQ, Grief / Death, Parenting, Social Justice, Immigration / Refugee, Biography