"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 2016
Genre Play, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Values/Ideas: Fate, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt
Tags Fantasy, Play: Drama, Action / Adventure, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Children's Literature
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2016) is a two-part play written by Jack Thorne, based on an original story collaboratively created by J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Thorne himself. Set in the universe of the Harry Potter books penned by J. K. Rowling, the play follows events occurring 19 years after the epilogue of the seventh book, The Deathly Hallows (2007); the story revolves around Albus Potter, the second son and middle child... Read Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Summary
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Self Discovery, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Tags Romance, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Inspirational, Love / Sexuality, Relationships, Modern Classic Fiction, Drama / Tragedy
Publication year -600
Genre Scripture, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Life/Time: The Future, Life/Time: The Past, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Marriage, Society: Community, Society: Immigration, Society: Nation, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos
Tags Religion / Spirituality, Philosophy, Jewish Literature
The Hebrew Bible is the standard canon of Jewish sacred texts, composed in a period that falls across the second and first millennia BCE. It is also referred to as the Tanakh, an acrostic portmanteau of the three major sections of the Hebrew Bible: the Torah (“teaching”), the Nevi’im (“prophets”), and the Ketuvim (“writings”). The Hebrew Bible is a collection of 24 major texts, in which there are 39 books. These 39 books correspond to... Read Hebrew Bible Summary
Publication year 428
Genre Play, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Fate, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Identity: Sexuality, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Emotions/Behavior: Love
Tags Play: Tragedy, Mythology, Ancient Greece, Classical Period
Hippolytus is a tragedy by Euripides, originally produced in Athens at the City Dionysia of 428 BCE. The tetralogy to which Hippolytus belonged earned Euripides the first prize that year. According to ancient authorities, this was Euripides’s second attempt at a play on the myth of Hippolytus, his earlier play having apparently horrified contemporary Athenians with its allegedly sensational depiction of Phaedra. Euripides’s original Hippolytus no longer survives, but the revised play quickly came to... Read Hippolytus Summary
Publication year 1959
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Identity: Mental Health, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Family
Tags Narrative / Epic Poem, Confessional
Publication year 2016
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Life/Time: Aging, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Place, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Grandparents, Self Discovery, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Fate, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies
Tags Magical Realism, Fantasy, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Children's Literature, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Published in 2016, Hour of the Bees is a young adult magical realism novel by Lindsay Eagar. Set in contemporary New Mexico, the story follows 12-year-old Carol as she spends the summer on her grandfather’s sheep ranch, helping her family prepare it for sale and helping care for her grandfather, who has dementia. However, her grandfather’s stories of the land’s magic and history cause her to fall in love with it. Hour of the Bees... Read Hour of the Bees Summary
Publication year 2012
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Natural World: Nurture v. Nature, Identity: Mental Health, Identity: Race, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Society: Class, Society: Education, Values/Ideas: Equality
Tags Education, Psychology, Parenting, Children's Literature, Education, Science / Nature, Sociology, Psychology, Self Help
Publication year 2002
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Apathy, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Self Discovery, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Mothers, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Literature
Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, New Adult, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Originally published in 2002, Markus Zusak’s I Am the Messenger is a young adult realistic fiction novel. Ed Kennedy, the protagonist and narrator, is a 19-year-old cab driver whose average life takes an unexpected turn when he stops a bank robber. After this moment of heroism, he begins receiving mysterious playing cards with cryptic messages that lead him to people in need of his assistance. The novel is set in suburban Sydney and draws on... Read I Am The Messenger Summary
Publication year 1910
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Daughters & Sons
Tags Inspirational, Lyric Poem, Relationships
... Read If— Summary
Publication year 2024
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Fathers
Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction
Publication year 2024
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies
Tags Humor, Contemporary Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance
Publication year 2014
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Life/Time: Aging, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: The Past, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Siblings, Values/Ideas: Fate, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose
Tags Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Magical Realism, Romance, Realistic Fiction, LGBTQ, Grief / Death, Love / Sexuality, Modern Classic Fiction
I’ll Give You the Sun (2015) is an award-winning novel penned by Jandy Nelson about relationships, art, and destiny. It follows the story of twins Noah and Jude Sweetwine who once shared a close relationship but find themselves barely speaking to each other two years after their mother’s death.Jandy Nelson is an American author who writes young adult fiction. I’ll Give You the Sun is her second novel, which won numerous awards and honors, including... Read I'll Give You the Sun Summary
Publication year 1995
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Fathers, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger
Tags Relationships, American Literature, History: U.S., Modern Classic Fiction, Classic Fiction
Publication year 1924
Genre Short Story, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Society: Colonialism, Identity: Masculinity, Life/Time: Mortality & Death
Tags Classic Fiction, American Literature, Education, Education, History: World
One of his several short stories set in Northern Michigan, “Indian Camp” by Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) was first published in a 1924 issue of the Parisian literary magazine Transatlantic Review. The next year, “Indian Camp” was included in Hemingway’s first story collection, In Our Time. “Indian Camp” has since become one of Hemingway’s most heavily anthologized works. Based partly on Hemingway’s visits to Petoskey, Michigan, during childhood and young adulthood, “Indian Camp” follows young Nick... Read Indian Camp Summary
Publication year 1983
Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction
Themes Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Mothers
Tags Gender / Feminism, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Race / Racism, Social Justice
In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens is a collection of essays, speeches, and letters by Alice Walker. The collection was published in 1983. Walker is also a novelist and a poet. Her most famous novel, The Color Purple, was published in 1982 and won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award in 1983. The novel was adapted into a movie as well as a musical. These essays are collected from different books and... Read In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens Summary
Genre Play, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Identity: Gender, Society: Nation
Tags Play: Tragedy, Mythology, Classic Fiction, History: World, Drama / Tragedy, Fantasy
... Read Ion Summary
Publication year 1961
Genre Short Story, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Identity: Femininity, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Society: Class
Tags Education, Education, History: World, Classic Fiction
“I Stand Here Ironing” was originally published in 1961 in Tell Me a Riddle, Tillie Olsen’s first collection of short stories. Since then, it has greatly impacted feminist scholars and creative writers alike and is often anthologized. The short story is an intimate exploration of one woman’s experience with motherhood between the 1930 and 1950s. Her oldest daughter, Emily, is 19 years old and has been neglected and separated from the narrator due to factors... Read I Stand Here Ironing Summary
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Aging, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Siblings, Values/Ideas: Beauty
Tags African American Literature, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Identity: Masculinity, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Fathers, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt
Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction
Publication year 2024
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Mental Health, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Mothers, Self Discovery
Tags Romance, Modern Classic Fiction, Mental Illness