Friendship

The solace and comfort of true friendship — and the pain of its loss — can rival any romantic or familial relationship. In this collection, we present texts that examine the unique qualities and costs of deep friendships.

Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Society: Community, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Life/Time: The Past, Relationships: Friendship

Tags Drama / Tragedy, Grief / Death, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship, Society: Community, Society: Class, Identity: Race

Tags Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Sports, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2008

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Friendship, Identity: Race, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Music

Tags Historical Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Music, African American Literature, Children's Literature, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction

After Tupac and D Foster, published in 2008, is Jacqueline Woodson’s fifth middle grade novel and her 24th book overall. It is a coming-of-age story of three African American girls who are best friends growing up in Queens, NY, in the 1990s. During this time, the cultural icon Tupac Shakur is shot, imprisoned, and ultimately killed in a second shooting. These events have a huge impact on the main characters as they grow up and... Read After Tupac and D Foster Summary


Publication year 1906

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Friendship, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal

Tags Classic Fiction, American Literature, Children's Literature, Education, Education, Mystery / Crime Fiction, History: World

Note: Readers can access the source on Project Gutenberg here.With a complex relationship between two characters and an unexpected yet inevitable twist at the climax, “After Twenty Years,” published in the collection The Four Million (1906), is a typical example of O. Henry’s storytelling style. The story explores the themes of identity and change, perception and reality, and loyalty, and the twist ending means that each reading of the story is a new experience.The story... Read After Twenty Years Summary


Publication year 1996

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Masculinity, Identity: Femininity, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Society: Class, Society: War, Society: Economics, Relationships: Siblings, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Marriage, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Relationships: Friendship, Identity: Disability, Identity: Gender, Life/Time: Birth, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: The Future, Life/Time: The Past, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt

Tags Fantasy, Action / Adventure, Class, Politics / Government, Religion / Spirituality, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Grief / Death

A Game of Thrones is a 1996 epic fantasy novel by George R. R. Martin and is the first in his long-running A Song of Ice and Fire series. The novel introduces the audience to the fictional world of Westeros, where characters become embroiled in a complicated web of plots, conspiracies, and betrayals as they pursue power. A Game of Thrones won numerous awards on publication and was adapted for television in 2011. This guide... Read A Game of Thrones Summary


Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Friendship

Tags Historical Fiction, Russian Literature, History: World

A Gentleman in Moscow is a historical fiction novel by American author Amor Towles, published in 2016. The story follows Count Alexander Rostov, a Russian nobleman who is sentenced to lifelong imprisonment in Moscow’s Metropol Hotel after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.The Count must adjust not only to his new circumstances in a small room in the hotel’s belfry but also to the knowledge that his way of life is disappearing under the Bolshevik regime... Read A Gentleman in Moscow Summary


Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Society: Politics & Government, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Relationships: Friendship, Self Discovery, Society: Globalization, Society: Nation, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Politics / Government, British Literature


Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

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

Tags Realistic Fiction, Race / Racism, Relationships, Social Justice, Children's Literature, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2015

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Identity: Race, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Grandparents, Self Discovery, Society: Class, Society: Community, Society: Immigration, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Beauty

Tags Realistic Fiction, Children's Literature, Animals, Arts / Culture


Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Family

Tags Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, LGBTQ, Sports, Relationships, Children's Literature


Publication year 2006

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Friendship, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Society: Politics & Government

Tags Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Children's Literature, Realistic Fiction, Science / Nature, Action / Adventure

First published in 2006, Alabama Moon by Watt Key is a realistic middle grade novel set in 1980 in rural Alabama. After being raised by his survivalist father, 10-year-old Moon Blake knows he can acquire anything he needs from the forest. When his father dies, Moon sets out for Alaska as Pap instructed. On his journey, Moon finds conflict with authorities, peers, “the system,” and a constable intent on breaking his spirit. Alabama Moon was... Read Alabama Moon Summary


Publication year 2009

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Friendship, Identity: Disability, Relationships: Siblings, Values/Ideas: Fame, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt

Tags Historical Fiction, Action / Adventure, Children's Literature, Disability, Realistic Fiction, History: World

Al Capone Shines My Shoes (2009) is the second book in Gennifer Choldenko’s Tales from Alcatraz series. The novel is set on the prison island of Alcatraz during the height of the Great Depression. The protagonist and narrator is 12-year-old Matthew “Moose” Flanagan, whose father works as a guard and electrician at the notorious prison. When Moose receives a note from Al Capone, a famous gangster and prisoner of Alcatraz, he finds himself caught up... Read Al Capone Shines My Shoes Summary


Publication year 1993

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Friendship, Society: Education, Identity: Race

Tags Historical Fiction, Race / Racism, African American Literature, Education, Education, History: World, Classic Fiction

A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest J. Gaines, is an award-winning work of fiction published in 1993. It received the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction that same year. The story is arguably a work of historical fiction based on true accounts of young Black men on death row in Louisiana in the 1940s.Plot SummaryThe story opens in a courtroom in 1947 Louisiana, where a 21-year-old Black man named Jefferson, is accused of killing... Read A Lesson Before Dying Summary


Publication year 2015

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Friendship, Identity: Masculinity, Identity: Disability

Tags Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Drama / Tragedy, Relationships, LGBTQ, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Depression / Suicide, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Mental Illness


Publication year 1905

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Friendship, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Relationships: Fathers

Tags Classic Fiction, Children's Literature, Historical Fiction, History: World

The classic children’s novel A Little Princess; Being the Whole Story of Sara Crewe Now Told for the First Time was published in 1905. In this work, Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924), a celebrated Anglo-American novelist and playwright who is also known for the novels Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886) and The Secret Garden (1910), expands her earlier novella, Sara Crewe: or, What Happened at Miss Minchin's (1888), which had originally been serialized in St. Nicholas’ Magazine... Read A Little Princess Summary


Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Aging, Life/Time: Midlife, Life/Time: The Future, Life/Time: The Past, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Marriage, Self Discovery, Society: Community, Society: Education, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Relationships: Family

Tags Gender / Feminism, Modern Classic Fiction, LGBTQ, Humor


Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Relationships: Friendship, Society: Immigration, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance

Tags Historical Fiction, Romance, Realistic Fiction, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 1929

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Society: War, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Relationships: Friendship, Life/Time: Mortality & Death

Tags Military / War, Historical Fiction, WWI / World War I, Education, Education, History: World, Classic Fiction

All Quiet on the Western Front is a 1929 novel by Erich Maria Remarque which details the experiences of German soldiers at the frontlines of World War I. At the heart of the novel are graphic portrayals of trench warfare and the psychological trauma inflicted on the soldiers as a result. The novel presents a realistic portrait of a horrific war and provides unflattering accounts of the elite classes responsible for such mass destruction. The... Read All Quiet on the Western Front Summary


Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Mental Health, Relationships: Friendship, Identity: Disability, Self Discovery, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Relationships: Family

Tags Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Korean Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Asian Literature, Mental Illness


Publication year 1975

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Friendship

Tags History: U.S., History: World, Classic Fiction, Play: Drama, American Literature, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Drama / Tragedy

American Buffalo is a 1975 off-Broadway play written by American playwright David Mamet. It first premiered in Chicago’s Goodman Theater in 1975, reaching Broadway in 1977. Along with two other plays, The Duck Variations (1971) and Sexual Perversity in Chicago (1974), American Buffalo established Mamet as a reputable writer. The play explores friendship and greed among the working classes. The 1976 publication from Grove Press (New York) serves as the basis for this guide.The play... Read American Buffalo Summary