This collection brings together texts that explore the beauty and often redemptive power of music, from classical compositions in Peter Shaffer's Amadeus and Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore, to gospel songs and spirituals in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun.
Publication year 2014
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Family, Society: Class, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Music
Tags Historical Fiction, Irish Literature, Domestic Fiction, Literary Fiction, Depression / Suicide
Written by Colm Tóibín, Nora Webster (2014) is a historical novel that follows the titular character, a young woman who is struggling to raise her four young children, process her grief, and reinvent her life after her husband passes away. In 2015, the novel won the Hawthornden Prize, and it has also received numerous other prestigious award nominations. Throughout his career, Colm Tóibín has alternated between fiction and non-fiction, producing works such as Brooklyn (2009), which... Read Nora Webster Summary
Publication year 2006
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Music
Tags Realistic Fiction, Children's Literature, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, Music, Humor
The novel opens on Alex choosing to get drunk and drive to his father’s in order to get revenge. Alex’s parents are recently divorced after his father starts to date Alex’s third-grade teacher. After crashing his mother’s car into a garden gnome, a very drunk Alex is taken into the police station and then transferred to the hospital with a concussion and alcohol poisoning. Alex’s mother grounds him for a month, until a judge punishes... Read Notes From The Midnight Driver Summary
Publication year 1930
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Music, Life/Time: Coming of Age
Tags Classic Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Auto/Biographical Fiction, History: U.S., Harlem Renaissance, Race / Racism, American Literature, History: World, Historical Fiction
Published in 1930, near the end of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes's Not Without Laughter is a coming-of-age narrative about James "Sandy" Rogers, an African-American boy from the small Kansas town of Stanton. Loosely based on Hughes's own childhood in Kansas, the novel traces the challenges of African-American life in the Midwest during the years leading up to World War I. The novel opens with a cyclone that rips the porch from the house of... Read Not Without Laughter Summary
Publication year 1820
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Gratitude, Emotions/Behavior: Joy, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Femininity, Values/Ideas: Music, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality
Tags Classic Fiction
Publication year 1994
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Music
Tags Magical Realism, Latin American Literature, Historical Fiction, Romance, Classic Fiction
Set in the seaport city of Santa María de Antigua, in colonial Spanish Colombia, at the end of the 18th century, Gabriel García Márquez'snovel Of Love and Other Demons tells the tragic story of Sierva María de Todos Los Ángeles. The only daughter of the American-born Marquis de Casalduero, Sierva lives with her father the Marquis, and her mother, Bernarda, in a decaying mansion.Neither parent takes an interest in their daughter, so she's raised by... Read Of Love And Other Demons Summary
Publication year 2008
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Gratitude, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Indigenous, Identity: Language, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Flora/plants, Natural World: Place, Self Discovery, Society: Colonialism, Society: Community, Society: Education, Society: Nation, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Fate, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Music, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies
Tags History: World, Biography
Publication year 8
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Identity: Mental Health, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: The Past, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Place, Values/Ideas: Fate, Values/Ideas: Music, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Joy, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Identity: Disability, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Values/Ideas: Music, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Art, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Appearance & Reality
Tags Realistic Fiction, Disability, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Children's Literature, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2010
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Gender, Values/Ideas: Music, Identity: Disability
Tags Children's Literature, Realistic Fiction, Gender / Feminism, Disability, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction
Sharon Draper’s Out of My Mind, based on her own experiences parenting a child with a disability, is a New York Times best-selling novel told from the first-person perspective of 10-year-old Melody Brooks. Melody is a fifth-grade girl who, due to cerebral palsy, is unable to communicate verbally and uses a wheelchair. The challenges and prejudice that Melody encounters provide a more intimate and personal view of the lives of people with disabilities. Atheneum Books... Read Out of My Mind Summary
Publication year 1997
Genre Novel/Book in Verse, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Society: Class, Natural World: Place, Natural World: Climate, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Identity: Disability, Relationships: Siblings, Society: Community, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Society: Economics, Values/Ideas: Music, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Relationships: Mothers, Values/Ideas: Art, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Natural World: Animals, Relationships: Fathers, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Natural World: Food, Society: Education
Tags Historical Fiction, Children's Literature, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Agriculture, History: U.S., Great Depression, Education, Education, History: World, Classic Fiction
Karen Hesse’s Out of the Dust is a historical middle-grade novel in verse first published in 1997. Through 110 first-person free verse poems, the narrative tells the story of two years in the life of Billie Jo Kelby, young daughter of a struggling farming family in the Oklahoma Panhandle in the mid-1930s. After a tragic accident results in the death of Billie Jo’s mother and baby brother, she and her father must find a way... Read Out of the Dust Summary
Publication year 2008
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Friendship, Values/Ideas: Music
Tags Realistic Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance, Action / Adventure
John Green’s Paper Towns is a coming-of-age story that follows the lives of two childhood friends, the reserved Quentin Jacobsen and the legendary Margo Roth Spiegelman. Quentin says that every human being is graced with one miracle in their lifetime. His miracle is living next door to Margo Roth Spiegelman. He has spent a lifetime obsessing over her, though their friendship has cooled over the years. At the start of the novel, they are in... Read Paper Towns Summary
Publication year 1996
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Music, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Gender, Identity: Femininity
Tags Gender / Feminism, Race / Racism, Black Lives Matter
Publication year 1915
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Music, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: Midlife
Tags Poetry: Dramatic Poem, Narrative / Epic Poem, Modernism, British Literature, American Literature, Relationships, Love / Sexuality, Class, Classic Fiction
Publication year 2019
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Fame, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Music, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance
Tags Business / Economics, Psychology, Self Help, Science / Nature, Education, Sports, Music, Arts / Culture, Education, Leadership/Organization/Management, Psychology
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Music
Tags Historical Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, LGBTQ
Jacqueline Woodson’s 2019 Red at the Bone is a work of fiction that centers on the coming together of two dissimilar families because of a teen pregnancy. Highly acclaimed and award-winning author Woodson offers a counternarrative to the familiar tale of teenage pregnancy while considering how identity intersects with class, race, sexuality, gender, and history. This study guide was created with the aid of the Riverhead Books 2019 hardback edition.Plot SummaryThe novel opens 80 years... Read Red at the Bone Summary
Publication year 2017
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Music, Life/Time: Coming of Age
Tags Historical Fiction, Children's Literature, Education, Education, Military / War, Realistic Fiction, History: World
Refugee (2017) is a historical, young adult fiction novel by Alan Gratz. It follows the stories of three refugee children in three different geographic locations and points in time. Each child experiences traumatic losses and personal victories as they struggle to escape the political instability of their homelands. Josef Landau is fleeing Nazi Germany in 1939. Isabel Fernandez is escaping Castro’s Cuba in 1994. Mahmoud Bishara is leaving Syria during the volatile regime of Bashar... Read Refugee Summary
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Self Discovery, Life/Time: The Past, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Mothers, Values/Ideas: Music, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness
Tags Romance, Love / Sexuality, Relationships, Modern Classic Fiction, Drama / Tragedy
Publication year 1995
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Music, Life/Time: The Past
Tags Magical Realism, Humor, Modern Classic Fiction, Music, Fantasy
Reservation Blues tells the story of Coyote Springs, a Spokane Indian rock band. The band is founded on a reservation, slowly gathers fans, and begins to play shows. Coyote Springs is given the chance to audition for a major record company in New York City, but, ultimately, the band does not succeed. The book combines traditional narrative with a mixture of other narrative techniques, including newspaper articles, song lyrics, interviews, and excerpts from journals. Together... Read Reservation Blues Summary
Publication year 2002
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Music, Relationships: Family
Tags Disability, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Biography
Riding the Bus With My Sister: A True Life Journey is the New York Times bestselling author Rachel Simon’s 2002 memoir chronicling her experiences with her intellectually disabled sister, Beth. Over the course of a year, Simon rides the bus with Beth and writes about the journey. She learns to confront her own ignorance about her sister’s condition and forms a close bond with her. The book chronicles Rachel’s emotional and spiritual growth, as Rachel’s... Read Riding The Bus With My Sister Summary
Publication year 1995
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Music
Tags Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, Classical Period
Rule of the Bone by Russell Banks is a 1995 bildungsroman that follows the picaresque journey of Chapman “Chappie” Dorset, also known as Bone. It is in the tradition of books like J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye and Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, though it incorporates themes of drug use and homelessness that set it apart as a more nuanced, grunge-era take on growing up as a troubled youth.Plot SummaryThe book begins... Read Rule of the Bone Summary