School Book List Titles

Browse a Collection of texts frequently assigned in literature classrooms, including well-studied classics and contemporary literature. Representitive of the breadth of the literary tradition, the School Book List Titles Collection features texts for readers of all age levels, from children's literature to plays and novels centered on adult themes.

Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Family, Self Discovery, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Values/Ideas: Art

Tags Romance, Humor


Publication year 1950

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Friendship

Tags Realistic Fiction, Humor, Children's Literature, Classic Fiction


Publication year -416

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Friendship, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Values/Ideas: Fate, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice

Tags Play: Tragedy, Mythology, Ancient Greece, Classical Period


Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

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

Tags Children's Literature, WWII / World War II, Military / War, History: World, Historical Fiction, Action / Adventure


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 1946

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Society: War

Tags Journalism, History: Asian, WWII / World War II, Creative Nonfiction, History: World, Education, Education, Military / War, Japanese Literature, Classic Fiction

Hiroshima, an account of the first atomic bomb used in warfare, is a nonfiction book by John Hersey. Alfred A. Knopf published it in 1946, several months after it first appeared as an article in the New Yorker. The magazine ran the article at the end of August 1946, just after the first anniversary of the dropping of the bomb, devoting the entire issue to the lengthy piece. The issue sold out immediately and was... Read Hiroshima Summary


Publication year 2000

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Femininity, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Flora/plants, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Marriage, Self Discovery, Society: Class, Society: Community, Society: Economics, Society: Education, Society: Nation, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Historical Fiction, Children's Literature, Education, Education, Realistic Fiction, History: World, Indian Literature

Homeless Bird, a novel written by Gloria Whelan and published in 2000, was a New York Times Best Seller and winner of the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. Marketed to middle grade readers, the novel has elements of historical fiction in its portrayal of cultural customs in India. Homeless Bird tells the story of Koly, a 13-year-old girl whose arranged marriage leads to her untimely widowhood. Through Koly’s coming-of-age journey from helplessness to... Read Homeless Bird Summary


Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Disability, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship

Tags Realistic Fiction


Publication year 1997

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Coming of Age

Tags Sports, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction


Publication year 1891

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance

Tags Lyric Poem, Philosophy, Romanticism / Romantic Period, Animals


Publication year 1910

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Art, Society: Class

Tags Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Relationships, Class, British Literature, History: World, Romance

E. M. Forster’s Howards End (1910) tells the story of two families, the Schlegels and the Wilcoxes, who represent different aspects of society in Edwardian England. Specifically, it follows the Margaret Schlegel, the novel’s protagonist, amid her attempts to manage her own family as she becomes engaged to and marries the widowed Mr. Wilcox. In 1992 it was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film, directed by James Ivory, and in 2017 it was adapted into... Read Howards End Summary


Publication year 2002

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Marriage

Tags Spoken Word Poetry, Love / Sexuality, Relationships


Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Society: Colonialism, Society: Community

Tags Historical Fiction, History: U.S., Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Children's Literature, History: World, Magical Realism, Fantasy, Arts / Culture

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


Publication year 1991

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Relationships: Siblings, Identity: Race, Society: Immigration, Relationships: Family

Tags Historical Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, Classic Fiction

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents is Julia Alvarez’s debut novel and was influenced by her experiences as a young girl living in the Dominican Republic. While the novel’s Garcia girls were born in the Dominican Republic and immigrated to New York, Alvarez was born in New York and immigrated to the Dominican Republic. Like other Alvarez novels, this book explores the tensions and difficulties that immigrants experience throughout their lives. It also provides... Read How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents Summary


Publication year 2017

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Mental Health, Identity: Race, Identity: Sexuality, Identity: Femininity, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride

Tags Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Race / Racism, Social Justice, Gender / Feminism, LGBTQ, Mental Illness, Biography

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


Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Identity: Disability, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Food, Relationships: Fathers, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Survival Fiction, Action / Adventure, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 1986

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Identity: Race, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance

Tags Lyric Poem, Immigration / Refugee, Mythology


Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Identity: Indigenous, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Life/Time: Coming of Age

Tags Realistic Fiction, Parenting, Children's Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction


Publication year 1979

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Art, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Beauty

Tags Magical Realism, Post Modernism, Italian Literature, Science / Nature, Arts / Culture, Politics / Government, Sociology, History: World, Classic Fiction

If on a winter’s night a traveler is a 1979 postmodernist novel by Italo Calvino. The dual narrative is composed of two parallel strands: numbered chapters in which the narrator directly describes to the audience the process of reading the book, and titled chapters constructed from hypothetical first chapters of various books that the audience is reading. The innovative novel has been praised by critics and hailed as highly influential.This guide uses the 1998 Vintage... Read If on a Winter's Night a Traveler Summary


Publication year 2018

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family

Tags Race / Racism