Study Guide Library

Explore an ever-expanding selection of titles ranging from classic texts to contemporary works. SuperSummary Study Guides feature detailed summaries plus analyses of major themes, symbols, characters, and important quotes—all written by literature scholars and experts. Browse titles alphabetically or by genre.

There’s more! Find quick synopses of thousands more titles in our Plot Summary Library and check out our Teaching Guide Library for classroom-ready resources.

All TitlesModern FictionClassic FictionNonfictionPlaysEssaysPoetryMiddle Grade/YA
The Shell Seekers
Rosamunde Pilcher

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1987

The Sheltering Sky
Paul Bowles

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1949

The Sheriff's Children
Charles W. Chesnutt

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1889

The Shining
Stephen King

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1977

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
Naomi Klein

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2007

The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League
Jeff Hobbs

Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 2014

The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber
Ernest Hemingway

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1936

The Sicilian Inheritance
Jo Piazza

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024

The Sick Rose
William Blake

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1794

The Signal-Man
Charles Dickens

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1866

The Signature of All Things
Elizabeth Gilbert

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2013

The Significance of the Frontier in American History
Frederick Jackson Turner

Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 2009

The Sign of the Beaver
Elizabeth George Speare

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1983

The Sign of the Four
Arthur Conan Doyle

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1890

The Silence Between Us
Alison Gervais

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2019

The Silence Of The Lambs
Thomas Harris

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1988

The Silent Boy
Lois Lowry

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2003

The Silent Companions
Laura Purcell

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017

The Silent Patient
Alex Michaelides

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019

The Silent Wife
A. S. A. Harrison

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2013

The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
Peter Frankopan

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2015

The Silkworm
Robert Galbraith

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2014

The Silmarillion
J. R. R. Tolkien

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1977

The Silver Chair
C. S. Lewis

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1953

The Silver Linings Playbook
Matthew Quick

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2008

The Silver Sword
Ian Serraillier

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1956

The Simple Path to Wealth: Your road map to financial independence and a rich, free life
J. L. Collins

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2016

The Simple Wild: A Novel
K. A. Tucker

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2018

The Singer Solution to World Poverty
Peter Singer

Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1999

The Singularity Is Near
Ray Kurzweil

Nonfiction | Reference/Text Book | Adult | Published in 2005

The Sirens
Emilia Hart

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2025

The Sirens' Call
Chris Hayes

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2025

The Sirens of Titan
Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1959

The Sisters
James Joyce

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1904

The Sisters Brothers
Patrick Dewitt

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2011

The Situation Room: The Inside Story of Presidents in Crisis
George Stephanopoulos

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2024

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History (2014)
Elizabeth Kolbert

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2014

The Skeleton Tree
Iain Lawrence

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2016

The Skin I'm In
Sharon G. Flake

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1998

The Skin of Our Teeth
Thornton Wilder

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1942

The Sky Is Gray
Ernest J. Gaines

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1963

The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South
John W. Blassingame

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1979

The Slave Ship: A Human History
Marcus Rediker

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2007

The Sleeper and the Spindle
Neil Gaiman

Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | YA | Published in 2014

The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success and Happiness
Jeff Olson

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2005

The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, From the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement
Sharon McMahon

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2024

The Smallest Dragonboy
Anne McCaffrey

Fiction | Short Story | Middle Grade | Published in 1973

The Smallest Woman in the World
Clarice Lispector

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1960

The Smartest Kids In The World: And How They Got That Way
Amanda Ripley

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2013

The Smell of Apples
Mark Behr

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1993

The Smell Of Other People's Houses
Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2016

The Sniper
Liam O'Flaherty

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1923

The Snow Child
Eowyn Ivey

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2012

The Snowman
Jo Nesbø

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2007

The Snow Queen
Hans Christian Andersen

Fiction | Novella | Middle Grade | Published in 1844

The Social Contract
Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1762

The Society of the Spectacle
Guy Debord

Nonfiction | Reference/Text Book | Adult | Published in 1967

The Sociological Imagination
C. Wright Mills

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1959

The Sociopath Next Door: The Ruthless Versus The Rest Of Us
Martha Stout

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2005

The Soldier
Rupert Brooke

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1915

The Solitary Reaper
William Wordsworth

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1807

The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship
Steve Lopez

Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 2008

The Someday Birds
Sally J. Pla

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2017

The Son
Philipp Meyer

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2013

The Songbird and the Heart of Stone
Carissa Broadbent

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024

The Song of Achilles
Madeline Miller

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2011

The Song of Hiawatha
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Fiction | Novel/Book in Verse | Adult | Published in 1855

The Song of Roland
Anonymous

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1095

The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human
Siddhartha Mukherjee

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2022

The Song of the Jellicles
T. S. Eliot

Fiction | Poem | Middle Grade | Published in 1939

The Song of the Lark
Willa Cather

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1915

The Song of the Shirt
Thomas Hood

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1843

The Song Poet: A Memoir of My Father
Kao Kalia Yang

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2016

The Son of Neptune
Rick Riordan

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2011

The Sorrow of War: A Novel of North Vietnam
Bảo Ninh

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1987

The Sorrows of Young Werther
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1774

The Soulmate: A Novel
Sally Hepworth

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022

The Soulmate Equation
Christina Lauren

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels
Jon Meacham

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2018

The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness
Sy Montgomery

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2015

The Soul of Man Under Socialism
Oscar Wilde

Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1891

The Souls of Black Folk
W.E.B. Du Bois

Nonfiction | Essay Collection | Adult | Published in 1903

The Soul unto itself
Emily Dickinson

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1891

The Sound and the Fury
William Faulkner

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1929

The Sound of Gravel: A Memoir
Ruth Wariner

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2016

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
Grady Hendrix

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020

The Space Between Us
Thrity Umrigar

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2006

The Space Between Worlds
Micaiah Johnson

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020

The Spanish Daughter
Lorena Hughes

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

The Spanish Love Deception
Elena Armas

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

The Spanish Tragedy
Thomas Kyd

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1587

The Sparrow
Mary Doria Russell

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1996

The Spear Cuts Through Water
Simon Jimenez

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022

The Spectacular
Fiona Davis

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024

The Spectator Bird
Wallace Stegner

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1976

The Speed Of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything
Stephen M.R. Covey

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2006

The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World
David Abram

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1996

The Spellshop
Sarah Beth Durst

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024

The Spider And The Fly
Mary Howitt

Fiction | Poem | Middle Grade | Published in 2002

The Spinning Heart
Donal Ryan

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2012