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 War of the End of the World
Mario Vargas Llosa

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1981

The War of the Worlds
H. G. Wells

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1898

The War of Two Queens
Jennifer L. Armentrout

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022

The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free
Pete Hegseth

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2024

The War Prayer
Mark Twain

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1905

The Wars
Timothy Findley

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1977

The Warsaw Orphan
Kelly Rimmer

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

The War That Forged a Nation: Why the Civil War Still Matters
James M. Mcpherson

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2015

The War That Saved My Life
Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2015

The War With Grandpa
Robert Kimmel Smith

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1984

The War Works Hard
Dunya Mikhail

Nonfiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2005

The Wasp Factory
Iain Banks

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1984

The Waste Land
T. S. Eliot

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1922

The Watchers
A. M. Shine

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

The Water Dancer
Ta-Nehisi Coates

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019

The Water Is Wide: A Memoir
Pat Conroy

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1972

The Water Keeper
Charles Martin

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020

The Water Knife
Paolo Bacigalupi

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2015

The Waters
Bonnie Jo Campbell

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024

The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963
Christopher Paul Curtis

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1995

The Wave
Todd Strasser

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1981

The Waves
Virginia Woolf

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1931

The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World
Wade Davis

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2009

The Way I Used to Be
Amber Smith

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2016

The Way of All Flesh
Samuel Butler

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1903

The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self
Martha Beck

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2021

The Way of Kings
Brandon Sanderson

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2010

The Way of the World
William Congreve

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1700

The Ways of White Folks
Langston Hughes

Fiction | Short Story Collection | Adult | Published in 1934

The Way to Rainy Mountain
N. Scott Momaday

Nonfiction | Anthology/Varied Collection | Adult | Published in 1969

The Way To Wealth
Benjamin Franklin

Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1758

The Way Up To Heaven
Roald Dahl

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1954

The Wayward Bus
John Steinbeck

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1947

The Way We Live Now
Susan Sontag

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1986

The Wealth of Nations. The Theory of Moral Sentiments
Adam Smith

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1776

The Weary Blues
Langston Hughes

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1926

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle: A Novel
Jennifer Ryan

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019

The Wedding People
Alison Espach

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024

The Wednesday Wars
Gary D. Schmidt

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2007

The Weight of All Things
Sandra Benitez

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2000

The Weight of Blood
Tiffany D. Jackson

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2022

The Weight of Ink
Rachel Kadish

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017

The Weight of Our Sky
Hanna Alkaf

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2019

The Well of Ascension
Brandon Sanderson

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2007

The Well of Loneliness
Radclyffe Hall

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1928

The Westing Game
Ellen Raskin

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1978

The Whalebone Theatre
Joanna Quinn

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022

The Whale Rider
Witi Ihimaera

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1987

The Whipping Boy
Sid Fleischman

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1986

The Whisper Man
Alex North

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019

The Whispers
Ashley Audrain

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023

The Whistler
John Grisham

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2016

The Whistling Season
Ivan Doig

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2006

The White Album
Joan Didion

Nonfiction | Essay Collection | Adult | Published in 1979

The White Devil
John Webster

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1612

The White Giraffe
Lauren St. John

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2006

The White Goddess
Robert Graves

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1948

The White House
Claude McKay

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1919

The White Man's Burden
Rudyard Kipling

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1899

The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good
William Easterly

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2006

The White Mountains
John Christopher

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1967

The White Tiger
Aravind Adiga

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2008

The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind
Daniel J. Siegel, Tina Payne Bryson

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2011

The Wicked King
Holly Black

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2019

The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook
Hampton Sides

Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 2024

The Wide Window
Lemony Snicket

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2000

The Widow's Husband's Secret Lie
Freida McFadden

Fiction | Novella | Adult | Published in 2024

The Widows of Malabar Hill
Sujata Massey

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2018

The Wife Between Us
Sarah Pekkanen, Greer Hendricks

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2018

The Wife Of His Youth
Charles W. Chesnutt

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1898

The Wife Upstairs
Rachel Hawkins

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

The Wife Upstairs
Freida McFadden

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020

The Wild Robot
Peter Brown

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2016

The Wild Robot Escapes
Peter Brown

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2018

The Wild Robot Protects
Peter Brown

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2023

The Wild Swans at Coole
William Butler Yeats

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1917

The Will of the Many
James Islington

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023

The Willoughbys
Lois Lowry

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2008

The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love
bell hooks

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2003

The Will to Power
Ed. Walter Kaufmann, Transl. R.J. Hollingdale, Friedrich Nietzsche

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1901

The Windhover
Gerard Manley Hopkins

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1918

The Wind in the Willows
Kenneth Grahame

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1908

The Wind Knows My Name
Isabel Allende

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
Transl. Jay Rubin, Haruki Murakami

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1994

The Windup Girl
Paolo Bacigalupi

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2009

The Winemaker's Wife
Kristin Harmel

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019

The Winged Watchman
Hilda van Stockum

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1962

The Winners
Fredrik Backman

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

The Winter King
Bernard Cornwell

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1995

The Winter Of Our Discontent
John Steinbeck

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1961

The Winter People
Jennifer McMahon

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2014

The Winter Room
Gary Paulsen

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1989

The Winter's Tale
William Shakespeare

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1623

The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety
Alan W. Watts

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1951

The Wise Man's Fear
Patrick Rothfuss

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2011

The Wish
Nicholas Sparks

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

The Wishing Game
Meg Shaffer

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023

The Wishing Spell
Chris Colfer

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2012

The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels
India Holton

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

The Witch Collector
Charissa Weaks

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021