Art
From Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita to Raven Leilani's Luster, the texts in this collection investigate themes related to the power and promise of many types of art — from the written word to visual arts such as painting and cinema.
Publication year 2003
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Perseverance, Femininity, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Animals, Social Class, Politics & Government, Art, Good & Evil, Loyalty & Betrayal
Tags Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Children`s Literature
Publication year 2000
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Conflict, Fear, Loneliness, Apathy, Love, Memory, Hope, Hate & Anger, Shame & Pride, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Coming of Age, The Past, Daughters & Sons, Family, Mothers, Siblings, Friendship, Fathers, Appearance & Reality, Self Discovery, Beauty, Art, Loyalty & Betrayal, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies
Tags Realistic Fiction, Romance, Trauma & Abuse, Relationships, Modern Classic Fiction
In Dreamland, a young adult novel by Sarah Dessen, a teenage girl named Caitlin O’Koren reacts to the disappearance of her sister by breaking away from the path that was set out for her. The novel is broken into three parts that focus on the core of the conflicts in each section. Part I, “Cass,” traces the O’Koren family after Cass, the eldest of two daughters, runs away instead of attending Yale. Part II, entitled... Read Dreamland Summary
Publication year 2017
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Conflict, Perseverance, Guilt, Hope, Love, Memory, Language, Mental Health, Sexual Identity, Coming of Age, Midlife, Future, The Past, Family, Friendship, Marriage, Siblings, Self Discovery, Community, Art, Fate, Literature, Loyalty & Betrayal, Music, Order & Chaos, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies
Tags Romance, New Adult, Music
Publication year 2008
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Fear, Grief, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Memory, Revenge, Disability, Language, Race, Death, Environment, Place, Daughters & Sons, Fathers, Teamwork, Social Class, Art, Beauty, Good & Evil, Power & Greed
Tags Horror & Suspense, Fantasy, Psychological Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Religion & Spirituality
Duma Key by Stephen King is a novel in the literary-horror genre, praised for its eerie, spooky atmosphere and suspenseful build-up. Published in 2008, Duma Key is the first novel by King to be set in Florida. The book follows Edgar Freemantle as he moves from Minnesota to the island of Duma (one of the Florida Keys, or small islands) after a life-changing accident. Tormented by phantom-limb pain from his amputation and unable to remember... Read Duma Key Summary
Publication year 1965
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Conflict, Grief, Loneliness, Love, Femininity, Mental Health, Death, Daughters & Sons, Marriage, Art, Literature
Tags Depression & Suicide, Confessional, Free Verse, Grief & Death
Publication year 1992
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Art, Perseverance, Future, The Past, Appearance & Reality, Space, Fate, Order & Chaos, Religion & Spirituality, Science & Technology, Truth & Lies
Tags Historical Fiction, Philosophy, Science & Nature
Einstein’s Dreams (1993) by Alan Lightman is a best-selling novel that explores the intersection of art and science, and the nature of time. The novel imagines the dreams of a fictionalized version of Albert Einstein to explain various theories about time, leading up to Einstein’s 1905 theory of special relativity, which he formed while working as a patent clerk and starting a family in Berne, Switzerland.Each chapter of the novel features a dream that exemplifies... Read Einstein's Dreams Summary
Publication year 2017
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Mental Health, Family, Art
Tags Realistic Fiction, Romance, Mental Illness, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 1987
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Coming of Age, Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Grief, Hate & Anger, Memory, Loneliness, Shame & Pride, Revenge, Love, Gratitude, Hope, Childhood & Youth, Death, The Past, Equality, Good & Evil, Literature, Art, Beauty, Trust & Doubt, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies, Wins & Losses, Power & Greed, Daughters & Sons, Friendship, Family, Fathers, Grandparents, Mothers, Nature Versus Nurture, Appearance & Reality
Tags Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, Classic Fiction, Southern Literature, Life-Inspired Fiction, Trauma & Abuse, Race & Racism
Ellen Foster is a work of adult fiction by US novelist Kaye Gibbons, first published by Algonquin Books in 1987. The novel was Gibbons’s debut, and it won the Sue Kaufman Prize for literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a notable citation from the Ernest Hemingway Foundation. Critics praised the novel for its unsentimental outlook and the wry, distinct voice of its protagonist. Ellen, a young girl living in the American... Read Ellen Foster Summary
Publication year 2017
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Environment, Art, Justice, Equality
Tags Politics & Government, Self-Improvement, Gender & Feminism, Philosophy, Leadership, Social Justice, Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality
Publication year 2021
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Loyalty & Betrayal, Social Class, Siblings, Art, Trust & Doubt, Economics, Justice, Power & Greed
Tags Health, Politics & Government, US History, Addiction & Substance Abuse, Business & Economics, Crime & Law, Finance, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Science & Nature, World History, Biography
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Politics & Government, Family, Race, Nation, War, Art
Tags Arts & Culture
Publication year 1977
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Art, Literature
Publication year 2025
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Conflict, Perseverance, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Guilt, Hope, Loneliness, Nostalgia, Shame & Pride, Masculinity, Mental Health, Coming of Age, Death, Appearance & Reality, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Art, Music
Tags Memoir & Autobiography
Publication year 2022
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Race, Perseverance, Forgiveness, Love, Shame & Pride, Family, Siblings, Self Discovery, Art, Justice
Tags Inspirational, Addiction & Substance Abuse, Bullying, Love & Sexuality, Poverty, Race & Racism, Trauma & Abuse, Gender & Feminism, Biography
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Hope, Loneliness, Memory, Shame & Pride, Gender Identity, Childhood & Youth, Fathers, Friendship, Mothers, Siblings, Self Discovery, Art, Equality, Good & Evil, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Trust & Doubt
Tags Realistic Fiction, LGBTQ+, Children`s Literature
Publication year 1855
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Art, Religion & Spirituality, Beauty, Conflict
Tags Poetry: Dramatic Poem, Blank Verse, Victorian Period, Victorian Era, Classic Fiction
“Fra Lippo Lippi” is a poem by Robert Browning (1812-1889), written in the form of a dramatic monologue. It was first published in the collection, Men and Women (1855) during the Victorian era. This historical poem centers on the 15th-century Carmelite monk, Fra Lippo Lippi, who was a famous Italian painter. Browning relied on an account of the monk’s life in Giorgio Vasari’s Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (1568), but took... Read Fra Lippo Lippi Summary
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Femininity, Gender Identity, Masculinity, Sexual Identity, Death, Future, The Past, Marriage, Social Class, Economics, Art, Good & Evil, Religion & Spirituality, Science & Technology
Tags Science Fiction, Historical Fiction, LGBTQ+, Modern Classic Fiction
Frankissstein is a novel by Jeanette Winterson that combines speculative and historical fiction in revisiting Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, Frankenstein. Winterson is a prolific author, known for her explorations of physical reality, gender, sexuality, and identity. Her first novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, won the 1985 Whitbread Prize for First Novel, and Frankissstein was longlisted for the 2019 Booker Prize. Winterson is a professor of Creative Writing at the University of Manchester, and... Read Frankissstein Summary
Publication year 1967
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Siblings, Art
Tags Classic Fiction, Children`s Literature, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Action & Adventure, Education, Education, Realistic Fiction
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is a 1967 children’s novel by E. L. Konigsburg. With elements of mystery and adventure, the novel follows two children who run away from home to hide out in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where they are drawn into a mystery involving a newly acquired sculpture, even as they learn about themselves and the world around them. Praised for its humor and characters, the novel won... Read From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler Summary
Publication year 1971
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Environment, Art
Tags Poetry: Dramatic Poem
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Disability, Death, Loyalty & Betrayal, Social Class, Friendship, Art, Forgiveness, Animals, Safety & Danger, Perseverance, Love, Hate & Anger, Grief, Fear, Conflict, Loneliness, Hope
Tags Romance, Humor, Health, British Literature, Disability, Modern Classic Fiction