Education

The Education Collection focuses on titles that explore teaching, learning, and knowledge through fiction and nonfiction genres. Offering perspectives from educators and students alike, these selections examine the formal and informal ways people gain and share knowledge and the social institutions that define education and schooling.

Notes on Being a Man

by Scott Galloway

Publication year 2025

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Apathy, Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Gratitude, Grief, Guilt, Hope, Joy, Loneliness, Love, Memory, Nostalgia, Regret, Shame & Pride, Gender Identity, Masculinity, Mental Health, Race, Sexual Identity, Aging, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Midlife, Death, Future, The Past, Appearance & Reality, Food, Nature Versus Nurture, Daughters & Sons, Family, Fathers, Friendship, Grandparents, Marriage, Mothers, Siblings, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Economics, Education, Immigration, Politics & Government, Fame, Loyalty & Betrayal, Power & Greed, Religion & Spirituality, Safety & Danger, Science & Technology, Trust & Doubt, Wins & Losses

... Read Notes on Being a Man Summary

Notes on Nursing

by Florence Nightingale

Publication year 1860

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Death, Teamwork, Perseverance, Trust & Doubt, Equality, Community, Education

Tags Health, Psychology, Relationships, Science & Nature, World History, Classic Fiction

Florence Nightingale was an English nurse commonly known as the founder of modern nursing practices. Born in Italy, she became an experienced nurse and formed many of her opinions while serving in the Crimean War, enrolling in nursing school at age 24 in Germany. She penned Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What it Is Not in 1859, just a few years after serving in the war, and the work was first published in... Read Notes on Nursing Summary

Of Human Bondage

by W. Somerset Maugham

Publication year 1915

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, Art, Beauty, Loneliness, Social Class, Education

Tags Classic Fiction, Life-Inspired Fiction, Coming of Age, British Literature, World History, Historical Fiction, Romance

Of Human Bondage is a 1915 novel written by the British author W. Somerset Maugham. The novel follows the maturation of a young man named Philip Carey as he grows up in England at the very end of the 19th century. The novel incorporates elements of both realism and modernism and has been interpreted as having some autobiographical inspiration drawn from Maugham’s own life. By describing events from Philip’s life, Maugham develops themes related to... Read Of Human Bondage Summary

Old New York

by Edith Wharton

Publication year 1924

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Guilt, Loneliness, Love, Regret, Femininity, Masculinity, Death, The Past, Mothers, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Economics, Education, Art, Beauty, Equality, Power & Greed, Truth & Lies

Tags Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction

... Read Old New York Summary

Omar Rising

by Aisha Saeed

Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Education, Social Class, Community, Self Discovery, Justice

Tags Children`s Literature, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age, Social Justice, Race & Racism

... Read Omar Rising Summary

On Beauty

by Zadie Smith

Publication year 2005

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, Beauty, Family, Marriage, Aging, Religion & Spirituality, Race, Loyalty & Betrayal, Mothers, Social Class, Community, Daughters & Sons, Fathers, Siblings, Midlife, Trust & Doubt, Friendship, Loneliness, Childhood & Youth, Forgiveness, Art, Apathy, Guilt, Equality, Hate & Anger, Coming of Age, Masculinity, Conflict, Education, Femininity, Self Discovery, Truth & Lies, Shame & Pride, Appearance & Reality, Death, Grief, Gender Identity, Hope

Tags British Literature, Race & Racism, Modern Classic Fiction

On Beauty by the celebrated British author Zadie Smith was published in 2005. On Beauty was shortlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize and won the Orange Prize for Fiction. Smith is known for writing novels and essays that analyze the intersections of identity in the contemporary world with nuance, clarity, and empathy. She is also known to be influenced by the classic English author E.M. Forster. On Beauty is loosely based on Forster’s masterpiece... Read On Beauty Summary

One! Hundred! Demons!

by Lynda Barry

Publication year 2002

Genre Graphic Memoir , Nonfiction

Themes Art, Memory, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Hope, Shame & Pride, Femininity, Language, Race, Childhood & Youth, Midlife, Animals, Food, Mothers, Self Discovery, Social Class, Education, Immigration, Beauty, Literature

Tags Humor, Arts & Culture, Biography

One! Hundred! Demons! is a semi-autobiographical genre-defying graphic novel by American cartoonist and pedagogue, Lynda Barry. Over the course of her career as a prominent cartoonist with nationally syndicated comic strips, published collections, and illustrated novels, Barry has received many national and state-wide awards for her work, including two Eisner awards and MacArthur Genius Grant.Originally published serially in Salon magazine, the collected cartoon chapters were collected and published by Sasquatch Books in 2002, and later... Read One! Hundred! Demons! Summary

One L

by Scott Turow

Publication year 1977

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Education, The Past, Perseverance, Self Discovery, Politics & Government, Justice

Tags Education, Crime & Law

One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School is Scott Turow’s debut memoir, first published in 1977. The book is autobiographical and follows Scott’s first full year at Harvard Law School, where he experiences an intense learning curve and tumultuous emotions as he toils to keep pace with his classmates. The book gained attention for expressing the pitfalls of the Socratic method and is credited for popularizing the term... Read One L Summary

One Native Life

by Richard Wagamese

Publication year 2008

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Gratitude, Guilt, Hope, Loneliness, Memory, Shame & Pride, Indigenous Identity, Language, Animals, Plants, Place, Self Discovery, Colonialism, Community, Education, Nation, Art, Beauty, Equality, Fate, Justice, Literature, Music, Religion & Spirituality, Truth & Lies

Tags World History, Biography

... Read One Native Life Summary

Open

by Andre Agassi

Publication year 2009

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Conflict, Perseverance, Hate & Anger, Hope, Love, Shame & Pride, Mental Health, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Midlife, Family, Fathers, Friendship, Siblings, Self Discovery, Community, Education, Fame, Order & Chaos, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies, Wins & Losses, Teamwork

Tags US History, Sports, Biography

... Read Open Summary

Original Sins

by Eve L. Ewing

Publication year 2025

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Hope, Shame & Pride, Indigenous Identity, Race, Childhood & Youth, The Past, Social Class, Colonialism, Community, Education, Immigration, Nation, Politics & Government, Equality, Justice

... Read Original Sins Summary

Outliers

by Malcolm Gladwell

Publication year 2008

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Economics, Education, Fame

Tags Psychology, Business & Economics, Science & Nature, Sociology, Psychology, Self-Improvement

The nonfiction book Outliers: The Story of Success is Malcolm Gladwell’s third book, published in 2008. Gladwell is a prolific writer for the New Yorker, where he has been on staff since 1996. His writing often incorporates research from the social sciences, as in Outliers, in which he makes the case that the way we understand and portray success is wrong. Before joining the staff of the New Yorker, Gladwell was a reporter for the... Read Outliers Summary

Out of the Dust

by Karen Hesse

Publication year 1997

Genre Novel/Book in Verse, Fiction

Themes Death, Social Class, Place, Climate, Coming of Age, Safety & Danger, Disability, Siblings, Community, Forgiveness, Shame & Pride, Daughters & Sons, Economics, Music, Guilt, Mothers, Art, Loneliness, Hope, Childhood & Youth, Animals, Fathers, Grief, Food, Education

Tags Historical Fiction, Children`s Literature, Coming of Age, Agriculture, US History, Great Depression, Education, Education, World History, 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

Pedagogy of the Oppressed

by Paulo Freire

Publication year 1968

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Education, Guilt

Tags Education, Education, Sociology, World History, Philosophy, Philosophy, Social Justice, Politics & Government

Paolo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed develops a theory of education fitted to the needs of the disenfranchised and marginalized members of capitalist societies. Combining educational and political philosophy, the book offers an analysis of oppression and a theory of liberation. Freire believes that traditional education serves to support the dominance of the powerful within society and thereby maintain the powerful’s social, political, and economic status quo. To overcome the oppression endemic to an exploitative... Read Pedagogy of the Oppressed Summary

Petals of Blood

by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Publication year 1977

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Social Class, Colonialism, Education, Nation, Power & Greed

Tags African Literature, Colonialism & Postcolonialism, Historical Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, African American Literature, World History, Classic Fiction

Petals of Blood by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o is a historical fiction novel that was first published in 1977. Ngũgĩ is a Kenyan author who has written novels, plays, short stories, and essays that typically center on Kenyan and African politics and the effects of colonialism and neocolonialism on the region. Petals of Blood explores the lives of Kenyans after the Mau Mau Rebellion and subsequent independence in the small village of Ilmorog, as well as its development... Read Petals of Blood Summary

Peyton Place

by Grace Metalious

Publication year 1956

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Gender Identity, Sexual Identity, Social Class, Shame & Pride, Femininity, Mental Health, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Midlife, Appearance & Reality, Daughters & Sons, Family, Mothers, Community, Education, Self Discovery

Tags Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Coming of Age, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance

Peyton Place is a novel depicting sensational and melodramatic events in a small New England town in the 1930s and 1940s; it was written by American novelist Grace Metalious and published in 1956. Peyton Place provoked controversy due to its depiction of taboo topics including sexuality, sexual abuse, and abortion. Nonetheless, the novel sold extremely well, and it was also adapted into successful films and television series. Metalious explores themes such as Shame and Ambivalence... Read Peyton Place Summary

Planet Earth Is Blue

by Nicole Panteleakos

Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Siblings, Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Joy, Memory, Mental Health, Childhood & Youth, Death, Space, Family, Self Discovery, Community, Economics, Education, Beauty, Justice, Order & Chaos, Safety & Danger, Science & Technology, Trust & Doubt

Tags Children`s Literature, World History, Historical Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Disability

... Read Planet Earth Is Blue Summary