Childhood & Youth

The Wide Window is a middle grade novel first published in 2000. It is published under the name Lemony Snicket, the pen name of novelist, playwright, musician, and screenwriter Daniel Handler. This mock-gothic adventure story blends elements of mystery, humor, and fantasy with a macabre setting in which a family of three orphans—Violet, Sunny, and Klaus Baudelaire—is sent to live with their fearful Aunt Josephine. Throughout the novel, the Baudelaire children must contend with their... Read The Wide Window Summary

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The Winter Room is a 1989 young adult novel by American author Gary Paulsen. The story follows 11-year-old Eldon, who lives on a northern Minnesota farm with his family. The narrative explores Eldon’s relationship with his older brother, Wayne, and their connection to their great-uncle David. The boys grow up working on the farm all year and listening to Uncle David’s stories during the winter. The novel received the Newbery Medal Honor in 1989. Gary Paulsen... Read The Winter Room Summary

The Witches (1983) is a children’s novel by Roald Dahl. As with his other well-known stories for young readers—Matilda (1988), James and the Giant Peach (1961), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964), and The BFG (1982)—the book has elements of fantasy and addresses themes like identity, family, and good versus evil. There are film adaptations of several of Dahl’s books, and there are two movie versions of The Witches—one from 1990 and another from 2020... Read The Witches Summary

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings published The Yearling in 1938 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1939. Maxwell Perkins, who also worked with F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, edited the novel. The Yearling traces one year in the life of Jody Baxter, chronicling his family’s hardships as they endure floods, plague, and death—and Jody’s tender relationship with an orphaned fawn. The novel became a bestseller in 1938 and has since been translated into 29 languages. In... Read The Yearling Summary

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This One Summer is a Canadian young adult graphic novel written by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by her cousin, Jillian Tamaki. Mariko Tamaki has written several graphic novels, and has worked for both Marvel and DC Comics. This One Summer was originally published in 2014 by Groundwood Books, and follows the summer experiences of two young girls approaching adolescence and watching their parents cope with the various pressures of adulthood. The novel has been the... Read This One Summer Summary

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Sigmund Freud’s Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality was first published in 1905. Freud expanded it several times in later editions, and it reached its final form in 1924. The book occupies a major place in Freud’s body of work, but it was controversial when it first appeared. Freud pointedly blurs the line between perversions and normal sexual behaviors, and he develops a radically new and surprising theory of human sexuality—in particular, of childhood... Read Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality Summary

Through the Looking-Glass is the sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, a classic novel by Lewis Carroll. Through the Looking-Glass, written six years later, features the same topsy-turvy portal world known as Wonderland; the sequel is often included in a dual compendium with the first book. In this tale, Alice steps through a mirror into a surreal world where she encounters peculiar characters, navigates curious landscapes, and tries to make sense of nonsensical events. The... Read Through The Looking Glass Summary

Doris Lessing’s short story “Through The Tunnel” was first published in 1955 in The New Yorker. Widely considered a seminal postwar writer, the British Zimbabwean author explored a wide range of topics but is best known for her interest in the political issues of the 20th century, from race to gender to political systems. However, “Through the Tunnel” concerns individual psychology, and the coming-of-age story follows an English boy and his mother as they vacation... Read Through the Tunnel Summary

Time for Andrew: A Ghost Story is a gothic middle grade novel written by Mary Downing Hahn and published in 1994. Hahn is known for incorporating elements of the thriller and gothic genres into stories for young readers. This novel follows 12-year-old Drew as he spends the summer with his Aunt Blythe and an irritable great-grandfather in their creaky, shadowy ancestral home. When a dying boy who looks strikingly similar to Drew mysteriously appears in... Read Time for Andrew: A Ghost Story Summary

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