Community

A community can come together for the common good or be torn apart by disagreement and strife. This collection explores what makes a community and how individuals struggle or succeed in finding their place within it.

Her Soul for Revenge

by Harley Laroux

Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Love, Memory, Revenge, Coming of Age, Animals, Appearance & Reality, Place, Family, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Community, Fate, Good & Evil, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Religion & Spirituality, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies, Wins & Losses

Tags Fantasy, Romance, Horror & Suspense

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Hester

by Laurie Lico Albanese

Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, Femininity, Race, Self Discovery, Community, Good & Evil

Tags World History, Historical Fiction, Romance, Gender & Feminism

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Hidden America

by Jeanne Marie Laskas

Publication year 2012

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Community

Tags Creative Nonfiction, US History, American Literature, Sociology, World History, Social Justice, Biography

Jeanne Marie Laskas’s Hidden America: From Coal Miners to Cowboys, an Extraordinary Exploration of the Unseen People Who Make This Country Work was published in 2012 to rave reviews and was chosen by Oprah Winfrey as a “Must-Read Best Books.” Laskas is an English professor at the University of Pittsburgh and has written a wide variety of best-selling nonfiction texts. In Hidden America, Laskas explores the way ordinary Americans live by getting to know her... Read Hidden America Summary

High Tide in Tucson

by Barbara Kingsolver

Publication year 1995

Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction

Themes Environment, Family, Community, Animals, Plants, Place, Literature

Tags Creative Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Military & War, Parenting, Iraq War, Biography

High Tide in Tucson is a series of essays by heralded American novelist Barbara Kingsolver, collected and published in 1995. The essays are wide-ranging in subject matter, addressing topics from politics, to nature, to midcentury domestic life, but all reflect Kingsolver’s observations about herself and the people around her. Prior to her writing career, Kingsolver had a wide range of other professional experiences that influence essays in the book.Most of the essays in High Tide... Read High Tide in Tucson Summary

Hijab Butch Blues

by Lamya H

Publication year 2023

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Religion & Spirituality, Hope, Love, Gender Identity, Race, Family, Friendship, Self Discovery, Community, Immigration, Equality, Justice

Tags Coming of Age, LGBTQ+, Gender & Feminism

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Hollow Fires

by Samira Ahmed

Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Grief, Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Friendship, Community

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Realistic Fiction, Race & Racism, Social Justice, Modern Classic Fiction

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Homebound

by Portia Elan

Publication year 2026

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Forgiveness, Grief, Hope, Loneliness, Memory, Shame & Pride, Race, Sexual Identity, Future, Climate, Environment, Family, Community, Immigration, Loyalty & Betrayal, Religion & Spirituality

Tags LGBTQ+, Science Fiction, Literary Fiction

Homebound (2026), the debut novel from former Lambda Literary Fellow Portia Elan, is a work of literary science fiction that weaves together four distinct narratives across different time periods. The story follows a queer college student in 1983 Cincinnati grieving her uncle’s death from an AIDS-related illness, a hardened ship captain in a flooded 26th-century world taking on a mysterious group of passengers, a 21st-century scientist creating a line of sentient robots, and the centuries-spanning... Read Homebound Summary

Homeless Bird

by Gloria Whelan

Publication year 2000

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Hope, Memory, Shame & Pride, Femininity, Coming of Age, Animals, Plants, Family, Friendship, Marriage, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Economics, Education, Nation, Politics & Government, Justice, Literature, Loyalty & Betrayal, Power & Greed, Religion & Spirituality, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies

Tags Coming of Age, Historical Fiction, Children`s Literature, Education, Education, Realistic Fiction, World History, Indian Literature

Homeless Bird, a novel written by Gloria Whelan and published in 2000, was a New York Times Best Seller and winner of the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. Marketed to middle grade readers, the novel has elements of historical fiction in its portrayal of cultural customs in India. Homeless Bird tells the story of Koly, a 13-year-old girl whose arranged marriage leads to her untimely widowhood. Through Koly’s coming-of-age journey from helplessness to... Read Homeless Bird Summary

Honor

by Thrity Umrigar

Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Hope, Love, Loyalty & Betrayal, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Fear, Grief, Hate & Anger, Memory, Shame & Pride, Femininity, Family, Self Discovery, Social Class, Colonialism, Community, Justice, Safety & Danger

Tags Historical Fiction

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Hope In The Dark

by Rebecca Solnit

Publication year 2004

Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction

Themes Power & Greed, Community, Globalization, Economics, Politics & Government, Nation, Colonialism, War, Environment

Tags Social Justice, Politics & Government, Gender & Feminism, World History, Philosophy, Philosophy

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Hour of the Bees

by Lindsay Eagar

Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Aging, Coming of Age, Appearance & Reality, Environment, Place, Daughters & Sons, Fathers, Grandparents, Self Discovery, Community, Fate, Truth & Lies

Tags Magical Realism, Fantasy, Coming of Age, Children`s Literature, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction

Published in 2016, Hour of the Bees is a young adult magical realism novel by Lindsay Eagar. Set in contemporary New Mexico, the story follows 12-year-old Carol as she spends the summer on her grandfather’s sheep ranch, helping her family prepare it for sale and helping care for her grandfather, who has dementia. However, her grandfather’s stories of the land’s magic and history cause her to fall in love with it. Hour of the Bees... Read Hour of the Bees Summary

House Made of Dawn

by N. Scott Momaday

Publication year 1968

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Justice, Apathy, Perseverance, Loneliness, Love, Place, Animals, Religion & Spirituality, Equality, Fate, Good & Evil, Order & Chaos, Colonialism, Community, Nation, Politics & Government, War, Memory

Tags Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction, American Literature, Addiction & Substance Abuse, Social Justice, World History

The novel House Made of Dawn, by N. Scott Momaday, was first published in 1968. Heralded as a major landmark in the emergence of Indigenous American literature, the novel won the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. House Made of Dawn blends fictional and nonfictional elements to depict life on an Indigenous American reservation like the one where Momaday grew up.This guide uses an eBook version of the 2018 First Harper Perennial Modern Classics (50th Anniversary)... Read House Made of Dawn Summary

How Democracies Die

by Daniel Ziblatt, Steven Levitsky

Publication year 2018

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Community

Tags Politics & Government, Social Science, Sociology, World History, Philosophy, Philosophy

How Democracies Die (Crown, 2018) is a nonfiction book by political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt. The authors, who are both professors at Harvard, explore how American democracy is threatened by examining past examples of democratic breakdown. In doing so, they demonstrate how since the end of the Cold War, most democracies die not through violent overthrow of government but a gradual weakening of democratic norms and institutions. Using these insights from history, as... Read How Democracies Die Summary