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.

Like a Winding Sheet

by Ann Petry

Publication year 1946

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Justice, Hate & Anger, Community

Tags African American Literature, Classic Fiction, Civil Rights & Jim Crow South, Race & Racism

“Like A Winding Sheet” is a short story by African American writer Ann Petry, originally published in 1945 and included in the 1946 collection of Best American Short Stories. Like many of Petry’s novels and short stories, “Like A Winding Sheet” examines how racism within American society impacts the personal lives of working-class African American people. In the story, Petry is especially interested in how racism is an inescapable part of life in New York... Read Like a Winding Sheet Summary

Likes

by Sarah Shun-lien Bynum

Publication year 2017

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Family, Politics & Government, Fear, Community, Self Discovery, Coming of Age, Daughters & Sons, Fathers

Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Magical Realism, Fantasy, Parenting

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Lincoln in the Bardo

by George Saunders

Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Grief, Death, Community, Forgiveness, Memory, Guilt, War, Fathers, Appearance & Reality

Tags Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Grief & Death, American Civil War, Religion & Spirituality, US History, Race & Racism, American Literature, World History

The novel Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders, published by Random House in 2017, offers a portrait of an American legend in mourning, surrounded by a poignant but funny cast of 166 characters. It is Saunders’s debut novel, though he has been a notable author of short story collections for decades. The novel won the prestigious Man Booker Prize and was a New York Times best seller.Set in 1862, Lincoln in the Bardo is... Read Lincoln in the Bardo Summary

Linked

by Gordon Korman

Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Race, Hate & Anger, Community

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Children`s Literature, Education, Education, World War II, Modern Classic Fiction

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Little Men

by Louisa May Alcott

Publication year 1871

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Education, Friendship, Coming of Age, Forgiveness, Joy, Love, Femininity, Masculinity, Childhood & Youth, Animals, Environment, Place, Mothers, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Community, Loyalty & Betrayal, Religion & Spirituality, Truth & Lies

Tags Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Children`s Literature

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Little Wonder

by Sophie Chen Keller

Publication year 2026

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Hope, Love, Memory, Coming of Age, Death, Climate, Environment, Place, Daughters & Sons, Mothers, Social Class, Community, Art, Equality, Music

Tags Literary Fiction

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Lives of the Saints

by Nino Ricci

Publication year 1990

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Coming of Age, Immigration, Femininity, Childhood & Youth, Mothers, Community, War, Religion & Spirituality

Tags Historical Fiction, Education, Education, Italian Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Canadian Literature, Classic Fiction

Lives of the Saints (1990) by Nino Ricci is the first in a trilogy of novels about an Italian immigrant to Canada, Vittorio Innocente, and his family. The author, Nino Ricci, is the son of Italian immigrants who grew up in Leamington, Ontario, home to a large community of Italian immigrants. The novel is a coming-of-age story told in first-person narration that details Vittorio’s life growing up in an impoverished small town in Italy, and... Read Lives of the Saints Summary

Lizzie Bright And The Buckminster Boy

by Gary D. Schmidt

Publication year 2004

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Fear, Grief, Race, Coming of Age, Friendship, Equality, Economics, Justice, Religion & Spirituality, Community, Power & Greed, Fathers, Daughters & Sons, Hate & Anger

Tags Historical Fiction, American Literature, Grief & Death, Race & Racism, Religion & Spirituality, Children`s Literature, Realistic Fiction, World History

Gary D. Schmidt’s Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy (2004), an historical novel for young adults, received the Newbery Honor in 2005. It is based on actual events occurring on Malaga Island, Maine in 1912, when the government of Maine placed the residents of the island in a mental hospital and tore down their homes.Turner Buckminster is the son of a reverend living in Phippsburg, Maine in 1912. Turner has just relocated to Phippsburg from... Read Lizzie Bright And The Buckminster Boy Summary

Locomotion

by Jacqueline Woodson

Publication year 2003

Genre Novel/Book in Verse, Fiction

Themes Family, Race, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Grief, Hope, Memory, Childhood & Youth, Animals, Friendship, Mothers, Siblings, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Education, Beauty, Literature, Order & Chaos, Religion & Spirituality, Trust & Doubt

Tags Realistic Fiction, African American Literature, Children`s Literature, Arts & Culture

Locomotion, Jacqueline Woodson’s 2003 novel in verse, follows the perspective of Lonnie Collins Motion, nicknamed Locomotion. After his parents die in a fire and his sister is adopted, Lonnie grieves and navigates life, first in a group home and then with Miss Edna, his foster mother. Through poetry, he slowly finds joy in life again, highlighting the themes of The Search for Identity and Belonging, The Healing Power of Writing, and The Enduring Support of... Read Locomotion Summary

Lone Survivor

by Marcus Luttrell, Patrick Robinson

Publication year 2007

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Memory, Community, Fear

Tags Military & War, Middle Eastern History, Iraq War, Action & Adventure, World History, Biography

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 (2007) is a military-themed memoir by former Navy SEAL, Marcus Luttrell, with the help of ghostwriter Patrick Robinson. Based on a 2005 mission in Afghanistan, the book examines the intricacies of warfare. The narrative explores themes such as valor, self-sacrifice, and the multifaceted nature of combat. The book became a New York Times bestseller and subsequently inspired a 2013... Read Lone Survivor Summary

Lone Women

by Victor Lavalle

Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Guilt, Femininity, Gender Identity, Race, Environment, Family, Community

Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, World History, Historical Fiction, Western, Fantasy

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Longbourn

by Jo Baker

Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Hope, Love, Femininity, Gender Identity, Race, Sexual Identity, Future, Family, Fathers, Marriage, Mothers, Social Class, Community, Beauty, Equality, Literature

Tags Historical Fiction, Romance, British Literature, World History, Regency Era

Longbourn (2013) is a work of fiction by British author Jo Baker, who is the author of several other novels of historical fiction and literary suspense. Longbourn depicts what life is like for the servants of the Bennet family of Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice. While events in Austen’s book frame this novel, Longbourn follows the inner lives of housemaid Sarah, housekeeper Mrs. Hill, and James Smith, the mysterious footman who shows up... Read Longbourn Summary

Long Day's Journey Into Night

by Eugene O'Neill

Publication year 1956

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Family, Community, Siblings, Midlife

Tags Education, Education, American Literature, World History, Dramatic Literature, Classic Fiction, Drama, Tragedy, Life-Inspired Fiction, Addiction & Substance Abuse

Long Day’s Journey into Night is widely considered Eugene O’Neill’s best play. It was published posthumously under the pseudonym Tyrone and is an autobiographical work about O’Neill’s family. The play was originally published in 1956 with a first showing in Sweden that same year. The play has been adapted into film several times, including productions in 1962 and 1996, as well as television adaptations in 1973, 1982, and 1987. O’Neill was awarded the Nobel Prize... Read Long Day's Journey Into Night Summary

Looking Backward

by Edward Bellamy

Publication year 1888

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Politics & Government, Science & Technology, Community

Tags Science Fiction, Philosophy, World History, Philosophy, Classic Fiction, Politics & Government

Looking Backward: 2000-1887 (1888) is a utopian science-fiction novel by Edward Bellamy. In 1887, Bellamy was a relatively unknown journalist and author from Massachusetts. However, after Looking Backward was published in 1888, he became famous. The novel is now considered the second best-selling American 19th-century novel after Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852). Like Stowe’s novel, it owed its popularity to an urgent call for social change—in this case, labor reform. The novel follows... Read Looking Backward Summary

Look What You Made Me Do

by John Lanchester

Publication year 2026

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Grief, Revenge, Shame & Pride, Language, Sexual Identity, Social Class, Community, Fame, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Truth & Lies

Tags Contemporary Literature, Domestic Fiction, Humor

Set among the affluent professional classes of contemporary London, the novel alternates between two first-person narrators, Kate and Phoebe, interspersed with screenplay excerpts from a fictional TV show called Cheating and a magazine profile of the show's writer. The layered structure reveals a chain of deceptions, grievances, and revenge spanning two generations.Kate Hittlestone opens the novel by describing the private language she shares with her husband Jack Hittlestone, an architect. Their catchphrase, a reference to... Read Look What You Made Me Do Summary

Lorne

by Susan Morrison

Publication year 2025

Genre Biography, Nonfiction

Themes Perseverance, Teamwork, Community, Politics & Government, Art, Fame, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies

Tags US History, Arts & Culture

... Read Lorne Summary