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.

Our Town

by Thornton Wilder

Publication year 1938

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Death, Community, Family, Love

Tags American Literature, Classic Fiction, Drama, Coming of Age, Education, Education, Dramatic Literature, Historical Fiction

Our Town (1938) is a three-act play written by American playwright Thornton Wilder. Wilder served in both World War I and World War II and wrote honestly about life in America. He wrote several plays but considered Our Town to be his best work. It was performed for the first time in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1938. Wilder received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Our Town, and the play is widely considered to be... Read Our Town Summary

Outcasts United

by Warren St. John

Publication year 2009

Genre Biography, Nonfiction

Themes Teamwork, Immigration, Perseverance, Community, Politics & Government

Tags Sports, Sociology, Inspirational, Education, Education, Military & War, Biography

Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman’s Quest to Make a Difference (2007) is the second book by former New York Times journalist Warren St. John. It follows one season with the Fugees, a soccer team for refugee boys in Clarkston, Georgia. Weaving personal stories with local and international histories, St. John demonstrates The Value of Organized Sports for Young People and the systemic injustices preventing refugees from equal participation in... Read Outcasts United Summary

Outlawed

by Anna North

Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Community, Gender Identity, Justice

Tags Western, Action & Adventure, Coming of Age, Historical Fiction, LGBTQ+, Gender & Feminism, Love & Sexuality, American Literature, World History

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Out of Darkness

by Ashley Hope Pérez

Publication year 2015

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Race, Social Class, Fear, Hate & Anger, Hope, Love, Family, Siblings, Community, Justice, Religion & Spirituality, Femininity, Masculinity

Tags Historical Fiction, Romance, Trauma & Abuse, Realistic Fiction, Gender & Feminism, Grief & Death, US History, Love & Sexuality, Race & Racism, Religion & Spirituality, American Literature, Social Class, World History

Out of Darkness is a young adult historical novel written by Ashley Hope Pérez and published in 2015 by Holiday House of New York. Pérez holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from Indiana University, where her research focused on Latin American literature. A professor of World Literatures at Ohio State University, she is also the author of What Can’t Wait (2011), The Knife and The Butterfly (2012), and Rural Voices: 15 Authors Challenge Assumptions about... Read Out of Darkness 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

Out of the Easy

by Ruta Sepetys

Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Social Class, Friendship, Sexual Identity, Community, Safety & Danger, Daughters & Sons, Literature, Mothers, Family, Shame & Pride, Nature Versus Nurture, Fathers, Gender Identity, Appearance & Reality, Truth & Lies, Perseverance, Loneliness, Guilt, Hope

Tags Historical Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Southern Literature, Trauma & Abuse, World History, Romance

Out of the Easy, written by Ruta Sepetys and published in 2013, is a young adult historical fiction novel. Sepetys is an award-winning Lithuanian American writer of young adult historical fiction. Her honors include the Carnegie Medal, awarded to one work of children’s or young adult literature per year. Her novels are international best sellers and are widely translated. Out of the Easy is about Josie, a teenage girl living in the French Quarter of... Read Out of the Easy Summary

Paradise

by Toni Morrison

Publication year 1997

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Race, Gender Identity, Community, Fear

Tags Historical Fiction, African American Literature, Gender & Feminism, Magical Realism, Race & Racism, Love & Sexuality, Modern Classic Fiction, Classic Fiction

Toni Morrison’s novel Paradise was published in 1997, just a few years after she won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. According to Morrison, it is the last book of a trilogy that includes Beloved and Jazz. Morrison is an esteemed American novelist, having also received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1998) and the Coretta Scott King Award for Authors (2005), among other awards. She was educated at Howard University and Cornell University, and... Read Paradise Summary

Parzival

by Wolfram Von Eschenbach

Publication year 1215

Genre Novel/Book in Verse, Fiction

Themes Self Discovery, Community, Perseverance, Fame, Religion & Spirituality

Tags Classic Fiction, Narrative Poem, Mythology, Medieval, German Literature, Historical Fiction, Fantasy

Parzival is a medieval romance poem written by Wolfram von Eschenbach, likely written during the early 1200s. In the poem, a knight named Parzival searches for the Holy Grail. Commonly associated with the stories of King Arthur, Parzival is regarded as one of the most important verse poems of the medieval German period. The story has been adapted many times, notably as an opera named Parsifal by the composer Richard Wagner. This guide uses the... Read Parzival Summary

Patterns of Culture

by Ruth Benedict

Publication year 1934

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Community

Tags Anthropology, Education, Education, Anthropology, Science & Nature, Social Science, Arts & Culture, Sociology, World History, Philosophy, Philosophy, Classic Fiction

Patterns of Culture, originally published in 1934, is an anthropological text by Ruth Benedict. Translated into 14 languages and with three updated English editions, the book is considered a classic in American anthropology. This study guide uses the most recent, 2005 edition published by Mariner Books, which includes a foreword by Louise Lamphere, a preface by Margaret Mead, and an introduction by Franz Boas, the founding father of cultural anthropology.Benedict popularized the idea of cultural... Read Patterns of Culture Summary

Pedro Paramo

by Juan Rulfo

Publication year 1955

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Memory, Community, Religion & Spirituality, Grief, Justice, Power & Greed

Tags Latin American Literature, Classic Fiction, Magical Realism, Trauma & Abuse, Education, Education, World History, Fantasy

Pedro Paramo is a 1955 novel by Mexican author Juan Rulfo. In the novel, Juan Preciado returns to his mother’s hometown after her death to seek out his father. Rather than his father, he discovers a town populated by ghosts and traumatic memories. Pedro Paramo has been hailed as one of the most important novels of the 20th century and a vital foundation stone in the genre of magical realism. This guide uses the 2014... Read Pedro Paramo Summary

Penpal

by Dathan Auerbach

Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Fear, Guilt, Hope, Love, Memory, Childhood & Youth, Daughters & Sons, Family, Mothers, Community, Fate, Good & Evil, Justice, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense

... Read Penpal Summary

People Like Us

by David Brooks

Publication year 2003

Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction

Themes Community, Nation, Equality

Tags Diversity, Sociology

“People Like Us” was published in the September 2003 issue of The Atlantic Monthly. Using a series of examples to compare different areas of the United States, author and political commentator David Brooks argues that although America prides itself on being a diverse nation, its population actively self-segregates along multiple demographic lines.The essay begins by painting a picture of an unlikely community where “a black Pentecostal minister lives next to a white anti-globalization activist, who... Read People Like Us Summary

People of the Whale

by Linda Hogan

Publication year 2008

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Religion & Spirituality, Family, Apathy, Conflict, Guilt, Self Discovery, Community

Tags Historical Fiction, Vietnam War, Animals, Military & War, Modern Classic Fiction, Religion & Spirituality

... Read People of the Whale Summary

Perfect Peace

by Daniel Black

Publication year 2011

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Guilt, Regret, Gender Identity, Sexual Identity, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Daughters & Sons, Self Discovery, Community, Religion & Spirituality, Truth & Lies, Family

Tags Gender & Feminism, World History, Historical Fiction, LGBTQ+

... Read Perfect Peace Summary

Peter and the Starcatchers

by Dave Barry

Publication year 2004

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Colonialism, Teamwork, Loyalty & Betrayal, Friendship, Coming of Age, Childhood & Youth, Power & Greed, Community

Tags Fantasy, Fairy Tale & Folklore, Action & Adventure, Humor, Children`s Literature, Coming of Age, Relationships, Trauma & Abuse, Poverty, American Literature

... Read Peter and the Starcatchers 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