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.

Publication year 1994

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Society: Colonialism, Relationships: Family, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality

Tags Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Relationships, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Fantasy

The Grass Dancer (1994) is the debut novel by Susan Power, an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. This young adult novel is part of the magical realism genre. Using a nonlinear structure and overlapping narratives, Power slowly pieces together a story that links generations of Sioux families together in a complex and powerful way. The following material was gathered using a first edition copy of the text.Plot SummaryThe Prologue begins with Harley... Read The Grass Dancer Summary


Publication year 2008

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Friendship, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Fate, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness

Tags Fantasy, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Religion / Spirituality, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Children's Literature

In The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, an orphan boy is raised by ghosts in a cemetery, where he learns how to become invisible, haunt people’s dreams, and face his destiny. Published in 2008, this fantasy-adventure novel for middle-grade and young-adult readers became a #1 New York Times bestseller. It won the Newbery and Carnegie medals for best children’s book, the first time a work has received both awards. It also garnered a Hugo Award... Read The Graveyard Book Summary


Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Identity: Indigenous, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Environment, Self Discovery, Society: Community

Tags Fantasy, Action / Adventure, Animals


Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Race, Society: Colonialism, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice

Tags Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Historical Fiction


Publication year 1978

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality

Tags Realistic Fiction, Children's Literature, Classic Fiction

The Great Gilly Hopkins is a children's novel by Katherine Paterson. It is a work of realistic fiction and was published in 1978. The novel won the US National Book Award in 1979 and was named a Newberry Honor Book. The edition used in this guide is the Harper Trophy edition published by Harper Collins in 1978.Plot SummaryThis book is set in Thompson Park, Maryland in the 1970s. The protagonist is Gilly Hopkins, an 11-year-old... Read The Great Gilly Hopkins Summary


Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Society: Class, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Historical Fiction, Health / Medicine, British Literature, Children's Literature, Grief / Death, History: World

The Great Trouble: A Mystery of London, the Blue Death, and a Boy Called Eel (2013) is a middle grade historical fiction novel by American author Deborah Hopkinson. Hopkinson is a prolific writer of books for young readers and has published over 70 books, including biographies, picture books, middle grade historical fiction, and long-form nonfiction. The Great Trouble explores themes of class disparity and scientific inquiry and is set against the background of the 1854... Read The Great Trouble Summary


Publication year 2006

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Fathers, Self Discovery, Society: Community, Society: War, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Historical Fiction, WWII / World War II, Children's Literature, Military / War, Realistic Fiction, History: World

The Green Glass Sea is the 2006 children’s historical fiction and debut novel by American author Ellen Klages. Set in New Mexico in 1943, the story tells of 11-year-old Dewey Kerrigan, an outcast mechanical engineering prodigy who arrives to live with her father in the mysterious town of Los Alamos, New Mexico (also called the Hill). Dewey slowly learns that her father and several other scientists are working on a top-secret project called the “gadget.”... Read The Green Glass Sea Summary


Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Teams, Society: Community, Society: Economics, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction


Publication year 2007

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Gender, Relationships: Family, Society: Class, Society: Community, Society: Immigration, Society: Nation, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality

Tags Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Education, Education, Latin American Literature, American Literature, Arts / Culture


Publication year 1968

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Society: Community

Tags Magical Realism, Latin American Literature

“The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” is a short story written by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez. Originally published in 1968 and titled “El ahogado más hermoso del mundo,” the story is a work of magical realism, a genre that treats magical or fantastical elements as though they were normal, everyday occurrences.Set on a summer day in a small coastal village in South America, the story concerns the villagers’ reaction to the discovery of... Read The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World Summary


Publication year 1940

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Marriage, Society: Community, Society: Class

Tags Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Victorian Period, British Literature, American Literature, Southern Literature, Southern Gothic

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940) is a Southern Gothic novel written by Carson McCullers, one of the most prominent American literary voices of the 20th century. Set in a small unnamed town, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter captures the spiritual isolation and loneliness of five ordinary people in the deep American South in the 1930s. McCullers is known for her contributions to the development of the Southern Gothic subgenre, and her novels... Read The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter Summary


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Race, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Relationships: Friendship, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Identity: Disability, Values/Ideas: Equality, Society: Class, Emotions/Behavior: Courage

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, History: World, Historical Fiction


Publication year 2008

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: The Future, Life/Time: The Past, Natural World: Food, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Mothers, Society: Colonialism, Society: Community, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Fate, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Historical Fiction, History: U.S.

The Heretic’s Daughter (2008) is the debut novel of author Kathleen Kent. Upon publication, it immediately made the New York Times bestseller list. Kent followed this title with two other best-selling historical fiction works: The Traitor’s Wife (2010) and The Outcasts (2013). She also wrote a crime fiction trilogy that was nominated for an Edgar Award. A resident of Texas, Kent was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters in 2020 for her contribution to... Read The Heretic's Daughter Summary


Publication year 2005

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Literature, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Fathers

Tags Romance, Historical Fiction, Jewish Literature, Love / Sexuality, Modern Classic Fiction

The History of Love (2005) is a novel by American writer Nicole Krauss. The book, Krauss’s second novel, was awarded the 2008 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing and was a finalist for the 2006 Orange Prize for Fiction. It is a novel about the intersection of love, loneliness, language, and literature, as three characters are connected by a mysterious book called The History of Love. The novel plays with postmodern techniques like fragmentation and... Read The History of Love Summary


Publication year 1759

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Gratitude, Emotions/Behavior: Joy, Society: Community

Tags Classic Fiction, Education, Education, History: World, Historical Fiction, Philosophy, Allegory / Fable / Parable, Philosophy, British Literature

Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia, a philosophical novel by Samuel Johnson, was first published in 1759. Johnson, an English writer, lexicographer, and moralist, leveraged his intellectual background to explore themes of human nature, happiness, and the pursuit of fulfillment in this work. Published in the Enlightenment era, the novel belongs to the genre of philosophical fiction and delves into the existential musings of Prince Rasselas of Abyssinia (an area roughly corresponding to modern-day Eritrea and Ethiopia... Read The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia Summary


Publication year 1976

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Sexuality, Identity: Mental Health, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Society: Community

Tags Sociology, Philosophy, Love / Sexuality, Psychology, LGBTQ, Post Modernism, Education, Education, French Literature, History: World, Psychology, Philosophy

Michel Foucault was a French philosopher and theorist whose most significant works were first published in the 1960s and 1970s. Throughout his career, he examined the mechanisms of power and challenged accepted historical narratives, working to show how institutional power shapes the field of possible knowledge to its own advantage. The History of Sexuality, published in three volumes between 1976 and 1984—with a fourth volume published posthumously, in draft form, in 2018—examines the development of... Read The History of Sexuality Summary


Publication year 1991

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Society: Education, Society: Community, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger

Tags Satire, Narrative / Epic Poem, Modernism, Humor


Publication year 1964

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Identity: Masculinity, Life/Time: Aging, Society: Class, Society: Community, Identity: Gender

Tags Play: Drama, Psychological Fiction, Education, Education, British Literature, History: World, Drama / Tragedy, Classic Fiction


Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Life/Time: The Past, Society: Community

Tags Romance, Historical Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Religion / Spirituality


Publication year 1994

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Society: Globalization, Society: Community

Tags Science / Nature, Health / Medicine, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, History: World

The Hot Zone by Richard Preston is a non-fiction thriller, published in 1994, two years after his article “Crisis in the Hot Zone” appeared in The New Yorker. Preston writes often on Ebola, bioweapons, and emerging viruses. The Hot Zone deals with the breaking of Ebola into the human species and a 1989 incident in which an Ebola-like virus, the Reston virus, sweeps through a monkey quarantine facility outside of Washington, DC. The book served... Read The Hot Zone Summary