Family

Leo Tolstoy famously begins the novel Anna Karenina with the sentence: "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." In this thematic collection, we have gathered noteworthy texts that navigate the joyous and sorrowful emotional terrain of the family unit.

Flipped

by Wendelin Van Draanen

Publication year 2001

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Perseverance, Love, Forgiveness, Childhood & Youth, Fathers, Family

Tags Romance, Humor, Children`s Literature, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction

Flipped is a contemporary young adult novel by Wendelin Van Draanen. The main characters, Juli Baker and Bryce Loski, are neighbors in Mayfield, a fictional American town. Now in eighth grade, the two protagonists reveal the story of their relationship in a dual narrative of alternating first-person chapters that recount how Juli “flips” for Bryce at a young age but later decides she is not interested…right around the time Bryce finally “flips” for Juli. The... Read Flipped Summary

Flora And Ulysses

by Kate DiCamillo

Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Friendship

Tags Humor, Children`s Literature, Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Animals

Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures is a middle-grade magical realism novel written by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by K. G. Campbell, and originally published in 2013. DiCamillo is a renowned middle-grade author who also wrote Because of Winn-Dixie and The Tale of Despereaux, among other books. Flora and Ulysses was the recipient of the John Newbery Medal for the Most Distinguished Contribution to American Literature for Children in 2014. It was also adapted into a... Read Flora And Ulysses Summary

Foe

by J. M. Coetzee

Publication year 1986

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Literature, Truth & Lies, Femininity

Tags Gender & Feminism, Historical Fiction, Education, Education, World History, Classic Fiction

Foe is a 1986 novel by J. M. Coetzee. Foe is a parallel novel, reimagining the story of Daniel Defoe’s 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe from the perspective of a shipwrecked woman named Susan Barton, who then tries to convince a fictionalized version of Defoe to write her story.This guide refers to the 2015 Penguin edition.Content Warning: The source material uses outdated, offensive terms for Black people throughout, which is replicated in this guide only in... Read Foe Summary

Force of Nature

by Jane Harper

Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Hate & Anger, Mental Health, Environment, Family, Justice, Power & Greed

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense

Force of Nature (2017) is a thriller by Australian author Jane Harper. Following The Dry (2016) and preceding Exiles (2022), it is the second in a three-book series of novels featuring federal investigator Aaron Falk. In this installment, Falk joins the state police in their investigation of a missing woman who has been a key point of contact for his investigation into possible embezzlement and fraud at a prominent accounting firm. While the woman’s fate... Read Force of Nature Summary

For One More Day

by Mitch Albom

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Music, Forgiveness, Memory, Fathers, Mothers, Family

Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Dramatic Literature, Inspirational, Fantasy, Self-Improvement

For One More Day, by Mitch Albom, tells the story of Charles “Chick” Benetto, a retired baseball player fallen on hard times. The story is framed by a prologue and epilogue where a narrator explains that they are telling the story from Chick’s perspective, “because I’m not sure you would believe this story if you didn’t hear it in his voice” (7). The book is comprised of short chapters told in the first person, and... Read For One More Day Summary

Forty Autumns

by Nina Willner

Publication year 2016

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Family, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, War

Tags European History, Cold War

Published in 2016, Forty Autumns is a work of narrative nonfiction by Nina Willner. A New York Times bestseller, this family memoir chronicles the true story of Willner’s family, which was divided for four decades by the Berlin Wall. It centers on the experience of Hanna, Willner’s mother, who made a daring escape from Soviet-occupied East Germany in 1948 to build a new life in America. Hanna’s parents and eight siblings remained behind the Iron... Read Forty Autumns Summary

Foster

by Claire Keegan

Publication year 2010

Genre Novella, Fiction

Themes Family, Grief, Childhood & Youth

Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Irish Literature

... Read Foster Summary

Foul Lady Fortune

by Chloe Gong

Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Nation, Good & Evil, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies, Trust & Doubt, Family

Tags Historical Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Asian History, Mystery & Crime Fiction, World History

... Read Foul Lady Fortune Summary

Four Eyes

by Rex Ogle

Publication year 2023

Genre Graphic Memoir , Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Gratitude, Childhood & Youth, Family, Friendship, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Education, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Truth & Lies

Tags Coming of Age, Bullying

... Read Four Eyes Summary

Four Perfect Pebbles

by Lila Perl, Marion Blumenthal Lazan

Publication year 1996

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Memory, Family, Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Gratitude, Grief, Hope, Love, Race, Death, The Past, Politics & Government, War, Good & Evil, Justice, Power & Greed, Religion & Spirituality, Safety & Danger

Tags World War II, Holocaust

Four Perfect Pebbles is a Holocaust memoir written by Marion Blumenthal Lazan and co-authored by Lila Perl. It was originally published in 1996, 51 years after Marion and her family were liberated from the death train by Russian troops in Nazi Germany. Marion was five years old when she and her family moved to a refugee camp in Holland, which was later converted into a transit camp for Auschwitz. The Blumenthals also lived at the... Read Four Perfect Pebbles Summary