Publication year 2019
Genre Graphic Memoir , Nonfiction
Themes Gender Identity, Self Discovery, Sexual Identity, Family
Tags LGBTQ+, Gender & Feminism, Biography
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.
Gender Queer
Genesis Begins Again
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
George's Marvelous Medicine
Ghost
Ghosted
Ghosts
Ghosts
Ghosts
Ghost Squad
Giants in the Earth
Gilead
Girl in Pieces
Girl, Woman, Other
Glorious Rivals
Glory Over Everything
Glow of the Everflame
Go as a River
Go Ask Alice
God Grew Tired of Us
Publication year 2019
Genre Graphic Memoir , Nonfiction
Themes Gender Identity, Self Discovery, Sexual Identity, Family
Tags LGBTQ+, Gender & Feminism, Biography
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Race, Social Class, Family
Tags Realistic Fiction, Race & Racism, Poverty, Addiction & Substance Abuse, Children`s Literature, Modern Classic Fiction
Genesis Begins Again is a contemporary middle grade novel published in 2019 by Alicia Williams, a teacher and an author of children’s fiction and young adult books. Genesis Begins Again, Williams’s debut novel, was met with critical praise for exploring and adapting complex emotional themes such as colorism, addiction, and bullying for a younger audience. Genesis Begins Again was a finalist for the 2019 Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature and the recipient of the... Read Genesis Begins Again Summary
Publication year 2004
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Family
Tags World History, Military & War, Chinese Literature, Biography
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World is a nonfiction book divided into three parts and dealing with the early life and rise to power of Temujin, the man who would become known as Genghis Khan. The text details his conquests and the establishment of the Mongol Empire, and the changes undergone by the empire after his death, and up until its collapse. Throughout, Weatherford makes the argument that the Mongol Empire played... Read Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World Summary
Publication year 1981
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Aging, Childhood & Youth, Animals, Family, Mothers, Fathers
Tags Fantasy, Humor, Children`s Literature, Magical Realism, British Literature
Publication year 2016
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Teamwork, Childhood & Youth, Family
Tags Realistic Fiction, Children`s Literature, Sports, Modern Classic Fiction
Ghost is a 2016 novel by American author Jason Reynolds. Reynolds began his writing career as a poet and published his first novel, When I Was the Greatest, in 2014. Reynolds has won several accolades, including a Kirkus Prize, an NAACP Image Award, a Schneider Family Book Award, a Newbery Medal, and a Carnegie Medal. From 2020 to 2022, he was the Library of Congress’s National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, and he won the... Read Ghost Summary
Publication year 2018
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Love, Science & Technology, Family, Siblings
Tags Romance, Modern Classic Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense
Ghosted is British novelist Rosie Walsh’s first novel, published in 2018. After a career in television that included extensive travel, Walsh settled in the United Kingdom with her family, and Ghosted is set primarily in Gloucestershire and partially in other parts of England and Los Angeles, California. Released in the UK as The Man Who Didn’t Call and Ghosted in the United States, the novel addresses the phenomenon of “ghosting” in which a potential partner... Read Ghosted Summary
Publication year 1881
Genre Play, Fiction
Themes Truth & Lies, Religion & Spirituality, Family, Regret, Guilt, Shame & Pride, Femininity
Tags Drama, Psychological Fiction, Scandinavian Literature, Realism, Victorian Period, Dramatic Literature, Health, Religion & Spirituality, Finance, Love & Sexuality, Education, Education, World History, Classic Fiction
The play Ghosts (1881) by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen chronicles the complicated relationship between Helen Alving and her son, Oswald. Ghosts documents a day in the life at the Alving estate as Helen prepares to open an orphanage in honor of her late husband. A three-act play, Ghosts explores the complex social issues of sexually transmitted infections, incest, and euthanasia—topics that made the play highly controversial when it was first produced.Ghosts followed the success of... Read Ghosts Summary
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Memory, Love
Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Romance, Relationships, Gender & Feminism
Publication year 2016
Genre Graphic Novel/Book, Fiction
Themes Family, Religion & Spirituality, Siblings, Childhood & Youth
Tags Fantasy, Grief & Death, Science Fiction, Children`s Literature, Religion & Spirituality
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Friendship, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Grandparents
Tags Fantasy, Horror & Suspense, Action & Adventure, Science Fiction, Children`s Literature, Religion & Spirituality
Publication year 1925
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Environment, Family, Immigration, Religion & Spirituality
Tags Historical Fiction, Scandinavian Literature, Literary Fiction
O. E. Rølvaag’s epic historical novel Giants in the Earth was first published in Norwegian in two volumes in 1924 and 1925 before its acclaimed English translation appeared in 1927. The novel chronicles the harrowing journey of Per Hansa and his family, Norwegian immigrants who leave Minnesota to establish a homestead in the Dakota Territory in the 1870s. The story follows their intense struggle to survive and build a home on the vast, unforgiving prairie... Read Giants in the Earth Summary
Publication year 2004
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Death, Memory, Family, Daughters & Sons
Tags Historical Fiction, Christian, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, World History, Classic Fiction
Published in 2004, Gilead is Marilynne Robinson’s second novel and the first in the Gilead trilogy, which includes Home (2008) and Lila (2014). The story is written as a letter from dying Congregationalist minister John Ames to his young son. The letter is a bittersweet account of John’s life. With a slow, thoughtful pace and intimate tone, John shares past family memories and resolves an old personal grievance with his best friend’s son. As John... Read Gilead Summary
Publication year 2016
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Community, Family
Tags Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance, Mental Illness, Trauma & Abuse
Girl in Pieces is the New York Times bestselling young adult contemporary novel by Kathleen Glasgow originally published in 2016. It was a New York Public Library Best Book for Teens selection and Amelia Bloomer Project Award Selection. The novel explores a teen’s recovery journey from self-harm, exploring the roles of community, healthy patterns, and acceptance of dualities. Glasgow is also well-known for her other novels, including You'd Be Home Now (2021) and How to... Read Girl in Pieces Summary
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family
Tags Gender & Feminism, Race & Racism, LGBTQ+, Realistic Fiction, Women`s Studies, Modern Classic Fiction
Bernardine Evaristo’s polyphonic novel of modern Britain and womanhood, Girl, Woman, Other, won the 2019 Booker Prize. Evaristo was the first Black woman to receive this literary prize for books written in the English language. Employing an experimental, poetic form, the novel follows several generations of mainly Black, British women who interrogate the intersections of identity, Human Connectivity and Interdependence, Diaspora in Great Britain, and The Impact of Family Legacy. Girl, Woman, Other is Evaristo’s... Read Girl, Woman, Other Summary
Publication year 2025
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Forgiveness, Memory, The Past, Family, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Trust & Doubt
Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Romance, Horror & Suspense
Publication year 2016
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Race, Family, Truth & Lies
Tags Historical Fiction
Kathleen Grissom’s 2016 historical novel, Glory over Everything, is the sequel to her bestselling 2010 book The Kitchen House. The novel, which unfolds in nonlinear order and from multiple points of view, continues the story of James “Jamie” Pyke, a man of biracial heritage who, after killing his father to avoid enslavement, has spent two decades passing as a wealthy white silversmith in 1830s Philadelphia. However, his world is shattered when his young servant, Pan... Read Glory Over Everything Summary
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Coming of Age, Death, Family, Friendship, Social Class, Politics & Government
Tags Fantasy, Romance, New Adult, Action & Adventure
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Place, Mothers, Family, Coming of Age, Indigenous Identity
Tags Coming of Age, Race & Racism, Trauma & Abuse, World History, Historical Fiction, Romance
Publication year 1971
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Mental Health, Shame & Pride, Coming of Age, Family, Friendship, Self Discovery, Community, Justice, Truth & Lies
Tags Depression & Suicide, Addiction & Substance Abuse, Coming of Age, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Psychology, Psychology, Mental Illness, Classic Fiction
Initially advertised as an anonymous, true story of a teenage girl, Go Ask Alice (1971) by Beatrice Sparks is an epistolary novel, or a fictional work structured as a diary. The diary entries chronicle two years of a teen girl’s experience with social acceptance, family relationships, and drugs—primarily marijuana, LSD, and amphetamines. Although Beatrice Sparks initially claimed to be the diary’s editor, considerable evidence suggests that she’s the sole author of the fictional work. Nevertheless... Read Go Ask Alice Summary
Publication year 2007
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Family
Tags Military & War, Immigration & Refugeeism, History: African , World History, Biography
God Grew Tired of Us, published in 2007, is a Christian memoir that chronicles John Bul Dau’s 1,000-mile journey from his home village of Duk Payuel in Sudan to the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. This study guide refers to the 2008 first paperback printing edition.In the Introduction Dau states that although he is just one of thousands of Lost Boys, he wanted to tell his story in hope of using his education and experiences... Read God Grew Tired of Us Summary