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.

Publication year 2016

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Natural World: Space & The Universe


Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Race, Society: Immigration, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Family

Tags Historical Fiction, Immigration / Refugee, Gender / Feminism, Race / Racism, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World


Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Marriage, Identity: Mental Health, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Relationships: Family

Tags Class, Modern Classic Fiction, Relationships


Publication year 2011

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family

Tags Children's Literature, Realistic Fiction, History: World, Historical Fiction

This is an overview of the first edition of Okay for Now, a humorous Young Adult novel by award-winning author, Gary D. Schmidt. Published in 2011, this children’s novel was nominated for the National Book Award for Young People’s literature. Other works by Schmidt include Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy (2004), The Wednesday Wars (2007), and The Labors of Hercules Beal (2023).Plot SummaryDoug Swieteck, a middle schooler, is the child of an abusive, alcoholic father... Read Okay for Now Summary


Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Society: Politics & Government, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Mothers, Identity: Sexuality, Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Society: Colonialism, Society: Economics

Tags Realistic Fiction, LGBTQ, Class, Finance / Money / Wealth, History: U.S., Natural Disaster, Parenting, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance


Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Marriage, Life/Time: Aging, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship

Tags Love / Sexuality, Grief / Death, Relationships, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2008

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Relationships: Family

Tags Modern Classic Fiction

Published in 2008, Olive Kitteridge is an unconventional novel by Elizabeth Strout that interlinks 13 tales about the people of Crosby, Maine. The novel is a collection of short stories tied together by the unifying element of titular character Olive Kitteridge. The novel won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and HBO created a mini-series of the book in 2014. Because of its construction, Strout’s novel is less about its plot than it is about... Read Olive Kitteridge Summary


Publication year 2003

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Family, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Aging, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Coming of Age

Tags Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Children's Literature, Relationships

Kevin Henkes is the author of Olive’s Ocean, a 2001 coming-of-age chapter book for young readers. Kevin has written and illustrated several books for children and young readers, including Waiting (1991) and The Year of Billy Miller (2013). Henkes was born in Wisconsin, and this Midwest state is the home of his character Billy Miller, as well as Martha Boyle, the 12-year-old protagonist in Olive’s Ocean. In the novel, Martha grapples with the sudden death... Read Olive's Ocean Summary


Publication year 2005

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Marriage, Life/Time: Aging, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Relationships: Mothers, Society: Class, Society: Community, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Siblings, Life/Time: Midlife, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Relationships: Friendship, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Values/Ideas: Art, Emotions/Behavior: Apathy, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Values/Ideas: Equality, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Identity: Masculinity, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Society: Education, Identity: Femininity, Self Discovery, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Identity: Gender, Emotions/Behavior: Hope

Tags British Literature, Race / Racism, Modern Classic Fiction

On Beauty by the celebrated British author Zadie Smith was published in 2005. On Beauty was shortlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize and won the Orange Prize for Fiction. Smith is known for writing novels and essays that analyze the intersections of identity in the contemporary world with nuance, clarity, and empathy. She is also known to be influenced by the classic English author E.M. Forster. On Beauty is loosely based on Forster’s masterpiece... Read On Beauty Summary


Publication year 2024

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Family, Society: Community, Society: Nation, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Biography, Politics / Government, Science / Nature, History: World, Health / Medicine


Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Siblings, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Natural World: Animals, Relationships: Family

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Animals, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Science / Nature, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 1990

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Society: Community

Tags Historical Fiction, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Classic Fiction

Once Were Warriors by Alan Duff is the first installment of a historical fiction trilogy originally published in 1990 that explores the lives of a Māori family in early 1990s New Zealand. In the first year of its publication, it won the PEN Best First Book award and was the runner-up for the Goodman Fielder Wattie Award. In 1994, Once Were Warriors was optioned and made into a movie of the same name, which won... Read Once Were Warriors Summary


Publication year 1969

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Family

Tags Science / Nature, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy, Self Help, Religion / Spirituality, Psychology, Grief / Death, Health / Medicine

On Death and Dying is a 1969 psychological study by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. It is best known in popular culture for introducing the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Kübler-Ross’s work with terminally ill patients inspired the model. She wrote the study as a response to the lack of instruction in medical schools about how to handle the topic of death. It was the very first book written by Kübler-Ross in her... Read On Death and Dying Summary


Publication year 2010

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Family

Tags Historical Fiction, Children's Literature, Realistic Fiction, History: World, Arts / Culture

One Crazy Summer, a Coretta Scott King Book Award winner and National Book Award nominee, is a historical novel for children that was published in 2009 by Rita Williams-Garcia. Other works by this author include P.S. Be Eleven, Like Sisters on the Homefront, and Clayton Byrd Goes Underground.This guide is based on the 2009 Amistad/HarperCollins Kindle edition. Set in 1968, the novel describes what happens when Delphine Gaither and her two younger sisters, Vonetta and... Read One Crazy Summer Summary


Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Self Discovery, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Emotions/Behavior: Fear

Tags Fantasy, Romance, Gothic Literature, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction


Publication year 2002

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Identity: Indigenous, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Place, Relationships: Family, Society: Colonialism, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Historical Fiction, Southern Gothic, Southern Literature, Gothic Literature

One Foot in Eden is a 2002 crime novel by Ron Rash. Rash employs a blend of Southern Gothic and detective fiction to create suspense and explore the psychological inner conflict of the characters. The novel follows five different narrators as the people of Jocassee, South Carolina, discover the murder of Holland Winchester. As the investigation continues, the characters must come to terms with the displacement of their community while Carolina Power evicts the inhabitants... Read One Foot in Eden Summary


Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Relationships: Family

Tags Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Realistic Fiction, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Parenting, Relationships, Children's Literature, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction

Lynda Mullaly Hunt’s middle-grade (young adult) contemporary novel One for the Murphys was published in 2012. It earned a Kirkus starred review and was a Scholastic Book Clubs Editor’s Choice.This guide references the 2012 edition from Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group. The novel explores the foster care system and the way that even its most positive experiences have a nuanced and complex effect on children in foster care. The story... Read One for the Murphys Summary


Publication year 1967

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Siblings, Relationships: Family, Society: War, Values/Ideas: Fate

Tags Magical Realism, Latin American Literature, Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fantasy

One Hundred Years of Solitude, first published in Spanish in 1967 as Cien años de soledad, is an internationally renowned and classic work of literature by Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez. The most highly regarded English version of the book is Gregory Rabassa’s translation, which was first published in 1970. This guide uses citations from the HarperPerennial Modern Classics Edition, which was released in 2006. García Márquez became the fourth Latin American winner of the... Read One Hundred Years of Solitude Summary


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Life/Time: The Future, Life/Time: The Past

Tags Romance, Southern Literature, Drama / Tragedy, Trauma / Abuse / Violence


Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Self Discovery

Tags Romance, Grief / Death, Love / Sexuality, Modern Classic Fiction, Drama / Tragedy