Morning Girl, published in 1992, is a short novel by Michael Dorris that offers a glimpse into the life of a Taíno family living in the Bahamas just before European contact in 1492. Dorris, an American anthropologist and writer, is known for his works exploring Indigenous cultures and experiences.The novel alternates between the perspectives of two siblings, Morning Girl, named for her love of waking up early, and Star Boy, her younger brother, who prefers... Read Morning Girl Summary

Mornings in Jenin is a historical novel that spans the years between 1941 and 2003 and is focused on the Israeli invasion and occupation of Palestine. The author, Susan Abulhawa, is the child of Palestinian refugees and was brought up in several countries, including the United States. She writes the novel from the points of view of several members of a Palestinian family who lose their land, home, and loved ones. The novel relates the... Read Mornings in Jenin Summary

Moses, Man of the Mountain is an allegorical novel by African-American author and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston. The novel reimagines the life of Moses and the biblical narrative of the Exodus from Egypt with several important changes, including the use of African American dialect, slang, and folklore. Throughout the novel, Hurston draws allegorical parallels between the enslavement of the Hebrew people in Egypt and the enslavement of people of African descent in the United States... Read Moses, Man of the Mountain Summary

Mother Mary Comes to Me (2025) is a memoir by Indian writer Arundhati Roy. It follows Roy from childhood into adulthood through the lens of her fraught relationship with her mother, Mary Roy. An educator in her native province of Kerala, Mary founds a highly regarded school and pioneers novel pedagogical strategies in her classes, becoming a pillar of the local community. There is a gulf, however, between Mary’s public persona and private personality. While... Read Mother Mary Comes to Me Summary

Drew Hayden Taylor, an Indigenous Canadian of the Anishinaabe nations, published Motorcycles & Sweetgrass in 2010. The narrative touches on elements common to Taylor’s other writing: the relationships of First Nations bands (tribes) to current authorities and governments and traditional Indigenous religious beliefs. The novel’s fable-like premise is that the trickster demigod Nanabush might have survived despite modern Indigenous peoples’ lack of belief.Taylor’s large body of work has received numerous awards: He is a noted... Read Motorcycles and Sweetgrass Summary

Mr. Dickens and His Carol is a 2017 historical fiction novel written by Samantha Silva. The novel depicts Charles Dickens’s journey of finding the right inspiration to write A Christmas Carol. The novel also explores how this creative journey transforms him as a person and helps him to heal his strained family relationships and friendships as well as his own trauma. Ultimately, he regains his appreciation for the Christmas spirit while befriending and forming a... Read Mr. Dickens And His Carol Summary

Mr. Popper’s Penguins is a children’s chapter book directed at readers in the third through fifth grades. Originally published in 1938, this classic story is told in the third person. It was inspired in 1932, when Richard and Florence Atwater brought their young daughters to see a documentary film about Richard E. Byrd’s Antarctic expedition. Richard Atwater announced that he would write a book about the subject, and this led to the story of a... Read Mr Popper's Penguins Summary

Mrs. Everything is a bestselling women’s fiction novel by Jennifer Weiner published in 2019. This “Best Book of Summer” pick traces the lives of two Jewish sisters, Jo and Bethie, who are polar opposites, and their relationship with their mother, Sarah, and Jo’s future daughters. The book follows Jo and Bethie from their childhood in the 1950s to present day (2022), chronicling their struggles to find authentic identities and joy. Though lesbian Jo is viewed... Read Mrs. Everything Summary

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH is a children’s science fiction novel written in 1971 by Robert C. O’Brien. It tells the story of a field mouse whose son becomes ill as moving day approaches, so she enlists the help of a group of highly intelligent experimental rats for help. Robert C. O’Brien was inspired to write the Rats of NIMH after a visit to the National Institute of Mental Health’s experimental rat compound... Read Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH Summary

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle was published in 1947. It was Betty MacDonald’s first novel for children; she had previously focused on comedic memoir. MacDonald had two children, Anne and Joan, and lived for many years in a small island community outside of Seattle where she interacted with neighbors’ children, as well as her own, frequently. These experiences inspired her to write Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle as well as three sequels. A middle-grade novel, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle centers on the eccentric... Read Mrs. Piggle Wiggle Summary

Mr. Stink is a 2009 children’s chapter book by British actor and author David Walliams. In the story, 12-year-old Chloe Crumb strikes up an unexpected friendship with Mr. Stink, an elderly man who is unhoused and lives in her town. Chloe offers Mr. Stink food and a place to stay in her garden shed, and Mr. Stink kindly tries to help her navigate her troubled school and family life. When Chloe’s politician mother discovers that... Read Mr Stink Summary

Mrs. Wiggins is a fiction novel written by acclaimed African American author Mary Monroe. In this first book in a series set in Lexington, Alabama during the Great Depression, Maggie Wiggins finds her life improved when she marries a preacher’s son, Hubert Wiggins, a closeted gay man, and pursues unconventional means to have a baby. As Claude grows into a handsome young man and becomes involved with a woman of whom his parents disapprove, Maggie... Read Mrs. Wiggins Summary

Mr. Wrong Number is a contemporary romance novel by Lynn Painter. The novel was originally published in March 2022 by Berkely, a division of Penguin Random House. Mr. Wrong Number is a contemporary reimagining of the 1998 film You’ve Got Mail starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. In the film, anonymous strangers meet and start talking in an AOL chat room. In Painter’s book, anonymous strangers start communicating via text message when Mr. Wrong Number... Read Mr. Wrong Number Summary

Mudbound is a 2008 novel by author Hillary Jordan. It is set in the southern delta of Mississippi in the years immediately following World War II. Over the course of the story, the fates of two intertwined families are irreversibly changed by a tragedy provoked by virulent racism. The novel explores themes of love, family, loyalty, duty, and the uneasy relationship African Americans have had with the South in the years following emancipation. As the... Read Mudbound Summary

Muggie Maggie is a 1990 early reader’s chapter book by renowned children’s book author Beverly Cleary. In the story, third grader Maggie Schultz is offended when her parents make light of her concerns about learning cursive writing. On a whim, Maggie decides to refuse to learn cursive and insists that it is useless since she can print and type. Maggie’s stubbornness about cursive exasperates her parents, teachers, classmates—and even herself. However, when Maggie becomes the... Read Muggie Maggie Summary

Murder by Cheesecake is a 2025 cozy mystery by Rachel Ekstrom Courage. Ekstrom Courage is also the author of YA thriller Nothing Bad Happens Here. The novel is the first in a series of novels featuring the four characters from the Golden Girls (1985-1992), a hit sitcom about four older roommates and their Miami adventures. In the novel, Rose, Blanche, Dorothy, and Sophia plan to host Rose’s family for a midwestern wedding in Miami, only... Read Murder by Cheesecake Summary

Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers (2025) is the fourth book by Pulitzer Prize-winning US author Caroline Fraser. Weaving together true crime journalism, environmental research, and personal narrative, Fraser argues that the violence of the 1970s is in large part attributable to passive exposure to toxic chemicals like lead and arsenic through groundwater and air pollution. Major themes in the book include The Dangers of Environmental Toxins, The Effects of Corporate... Read Murderland Summary

Musui’s Story is an autobiography of a lower-ranking Japanese samurai written by Kokichi Katsu after his retirement and was completed around 1843. This English-language edition was translated by Teruko Craig and published by the University of Arizona Press in 1988. Musui’s Story was initially released as a series in a Japanese journal in 1899-1900. The narrative takes place during the last days of the Tokugawa shogunate. The shogunate was the military government of feudal Japan... Read Musui's Story Summary

My Best Friend’s Exorcism (2016) is a young adult horror novel by Grady Hendrix. Set in 1980s Charleston, South Carolina, the novel explores the lifelong friendship between high school students Abby Rivers and Gretchen Lang. When Gretchen becomes possessed by a demon after a night of drinking and drug use, the girls’ friendship is put to the test. This guide refers to the paperback edition published by Quirk Books in 2017.Content Warning: My Best Friend’s... Read My Best Friend's Exorcism Summary

My Broken Language (2021) is a memoir by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes. Born to a white Jewish father and a Puerto Rican mother, Hudes grows up in her West Philly townhouse, surrounded by her mother’s aunts and cousins but unsure of her true place in the family. Frustrated with the inadequacies of both English and Spanish, Hudes begins a search for her own language, one that can describe the complexities of her multicultural existence. The... Read My Broken Language Summary