Skyward (2018) is a young adult science fiction novel by Brandon Sanderson and is the first of four books in the Skyward series. In the world of the novel, a human population is trapped on a planet called Detritus and has organized a space force to battle aliens—Krell—in order to survive. The novel follows Spensa Nightshade, a young woman who also goes by the name of Spin and dreams of becoming a pilot in the... Read Skyward Summary

Slammed (2012), Colleen Hoover’s debut novel, is a romance featuring 18-year-old protagonist Layken “Lake” Cohen. Layken must navigate romantic feelings for her teacher and friend, 21-year-old Will Cooper, as well as her grief over her father’s death and mother’s terminal illness. The novel deals with grief, familial ties, artistic expression, and coming of age and was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards for Young Adult Fiction in 2012.Hoover has since published multiple best-selling novels, including... Read Slammed Summary

David Lubar’s young adult novel Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie (2005) was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults in 2006 and a BCCB Blue Ribbon Book. Lubar, a computer programmer-turned-author, has published many books for young readers, including Hidden Talents (1999) and the Weenies series.The story follows 14-year-old Scott Hudson as he navigates his first year of high school with both hilarious and tragic results. Lubar’s novel humorously addresses coming-of-age issues such as changing relationships... Read Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie Summary

Pete Hautman’s middle grade novel Slider (2017) follows the story of David Miller, a middle child who has an older sister with perfectionist tendencies and a younger brother with autism. As David works to pursue his competitive eating aspirations and repay an accidental charge on his mother’s credit card, the narrative explores The Importance of a Family Support System, The Consequences of Lying by Omission, and the complexities of Navigating Morally Ambiguous Scenarios. Pete Hautman’s... Read Slider Summary

Slob is a middle grade novel written by bestselling children’s book author Ellen Potter and released in 2009. Potter’s novel uses tropes from mystery fiction to highlight psychological issues of trauma and recovery as well as social issues such as childhood obesity and bullying culture within the context of an adolescent Bildungsroman, a novel of growth and identity development. This guide refers to the 2009 Penguin edition of the book.Content Warning: The source material features... Read Slob Summary

Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe is a middle grade novel by American author Jo Watson Hackl. Originally published in 2018, the book is Hackl’s writing debut. Although the novel is a work of fiction, it is partly based on Hackl’s own experiences growing up near Electric Mills, a ghost town in Mississippi. The real life of artist Walter Inglis Anderson (1903-1965) also inspired the character of Bob. Smack Dab in the Middle of... Read Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe Summary

Small as an Elephant is a middle grade realistic fiction novel written by Jennifer Richard Jacobson and originally published in 2011. In addition to writing, Jacobson teaches literacy workshops across the US. She grew up in Maine, which is the inspiration for the setting of many of her stories. Small as an Elephant examines several themes related to unstable attachment, support, and hardship. The novel received more than 10 awards, including the Maine Lupine Award... Read Small as an Elephant Summary

Adrienne Cecil Rich (1929—2012) is an American writer considered one of the pioneering feminists in American poetry. She provocatively wrote on a wide range of topics including the politics of sexuality, race, language, power, and women’s culture. Her works span 19 volumes of poetry, three collections of essays, and a revolutionary study of motherhood; she also edited influential lesbian-feminist journals, worked in academia, and was a lifelong activist. The kind of writing and thought leadership... Read Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law Summary

John Greenleaf Whittier’s “Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyl” (1866) is the poet’s first-person recollection of a massive two-day blizzard that socked in his family farm near the coastal Massachusetts village of Haverhill when the poet was only 10. Published when Whittier was approaching 60, the nearly 800-line poem captures with both idealistic and sentimental nostalgia the essence of New England rural life threatened by the onrush of industrialization. Crafted in carefully metered couplets that give the... Read Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyl Summary

Snow Crash is a 1992 cyberpunk novel by Neal Stephenson. The novel is set in post-collapse Los Angeles in an imagined version of the 21st century, in which a young man becomes embroiled in a criminal scheme involving technology. As well as being credited as a foundational text in the cyberpunk genre, Snow Crash was nominated for the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel and the Arthur C. Clarke Award. Stephenson was a relatively... Read Snow Crash Summary

Published in 2016, Joan Bauer’s young adult sports novel Soar tells the story of 12-year-old Jeremiah Lopper, a heart transplant recipient with an encyclopedic knowledge of baseball. When he and his adoptive father move to the baseball-obsessed town of Hillcrest, Ohio, Jeremiah finds the community reeling from a steroid scandal that has disgraced its celebrated high school team. Unable to play the game he loves due to his health, Jeremiah decides to channel his passion... Read Soar Summary

So Big, by Edna Ferber, is a 1924 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The novel tells the story of Selina Peake DeJong, a strong and resourceful woman who navigates the challenges of poverty and hardship to build a meaningful life for herself and her son, Dirk, in late-19th and early-20th-century Illinois. So Big has been adapted for film, television, and radio.This guide uses the 2024 Amazon edition of So Big.Content Warning: The source material and guide feature... Read So Big Summary

Published in 2004, Sarah Weeks’s middle grade novel So B. It follows 12-year-old protagonist Heidi as she sets out to discover the truth about her background and family. Heidi grows up not knowing her own birthday, her father’s name, or how she came to live in Reno, Nevada with her mentally disabled mother. When she finds an old roll of film from Mama’s past, the photos inspire her to begin a journey to uncover the... Read So B. It Summary

Socks by Beverly Cleary (1973) is a children’s novel about a cat’s journey through new situations and relationships as he works to find where he belongs among his human family. Socks received the William Allen White Award and the Golden Archer Award from the University of Wisconsin, and the book is characteristic of Cleary’s lighthearted stories about humans and animals learning to get along. Socks explores themes of Overcoming Struggles in Changing Relationships to Form... Read Socks Summary

Published in 2025, So Far Gone is a literary novel by American author Jess Walter. Walter, whose previous novels include Beautiful Ruins and The Cold Millions, draws from his experience as a journalist and lifelong resident of Spokane, Washington, to tell a story about contemporary American politics in the post-truth era.The novel begins when Rhys Kinnick, a retired journalist who fled to the woods seven years earlier, learns that his daughter, Bethany, has disappeared, leaving... Read So Far Gone Summary

“Soldier’s Home” is a short story first published in Ernest Hemingway’s 1925 debut collection In Our Time. The version discussed in this guide is from The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: The Finca Vigia Edition (Scribner, 2003).The story’s protagonist is Harold Krebs, a young man who returns home to Oklahoma after serving in World War I. It is one of many works by Hemingway, a WWI survivor, to show the impacts of the war... Read Soldier's Home Summary

Best-selling author Kristina McMorris’s historical fiction novel Sold on a Monday (2018) is inspired by a real life event: A photograph published in a 1948 magazine of four siblings standing on their apartment steps with their mother (who is trying to hide her face from the photographer), and a sign advertising the children for sale in the foreground. The overarching theme of the novel is how one person’s poor decision can have many unexpected, and... Read Sold on a Monday Summary

Solito: A Memoir (2022) by Salvadoran poet Javier Zamora follows Zamora’s immigration from El Salvador to the United States when he is nine years old. There, he will reunite with his parents, who immigrated to California years earlier. As the title suggests, Zamora uses Spanish throughout the text to highlight complex feelings of both loneliness and community. Solito was a New York Times bestseller and won numerous awards, including the Los Angeles Times Christopher Isherwood... Read Solito Summary

Solo, co-authored by Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess, was published in 2017 by Blink. The coming-of-age story follows 17-year-old Blade, the adopted son of a former rock star, as he discovers the truth of his parentage, meets his biological mother, and mends his relationship with his adoptive father. The paperback edition used for this study guide was published by Blink. Content Warning: The source text of this guide discusses substance use disorder and struggles... Read Solo Summary

So Long, See You Tomorrow is the acclaimed final novel by American writer and editor William Maxwell. Originally published in two parts in New Yorker magazine in 1979, the book appeared the following year and received the prestigious National Book Award in 1982. Maxwell was the fiction editor of the New Yorker from 1936 to 1975, making him one of the most influential literary editors of the era. He worked closely with J. D. Salinger... Read So Long, See You Tomorrow Summary