Fear

Should we heed our fears, or work to overcome them? Suppress and ignore them, or face them head-on? Do we fight—or should we flight? These books unpack the universal human emotion of fear.

Sphere

by Michael Crichton

Publication year 1987

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Fear, Loneliness, Mental Health, Death, Animals, Appearance & Reality, Space, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Loyalty & Betrayal, Safety & Danger, Science & Technology, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies

Tags Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Action & Adventure

Sphere (1987) is a novel by best-selling author Michael Crichton, the sixth novel he released under his own name but his 16th novel overall. The novel follows protagonist Norman Johnson as he travels to the bottom of the ocean with a team of scientists to explore an unknown spacecraft. Inside the craft is a sphere that when entered enhances imagination and allows people to manifest reality from their unconscious mind. Sphere was made into a... Read Sphere Summary

Spy Camp

by Stuart Gibbs

Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Teamwork, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Fear, Trust & Doubt, Self Discovery

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Action & Adventure, Children`s Literature, Horror & Suspense, Realistic Fiction, Humor

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Spy School

by Stuart Gibbs

Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Death, Loyalty & Betrayal, Friendship, Community, Teamwork, Safety & Danger, Memory, Daughters & Sons, Science & Technology, Childhood & Youth, Education, Power & Greed, Shame & Pride, Fear, Order & Chaos, Trust & Doubt, Perseverance, Good & Evil, Justice, Politics & Government, Appearance & Reality, Truth & Lies, Conflict, Fathers, Loneliness

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Action & Adventure, Children`s Literature, Realistic Fiction, Humor

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Stargazing

by Jen Wang

Publication year 2019

Genre Graphic Novel/Book, Fiction

Themes Friendship, Self Discovery, Hope, Family, Community, Fear

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

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Starters

by Lissa Price

Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Aging, Siblings, Death, Social Class, Childhood & Youth, Community, Memory, Science & Technology, Future, The Past, Guilt, Family, Appearance & Reality, Trust & Doubt, Fear, Politics & Government, Power & Greed, Beauty, Truth & Lies, Good & Evil, Conflict

Tags Science Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Action & Adventure

Lissa Price’s Starters is a young adult science fiction novel set in the near future after the Spore Wars, during which biological weapons were used against the United States and wiped out much of the unvaccinated middle-aged population. As a result, many teens were left without families, and the elderly feared for their place in society. Starters without grandparents were barred from essentially every type of work. This led to teens being rounded up to... Read Starters Summary

Steelheart

by Brandon Sanderson

Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Power & Greed, Revenge, Fathers, Shame & Pride, Order & Chaos, Fear

Tags Fantasy, Science Fiction, Action & Adventure

Steelheart, a 2013 young adult sci-fi/fantasy novel by Brandon Sanderson, is the first installment of The Reckoners trilogy. The story takes place in dystopian Chicago, dubbed “Newcago,” which is overrun by evil superhumans called Epics and ruled by a functionally invulnerable tyrant named Steelheart. David Charleston, an 18-year-old boy whose father Steelheart killed 10 years before, joins a rebel group called the Reckoners hoping that they will help him take revenge on Steelheart. Borrowing elements... Read Steelheart Summary

Stone Cold

by Robert Swindells

Publication year 1993

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Friendship, Trust & Doubt, Equality, Apathy, Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Loneliness, Memory, Regret, Shame & Pride, Mental Health, Death, Family, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Economics, Politics & Government, Good & Evil, Justice, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Action & Adventure

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Strong Ground

by Brené Brown

Publication year 2025

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Fear, Gender Identity, Teamwork, Community, Science & Technology

Tags Leadership, Self-Improvement, Business & Economics

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Suite Francaise

by Irene Nemirovsky

Publication year 2004

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Safety & Danger, Fear, Family

Tags Historical Fiction, World War II, Holocaust, French Literature, Jewish Literature, Trauma & Abuse, Military & War, World History, Biography

Suite Française, by French-based Ukrainian writer Irène Némirovsky (born 1903), was published in the original French upon its discovery in 2004. However, Némirovsky started writing Suite in 1941, during the Nazi occupation of France, when those with a Jewish ethnic background like her faced persecution under the contemporary antisemitic regime. She and her husband, Michel Epstein, and their two young daughters, Denise and Élisabeth, had fled Paris for Issy-l’Évêque, a rural village in Burgundy. There... Read Suite Francaise Summary

Summer in the City

by Alex Aster

Publication year 2025

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, Conflict, Perseverance, Fear, Forgiveness, Grief, Guilt, Memory, Regret, Shame & Pride, Gender Identity, Death, Fathers, Mothers, Self Discovery, Social Class, Equality, Power & Greed, Trust & Doubt

Tags Romance

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Summerland

by Michael Chabon

Publication year 2002

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Childhood & Youth, Nature Versus Nurture, Daughters & Sons, Fathers, Friendship, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Good & Evil, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Religion & Spirituality, Truth & Lies, Wins & Losses

Tags Fantasy, Children`s Literature, Action & Adventure, Sports

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