Publication year 2021
Genre Graphic Novel/Book, Fiction
Themes Family, Coming of Age, Forgiveness, Love, Gender Identity, Sexual Identity, Environment, Siblings, Self Discovery, Community, Truth & Lies
Tags Romance
Forgiveness
"To err is human, to forgive divine," wrote poet Alexander Pope, suggesting that to forgive is sacred but also difficult—even impossible—for us mortals. This study guide collection gathers together texts with themes on the merits and challenges of forgiveness.
The Girl from the Sea
The Girls in the Garden
The Goblin Emperor
The Golden Bowl
The Great Divorce
The Great Greene Heist
The Guardians
The Help
The Hero's Walk
The Hidden Oracle
The Historian
The Hundred Dresses
The Hunting Party
The Identicals
The Island of Sea Women
The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything
The Kitchen Boy
The Lake
The Language of Flowers
The Last of the Moon Girls
Publication year 2021
Genre Graphic Novel/Book, Fiction
Themes Family, Coming of Age, Forgiveness, Love, Gender Identity, Sexual Identity, Environment, Siblings, Self Discovery, Community, Truth & Lies
Tags Romance
Publication year 2016
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Forgiveness, Mental Health, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Appearance & Reality, Family, Siblings, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Truth & Lies
Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2014
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Race, Power & Greed, Forgiveness, Coming of Age, Family, Self Discovery, Social Class, Politics & Government
Tags Fantasy, Science Fiction, Leadership
Publication year 1904
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Marriage, Loyalty & Betrayal, Forgiveness, Grief, Guilt, Loneliness, Love, Shame & Pride, Midlife, Future, The Past, Appearance & Reality, Fathers, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Power & Greed, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies
Tags Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction, American Literature, US History, World History
The Golden Bowl is a 1904 novel by Henry James. The novel explores the intricacies of marriage and affairs in the early 19th century through the affair of Amerigo and Charlotte, who were once in love but too poor to marry. Amerigo instead marries Maggie, and Charlotte marries Maggie’s father, a wealthy American museum curator. While Amerigo is at first happy with his new wife, the time she spends with her father creates an opportunity... Read The Golden Bowl Summary
Publication year 1945
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Fear, Forgiveness, Love, Grief, Good & Evil, Religion & Spirituality, Trust & Doubt, Order & Chaos
Tags Symbolic Narrative, Christian, Religion & Spirituality, Fantasy, Philosophy, Philosophy, Classic Fiction
C.S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce, first published in serial form in 1945 and as a novel the following year, explores an unnamed narrator’s experiences in Heaven and Hell. Although Lewis is best known for his contribution to children’s literature in The Chronicles of Narnia series, he also wrote many works of adult fiction and nonfiction. Almost all of his published work is either explicitly or implicitly religious in nature; many of his nonfiction works are... Read The Great Divorce Summary
Publication year 2014
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Forgiveness, Revenge, Childhood & Youth, Friendship, Teamwork, Politics & Government, Equality, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Power & Greed, Truth & Lies, Trust & Doubt, Science & Technology
Tags Realistic Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Humor, Action & Adventure, Children`s Literature, Arts & Culture, Modern Classic Fiction
The Great Greene Heist is a middle grade novel by Varian Johnson that follows Jackson Greene, a middle school boy and nearly reformed prankster, who tries to win his crush through hijinks. The novel was named Publisher’s Best Summer Book of 2014, ALA ALSC Notable Children’s Book in 2015, and received a Kirkus Star Review. Johnson published the sequel To Catch a Cheat in 2016. Johnson is also the author of The Parker Inheritance, which... Read The Great Greene Heist Summary
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Justice, Forgiveness, Perseverance, Conflict, Equality, Truth & Lies, Power & Greed, Politics & Government
Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Crime & Law, Social Justice, Race & Racism, Incarceration, Politics & Government
Publication year 2009
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Forgiveness, Race, Justice
Tags Historical Fiction, Race & Racism, Trauma & Abuse, Civil Rights & Jim Crow South, US History, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, World History
The Help is a 2009 novel by American novelist Kathryn Stockett. Set during the early 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi, it focuses on the lives of Black maids working in white households during the civil rights movement. Praised for its unflinching depiction of the lives of these women combined with a pointed sense of humor, The Help went on to be a massive bestseller, selling over five million copies and spending more than a hundred weeks... Read The Help Summary
Publication year 2000
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Forgiveness
Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Asian Literature, Indian Literature, Canadian Literature
The Hero’s Walk (2000) is a novel by Anita Rau Badami. It won the Regional Commonwealth Writers Prize, Italy’s Premio Berto, and was longlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction, as well as a finalist for the Kiriyama Prize.Plot SummaryThe novel takes place in the fictional town of Torturpuram, near Madras, in southern India. It is the middle of July, and Sripathi Rao is on the balcony of... Read The Hero's Walk Summary
Publication year 2005
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Forgiveness, Grief, Hate & Anger, Revenge, Coming of Age, Death, The Past, Family, Politics & Government, War, Good & Evil, Power & Greed, Religion & Spirituality
Tags Horror & Suspense, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Gothic Literature, Science Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, World History, Religion & Spirituality
The Historian (2005), Elizabeth Kostova’s best-selling novel, blends fact and fiction to reinvent the myth of the iconic vampire Dracula, or Vlad Ţepeş. In this retelling, the unnamed narrator accompanies her ambassador father, Paul, across Europe in the early 1970s as he tells her the story of his near encounter with the vampire. He tells her the Prince of Wallachia lives, 500 years after his death. Paul’s mentor, Dr. Rossi, was conducting research on Dracula... Read The Historian Summary
Publication year 1944
Genre Novella, Fiction
Themes Childhood & Youth, Forgiveness, Guilt
Tags Classic Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Children`s Literature, Bullying
The Hundred Dresses is a children’s book by Eleanor Estes that was originally published in 1944. It includes pen-and-ink illustrations by Louis Slobodkin. In 1945, it was awarded the Newbery Honor, and it continues to be a popular book in elementary schools. A 2004 survey of third-grade teachers found that the book was a popular choice for reading aloud in the classroom, and a 2007 survey by the National Education Association named it one of... Read The Hundred Dresses Summary
Publication year 2018
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Revenge, Fear, Conflict, Forgiveness, Loneliness, Loyalty & Betrayal, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies, Friendship
Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Psychological Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2017
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Siblings, Forgiveness, Conflict, Grief, Guilt, Love, Death
Tags Romance
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes The Past, Friendship, Forgiveness, Hate & Anger
Tags Historical Fiction, Korean War, Post-War Era, Korean Literature, Asian Literature, Military & War, Asian Literature, World History
The Island of Sea Woman (March 2019) is the most recent title by New York Times bestselling author Lisa See. It is classified in the categories of Historical Asian Fiction and Asian American Literature. Many of See’s books discuss the Chinese immigrant experience in America; her paternal great-grandfather was Chinese, and this family history has had a great influence on her historical fiction. See’s books have been published in 39 languages, and she has been... Read The Island of Sea Women Summary
Publication year 2010
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Religion & Spirituality, Trust & Doubt, Good & Evil, Wins & Losses, Forgiveness, Love, Perseverance, Education
Tags Religion & Spirituality, Self-Improvement, Christian, Philosophy, Philosophy
The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life by Father James Martin was published in 2010. The book is an accessible introduction to Ignatian spirituality, a famous Catholic devotional practice developed in the 16th century by St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. Father Martin, who left a career in corporate finance to become a Jesuit priest, is a prolific and popular writer on Catholic topics. He is an editor-at-large... Read The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything Summary
Publication year 2003
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Memory, Guilt, Loyalty & Betrayal, The Past, Forgiveness, Truth & Lies
Tags Historical Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Politics & Government, Russian Literature, World History, European History
The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar (2003) is a historical fiction novel detailing the fate of the Romanovs by Robert Alexander (a pen name for Robert Zimmerman). Although Alexander is American, he spent decades in Russia. He attended Leningrad State University and, afterward, ran various businesses in St. Petersburg. As such, he has personal experience with Russian culture. He wrote several historical fiction novels that take place during the Russian Revolution—including Rasputin’s... Read The Kitchen Boy Summary
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Fear, Forgiveness, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Nostalgia, Mental Health, Death, Appearance & Reality, Friendship, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies
Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Trauma & Abuse
Publication year 2011
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Love, Family, Forgiveness, Community, Childhood & Youth, Guilt
Tags Parenting, Coming of Age, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance
The Language of Flowers (2011) is the debut novel of Vanessa Diffenbaugh. This fictional story follows Victoria Jones, a foster care child who is legally emancipated at the age of 18 and communicates primarily through the language of flowers. Diffenbaugh was inspired by the informational text Language of Flowers by Kate Greenaway, which outlined the use of secret messages delivered via bouquet during the Victorian Era. Diffenbaugh studied creative writing and education at Stanford University... Read The Language of Flowers Summary
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Forgiveness, Grief, Hate & Anger, Love, Gender Identity, Grandparents, Mothers, Self Discovery, Equality, Religion & Spirituality
Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Magical Realism