The Last Song (2009) is a contemporary coming-of-age romance novel by American author Nicholas Sparks, a celebrated writer of best-selling works such as The Notebook and A Walk to Remember that are often set in coastal North Carolina. Sparks developed the novel’s story alongside the screenplay for its 2010 film adaptation. The plot centers on a rebellious teenage girl forced to spend the summer with her estranged father, leading her to reconnect with her passion... Read The Last Song Summary

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The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta was published in 2011 and chronicles the lives of the residents of a small northeastern US town in the aftermath of a rapture-like event. Following the random disappearances of millions of people across the globe, the characters of The Leftovers seek various modes of coping with the grief of sudden death as well as the notion of being left behind in others’ absence. The Leftovers was adapted for television by... Read The Leftovers Summary

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The Lies of Locke Lamora, written by Scott Lynch and published in 2006, is the first entry in the Gentleman Bastards series. These novels mix caper stories and fantasy stories and include adventure, violence, dark humor, and intimate friendships. The Lies of Locke Lamora is an international best seller and was nominated for multiple awards. The other entries in the series are Red Seas Under Red Skies, The Republic of Thieves, and The Thorn of... Read The Lies of Locke Lamora Summary

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The Light Between Oceans is Australian writer M.L. Stedman’s debut novel, published in 2012 by Random House Australia. Categorized as historical fiction, the novel won various accolades, such as the Indie Book Awards Book of the Year in 2013. A film adaptation of The Light Between Oceans was released four years after the novel’s publication in 2016. All citations in this guide are based on the 2012 Scribner edition, accessed via Scribd.com.Plot SummaryIn 1918, after... Read The Light Between Oceans Summary

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The Little Friend (2002) is a Southern Gothic novel by Donna Tartt. Twelve-year-old protagonist Harriet Dufresnes, who lives in the small town of Alexandria, Mississippi, becomes obsessed with her brother Robin’s unsolved murder and her family’s mythical lost fortune and happiness. This coming-of-age novel traces Harriet’s attempts to discover and murder Robin’s killer, all while grappling with loss, revisionist history, secrets, and social tensions based on race, class, and gender.Donna Tartt became a success when... Read The Little Friend Summary

Nina George’s romance novel The Little Paris Bookshop was originally published in German in 2013 and was translated to English by Simon Pare in 2015. The story follows Jean Perdu, a bookseller, as he travels from Paris to Avignon on his floating bookstore, the Literary Apothecary. Perdu leaves Paris on a whim after receiving heartbreaking news about the death of his former lover. Perdu is joined in his travels by Max Jordan, a bestselling author... Read The Little Paris Bookshop Summary

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Irene Hunt’s 1976 middle grade novel The Lottery Rose focuses on a young boy named Georgie who hides the evidence of his abuse and neglect at the hands of his mother and her boyfriend, Steve. After Georgie wins a rosebush at his local grocery store, he becomes attached to the shrub and passionately cares for it. Georgie’s life changes when the court system places him in an all-boys Catholic school, where he meets adults who... Read The Lottery Rose Summary

Written by acclaimed American author Ann Patchett, The Magician’s Assistant is a piece of contemporary literature that explores life after grief, the nature of love, and the power of family dynamics. Told in two parts, one set in Los Angeles and the other in small-town Nebraska, the novel emphasizes the importance of setting and environment in the development of identity.The author of nine novels and the recipient of numerous awards, Ann Patchett is an outspoken... Read The Magician's Assistant Summary

The Man Who Loved Clowns by June Rae Wood is a young adult novel about a teenage girl, Delrita, who lives with her Uncle Punky, who has Down syndrome. Wood based the novel on her personal experience growing up with her brother, Richard, who had Down syndrome. The Man Who Loved Clowns was published in 1992 and won the Mark Twain Award in 1995. Wood published a sequel, Turtle on a Fence Post, in 1997.This... Read The Man Who Loved Clowns Summary

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Zeyn Joukhadar is a transgender Syrian American writer (also published under the name Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar). His first novel, The Map of Salt and Stars (2018), won the 2018 Middle East Book Award in Youth Literature and became a 2018 Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist in Historical Fiction. Comprising two interwoven narratives, the novel follows Nour, the present-day protagonist whose flight from a war-torn Syria parallels the journey of her imaginary heroine—Rawiya, a medieval mapmaker’s apprentice... Read The Map of Salt and Stars Summary

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline is a science fiction novel set in a post-apocalyptic Canada where climate devastation ravages the world and the Canadian government’s Recruiters hunt Natives for the dreams that are woven into their bone marrow. Millions have died in the wake of global warming, and those who remain have experienced such extensive trauma that they have lost the ability to dream. Dimaline describes a world plagued by natural disasters, with vivid descriptions... Read The Marrow Thieves Summary