Book DetailRestart is a 2017 standalone novel by best-selling children and young adult author Gordon Korman. The book follows protagonist Chase Ambrose as he grapples with the effects of amnesia. In the process, Chase develops new friendships and understands his own past bullying behavior from a new perspective. The print edition became a New York Times best seller, and the audiobook won the Audible Audie Award for Multi-Voiced Performance.Major ThemesThough Korman is well-known for his... Read Restart Summary

Rich People Problems, a contemporary romantic comedy of manners, was published in 2017. It is the third and final book in Kevin Kwan’s “Crazy Rich Asians” trilogy, which includes the first installment, the eponymous Crazy Rich Asians (2013), and the second, China Rich Girlfriend (2015). Crazy Rich Asians was adapted into a film, released in 2018 and starring Constance Wu and Michelle Yeoh. The film was a box-office success.Plot SummaryRich People Problems opens with the... Read Rich People Problems Summary

Rodrick Rules is a 2008 middle grade graphic novel by American children’s author Jeff Kinney. The book is the second installment in the bestselling Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, and the sequel to Kinney’s first graphic novel in the series. Written in the same journal format as its predecessor, the story spans from September to December and focuses on the protagonist Greg Heffley’s relationship with his older brother Rodrick. Following an embarrassing incident that... Read Rodrick Rules Summary

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld is a contemporary romance published in 2023. It is an instant New York Times bestseller and a selection for Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club.Curtis Sittenfeld is the best-selling author of eight novels, including the teen classic Prep (2005), Eligible (2016), which is a modern-day retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and two fictional novels reimagining the lives of two former US first ladies, Rodham (2020) and American Wife (2008).In Romantic... Read Romantic Comedy Summary

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is a three-act play by the English playwright Tom Stoppard. It is an existentialist, absurdist satire featuring characters and events from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. First performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1966, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead enjoyed critical success, winning The New York Drama Critics’ Circle’s Award for Best Play and four Tony Awards in 1968. Since then, the play has been adapted into several radio plays and a... Read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead Summary

Roughing It (1872) is the second major work by American humorist Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens). It recounts his experiences during the Nevada silver rush of the 1860s. After his failed attempts to make a fortune as a miner, Twain would later achieve prominence as a lecturer and writer. He initially drew acclaim for his fanciful short story entitled “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” (1865). His best-known titles include The Innocents Abroad (1869)... Read Roughing It Summary

Rules Of The Road is a contemporary young adult novel by established author Joan Bauer, first published in 1998. It is the first book in the Rules of the Road series. The second book, Best Foot Forward, was published in 2005. Joan Bauer’s own complicated childhood with an alcohol-addicted father inspired Rules of the Road, which was met with critical acclaim. It won both the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the Golden Kite Award... Read Rules of the Road Summary

Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs was first published in 2002 as a memoir. After several of the figures it features sued for defamation and dishonesty of its claims, however, it was recategorized as a book. It can also be classified as a bildungsroman since it follows the adolescent growth of its narrator and protagonist. Running with Scissors was adapted into a feature film in 2006.Other works by this author include Dry and A Wolf... Read Running With Scissors Summary

Carlos Hernandez, a first-generation Cuban American author, published Sal and Gabi Break the Universe in 2019 to critical acclaim. A sequel, Sal and Gabi Fix the Universe, was published in 2020. It won the Pura Belpré award in 2020 for portraying and celebrating the Latino cultural experience in children’s literature. The story follows the adventures of Sal Vidón as he navigates a new school and the ability to manipulate the multiverse. Sal’s exploits explore the... Read Sal and Gabi Break the Universe Summary

Originally published in 1998, Wendelin Van Draanen’s Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief is the first book in a middle grade mystery series that introduces Sammy Keyes, a sharp-witted, curious, and mischievous 13-year-old detective. Sammy’s life takes an unexpected turn when, using her binoculars, she witnesses a burglary in progress at the hotel across the street from her grandmother’s apartment. Determined to uncover the thief’s identity, she finds herself navigating a web of danger, clues... Read Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief Summary

Sandwich (2024) is American author Catherine Newman’s second novel. It follows the novel We All Want Impossible Things (2022) as well as the memoirs Catastrophic Happiness (2016) and Waiting for Birdy (2005). Additionally, Newman is the author of the middle grade novel One Mixed-Up Night (2017) and the best-selling “how-to” books for young readers How to Be a Person (2020) and What Can I Say? (2022). Sandwich chronicles a yearly, weeklong vacation to Cape Cod... Read Sandwich Summary

Say You’ll Remember Me is a contemporary romance novel by Abby Jimenez, a #1 New York Times best-selling author. The novel follows the developing relationship between veterinarian Dr. Xavier Rush and social media manager Samantha Diaz as they navigate a long-distance relationship while Samantha cares for her mother with early-onset dementia. The narrative explores themes including The Interplay of Memory, Identity, and Connection, Navigating the Burdens and Sacrifices of Caregiving, and Reconciling Idealism With the... Read Say You'll Remember Me Summary

Carl Hiaasen’s Scat! is a young adult thriller with a comic tone and an environmental message. Nick Waters and his best friend, Marta Gonzalez, are students at the private Truman School in Naples, Florida. When their biology teacher, Mrs. Bunny Starch, disappears, the two students are drawn into a conflict between a ruthless oil company and an informal band of environmentalists bent on protecting the breeding grounds of an endangered Florida panther and her cub. The... Read Scat Summary

Canadian author Gordon Korman’s middle-grade novel, Schooled, was published in 2007. The coming-of-age novel follows 13-year-old Capricorn Anderson after he leaves the commune on which he was homeschooled by his grandmother, Rain, to live with a foster family and attend public school while Rain recovers from an accident. With no knowledge of the outside world, Capricorn struggles to fit into his new middle school, learning lessons about how rules and norms govern society and how... Read Schooled Summary

Scrawl (2010) is a young adult novel by American author Mark Shulman, who has written more than 200 books for young readers. Scrawl follows a young teenage bully, Tod Munn, and his experience in detention where he is required by a guidance counselor to write about himself in a journal. In the journal, Tod describes his struggles with coming from a low-income family, low self-esteem, and his problematic behavior at school. The novel was a... Read Scrawl Summary

Second First Impressions (2021) is a contemporary romantic comedy by Australian author Sally Thorne. Thorne is a USA Today best-selling author, known for her popular debut novel, The Hating Game, which was later adapted into a feature film. Her work often employs popular genre conventions, including the opposites-attract dynamic. In Second First Impressions, a cautious 25-year-old retirement village manager finds her orderly life disrupted by the arrival of the charming and chaotic son of the... Read Second First Impressions Summary

Kevin Kwan’s 2020 Sex and Vanity is a contemporary retelling of E. M. Forster’s 1908 novel A Room With a View. Kwan borrows the approximate names, settings, and narrative circumstances of Forster’s British classic and recontextualizes them within contemporary American high society and culture. The novel is a work of satire that comments upon the excess, exclusivity, and privilege of the ultra-wealthy. These themes and scenarios are hallmarks of Kwan’s writing. He explores similar sociopolitical... Read Sex and Vanity Summary

She Stoops to Conquer is a play by British writer Oliver Goldsmith, first performed in 1773. The play is a comedy of manners and a romance set in 18th-century England. Goldsmith was an Anglo-Irish poet and dramatist and this play is his most popular and well-known work, with performances still regularly occurring in the 21st century. In 1778, John O'Keeffe wrote a successful sequel to the play, entitled Tony Lumpkin in Town. She Stoops to... Read She Stoops to Conquer Summary

Short by Holly Goldberg Sloan is the story of a young girl’s summer as a Munchkin and flying monkey in a local production of the musical The Wizard of Oz. Holly Goldberg Sloan is an award-winning children’s author (Counting by 7’s, To Night Owl from Dogfish) as well as a playwright (Angels in the Outfield, Made in America) and director (The Big Green). Published in 2017, Short is a Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) award-winning... Read Short Summary

American author Louis Sachar published his middle-grade humor novel Sideways Stories from Wayside School in 1978. Sachar has published over 20 books for children and young adults, and Sachar received the National Book Award and a Newbery Medal for his book Holes, published in 1998.Sideways Stories is the first in the Wayside School series, followed by Wayside School is Falling Down (1989); Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger (1995); and Wayside School Beneath the Cloud... Read Sideways Stories from Wayside School Summary