Memory

In many ways, who we are is shaped by what we remember, yet our recollections aren't always a reliable account of the past. This collection gathers texts that explore the ideas, theories, and challenges conjured by memory.

Publication year 2009

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Self Discovery

Tags Religion / Spirituality, Self Help, Biography, Memoir / Autobiography, Depression / Suicide


Publication year 1928

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: Aging


Publication year 2011

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose

Tags Fantasy, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Grief / Death, Children's Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Magical Realism, Religion / Spirituality

A Monster Calls (2011) was written by Patrick Ness, illustrated by Jim Kay, and the original idea for the novel is credited to the late Siobhan Dowd. Ness wrote the novel in Dowd’s memory after she passed away in 2007 from breast cancer. Set in present-day England, A Monster Calls is a young adult fantasy novel that explores topics of terminal illness, grief, death, anger, and the grieving process through the eyes of a child;... Read A Monster Calls Summary


Publication year 1949

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Relationships: Marriage

Tags Lyric Poem, Free verse, Relationships


Publication year 2015

Genre Novella, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Emotions/Behavior: Memory

Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Literary Fiction, Scandinavian Literature, Contemporary Literature


Publication year 1989

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Natural World: Environment, Emotions/Behavior: Memory

Tags Historical Fiction, Natural Disaster, Education, Education, Classic Fiction

Isabel Allende’s “And of Clay Are We Created” is the final piece in her short story collection The Stories of Eva Luna. The collection, originally published in 1989 and printed in English in 1991, chronicles the tales that the writer Eva Luna tells her lover Rolf Carlé as they rest in bed. Allende fashions Eva Luna after Scheherazade, a key character in the framing narrative for the multi-tale Middle Eastern epic One Thousand and One... Read And of Clay Are We Created Summary


Publication year 1939

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Values/Ideas: Fate, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: The Past, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Identity: Gender, Identity: Masculinity, Identity: Femininity, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Emotions/Behavior: Apathy, Society: Colonialism

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Modernism, Classic Fiction

Published in 1939, And Then There Were None is a mystery novel by Agatha Christie, best-selling novelist of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. With over 100 million copies sold, And Then There Were None is the world’s best-selling crime novel as well as one of the best-selling books of all time. It has had more adaptations than any other work by Agatha Christie, including television programs, films, radio broadcasts, and most... Read And Then There Were None Summary


Publication year 2013

Genre Short Story Collection, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Identity: Disability, Identity: Femininity, Identity: Gender, Identity: Mental Health, Relationships: Siblings, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Humor


Publication year 2000

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Relationships: Marriage, Emotions/Behavior: Memory

Tags Romance, Drama / Tragedy


Publication year 1955

Genre Biography, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Society: Class, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags History: World, Drama / Tragedy, Technology, History: U.S., Biography, Action / Adventure, Classic Fiction


Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Disability, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Identity: Mental Health, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Disability


Publication year 1999

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Family, Society: Politics & Government

Tags Children's Literature, Education, Education, Medieval Literature / Middle Ages, History: World, Historical Fiction


Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Music, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Relationships: Friendship

Tags Race / Racism, Historical Fiction

Another Brooklyn is a 2016 novel by Jacqueline Woodson. After the narrator, August, returns home to care for her dying father, she runs into her former friend Sylvia. This encounter leads her to reflect on her childhood in Brooklyn in the 1970s and the way she coped with her mother’s death. The novel unfolds in fragments: each chapter moves between August’s girlhood memories and adult life as an ivy-league educated anthropologist who studies cultural rituals... Read Another Brooklyn Summary


Publication year 1998

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Identity: Indigenous, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Identity: Femininity, Identity: Gender, Identity: Mental Health, Identity: Race, Life/Time: The Past, Society: Colonialism, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Equality

Tags Fantasy, Magical Realism, Historical Fiction

Antelope Woman is a novel by Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) author Louise Erdrich. First published in 1998 as The Antelope Wife, Erdrich revised and updated the text in 2012 and re-issued it, adding new content, storylines, and chapters. Like much of Erdrich’s other work, the novel is a multi-generational story of both Indigenous and white families set in and around traditional Ojibwe lands in North Dakota and Minnesota. Erdrich is known for her use of magical realism... Read Antelope Woman Summary


Publication year 2024

Genre Biography, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Relationships: Marriage, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Equality

Tags History: World, Biography, History: U.S., Politics / Government


Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Siblings, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Society: Community, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Hope

Tags Relationships, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction

Anything Is Possible is a 2017 novel by Elizabeth Strout in which each chapter features a character who is separate from but interconnects with the book’s other characters. Each chapter thus serves as both an autonomous short story and a piece of a larger, cohesive narrative and echoes or parallels other chapters.Strout, whose 2008 novel Olive Kitteridge won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, received the prestigious Story Prize for Anything Is Possible. The novel follows... Read Anything Is Possible Summary


Publication year 2005

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Self Discovery, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Grief

Tags Education, Education, Classic Fiction


Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Joy, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Identity: Masculinity, Identity: Mental Health, Identity: Sexuality, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Place, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Teams, Self Discovery, Society: Class, Society: Community, Society: Politics & Government, Society: War, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Fate, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger

Tags Romance, New Adult


Publication year 1914

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Classic Fiction, Irish Literature, Education, Education

“Araby” is a short story by Irish writer James Joyce. The story is a part of Joyce’s renowned Dubliners collection, first published in 1914, which portrays daily life in the Irish city of Dublin in the early 20th century. In “Araby,” a young boy falls in love with his friend’s sister and attempts to purchase her a gift from the Araby Bazaar. The short story has been adapted as a song and a short film... Read Araby Summary


Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory

Tags Historical Fiction, Colonial America, Children's Literature, Military / War, Realistic Fiction, History: World, American Revolution

Ashes (2016), a young adult historical novel by American author Laurie Halse Anderson, is the third and final book in the Seeds of America series. This guide refers to the 2016 Atheneum eBook edition.Plot SummaryIsabel Gardener and Curzon Smith, two black teenagers who escaped slavery during the American Revolution, have been on the run together for five years. After serving at Valley Forge, they’re travelling through the Eastern states, looking for Isabel’s little sister Ruth... Read Ashes Summary