Publication year 2017
Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction
Themes Mothers, Femininity, Equality, Gender Identity
Tags Gender & Feminism, Parenting, Social Justice, Women`s Studies
Mothers
With classics like J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan and contemporary hits like Min Jin Lee's Pachinko, this collection gathers texts that grapple with the complex and archetypal role of the mother.
Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions
Death Without Weeping
Deenie
Dept. of Speculation
Dictee
Direbound
Disclaimer
Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Dombey and Son
Don't Let Her Stay
Dragons and Marshmallows
Dream Count
Dreaming in Cuban
Dreamland
Eggs
Ellen Foster
Empire Falls
Endangered
Enrique's Journey
Etched In Sand
Publication year 2017
Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction
Themes Mothers, Femininity, Equality, Gender Identity
Tags Gender & Feminism, Parenting, Social Justice, Women`s Studies
Publication year 1992
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Mothers
Tags Education, Education, Anthropology, Anthropology, Grief & Death, Social Science, Sociology, World History, Politics & Government
Published in 1989, Death Without Weeping: The Violence of Everyday Life in Brazil, is an in-depth and long-ranging look at the crisis of infant and early-child mortality in the rural communities of the Brazilian Northeast. The author of the book is Nancy Scheper-Hughes, a former aidworker who returned to Brazil as an anthropologist. While the object of this book is infant and child mortality, its main focus is not a medical or scientific approach to... Read Death Without Weeping Summary
Publication year 1973
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Shame & Pride, Disability, Coming of Age, Mothers, Self Discovery
Tags Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age
Publication year 2014
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Marriage, Literature, Mothers, Art
Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Romance, Literary Fiction
Dept. of Speculation is a work of literary fiction by American novelist Jenny Offill. The novel was originally published in January 2014 by Alfred A. Knopf and was named one of the year’s 10 best books by the New York Times. Written in Offill’s customary fragmented prose, Dept. of Speculation reinvents the familiar story of marital infidelity into an examination of life’s meaning and purpose. Offill combines elements of philosophy, myth, science, and poetry to... Read Dept. of Speculation Summary
Publication year 1982
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Art, Community, Femininity, Gender Identity, Language, Religion & Spirituality, Mothers
Tags Prose, Asian Literature, Gender & Feminism, Education, Education, Arts & Culture, Modern Classic Fiction, Classic Fiction
Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s Dictee (1982) is a hybrid form of prose poetry, autobiography, ethnography, criticism, and fictional experiments. Cha was a Korean American visual artist, poet, and filmmaker. She was tragically murdered only a week after the book was published. The book went out of print for several years before interest in Cha’s work was revived in the 1990s by feminist authors, such as Norma Alarcón. Cha’s work was honored with an exhibition including... Read Dictee Summary
Publication year 2025
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Grief, Hope, Love, Memory, Femininity, Masculinity, Mental Health, Sexual Identity, Coming of Age, Death, Future, The Past, Animals, Appearance & Reality, Family, Friendship, Mothers, Siblings, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Politics & Government, War, Beauty, Fate, Good & Evil, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies
Tags Romance, Love & Sexuality, Fantasy
Publication year 2015
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Conflict, Fear, Grief, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Loneliness, Revenge, Femininity, Mental Health, Death, The Past, Daughters & Sons, Marriage, Mothers, Justice, Truth & Lies
Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction
Publication year 1996
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Love, The Past, Friendship, Mothers
Tags Southern Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Humor
Publication year 1848
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Loneliness, Love, Shame & Pride, Gender Identity, Death, Place, Daughters & Sons, Fathers, Marriage, Mothers, Social Class
Tags Classic Fiction, Victorian Period, British Literature
British author Charles Dickens, a notable figure in the canon of modern English literature, is a Victorian novelist famous for such stories as Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and A Christmas Carol. A prolific author who blends sentiment, comedy, and social realism with a satiric edge, Dickens was enormously popular in his lifetime and deeply influential in the development of the English novel. Dombey and Son is considered one of his more mature if less popular... Read Dombey and Son Summary
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Daughters & Sons, Mothers, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies
Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction
Publication year 2017
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Perseverance, Joy, Memory, Childhood & Youth, Animals, Food, Mothers, Self Discovery, Science & Technology
Tags Fantasy, Children`s Literature, Animals
Publication year 2025
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Grief, Loneliness, Love, Memory, Regret, Gender Identity, Race, Mothers, Self Discovery, Colonialism, Community, Immigration
Tags Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 1992
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Politics & Government, Nostalgia, Regret, Race, Mothers, Immigration
Tags Historical Fiction, Latin American Literature, Magical Realism, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, World History
Dreaming in Cuban is Cuban American author Cristina García’s first novel. It was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1992 and garnered positive reviews from readers and critics alike. A multi-generational family saga that shifts back and forth between the experiences and eras of multiple narrators, Dreaming in Cuban explores themes of immigration and exile, family dynamics, political ideology, religion, and the impact of the Cuban Revolution on Cubans and Cuban Americans. The... Read Dreaming in Cuban Summary
Publication year 2000
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Conflict, Fear, Loneliness, Apathy, Love, Memory, Hope, Hate & Anger, Shame & Pride, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Coming of Age, The Past, Daughters & Sons, Family, Mothers, Siblings, Friendship, Fathers, Appearance & Reality, Self Discovery, Beauty, Art, Loyalty & Betrayal, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies
Tags Realistic Fiction, Romance, Trauma & Abuse, Relationships, Modern Classic Fiction
In Dreamland, a young adult novel by Sarah Dessen, a teenage girl named Caitlin O’Koren reacts to the disappearance of her sister by breaking away from the path that was set out for her. The novel is broken into three parts that focus on the core of the conflicts in each section. Part I, “Cass,” traces the O’Koren family after Cass, the eldest of two daughters, runs away instead of attending Yale. Part II, entitled... Read Dreamland Summary
Publication year 2007
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Death, Fear, Grief, Memory, The Past, Friendship, Grandparents, Mothers, Social Class
Tags Realistic Fiction, Children`s Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Coming of Age
Publication year 1987
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Coming of Age, Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Grief, Hate & Anger, Memory, Loneliness, Shame & Pride, Revenge, Love, Gratitude, Hope, Childhood & Youth, Death, The Past, Equality, Good & Evil, Literature, Art, Beauty, Trust & Doubt, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies, Wins & Losses, Power & Greed, Daughters & Sons, Friendship, Family, Fathers, Grandparents, Mothers, Nature Versus Nurture, Appearance & Reality
Tags Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, Classic Fiction, Southern Literature, Life-Inspired Fiction, Trauma & Abuse, Race & Racism
Ellen Foster is a work of adult fiction by US novelist Kaye Gibbons, first published by Algonquin Books in 1987. The novel was Gibbons’s debut, and it won the Sue Kaufman Prize for literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a notable citation from the Ernest Hemingway Foundation. Critics praised the novel for its unsentimental outlook and the wry, distinct voice of its protagonist. Ellen, a young girl living in the American... Read Ellen Foster Summary
Publication year 2001
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Mothers, Fathers, Power & Greed, Social Class
Tags American Literature, Humor, Relationships, Modern Classic Fiction
In Empire Falls, published in 2001, award-winning author Richard Russo focuses his sharp observations on family, faith, and hope for the future in small-town America, where the factories have left, the populations are dwindling, and the prospects are shrinking. Miles Roby almost got out of Empire Falls, but his mother’s illness brought him back a semester shy of graduating college. Now he runs the Empire Grill, a landmark that still anchors the dying town, and... Read Empire Falls Summary
Publication year 2012
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes War, Mothers, Self Discovery, Animals
Tags Coming of Age, Action & Adventure, Survival Fiction, Animals, Children`s Literature, Military & War, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
IntroductionEliot Schrefer’s coming-of-age novel Endangered was published by Scholastic in 2012 and is the first book in The Ape Quartet. Set the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the story is written for a young adult audience and is a 2012 National Book Award finalist in Young People’s Literature. The novel follows Sophie Biyoya-Ciardulli’s journey as she navigates the perils of war-torn Congo in search of her mother, protecting a young, orphaned bonobo throughout her journey... Read Endangered Summary
Publication year 2005
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Family, Mothers, Immigration
Tags Politics & Government, Social Justice, US History, Immigration & Refugeeism, Education, Education, World History, Biography
Enrique’s Journey: The Story of a Boy’s Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother is a best-selling nonfiction book by Sonia Nazario, an American journalist best known for her work on social justice. Originally published in 2006, the book is based on Nazario’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Enrique’s Journey” series, which was written in six parts and published in The Los Angeles Times.The book, which has been published in eight languages and adapted for young adults in... Read Enrique's Journey Summary
Publication year 2013
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Family, Siblings, Mothers, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Politics & Government
Tags Biography, Trauma & Abuse, Inspirational, Poverty
Etched in Sand: A True Story of Five Siblings Who Survived an Unspeakable Childhood on Long Island is a memoir written by Regina Calcaterra and originally published in 2013. Calcaterra wrote the memoir to call attention to the Failures of the Child Welfare System and emphasize the importance of Ending the Cycle of Abuse and Finding Purpose in Suffering. Etched in Sand focuses on Calcaterra and her siblings’ childhood in Long Island, New York and... Read Etched In Sand Summary