Music

This collection brings together texts that explore the beauty and often redemptive power of music, from classical compositions in Peter Shaffer's Amadeus and Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore, to gospel songs and spirituals in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun.

Publication year 2015

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Fathers, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Music, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt

Tags Romance, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Femininity, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: The Past, Natural World: Place, Relationships: Friendship, Self Discovery, Society: Class, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Music

Tags Historical Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Romance


Publication year 2014

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Music

Tags Education, Education, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Drama / Tragedy, Arts / Culture

The Flick is a two-act play by Annie Baker that premiered at the New York City Playwrights Horizons theater in 2013. Set in a run-down movie theater of the same name, The Flick is located in the suburban Worchester County of central Massachusetts. The play follows the evolving workplace relationships of three underpaid movie theater employees as they struggle not only to make a living but to define their lives, their values, and their identities... Read The Flick Summary


Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: The Past, Values/Ideas: Music

Tags Historical Fiction, WWII / World War II, Military / War, History: World

The German Girl is a historical novel written by Cuban journalist and editor Armando Lucas Correa. It interweaves the stories of Anna Rosen, a 12-year-old girl living in New York in 2014, and Hannah Rosenthal, her great aunt, whose journey begins as a 12-year-old Jewish girl living in Nazi-occupied Berlin in 1939. Anna’s story revolves around a trip to Cuba to visit her great aunt Hannah, while Hannah’s story primarily centers around her journey onboard... Read The German Girl Summary


Publication year 2002

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Values/Ideas: Music

Tags Lyric Poem


Publication year 2013

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Music

Tags History: U.S., Race / Racism, Business / Economics, History: World, Social Justice, Politics / Government

Winner of the 2015 Avery O. Craven Prize and the 2015 Sidney Hillman Prize, Edward E. Baptist’s 2014 book, The Half Has Never Been Told, challenges revisionist historical studies and presents slavery as a modern and modernizing institution that was central to the creation of American wealth and power. Drawing on slave narratives and other sources, it examines the development and growth of American slavery and the far-reaching effects it had on the nation from... Read The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism Summary


Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Music

Tags Historical Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, WWII / World War II, Military / War, History: World

The Huntress is a historical fiction novel published in 2019 by the American author Kate Quinn. Set in the years before, during, and after World War II, the novel weaves together the stories of three central characters: a Russian pilot in the Soviet Red Army’s all-female bomber unit; an American photographer whose father falls in love with a mysterious Austrian woman; and an English war correspondent committed to exposing Nazi war criminals. According to Washington... Read The Huntress Summary


Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Music, Identity: Femininity, Values/Ideas: Fame

Tags Romance, New Adult, Love / Sexuality, Modern Classic Fiction, Music


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Mothers, Society: Community, Society: War, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Music

Tags Historical Fiction, WWII / World War II, Military / War, History: World


Publication year 1889

Genre Novella, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Music, Relationships: Marriage, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil

Tags Classic Fiction, Love / Sexuality, Russian Literature, History: World


Publication year 2001

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Identity: Indigenous, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Identity: Femininity, Identity: Masculinity, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: The Past, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Society: Colonialism, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Music, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Historical Fiction, Magical Realism


Publication year 2009

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Fathers, Self Discovery, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Music, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Romance, Drama / Tragedy, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman

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


Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Music

Tags Chinese Literature, Asian Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Asian Literature, Parenting

The Leavers, author Lisa Ko's debut novel, won the 2016 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction. Inspired by a 2009 New York Times article about an undocumented Chinese woman held in predominantly solitary detention for 18 months, The Leavers tells the coming-of-age tale of Deming Guo/Daniel Wilkinson’s loss and eventual reconciliation with his birth mother, Polly Guo. In his journey to find his mother, Daniel learns of Polly’s challenges and comes to terms with his... Read The Leavers Summary


Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Music

Tags Historical Fiction, WWII / World War II, Military / War, History: World

Henry Holt and Company published Antonio Iturbe’s novel, The Librarian of Auschwitz, in America on September 18, 2012. Before the English Language version, Iturbe’s novel appeared in Spain as La bibliotecaria de Auschwitz. Antonio Iturbe is a Spanish journalist, writer, and professor who has taught postgraduate courses in journalism at universities in Madrid and Barcelona and is the President of the Association of Cultural Journalists of Catalonia. Iturbe wrote The Librarian of Auschwitz when he... Read The Librarian of Auschwitz Summary


Publication year 2005

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Values/Ideas: Music, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Crime / Legal, Class, Social Justice, Incarceration

Michael Connelly is a prolific New York Times bestselling author. His legal thriller, The Lincoln Lawyer, won the Shamus Award and Macavity Award in 2006. The book was then successfully adapted to film. Connelly is widely regarded as one of the best American mystery writers. Other works by this author include The Black Echo, The Drop, and The Fifth Witness.This guide refers to the 2005 Hieronymus, Inc. edition.Plot SummaryMichael “Mick” Haller is a criminal defense... Read The Lincoln Lawyer Summary


Publication year 1953

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Self Discovery, Identity: Gender, Identity: Indigenous, Identity: Masculinity, Identity: Race, Life/Time: The Past, Relationships: Marriage, Society: Colonialism, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Music, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality

Tags Magical Realism, Allegory / Fable / Parable, Latin American Literature, History: World, Classic Fiction

The Lost Steps, first published in 1953 by Cuban novelist Alejo Carpentier, is a parody of the lost world novels that were popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries, including Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864) and Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World (1912). The novel follows an unnamed New York City composer on a quest for Indigenous musical instruments in South America. Carpentier, known for his roles as a... Read The Lost Steps Summary


Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Literature, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Identity: Sexuality, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Marriage, Relationships: Siblings, Self Discovery, Society: Class, Society: Community, Society: Education, Society: Nation, Society: Politics & Government, Society: War, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Music, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Historical Fiction, Auto/Biographical Fiction, LGBTQ, Military / War


Publication year 2014

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Natural World: Food, Natural World: Place, Self Discovery, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Music


Publication year 2007

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Music

Tags Fantasy, Narrative / Epic Poem, Action / Adventure

The Name of the Wind, published in 2007, is the first book in author Patrick Rothfuss’s The Kingkiller Chronicle series. The fantasy novel is an incomplete coming-of-age-style tale about Kvothe, a legendary and extraordinary figure whose many heroic deeds are the subject of local lore. Kvothe has come to retire as an innkeeper in a small town where the people know him as “Kote.” However, disquieting events start to happen as a result of a... Read The Name of the Wind Summary


Publication year 1990

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Values/Ideas: Music, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies