Safety & Danger

This collection, spanning books like Nadine Gordimer's Jump and Other Stories and Lois Lowry's Number the Stars, gathers fiction and nonfiction examining how our human craving for safety is compromised, questioned, and challenged by an unpredictable and sometimes dangerous world.

How To Hang A Witch

by Adriana Mather

Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Guilt, Loneliness, Shame & Pride, Coming of Age, Death, Appearance & Reality, Family, Mothers, Self Discovery, Community, Good & Evil, Justice, Safety & Danger

Tags Fantasy, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction, Religion & Spirituality

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How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates

by Shailee Thompson

Publication year 2026

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Fear, Love, Femininity, Gender Identity, Masculinity, Death, Appearance & Reality, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Safety & Danger

Tags Romance, Mystery & Crime Fiction

Shailee Thompson’s debut novel, How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates (2026), is a slasher romantic comedy with a metafictional premise. The story follows Jamie Prescott, a PhD candidate whose dissertation argues that slasher films and romantic comedies share the same narrative formulas. When Jamie and her best friend attend a speed-dating event, her academic theories are put to the test as a masked killer begins murdering the attendees. Jamie soon realizes the killer... Read How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates Summary

Hurt Locker

by Brian Turner

Publication year 2005

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Forgiveness, Memory, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Fear, Grief, Perseverance, Conflict, Safety & Danger, Good & Evil, Wins & Losses, Death

Tags Iraq War

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Hush

by Jacqueline Woodson

Publication year 2000

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Perseverance, Justice, Hope, Loneliness, Mental Health, Race, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies

Tags Realistic Fiction, Race & Racism, Social Justice, Children`s Literature, Modern Classic Fiction

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I Am Legend

by Richard Matheson

Publication year 1954

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Apathy, Perseverance, Fear, Safety & Danger

Tags Science Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Depression & Suicide, Grief & Death, Science & Nature, Fantasy

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson was published in 1954. The novel depicts a dystopian/post-apocalyptic world in which people infected with a contagious disease behave like vampires. The last human man, Robert Neville, must protect himself as he studies the scientific basis for the disease. I Am Legend discusses moral relativism, the evolution of the horror genre, and loneliness. It has been adapted several times, most recently as the 2007 film I Am Legend starring... Read I Am Legend Summary

I Am Still Alive

by Kate Alice Marshall

Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Perseverance, Fear, Grief, Revenge, Disability, Coming of Age, Death, Environment, Food, Fathers, Safety & Danger

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Survival Fiction, Action & Adventure, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction

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I Am Watching You

by Teresa Driscoll

Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Guilt, Fear, Grief, Femininity, Gender Identity, Mental Health, Death, Appearance & Reality, Fathers, Justice, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies

Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Psychological Fiction, Trauma & Abuse, Mental Illness

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Iceberg

by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Publication year 2004

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Grief, Hope, Childhood & Youth, Future, Appearance & Reality, Objects & Materials, Friendship, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Education, Fate, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies

Tags World History, Action & Adventure, Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Historical Fiction

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I Cheerfully Refuse

by Leif Enger

Publication year 2024

Genre Short Story Collection, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Perseverance, Grief, Hate & Anger, Hope, Love, Memory, Revenge, Death, Future, Climate, Environment, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Economics, Nation, Politics & Government, Equality, Fate, Good & Evil, Justice, Music, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt

Tags Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Science Fiction

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If It Bleeds

by Stephen King

Publication year 2020

Genre Short Story Collection, Fiction

Themes Fear, Coming of Age, Midlife, Appearance & Reality, Family, Self Discovery, Good & Evil, Religion & Spirituality, Safety & Danger, Science & Technology

Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Fantasy

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I Know Who You Are

by Alice Feeney

Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Hope, Loneliness, Love, Memory, Revenge, Mental Health, Childhood & Youth, Midlife, Death, Future, The Past, Animals, Nature Versus Nurture, Place, Family, Marriage, Mothers, Siblings, Self Discovery, Social Class, Economics, Fame, Fate, Good & Evil, Justice, Literature, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies

Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction

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I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

by Joanne Greenberg (Hannah Green)

Publication year 1964

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Mental Health, Safety & Danger, Conflict, Coming of Age, Perseverance

Tags Life-Inspired Fiction, Mental Illness, Psychology, Depression & Suicide, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Psychology, Classic Fiction

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Joanne Greenberg, originally under the pen name Hannah Green, and first published in 1964. The novel centers around the teenage Deborah, who experiences a conflict between The Inner World Versus the Outer Reality, loses her abilities of Connection and Communication temporarily to illness, and demonstrates A Fight for a Life through her time in a mental healthcare facility following a mental health... Read I Never Promised You a Rose Garden Summary

Infidel

by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Publication year 2006

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Femininity, Immigration, Politics & Government, Justice, Religion & Spirituality, Safety & Danger

Tags Gender & Feminism, Religion & Spirituality, Politics & Government

Infidel (2007) is an autobiographical memoir by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. She recounts her childhood and adolescence across Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, and Kenya, and her eventual flight to the Netherlands to seek asylum and escape a forced marriage. The narrative links intimate experiences of gender violence to larger arguments about religion, politics, immigration, and free speech, culminating in Hirsi Ali’s role in Dutch politics and the fallout after the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh... Read Infidel Summary

Insomnia

by Stephen King

Publication year 1994

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Fear, Grief, Death, Appearance & Reality, Fate, Safety & Danger

Tags Horror & Suspense, Fantasy, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Science Fiction

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In the Heat of the Night

by John Dudley Ball

Publication year 1965

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Race, Safety & Danger, Community

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Realistic Fiction, Race & Racism, Civil Rights & Jim Crow South, Diversity, Social Class, American Literature, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction

Published in 1965, John Ball’s In the Heat of the Night is a crime novel set in Wells, South Carolina. The story focuses on the police department’s numerous struggles to solve a recent murder. Virgil Tibbs, a Black detective from Pasadena, California, lends a helping hand, but his interactions with the locals reveal the deep-seated racism of Wells. Through this murder mystery, the novel addresses issues of systemic racism and offers hope for a better... Read In the Heat of the Night Summary