Publication year 1991
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Race, Coming of Age, Friendship
Tags Realistic Fiction, Sports, Coming of Age, Children`s Literature, Education, Education
School Book List Titles
Browse a Collection of texts frequently assigned in literature classrooms, including well-studied classics and contemporary literature. Representitive of the breadth of the literary tradition, the School Book List Titles Collection features texts for readers of all age levels, from children's literature to plays and novels centered on adult themes.
Taking Sides
Tarzan of the Apes
Tattoo
Tender Buttons [A Long Dress]
Tender Is the Night
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
The 5th Wave
The Adventures of Augie March
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The Aquanaut
The Art of Disappearing
The Bagel
The Bald Soprano
The Ballad of the Sad Cafe
The Barren Grounds
The Bean Trees
The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born
The Benefits of Being an Octopus
The Best at It
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
Publication year 1991
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Race, Coming of Age, Friendship
Tags Realistic Fiction, Sports, Coming of Age, Children`s Literature, Education, Education
Publication year 1912
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Nature Versus Nurture, Animals, Race, Family, Love, Colonialism, Education
Tags Action & Adventure, Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Race & Racism, Science Fiction, Fantasy
Tarzan of the Apes is an adventure fiction book written by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1912 and initially published serially in the pulp magazine The All-Story before being printed as a novel in 1914. Burroughs was an American from Chicago who had a variety of careers before building a name for himself as a writer of pulp fiction. His first story, entitled Under the Moons of Mars (1911), became the first book in the science... Read Tarzan of the Apes Summary
Publication year 2003
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Aging, The Past, Safety & Danger, Wins & Losses, Memory, Nostalgia
Tags Narrative Poem
Publication year 1914
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Objects & Materials, Language
Tags LGBTQ+
Publication year 1934
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Loyalty & Betrayal, Marriage, Love
Tags Classic Fiction, Romance, Dramatic Literature, American Literature, Mental Illness, French Literature, World History
In 1934, F. Scott Fitzgerald published his fourth and final (completed) novel, Tender Is the Night. Considered by the author to be his masterpiece, the book captures the same Jazz Age-prose style and Lost Generation philosophy as his previous novels, with the added depth of being arguably his most personal novel. Unlike The Great Gatsby, which was published in the middle of the 1920s, Tender Is the Night reflects upon the Roaring Twenties after they... Read Tender Is the Night Summary
Publication year 1891
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Sexual Identity, Gender Identity, Social Class, Community, Environment, Shame & Pride
Tags Romance, Victorian Period, Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, British Literature, World History, Victorian Era
Tess of the D’Urbervilles is Victorian writer Thomas Hardy’s 12th novel. It was first published in 1891 as a serial in the newspaper The Graphic; this serialized publication was followed by a three-volume edition in 1891 and a single volume in 1892. Like many of Hardy’s other realist novels, Tess is set in the fictional, southwestern English region of Wessex, using fictional locations closely modelled after real ones. Hardy’s sympathetic portrayal of a young woman... Read Tess of the D'Urbervilles Summary
Publication year 2013
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Hope, Community, War, Truth & Lies
Tags Science Fiction, Fantasy, Romance
The 5th Wave is the first young adult science fiction novel in Rick Yancey’s trilogy of the same name. The book was published in 2013 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons. It follows the story of Cassie Sullivan, a young woman left on her own after aliens attack the Earth in three waves. The first wave is an electromagnetic pulse that shuts down all electricity; the second wave causes natural disasters on the coasts of each continent... Read The 5th Wave Summary
Publication year 1953
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Fate, Social Class, Self Discovery
Tags Coming of Age, American Literature, Jewish Literature, World History, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction
The Adventures of Augie March is a 1953 novel by Saul Bellow. In the novel, Bellow’s third, the eponymous title character chronicles his eventful life from an underprivileged childhood in Chicago to his waning wanderlust in Paris. The novel is critically acclaimed and won the 1954 National Book Award for Fiction. Bellow was a lauded author in his lifetime, winning prestigious awards like the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution... Read The Adventures of Augie March Summary
Publication year 1876
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Coming of Age, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Childhood & Youth
Tags Action & Adventure, American Literature, Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Children`s Literature, Education, Education
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is an 1876 novel by Mark Twain written for both youth and adult readers. It is a story about Tom Sawyer, a boy from the fictional town of St. Petersburg, Missouri. Tom lives a life of constant adventure, drama, self-aggrandizement, and self-inflicted woes as he comes of age. The novel is equal parts comical and poignant, dark and light, and is one of Twain’s many odes to the pleasures and... Read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Summary
Publication year 2022
Genre Graphic Novel/Book, Fiction
Themes Conflict, Grief, Guilt, Animals, Environment
Tags Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Children`s Literature, Animals
Publication year 1994
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Friendship, Mental Health, Fame, Loneliness, Perseverance, Love, Death
Tags Lyric Poem, Relationships
Publication year 1968
Genre Poem, Fiction
Tags Lyric Poem, Food
Publication year 1950
Genre Play, Fiction
Themes Language, Social Class, Order & Chaos
Tags Drama, Absurdism, French Literature
La Cantatrice Chauve, translated to The Bald Soprano in English, is a 1950 absurdist play by Eugène Ionesco and a seminal work of the Theatre of the Absurd movement. Ionesco was famously inspired to write the play while learning English from an Assimil language primer, in which cliché English characters having artificial conversations and reciting basic facts of life soon began to take on absurd philosophical meaning for the playwright. The Bald Soprano was Ionesco’s... Read The Bald Soprano Summary
Publication year 1963
Genre Short Story Collection, Fiction
Themes Conflict, Gratitude, Loneliness, Love, Memory, Femininity, Childhood & Youth, Death, Place, Family, Marriage, Community, Loyalty & Betrayal
Tags American Literature, Classic Fiction, Southern Gothic
The Ballad of the Sad Café and Other Stories (1951) is a collection of short stories and a novella by Carson McCullers. The author, a seminal part of the Southern Gothic Literature genre, rose to fame with her first novel, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1940), which shares many themes with the stories in the collection. Other notable works by McCullers include the novels Reflections in a Golden Eye (1941) and The Member of... Read The Ballad of the Sad Cafe Summary
Publication year 2020
Genre Graphic Novel/Book, Fiction
Themes Colonialism, Environment, Self Discovery
Tags Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Children`s Literature, Animals
Publication year 1988
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Fear, Hope, Love, Family, Friendship, Daughters & Sons, Nature Versus Nurture, Plants, Community, Self Discovery
Tags Realistic Fiction, Relationships, Animals, Depression & Suicide, Diversity, Immigration & Refugeeism, Parenting, Poverty, Politics & Government, Race & Racism, Science & Nature, Social Justice, Trauma & Abuse, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, Classic Fiction
The Bean Trees (first published in 1988) is the first novel by Barbara Kingsolver. Kingsolver is an American novelist, essayist, and poet who holds degrees in ecology and evolutionary biology, and her work often addresses biodiversity, social justice, communities, and people’s interactions with their environment. The Bean Trees is a work of realistic adult fiction that follows Taylor Greer as she leaves her rural upbringing in Kentucky, drives across the country to Tucson, Arizona, and... Read The Bean Trees Summary
Publication year 1969
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Colonialism, Power & Greed, Politics & Government
Tags Heinemann African Writers, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction, Satirical Literature, Poverty, Colonialism & Postcolonialism, African American Literature, World History
The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, published in 1968, is a debut novel by Ayi Kwei Armah, one of the most noteworthy writers of postcolonial Ghana. Armah was born in Takoradi, Ghana, in 1939. He was educated at schools in Ghana and private institutions in America, including Harvard University. He has also worked as a translator, scriptwriter, and a university lecturer.The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born focuses on life in post-independence Ghana and... Read The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born Summary
Publication year 2018
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Friendship, Teamwork, Justice, Fear, Guilt, Shame & Pride
Tags Realistic Fiction, Poverty, Social Class, Children`s Literature, Education, Education, Trauma & Abuse, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Mental Health, Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Shame & Pride, Masculinity, Race, Sexual Identity, Coming of Age, Family, Self Discovery, Community, Justice, Safety & Danger
Tags Realistic Fiction, LGBTQ+
Publication year 1972
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Siblings, Religion & Spirituality, Community, Joy, Conflict, Self Discovery
Tags Humor, Children`s Literature, Special Occasions, Classic Fiction
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is a 1972 children’s book by Barbara Robinson. It tells the story of six misbehaving children—the Herdmans—and their unexpected involvement with the town’s annual Christmas pageant. Told in first person by an unnamed narrator, it explores themes of Redemption, Perspective and Judgment, and Tradition. Robinson has a masterful ability to mix Roald Dahl-esque humor and nastiness with timeless lessons that will have a particular appeal to Christian readers who enjoy... Read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Summary