Truth & Lies

Whether exploring the consequences of concealing the truth or excavating the mysterious nature of truth itself, the titles in this collection discuss the intersections among honesty, factualness, legitimacy, deception, falsehood, and lies.

From #Blacklivesmatter to Black Liberation

by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

Publication year 2016

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Perseverance, Hope, Hate & Anger, Race, Social Class, Colonialism, Politics & Government, Community, Economics, Education, Nation, Equality, Justice, Power & Greed, Truth & Lies, Trust & Doubt

Tags Black Lives Matter, Race & Racism, Social Justice, Civil Rights & Jim Crow South, US History, Business & Economics, Diversity, Social Class, Education, Finance, Poverty, Politics & Government, Trauma & Abuse, Sociology, World History

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Full Measures

by Rebecca Yarros

Publication year 2014

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Fear, Grief, Love, Memory, Sexual Identity, Coming of Age, Death, Future, Family, Fathers, Friendship, Mothers, Siblings, Self Discovery, Community, War, Fate, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies

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Full of Beans

by Jennifer L. Holm

Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Coming of Age, Friendship, Family, Truth & Lies, Guilt, Community

Tags Children`s Literature, Realistic Fiction, World History, Humor, Historical Fiction, Great Depression

Jennifer L. Holm’s Full of Beans is a 2016 middle-grade historical novel set in 1934. Main character and first-person protagonist Beans Curry is a 10-year-old boy born and raised in Key West, Florida. The Great Depression causes difficulties for the locals of the dilapidated town, including Beans’s family. “New Dealer” Mr. Julius Stone, Jr. arrives with the plan to boost Key West’s failing economy by recreating it as a tourist destination, but Beans decides that... Read Full of Beans Summary

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

by Alison Bechdel

Publication year 2006

Genre Graphic Memoir , Nonfiction

Themes Sexual Identity, Gender Identity, Family, Fathers, Daughters & Sons, Literature, Truth & Lies, Femininity, Masculinity

Tags LGBTQ+, Life-Inspired Fiction, Relationships, Love & Sexuality, Parenting, Depression & Suicide, Mental Illness, Grief & Death, Gender & Feminism, Biography

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic (2006) is a graphic novel memoir written and illustrated by underground cartoonist Alison Bechdel. The book centers on Bechdel’s relationship with her late father Bruce Allen Bechdel, who died in what she believes was a death by suicide. Fun Home is a non-linear narrative that rehashes events from Alison Bechdel’s youth and adolescence. Her memories are presented in the comic panels, overlayed with her prosaic, retrospective musings in text boxes... Read Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic Summary

Game Changer

by Tommy Greenwald

Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Teamwork, Loyalty & Betrayal, Friendship, Community, Safety & Danger, Forgiveness, Guilt, Memory, Conflict, Hope, Mothers, Fathers, Childhood & Youth, Masculinity, Truth & Lies, Fear, Family

Tags Sports, Realistic Fiction, Disability, Children`s Literature, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction

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Game On

by Navessa Allen

Publication year 2026

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Forgiveness, Grief, Loneliness, Love, Revenge, Mental Health, Sexual Identity, The Past, Appearance & Reality, Family, Fathers, Mothers, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies

Tags Romance, Horror & Suspense

Navessa Allen’s Game On (2026) is the third novel in the interconnected dark romantic comedy series Into Darkness, following Lights Out and Caught Up. The story centers on Tyler Neumann, an underground bookie who engineers a blackmail scheme against Stella McCormick, a tattoo artist. To clear her younger brother’s massive gambling debt, Stella must pretend to be Tyler’s girlfriend and introduce him to her family’s wealthy social circle, which he plans to exploit for his... Read Game On Summary

Ghosts

by Henrik Ibsen

Publication year 1881

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Truth & Lies, Religion & Spirituality, Family, Regret, Guilt, Shame & Pride, Femininity

Tags Drama, Psychological Fiction, Scandinavian Literature, Realism, Victorian Period, Dramatic Literature, Health, Religion & Spirituality, Finance, Love & Sexuality, Education, Education, World History, Classic Fiction

The play Ghosts (1881) by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen chronicles the complicated relationship between Helen Alving and her son, Oswald. Ghosts documents a day in the life at the Alving estate as Helen prepares to open an orphanage in honor of her late husband. A three-act play, Ghosts explores the complex social issues of sexually transmitted infections, incest, and euthanasia—topics that made the play highly controversial when it was first produced.Ghosts followed the success of... Read Ghosts Summary

Ghost Story

by Peter Straub

Publication year 1979

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Apathy, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Grief, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Loneliness, Memory, Regret, Shame & Pride, Revenge, Aging, Death, The Past, Animals, Appearance & Reality, Environment, Beauty, Fate, Good & Evil, Loyalty & Betrayal, Music, Art, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Religion & Spirituality, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies, Gender Identity, Masculinity, Femininity, Sexual Identity, Friendship, Marriage, Mothers, Siblings, Teamwork, Order & Chaos, Justice, Equality

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

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Glengarry Glen Ross

by David Mamet

Publication year 1983

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Truth & Lies, Masculinity, Economics, Conflict

Tags Drama, Comedy & Satire, American Literature, Education, Education, World History, Dramatic Literature, Classic Fiction

The “coffee is for closers” line is considered one of the most iconic moments from playwright David Mamet’s entire oeuvre (Glengarry Glen Ross. Directed by James Foley, New Line Cinema, 1992). However, the line is actually nowhere to be found in the playscript for Glengarry Glenn Ross, which premiered at the National Theatre in London in 1983 and debuted on Broadway in 1984. Rather, it appears in the 1992 film adaptation, with a screenplay that... Read Glengarry Glen Ross Summary

Glory Over Everything

by Kathleen Grissom

Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Race, Family, Truth & Lies

Tags Historical Fiction

Kathleen Grissom’s 2016 historical novel, Glory over Everything, is the sequel to her bestselling 2010 book The Kitchen House. The novel, which unfolds in nonlinear order and from multiple points of view, continues the story of James “Jamie” Pyke, a man of biracial heritage who, after killing his father to avoid enslavement, has spent two decades passing as a wealthy white silversmith in 1830s Philadelphia. However, his world is shattered when his young servant, Pan... Read Glory Over Everything Summary

Go Ask Alice

by Beatrice Sparks

Publication year 1971

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Mental Health, Shame & Pride, Coming of Age, Family, Friendship, Self Discovery, Community, Justice, Truth & Lies

Tags Depression & Suicide, Addiction & Substance Abuse, Coming of Age, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Psychology, Psychology, Mental Illness, Classic Fiction

Initially advertised as an anonymous, true story of a teenage girl, Go Ask Alice (1971) by Beatrice Sparks is an epistolary novel, or a fictional work structured as a diary. The diary entries chronicle two years of a teen girl’s experience with social acceptance, family relationships, and drugs—primarily marijuana, LSD, and amphetamines. Although Beatrice Sparks initially claimed to be the diary’s editor, considerable evidence suggests that she’s the sole author of the fictional work. Nevertheless... Read Go Ask Alice Summary

Goblin Market

by Christina Rossetti

Publication year 1862

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Appearance & Reality, Environment, Food, Nature Versus Nurture, Community, Education, Siblings, Beauty, Good & Evil, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies, Trust & Doubt, Wins & Losses

Tags Narrative Poem, Symbolic Narrative, Gothic Literature, World History, Fantasy, Fairy Tale & Folklore, Victorian Era, Classic Fiction

Enigmatic and strange, English poet Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” has sparked multiple interpretations since its publication in 1862. The poem helped launch her career and expand the Pre-Raphaelite art movement into literature.The long narrative poem centers on Lizzie’s rescue of her sister from an enchantment cast by malicious goblins. Fairy tales and folklore inspired many Victorian writers, who felt weary about England’s increasing industrialization.Often seen as an allegory, scholars have posited that the poem’s characters... Read Goblin Market Summary

God of Malice

by Rina Kent

Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Fear, Hope, Love, Revenge, Shame & Pride, Femininity, Masculinity, Sexual Identity, Death, Family, Friendship, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Art, Fate, Good & Evil, Loyalty & Betrayal, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies

Tags Romance, Horror & Suspense, New Adult

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Gone Tomorrow

by Lee Child

Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies, Conflict, Perseverance, Death, Place, Globalization, Nation, Politics & Government, War, Good & Evil, Justice

Tags Horror & Suspense

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Good Country People

by Flannery O'Connor

Publication year 1955

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Religion & Spirituality, Good & Evil, Shame & Pride, Mothers, Daughters & Sons, Truth & Lies

Tags Southern Gothic, Education, Education, American Literature, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction

“Good Country People” first appeared in Flannery O’Connor’s short story collection A Good Man is Hard to Find in 1955 and is widely regarded as an exemplary work of Southern Gothic literature. Like many of O’Connor’s works, “Good Country People” contains a critique of the American South and religious hypocrisy rooted in O’Connor’s worldview informed by her Catholic faith. This study guide uses the 1988 Library of America edition of Flannery O’Connor’s Collected Works. The... Read Good Country People Summary