Family

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Louise Glück is among the most lauded poets in the American canon. Glück’s writing is often surgically precise in terms of formal craft, and reveals a deep emotional complexity. She addresses sadness, mourning, trauma, and individual suffering metaphorically through the natural world, mythology, autobiographical events, or universal truths. She is known for alluding to cultural myths and personas in her work, some of which appear in “Gretel in Darkness” through the perspective of young Gretel... Read Gretel in Darkness Summary

Guts is the third mid-grade graphic memoir in a trilogy by author/illustrator Raina Telgemeier through which she relates the true story of her childhood. Guts specifically records Raina’s fourth- and fifth-grade years, when she transitioned from nine to 10 years old. During this period, she first experiences gastrointestinal issues, eventually diagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Panic attacks accompany the IBS, and the two conditions exacerbate each other, intensifying her distress. Her narrative chronicles how... Read Guts Summary

Jeannette Walls describes her book Half Broke Horses as a “True-Life Novel,” as it describes the life of her real-life grandmother Lily Casey Smith. The book is told in the first person from the perspective of Lily as she grows up in the harsh desert southwest. While the book is classified as a novel (since Walls was unable to back-up all of the facts about Smith’s life), it reads more like a memoir. Walls begins... Read Half Broke Horses Summary

Half Brother (2010) is a young adult novel by Kenneth Oppel. In the novel, Oppel combines and fictionalizes several experiments in which chimpanzees learned sign language to communicate. The story follows the Tomlin family as they adopt a baby chimpanzee to see if it can learn and use language. Through this experiment and its effect on the characters, the text explores the themes of family, belonging, animal rights, communication, individuality, and growing up. The novel... Read Half Brother Summary

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Originally published in 2002 by Second Story Press, Hana’s Suitcase is a historical text by Karen Levine that weaves together the story of two young children in the Holocaust with the narrative of a Japanese museum curator in the early 21st century. Levine, a radio journalist and producer, first heard about Hana Brady’s suitcase from a news article and subsequently produced a radio show about the story. This launched what would become Hana’s Suitcase and... Read Hana's Suitcase Summary

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Jacqueline Woodson's 2018 middle grade novel, Harbor Me, tracks the bonds of friendship that develop across six fifth-graders when they are given a unique opportunity to get to know each other. Amari, Esteban, Tiago, Ashton, Holly, and Haley Shondell McGrath (the narrator) are students with special learning needs in a Brooklyn school. Each friend has fears and frustrations that they share with each other over the year, and by opening up, they discover a collective... Read Harbor me Summary

Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad is a 1955 biography by American author Ann Petry. This book takes the reader on a journey through Harriet Tubman’s life, from her birth to enslaved parents on a Maryland plantation to her death as a free woman in New York in 1913. Tubman is a well-known figure in American history and is best known for her heroic actions as a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad. After escaping... Read Harriet Tubman Summary

Drawing on his childhood experiences, Gary Paulsen’s novel for young readers, Harris and Me: A Summer Remembered (1993, 1st edition), contains 12 vignettes chronicling the narrator’s visit to his distant relatives on a farm over one summer. In addition to the culture shock of adjusting to rural life, the book also centers on the narrator’s relationship with his reckless and adventurous country cousin, Harris, and the process of finding acceptance as part of a family... Read Harris and Me Summary

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Heartless, first published in 2016, is a contemporary fantasy Young Adult novel by Marissa Meyer. Meyer is best known for her dystopian sci-fi YA series The Lunar Chronicles, inspired by fairy tales such as Cinderella and Snow White. Set in a fantasy world, Heartless imagines the backstory of Lewis Carroll’s iconic character the Queen of Hearts from the 1876 novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Heartless is also popular among the BookTok community. This guide utilizes... Read Heartless Summary

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Hearts Unbroken is a young adult contemporary novel by New York Times best-selling author Cynthia Leitich Smith. Main character Louise Wolfe, a Native Muscogee (Creek) teen girl, breaks up with her boyfriend over his insensitive comments. Louise turns her focus to senior year, the school newspaper, and spending time with family, but she notices more and more instances of cultural insensitivity around her. When the newly-formed Parents Against Revisionist Theater group speaks out against cast... Read Hearts Unbroken Summary