Leo Tolstoy famously begins the novel Anna Karenina with the sentence: "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." In this thematic collection, we have gathered noteworthy texts that navigate the joyous and sorrowful emotional terrain of the family unit.
Publication year 1986
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Natural World: Environment, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance
Tags Lyric Poem, American Literature, Food
Publication year 2024
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Fame, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Joy, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Identity: Mental Health, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Natural World: Place, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Mothers
Tags Music
Publication year 2019
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Mental Health, Identity: Indigenous, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Society: Community, Relationships: Family
Tags Inspirational, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Race / Racism, Addiction / Substance Abuse, Mental Illness, Biography
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family
Tags Realistic Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Race / Racism, Children's Literature, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2018
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family
Tags Chinese Literature, Asian Literature, Realistic Fiction, Children's Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction
Front Desk is the debut novel of Asian-American author Kelly Yang. First published in 2018, the children’s book became a New York Times bestseller and was mentioned on multiple Best Books of the Year lists including NPR, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, the Washington Post, Amazon, School Library Journal, the New York Public Library, and the Chicago Public Library. Front Desk also made ALA’s Booklist of the Top Ten Debut Novels of 2018. It won the 2019... Read Front Desk Summary
Publication year 1990
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth
Tags Children's Literature, Realistic Fiction, Humor, Modern Classic Fiction
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Race, Identity: Gender, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Family
Tags Historical Fiction, Children's Literature, Realistic Fiction, History: World, Arts / Culture
Winner of the APALA Literature Award, Marilyn C. Hilton’s Full Cicada Moon (2015) is a historical novel-in-verse that examines themes of racism and gender norms in 1969 New England. Composed of poems, the novel delves into the experiences of Mimi, a middle-school student of African American and Japanese descent who initially struggles with her identity but eventually learns to feel confident in herself. This study guide references the 2017 Puffin Books Reprint Edition, an imprint... Read Full Cicada Moon Summary
Publication year 2016
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Society: Community
Tags Children's Literature, Realistic Fiction, History: World, 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
Publication year 2006
Genre Graphic Memoir , Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Sexuality, Identity: Gender, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Identity: Femininity, Identity: Masculinity
Tags LGBTQ, Auto/Biographical 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
Publication year 2024
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Mothers, Self Discovery
Tags Romance, Humor
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Equality, Relationships: Family, Identity: Femininity
Tags Romance, Sports, Race / Racism, Gender / Feminism, Class, Latin American Literature, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2014
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Race, Identity: Sexuality, Relationships: Family
Tags LGBTQ, Addiction / Substance Abuse, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Gabi, A Girl in Pieces (2014) is a young adult fiction novel by Southern Californian writer Isabel Quintero. It is a bildungsroman following Gabi’s transition to adulthood, her evolution as a writer, and her growing acceptance of herself. Gabi, A Girl in Pieces is Quintero’s first novel and earned various awards for young adult readers, including the California Book Award (2015 Gold Medal) and the William C. Morris Award for YA Debut Novel. This summary... Read Gabi, a Girl in Pieces Summary
Publication year 2018
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Teams, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Relationships: Friendship, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Fathers, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Identity: Masculinity, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Relationships: Family
Tags Sports, Realistic Fiction, Disability, Children's Literature, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 1978
Genre Short Story, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Gender, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Siblings
Tags Indian Literature, Education, Education, Asian Literature, Classic Fiction
“Games at Twilight” is a short story written by Indian author Anita Desai. It was originally published in 1978 in a collection titled Games at Twilight and Other Stories, which contains several texts that explore different aspects of Indian life in urban settings. That same year, Desai was nominated for the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize and the Sahitya Akademi Award for her novel Fire on the Mountain. “Games at Twilight” focuses on a young boy who... Read Games at Twilight Summary
Publication year 2024
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Family
Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction
Publication year 1989
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Fate
Tags American Literature, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Fantasy
Geek Love is a 1989 dystopian novel by Katherine Dunn. The novel is structured as a memoir written by Olympia “Oly” Binewski, an albino hunchback dwarf, as she chronicles the bizarre story of her family of carnival freaks. Her parents, Aloysius “Al” and Lillian “Lil, Lily, or Crystal Lil” Binewski, had sought to prop up their faltering traveling carnival by breeding their own children into freaks through the prenatal use of illicit drugs, poison, and radiation. The family believes that “norms,”... Read Geek Love Summary
Publication year 2019
Genre Graphic Memoir , Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Gender, Self Discovery, Identity: Sexuality, Relationships: Family
Tags LGBTQ, Gender / Feminism, Biography
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Race, Society: Class, Relationships: Family
Tags Realistic Fiction, Race / Racism, Poverty, Addiction / Substance Abuse, Children's Literature, Modern Classic Fiction
Genesis Begins Again is a contemporary middle grade novel published in 2019 by Alicia Williams, a teacher and an author of children’s fiction and young adult books. Genesis Begins Again, Williams’s debut novel, was met with critical praise for exploring and adapting complex emotional themes such as colorism, addiction, and bullying for a younger audience. Genesis Begins Again was a finalist for the 2019 Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature and the recipient of the... Read Genesis Begins Again Summary
Publication year 2004
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Relationships: Family
Tags History: World, Military / War, Chinese Literature, Biography
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World is a nonfiction book divided into three parts and dealing with the early life and rise to power of Temujin, the man who would become known as Genghis Khan. The text details his conquests and the establishment of the Mongol Empire, and the changes undergone by the empire after his death, and up until its collapse. Throughout, Weatherford makes the argument that the Mongol Empire played... Read Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World Summary
Publication year 1981
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Aging, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Natural World: Animals, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Fathers
Tags Fantasy, Humor, Children's Literature, Magical Realism, British Literature