Family

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 2015

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil

Tags Fantasy, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Animals, Children's Literature, Historical Fiction, Action / Adventure

Serafina and the Black Cloak is a middle-grade mystery/fantasy by Robert Beatty. First published in 2015, the novel is set in 1899 at the historic Biltmore Estate near Asheville, North Carolina. The story features 12-year-old Serafina, a girl of mysterious origins and many unusual skills who lives secretly in the mansion’s basement. When some of the Biltmore guests’ children go missing, Serafina discovers that an evil intruder—the Man in the Black Cloak—is responsible. Serafina sets... Read Serafina and the Black Cloak Summary


Publication year 1956

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Grandparents, Values/Ideas: Art

Tags Grief / Death


Publication year 2021

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Marriage, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Self Discovery, Identity: Language

Tags Self Help, Psychology, Health / Medicine, Relationships, Psychology, Mental Illness


Publication year 467

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Society: War, Values/Ideas: Fate, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Siblings, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger

Tags Classic Fiction, Ancient Greece, Play: Tragedy, Classical Period, Drama / Tragedy, Fantasy

Seven Against Thebes is a tragedy composed by Aeschylus and performed for the first time at the City Dionysia festival in 467 BCE. It was the final play of a connected trilogy based on the myths of Oedipus and his family, but the first two plays—Laius and Oedipus—are now lost, as is the satyr play Sphinx that would have been performed following the trilogy. This set of plays won first prize the year it was... Read Seven Against Thebes Summary


Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Love

Tags Romance, Relationships, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 1949

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Society: Immigration

Tags Education, Education, Japanese Literature

“Seventeen Syllables,” originally published in 1949 by the Partisan Review, is Hisaye Yamamoto’s most anthologized short story. Yamamoto was one of the first Japanese American authors to achieve critical and commercial success after World War II due to her celebrated short stories about life in Southern California and the experiences of Japanese Americans. Her stories were eventually published together in 1988, in a collection titled Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories released by Kitchen Table Press... Read Seventeen Syllables Summary


Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Society: Immigration, Natural World: Place, Identity: Language, Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Relationships: Mothers, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Life/Time: The Past, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Relationships: Fathers, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Emotions/Behavior: Apathy, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Self Discovery

Tags Satire, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Survival Fiction, Chinese Literature, Immigration / Refugee, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 1989

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Self Discovery, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Society: War, Life/Time: Coming of Age

Tags Historical Fiction, American Civil War, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Children's Literature, Education, Education, History: U.S., Military / War, History: World


Publication year 2015

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family

Tags Fantasy, Religion / Spirituality

Shadowshaper is an urban fantasy young adult novel written by Daniel José Older and originally published in 2015. The first book in the Shadowshaper Cypher series, Shadowshaper follows an Afro-Boricua teenager named Sierra who discovers she has a magical and spiritual family heritage. The book was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2015 and was shortlisted for the 2015 Kirkus Prize. This study guide refers the 2015 paperback Scholastic Inc. edition.   Plot SummaryAt... Read Shadowshaper Summary


Publication year 2009

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Siblings, Values/Ideas: Fate, Identity: Race, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Courage

Tags Asian Literature, History: World, Chinese Literature, Arts / Culture, Historical Fiction, Immigration / Refugee, Asian Literature

Shanghai Girls (May 2009) is a New York Times bestselling historical novel by Lisa See. It is the first of a two-book series that concludes with Dreams of Joy (2011). The author’s paternal great-grandfather emigrated from China, and many of See’s books examine the Chinese immigrant experience in America. Other titles that cover similar subject matter are Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2005), Peony in Love (2007), China Dolls (2014), The Tea Girl of... Read Shanghai Girls Summary


Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Relationships: Siblings, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Society: Colonialism

Tags Magical Realism, Fairy Tale / Folklore, Relationships, Modern Classic Fiction, Fantasy


Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Identity: Femininity, Identity: Indigenous, Life/Time: The Past, Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Family, Society: Colonialism, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice

Tags Historical Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction


Publication year 1992

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Mental Health, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Drama / Tragedy, Modern Classic Fiction, Mental Illness

She’s Come Undone is a realistic fiction novel written by Wally Lamb and originally published in 1992. Lamb demonstrates his penchant for creating detailed psychological character portraits in his debut novel, which is a coming-of-age story about a woman named Dolores Price. As the novel traces Dolores’s life from childhood through middle age in the mid-20th century, Lamb examines imbalanced power dynamics within relationships, intergenerational trauma and healing, the loss of innocence, and body image... Read She's Come Undone Summary


Publication year 1998

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Animals, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Society: Education

Tags Realistic Fiction, Action / Adventure, Relationships, Children's Literature, Animals, Classic Fiction


Publication year 2010

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Fate

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Action / Adventure, Fantasy

Paolo Bacigalupi’s young adult dystopian novel Ship Breaker (2010) was a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature and the recipient of both the Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book and the Michael L. Printz Award for young adult fiction. The story takes place in a postapocalyptic future in the United States, somewhere west of old New Orleans. The human race is facing economic and environmental devastation due to climate change... Read Ship Breaker Summary


Publication year 2009

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family

Tags Historical Fiction, Children's Literature, Military / War, Realistic Fiction, Arts / Culture

Shooting Kabul is a middle-grade novel published in 2010 by American author N. H. Senzai. In July 2001, 11-year-old Fadi Nurzai and his family flee Afghanistan, where the Taliban are taking power, to live in San Francisco. While boarding the truck in Kabul that will take them across the Pakistani border, Fadi loses his six-year-old sister, Mariam, in the melee, and she is left behind. The novel focuses on Fadi’s struggle with his conscience over losing... Read Shooting Kabul Summary


Publication year 1994

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Society: Community, Natural World: Nurture v. Nature, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Emotions/Behavior: Hope

Tags Narrative / Epic Poem, Parenting


Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship, Emotions/Behavior: Gratitude, Natural World: Appearance & Reality

Tags Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Children's Literature, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Identity: Disability, Society: Colonialism, Society: Community, Identity: Language, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Self Discovery

Tags Children's Literature, History: World, Historical Fiction, Race / Racism, Disability


Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Relationships: Siblings, Self Discovery