Brothers & Sisters

The Recruit by British author Robert Muchamore (Hodder Children’s Books, 2004) is the first book in the middle-grade spy adventure CHERUB series and follows a 12-year-old boy who is plucked from a difficult life to become a spy. The book offers a look at the opportunities presented by change while exploring themes of overcoming fear, seeing issues from both sides, and making difficult choices. The Recruit was nominated for eight awards and won seven of... Read The Recruit Summary

Content Warning: This guide contains references to war-related trauma, suicide, and systemic racism and violence against Indigenous Americans.“The Red Convertible” is a short story that explores themes of Coming of Age and The Trauma of War through the lives of two young Chippewa men. Protagonist Lyman Lamartine reflects on his relationship with his brother, Henry Junior, before, during, and after Henry’s time serving in the Vietnam War. Lyman focuses on the period when he and... Read The Red Convertible Summary

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan (Hyperion Books for Children, 2010) is the first installment in the middle-grade fantasy adventure Kane Chronicles series and is followed by The Throne of Fire (2011) and The Serpent’s Shadow (2012). The book follows siblings Carter and Sadie Kane on a journey across North America to stop the Egyptian god of chaos from destroying the world. The Red Pyramid won a School Library Journal Best Book Award and was... Read The Red Pyramid Summary

The Roar by British novelist Emma Clayton was published in 2008. It is a middle-grade, post-apocalyptic science fiction novel set in the British Isles. Clayton’s world is rife with lies and conspiracies, with mutant children and authoritarianism, but at its core, it’s a story of the bond between siblings and the lengths to which they will go to remain together. The Roar is the first of a two-book series, the second of which, The Whisper... Read The Roar Summary

... Read The Rom-Commers Summary

First published in The Atlantic in 1960, James Hurst’s “The Scarlet Ibis” won the magazine’s “Atlantic First” award. Frequently included in literature anthologies, Hurst’s tragic short story explores themes of pride, shame, and death within the context of coming of age.This guide refers to the 1960 version that appeared in The Atlantic as well as the brief biographical information included in that original publication.Content Warning: The source text uses outdated, offensive terms to describe people... Read The Scarlet Ibis Summary

... Read The Secret Battle of Evan Pao Summary

... Read The Secret Book of Flora Lea Summary

... Read The Secret Life of Sunflowers Summary

... Read The Secret Lives of Church Ladies Summary

... Read These Hollow Vows Summary

IntroductionPublished in 1987, The Shell Seekers was written by Rosamunde Pilcher and is her first bestseller. Inspired by Pilcher’s conversation with Tom Dunne at St. Martin’s Press about her children’s desire to see their mother become famous, the novel is the author’s attempt to create a story for women based on the experiences of her generation. Set in 1984, it tells the story of Penelope Stern Keeling and her children (Nancy, Olivia, and Noel) and... Read The Shell Seekers Summary

... Read The Skeleton Tree Summary

William Faulkner’s 1929 novel The Sound and the Fury relays the trials and decline of a once-prominent Southern family, the Compsons. The novel grapples with the challenges of a changing cultural landscape as modernity encroaches on the values—and deep-seated prejudices—of the Old South. Told through the perspectives of the three Compson brothers, Benjy, Quentin, and Jason, the novel visits and revisits key events in the family’s past and present. Much of the concern swirls around... Read The Sound and the Fury Summary

... Read The Stillwater Girls Summary

... Read The Stories Julian Tells Summary

... Read The Summer of Broken Rules Summary

... Read The Summer of the Swans Summary

The Thief Lord is a middle-grade fantasy novel originally written and published in German by Cornelia Funke in 2000. Its English translation by Oliver Latsch was reprinted in 2002. The story won many national and international awards, including the Mildred L. Batchelder Award for Outstanding Translated Book, the Zurich Children’s Book Award, the Swiss Youth Literature Award, and the Book Award from the Vienna House of Literature. It’s also a New York Times Notable Book... Read The Thief Lord Summary

The Thirteenth Tale, written by Diane Setterfield, was published in 2006 by Emily Bestler Books/Washington Square Press. The book rose to #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list just one week after publication and won the Quill Award for debut author of the year. Before publishing this first book, Setterfield was an academic, specializing in 20th-century French literature. Since the publication of her first book, Setterfield has published two further books, Bellman &... Read The Thirteenth Tale Summary