The classic tale in the realm of magical realism combines language and logic into a memorable world of ‘literary nonsense’, which continues to shape popular culture for decades. While Alice, a 7-year old girl, sits next to a river she notices a white rabbit and follows it into its rabbit hole, emerging again in Wonderland, […]
A novel about desire, sexuality, power and coming to terms with life’s adversities. The story is set in post-aphartheid South Africa: David Lurie works as a professor for English in Cape Town when an affair with one of his students costs him his job. Not only does he quit university but also living in the […]
A young adult novel revolving around prejudice, racism and discrimination in the USA. Justyce is top of his class in school and thought he had left his neighborhood behind but what he cannot shake off is the bitter reality of racist assaults on him by white police. When one day he draws the attention of […]
A short excerpt from Morrison’s novel God Help the Child on motherhood, prejudice, racism and discrimination. This short story elaborates on a mother and her difficulties raising a black child: How she thought she needed to be strict with her daughter and how this past behavior still keeps them estranged until the present day – […]
A rhyming heart-warming story about the beauty of one’s outer appearance and the beauty of the soul. “The zebra looked graceful; the leopard looked great. Oh, what a picture of beauty – but wait!” Hyena, wildebeest, vulture, warthog, and marabou strive through the Savannah – perfectly imperfect as they are.
These five verses explore a child’s perspective on the topic of migration with vivid images of flying, blossoming and dancing comparing its situation with a trapped bird concluding in the and that… “…I see I am a transplanted sapling, here, blossoming.”
A tragic novel about love, the American dream, acceleration and unrelenting optimism. When narrator Nick moves to a prestigious community on Long Island (New York), he is soon introduced to his mysterious neighbor Jay Gatsby. Little is known about Mr Gatsby except that he is fabulously rich and regularly holds huge parties in his luxurious […]
This epistolary novel tells a timeless coming-of-age story from the perspective of 15-year-old introvert Charlie, who is struggling with highschool life. Whether it is finding his taste in music or finding his first love, it all holds a special challenge for him. Bright days of joy, happiness and empowerment as well as gloomy days of […]
This short story from the realm of magical realism problematises resentment, prejudice and peer pressure. Ken Liu’s fantasy story depicts the struggle of a woman with a migrant background between retaining her ‘old’ identity and simultaneously adopting a new one. Her son Jack re-tells several episodes of their lives, showcasing his mother’s special talent: When […]
A thrilling metafictional novel about identity, ideals, racism, terrorism, American patriotism and imperialism, loyalty and distrust. Frame narrative: On a single afternoon at a Lahore café, Changez, a Pakistani man tells an unnamed American stranger about his life: Beginning with his elite education at Princeton and continuing into professional success in glittering New York City. […]
An epistolary young adult fiction in form of a diary on identity – a story about navigating the world of peer pressure, friendship, teenage angst, love, heartbreak and of course high school. This novel revolves around Amelia ‘Mia’ Thermopolis, a teenager in New York who discovers that she is the princess of a small European […]
A children’s novel in the realm of realistic fiction on rebellion, family and growing up. Jake has been kicked out of every public school in Rhode Island, he burned down the last school that he attended. To avoid being put into a juvenile detention center, he is sent to a home-school run by an eccentric […]
A children’s novel on friendship, love, loneliness, sorrow and melancholy. 10 year-old India Opal Bulloni has just moved to a trailer park in a small town in Florida. Her father preaches at the local church and India trys to settle in and get to know her neighbors. When she sees a scruffy little dog at […]
A dystopian, social science fiction novel about the importance of memory, individualism and identity construction. 12 year-old Jonas lives in a society where the ruling force is ‘Sameness’. A life without colours, pain or past. Everyone is assigned their job at the age of twelve. No uncertainty, no problems. The only person who safekeeps the […]
A relentless exploration of racial prejudice and finding your voice as a young adult. 16-year-old Starr is a black student attending an elite school with a white majority, always carefully presenting herself in order to fit in. When her friend is accidentally shot by a police officer in front of her eyes, Starr is not […]
This magic novel about the invigorating and healing power of nature, friendship, childhood, isolation and rebirth follows 10-year-old Mary, a sour child of wealthy British parents living in India. When Mary’s parents suddenly die of cholera, she is sent to England to live with her uncle in the Yorkshire Moors. It is not long after […]
In this collection of illustrated poems, Dahl gives his own versions of fairy tales that could do with some dark humour. Ranging from Cinderella to The Three Little Pigs, all of them come with a dark twist.
A children’s book series about a sentient, anthropomorphic school bus that takes a teacher and her class on unusual field trips to explain different scientific facts or phenomena. Destinations include outer space, the human body, the past and more. The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body provides a good entry point to the series. […]