A Curse So Dark And Lonely is a fantasy retelling of the famous fairy tale Beauty and the Beast set in a modern-day world. The female protagonist Harper, who has Cerebral Palsy, is swept into the parallel fantasy world of Emberfall after witnessing and trying to stop a kidnapping. In this new world, the realm […]

Love Letters to the Dead follows Laurel on her journey of coming of age and grief. The novel’s journey begins with a simple task in her English class where her teacher asks her to write a letter to any dead person of her choosing. Laurel dedicates her first letter to Kurt Cobain telling him about […]

War, love, journalism and the emotional impact of written words. In a magical world with two gods at war, 18-year-old Iris Winnow has to navigate her life after her brother was drafted into the war. With the dream of writing texts that will eventually have an impact, Iris secures a job for the Oath Gazette, […]

The novel, set in the year 2045 in a dystopian world, focuses on Wade Watts who enjoys his time in the virtual world of OASIS more than his reality, and he is not alone in this opinion. After the sudden death of OASIS’ creator who leaves behind puzzles on popular culture of the past, people […]

The adventure and comedy movie, belonging to the subcategory of buddy films, is set in the Outerbanks of North Carolina, where Zak, a young man with Down syndrome, has a dream- a dream bigger than living peacefully in a care home with the authorities watching over him. The young boy’s goal is to attend his […]

Chuck Mullin’s Bird Brain: Comics About Mental Health, Starring Pigeons, as the title already suggests, is a collection of several smaller comics depicting independent situations where pigeons discuss mental health issues. The individual comics range from one to four panels in colour. The book aims to reach a variety of audiences as, on one side, […]

The Boys in the Band was originally written by Mart Crowley and premiered as an off-Broadway production in 1968, one year before the Gay Liberation Movement emerged. The play is set in one evening in an apartment in New York City where Michael hosts a birthday party for his friends, all of them being gay. […]

Marshall’s Walkabout is a survival novel following two young siblings, Mary and Peter, from America, who, after a plane crash, are stranded in the Australian Outback. Plagued by starvation and exhaustion, their chances of survival in these unknown and strange lands seem to be low until they meet an Aboriginal boy who takes the role […]

In his true-crime novel, Eli Sanders addresses the actual crime case of the culprit Isaiah Kalebu and his two victims, Jennifer Hopper and Teresa Butz. On a summer night in 2009, Kalebu broke into the house of Hopper and Butz, an engaged lesbian couple, where he proceeded to rape and attack both women and, in […]

The moving coming-of-age novel tells the story of Kirali Lewis, a young woman from Australia of South East Australian Aboriginal heritage. However, Kirali has no personal connection to her heritage as she did not grow up in its community or with the Aborigines’ traditions- Kiralli was adopted by a white family.  Her story begins in […]

This intriguing whodunit follows a group of five students in their investigation concerning the murder of Simon, Bayview High’s resident gossiper. He dies just 24 hours before posting the students’ deepest secrets on his gossip app ‘About That’. But who is the culprit and what were they trying to hide? From resident jock to star […]

This novel combines a beautiful and unique love story with the terrifying reality of war and seeking refuge. When Nadia and Saeed meet, their country is on the brink of a civil war. As violence and unrest increases, they decide they need to leave their home and jump into uncertainty. Jump being meant quite literally, […]

This animated short film will tug at your heart strings, no dialogue needed. When a Chinese-Canadian mother’s son leaves the nest, she is heartbroken and lonely. Her heartache is only soothed when she finds an adorable little steamed bun has come alive on her plate. Having something to take care of gives her a new […]

This documentary is a wonderful way to introduce discussions around multiculturalism and intercultural contact to the EFL classroom. Set in post-industrial Ohio, the camera team follows the opening of a Chinese factory. Due to the employment of 2000 American workers, conflicts arise as high-tech China clashes with working-class America.

This book can give children a wonderful insight into the lives of other children across the globe. The daily lives and activities of seven different children are highlighted, from countries like Japan, Peru, and Uganda. Getting a glimpse into the lives of others can help us understand differences but also, that at the end of […]

This heartwarming story shows the beauty of non-traditional families and can help introduce this topic to young readers. The Central Park Zoo houses all kinds of animals, the penguins being among the ones that love living in pairs. Roy and Silo, two male penguins, are in love and desperately want a little penguin of their […]

This novella addresses present-day themes and issues wrapped up in a far from realistic scenario. When Esther and her friends are approached by a billionaire, the challenge they were confronted with was not one they expected. In return for a thousand dollars each, they have to give up their smartphones for six weeks. But what […]

In this epistolary novel, the speaker “Little Dog” addresses his mother who cannot read. The letters narrate the complicated story of the speaker’s family history. They are not limited to Little Dog’s life, but instead include themes such as the lasting impact of war and struggles of immigration. Whereas the text’s level of difficulty is […]