Based on the famous Spider-Man comic, this animated, adventure-action film on adversity, resilience, collectivity and empowerment follows Miles Morales, an everyday, regular, normal boy – until he gets bitten by a radioactive spider and gains superpowers. When Peter Parker aka ‘the real’ Spider-Man dies, it is on Miles to save the world from the devastating […]
A postcolonial short story by the award winning author Salman Rushdie on international relations, gender and power, cultural differences, and the many-sided nature of human nature. Miss Rehana visits a British consulate in India, to be reunited with her fiancée who is living in England. A man named Mr. Ali approaches her in front of […]
This holocaust novel explores loss, nationalism, anti-Semitism and the power of friendship across borders and fences. The readers follow nine-year-old Bruno, who lives with his parents and sister Gretel in Berlin in 1943. As Bruno’s father, who works as a commanding officer, gets promoted, his family moves to a new house in the middle of […]
A Gothic novel of moral depth about mental health, social pressure, belonging and a family dream that turns into a dark nightmare. The birth of Ben, the fifth and rather unusual child of Harriet and David, threatens and disrupts their ordinary and happy family life. Ben’s violent, aggressive and reckless behaviour, which is due to […]
A Christmas poem on peace, faith and diversity written for the tree-lighting ceremony of the USA’s White House in 2005. It paints the festive season as a time of harmony, an absence of hatred and calls on people from all kinds of backgrounds to take part in the peaceful calm of this special time of […]
A coming-of-age-novel about slavery and racism, hypocrisy in society and freedom set along the Mississippi River: a white outsider and an African American slave emancipate themselves in pursuit of the American Dream. Tying in with the prequel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, who once was a homeless boy, now leads a civilised life […]
A classic rhyming tale about the meaning of Christmas and commerce. The sheer thought of the nearing festivities so enrages the green monster everyone knows as simply the Grinch that he plans to steal the whole celebration in the middle of the night.
Years after breaking up, Bill and Mary randomly meet on the street. Despite the time that has passed and the two of them having new partners and children, Mary still seems to be emotionally attached to Bill. But after a short exchange of words, they go their separate ways. This short story shows that what […]
A Gothic short story about the inevitability of death, emphasising that in death everyone is equal. The fearless and happy prince Prospero celebrates opulent masquerade balls with many other nobles while outside his thick castle walls the Red Death rages and carries off the less fortunate. In the story, Prospero set up seven different coloured […]
A classic children’s novel about poverty and wealth, humility, kindness and greed. Charlie is an eleven-year-old boy who loves chocolate and lives with his parents and grandparents in a little hut close to a big city. They do not have a lot of money, but Charlie and his family live a happy life until Charlie’s […]
A dystopian movie drama about power, subversion and the lengths some people will go to protect their family: In Katniss’ world, survival is everything. She lives in a poor, rural district of a future version of the North-American continent re-shaped by a disaster. For the meagre support provided by the Capitol, all the districts have […]
A witch and her cat are happily flying through the air until a gust of wind blows her hat, bow and wand away. Luckily a dog, bird and frog retrieve them for her. In return they’d love to take a ride on the witch’s broomstick, but how long until that broom inevitably snaps in two? […]
This gothic tale tells a scary but humourous story of greed, marriage and the power of imagination. Coming from New York, the main character and poor schoolmaster, Ichabod Crane attempts to win the heart and hand of Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter of the richest farmer in Sleepy Hollow. The small, quiet and somehow enchanted […]
A Shakespearean tragedy from Early Modernism / Renaissance about madness, revenge, political intrigues, love and loss. The king of Denmark is dead, and soon his widow Gertrud marries Claudius, the former king’s brother. Prince Hamlet is depressed because of his father’s death and angry at his mother for remarrying so quickly. One night his father’s […]
A humourous coming-of-age graphic novel about love, friendship, teenage troubles (alcohol, sexuality, violence…) and intercultural contact. Junior is a 14-year old Native-American teenager who grows up in the Spokane Indian Reservation in the State of Washington. Being bullied because of his special needs, he decides to visit an all-white public high school off the reservation, […]
A modern ‘from rags to riches’ tale about believing in both fate and love against all odds. In Q & A, the inspiration for the Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire, Swarup tells the story of Ram Muhammed Thomas, who participates in India’s game show “Who Wants to Be a Billionaire?”. When Ram answers question after question […]
A dystopian novel about global warming, environmental pollution, love and the loss of biodiversity. In the year 2025, 75-year-old Tyrone works as a caretaker at the estate of a wealthy rockstar in California which functions as the habitat for animals that are the last of their kind. Climate change has caused mass extinctions and rice […]
A coming-of-age novel about patriarchy, racism, social injustices and rape. Esperanza is a teenage girl living with her family in Chicago. In short episodes she tells the reader about her life, growing up on Mango Street in a poor Mexican-American community. Esperanza grows up, makes friends, falls in love and endures sexual assault. Through all […]