This dystopian comedy movie explores the power of media, commercialism and simulated reality. Truman has the all-American life: A loving wife, kids, a house complete with a picket fence… Then he starts noticing the occasional oddity. Whether it be his wife sounding like an infomercial or the people around him doing everything in their power […]

Beloved is a Postmodern historical fiction novel about slavery, motherhood and community. 1873, it is the time just after the Civil War and the former slave Sethe lives with her 18-year old daughter Denver in 124, a haunted house on the edge of Cincinnati. The novel explores the lives of the two after they escaped from […]

Robinson Crusoe is the unreliable narrator of this travelogue from Restauration and Enlightenment referred to as the first English novel. The protagonist decides to go to sea against his father’s will and becoming quite a successful merchant in the colonies abroad. One day, he is shipwrecked and finds himself on a lonely island where he […]

This funny picture book follows Bertie, a misbehaved boy, who has lots of horrible hobbies. He loves collecting slugs and worms, eating dog food and weeing in the flowerbed. People tell him: “No, Bertie! That’s Dirty Bertie!” But when will he understand? This version is suitable for the youngest learners of English. It gave way […]

This lovely picture book tells the empowering story of a library visit and a bear who escapes from its book. One day, when the children visit the library to listen to the wonderful storytelling of Miss Merryweather, the librarian is missing. Looking for her, they find a rather hairy but friendly liBEARian who tells them […]

This beautifully illustrated picture book tells the empowering story of a boy and a penguin, abilities and disabilities, flying and friendship. Everyone knows that penguins can’t fly but it is the penguin’s greatest wish to do so. Will the boy let his friend’s dream come true? The story is the sequel of Oliver Jeffer’s award-winning […]

This heart-warming, illustrated story follows a lion who visits a library for the first time. Indeed, “there are rules about shouting. And rules about running. But there aren’t any rules about lions!” After struggling with proper behaviour in the library, the lion soon makes friends and perfectly adapts to the new surroundings – he even uses his […]

This film drama based on the Jodi Picoult novel of the same name approaches medical ethics, sisterhood, isolation and hope. The story follows the unusual life of Anna Fitzgerald. Anna’s older sister Kate has acute promyelocytic leukaemia and, before Anna was born, struggled to find a genetic match for various donations. Anna was conceived via […]

This distopian coming of age novel starts off the trilogy His Dark Materials, an exploration of innocence in a parallel universe ruled by a strict religious authority. At times also known as The Golden Compass, this fantastic novel follows young Lyra, a girl abandoned by her parents and instead of being brought up at prestigious Jordan College […]

This collection of twelve dystopian short stories exposes institutionalised racism, social injustice, and the devastating effects of consumerism on contemporary and near-future society. As ‘dark satires’, they explore the interconnectedness of black identity and the socio-economical realities of the US. ‘The Finkelstein Five’, for example, reveals police violence and the prejudice of the US justice system […]

This collection of poetry on depression, family, love, heartbreak, suffering and healing provides the reader with an authentic insight into the speaker’s struggle with a mental health issue. Sabrina Benaim’s poetry makes the reader aware of existing stigmata, stereotypes and discrimination of people with depression – also providing us with the notion that life and […]

This action movie about tradition and change, African and African American representation, power structures and sovereignty marks the first film of the superhero genre with a predominantly black cast and reminds us, that “[…] in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers.” Set in Wakanda, a technologically advanced nation in East […]

In this time-flip novel, preteen Hannah Stern is sick and tired of her relatives’ stories about the past. But when she is transported back to 1942 to a village in Poland she faces the harsh reality of those stories. She, along with the village’s Jews, is abducted by Nazis. After being brought to a concentration […]

Set in Germany during World War II, this historical novel follows the coming of age story of Liesel Meminger. Surrounded by hatred and destruction, Liesel struggles to maintain the innocence of childhood. Her foster parents take in a Jewish man, Hans, and hide him from the authorities. Hans teaches Liesel to read, and she goes […]

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 […]

Based on a true story, this novel explores paranoia, ideological obsession, the damaged American psyche and the Sovereign citizen movement – a militant group of people who regard US laws and law enforcement as illegitimate. Set in contemporary Northern California, the narration follows Adam, the son of Vietnam veteran Sten Stenson and his much older […]

This popular coming of age movie was published in Germany under the title Kick It Like Beckham and features a young woman’s struggle for equal treatment: Jesminder “Jess” Bhamra is the daughter of British Indian Sikhs living in London and also very much in love with football. Her conservative parents do not want her to play though […]

J. R. R. Tolkien’s children’s fantasy adventure novel on greed, trust, fellowship and heroism follows the magical quest and personal growth of a hobbit: “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends or worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy, […]