A historical novel about friendship, betrayal, discrimination, guilt and redemption. Amir lives in the USA and remembers his childhood in Kabul, entwined with Afghanistan’s troubled history. How the communists took over, the Soviets invaded, how he escaped and settled in the USA together with his father who struggled to adapt to the new environment. But […]
Set in Nigeria during the late 19th century, this tragic novel problematises the battle between tradition and change, the role of colonialism, religion and patriarchy. Okonkwo is a respected member of his community, the Igbo people. When white missionaries arrive, Okonkwo’s son, like many others, converts to Christianity. Tensions rise between the natives and the […]
This historical novel about racism, war, the abuse of power and the holocaust, is the kick-off to a series of five: Felix is a 9-year-old Jewish boy hiding in Nazi-occupied Poland 1942. Separated from his parents, he is waiting in an orphanage, under the impression that his parents are just trying to save their book […]
This verse novel explores the author’s childhood in South Carolina and New York in the 1960s and 1970s: Growing up as an African American woman both with the aftermath of Jim Crow laws and the beginning Civil Rights movement. Her poems feature topics of racism, religion, spiritualism, family, history and the power of memory, storytelling, […]
This movie drama (based on the novel Q and A) revolves around family, friendship and fate: Jamal grows up as a poor beggar in India but when he is 18 years old he finds himself as contestant in ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’ nonetheless. Neither the show’s host nor the viewers can easily believe […]
A young readers’ novel about bullying, peer pressure, acceptance, diversity and friendship: Muncle Trogg is a giant, albeit a tiny one. In fact, he is so small that all the other giants make fun of him. So Muncle Trogg sneaks away to study the creatures which look most like him: humans, aka Smallings. One particular […]
A young adult novel about losing self-control, self-and body image, depression and the presence of winter. This is the story of two best friends Lia and Cassie, albeit with a sad twist: When one develops bulimia, the other one develops anorexia and thus they start a contest, trying to find out which of the two […]
A young adult novel about teenage boy Stanley Yelnats, who is sent to a juvenile corrections facility after being falsely accused of theft. At Camp Green Lake, the plot explores the background stories of different characters, touching on themes such as racism, homelessness and illiteracy. Two companion novels are available, Small Steps and Stanley Yelnat’s […]
A family tragedy of disenfranchisement, idealism, race relations as well as broken dreams set in an ‘all-black’ neighbourhood in 1950’s Pittsburgh. Troy, who works as a garbage man, has a wife and two sons. They live in a house that Troy bought using the compensation money his brother received for being shot in the head […]
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. […]
This dystopian novel leads the reader down a dark path towards the perils of religion and oppressive patriarchy. A religious shift in the US-American government calling itself the ‘Pure Movement’ results in women being stripped of their voices: Handcuffs every woman has to wear count their spoken words and if the daily number exceeds 100, […]
In The Crucible, Arthur Miller tells a tale about how little is needed for a small community to turn on each other. When rumors of witchcraft arise in rural Salem during the 1690s, it does not take long for people to start to denounce anybody in order to save their own skin. Eventually, truth is […]
This 19th century best-selling novel about human trafficking, violence and slavery follows Tom, a middle-aged, enslaved African-American slave. As Tom is sold again and again, his life fully depends on the mercy and goodwill of his current owner… The novel is praised for having laid the groundwork for the abolition of slavery, but also harshly […]
A story about the Troubles in Ireland and an unemployed teenager caught in a bloody conflict. Cal is a member of the Catholic minority in Northern Ireland. Like his peers, he goes to school but unlike his peers, he occasionally works as a driver for the Irish Republican Army IRA. This way he becomes complicit […]
A dystopian novel about conformity and otherness set in a world where every teenager is transformed from an “ugly” into a “pretty” with the help of extreme cosmetic surgery when they turn 16. 15-year-old Tally can’t wait, but her friends Shay and David show her the downsides of their society, which causes her to rebel. […]
The young wizard Harry broadens his knowledge and skills in the second volume of the Harry Potter series. Together with his friends Ron and Hermine, he critically investigates Hogwart’s history and the continuing conflict between students from Gryffindor and Slytherin – in which identity seems to play a major role.
A dystopian novel on gender, sex, fertility, rebellion, and love. In the near future, most women have become infertile and the USA have transformed into a theocracy where women are either the wives of party officials, supposed to take care of the household, or have to take part in a bizarre ritual. Offred is one […]