Summary: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen follows the life of Fanny Price, a young girl from a poor family who is sent to live with her wealthy relatives at Mansfield Park. Fanny struggles to find her place in this new environment, often feeling overlooked and inferior. She develops feelings for her cousin, Edmund Bertram, who is kind to her but ultimately falls for the charming but morally questionable Henry Crawford.
The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller. This play occurs in Salem, Massachusetts, as suspicions rise of witchcraft. John Proctor, one of the main characters, created false accusations of Abigail (a teen) partaking in witchcraft. This leads to a string of accusations that causes hysteria in the entire town. These accusations find their way to court, where false “evidence” and faulty claims overpower the truth that few dare to speak out loud.
King Lear is a tragic play by William Shakespeare that explores themes of power, family, and madness. The story revolves around King Lear's decision to divide his kingdom among his three daughters, Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia, based on their flattery of him. Cordelia's refusal to indulge in false praise leads to Lear disowning her and ultimately descending into madness as he faces betrayal from his other daughters and loses his grip on power.
Jude, who lives in Faerie, is a mortal. Cardan, who is the youngest son of the High King Eldred, is a faerie. Jude wants to win a place in the High Court as a knight and prove her skills even as a mortal. Cardan and his friends will do anything to humiliate Jude and hinder her chances of getting a place in the High Court. Jude becomes tangled in the Court’s secrets but then is able to find her ability to deceive and keep those close to her safe.
The Hate U Give is an enticing novel about a young African American girl finding her voice. Starr Park is a girl living in a predominantly black community, although she goes to a richer school in a different community. One day, she is in the car with her friend Khalil when a white police officer comes and shoots and kills him for no proper reason. The news coverage says that Khalil was killed because he had done something to provoke the police officer.
Invisible Child is a nonfiction book written by Andrea Elliott. Elliott used her decades of reporting of the poverty in America to highlight Dasani, an impoverished child of many in America. Dasani grew up homeless in New York City and faced the problems of poverty. She leads her siblings through the world of being homeless. She encounters chances of escaping poverty but must ask herself what she wants.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens follows the captivating story of Kya Clark, known as the "Marsh Girl," who grows up isolated in the marshes of North Carolina. Abandoned by her family at a young age, Kya learns to survive on her own, forming a deep connection with the natural world around her. As she grows older, Kya becomes entangled in a murder investigation when the town's golden boy, Chase Andrews, is found dead.
The once wealthy Snow family has fallen on hard times but Coriolanus Snow is set on changing that by mentoring a winning tribute for the tenth annual Hunger Games. The problem is he gets paired with the female tribute from District Twelve, which puts the odds against him. His only shot at fame and fortune is to win over the public and train his tribute to survive the games. This proves difficult when he faces complicated feelings for his tribute and has to decide between what’s right and his survival.
Silence is a book regarding faith and religion in a time and place where seeking a religion outside Japan’s interest would lead to immense suffering for its citizens. Sebastian Rodrigues, a character this book focuses on extensively, is a priest who has journeyed to Japan to tell the people about Christianity. The story quickly develops into his constant evasion of Japanese authorities looking to coerce him to renounce his faith.
Sera is chosen as a sacrifice for her home, The City Above the Sky. The city is tethered to the planet below. It becomes time to move to the next planet and the only way to do that is for a Cerulean to be chosen and sacrifice themselves for their city. However, Sera’s sacrifice doesn’t work and instead, she’s stuck on the planet below which poses more danger than she once believed.
