Esperanza Cordero is a young girl in a poor area in Chicago. Working towards the goal of self-empowerment and self-discovery, she finds problems with race, gender, class, and economic statuses that stand in the way of her. Short vignettes, stories, and poems provide insight into her life as she progresses towards her aspirations.
Brave New World, an iconic dystopian novel by Aldous Huxley has been called prophetic
for its striking predictions of the future—a future that our society seems to be approaching. Gone
are the notions of love and connections; humans are bred in labs for specific societal roles,
citizens are told to pursue relationships with multiple people solely for pleasure, and the
totalitarian government controls the populace via soma, a dangerous drug with seemingly no side
effects.
In the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez highlights the
complexities of human relationships, feelings, and fate. This story follows the Buendia family
through the generations covering both the founding and ruin of the town of Macondo,
juxtaposing the growth and decay of the town with the family. Macondo starts isolated from other
forces but slowly grows and becomes synonymous with fortune and power. Similarly, the
In the Historical Fiction novel Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert details the tumultuous
love story between a depressed wife and an unparalleled loving husband to highlight the evil
inherent in the upper classes. The wife, Madame Bovary, is a farm girl who has spent her life
trying to be a maiden like in her childhood fairy tales and marries a country doctor, Mister
Bovary, who will do anything to satisfy her. This includes doing whatever she wants, being
In the historical fiction novel Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte tells the life story of the
Vengeful Heathcliff as retold by a guest of his estate after being informed by a maid who cared
for Catherine Earnshaw from young till now. A young man of unknown origins, Heathcliff grows
up the apple of his adopted father's eye, leaving the man's actual children belligerent. An
immoral relationship unwittingly forms between Heathcliff and his sister, Catherin Earnshaw, one
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton follows a 14 year old boy named Ponyboy Curtis. There are two
kinds of people in the world: greasers (always have to be cautious and not wealthy) and socs
(wealthy with a lot of attitude). Ponyboy is a greaser and he’s experienced a lot of rumbles with
socs with his other greaser friends. One night, one of his friends murders a soc and the world
around him slowly starts to crumble.
The Outsiders is a lovely short coming of age book. We read from the point of view of
Ponyboy Curtis who lives with his brothers Sodapop and Darry. Ponyboy’s family and
others from his part of town are a part of a gang called “Greasers”. And have a Rivalry
with the Socs who are more richer, sophisticated and snobbish then the Greasers. The
Socs and the Greasers are constantly at war due to their differences. One night
Frankenstein is a gothic/science fiction novel by Mary Shelley that takes place in the 18th
century. The main character is Victor Frankenstein who is a aspiring scientist who plays with the
elements of life, and creates a living monster in his ultimate science experiment. Though Victor
had achieved his dream of creating a living person, he had failed to see consequences of his
actions and pays a very harsh price for his doing. The creature is rejected by his creator and
