Good & Evil

How do we uphold goodness in a world where it can seem impossible? What are the consequences to the human heart when we fail to live up to the ideals of goodness? These are some of the questions posed by the texts in this collection which explores the theme of Good & Evil.

Publication year 2008

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Fantasy, Action / Adventure

The Hunger Games is a best-selling young adult dystopian novel, the first in Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games trilogy. It details the life of teenage heroine Katniss Everdeen as she fights to the death for the entertainment of her fascist government. Since its publication in 2008, the trilogy has sold more than 65 million copies in the United States alone and, in 2019, was listed as one of 100 most influential novels by BBC News. The... Read The Hunger Games Summary


Publication year 2015

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Children's Literature, Fantasy, Action / Adventure, Religion / Spirituality


Publication year 1869

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil

Tags Classic Fiction, History: World, Historical Fiction, Philosophy, Russian Literature, Philosophy

The Idiot is a novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky, first published in 1868-69. The story focuses on the titular character, a good-natured, destitute aristocrat named Prince Myshkin. The novel has been adapted many times for film, theatre, television, and radio. This guide is written using an eBook version of the 2003 Vintage edition, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. Plot SummaryPrince Lev Myshkin is a young man from one of Russia's oldest, most... Read The Idiot Summary


Publication year 1845

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Art

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Classic Fiction, Gothic Literature, American Literature, Education, Education, History: World, Philosophy, Philosophy

Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Imp of the Perverse” is an American Gothic tale that, like many of his stories, uses an unreliable first-person narrator and an atmosphere of suspense to explore themes of Irrationality and Perverseness, Self-Punishment, and the Interplay of Creation and Destruction. It was published late in Poe’s writing career, in the June 1845 edition of Graham’s Magazine. The story is unique due to its in-depth analysis of the trait of... Read The Imp of the Perverse Summary


Publication year 1911

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Identity: Mental Health, Identity: Race, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Society: Class, Society: Colonialism, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, British Literature, Religion / Spirituality


Publication year 1789

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Literature, Society: Colonialism

Tags Race / Racism, History: African

Originally published in 1789, Olaudah Equiano’s The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself is a slave narrative in which the author recounts his childhood, capture, life as an enslaved person, and emancipation. With its descriptions of life among the Igbo and the author’s experience of the Middle Passage, the book is a key text for studying the transatlantic slave trade and lives of people of... Read The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, the African Summary


Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Identity: Gender, Life/Time: Mortality & Death

Tags Fantasy, Gender / Feminism, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Religion / Spirituality, LGBTQ, Age of Enlightenment, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Romance

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a historical fantasy novel by the American author V.E. Schwab published in 2020. It chronicles the story of Addie LaRue, an 18th-century Frenchwoman who gains eternal life through a bargain with a demonic entity. However, the deal comes at a great cost: Everybody who meets Addie immediately forgets her. A New York Times bestseller, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue received a 2020 Goodreads Choice Award nomination for... Read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue Summary


Publication year 1897

Genre Novella, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, British Literature, Religion / Spirituality, Science / Nature, Victorian Period, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, History: World, Fantasy, Classic Fiction

H. G. Wells is one of the earliest science fiction authors, sometimes referred to as the father of the genre. His 1897 novel, The Invisible Man, follows an albino scientist who discovers the secret to turning himself invisible. The novel’s blend of fantastical science and realistic, mundane detail is a signature of Wells. This novel has influenced generations of writers and artists, both through its powerful prose and fascinating plot, as well as for its... Read The Invisible Man Summary


Publication year 1949

Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction

Themes Society: War, Society: Nation, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Emotions/Behavior: Courage

Tags Military / War, History: World, WWII / World War II, Politics / Government, Biography

“Their Finest Hour” is a speech originally given by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on June 18, 1940, in the House of Commons to members of Parliament and his ministerial cabinet. Churchill delivered the speech following the disastrous campaign of the Battle of France and the hasty evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from Dunkirk. In June 1940, Nazi boots marched in Paris, and the surrender of the French government seemed imminent. The speech... Read Their Finest Hour Summary


Publication year 1968

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Natural World: Space & The Universe, Relationships: Friendship, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology


Publication year 2010

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Society: Education

Tags Religion / Spirituality, Self Help, Christian literature, Philosophy, Philosophy

The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life by Father James Martin was published in 2010. The book is an accessible introduction to Ignatian spirituality, a famous Catholic devotional practice developed in the 16th century by St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. Father Martin, who left a career in corporate finance to become a Jesuit priest, is a prolific and popular writer on Catholic topics. He is an editor-at-large... Read The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything Summary


Publication year 1592

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil

Tags Mythology, Asian Literature, Classic Fiction, Chinese Literature, Asian Literature, History: World, Fantasy

The Journey to the West: Volume I (1983), translated and edited by Anthony C. Yu, contains the first 25 chapters of a 100-chapter hero’s epic, an allegory designed to impart knowledge on how to behave and what values to extol. Originally published in the late 16th century during the late Ming Dynasty, this epic is “loosely based on the famous pilgrimage of Xuanzang…the monk who went from China to India in quest of Buddhist scriptures”... Read Journey to the West: Volume I Summary


Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Society: Politics & Government

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Crime / Legal


Publication year 2015

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Emotions/Behavior: Apathy, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Identity: Mental Health, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2005

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Teams, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil

Tags Fantasy, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Action / Adventure, Magical Realism

First published in 2005, Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark is a fantasy-adventure for middle-grade readers by Ridley Pearson. Young Finn Whitman and his fellow Disney Hosts each night turn into holograms who visit the Magic Kingdom, where they must defeat a cadre of evil Disney characters trying to break out of the park and take over the world. Winner of the Sunshine State Young Readers Award, the book is the first of more than a... Read The Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark Summary


Publication year 1895

Genre Short Story Collection, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil

Tags Classic Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Fantasy, Gothic Literature, Mystery / Crime Fiction, History: World


Publication year 1956

Genre Scripture, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Religion / Spirituality, Philosophy


Publication year 1889

Genre Novella, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Music, Relationships: Marriage, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil

Tags Classic Fiction, Love / Sexuality, Russian Literature, History: World


Publication year 1956

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality

Tags Fantasy, Classic Fiction, Action / Adventure, Christian literature, Children's Literature, Religion / Spirituality

The Last Battle, first published in England in 1956, is the seventh and final novel in The Chronicles of Narnia. The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of fantasy novels by celebrated British writer and literary scholar C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), is considered a classic of children’s literature. The Last Battle represents the culmination of the series’ themes and characters and won the Carnegie Medal, which annually recognizes an outstanding book for children. Although The Last... Read The Last Battle Summary


Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Teams, Self Discovery, Society: Class, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger

Tags Fantasy, Romance, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction