What happens when the heartbeat of a community, carried in its proverbs and traditions, is silenced by the stroke of a pen? Chinua Achebe’s monumental 1958 novel, Things Fall Apart, chronicles the tragic downfall of Okonkwo, a fierce Igbo warrior, and the devastating collision of his culture with European colonialism. The novel is a powerful […]

“We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced.” This powerful realization from Malala Yousafzai lies at the heart of her bestselling memoir, I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban. Co-written with Christina Lamb, the book is an unforgettable testament to the courage

“It’s really a wonder I haven’t abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.” This renowned entry from Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl captures the extraordinary resilience that illuminates her

“I was born a crime.” With this shocking declaration, Trevor Noah opens his bestselling memoir, Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood, immediately plunging us into the absurd and brutal realities of life under apartheid. Noah’s very existence as the child of a Black Xhosa mother and a white Swiss-German father was illegal

“As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.” This iconic line from John Green’s bestselling novel, The Fault in Our Stars, captures the tender, consuming, and heartbreaking romance that blossoms against the harsh backdrop of terminal illness. Sixteen-year-old Hazel Grace Lancaster, tethered to an oxygen

“What’s the point of having a voice if you’re gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn’t be?” This burning question from Angie Thomas’s award-winning 2017 novel, The Hate U Give, encapsulates the courageous and transformative journey of its protagonist, Starr Carter, after she witnesses the fatal police shooting of her unarmed best friend, Khalil.