Literature by Genre

Since Aristotle, man has been busy classifying things. Adam was the classification pioneer (naming the animals), but it was the Greek philosopher who turned it into an art form, an obsession, and an intellectual sport. We've had 2300 years to get better at it, and today a book isn't just a "book": it's a novel, or a treatise, or a poem, or a drama. But it isn't even just a novel, anymore—it's a satire, or historical fiction, or science fiction, or a philosophical novel, or an autobiographical collection of short stories set in a dystopian near-future.

There may be no examples of the last type, but genres (rather than being confusing, as some claim) are invaluable guides to navigating the endless stream of books that flows through our bookstores, libraries, and online distribution centers. For instance, you know just by hearing the phrase "romance novel" there won't be much quality in any section so named, and if the normal romance novel is to be shunned, you can be certain the growing field of paranormal romance fiction will be even more useless.

I will not take this opportunity to describe each and every genre we've included in our selection; that's what the sidebar is for. However, before you dismiss the genre distinctions as useless generic terminology, consider what they can do. If you've just finished a book by Jane Austen, or Tim O'Brien, or Rudyard Kipling, and want to read similar books but don't know where to start, you could start by looking at other books included in their respective genres.

Some of the genres are pretty basic. Obviously, if you want to read poetry you aren't going to look under Novels. Well, you might, but you'd be mostly out of luck. Others, like Epic & Saga, can be much more helpful for more specific searches—our Epic & Saga category includes 42 items; our Literature & Adult Fiction includes 2,397.

Most of the books found here are for older students or adults (though that doesn't mean younger readers can't enjoy most of them as well, as long as you preview and discuss each title with them). For kid-oriented reading, check out our Fiction category. The genres there are even more specific, partly because there are more obvious distinctions beween different kinds of children's literature, and partly because we've spent more time bringing in specifc titles for young readers. That in no way means we've ignored our selection for adults and high schoolers.

In fact, we're pretty proud of it. Not every book is worth reading; we've tried to limit those on our shelf to ones that are. To make it easier for you to find the sort of book you want to read, we've given most of the titles genres. Sure, it's often fun to lazily browse bookstore shelves or websites, but let's face it—somtimes you just need to find the next book that's going to provide your fiction fix, and you don't have time to research the whole broad genre that happens to be your favorite. Reader, we salute you, and offer you: Literature by Genre.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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111 Items found Print
Active Filters: 7th grade (Ages 12-13), Hardcover, In-Stock Books & Materials
Acts of Light
by Emily Dickinson, illustrated by Nancy Ekholm Burkert, appreciation by Jane Langton
Third Printing from Little, Brown & Company
for 4th-Adult
in Poetry (Location: POET-GEN)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Robin Hood
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Paul Creswick, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth
1991 Edition from Reader's Digest
for 6th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Harry Rountree
from Gallery Books
for 3rd-9th grade
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Aesop's Fables
by Aesop, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from Macmillan
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$14.99
Aladdin and Other Tales from the Arabian Nights
by Anonymous, illustrated by William Heath Robinson
from Everyman's Library
for 6th-9th grade
$20.00
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Macmillan Classics
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by John Tenniel
from Macmillan
Fantasy for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$13.50 (1 in stock)
All Creatures Great and Small / All Things Bright and Beautiful
James Herriot Series Book 1
by James Herriot
from MJF Books
Realistic Fiction for 7th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Among the Enemy
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
from Scholastic Inc.
for 5th-8th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Among the Free
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
from Scholastic Inc.
for 5th-9th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Egypt: Life, Myth, and Art
by JoAnne Fletcher
First Edition from Duncan Baird
for 5th-9th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$8.50 (1 in stock)
Arctic Twilight
by Samuli Paulaharju
1982 Edition from Finnish American Literary Heritage Foundation
for 7th-Adult
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Atlantis Rising
by Robert Sullivan, drawings by Glenn Wolff
from Simon and Schuster
for 6th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Beautiful Stories of Life
by Cynthia Rylant
1st edition from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 4th-7th grade
$17.99
Bilbo's Last Song
by J.R.R. Tolkien, Illustrated by Pauline Baynes
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 3rd-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
Book of Christmas
from Reader's Digest
for 6th-Adult
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Boys in the Boat adapted for Young Readers
by Daniel James Brown, adapted by Gregory Mone
from Penguin Putnam
for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$20.99
Carver: A Life in Poems
by Marilyn Nelson
from Boyds Mill Press
for 7th-11th grade
2002 Newbery Honor Book, Coretta Scott King Honor Award
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.95
Caught
Missing #05
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
from Simon and Schuster
for 4th-7th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
$7.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Introduction to Poetry
Books for Young Explorers
by Michael Driscoll & Meredith Hamilton
from Black Dog & Leventhal
for 2nd-8th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Introduction to Poetry
Books for Young Explorers
by Michael Driscoll & Meredith Hamilton
First Revised Edition from Black Dog & Leventhal
for 2nd-8th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$19.99
Children of Odin
by Padraic Colum, illustrated by Willy Pogany
from Macmillan
Norse Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
$40.00 (1 in stock)
Chronicles of Harris Burdick
by Chris Van Allsburg
1st edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 5th-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$19.99 $15.00 (1 in stock)
Citizen Tom Paine
by Howard Fast
from Duell, Sloan and Pearce
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
City of Ember
Book of Ember #1
by Jeanne DuPrau
1st edition from Random House Books for Young Readers
for 4th-7th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
$8.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Complete Book of Marvels
by Richard Halliburton
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$22.50 (1 in stock)
Complete Tales of Uncle Remus
by Joel Chandler Harris
from Houghton Mifflin
Animal Fantasy for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$39.99
Complete Tales of Uncle Remus
by Joel Chandler Harris, retold by Julius Lester, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
from Dial Press
Animal Fantasy for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$50.00
D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Doubleday Book For Young Readers
Greek Mythology for 4th-9th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$29.99
D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from New York Review of Books
Norse Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$29.95
Dime a Dozen
by Nikki Grimes, Illustrated by Angelo
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for 5th-8th grade
in Poetry (Location: POET-GEN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Early Days of a Cowboy on the Pecos
by James F. Hinkle
from Unknown Publisher
for 7th-12th grade
in Cowboys & Cattlemen (Location: HISA-19CO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Escape from Corregidor
by Edward D. Whitcomb
from Regnery Publishing, Inc.
for 6th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Eternal Cycle
Time-Life Myth & Mankind
from Time-Life Books
for 7th-Adult
in Time-Life Myth & Mankind Series (Location: FIC-MYTH)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by Kay Nielsen
from Viking Press
for 3rd-8th grade
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Favourite Tales from Grimm and Andersen
by Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Jirí Trnka
1983 Printing from Paul Hamlyn
for 4th-8th grade
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Feast of Thanksgiving: A Play
by June Behrens, Illustrated by Anne Siberell
from Children's Press
for 6th-Adult
in Holidays / Church Calendar (Location: HOLIDAY)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Forbidden Child
by Gwen Newell
from Canon Press
for 7th-10th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
$16.99
Fortune's Bones
by Marilyn Nelson, notes and annotations by Pamela Espeland
from Front Street
for 4th-8th grade
2005 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Frankenstein
Everyman's Library
by Mary Shelley
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Horror for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$22.00
Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon
by Dhan Gopal Mukerji
from Dutton Juvenile
for 4th-9th grade
1928 Newbery Medal winner
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$14.00 (2 in stock)
Gift of the Magi
by O. Henry, illustrated by Kevin King
from Simon and Schuster
for 4th-10th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Gift of the Magi and Other Stories
by O. Henry, illustrated by P. J. Lynch
from Candlewick Press
for 4th-10th grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
$17.99
Gods of Sun & Sacrifice
Time-Life Myth & Mankind
from Time-Life Books
for 7th-Adult
in Time-Life Myth & Mankind Series (Location: FIC-MYTH)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Graven Images
by Paul Fleischman, illustrated by Andrew Glass
1st edition from Harper & Row
for 4th-8th grade
1983 Newbery Honor Book
in Mystery & Suspense (Location: FIC-MYS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Graveyard Book
by Neil Gaiman
from HarperCollins
for 6th-9th grade
2009 Newbery Medal winner
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Grimms' Fairy Tales
Sterling Classics
by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by Scott McKowen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Folklore for 4th-8th grade
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Heart to Heart
by Jan Greenberg
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 7th-12th grade
in Poetry (Location: POET-GEN)
$12.00 (3 in stock)
Hobbit
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 5th-9th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.99
Homesick: My Own Story
by Jean Fritz
from Penguin Putnam
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
How Do I Love Thee?
by Linda Rhodes (selected by), illustrated by David Johnson
from Hallmark Publications
for 6th-Adult
in Poetry Anthologies (Location: POET-ANTH)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
How the Heather Looks
by Joan Bodger
Reprint from Living Book Press
for 7th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$24.99
I Remember Laura
by Stephen W. Hines
3rd printing from Thomas Nelson Publishers
Biography for 7th-Adult
in Little House Materials (Location: LIR-LHM)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
If: A Poem by Rudyard Kipling
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Giovanni Manna
from Creative Editions
for 3rd-8th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Illustrated Treasury of Grimm's Fairy Tales
by Grimm Brothers, illustrated by Daniela Drescher
from Floris Books
for 4th-8th grade
$24.95
It's Perfectly True
by Hans Christian Andersen, translated by Paul Leyssac and illustrated by Richard Bennett
from Harcourt, Brace & World
for 5th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Jack Tales
by Richard Chase
Reprint from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-8th grade
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Journeys through Dreamtime
Time-Life Myth & Mankind
from Time-Life Books
for 7th-Adult
in Time-Life Myth & Mankind Series (Location: FIC-MYTH)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Kidnapped
Scribner Illustrated Classics
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth
from Atheneum
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$14.50 (1 in stock)
Lady of Arlington
by Harnett T. Kane
from Doubleday & Company
for 6th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$3.75 (1 in stock)
Land of the Dragon
Time-Life Myth & Mankind
from Time-Life Books
for 7th-Adult
in Time-Life Myth & Mankind Series (Location: FIC-MYTH)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Laura Ingalls Wilder: Pioneer Girl
by Laura Ingalls Wilder, edited by Pamela Smith Hill
from South Dakota State Historical Society Press
for 7th-Adult
in Little House Materials (Location: LIR-LHM)
$39.99 $20.00 (1 in stock)
Life of Our Lord
by Charles Dickens
from Simon and Schuster
for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$16.00
Little Prince
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery, translated by Richard Howard
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
$18.00
Little Prince
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
from Harcourt
Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (2 in stock)
Little Prince - Russian language edition
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
from Eksmodetstvo
Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
in Russian (Location: FL-GEN)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Lives of the Artists
by M. B. Goffstein
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 3rd-8th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Lost Garden
by Laurence Yep
from Simon and Schuster
Autobiography for 6th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Lost Realms of Gold
from Time-Life Books
for 7th-Adult
in Time-Life Myth & Mankind Series (Location: FIC-MYTH)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Lover's Posy
by Celia Haddon
from Michael Joseph
Valentine's Day Poetry for 6th-Adult
in Poetry Anthologies (Location: POET-ANTH)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Maria
by Maria von Trapp
from Creation House
for 7th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Merry Ballads of Robin Hood
by Laurabelle Dietrick, assisted by Joseph Franz-Walsh and illustrated by Edna Reindel
from Macmillan
Songs and Ballads for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Mockingjay
by Suzanne Collins
1st edition from Scholastic Press
for 7th-9th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Mythology
by Edith Hamilton
from Black Dog & Leventhal
Mythology for 7th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$29.99
Out of the Dust
by Karen Hesse
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-8th grade
1998 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Pilgrim's Progress (retold)
by John Bunyan (retold by Gary D. Schmidt)
from Eerdmans
Christian Prose Epic/Allegory for 5th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Poor Richard's Almanack
by Benjamin Franklin
from Peter Pauper Press
for 7th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$10.95 $7.00 (1 in stock)
Red-Headed League and The Adventure of the Speckled Band
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, illustrated by Paul Spina
from Franklin Watts
for 6th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Robin Hood
Scribner Illustrated Classics
by Paul Creswick, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth
Reissue from Atheneum
for 6th-10th grade
in Scribner Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SCRIB)
$24.99
Robin Hood
by Henry Gilbert, illustrated by Frances Brundage
from Saalfield Publishing Co.
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Robinson Crusoe (abridged)
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by Frank Godwin
from John C. Winston
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Romance of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table (abridged)
by Sir Thomas Mallory, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from Weathervane Books
for 7th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Saint Therese and the Roses
by Helen Walker Homan, illustrated by George W. Thompson
Book Club Edition from Vision Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.75 (1 in stock)
Scary Stories for Young Foxes
by Christian McKay Heidicker, illustrated by Junyi Wu
First Ed from Henry Holt and Company
for 4th-8th grade
2020 Newbery Honor Book
$16.99
Shakespeare's First Folio
by William Shakespeare, abridged by Anjna Chouhan, illustrated by Emily Sutton
from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-8th grade
in Shakespeare Materials (Location: LIR-SHA)
$35.00
Shropshire Lad
The Living Library
by A. E. Housman, Illustrated by Jeanne Edwards
from World Publishing Company
for 7th-12th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Song of Hiawatha
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, illustrated by Frederic Remington
from Bounty Books
for 7th-Adult
in Poetry (Location: POET-GEN)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Sounds of a Young Hunter
a Sounds of Language Reader
by Edited by Bill Martin Jr.
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for 6th-7th grade
in Vintage Readers & Textbooks (Location: VIN-READ)
$3.75 (1 in stock)
Speeches that Changed the World
from Quercus
for 6th-Adult
in World History Reference (Location: HISW-REF)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Stories and Poems for Extremely Intelligent Children of All Ages
by Harold Bloom
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 3rd-8th grade
in Short Stories (Location: LIT-ANTH)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Stories to Remember Volume 2
by Thomas B. Costain & John Beecroft
from Doubleday & Company
for 7th-12th grade
in Short Stories (Location: LIT-ANTH)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Siegfried
by James Baldwin, illustrated by Peter Hurd
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$26.25 (1 in stock)
Story of Siegfried
by James Baldwin, illustrated by Peter Hurd
from Yesterday's Classics
for 5th-8th grade
$14.95
Strawberry Point
by Florence Roe Wiggins
from T.S. Denison & Company
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$3.75 (1 in stock)
Swallowing the Golden Stone
by Walter Wangerin, Jr.
1st Ed. from Augsburg Fortress
for 4th-8th grade
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Sweet Corn
by James Stevenson
1st edition from Greenwillow Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Tales from the Perilous Realm
by J. R. R. Tolkien, illustrated by Alan Lee
from Houghton Mifflin
for 7th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$30.00
Talking to the Sun
by Selected by Kenneth Koch and Kate Farrell
from Henry Holt and Company
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
This Promise of Change
by Jo Ann Allen Boyce and Debbie Levy
from Bloomsbury Publishing
for 6th-12th grade
2020 Robert F. Siebert Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99
This Year's Book for Boys
by Harold Avery et al.
from Hodder & Stoughton
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$18.75 (1 in stock)
Thurber Carnival
by James Thurber
from Modern Library
for 7th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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