CommonLit The Library

This Harlem Renaissance poem uses metaphor to depict a mother's struggles in life.

A man and a woman sacrifice their most prized possessions to buy one another a Christmas gift.

This informational text outlines Dr. King’s accomplishments and leadership in America.

This informational text discusses the first African-American Major League Baseball player, Jackie Robinson.

This text provides an overview of when and how individuals give in to herd behavior.

This informational text explains what the Holocaust was, who it affected, who carried it out, and how it ended.

A Chinese-American girl feels embarrassed by her family during dinner.

Malala Yousafzai still advocates for women's education after being shot in the head by the Taliban.

Tensions rise at home as a boy must suppress his magical abilities around his non-magical family, who has forgotten his birthday.

A speaker describes a flower that grew in an unlikely place.

This text discusses the trial in which nine black boys were wrongfully accused and convicted for a crime they didn’t commit.

A dean of admissions dispels the myth that students should showcase perfection on a college application, and explores the relationship between past failures and college success.

Michael P. Jacobson discusses the punishment and rehabilitation of juvenile offenders.

A young man seeking lodging is taken in by a landlady who is not what she seems.

A town takes part in an annual ritual called “the lottery.”

A man is slowly driven mad by the sound of a beating heart under his floorboards.

A woman betrayed by her husband retaliates in an extreme way.

A young boy unsuccessfully tries to steal a woman’s purse.

A man makes a wish on a charm that is given to him by an old friend and suffers the consequences.

A 16-year-old Syrian girl living as a refugee in Lebanon tells about her experiences fleeing her home and living in a camp.