| A | B |
|---|
| Autobiography | Story of a person's life which is written in his or her own words. |
| Biography | Story of a person's life that is written by someone else. The subjects of biographies are often famous people. |
| Classic Literature | Work of literature that is honored as definitive in its field. Classic literature adheres to established treatments and critical standards, emphasizing formal simplicity, balance, and controlled emotion; and has withstood the test of time. |
| Comic / Graphic Book | Tells a story primarily through pictures, using very few written words. |
| Diary / Journal | Daily written record of one's experiences, observations, and feelings. |
| Fable | Legendary and/or mythological short tale used to teach a moral, often with animals as characters. |
| Fantasy | Work of literature that contains at least one fantastic or unreal element is called fantasy. The setting of a work of fantasy might be a totally imaginary world, or it might be a realistic place where very unusual or impossible things happen. |
| Folktale | Tale or legend originating and traditional among a people, especially one forming part of an oral tradition. Folktales are based on folklore; the traditional beliefs, legends customs and lore of a people group. |
| Ghost / Horror | Suspenseful novel written for the purpose of entertainment whose subject matter is the paranormal or super-natural the novel is designed to shock, terrify, and overwhelm the reader with fear |
| Historical Fiction | Contemporary fiction that is set in the past. May contain references to actual people and events of the past |
| How-to / Self-Improvement | Non-fiction works written for the purpose of instructing the reader. They give instruction or guidance on how to create projects such as model cars, sewing, building, etc or they deal with subjects such as overcoming emotional trauma, spiritual growth, co-dependency, etc. |
| Humor | Work of literature whose purpose is to amuse through the use of comedy, absurdity, and incongruous qualities. |
| Multicultural | Fiction or non-fiction novel which seeks to explore, affirm, and preserve through setting, diction, and character exploration a particular ethnic community. Examples: Explore Chinese Americans, American Indians, Hispanics, Italians Russians, etc. |
| Mystery | Prose (novel, story, etc) about mysterious events which are not explained until the end, so as to keep the reader in suspense. |
| Mythology | Fictional traditional or legendary stories, especially ones that involve gods and heroes and explain a cultural practice or natural phenomenon. Examples: King Arthur, Achilles, Zeus, etc. |
| Non-fiction | Writing that tells about real people, places, and events is called non-fiction. Literary non-fiction is written to be read in much the same way as fiction. Informative fiction is written mainly to provide factual information. |
| Poetry | Literature in which ideas and feelings are expressed in compact, imaginative, and often musical language. Poets arrange words in ways designed to touch readers' senses, emotions, and minds. Most poems are written in lines, which may contain patterns of rhyme and rhythm. These lines may, in turn, be grouped in stanzas. |
| Realistic / Contemporary Fiction | Fiction novel which resembles or simulates real life in a modern day setting. |
| Romance | Novel or other prose narrative depicting heroic or marvelous deeds, pageantry, exploits, a made up story full of fanciful inventions, usually in an historical or imaginary setting. |
| Science Fiction | Prose writing in which a writer explores unexpected possibilities of the past or future by using scientific data and theories as well as his or her imagination. Most science fiction creates a believable world, although some works create a fantasy world that has familiar elements. |
| Short Story | Brief work of fiction that can generally be read in one sitting. A short story usually focuses on one or two main characters both of whom face a single problem or conflict. |
| Sports | Fiction or non-fiction work whose topic is an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess, often of a competitive nature. |
| Survival / Action Adventure | Novel in which the protagonist must overcome adverse and or unusual circumstances. Usually, the plot is crafted so that the protagonist must endure and overcome natural elements, the supernatural, a machine, or another person in order to survive. |
