-
Gossip Girl by Josh Schwartz developer - producer, Stephanie Savage producerThe series follows the high-school years of rich teenagers. Plots resolve around relationship problems, partying, some teen angst and a mysterious blogger who almost seems all-knowing. The characters progress through high school as the series progresses.
genres drama romance keywords addiction - rape or sexual assault - substance abuse - high society - upper class - coming of age content warnings profanity: no - violence: yes - sex: yes languages English length 121 episodes in 6 seasons, each episode around 40 minutes source material availability of fanfiction Between 1000 and 50,000 entries on FanFiction.net notes based on the novel series of the same name by Cecily von Ziegesar -
Grey's Anatomy by Shonda Rhimes creator - producer
The series follows a varied cast of characters, most who are surgeons, and follows their development. How they deal with their personal lives and tragedies around their profession as well as in their private lives.
genres drama romance keywords addiction - divorce - domestic violence - substance abuse - medicine - hospitals - doctors content warnings profanity: mild - violence: yes - sex: yes languages English length 317 episodes in 14 seasons, each episode around 40 minutes source material availability of fanfiction Between 1000 and 50,000 entries on FanFiction.net notes While I only selected "contains violence", because there is very little violent actions depicted in Grey's Anatomy, teachers should be aware that this is a series about surgeons and contains graphic imagery of surgical operations and realistic depictions of severe injuries. -
How I Met Your Mother by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays creators
Ted Mosby tells his teenage kids about his search for love and how he finally met their mother. The series depicts Ted and his friends Robin, Lily, Marshall, and Barney on their various adventures. Even though every plotline is connected to Ted's search for a wife, we get to know the other characters in their own quest for happiness. The whole (detailed) story leading up to the moment of meeting the love of his life is told throughout the nine seasons.
genres comedy romance keywords divorce - sexism - friendship - search for love - dating - "life happens now" - "it will never be perfect - make it work" - young adults finding their place in the world content warnings profanity: mild - violence: yes - sex: yes languages English length 208 episodes à 22 minutes source material related works Friends (tv-series/sitcom), Scrubs (tv-series/sitcom) notes How I Met Your Mother is interesting in terms of storytelling, because it sort of tells a story backwards (it's been called "a love story in reverse"). Every episode is a flashback, and there are flashbacks, flash forwards and other time-jumping within those flashbacks. -
Lord of the Rings book series by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien writerLord of the Rings (LotR) follows the journey of Frodo, a Hobbit, and his friends and companions. Frodo inherited a magic ring by his uncle Bilbo, a ring that not only makes its wearer invisible but also holds a dark secret. When the wizard Gandalf returns to Frodo after a long absence he tells Frodo the true origins of the ring. Frodo then leaves the Shire, his home, with a few friends to reach the elven sanctaury of Rivendell or Imladris. After many adventures and chased by the servants of Sauron, the creator of the ring Frodo holds, and evil Overlord, Frodo finally makes it Rivendell. There the council of Elrond comprised of wise men, elves, dwarfs and wizards is held and the free people decide that the ring must be destroyed ere it falls into the hands of the enemy or beguiles them to use it in his stead. So the fellowship of the ring is formed, comprised of nine travellers of all free races against the one darkness of Mordor, tasked to travel to the dark land itself and destroy the ring at the heart of the enemys realm.
genres fantasy romance travel keywords addiction - major character death - genealogy - war - refugees - corruption - faith - good & evil - language - history - ancient legendaria (edda) - perserverance - friendship - hope without hope - power content warnings profanity: no - violence: yes - sex: no languages English length about 455 thousand words for the whole trilogy source material related works The Hobbit - written many years before. A children's book that had originally no relation to Tolkien's legendarium but was rewritten to fit into it before the Lord of the Rings was published. The Silmarillion - For advanced readers who hold a love or at least appreciation of the English language, old languages and ancient mythology. Not a classical narrative but the history of the world of Middle-Earth, which in the first writings was still intended to be our own Earth. availability of fanfiction More than 100,000 entries on LotR Fan Fiction notes LotR is a rewarding but complicated book to tackle in a classroom setting. Rewarding because of the love of language and humanity that seeps through every page, the rich lore and profound wisdom on the human condition, but complicated because of much the same reasons and its sheer length. It is also very important for teachers to devoid themselves of all the conspiracy theories (the book is Satanist, Christian, Racist etc.) surrounding LotR and remember that the story is not allegorical. As Tolkien explained people confuse applicability with allegory and any observations made in the above mentioned directions are quickly made void by the text itself. Ultimately it is the plurality of diversity that defeats the "One" evil. -
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green writer
Hazel Grace Lancaster is a 16-year-old girl, who has a terminal illness. She received a tumor-shrinking medical miracle, but the disease has not been defeated yet. Her mother sends her to a cancer therapy group for kids, where she meets Augustus Waters, nicknamed ‘Gus’. They develop a friendship that evolves into a romance. However, Hazel is holding back as she fears she will die and break Augustus’ heart. Hazel has a favourite novel An Imperial Affliction, a book that leaves the readers unfulfilled after the main character dies mid-sentence. Gus decides to use his ‘wish’ from the Genie Foundation in order to take Hazel and her mother to Amsterdam to meet the author of the book. On this trip, Augustus tells her that during a check-up he ‘lit up like a Christmas tree’, meaning that the cancer has spread over his whole body.
genres romance young adult keywords major character death - (terminal) illness/cancer - / content warnings profanity: mild - violence: no - sex: yes languages English length 313 pages source material related works Other works by John Green + film: The Fault in Our Stars (2014) availability of fanfiction Between 100 and 1000 entries on Archive of Our Own -
Vampire Diaries by Kevin Williamson developer - producer, Julie Plec developer - producer
In the fictional town of Mystic Falls, a place with a history of supernatural events, a teenage girl loses both her parents in a car accident. She meets a vampyre and falls in love with him. Things get more complicated when the Vampyres older brother steps into the scene, and after many antagonism a love triangle erupts. The series then continues who have both brothers protect the girl from super natural enemis while vying for her love.
genres romance young adult horror keywords substance abuse content warnings profanity: mild - violence: yes - sex: yes languages English length 171 episodes in 8 seasons, episodes are around 40 minutes source material availability of fanfiction Between 1000 and 50,000 entries on FanFiction.net notes Probably the quintessential TV show that came after the initial wave of success of the Twilight films. Very underwhelming at first, but it is generally agreed that the series improved during the later seasons.
Digital stories from fans in the multilingual classroom
