•  “Babe in Paradise,” the title story of Silver’s 2001 collection, focuses on a young woman and her troubled relationships in Los Angeles.

•  Silver’s Direction Home (2005) chronicles the experiences of two boys and a teenaged girl who travel to Los Angeles where they come to understand the complexities of family dynamics as they find a new home.

•  Understanding the Riots: Los Angeles before and after the Rodney King Case (1992), by Coffey Shelby III, explores the tensions that contributed to the riots, including problems in the Los Angeles Police Department, changes in immigration patterns in south Los Angeles, as well as the Rodney King verdict.

•  Beloved (1987), by Toni Morrison, explores the devastating effects that the loss of a child has on its mother. The novel...