17th-century 17th-century-japan activism adaptation adventure advocacy african-american african-american-experience african-american-literature alienation ambiguity american-dream american-history american-literature anthropology apostasy assimilation belief betrayal black-experience black-identity blindness brotherhood catholicism christianity christianity-in-japan civil-rights colonialism coming-of-age community community-engagement conformity conversion cross-cultural cultural-assimilation cultural-clash cultural-conflict culture culture-clash discrimination disillusionment diversity doubt east-meets-west education education-reform education-system educational-equity educational-reform educational-system empowerment endurance existentialism expat exploration faith faith-crisis folklore foreign foreign-land foreigner foreigners forgiveness freedom geography geology harlem harlem-renaissance high-school historical-fiction history iceland icelanders icelandic icelandic-culture icelandic-language icelandic-society identity identity-crisis immersion immigration individualism individuality inequality inner-struggle introspection invisibility invisible invisible-man isolation japan japanese-literature jazz jesuit-priests jesuits journey landscape landscapes language language-barrier leadership leadership-development literature loyalty martyrdom memoir mission missionaries missionary missionary-work modernism moral-dilemma morality mythology nagasaki nature non-fiction nonfiction nordic nordic-countries northern-lights oppression outsider outsiders persecution personal-growth personal-journey personal-narrative personal-narratives power power-dynamics prejudice protagonist race racism redemption religion religious-conflict religious-conversion religious-intolerance religious-persecution remote resilience sacrifice samurai school-culture segregation self-discovery self-expression shusaku-endo silence silence-of-god sin social-change social-commentary social-inequality social-injustice social-justice society southern-united-states spiritual-crisis spiritual-journey spirituality stereotypes storytelling strangers struggle student-achievement student-activism student-advocacy student-agency student-centered-learning student-empowerment student-engagement student-experiences student-leadership student-led student-led-initiatives student-perspective student-perspectives student-success student-voice student-voices suffering symbolism tradition traditions transformation travel travelogue underground vikings voice volcanoes youth youth-activism youth-advocacy youth-empowerment youth-leadership youth-voices