This article deals with the issue of the means of conveying ethical reflection in mass literature. The material under analysis are Guzel Yakhina’s bestselling novels Zuleikha Opens her Eyes and My Children. The author concentrates on the motifs which express oddity and strangeness observed among the descriptions of the protagonists, events and situations. Considered also is oddity on the level of narrative which seems to be very similar to the artistic technique of defamiliarization. Analyses show that through contrast the discussed motives are in Yakhina’s novels strictly connected with commitment to others and also a responsibility for them. This connection broadens the horizons of ethics in popular and mass literature and opens up the perspective of ethical reading.