The Middle School English
Annotated Booklist
2012--2013
The Middle School Book List offers a broad range of excellent literature for outside reading and book reports. Most of the books on the list are available in the Annenberg Library. Each student in the A, I, or II Form is required to read one book from a different category each term. Teachers will provide guidance in choosing a book that will fit the individual's taste, experience, and skill.
It is important to note that the categories provided are more limiting than the dynamic and rich works they organize. Many of these works could comfortably fit into many catergories.
The annotations provided are brief; we encourage students to investigate these books more thoroughly by talking with librarians, teachers, parents, and friends.
This list has been compiled from many sources including Nancy Atwell's In The Middle, Kilpatrick, Wolfe, and Wolfe's Books That Build Character, the American Library Association's Nothing But the Best, the Pennsylvania Library Association's Books of Note, Amazon Books, The Horn Book Magazine, reviews from the Panel of Librarians from the Delaware Valley, The Baldwin School Book List, and The English Journal.
Click on the links in the table to jump to that section of the list.
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Myths and Legends |
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2nd Trimester Project Only |
*New addition to reading list
*eBook available through OverDrive
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*F AUS |
Austen,
Jane |
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*F BRO |
Bronte,
Charlotte |
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F |
Clark,
Walter Van Tilburg The Ox Bow Incident Set in 1895, this classic story is a searing portrait of frontier life and mob violence in the American West, focusing on the lynching of three innocent men and the tragedy that ensues when law and order are abandoned. (1940) |
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*F DEF |
Defoe, Daniel Robinson Crusoe, His Life and Strange Adsventures A shipwreck's sole escapee, Robinson Crusoe endures 28 years of solitude on a Caribbeanand island where he encounters cannibals, captives and mutineers before being rescued.island. Originally published in 1719, Defoe loosely based his story on a real life event. (1719) . |
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*F ELI |
Eliot, George |
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*833 HOM |
Lombardo,
Stanley [Homer] The Iliad This new translation of the classical Greek epic of love and war is here rendered into a contemporary American idiom in a colloquial, modern voice. |
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F KNO |
Knowles,
John A Separate Peace Against the backdrop of World War II, the rivalry of two roommates at a boys’ school turns into a private war. (1959) |
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F POT |
Potok,
Chaim The Chosen Two Jewish boys in New York, one traditional and one liberal, learn the differences between their fathers' teachings. (1967) |
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*398.2 PYL |
Pyle, Howard The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood This is the classic tale of Sherwood Forest’s legendary hero, as told by a local author and illustrator. (1883) |
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F RIC |
Richter,
Conrad The Light in the Forest A white boy, captured by Indians as a four-year-old, comes to understand and love the Indian culture over his own. (1953) |
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F SMI |
Smith,
Betty A Tree Grows in Brooklyn This story tells of the difficulties and delights of life for Francie and her Irish family in New York, in the early 1900's. (1945) |
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F STE |
Steinbeck, John Cannery Row This short novella is a collection of episodes documenting the lives of several residents of Monterey during the Great Depression. Cannery Row, the book's title, is merely a fictional street in Monterey; each chapter in the book is a more or less self-contained story, but all of them function cohesively in creating the overall effect of a unified narrative. (1945) |
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*F STO |
Stoker, Bram Dracula The classic Gothic tale of a young English solicitor who becomes involved Count Dracula, first at a remote castle in Transylvania, and ultimately in England, in a life and death struggle against vampires. (1897) |
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**F TWA |
Twain, Mark (Clemens, Samuel Langhorne) Tom Sawyer Twain called this classic a "hymn" to boyhood: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer depicts the life of an imaginative, troublesome boy in the American West of the 1840s. Within its pages,the author introduced two immortal characters, Tom and his friend, Huckleberry Finn, to the "Hall of Fame" of American literature, and re-invented the traditional frontier tale. (1876) |
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F VER |
Verne, Jules Journey to the Center of the Earth An old, coded note that actually contains directions for reaching the Earth’s very core! And once he finds it, renowned geologist Professor Liedenbrock can’t resist setting out with his 16-year-old nephew to go where only one man has gone before. (1874) |
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Agee,
James A Death in the Family A sensitive account of a family's reaction to the death of one of its members, this novel examines the most delicate, private realms of emotion. (1956) |
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F BAL |
Baldwin,
James If Beale Street Could Talk A young black couple, separated by an unjust imprisonment, is bolstered by their love for each other and the young man's loyal family. (1974) |
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*F |
Bingham, Kelly Shark Girl After a shark attack causes the amputation of her right arm, fifteen-year-old Jane, an aspiring artist, struggles to come to terms with her loss and the changes it imposes on her day-to-day life and her plans for the future. (2007) |
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F BRA |
Bradford,
Richard Red Sky at Morning Joshua Arnold, a wise, wry man-child, must cope with an absent father and a sherry-tippling mother while learning to live in a new town, make friends, and finish growing up. (1968) |
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F BRO |
Brooks,
Bruce The Moves Make the Man As Jerome, a black athlete, shares his skills and interest in basketball with Bix, a white baseball player, their friendship grows and the game becomes a reflection of both their lives (1985). |
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F BUD |
Budhos, Marina Tamar Ask Me No Questions Fourteen-year-old Nadira, her sister, and their parents leave Bangladesh for New York City, but the expiration of their visas and the events of September 11, 2001, bring frustration, sorrow, and terror for the whole family. (2006) |
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F CRU |
Crutcher,
Chris ANY TITLE BY THIS AUTHOR |
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*F FRE |
Freymann-weyr,
Garrett My Heartbeat Narrator Ellen learns about love, family and "society's unwritten rules"--and the limits of what you can ever know about whom you love--in this sophisticated but gentle novel set in Manhattan. (2002) |
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F GAR |
Gardner,
Graham Inventing Elliot Elliot, a victim of bullying, invents a calmer, cooler self when he changes schools in the middle of freshman year, but soon attracts the wrong kind of attention from the Guardians who "maintain order" at the new school. (2004) |
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F |
Gratz, Alan |
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F HER |
Herlong, M. H. The Great Wide Sea Still mourning the death of their mother, three brothers go with their father on an extended sailing trip off the Florida Keys and have a harrowing adventure at sea. (2008) |
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F HIC |
Hickam,
Jr., Homer October Sky The only flaw of Rocket Boys is that its plot seems just a shade too well made even for a work of fiction, let alone a memoir-- always ring true are his adventures in rocketry. ( 1998 ) |
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F JAR |
Jaramillo, Ann La Linea Fifteen-year-old Miguel leaves his rancho deep in Mexico to migrate to California across la linea, the border, in a debut novel of life-changing, cliff-hanging moments. (2006) |
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F GEN |
Gish, Jen Typical American This story is an account of the rise and sway of fortune in the life of a Chinese immigrant family and the collision between personal history and world history. (1991) |
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F KEY |
Keys,
Daniel Flowers for Algernon Winner of both the Hugo Award (1959), as well as the Nebula Award in this expanded version, Flowers for Algernon is the journal of Charlie Gordon, a mentally retarded adult who becomes a genius after undergoing a brain operation. (1966) |
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*F KIN |
Kinsella,
William Shoeless Joe This is a wonderful book about baseball, love, and the power of dreams. (1982) |
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F MIK |
Mikaelson, Ben Touching Spirit Bear After his anger erupts into violence, fifteen year-old Cole, in order to avoid going to prison, agrees to participate in a sentencing alternative based on the native American Circle Justice, and he is sent to a remote Alaskan Island where an encounter with a huge Spirit Bear changes his life. (2001) |
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*F MUR |
Murdock, Catherine Gilbert Dairy Queen After spending her summer running the family farm and training the quarterback for her school's rival football team, sixteen-year-old D.J. decides to go out for the sport herself, not anticipating the reactions of those around her. (2006) |
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F NA |
Na, An A Step from Heaven In this 2002 Printz winning novel, a young girl recounts her bittersweet experience in the United States after her family immigrates from Korea. (2001) |
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F PEC |
Peck, Robert A Long Way from Chicago What happens when Joey and his sister, Mary Alice--two city slickers from Chicago--make their annual summer visit to Grandma Dowdel's seemingly sleepy Illinois town? In the tradition of American humorists Mark Twain and Flannery O'Connor, Richard Peck has created this memorable world filled with characters who, like Grandma herself, are larger than life and twice as entertaining. (1998) |
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F POL |
Polisner, Gae Pull of Gravity When their friend Scooter dies of a rare disease, teenagers Nick Gardner and Jaycee Amato set out on a secret journey to find the father who abandoned "The Scoot" when he was an infant, and give him a signed first edition of Of Mice and Men.. (2011) |
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*F |
Schmidt, Gary D Trouble Fourteen-year-old Henry, wishing to honor his brother Franklin's dying wish, sets out to hike Maine's Mount Katahdin with his best friend and dog. But fate adds another companion--the Cambodian refugee accused of fatally injuring Franklin--and reveals troubles that predate the accident. (2008) |
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**F |
Schumacher, Julie The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls When four very different small-town Delaware highschool girls are forced to join a mother-daughter book club over the summer vacation, they end up learning about more than just the books they read. (2012) |
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F SME |
Smelcer,
John The Trap Written in alternating chapters that relate the parallel stories of Johnny and his grandfather, this novel poignantly addresses the hardships of life in the far north, suggesting that the most dangerous traps need not be made of steel. (2006) |
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*F AND |
Anderson, M.T. |
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F BAR |
Bartoletti, Susan Campbells The Boy who Dared In October, 1942, seventeen-year-old Helmuth Hubener, imprisoned for distributing anti-Nazi leaflets, recalls his past life and how he came to dedicate himself to bring the truth about Hitler and the war to the German people. (2008) |
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F BOU |
Boulle, Pierre The Bridge over the River Kwai (French title: Le Pont de la Rivière Kwai) The story is fictional but uses the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–43 as its historical setting. The tale centers on the opposing ideals of a camp of British soldiers forced to build a bridge as prisoners of a Japanese labor camp and another group of British soldiers whose duty it is to destroy that same bridge. The issues of duty, patriotism and leadership are examined throughly. (1952/54) |
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*F BOY |
Boyle, John The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Bored and lonely after his family moves from Berlin to a place called "Out-With" in 1942, Bruno, the son of a Nazi officer, befriends a boy in striped pajamas who lives behind a wire fence. (2007) |
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*F COO |
Cooper,
James Fennimore The Last of the Mohicans Two sisters make a perilous journey through the wilderness to Fort William Henry at the height of the French and Indian War, accompanied by Hawkeye, the frontier scout, and his Mohican companions, Chingachgook and Uncas. (1826) . |
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F FOX |
Fox,
Paula The Slave Dancer Thirteen-year-old Jessie is kidnapped and shanghaied onto an illegal slave trading ship until he escapes with a new friend. This is a haunting tale of one of the most brutal chapters in American history. (1975) |
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*F GRE |
Grey, Zane Riders of the Purple Sage Jane Withersteen, a wealthy young woman and ranch owner in Mormon Utah in the late 1800s, having angered the Church elders by refusing to marry, is championed by Lassiter, a gunman who has a special dislike for the Mormons. (1912) |
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G HES |
Hesse,
Karen Out of the Dust A poem cycle that reads as a novel, Out of the Dust tells the story of Billie Jo, a girl who struggles to help her family survive the dustbowl years of the Depression. Fighting against the elements on her Oklahoma farm, Billie Jo takes on even more responsibilities when her mother dies in a tragic accident. (1997) |
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*F HOF |
Hoffman,
Alice Incantation Hoffman tears a horrific page from history and melds it with mysticism to create a spellbinding tale told by Estrella, the youngest in a tight-knit family of Spanish Jews hiding as devout Catholics during the Inquisition. (2006) |
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F KLA |
Klages, Ellen The Green Glass Sea While her father works on the Manhattan Project, gadget lover and outcast Dewey Kerrigan lives in Los Alamos Camp, and becomes friends with Suze, another young girl who is shunned by her peers. (2006) |
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*F LAR |
Larson, Kirby Hattie Big Sky After inheriting her uncle's homesteading claim in Montana, sixteen-year-old orphan Hattie Brooks travels from Iowa in 1917 to make a home for herself and encounters some unexpected problems related to the war being fought in Europe. (2006) |
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*F MCK |
McKernan, Victoria The Devil's Paintbox AIn 1866, fifteen-year-old Aidan and his thirteen-year-old sister Maddy, penniless orphans, leave drought-stricken Kansas on a wagon train hoping for a better life in Seattle, but find there are still many hardships to be faced. (2009) |
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F MEY |
Meyer,
Caroline |
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F NAP |
Napoli, Donna Jo The Smile A fictionalized biography that describes the life of Elisabetta, the woman who posed for Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting, the Mona Lisa. (2008) |
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*F POL |
Polak, Monique What World is Left Anneke Van Raalte and her family are taken to a concentration camp in 1942, and Anneke's father, a cartoonist, is coerced into helping a propaganda campaign falsely depicting the camp as an idyllic place for Jews; as time passes, Anneke struggles with her loyalty to her family and her sense of right and wrong. (2008) |
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F SCH |
Schaefer, Jack Shane Shane, a stranger the Starrett family takes into their home in Wyoming in 1889, becomes involved in a feud between the cattle ranger and the local homesteaders. (1949)
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F SMI |
Smith, Roland |
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F SEL |
Selznick, Brian Wonderstruck This beautifully crafted book includes two stories set 50 years apart. The first, set in 1977, is told in text and follows Ben, grieving the sudden loss of his mother, who stumbles upon clues to his father’s identity. The second, told entirely in shaded pencil drawings, opens in 1927 as a young girl, Rose, gazes at a newspaper clipping. Both lonely children run away to New York City, and their parallel stories echo and reflect each other and lead “like a treasure map” to a conjoined conclusion. (2011) |
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F |
Smith, Sherri L. Flygirl During World War II, a light-skinned African American girl "passes" for white in order to join the Women Airforce Service Pilots. (2008) |
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*F STE |
Stevenson,
Robert Louis ANY TITLE BY THIS AUTHOR |
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*370.19 |
Beals,
Melba Warriors Don't Cry : Searing Memoir of Battle to Integrate Little Rock In 1957 Melba Pattillo turned sixteen, and it is also the year she entered the front lines of a civil rights firestorm. Her remarkable story, taken from the diary she kept at the time, chronicles her experience as one of nine teenagers chosen to integrate Little Rock's Central High School. (1995) |
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B ALI |
Myers,
Walter Dean The Greatest, Muhammad Ali A riveting portrayal of Ali, his spirit and courage, from childhood to the present, as well as the hazards of boxing--the sport which he loved, but which ultimately damaged him. (2001) |
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B BOOTH |
Swansom, James L.
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B |
Nelson, Marilyn Carver, a life in Poems An account of revered African-American botanist and inventor George Washington Carver, who was raised by white slave owners, went on to head the agricultural department at the Tuskegee Institute, and conducted research for innovative uses for such crops as cowpeas, sweet potatoes and peanuts. (2001) |
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B DARWIN |
Heiligman, Deborah Charles and Emma : the Darwins' leap of faith A biography of English naturalist Charles Darwin that provides an account of the personality behind evolutionary theory and the affect of his work on his personal life, such as his relationship with his religious wife. (2009) |
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B FRANK |
Frank,
Anne Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl This is the actual diary of a teenage girl who spent the last two years of her life with her family in hiding from Nazis. (1952) |
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B GUNTHER |
Gunther,
John Death Be Not Proud For 15 months, Johnny Gunther fought courageously against a progressive brain tumor. His father poignantly tells his memorable story. (1949) |
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*B KELLER |
Keller,
Helen The Story of My Life This story sketches the remarkable woman who overcame blindness and deafness to become a dynamic citizen of the world. (1954) |
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B KAIULANI |
Linnea,
Sharon Princess Ka’iulani Using journal entries, letters, and black-and-white photographs, this book tells the story of the life and times of Princess Ka'iulani, heir to the Hawaiian throne, the most beloved figure in Hawaiian history, and one of America's most overlooked heroines. (1999) |
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B LOBEL |
Lobel,
Anita. No Pretty Pictures The author, an award-winning author of children's books, tells the story of her own early childhood years, first as a "hidden child", and subsequently as prisoner in a succession of concentration camps during the Second World War. (1998) |
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**B MICHAUS |
Nelson, Vaunda Micheaux No Crystal Stair: a Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaus When a white banker told him to sell fried chicken, not books, because Negroes don't read,' Lewis took five books and one-hundred dollars and built a bookstore. It soon became the intellectual center of Harlem, a refuge for everyone from Muhammad Ali to Malcolm X. (2012) |
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*F ASI |
Asimov,
Isaac Fantastic Voyage A miniaturized submarine carrying a team of doctors travels through the bloodstream of a brilliant scientist in order to save his life. (1966) |
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F AUG |
Augarde, Steve The Various While staying on her uncle's rundown farm in the countryside, Midge discovers that she has a special connection to the Various, a tribe of "strange, wild--and sometimes deadly" fairies struggling to maintain their existence in the nearby woods. (2004) |
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F BRA |
Bradbury,
Ray Something Wicked This Way Comes An American treasure in which Jim and Will make a deal with Dr. Park at "Cooger and Park's Pandemonium Shadow Show". In the deal, they are granted their secret desires, but there is a price. (1990) |
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F CLA |
Clarke,
Arthur C. 2001: A Space Odyssey After the signal is discovered on the moon, astronauts set out in their ship Discovery to find out who left it there, only to have their plans changed by a computer gone berserk. (1969) |
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F COR |
Cornish, D. M. Foundling Rossamund Bookchild's sheltered life takes a surprising turn when he is sent out from his orphanage into the world--a unique and fascinating Half-Continent, where ships with organic engines sail caustic vinegar oceans and monster-hunters gain supernatural powers--and not everyone can be trusted. (2006) |
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*F FUN |
Funke, Cornelia Reckless RossamundReckless opens with twelve-year-old Jacob Reckless entering his missing father's study and discovering a portal to Mirrorworld, where magic still runs rampant.Tragedy strikes when Jacob's younger brother, Will, follows him. Brutally attacked, Will is infected with a curse that is quickly transforming him into a Goyl--a ruthless killing machine, with skin made of stone.Jacob must use all his wits and wile to try and save him. (2010) |
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F HER |
Herbert,
Frank Dune This is the first of the epic Science-Fiction series about a desert world and the immense struggle for wealth and power there. (1965) |
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F KER |
Kerr, Philip The Akhenaten Adventure When twelve-year-old twins Philippa and John discover that they are descended from a long line of djinn, their mother sends them away to their Uncle Nimrod, who takes them to Cairo where he starts to teach them about their extraordinary powers. (2004) |
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F KOS |
Kostick, Conor Epic On New Earth, a world based on a video role-playing game, fourteen-year-old Erik pursuades his friends to aid him in some unusual gambits in order to save Erik's father from exile and safeguard the futures of each of their families. (2004) |
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F LEV |
Levine,
Gail Carson Fairest In the kingdom of Ayortha, the people sing songs, and no one has a more beautiful voice than Aza. Aza also has the extraordinary ability to "throw" her voice, called illusing, to make it seem to come from places other than from Aza. This talent finds her in a deceitful arrangement with the new queen, an outsider who does not have the ability to sing in a kingdom that prizes singing. (2006) |
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*F LU |
Lu, Marie Legend Legend is set in the ruins of former Los Angeles in a time where North Americahas devolved into two warring nations, The Republic, the Colonies, and a rebel group, known as the Patriots.In this dark future, 15 year olds Day, a notoriuos criminal, and June, a brilliant soldier hired to capture him, find they have a common enemy. (2011) |
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F NIC |
Nicholson,
William The Wind Singer In this first volume of a trilogy, the focus is on Amaranth, where life is very structured: people live in color-coded rings around the city--white for best, gray for the gritty outer circle--and tests rule all. A rebellious trio sets the orderly city on its ear by escaping it’s walls and embarking on an adventure that takes them from city sewers to desert sandstorms, as they seek to save their people from their dreamless existence. (2000) |
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F NIX |
Nix, Garth Mr. Monday: Keys to the Kingdom During a running exercise at school, Arthur Penhaligon collapses from an asthma attack. Upon awakening, he meets a stranger, Mister Mondaywho hands him an unusual key which begins a wild adventure. Using the powers of the key, Arthur travels to another realm and battles many evil creatures in a struggle to save his world from a mysterious disease. (2003) |
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F OPP |
Oppel,
Kenneth |
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F OWE |
Owen, James A. Here, There Be Dragons Three young men are entrusted with the Imaginarium Geographica, an atlas of fantastical places to which they travel in hopes of defeating the Winter King, whose bid for power is related to the First World War raging in the Real World. (2006) |
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F PFE |
Pfeffer, Susan Beth Life as We Knew It A meteor is going to hit the moon, and 16-year-old Miranda, like the rest of her family and neighbors in rural Pennsylvania, intends to watch it from the comfort of a lawn chair in her yard. But the event is not the benign impact predicted. (2006) |
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*F PUL |
Pullman,
Philip The Golden Compass Here Earth is one of only five planets in the solar system, every human has a daemon (the soul embodied as an animal familiar) and, in a time similar to our late 19th century, Oxford scholars and agents of the Church are in a race to unleash the power that will enable them to cross the bridge to a parallel universe. (1996) |
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F REE |
Reeve,
Philip Fever Crumb Fever Crumb has been assigned to assist on a top-secret project, but as her work begins, she is plagued by memories that are not her own. Fever’s background is also in question; she is accused of being part Scriven: a non-human group who were hunted down and killed in an earlier victorious uprising by the people. Who is she, and whose memories does she hold? (2009) |
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**F ROT |
Roth, Veronica Divergent In a dystopian Chicago, 16-year-old Beatrice "Tris" Prior has always felt different from the rest of her family. During the Choosing Ceremony, in which all 16-year-olds decide which faction they will join, Beatrice and her brother, Caleb, select rival factions, with dramatic consequences. (2011) |
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*F TOL |
Tolkien,
J. R. R. ANY TITLE BY THIS AUTHOR |
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*F VAN |
Van de
Velde, Vivian Heir Apparent A near-future teenager trapped in a full-immersion virtual reality game finds herself racing the clock to beat non-virtual death in this plausible, suspenseful outing. (2002) |
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*F WEL |
Well, H. G. The War of the Worlds This is the classic alien invasion story, one of the first published, written in a journalistic style as if a factual account, which helps to make the story reasonable.. Martians "hatch" from cylinders, assemble tripod fighting machines, and begin their takeover of Earth, as the narrator watches and records events unfolding. (1898) |
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F ABR |
Abrahams,
Peter Down the Rabbit Hole An avid reader of Sherlock Holmes, Ingrid Levin-Hill, 13, is also a fleet-footed soccer player with a knack for stage acting–skills that come in handy when she finds herself caught in a police investigation following the murder of an eccentric woman. (2005) |
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F ALB |
Albert, Susan Wittig The Tale of Hill Top Farm It's England in 1905, Beatrix Potter has purchased Hill Top Farm in Near Sawrey in the Lake District. Local farmers are upset that the farm is now owned by an outsider and a woman at that. However, on arrival, Beatrix Potter finds the woman she was to board with, Abigail Tolliver, has died unexpectedly and foul play is suspected .(2004) |
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Christie,
Agatha |
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F DON |
Donnelly,
Jennifer A Northern Light Set in 1906, against the backdrop of a murder that actually took place in the Adirondacks, 16-year-old Mattie Gokey finds her voice as an author and the strength and determination to live her own life. (2003) |
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*F DOY |
Doyle,
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle A Study in Scarlet In the first of the Sherlock Holmes stories, Dr. Watson, recently discharged from military service, is at loose ends until a chance encounter leads him to take rooms with Sherlock Holmes. When Watson is drawn into the investigation of a bizarre murder in which Holmes is involved, he is unaware that it is the beginning of the most famous partnership in the history of criminal detection. (1887) |
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*F BUC |
Buchan, John 39 Steps Young mining engineer Richard Hannay, having returned to England from South Africa just before World War I, is pursued by both foreign agents and British authorities as he investigates clues left by a murdered man in an effort to save his own life and the future of his country. (1915) |
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*F |
Falkner, Brian Tomorrow Codeow Code Two New Zealand teenagers receive a desperate SOS from their future selves and set out on a quest to stop an impending ecological disaster that could mean the end of humanity. (2008) |
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F HIL |
Hillerman, Tony Dance Hall of the Dead Lt. Joe Leaphorn of the Navaho Tribal Police tracks the killer of two young boys on Zuni territory, his efforts handicapped by an archeological dig, a steel hypodermic needle and the strange laws of Zuni sacred rituals. (1973) |
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F KIN |
King, Laurie |
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**F LEE |
Lee, Ying S. A Spy in the House Mary Quinn, a scrappy 12-year-old orphan and thief is saved from the gallows, and taken to Miss Scrimshaw's Academy for Girls, where she is recruited to join a covert group of female spies known as The Agency. Her first assignment involves posing as a lady's companion to the daughter of a n suspected of fraud and smuggling, but she soon finds that she is not the only one on the case. (2009) |
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F LEN |
L'Engle,
Madeleine Dragons in the Waters A thirteen-year-old's trip to Venezuela with his cousin culminates in murder and the discovery of an unexpected bond with an Indian tribe, dating from the days of Simon Bolivar. (1976) |
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F PET |
Peters,
Ellis Morbid Taste for Bones In the 12th-century Benedictine monastery of Shrewsbury, Brother Cadfael has settled down to a quiet life in charge of the herbarium. It is fortunate his prowess as a herbalist is matched by his detective skills - when his prior acquires the bones of a saint, the obstacles include murder. (1977) |
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*F RAM |
Ramthun, Bonnie White Gates When his mother becomes the doctor in Snow Park, Colorado, Tor learns of a curse placed on the town's doctors many years before by an eccentric Ute woman, but suspects that a villain is hiding behind that curse. (2008) |
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*F ROH |
Rohmer,
Sax The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu Sax Rohmer , a contemporary of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, created one of the greatest villans of mystery literature: this, the first in the popular Fu-Manchu mystery series, introduces English sleuth Denis Nayland Smith and his companion, Dr. Petrie, to the evil genius Dr. Fu-Manchu, a cunning Chinese criminal mastermind who means to rule the world. (1913) |
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F SAY |
Sayers,
Dorothy ANY TITLE BY THIS AUTHOR |
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*F WHI |
White,
Robb Deathwatch An exciting novel of suspense, based on a fight to the finish between an honest, courageous young man and a cynical business tycoon who believes that anything can be had for a price. Winner of an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. (1972) |
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*F WOO |
Wood, Maryrose The Mysterious Howling Fifteen-year-old Miss Penelope Lumley, a recent graduate of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, is hired as governess to three young children who have been raised by wolves and must teach them to behave in a civilized manner quickly, in preparation for a Christmas ball. (2010) |
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F APP |
Appelt, Kathi The Underneath An old hound that has been chained up at his hateful owner's run-down shack, and two kittens born underneath the house, endure separation, danger, and many other tribulations in their quest to be reunited and free. (2008) |
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F BAK |
Bakker,
Robert Raptor Red This is the realistic survival story of a young raptor as it evolves over the course of a year. It is complete with a unique cast of characters set in a lush, exotic prehistoric world. (1995) |
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F BAG |
Bagnold,
Enid National Velvet This is a classic story about English family life, a girl, her horse, a village lottery, and the Steeplechase. (1935) |
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F CLE |
Clement-Davies,
David The Sight In Transylvania, a pack of wolves sets out on a perilous journey to prevent their enemy from calling upon a legendary evil one that will give her the power to control all animals. (2002) |
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| T |  |
*F DIC |
DiCamillo,
Kate The Tale of Despereaux The adventures of Desperaux Tilling, a small mouse of unusual talents, the princess that he loves, the servant girl who longs to be a princess, and a devious rat determined to bring them all to ruin. (2003) |
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*F LON |
London,
Jack White Fang Written from the viewpoint of his canine character, London tells the story of a wolf-dog who endures greay cruelty before he comes to know human kindness.The book explores the complex themes including morality and redemption.(1906) |
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*F GRA |
Graham, Kenneth The Wind in the Willows Good-natured Mole loses patience with his spring cleaning and dares to leave his underground home, heading up and out to take in the air. Emerging from his home, his whole world changes when he hooks up with the good-natured, boat-loving Water Rat, the boastful Toad of Toad Hall, the society- hating Badger who lives in the frightening Wild Wood, and countless other mostly well-meaning creatures. (1908) |
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F MOW |
Mowat,
Farley Never Cry Wolf Mowat recounts his experience of living alone among wild wolf packs in the Canadian Tundra. His admiration for these maligned animals contrasts the growing fear of bounty hunters and federal exterminators. (1963) |
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| T |  |
*F SEW |
Sewell,
Anna Black Beauty Black Beauty tells his own story: all about his early home, his "breaking in," and how he saved his master’s life. (1945) |
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F ZUC |
Zuckerman, Linda A Taste for Rabbit Quentin, a rabbit who lives in a walled compound run by a militaristic government, must join forces with Harry, a fox, to stop the sinister disappearances of outspoken and rebellious rabbit citizens. (2007) |
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*F ADA |
Adams,
Douglas The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy This is the satiric, comic adventure of Arthur Dent, who finds himself traveling through space and time. (1982) |
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F FEI |
Feiffer,
Jules The Man in the Ceiling Both written and illustrated by cartoonist Feiffer, this is a funny, poignant and profoundly insightful look at the inner life of an artist; Jimmy, who happens to be a young boy, expresses himself by making comic books. (1995) |
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**F BAG |
Hiaasen, Carl Chomp When the difficult star of the reality television show "Expedition Survival" disappears while filming an episode in the Florida Everglades using animals from the wildlife refuge run by Wahoo Crane's family, Wahoo and classmate Tuna Gordon set out to find him while avoiding Tuna's gun-happy father. (2012) |
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*F FEI |
Korman, Gordon |
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*F LEV |
Levithan,
David. Boy Meets Boy This is the story of Paul, a sophomore at a high school like no other. Written in energetic prose and sharp humor, Levithan has created a kind of utopia, where tolerance reigns and shame is banished, in which everyone loves without persecution, making this a provocative and important read. (2003) |
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*F SAL |
Saldana,
Rene, Jr. The Jumping Tree Rey, a Mexican American living with his close knit family in a Texas town near the Mexican border, tells the story of his growing up, with lots of self-deprecating humor and an air of reminiscence, all the while remaining culturally specific, filled with Chicano language and customs. (2001) |
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| T |  |
F SHI |
Shipton,
Paul The Pig Scrolls Transformed by Circe into talking pig, Gryllus, who once traveled as a crewman with Odysseus, tells how he escaped rampaging monsters with the brave teen prophetess, Sybil, found himself, and saved the world. (2005) |
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F TOW |
Townsend,
Sue The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4 Adrian, a worrier, a loner, and self-proclaimed intellectual, confides his concerns and dreams within the pages of his diary. (1988) |
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*591.52 ADA |
Adams,
Douglas and Mark Carwardine Last Chance to See Moving rapidly from informal, laugh-out-loud descriptions of his travels to serious pleas for awareness and conservation of all animals, Douglas Adams (author of The Hitchhiker's Guide") records the adventures of a BBC-led team to film some of the most endangered animal species throughout the world. (1992) |
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919.98 ALE |
Alexander, Caroline Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage The astonishing saga of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton's survival for over a year on the ice-bound Antarctic seas, Alfred Lansing's scrupulously researched and brilliantly narrated book uses diaries and personal accounts to tell the story. (1998) |
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796.323 BLA |
Blais, Madeleine In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle They were a talented highschool basketball team with a near-perfect record--but a reputation for choking in the crunch of the state playoffs. Finally, after five straight years of disappointments, the Amherst Lady Hurricanes found they just might have what it took to go all the way. (1995) |
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*363.73 CAR |
Carson,
Rachel Silent Spring This book represents over four and one half years' work, during which Carson gathered data from all over America and around the world. It constitutes a biologist's warning about the possible effects of wide spread use of pesticides on the balance of nature. (1962) |
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920 FRE |
Freedman,
Russell The Wright Brothers Newberry Award winning account of the life and work of Orville and Wilbur Wright, this book traces their interests and experiences and records their progress with contemporary photographs. (1991) |
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791.3 HEL |
Helfer,
Ralph Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived This is the true story of a remarkable animal, an elephant named Modoc, whose life spans eight decades and three continents. It is a tale of love, loss, and the spiritual bond between a man and his extraordinary nine thousand pound companion, accurately recounted by a well-known Hollywood animal behaviorist. (1997) |
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952.04 HER |
Hersey,
John Hiroshima Six individuals, survivors of the bombing of Hiroshima, reflect on life and why they were saved, in the midst of destruction. (1946) |
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910.4 HEY |
Heyerdahl,
Thor Kon-Tiki Six remarkable men set out on a forty-foot raft to prove the scientific theory that the ancient peoples of Peru discovered and populated these Islands of Polynesia. This book records their adventures, beginning with the building of their raft, and following them across the South Pacific. (1950) |
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798.4 HIL |
Hillenbrand,
Laura Seabiscuit A wonderfully written history of a horse and the misfit humans who cared for him, who saw his potential, and turned him into a horseracing legend for all time. (2001) |
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974.4 JUN |
Junger, Sebastian The Perfect Storm : a True Story of Men against the Sea Uses interviews, memoirs, radio conversations, and technical research to recreate the last days of the crew of the Andrea Gail, a fishing boat that was lost in a storm off the coast of Nova Scotia in October 1991. (1997) |
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*996.1 KRA |
Kraske,
Robert Marooned The true survival story of Alexander Selkirk, the man who inspired Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe. (2005) |
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*796.52 KRA |
Krakaur,
John Into Thin Air This is the definitive account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest by the acclaimed journalist and author of bestseller Into the Wild. (1997) |
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| T | *910 LOR |
Lord, Walter A Night To Remember Walter Lord's 1955 classic account, drawn from survivors' accounts, remains the best Titanic story after all these years. The analysis of the event moves from reports of pretrip hype through the ambiance of the fated last evening to first reports of trouble, loading life boats, and rescue efforts. (1955) |
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910.9 PHI |
Philbrick,
Nathaniel Revenge of the Whale, the True Story of the Whaleship Essex Recounts the 1820 sinking of the whale ship "Essex" by an enraged sperm whale and how the crew of young men survived against impossible odds. The whale's attack on the Essex gave Herman Melville the idea for the climactic scene in Moby Dick. (2002) |
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*614.57 PRE |
Preston, Richard Hot Zone Tells the dramatic true story, set during the winter of 1989, of a U.S. Army-led biohazard task force that decontaminated a research lab in Reston, Va., found to be infected with the Ebola virus. (1994) |
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**780 |
Russell, Martin and Lydia Nibley |
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*780.82 |
Russell, Martin Note: 8th Graders should read this ADULT version (780.82 MAR). |
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812 BLI |
Blinn,
William Brian's Song This drama is based on the true story of courage and friendship between Brian Piccolo and Gayle Sayers, two players on the Chicago Bears football team. (1972) |
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812 GIB |
Gibson,
William The Miracle Worker This powerful play depicts the education of Helen Keller and her relationship with her extraordinary teacher, Annie Sullivan. (1956) |
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891.73 GOL |
Gogol, Nikolaæi Vasilevich The Inspector-General A satirical drama, based on personal anecdote, that shows corrupt officials of a small Russian town, headed by the Mayor, react with terror to the news that an incognito inspector (the revizor) will soon be arriving in their town to investigate them. (1842) |
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812 GUR |
Guerney,
A.R. The Dining Room The play is set in a single dining room where 18 scenes from different households overlap and intertwine. Each story is focused around a different family during different time periods each of whom has in their possession the same dining room furniture set, manufactured in 1898. (1982) |
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* 891.73 GOL |
Ibsen, Henrick The Enemy of the People When Dr. Thomas Stockmann learns that the famous and financially successful baths in his home town are contaminated, he insists they be shut down for expensive repairs. Ridiculed and persecuted by the townsfolk for his honesty, he is declared an "enemy of the people." A powerful drama by the "father of modern drama". (1882) |
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812 SHA |
Laurents,
Arthur West Side Story One of the most popular musical dramas of our time, this play is based on Romeo and Juliet, but strikingly retold, set in the inner city in modern times. (1957) |
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812 MED |
Medoff,
Mark Children of a Lesser God The sensitive drama tells of the love and growth of James Leeds, a speech teacher at the State School for the Deaf, and Sarah Norman, one of his students. (1980) |
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*822.33 SHA |
Shakespeare,
William The Taming of the Shrew A romantic comedy, this tale describes the "taming" of Katherine, whose sharp tongue and fiery temper make her impossible to wed. (c1593) |
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*822 SHA |
Shaw, George
Bernard Androcles and the Lion Based on a medieval European legend and set in classical times, this is the story of a runaway slave who is saved by a lion. (1912) |
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*822 SHA |
Shaw, George
Bernard Pygmalion Phonetics professor Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador's garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of gentility, the most important element of which, he believes, is impeccable speech. This play was used as the basis fotr the musical My Fair Lady. (1912) |
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812 ZIN |
Zindel,
Paul The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds This Pulitzer Prize-winning play centers on the Hunsdorfers: Tillie, her sister Ruth, and their mother Beatrice. Tillie studies the growth of flowers for a science project, in an effort to escape the bitterness of her family and surroundings. (1971) |
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F ALL |
Allende, Isabel City of the Beasts When fifteen-year-old Alexander Cold accompanies his grandmother on an expedition to find a mythical Beast in the Amazon, he experiences ancient wonders and a supernatural world as he tries to avert disaster for the Indians. (2002) |
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F BEL |
Bell, Hilari The Last Knight : a Knight and Rogue Novel In alternate chapters, eighteen-year-old Sir Michael Sevenson, an anachronistic knight errant, and seventeen-year-old Fisk, his street-wise squire, tell of their noble quest to bring Lady Ceciel to justice while trying to solve her husband's murder. (2007) |
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*F BRO |
Browne, N. M Warriors of Alavna While walking through a yellow mist, two fifteen-year-old classmates are transported to a world that resembles Roman Britain during the first century A.D, where they witness real magic and join a tribe of Celtic warriors as they battle Roman invaders. (2000) |
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F GAU |
Gaugen, M. C. |
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*F GOL |
George, Jessica Day Princess of the Midnight Ball A retelling of the tale of twelve princesses who wear out their shoes dancing every night, and of Galen, a former soldier now working in the king's gardens, who follows them in hopes of breaking the curse. (2009) |
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398.2 LES |
Lester,
Julius The Tales of Uncle Remus Lively, humorous stories, this work represents a contemporary retelling of the adventures of Brer Rabbit and his friends. (1987) |
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*F MAC |
MacDonald,
George The Princess and the Goblin Said to be a favorite of both Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, The Princess and the Goblin is the story of the young Princess Irene, her good friend Curdie--a miner's son--and Irene's mysterious and beautiful great-great grandmother, who lives in a secret room at the top of the castle stairs. (1872) |
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F MEY |
Meyer, Marissa |
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F PAT |
Allende, Isabel East Rose has a special fate, determined from the day of her birth. In return for good fortune for her family, she journeys to a distant castle on the back of a great white bear who is the victim of a cruel enchantment. (2005) |
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F PRA |
Pratchett, Terry The Wee Free Men Tiffany, a young witch-to-be in the land of Discworld, teams up with the Wee Free Men, a clan of six-inch-high blue toughs, to rescue her baby brother and ward off a sinister invasion from Fairyland. (2003) |
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398.22 |
Shanower,
Eric. Age of Bronze: A Thousand Ships A graphic novel, drawn from a variety of sources--ancient legends, medieval romances as well ascontemporary scholarship, and woven into a rich narrative--chronicles the events which started the Trojan War. Shanower won the Will Eisner Comics Industry Award for Best Writer/Artist for this extraordinary project. (2001) |
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*F SPI |
Spinner,
Stephanie Quiver Greek gods and mortals spring to life in this riveting retelling of the myth of Atalanta, the fleet-footed girl warrior who could outrun any man in ancient Greece. (2002) |
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F STE |
Stiefvater, Maggie The Scorpio Races Nineteen-year-old returning champion Sean Kendrick competes against Puck Connolly, the first girl ever to ride in the annual Scorpio Races, both trying to keep hold of their dangerous water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. (2011) |
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F STR |
Stroud, Jonathan Heroes of the valley Young Halli Sveinsson, a likable prankster, member of the House of Svein, embarks on what he dreams will be a quest for vengeance and glory equal to those of his ancestors, but he quickly comes to realize that legend and lore have little relation to reality. (2009) |