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Suggested Reading: Fiction - Biography - Non-fiction
Carroll, Lewis A little girl falls down a rabbit hole and discovers a world of nonsensical and amusing characters. Hannah, Kristin Nestled into the hills of the Northern Cascade Mountains in Washington state, Liam and Mike (Michaela) Campbell have a picture-perfect marriage and family. While Liam enjoys the comforts of being a small-town doctor with an old family name, Mike cares for their two children and her beloved horses. But when a horrible accident leaves Mike in a coma, Liam frantically searches for a way to ignite her memories and awaken her. What he discovers makes him question the foundations of their love, as Mike has a secret past as "Kayla" and a previous marriage to her first love, Julian True. Though still in a coma, Mike responds to these stories. Liam knows he must contact Julian, and gamble his future on the past memories of a woman whose true identity and feelings are unknown to him. Reading Level: Adult; 274 pages
In 1907 Egypt, Egyptologist Amelia Peabody, along with her sexy yet irascible husband, Radcliffe Emerson, and their handsome son Ramses, investigates the mystery of an extraordinary papyrus "Book of the Dead" that may be connected to some recent murders.
When a research ship manned by Dirk Pitt and members of the U.S. National Underwater and Marine Agency is nearly sunk by a vessel from the past, Pitt finds himself caught up in an ancient mystery with lethal ties to the present, matching wits with a malevolent and powerful adversary.
Set in rural southern Louisiana, the novel spans 100 years of American history--from the early 1860s to the onset of the civil rights movement in the 1960s--in following the life of the elderly Jane Pittman, who witnessed those years. A child at the end of the Civil War, Jane survives a massacre by former Confederate soldiers. She serves as a steadying influence for several black men who work hard to achieve dignity and economic as well as a political equality. After the death of her husband, Joe Pittman, Jane becomes a committed Christian and a spiritual guide in her community. Spurred on by the violent death of a young community leader, Jane finally confronts a plantation owner who represents the white power structure to which she has always been subservient. Hertenstein, Jane This unusual first novel is based on true accounts of the imprisonment of American citizens in Japanese detention camps in the Philippines during World War II. Louise Keller travels with her missionary family to the Philippines on the eve of Pearl Harbor. At first the country seems like paradise, but soon Louise and her family are captured by the Japanese and forced to live in internment camps. An exciting and thought-provoking novel about human strength and weakness in wartime. Zemser, Amy Bro Set in Liberia, this story tells of twelve-year-old Sarina, a transplanted American girl struggling to break free of the physical and psychic bonds binding her to her mother. Told in a lyrical and measured first-person voice, the novel does a fine job of depicting its major characters and meaningfully explores questions concerning human relationships, both forced and freely formed. French, Albert This novel, set in rural Mississippi in 1937, tells the story of ten-year-old Billy Lee Turner, who "convinces his friend Gumpy to cross the railroad bridge that separates the black neighborhood from the homes of the whites. The boys can't resist wading in the cool pond on the Pasko property and are terrified when Lori, 15, red-haired, mean, and powerful, and her friend Jenny sneak up on them and beat them up. Gumpy escapes, but Lori has hurt Billy badly. When she finally lets him go, he stabs her {to death} in the chest. The sheriff can barely contain the mob of whites intent on revenge. The frightened boys are tried as adults."
Patricia Cornwell fans, get ready! Dr. Kay Scarpetta is back with another heart-arresting thriller of medical mischief and mayhem. When a half-decomposed body is discovered on a cargo ship arriving from Belgium, and the autopsy uncovers nothing, Kay is right back in the mix. Now she's off to Europe, and will soon be faced with her most career-threatening — not to mention life-threatening — case yet. Bunting, Eve Thirteen-year-old Brodie Lynch was ready for the perfect summer of adventure along the awesome Blackwater River. That was before everything changed forever. When a harmless prank goes too far, the unthinkable happens. Brodie's lies make him a hero, but inside, his guilt tears at him like the treacherous current of the Blackwater itself, which has become a horrifying reminder of his part in the tragedy. In this gripping new coming-of-age novel, a young boy is faced with a choice between right and wrong and ultimately learns that truth can offer hope in even the darkest moments. Morrison, Toni Initially published in 1970, is the first novel written by Toni Morrison, winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Literature. It is the story of eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove - a black girl in an America whose love for its blond, blue-eyed children can devastate all others - who prays for her eyes to turn blue: so that she will be beautiful, so that people will look at her, so that her world will be different. This is the story of the nightmare at the heart of her yearning and the tragedy of its fulfillment.
In the wake of the depression of 1929, four friends gather in a cold, dusty attic on Christmas day to make a solemn pact. 'Our dreams for the future, ' they whisper, as they place tiny pieces of paper holding their life wishes into the blue, cabin-shaped bottle. Letitia dreams of marriage and children; Mary Love, to be a painter, Eleanor aspires to help those in need as a social worker; Adora longs to be a Broadway actress. Eickhoff, Randy L Jim Bowie, the descendant of Highland Scots, grew up riding alligators and working the fields on the Texas frontier. Taught three languages and a sense of honor, he went on to live a life filled with brawls and battles, loves and losses. This is his story, as told by those who, whether they loved or hated him, were united by a sense of awe toward this amazing frontiersman. "From Bowie's childhood exploits, which included hunting wild cattle with only a rope and knife, to his lustful adventures with Annie Christmas, a six-foot-tall frontier madam who loved him during his wild years as a young man, this enigmatic hero comes of age before our eyes. From the harrowing tale of why and how the Bowie knife came to be to the five-day battle Bowie and a few friends fought against several hundred mounted Apache, this story charts the making of a true American legend. Grisham, John Trumble is a minimum-security federal prison, a "camp," home to the usual assortment of relatively harmless criminals - and three former judges who call themselves the Brethren: one from Texas, one from California, and one from Mississippi. They meet each day in the law library, their turf at Trumble, where they write briefs, handle cases for other inmates, practice law without a license, and sometimes dispense jailhouse justice. And they spend hours writing letters. They are fine-tuning a mail scam, and it's starting to really work. The money is pouring in." "Then their little scam goes awry. Randle, Kristen Seventeen-year-old Casey has some of her preconceived notions challenged when she begins to tutor Baby, a member of a gang-like nonconformist society called the Clan. Yolen, Jane A powerful and moving novel that deftly blends the legend of Sleeping Beauty with the historical tragedy of the Holocaust. After her grandmother's death, a young American woman struggles to uncover the truth behind the old woman's past. The trail eventually leads to Europe and the darkest days of WWII. Douglas, John If not for a minor car accident that kept her home, Erin Russell would have been copiloting Flight 94 when it crashed, killing 151 people—including her captain and close friend, Mick Hammon. News of the crash devastated Erin, and she hasn’t flown since. Instead, determined to protect Mick’s family from speculation about the crash being his fault, Erin embarks on a fight to prove her dead friend innocent. But that fight pits her against Addison Lowe, the National Transportation Safety Board investigator, who feels certain that the crash was caused by a negligent pilot. Torn between comforting Erin and grilling her for information, Addison finds himself falling in love with a woman whose passion for truth is as great as his own. Lewis, C. S.
Qualey, Marsha Two prominent city residents have been murdered, and Barrie knew both of them. But does she know their killer? The police have connected both victims to her mother's hair salon, and the obvious focus has become Barrie's mom and the other stylists, all of whom happen to be convicted killers who met in prison vocational school. Deaver, Coffin Detective Lincoln Rhyme, the foremost criminalist in the NYPD, is on the hunt for an elusive murderer, the Coffin Dancer. He's a brilliant hitman who changes his appearance even faster than he adds to his trail of victims, only one of whom has lived long enough to offer a clue: the assassin has an eerie tattoo on his arm of the Grim Reaper waltzing with a woman in front of a casket. In The Coffin Dancer, Rhyme, tragically paralyzed from a line-of-duty accident, continues to tutor his beautiful protégé, Detective Amelia Sachs, in the art of criminal hunting. Rhyme is certain he's seen this killer before, and his suspicion of an earlier encounter fuels a bitter taste for vengeance. Rhyme's brainpower and Sachs's legwork are the only tools they have to track the cunning murderer through the subways, parks, and airports of a darkly painted New York City. And they have only forty-eight hours before the Coffin Dancer strikes again. Sheldon, Dyan In her first year at a suburban New Jersy high school, Mary Elizabeth Cep, who now calls herself "Lola," sets her sights on the lead in the annual drama production, and finds herself in conflict with the most popular girl in school.
In the 1950's in South Africa, a foreign student out walking on the grounds of her boarding school disappears into the heat and dust of the Transvaal. Forty years later, her schoolmates gather to save the school from a developer's bulldozer, and uncover a long-buried mystery.
Willie is enjoying his life as a baseball hero when he is suddenly in an accident and his left brain damaged. Shunned by everyone, he runs away and enrolls in a special school. With the help of one special man and the people around him, he learns to cope with his condition.
It begins with silence. A powerful electromagnetic pulse high in the atmosphere triggers that a communications blackout, causing electronics and computers to fail the world over. In that moment of anachronistic quiet, a brilliant astronomer named Zeb Aberly, scouring the heavens with equipment of his own design, makes the discovery of a lifetime: the pulse originated in space—and it carried a message from an intelligent source. But Zeb is not alone. Shadowy forces within the government seek to decipher the message and to keep its existence secret at all costs. Fleeing for his life into the back streets and alleys of Washington, D.C., Zeb embarks on an odyssey that could cost him his family, his sanity, and everything he loves. Bloor, Edward Roberta Ritter has been waiting for a knight in shining armor for most of her humdrum life. She's a doormat, a nobody whose mother died a few years back, a smart girl who wastes her afternoons working in a failing arcade in a failing shopping mall. And then a Crusader arrives....only this Crusader is a virtual reality war game, one that does a booming business at the arcade, despite—or perhaps because of—the controversy over its racism and violence. Roberta's boring life explodes. Onetime friends become bitter enemies, strangers reveal themselves as allies, and Roberta discovers the truth about her mother's death. In uncovering what's real and not just virtually real, Roberta learns to stand up for herself—and, maybe, to become her own crusader. Levine, Gail Carso This stunning new novel by award-winning author Gail Carson Levine takes Dave from the poverty of New York's Lower East Side to the misery of the Hebrew Home for Boys on the Upper West Side to the hope and magic of Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance. It tells a tale of terrible loss and hard-won gains, cruel relations and kind strangers, great poverty and great wealth. Most of all, though, it tells a tale about the power of friendship. Barr, Nevada A promotion causes forest ranger Anna Pigeon to leave Mesa Verde National Park for the lush, humid warmth of the Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi and Tennessee. But even though the people and places are different, Anna still finds herself embroiled in solving a deadly crime that is rooted in the land and history around her. King, Stephen In the desolate mining town of Desperation, Nevada, there is something very wrong. The local lawman is besieged by delusions of murderous grandeur, dead animals decorate the landscape, and visitors are few and far between. But when an unlucky group of travelers is waylaid in the desert anti-oasis, the battle lines are drawn against an ancient and unholy evil, determined to be born again! Thomas, Rob As part of a college course, Randall is assigned to follow up on nine high-school seniors who had to do community service projects to graduate, by interviewing them and the participants in their projects. He's a skeptic after his own experience on the receiving end of someone else's community-service project a decade earlier. The next nine chapters are more like short stories, each one a self-contained first-person account by one of the nine seniors: Some perform their service with honor, some with cynicism.
Franklin, Kristine Two young people take on more than they can handle in this anguished, reflective story set on the home front during the Vietnam War. The news that their father is missing in action horrifies Bobbie Lynn and her brother, Mason, but sends their dependent mother spiraling into a breakdown far worse than any of her previous spells; after a violent outburst, she takes to her bed, smoking, crying, and rarely eating. While the children struggle to maintain an appearance of normality, scramble for money, and care for their mother, Bobbie Lynn meets Wendy, a fiery, perceptive classmate and her brain-damaged twin sister, who are part of a lively, welcoming family. Despite Mason's conviction that they're on their own, Bobbie Lynn is driven to call for help, and support arrives speedily from several directions. Nolan, Han After the death of his grandmother, who held the family together, teenage JP is left with a mentally challenged father and a mother who seems ineffectual and constantly sick, and he feels everything sliding out of control. Peters, Elizabeth The 1911 excavation season in Egypt doesn't seem to hold many exciting possibilities for Amelia's tempestuous husband, professor Radcliffe Emerson. The glories of the Giza have been allotted to other archeology teams, leaving him to scrutinize an unremarkable pair of pyramids at I. Zawaiet el `Aryan. Nonetheless, it is soon clear that the British family's annual trip to the ancient lands will be anything but uneventful. First, David, their son Ramses's Egyptian friend and their niece's new husband, is accused of selling expensive forgeries of ancient Egyptian artifacts. Then Amelia's devious nephew, Percy, arrives in Cairo and a young American acquaintance is found murdered. When a small child of mysterious parentage appears and someone starts shooting at Ramses, the Emerson family faces an unprecedented series of crises.
Ex-slave and Civil War veteran Sgt. Moses Williams of the Ninth Cavalry Regiment, assigned to hunt and kill Apaches in the mountains of southeastern New Mexico Territory, is thwarted in his mission by the tactical genius of Nana, an old Apache chief who quickly becomes Williams's nemesis.
In tenth-century Norway, sixteen-year-old Ran is rescued from certain death by the blind musician, Toki, and, after becoming his wife, travels with him to Iceland where they attempt to start a new life far from the enemies that pursue them. Turgenov, Ivan A new translation of Turgenev's most important novel, portraying a new type of hero, a "nihilist," who would represent the values of the younger generation, revealing the full breadth of 19th century Russia. Cochran, Molly Set in modern and medieval times, here is the story of the return of King Arthur--as a ten-year-old--and his greatest enemy, Saladin, a powerful, almost immortal sorcerer, whose goal is to wrest the Holy Grail from the boy. Klein, Dave Sportswriter Klein gives us an exciting tale of football and organized crime. Hero Ed Buck, a New York sportswriter, is a long-time friend of Adam Benson, quarterback for the Bears. Benson tells Buck that he's been forced to throw games by the men who got him addicted to cocaine but that he doesn't want to do it anymore. Shortly thereafter, Benson drops dead on the field while playing a fantastic game, embarrassing the Bears. After Buck convinces the police to investigate, they find just barely visible evidence of murder. For the rest of the book, Buck is joined by his fiancée and Benson's widow in stalking the killers–who, in turn, are trying to kill Buck. The football action is well written and suspenseful, but the real story here is about friendship, persistence, and the good guys winning. Paretsky, Sara Paretsky's incomparable private investigator solves many mysteries in this suspenseful thriller set in Chicago. The story begins as she drives friends home from a large party given by a multimedia conglomerate called Global Entertainment. As she takes a short cut through town, she narrowly misses a body in the road. The victim, a young woman, is barely breathing and brutally battered. As Warshawski begins to unravel the mystery of this woman, she becomes the chief suspect in the "hit-and-run." When the body disappears and she starts to investigate the situation on her own, she takes on the Chicago police, the CEOs of Global Entertainment, and guards at a women's prison. Her friends try desperately to pull her away from a dangerous situation, but the sleuth finds too many coincidences that don't make sense as she tries to clear her own name.
Contains the complete text of the nineteenth-century tale of redemption in a northern English town beset by industrialism, and includes a critical introduction and chronology. Peters, Elizabeth Intrepid archaeologist/sleuth Amelia Peabody and her family, back in Egypt in 1914 for another season of archaeological excavation, become caught up in the political turmoil sweeping the country, and when an exquisite artifact from a Giza dig is found where it ought not be, Amelia realizes her villainous arch-nemesis Sethos is at work.
McDevitt, Jack This futuristic novel has an intriguing mystery and gives a view of what could happen if another life-form, completely different from our own, were found. Twenty-seven years after the disappearance of her sister (and clone), Kim Brandywine begins the long process of solving Emily's mysterious disappearance along with the fates of the three other crew members who were with her on their last voyage into space. Kim uses friends as well as her own intelligence and bravado to force and find clues. The mystery brings frightening moments as she faces life-forms that were unsuccessfully dealt with in the recent past. Some well-placed spooky moments elevate the heart rate as the search for the truth progresses. McDevitt deftly mixes in a detailed vision of a successful colony of humans on another world, including the cultural aspects, even as the plot spins toward solving the mystery. Personal relationships share an important aspect of the story, and the author draws personalities of even the minor characters clearly and succinctly. This is a wonderful mix of science-based fiction, mystery, and romance, with loads of action, as well as some spine-tingling moments.
This imaginative retelling and continuation of "Cinderella" opens two weeks after the ball. Ella Brown, now known as Princess Cynthiana Eleanora, reveals that neither fairy godmother nor magic helped her escape from her stepmother and the Step-Evils; rather, she relied on her own determination, intelligence, and sharp wits to attend the ball. Now, however, ensconced in the palace to learn royal etiquette and protocol, Ella's dream has become a nightmare. She realizes that Charm, although very handsome, is shallow and boring. When Ella attempts to break their engagement, the so-called Charmings throw her into the dungeon. Her spirit triumphs again, as she digs her way out via the latrine, and escapes to help in refugee camps being set up by Jed, a young man she met at the castle. Just Ella touches on many contemporary themes, including the components of love and happiness, the need for shared values in a relationship, the unimportance of physical appearance, and how young girls are manipulated by society's images of beauty. Dessen, Sarah Fifteen-year-old Colie, a former fat girl, spends the summer working as a waitress in a beachside restaurant, staying with her overweight and eccentric Aunt Mira while trying to explore her sense of self. Clarke, Arthur The entire structure of human society is shaken to its roots when a brilliant industrialist creates a new technology that leads to the complete abolition of human privacy forever, and also allows people to look backwards in time. Coel, Margaret The murder of an elderly priest who had recently returned to the St. Francis Mission on the Arapaho reservation in Wyoming where he had served in 1964, spurs an investigation that leads to the discovery of a shocking crime committed against the Arapaho thirty-five years earlier. Meyer, Carolyn Utilizing a first-person narrative, Meyer delivers a compelling account of Mary Tudor, who literally went from princess to servant. Henry VIII's oldest daughter lives the privileged life of royalty until her father becomes obsessed with producing a male heir. His realization that Mary's mother will never give him a son coincides with his infamous affair with Anne Boleyn, whom he ultimately marries. This marriage changes not only the course of history, but gravely affects Mary's life as well. She once expected to inherit the throne; now she merely hopes to survive her father's violent reign. After years of banishment, separated from her family and friends, Mary is summoned back to court so that she may act as her half-sister's (the future Elizabeth I) servant. The novel ends with Anne's death and the spurned princess's tenuous readmittance into court. Chamberlain, Ann This first volume in the Joan of Arc Tapestry is set around the time of the birth of France's young saint and tells of the childhood and youth of Yann, priest of the "old faith." Throughout his youth in a noble household, Yann is prone to seizures accompanied by visions of the present and future. Clearly setting the scene for the rest of the series, the story of Joan is introduced through a prophecy passed down from the great Merlin; later, Yann sees Joan's birth in a vision. An early friend of the young Prince Charles, Yann seems destined to become the spiritual advisor to Joan's king. Despite such foreshadowing, this book stands alone as a tale of contrasting world views, as Christianity strengthens its hold and the priests of the old religions fight their last battles. Noteworthy for its historical details and for the presence of a largely male cast, St. Gilles' Well offers promise for the rest of the series. Fleischman, Paul A novel in play form in which sixteen-year-old Courtney, paralyzed in an accident, learns about the power of the mind from an elderly blind woman who takes Courtney on an imaginary journey to Italy using a 1910 guidebook. Magona, Sindiwe A novel based upon the murder of Fulbright scholar Amy Elizabeth Biehl in which the fictitious mother of the killer examines the life and world of her son in the black township of Guguletu, South Africa. Tomey, Ingrid Fifteen-year-old Webber Freegy, poised to become the fastest runner on his high school track team, is driving without a license with his grandfather when he hits a 10-year-old girl on a bicycle. At first, in the hospital, he is unable to remember anything about the day of the accident. His grandfather tells Webb and the police that he was driving and lost control. As the weeks pass, however, Webb remembers that he was the one behind the wheel. After this discovery, he struggles with his conscience and must face the truth before his guilt crushes his will to recover. His grandfather, always praising Webb's dead father as a hero, fears that the boy will face jail time if the truth comes out. Webb's classmate, Dylis Clark, the paralyzed child's baby-sitter, displays no affection for the track star with the broken leg and suspects that he is lying. With these two forces pulling him in different directions, Webb must make a potentially life-altering decision.
Hogan, James P. Fifteen-year-old Line Marani, sentenced to a juvenile labor camp in twenty-second century Los Angeles for his part in a heist gone sour, is given a chance to redeem himself when he is offered a place on a mission beyond the stars. Forster, E. M. A classic account of the clash of cultures in British India after the turn of the century revealing the menace lurking just under the surface of ordinary misunderstanding.
Haruf, Kent Two bachelor farmer brothers, a pregnant high school girl, two young brothers, and two devoted high school teachers–this is the interesting group of people, some related by blood but most not, featured in the award-winning Haruf's touching new novel. Set in the plains of Colorado, east of Denver, the novel comprises several story lines that flow into one. Tom Guthrie, a high school history teacher, is having problems with his wife and with an unruly student at school–problems that affect his young sons, Ike and Bob, as well. Meanwhile, the pregnant Victoria Roubideaux has been abandoned by her family. With the assistance of another teacher, Maggie Jones, she finds refuge with the McPheron brothers–who seem to know more about cows than people. Lyrical and well crafted, the tight narrative about how families can be made between folks who are not necessarily blood relatives makes for enjoyable reading. Blaylock, James Explores the perilous allure of the older European civilization and its impact on the American character through the person of Isabel Archer. Thomas, Rob In his first novel Thomas lays bare the pain, awkwardness and humor at the heart of one teenager's search for identity. Steve York has always lived in the long shadow cast by his too-perfect astronaut father. When his parents divorce just before he begins high school, Steve blames his father for the family's breakup, even though he doesn't know all the facts. Life with "the astronaut" (as Steve insists on calling him) is okay for a while as Steve juggles straight-As with a part-time job and hangs out with a wisecracking crew of artsy, nonconformist cronies, one of whom, Dub, becomes his first love. But Dub's eventual betrayal causes Steve to flee his father's home and take a dive from scholar to stoner. His last chance for academic redemption lies in writing a 100-page paper for his new guidance counselor, a narrative that becomes the framework for this novel. Grove, Vicki An interview assignment forces Carly to get to know Dustin Groat, the most unpopular member of her sixth-grade class. Dustin's unsociable behavior began at school in third grade, just after his mother died, and Carly and her friends have looked down upon him ever since. The Groats are notorious troublemakers, correctly suspected of hoarding guns on their isolated compound and making drugs. As she learns about his family background and history-not from Dustin, but through her own family and research-she gradually realizes that there's more to the boy than she assumed. Grove neatly weaves several subplots into the story, all related in some way to Carly's relationship with her nemesis. As she slowly gathers the courage and empathy to befriend the boy, she also begins to see her own friends and family with new clarity. Cadnum. Michael Readers will likely be both fascinated and repelled by the intricate web of deception woven by the 16-year-old narrator of this sometimes confusing psychological drama. Cadnum (Heat) shows rather than tells Jennifer's desperate need for affection and attention when she meticulously fakes an attack by a serial rapist, then reports it to the police. Her story about fending off the man gains her publicity and sympathy, but instead of feeling gratified, she suffers pangs of guilt and moments of panic. Her twisted relationships with her highly successful parents, her self-centered older sister and her ex-boyfriend are slowly revealed, providing insight into her personality. During the investigation of the case, Jennifer is terrified of being found out. At the same time, she longs to be freed from her lies. Baldacci, David When FBI witness Faith Lockhart is shot at by a would-be assassin, she must trust Lee Adams, a man she doesn't know, to protect her from an unknown killer and the most powerful figures in the United States.
McDaniel, Lurlene When Jessica is diagnosed as having kidney failure her only hope is a kidney transplant but her boyfriend Jeremy must find the strength to defy his parents in order to be the donor and save Jessica's life. Abelove, Joan This brief but powerful novel relates Mindy's thoughts and feelings during the very painful month preceding her mother's death. Through journal entries, narration, and flashbacks, the 16-year-old relates the course of her mother's illness from the numbing diagnosis of "brain tumor" to her eventual demise. Her father refuses to talk about his wife's illness or explain just how bleak the outlook is. Mindy is overcome with grief when she finally goes to the hospital and finds an empty, silent shell of a person in a stark white room instead of the mother she knows and loves. Luckily, Mindy has two good friends. Her best friend, Gail, is understanding, wise, and always available with unconditional love and support. Bobby, new to her school, provides the perfect diversion with his humor and affection.
Griffin, W.E.B. The third in a series of novels about World War II espionage in Germany and Argentina follows the activities of a German general and his son who are working toward the assassination of Adolf Hitler, and Cletus Prade, a rogue agent with the OSS who is trying to keep himself and the German agents alive until their goal is achieved.
Myers, Walter Dean A poignant story of motherless, 14-year-old Jimmy Little, whose convict father takes him on a search for truth,identity, and family. Whisked away from the stability of a homelife with his devoted grandmother, Mama Jean, Jimmy confronts the harsh realities of his father's life on the run. Jailed for his involvement in an armed robbery and falsely accused of killing a man, Crab escapes from prison to convince his son of his innocence. What Jimmy discovers is a man desperate to establish a relationship with his son but unable to break free of a lifestyle of stealing and moving on that leaves little room for security. On their highway odyssey, Crab becomes increasingly sick with a kidney ailment. Following a climactic encounter with the man who accused him, Crab is again arrested and hospitalized. For Jimmy, the flicker of hope that he and his father might work things out becomes a realization that love is built on trust, concern, and honesty. Through terse dialogue and characterization, Myers conveys a powerful message about the need for parent and child to believe in and respect one another.
Mishima, Yukio In their Japanese fishing village, Shinji falls in love with Hatsue and they must have the courage to battle ugly gossip. Anderson,Laurie Melinda is just starting high school. It should be one of the greatest times in her life, but instead of enjoying herself, she is an outcast. She has been marked as the girl who called the police to break up the big end-of-the-summer party, and all the kids are angry at her. Even her closest friends have pulled away. No one knows why she made the call, and even Melinda can't really articulate what happened. As the school year goes on, her grades plummet and she withdraws into herself to the point that she's barely speaking. Her only refuge is her art class, where she learns to find ways to express some of her feelings.
Lasky, Kathryn Genetically enhanced like others of her privileged class, Darci Murlowe, a typical if somewhat lonely teenager in the year 3038, is shocked first, when she accidentally meets her illegal clone, and second, to find that her parents are part of an underground movement to save the genetic future of humanity. Darci is told that she and many others her age are genetic chimeras whose cells hold a secret stash of "Original" DNA, which will prevent "the great fracturing" of humanity into separate genetic species. After being found out, Darci, her clone, and their parents are saved from incineration, the punishment for illegal cloning, by the Primarch, leader of the Bio Union, who sacrifices herself to save them all.
Clark, Mary Higgins A talented television journalist seems to have everything going for her--except that she has moved back into the Georgetown mansion where a terrible crime once took place. Rozan, S J While visiting his country retreat, series private investigator Bill Smith (A Bitter Feast) gets involved in another case: he promises to find several unsigned paintings stolen from a reclusive celebrated artist who wishes to remain incognito. Back in New York City, partner Lydia Chin assists as usual, offering her trademark banter along with news of any unexpected appearances on the New York art scene. Smith's investigation, which impinges upon a murder at his friend's bar–blamed on his friend's missing son–ultimately leads to a prize local scum bag and beyond.
Mrazek, Robert In the last winter of the Civil War, 15-year-old Jamie Lockhart kills a man who attempted to rape his mother, and finds in the dead man's tobacco pouch a small piece of cloth that looks like a crude map. Searching for clues about it, Jamie hears the words "Stonewall Jackson's gold" and is off on a far-fetched adventure-to seek the treasure buried behind enemy lines and take it to Richmond, VA, where his father is fighting with Robert E. Lee. Jamie is captured by a desperate band of men who, knowing he has knowledge of the gold's whereabouts, take him with them to search for it. The renegades take shelter at a large estate, killing its owner. The owner's daughter is determined to avenge her father's death and becomes Jamie's ally and friend, and together they plot to escape and find the gold on their own. Aided by a mysterious one-armed major, they ultimately find the gold. Only when they are on their way to Richmond with it, does Jamie find that the major has another destination in mind. Parker, Barbara Once again, Parker brings together attorneys Gail Connor and Anthony Quintana in a novel of suspense set in beautiful Miami. Her ability to weave strands of intrigue and deception are flawless, guiding the reader's search for the real murderer of Roger Cresswell, heir to the family yacht-building business. Parker fans will remember that in her last novel, Suspicion of Betrayal, Connor and Quintana had just broken off their engagement and were trying to recover their separate lives. However, this novel brings them face to face again, with each defending a client they feel is innocent.
Powell, Randy Grady Grennan-the likable 15-year-old son of Janis Joplin-like rock star Debbie Grennan, who abandoned him when he was 7 and died from choking after overdosing on drugs and alcohol-relates what happens when he is invited to speak at a tribute in Seattle for his celebrity mother. No longer able to live with his grandmother, who has remarried and moved away, Grady must decide whether to move in with the family of his mildly retarded 13-year-old half brother, Louie, or enroll in a study-abroad program in Europe. While attending the tribute, he stays with Louie, his architect father Mitch, his stepmother Vickie, and their three children. Vickie is a committed Christian whose outlook on life and focus on discipline and structure often clash with Grady's more freewheeling life-style. The teen's low-key first-person narrative is alternately sarcastic and self-reflective, and his touching, ambivalent remembrances of his flamboyant mother are skillfully intertwined with his candid account of his fitful, turbulent, and ultimately successful search for a family he's always missed.
Biography Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln, Redeemer President Guelzo’s book breaks new ground in exploring the role of ideas in Lincoln's life, treating him for the first time as a serious thinker deeply involved in the struggles of 19th-century thought. Lincoln emerges from this portrait as a creative yet profoundly paradoxical man-possessing deep moral and religious character yet not adhering to any organized form of religion, a classic nineteenth century liberal who yet came to realize that the liberal state could not survive without an appeal to natural law and natural theology. Winner of the annual Lincoln prize, an annual award for the best work in the Civil War field of study. Reading Level: Adult 516 pages
Rick Bragg All Over But the Shoutin’ The author recalls his poverty-stricken youth in Alabama in the 1960s and 70s, focusing on the extraordinary efforts of his mother to protect her sons from the violence of their father, a man scarred by war, and telling of the sacrifices she made so her children could have a better life. A haunting memoir by a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. Reading Level: Young Adult 329 pages
George Bush All the Best, My Life in Letters and Other Writings Though reticent in public, George Bush has openly shared his private thoughts in his correspondence throughout his life. Fortunately, since the former president does not plan to write his autobiography, this collection of letters, diary entries, and memos, with his accompanying commentary, will fill that void. Organized chronologically, the volume begins with eighteen-year-old George's letters to his parents during World War II, when, at the time he was commissioned, he was the youngest pilot in the Navy. Readers will gain insights into Bush's career highlights -- the oil business, his two terms in Congress, his ambassadorship to the U.N., his service as an envoy in China, his tenure with the Central Intelligence Agency, and of course, the vice presidency, the presidency, and the postpresidency. They will also observe a devoted husband, father, and American. Ranging from a love letter to Barbara and a letter to his mother about missing his daughter Robin after her death from leukemia to a letter to his children two weeks before Nixon's resignation to one written to them just before the beginning of Desert Storm, the writings are remarkable for their candor, humor, and poignancy. A most intimate and revealing look at one of America's most private public figures. Reading Level: Adult 640 pages
George Stephanopoulous All Too Human: A Political Education A personal and candid memoir by the former senior counselor to the president about life in the White House during Clinton's first term. A brilliant combination of pragmatic insight and idealism. Reading Level: Adult 456 pages
Dr. Michael Swango Blind Eye: How the Medical Establishment Let a Doctor Get Away with Murder Young, blond, handsome Dr. Swango seemed a godsend wherever he was hired to practice medicine. But acclaim would turn to disbelief, dismay, then horror, as the evidence mounted that he could actually be murdering his patients. Then, Dr. Michael Swango would leave that hospital -- only to be rehired at another. Today the FBI believes that Swango may be the most prolific serial killer in American history. With prodigious investigative reporting, Stewart's mesmerizing account moves from the hospital rooms of the prestigious Ohio State University Hospitals to Illinois, South Dakota, New York and finally to a remote missionary hospital in Zimbabwe. The author tracked down survivors, relatives of victims, shaken hospital workers -- and the evidence that may finally lead Swango to be charged with murder. Reading Level: Adult 334 Pages
Trevor Rees-Jones The Bodyguard’s Story, Diana, the Crash and the Sole Survivor This book reveals the true, first-hand account of one of the most sensational news stories of the last century. "Compelling, alarming and yet deeply moving, it is a remarkable story of courage under fire, and of how ordinary people can react to extraordinary circumstances and survive, scarred, but with their souls and values intact." Reading Level: Adult 336 pages
Charles A. Lindbergh Charles A. Lindbergh, A Human Hero The story of Lindbergh's rise to fame and abrupt descent into disgrace is told here with frankness and understanding. The meticulously researched text and generous selection of archival photos present a lively and rounded portrait of a man who earned his place in aviation history. An easy-to-read biography. Reading Level: Ages 10 and up 212 pages
Adeline Yen Mah Chinese Cinderella: A True Story About an Unwanted Daughter "Mama died giving birth to you. If you had not been born, Mama would still be alive." Even though Mama died two weeks after the birth from a fever, this brutal message dooms Wu Mei (Fifth Younger Sister) throughout her sad and lonely childhood in China during the 1940s and 1950s. Wu Mei, whose English name is Adeline, faces the anger and cruelty of her family; only an aunt and frail grandfather are supportive. Shunted off to boarding schools, left out of family activities, Adeline nevertheless thrives academically and hopes desperately (and futily) to please her father. In this young adult version of the author's Falling Leaves, Mah offers a bittersweet look into the pain of childhood and a fascinating glimpse at a tumultuous time in China. A captivating read because we care so much about the heroine and her future. Reading Level: Young Adult 205 pages
Da Chen Colors of the Mountain “I was born in southern China in 1962, in the tiny town of Yellow Stone. They called it the Year of Great Starvation." In 1962, as millions of Chinese citizens were gripped by Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution and the Red Guards enforced a brutal regime of communism, a boy was born to a poor family in southern China. This family--the Chens--had once been respected landlords in the village of Yellow Stone, but now they were among the least fortunate families in the country, despised for their "capitalist" past. Grandpa Chen couldn't leave the house for fear of being beaten to death; the children were spit upon in the street; and their father was regularly hauled off to labor camps, leaving the family of eight without a breadwinner. Da Chen, the youngest child, seemed destined for a life of poverty, shame, and hunger. But winning humor and an indomitable spirit can be found in the most unexpected places. This is a story of triumph, a memoir of a boyhood full of spunk, mischief, and love. Da Chen's story is both captivating and endearing, filled with the universal human quality that distinguishes the very best memoirs. It proves once again that the concerns of childhood transcend time and place. Reading Level: Young Adult - Adult 310 pages
Jason Kingsley and Mitchell Levitz Count Us In This unique and powerful account of life by two young men with Down Syndrome draws from more than 50 conversations between Jason and Mitchell over the course of three years, that touch on such topics as careers, friendships, school, sex, marriage, politics, finances, and independence. Worthwhile inspiration and insight for Down syndrome children, as well as for their families, teachers, friends, and advocates. Reading Level: Young Adult 182 pages
Anne McCaffrey Dragonholder This book is essentially an album of family photographs and anecdotes, interspersed with behind-the-scenes stories about Anne McCaffrey’s life. The book includes everything from Anne's childhood pet to a description of how she came to write the stories that became Dragonflight, the first Pern novel. McCaffrey fans won't want to miss this--it's the next best thing to having your own visit with her. Reading Level: Young Adult 113 pages
Ronald Reagan Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan Despite deep research and unprecedented access--no previous biography has ever been authorized by a sitting president--Morris decided to dramatize Reagan's life with several invented characters--including a fictionalized version of himself and an imaginary gossip columnist who makes wicked comments on Reagan's career. Morris makes it difficult for us to know whether characters are real or imagined – even in the footnotes. However, this well-presented book gives a solid, if speculative entry into Reagan's life and mind in a dramatic and literary manner. Is this really a biography or well-researched historical fiction? Reading Level: Adult 874 pages
Edith Velmans Edith’s Story A Dutch Jew who survived the Holocaust by hiding out with her family in a Protestant household recounts her harrowing ordeal, which culminated with a German officer being billeted in the same house. Velmans's candid portrayal of herself as a feisty, loving, sometimes self-absorbed teenager is thoroughly engaging, and her story throws a new light on the plight of Jews who survived the war hidden in plain sight. Edith Velmans became a psychologist and eventually settled in the United States. In 1996 she was knighted by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. She has three daughters and five grandchildren, and lives in Sheffield, Massachusetts. Edith's Story was short listed for the 1998 Jewish Quarterly Literary Prize for nonfiction in England. Reading Level: Young Adult 213 pages
Julia Schueler Elsewhere: A Memoir A memoir in which the author recalls her life, moving throughout the world with the tides of oppression and war, from her birth in Moscow in 1923, to exile in Paris, to Spain, and finally to the United States where she finally found a permanent home in New Orleans. ”Julia Schueler's life, which has been long, well-lived and well told, is woven with unprecedented world events-and gives her work the weight of a history book, the scope of an almanac and the intrigue of a novel." Reading Level: Young Adult – Adult 238 Pages
Jade Snow Wong Fifth Chinese Daughter Jade Snow Wong grew up in a traditional Chinese family in San Francisco's pre-World War II Chinatown. It was a world in which wives were introduced by their husbands as "my inferior woman," rules were taught with corporal punishment, and home life was literally connected to the family business: "As much a part of home as her bedroom were the sewing machines she passed before she came to her bedroom door. She talked above the din of a factory full of motors and machines in operation, and practically breathed in rhythm to the running stitches." A highly intelligent child who consistently skips grades throughout public school (while attending Chinese school at night and taking over much of the family housework), Jade Snow Wong becomes determined to go to college and gain more independence than she has been taught to expect. Her decision sets off a balancing process between cultures that Jade Snow Wong, in correct Chinese third person, explores with humor, reverence, and philosophical insight. A marvelous resource on Chinese cooking, festivals, and child-rearing techniques, as well as a picture of Chinatown before and during World War II. Reading Level : Young Adult 246 pages
Jack Dempsey Flame of Pure Fire: Jack Dempsey and the Roaring ‘20’s The 1920s were the dawn of the era of celebrity in the U.S., and sports figures were among the first to be lionized. Boxer Jack Dempsey was one of America's four great sports celebrities in the twenties along with Knute Rockne, Red Grange, and Babe Ruth. Dempsey demolished a Goliath named Jess Willard for the heavyweight title in 1919 and held it until he was beaten by Gene Tunney in 1926. His reign at the top was relatively brief, but the country's fascination with--and affection for--Dempsey remained unabated for the rest of his life. This portrait of Dempsey is detailed and rife with humor and period detail. It's that detail that provides the context in which readers can observe Dempsey slugging it out in mining camps, coping with often scurrilous promoters (some things never change), and eventually coming to rest on the top of the world. A beautifully written portrait. Reading Level: Adult 474 pages
Craig Keilburger Free the Children: A Young Man Fights Against Child Labor and Proves that Children Can Change the World A passionate and astounding memoir by one of today's most visible activists--a 15-year-old Canadian who has traveled the world and lectured its leaders on a quest to eradicate the horrors of child labor. Reading Level: Young Adult 321 pages
Shelley Nixon From Where I Sit This autobiographical account of a young woman explores how it feels to live with cerebral palsy while struggling to have a full life despite the challenges facing her every day. Reading Level: Young Adult 136 pages
David Breashears High Exposure: An Enduring Passion for Everest and Unforgiving Places This extraordinary memoir is the story of the famed IMAX cinematographer, adventurer, and mountaineer, whose terrifying experiences during the 1996 season on Mt. Everest became the defining moment of his life. A fascinating traverse across the spine of the world. Reading Level: Young Adult 319 pages
John and Kathy Polec In Eddie’s Name: One Family’s Triumph Over Tragedy The author vividly retells the disturbing tale of a Philadelphia teenager who was beaten by youths from another neighborhood and left to die on the steps of his own church while dozens of 911 calls went unanswered. This book tells of the extraordinary way in which a seemingly ordinary family grappled with a nightmare come true. Rather than seek revenge or sue the city for millions, the Polecs responded with grace and courage. They sidestepped efforts to exploit the tragedy or to embroil themselves in the politics of a divided, angry city and instead undertook, as a more fitting tribute to a beloved son's memory, to bring about an overhaul of Philadelphia's fatally flawed 911 system. This rare story of decent people who became victims of fate-and chose to respond like heroes-is a heartbreaker and will be an inspiration to readers of all ages. Very well written. Reading Level: Young Adult 262 pages
Opdyke, Irene Gut In My Hands "There are so many Holocaust books these days, each touching in its own way. Opdyke's is special, not only because of its unique perspective, but also because it speaks so personally to teenagers. Irene is one of them. The fears, horror, worry and bravery, she recounts so affectingly could have been theirs. The question becomes more than what would you do? It is also who will you be if you survive?" Reading Level: Young Adult 276 pages
Illich Ramirez Sanchez Jackal: the Complete Story of the Legendary Terrorist Carlos For over two decades beginning in the early 1970s, Carlos the Jackal (a.k.a. Illich Ramirez Sanchez) terrorized the Western world. No one really knew who he was or when he would strike, and with every incident his stature grew. Investigative journalist Follain details the life and philosophy of the Jackal. Originally from Venezuela, he was weaned on communism and eventually joined the Popular Front, a pro-Palestinian group. He took their training and struck out on his own, achieving notoriety in 1975 when he successfully kidnapped 11 OPEC oil ministers in Vienna. He owed his success to several factors: he maintained safe havens in Eastern Europe and in Syria and the Sudan, his organization was extremely small and difficult to infiltrate, and his missions were unpredictable. In 1994, Carlos was tricked by the Sudanese into being captured by the French and tried in France. Thoroughly researched, this is the first definitive biography of the man who was able to hold the world at bay for over two decades. Reading Level: Young Adult 318 pages
Scott Hamilton Landing It: My Life on and off the Ice Hamilton's inspirational life story recounts events from the time of his debilitating childhood illness, through the many years of of training, the death of his mother, competition failures and successes (most notably his Olympic gold medal), and his recent successful battle with cancer. Here is a champion who recounts his mistakes along with his victories, pointing out the lessons he learned along the way. Hamilton is able to portray the sense of community that skaters share, substituting for family life as they train and perform away from home. This book shows Scott Hamilton as human, even humble, and full of good cheer-just as he seems on the ice.
Very detailed - for the figure skater enthusiast. Reading Level: Adult 340 pages
M.C. Escher M.C. Escher: His Life and Complete Graphic Work This attractive volume provides biographical and autobiographical information about the famous artist, M.C. Escher. Illustrated are 448 (or the 449) of his original woodcuts, wood engravings, lithographs, linocuts, and mezzotints. Each print is illustrated in minimum quarter-page format, with size, medium, and date provided. In addition, the only book that the artist wrote, Regelmatige Vlakverdeling (The Regular Division of the Plane), which was published in 1957 in a very limited edition by a Dutch bibliophile society, is translated and illustrated in full.
The definitive catalogue of Escher’s prints! Reading Level: Adult 349 pages
Dave Pelzer A Man Named Dave: One Man’s Story of Triumph and Forgiveness The third volume in a trilogy that includes A Child Called "It" and The Lost Boy, this inspirational memoir completes the journey of Dave Pelzer as he finally confronts his abusive parents and seeks to create an adulthood filled with love and acceptance.
A compelling read. Reading Level: Adult 284 pages
Mankind, Foley, Mick Have a Nice Day! A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks
Reading Level: Adult 508 pages
George Lucas Mythmaker : the Life and Work of George Lucas From the jacket: John Baxter (the author) trains his reportorial eye on the gifted, driven young film student from Modesto, California, and the almost unimaginable success won by this talent, shrewdness, and persistence. We watch as Lucas and his contemporaries found the New Hollywood, an intensely creative environment in which independent location-style filmmakers, who disdain the entrenched studio system, produce the most exciting and meaningful movies of the era, including Lucas’s deeply autobiographical American Graffiti. Contains good insights into a man who is recognized by many, but understood by few. Reading Level: Adult 450 pages
Livia Bitton-Jackson My Bridges of Hope : Searching for Life and Love After Auschwitz This touching memoir, the sequel to I Have Lived a Thousand Years, covers the years between the end of the war in 1945 through the author's emigration from Europe to the United States in 1951. . The young woman's story recounts a time in her life that was filled with both anxiety and hope, tears and joy. More than the simple account of a Holocaust survivor and the often terrible postwar years in Europe, this book is also the tale of a young woman discovering who she is and how she wants to spend the remainder of her life. Reading Level: Young Adult 258 pages
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Mozart An intriguing psychological exploration of the life and music of Mozart is presented in this volume. Using copious excerpts from Mozart’s family’s letters and drawing on a variety of secondary sources, the author constructs of portrait of a developing genius through his maturation as a composer of musical masterpieces. An exemplary bibliographic essay directs readers to other relevant titles. Reading Level: Young Adult 177 pages
N.C. Wyeth N.C. Wyeth : a Biography Though he may best be remembered today as the patriarch of a very talented artistic clan, N. C. Wyeth had a memorable career in his own right as the preeminent illustrator of his day. His illustrations for Scribner's Illustrated Classics (Treasure Island, Kidnapped, The Last of the Mohicans, The Yearling) are stamped on the subconscious of generations of readers. In researching his biography...David Michaelis was given unrestricted access to thousands of unpublished family papers; he also conducted interviews with Wyeth's surviving children, grandchildren, and other relatives and friends to create this rich and insightful look at Wyeth's life and legacy. Reading Level: Adult 555 pages
Hosokawa, Bill Out of the Frying Pan reflections of a Japanese American Through vividly recollected personal experiences, the author provides an account of how the U.S. government ignored the Constitution and rounded up innocent people, locking them up solely on the basis of race. He describes how he, his wife, their infant child, and tens of thousands of other Japanese Americans were herded into U.S. detention camps during World War II despite being American citizens guilty of no crime. Reading Level: Young Adult 192 pages
Michael Jordan Playing For Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made Examines the epic career of basketball superstar Michael Jordan, discussing the forces in his life that have led him to pursue excellence in all his endeavors, whether on the court or off. 430 pages
Jane Goodall Reason for Hope As a young woman, Jane Goodall was best known for her groundbreaking fieldwork with the chimpanzees of Gombe, Africa. Goodall's work has always been controversial, mostly because she broke the mold of research scientist by developing meaningful relationships with her "specimens" and honoring their lives as she would other humans. Reading Level: Young Adult 232 pages
Theodore Roosevelt The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt This fascinating and comprehensive biography of the extraordinary naturalist, adventurer, soldier, and politician, tells the improbable, but very real, story of a man determined to get what he wanted, an American who helped define our century and our very character. Reading Level: Young Adult 886 pages
Homer Hickam Rocket Boys: A Memoir In 1957, when 14-year-old Homer Hickam, a.k.a. Sonny, watches Sputnik fly over his hometown of Coalwood, West Virginia, his life is changed forever. Knowing he wants to be part of the space race, Sonny and his friends set out to learn as much as they can about launching rockets. Soon, these Rocket Boys wind up enlisting the help of everyone in town. Set against a backdrop of miners’ strikes, and the beginning of the Cold War. This book reads like a novel. Reading Level: Adult 363 pages
Gottlieb, Lori Stick Figure: A Diary of My Former Self For a girl growing up in Beverly Hills in 1978, the motto "You can never be too rich or too thin" is writ large. Precocious Lori learns her lessons well, so when she's told that "real women don't eat dessert" and "no one could ever like a girl who has thunder thighs," she decides to become a paragon of dieting. Soon Lori has become the "stick figure" she's longed to resemble. But then what? Stick Figure takes the reader on a gripping journey, as Lori struggles to reclaim both her body and her spirit. The author shares her childhood diaries, chronicling her experiences as an eleven-year-old anorexic. Reading Level: Young Adult 222 pages
Israel J. Rosengarten Survival: The Story of a 16-Year-Old Jewish Boy Israel Rosengarten’s memoir begins with his deportation in 1942 to the Belgian concentration camp of Breendonk at the age of sixteen and follows his movements through a series of camps until 1945. This compelling account concludes with the Auschwitz death march, liberation by the Americans, and the author's return to Belgium, only to discover that he was the lone survivor of a family of seven. Reading Level: Young Adult 218 pages
Schoschana Rabinovici Thanks to My Mother Rabinovici recounts in exacting detail how the Holocaust decimated her large, extended Lithuanian family. She was only eight years old when Hitler's army invaded Vilnius, a once-vibrant center of Jewish learning and culture. Staying one step ahead of the Nazis and their Lithuanian and Polish sympathizers, her family migrated from one house to another until they were caught and herded with 10,000 other Jews into a barbed-wire ghetto where they endured starvation, sickness, torture, and bitter cold. From the ghetto prison, the surviving members of her family were transported to a labor camp after narrowly avoiding being sent to a concentration camp and certain, immediate murder. Only three family members survived the ordeal. and will saved the author from death countless times. Although the narrative is written in a controlled, even tone, the harrowing experiences described here are hard to forget. The many brief footnotes explaining Yiddish expressions and Jewish customs that appear in the text are especially helpful to teen readers. One of the most instructive and moving memoirs that have emerged from the Holocaust. Reading Level: Young Adult 246 pages
Richie Havens They Can’t Hide Us Anymore Havens recounts a musical career that spans more than 30 years, and which included relationships, both personal and professional, with such notables as Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, John Sebastian, and Peter, Paul, and Mary. An especially interesting memoir for those interested in the 1960’s. Reading Level: Young Adult 331 pages
Dominique Lapierre A Thousand Suns Blending autobiographical memoir and popular history, French journalist Lapierre's (City of Joy) engrossing chronicle focuses on men and women whose courage, determination or resistance made a difference. Here he recounts meetings with everyone from Mother Teresa to Mahatma Gandhi. Particularly riveting and grippingly written is a chapter on the last days on death-row inmate Caryl Chessman, who insisted on his innocence to his dying breath. Reading Level: Adult 476 pages
Vince Lombardi When Pride Still Mattered This biography of legendary coach Vince Lombardi, discussing his early life in Brooklyn; his devotion to the principles of family, religion, and sports; and the philosophies that made him so successful in his profession. Great critical reviews. A standard on the best seller list for many weeks! Reading Level: Adult 541 pages
Ellen Lerner Rothman White Coat: Becoming a Doctor at Harvard Medical School This autobiography offers a vivid account of Rothman’s four years at one of the best medical schools in the country, and opens the infamously closed door between patient and doctor. Touching on today's most important medical issues -- such as HMOs, AIDS, and assisted suicide – the author navigates her way through despair, exhilaration, and a lot of exhaustion in Harvard's classrooms and Boston's hospitals to earn the indisputable title to which we entrust our lives. Reading Level: Young Adult 331 pages
Elizabeth Cady and Susan B. Anthony Not for Ourselves Alone Tells the behind-the-scenes story of the friendship between Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, The book centers around the movement's earliest leaders, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Brilliantly chronicled, their tireless 50-year campaign for the right to vote is set in the context of other social movements, from abolition to temperance to economic justice. Political differences–Anthony's determined single-issue focus and Cady Stanton's more holistic and radical politics–are made tangible; readers can almost feel the heat of the pair's debates. Yet throughout, their friendship and mutual respect are palpable. Ward is to be commended for crafting a document that blends personal detail with political theory. 150 illustrations and excerpts from speeches delivered by both women accompany the text. Reading Level: Young Adult 240 pages
Non-fiction 005.36 Complete idiot's guide to Microsoft Office 97 This painless guide shows the savvy businessperson (as well as the complete idiot) how to organize and dress up Word documents; create and manage spreadsheets; present a PowerPoint slideshow; set up a database with Access; keep track of appointments with Outlook; turn an existing Word document into a Web page; and cruise the Web with Internet Explorer 4. Also includes productivity tips, a guide to Microsoft's electronic library, and an archive of Office 97 buzzwords Reading Level: Adult 434 pages
031 McLain, Bill Do fish drink water?: puzzling and improbable questions and answers Spanning a spectrum from useful to bizarre to downright comical, this amusing, amazing Internet Q & A ranges form a language to geography to medicine to simply off the wall. As the official Webmaster for Xerox, Bill McLain is responsible for handling all mail from Xerox's external Web site. However, he was quickly surprised by the kinds of questions he was receiving, questions like whether people born blind can see in their dreams, where the lowest point on Earth is, and why rabbits are associated with Easter. McLain's answers -- often as wild as the questions -- prompt entertaining anecdotes about where he found them, and how he's played a role in inventions, long-delayed reunions, and even a marriage or two. He also provides an extensive list of Web sites where he conducts research, offering an informative guide to making the most of the Internet. Reading Level: Young Adult 304 pages
174.2 Douglas, John E Biomedical ethics: opposing viewpoints Contains thirty essays by various authors that present opposing views on the ethics of biomedical practices in the areas of human cloning, organ donations, reproductive technologies, and genetic research. Reading Level: Young Adult 252 pages
303.6 Cohen, Daniel Media violence: opposing viewpoints A collection of essays that study the opposing views about violence in the media and discuss whether or not it is a serious problem, if the government should restrict it, how society should react to it, and other related topics. Reading Level: Young Adult 186 pages
305.8 Cohen, Daniel Racism Presents a diverse selection of primary sources representing all sides of the racism debate. Reading Level: Young Adult 208 pages
305.896 Baldwin, James The fire next time The powerful evocation of a childhood in Harlem that helped to galvanize the early days of the civil rights movement examines the deep consequences of racial injustice to both the individual and the body politic. Reissue. Reading Level: Young Adult 106 pages
327.1 Andrew, Christopher M. The sword and the shield: the Mitrokhin archive and the secret history of the KGB A history of the KGB and its operations in the United States and Europe based on notes and transcripts made by Vasili Mitrokhin, a worker in the KGB's foreign Intelligence archives, who was exfiltrated from Russia by the British Secret Intelligence Service in 1992. Reading Level: Adult 700 pages
327.17 Carnegie Commission Preventing deadly conflict This volume explores in depth the problem of international conflict and what the response should be to global crises in the decades ahead. Reading Level: Adult 256 pages
344.73 Manegold, Catherine S. In glory's shadow: Shannon Faulkner, the Citadel, and a changing America Traces the history of The Citadel military college in Charleston, South Carolina and tells the story of Shannon Faulkner's attempt to become the first female cadet at the school, a battle she won, only to withdraw from classes one week later. Reading Level: Adult 330 pages
355.8 Cohen, Daniel The Manhattan Project Discusses the personalities and events involved in the research, development and detonation of the atomic bombs built by the United States in the 1940s. Reading Level: Young Adult 128 pages
362.29 Gottfried, Ted Should drugs be legalized? Provides a history of drug use and abuse, presents cases for legalization, decriminalization, and other drug policy reforms, as well as the case for strengthening existing drug policy, and examines policies in other countries. Reading Level: Young Adult 128 pages
362.74 Andrew, Christopher M. Teens at risk: opposing viewpoints Discusses what factors can put teenagers at risk for suicide, teen pregnancy, gang violence, drugs, and other dangers. Reading Level: Young Adult 190 pages
361.3 Andrew, Christopher M. Volunteerism A collection of articles on the topic of volunteerism and the role of volunteers in the United States. Reading Level: Young Adult 177 pages
361.1 Butler, Daniel America's dumbest criminals This is a humorous collection of true stories of actual crimes committed by clumsy crooks and fumbling felons. Some other tales include: -The Oregon woman who altered her winning $5,000 lottery ticket to match the $20 prize number. -The con who spent 88 days of a 90-day sentence cooking up a way to escape. He broke out on the 89th day - only to be caught and put away for another year and a half. -The guy who got nabbed after robbing a store in Texas and then fleeing the scene naked because he figured he'd be identified by his clothing. Reading Level: Young Adult - Adult 480 pages
363.2 Terence Fitzgerald Police in society This volume opens with a series of articles that offer an overview of police work in theory, in history, and in practice. A series of articles by various authors follow that discuss the role of police in the community, the problem of police misconduct; the quest for societal justice; and the globalization of law enforcement. Reading Level: Adult 240 pages
364.1 Baldwin, James Hate groups: opposing viewpoints A collection of articles that discuss hate groups and argue whether or not hate crimes are a serious problems, if certain groups promote hate and violence, and if militia movements pose a serious threat to society. Reading Level: Young Adult 192 pages
364.15 Douglas, John E The anatomy of motive: the FBI's legendary mindhunter explores the key to understanding and catching violent criminals Presents a look at the development and evolution of the criminal mind, attempting to discover what motivates arsonists, hijackers, bombers, poisoners, serial and spree killers, and mass murderers to commit their violent acts. Reading Level: Adult 320 pages
364.66 Stewart, Gail The death penalty Reviews opposing arguments regarding the death penalty, including whether or not it is just, deters murder, and is applied fairly. Reading Level: Young Adult 96 pages
378.1 10 real SATs Only the College Board, the official sponsor of the SAT, can deliver these genuine SATs for student practice. 10 Real SATs includes the full text of ten complete SAT examinations, including the very latest one, plus test-taking advice from the test-makers themselves. In addition, the book contains two PSAT/NMSQT test, ideal for early SAT preparation. Reading Level: Young Adult 664 pages
378.166 ACT success Describes a five-step plan for preparing for the ACT exam, explains test-taking strategies, and features reviews of test topics. Includes a CD-ROM with two full-length practice tests, and a customized study plan. Reading Level: Young Adult 389 pages
428 Safire, William Spread the word A collection of "On Language" columns from "The New York Times Magazine," in which William Safire examines the evolution of current phrases, verbal trends, the origins of colloquialisms, and other aspects of language. Reading Level: Adult 305 pages
510 Banks, Robert Slicing pizzas, racing turtles, and further adventures in applied mathematics Uses relatively simple mathematics to analyze over twenty topics that deal with phenomena, events, and things encountered in everyday life. Reading Level: Young Adult 286 pages
520 Sagan, Carl Cosmos A magnificent overview of the past, present, and future of science. Brilliant and provocative, it traces today's knowledge and scientific methods to their historical roots, blending science and philosophy in a wholly energetic and irresistible way.
523.1 Ferris, Timothy The whole shebang, a state of the universe report Summarizes what science has learned about the universe as of the end of the twentieth century, and offers predictions about what may emerge in the near future. Reading Level: Adult 393 pages
616.02 Huyler, Frank The blood of strangers: stories from emergency room Contains over twenty true stories based on the author's experiences as an emergency room physician. Reading Level: Young Adult 154 pages
616.85 Levenkron, Steven Anatomy of anorexia Discusses the medical, physical, cultural, familial, and psychological aspects of anorexia nervosa Reading Level: Adult 302 pages
629.227 Mitchell, Doug Harley-Davidson: rolling sculpture Power on wheels! Reading Level: Young Adult 144 pages
629.227 Coffee, Linda Four ingredient cookbook Contains over 200 four-ingredient recipes. A great tool for busy families, students, campers...just about everybody. The selections include ideas for appetizers, vegetables, main dishes, and desserts! Reading Level: Young Adult 107 pages
643.7 Levenkron, Steven The complete photo guide to home repair: 2000 color how-to photos Master carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and other contractors contributed their expertise to this up-to-date guide to important home improvements, from patching cracks in a basement floor to replacing a roof. For each project they provide detailed how-to instructions, complete tools and materials lists, helpful hints, and troubleshooting charts. Topics include interior, exterior, and systems repairs. Reading Level: Adult 504 pages
652 Singh, Simon The code book: the evolution of secrecy from Mary, Queen of Scots, to quantum cryptography Discusses the evolution of codes and their impact on history, and investigates the relevance of encryption for modern society. Reading Level: Adult 402 pages
796 MacCambridge, Michael ESPN Sports Century Attractive, comprehensive, and neatly designed, this book is a classy tribute to the sporting achievements of the last 100 years.
796.83 Bacho, Peter Boxing in black and white Text and photographs present some of the notable heavyweight boxing matches of the twentieth century, featuring such fighters as Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, and Muhammad Ali Reading Level: Young Adult 122 pages
808.83 Frenkel, James Bangs and whimpers: stories about the end of the world Contains short fiction stories by nineteen authors, including Isaac Asimov, Neil Gaiman, and Robert Silverberg, in which they explore different scenarios for the end of the world Reading Level: Young Adult 219 pages
808.83 Ellis, Sarah Back of beyond: stories of the supernatural Solidly grounded in realism, these twelve short stories presume the supernatural as casually as one regards the weather: it just is. Ellis has a knack for eliciting goose-pimply shivers by revealing just enough to make it obvious--after the fact--that the powers involved were not human. Twelve distinct first-person narrators tell the tales in funny, cheeky, or probing voices, each easily distinguished from the others. Reading Level: Young Adult 144 pages
808.83 Kalman, Judith The county of birches A collection of linked stories told from the perspective of a child of Holocaust survivors who, indelibly marked by their experiences, are seeking a secure place in the world. Reading Level: Young Adult 183 pages
823 TYL Tyler, Natalie The friendly Jane Austen: a well-mannered introduction to a lady of sense and sensibility Chronicles the life of eighteenth-century romance writer Jane Austen, and includes discussions of her novels and characters, quizzes, illustrations, interviews with Austen scholars and fans, a filmography, bibliography, and quotes. Reading Level: Adult 299 pages
823.912 Harold Bloom James Joyce's A portrait of the artist as a young man A collection of eight critical essays. Reading Level: Adult 183 pages
823.912 Bloom, Harold A collection of critical essays. Reading Level: Adult
842 Rostand, Edmond Cyrano de Bergerac: a heroic comedy in five acts The story of a swordsman who hides his love for his cousin Roxane out of fear she will reject him because of his looks. Reading Level: Adult 195 pages
910.4 Nicol, John The life and adventures of John Nicol, mariner Presents the edited memoirs of eighteenth-century sailor John Nicol in which he tells of his many seafaring adventures. Reading Level: Adult 198 pages
940.54 Minear, Richard H Dr. Seuss goes to war: the World War II editorial cartoons of Theodor Seuss Features large-format reproductions of more than two hundred of Theodor Seuss Geisel's political cartoons first published in the New York daily newspaper. Reading Level: Adult 272 pages
940.54 Burgett, Donald R. (Donald Robert) Seven roads to hell The author, a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division during World War II, recalls the eleven-day battle of Bastogne during which the Screaming Eagles, in freezing weather and without adequate supplies or ammunition, held off the Nazi onslaught against the small Belgian crossroads town long enough for Patton's Third Army to re-deploy from the south. Reading Level: Young Adult 225 pages
959.704 Dunnigan, James F. Dirty little secrets of the Vietnam War Examines over two hundred different aspects of the Vietnam War, focusing on the little known facts, hidden details, and revealing statistics of the conflict. Reading Level: Adult 374 pages
973 Kunhardt, Philip B The American president A history of the American presidency, drawing from their personal papers and interviews to provide information about each of the forty-one men who have occupied the office; grouped thematically according to the political climate in which they served. More than 800 illustrations, 300 in color, including rare photographs of the presidents and the White House. Reading Level: Young Adult 481 pages
974 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. Reading Level: Adult 227 pages
976.4 Larson, Erik Isaac's storm: a man, a time, and the deadliest hurricane in history Tells the story of Isaac Cline, a weather scientist in Galveston, Texas in 1900, discussing his belief and assertion that nothing in the way of weather could destroy the coastal city; and looks at how Cline dealt with the aftermath of the hurricane that hit Galveston on September 8, claiming the lives of thousands of people Reading Level: Young Adult 323 pages |
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