1776
David McCullough
History
ISBN-10: 0743226720
ISBN-13: 9780743226721

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Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough unfolds the dramatic story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence --- when the entire American cause was riding on their success.

1984
George Orwell
Science Fiction
ISBN-10: 0452262933
ISBN-13: 9780452262935

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In 1949, on the heels of another literary classic, Animal Farm, George Orwell wrote 1984, his now legendary and terrifying glimpse into the future. His vision of an omni-present and ultra-repressive State is rooted in the alarming world events of Orwell's own time and is given shape and substance by his astute play on our own fears.

THE ALCHEMIST
Paulo Coelho
Religion/Spirituality
ISBN-10: 006019250X
ISBN-13: 9780060192501

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Timeless and entertaining, exotic yet simple, this fable breaks down the steps in the journey we all take to find the most meaningful riches in our lives. Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who dreams about finding a treasure in the pyramids of Egypt, shows how along the way we learn to trust our hearts, read seemingly inconspicuous signs, and understand that as we look to fulfill a dream, it looks to find us just the same...if we let it.

AM I BLUE? COMING OUT FROM THE SILENCE
Marion Dane Bauer, editor
Short Stories
ISBN-10: 0064405877
ISBN-13: 9780064405874

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The group of YA writers --- some gay, some not --- who have written these sixteen short stories have something to say about gay awareness. Their stories cut across color and class lines to incorporate everything from a contemporary tale about a girl's coming out to a nod to the Vietnam War to a fantasy in an Amazonian kingdom and a story set in a Catholic girls' school.

THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY
Michael Chabon
Historical Fiction
ISBN-10: 0312282990
ISBN-13: 9780312282998

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In 1939 New York, a young artist who also has been trained in the art of Houdini-esque escape, teams up with his cousin teams up with his cousin to create a great American literary product --- the comic book. As the shadow of Hitler falls over Europe and ultimately the world, the boys end up immersed in the Golden Age of Comic Books, finding greater fame and more trouble than they could ever have imagined.

AMAZING GRACE
Megan Shull
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0786856912
ISBN-13: 9780786856916

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Imagine being a teenage tennis superstar worth millions of dollars and world-famous. Sounds pretty fantastic, doesn't it? But Grace Kincaid has more than enough of the celebrity life and the pressures of being what she refers to as "a name brand." She leaves it all behind and escapes to Medicine Hat, Alaska to begin her new life.

ANANSI BOYS
Neil Gaiman
Science Fiction
ISBN-10: 006051518X
ISBN-13: 9780060515188

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Mythology and modern times collide again in this masterpiece from Neil Gaiman. This follow-up to American Gods is equal parts humorous, terrifying, adventurous, and epic in the standard mythological style --- but it is also an intimate story about the beauty, and danger, of family.

ANGELA'S ASHES
Frank McCourt
Memoir
ISBN-10: 068484267X
ISBN-13: 9780684842677

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"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while," write Frank McCourt in his memoir. ANGELA'S ASHES, imbued on every page with McCourt's astounding humor and compassion, is a glorious book that bears all the marks of a classic.

ANNIE JOHN
Jamaica Kincaid
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0374525102
ISBN-13: 9780374525101

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ANNIE JOHN is a haunting and provocative story of a young girl growing up on the island of Antigua. A classic coming-of-age story in the tradition of THE CATCHER IN THE RYE and A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN, Kincaid's novel focuses on a universal, tragic, and often comic theme: the loss of childhood. Annie's voice --- urgent, demanding to be heard --- is one that will not soon be forgotten.

ATONEMENT
Ian McEwan
Romance
ISBN-10: 038572179X
ISBN-13: 9780385721790

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Ian McEwan's symphonic novel of love and war, childhood and class, guilt and forgiveness provides all the satisfaction of a brilliant narrative and the provocation we have come to expect from this master of English prose.

BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS
Dai Sijie
Historical Fiction
ISBN-10: 0385722206
ISBN-13: 9780385722209

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Part historical novel, part fable, part love story, BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS is a moving testament to the transformative power of literature. In 1971, as Mao's Cultural Revolution sweeps across China, two teenage boys are branded "ractionary intellectuals" and sent to live on a remote mountain. When they bargain their way into obtaining a forbidden Balzac novel from a friend, it opens up a new and dizzyingly vast world --- and leads to unexpected consequences that propel the novel to its stunning conclusion.

THE BEAN TREES
Barbara Kingsolver
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0060915544
ISBN-13: 9780060915544

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Looking to escape an oppressive upbringing in rural Kentucky, Marietta Greer heads west in a beat-up Volkswagen. By the time her car breaks down in Tucson, she has with her a stunned, silent three-year-old Cherokee girl who was, literally, dropped into her arms one night and who Marietta names Turtle. Here in Tucson, among a group of fellow travelers, Marietta and Turtle create new lives and redefine the meanings of home and family.

BEE SEASON
Myla Goldberg
Religion/Spirituality
ISBN-10: 0385498802
ISBN-13: 9780385498807

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Eliza Naumann has no reason to believe she's anything but ordinary. Her father Saul, a university professor, dotes on her talented elder brother Aaron. Her scientist mother, Miriam, seems consumed by her career. Then Eliza amazes everyone by winning a spelling bee, and her unexpected success hurls the Naumann family dynamic into a tailspin and long-held secrets begin to emerge.

BEGINNER'S LUCK
Laura Pedersen
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0345458303
ISBN-13: 9780345458308

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The second of seven children, Hallie Palmer has one dream: to make it to Vegas. Normally blessed with an uncanny gift for winning at games of chance, she's hit a losing streak. She's been kicked out of the casino she frequents during school hours, lost all her money for a car on a bad bet at the track, and has been grounded by her parents. It seems the time has come for Hallie to cut her losses.

BEL CANTO
Ann Patchett
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0060934417
ISBN-13: 9780060934415

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In the vice president's mansion in a South American country, a lavish party is taking place. An American opera singer is entertaining the guests, dignitaries and high-ranking officials from around the world, when suddenly the room is plunged into darkness. Terrorists invade the mansion and set in motion a series of events that alters the life of every person involved.

THE BELL JAR
Sylvia Plath
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0060837020
ISBN-13: 9780060837020

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Sylvia Plath's witty and disturbing novel follows Esther Greenwood through three seasons, step by painful step. Esther slides ever deeper into devastating depression, attempts suicide, undergoes bungled electroshock therapy, and enters a private hospital. Based on Plath's own summer,fall and winter of 1953-1954, THE BELL JAR ends with the hope, if not the clear promise, of recovery.

BELOVED
Toni Morrison
Historical Fiction
ISBN-10: 0452280621
ISBN-13: 9780452280625

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At the center of Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning fifth novel is an almost unspeakable act of horror and heroism: a woman brutally kills her infant daughter rather than allow her to be enslaved. The woman is Sethe, and the novel --- part ghost story, part history lesson, part folk tale --- traces her journey from slavery to freedom during and immediately following the Civil War.

BIG FISH
Daniel Wallace
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0140282777
ISBN-13: 9780140282771

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Faced with the prospect of his father's death, William Bloom sets about to discover who the man really is. This magical novel is told as a series of legends and myths inspired by the few facts William knows. Through these tall tales --- hilarious and wrenching, tender and outrageous --- William begins to understand his elusive father's great feats and great failings.

THE BIG SHUFFLE
Laura Pedersen
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0345479564
ISBN-13: 9780345479563

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When the death of her father leaves her mother bereft and incapacitated, card sharp Hallie Palmer returns home from college to raise Hallie's eight younger siblings. As she copes with a bevy of surprises, she discovers that life can indeed turn on a dime. And just because beginner's luck doesn't always last forever doesn't mean you're out of the game.

BLIND FAITH
Ellen Wittlinger
Fiction
ISBN-10: 1416902732
ISBN-13: 9781416902737

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After Liz Scattergood's grandmother dies, her mother spirals into a depression and then starts attending a spiritualist church --- which drives Liz's atheist dad away from her mom and their family. Liz turns to her new neighbor, Nathan, who is dealing with his own mother's terminal cancer, and together they help each other cope. This moving novel explores how a loved one's death impacts those who are left behind.

THE BLOOD OF FLOWERS
Anita Amirrezvani
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0316065765
ISBN-13: 9780316065764

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In 17th-century Persia, a young woman struggles to make her way in the bustling city after the death of her father. The story in Anita Amirrezvani's debut novel about empowerment and sense of self is told with beauty and skill, which matches that of her rug-weaving characters.

THE BLUE GIRL
Charles de Lint
Fantasy
ISBN-10: 0142405450
ISBN-13: 9780142405451

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Seventeen-year-old Imogene's rebellious nature has caused her more harm than good, and when her family moves to a new town she decides to reinvent herself. She won't lose her punk look, but she'll try to avoid the gangs and work a little harder at school. But trouble shows up anyway, and Imogene knows that if she wants to survive high school --- not to mention stay alive --- she has to start running with a gang.

THE BODY OF CHRISTOPHER CREED
Carol Plum Ucci
Mystery
ISBN-10: 0152023887
ISBN-13: 9780786816415

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All his life Christopher Creed had been considered a freak, the target of the bullies at his school. But when he disappears without a trace, things get stranger than ever. In this suspenseful, frank novel, sixteen-year-old Torey Adams tries to solve the mystery of what happened to Chris and, in the process, learns how truly brutal life can be.

THE BOOK THIEF
Markus Zusak
Historical Fiction
ISBN-10: 0375831002
ISBN-13: 9780375831003

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Living in Germany during World War II, young Liesel Meminger scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can't resist --- books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids.

THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS
John Boyne
Historical Fiction
ISBN-10: 0385751060
ISBN-13: 9780385751063

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John Boyne's novel is the gripping story of two boys --- one the son of a commandant in Hitler's army and the other a Jew --- who come face-to-face at a barbed wire fence that separates, and eventually intertwines their lives.

BOY MEETS BOY
David Levithan
Romance
ISBN-10: 0375832998
ISBN-13: 9780375832994

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Paul is a sophomore at a high school like no other: The cheerleaders ride Harleys and the homecoming queen used to be a guy named Daryl. When Paul meets Noah, he thinks he's found the one his heart is made for --- until he blows it. This is a happy-meaningful romantic comedy about finding love, losing love, and doing what it takes to get love back in a crazy-wonderful world.

BRAVE NEW WORLD
Aldous Huxley
Science Fiction
ISBN-10: 0060929871
ISBN-13: 9780060929879

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In BRAVE NEW WORLD, Aldous Huxley conjures up a horrifying, but often comic, vision of a future Utopia in which humans are processed, conditioned, regimented, and drugged into total social conformity.

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S
Truman Capote
Short Stories
ISBN-10: 0679745653
ISBN-13: 9780679745655

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Of all of his characters, Truman Capote once said Holly Golightly was his favorite. When the "mean reds" strike, the cure for this vivacious hillbilly-turned-Manhattan party girl is to jump into a taxi and head for Tiffany's --- where, she believes, nothing bad could ever happen.

BREAKING POINT
Alex Flinn
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0064473716
ISBN-13: 9780064473712

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Paul is new to Gate, a school whose rich students make life miserable for anyone not like them. And Paul is definitely not like them. Then, Charlie Good, a star student and athlete, invites Paul to join his elite inner circle. All Charlie wants is a few things in return --- small things that Paul does willingly. Until one day Charlie wants something big, and Paul has to decide how far he'll go to be one of the gang.

A BRIEF CHAPTER IN MY IMPOSSIBLE LIFE
Dana Reinhart
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0385746989
ISBN-13: 9780385746984

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In this promising first novel by Dana Reinhardt, Simone's typical teen concerns are put in perspective when her birth mother contacts her, seemingly out of the blue. Simone discovers love, heartbreak, and a family history she never could have imagined.

THE BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEAD
Kevin Brockmeier
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0375423699
ISBN-13: 9780375423697

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When a virus wipes out mankind, the dead gather in "The City" to remain as long as someone on Earth remembers them. Laura's parents, co-workers, friends and acquaintances reside there but Laura, isolated at an Antarctic research center, has no idea how truly alone she is...or that so many dead people rely on her memories alone in order to continue their afterlife existence.

THE BRONX MASQUERADE
Nikki Grimes
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0142501891
ISBN-13: 9780142501894

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When Wesley Boone writes a poem for his high school English class and reads it aloud, poetry-slam-style, he kicks off a revolution. Soon his classmates are clamoring to have weekly poetry sessions. One by one, eighteen students take on the risky challenge of self-revelation through the poetry they share and the stories they tell --- exposing what lies beneath the skin, behind the eyes, beyond the masquerade.

BROOKLYN ROSE
Ann Rinaldi
Historical Fiction
ISBN-10: 015205538X
ISBN-13: 9780152055387

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It's 1900 --- the dawn of a new century --- and never in her wildest dreams did fifteen-year-old Rose Frampton ever think she'd leave her family and home in South Carolina to live with a new husband in the land of the Yankees. But that is exactly what has happened.

BUD NOT BUDDY
Christopher Paul Curtis
Historical Fiction
ISBN-10: 0385323069
ISBN-13: 9780385323062

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In this novel set during the Great Depression, 10-year-old orphan Bud is tired of being passed from foster home to foster home. He decides to run away and find the man he believes to be his father, a jazz musician named Herman Calloway.

CATALYST
Laurie Halse Anderson
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0670035661
ISBN-13: 9780142400012

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The unexpected twists and turns that occur in teenager Kate Malone's life force her to take a hard look at her relationships with her family, her friends, her boyfriend, and even her deceased mother. As she struggles with needing to be popular and the desire to please everyone at the expense of herself, Kate discovers that she is only human, fraught with insecurities, doubts, and questions --- and that's okay.

CATCH-22
Joseph Heller
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0684833395
ISBN-13: 9780684833392

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Malingering bombardier Yossarian is a hero endlessly inventive in his schemes to save himself from the horrors of war. And yet he is trapped by the bureaucratic rule from which the novel takes its title: a man is considered insane if he willingly flies dangerous combat missions, but if he makes a formal request to be relieved of such missions, the very act of making the request proves that he is sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved.

THE CATCHER IN THE RYE
J.D. Salinger
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0316769177
ISBN-13: 9780316769174

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Since its publication in 1951, this novel is the coming-of-age story of Holden Caulfield --- whose four-day "odyssey" leaves him broken by society yet still compassionate. Read and cherished by generations, THE CATCHER IN THE RYE is one of America's literary treasures.

A CERTAIN SLANT OF LIGHT
Laura Whitcomb
Romance
ISBN-10: 061858532X
ISBN-13: 9780618585328

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In the class of the high school English teacher she has been haunting, Helen feels human eyes looking at her for the first time in 130 years. They belong to James, a boy whom she is mysteriously drawn to. As Helen and James struggle to find a way to be together, they begin to discover the secrets of their former lives and of the young people they come to possess.

CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN
Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
Humor
ISBN-10: 006008460X
ISBN-13: 9780060084608

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When Tom Baker gets a job offer to coach football at Northwestern University in Chicago, he and his wife, Mary, move there with their 12 children. When demands outside the home begin to take up more and more of their time, Tom and Mary are forced to try to find new ways of caring for their offspring --- and discover that their parenting styles aren't always compatible.

A CHILD CALLED "IT"
Dave Pelzer
Memoir
ISBN-10: 1558743669
ISBN-13: 9781558743663

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This is the unforgettable account of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California history. It is the story of Dave Pelzer, who was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother. Dave had nothing or no one to turn to, but his dreams kept him alive --- dreams of someone taking care of him, loving him and calling him their son.

THE CHILDREN OF HURIN
J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
Fantasy
ISBN-10: 0618894640
ISBN-13: 9780618894642

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The first complete book by the late J.R.R. Tolkien in three decades --- since the publication of THE SILMARILLION in 1977 --- THE CHILDREN OF HURIN reunites fans of THE HOBBIT and THE LORD OF THE RINGS with elves and men, dragons and dwarves, eagles and orcs.

THE CHOCOLATE WAR
Robert Cormier
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0440944597
ISBN-13: 9780440944591

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Watching someone take a stand is easy; doing it yourself can be absolutely terrifying. That's what Jerry Renault learns when he refuses to participate in his school's annual candy drive and incurs the wrath of the ruling clique of students ---- a wrath egged on by the school's administration. The ending --- which takes place in a boxing ring --- is brutal, frightening, and completely mesmerizing.

THE CHOSEN
Chaim Potok
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0449213447
ISBN-13: 9780449213445

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THE CHOSEN is the now-classic story of two fathers and two sons and the pressures on all of them to pursue the religion they share in the way that is best suited to each. As the boys grow into young men, they discover in the other a lost spiritual brother and a link to an unexplored world that neither had ever considered before. In effect, they exchange places, and find peace they will ever retreat from again.

CHRONICLES OF NARNIA
C.S. Lewis
Fantasy
ISBN-10: 0064471195
ISBN-13: 9780064471190

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C. S. Lewis's timeless adventure follows the exploits of the four Pevensie siblings --- Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter --- who enter the magical world of Narnia through a wardrobe.

COLD MOUNTAIN
Charles Frazier
Historical Fiction
ISBN-10: 0375700757
ISBN-13: 9780375700750

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Wounded Confederate soldier Inman's trek across the disintegrating South brings him into converse with slaves and marauders, bounty hunters and witches, both helpful and malign. At the same time, Ada, the woman he loved years before and is trying to reach, is desperate to revive her father's derelict farm and learn to survive in a world where old certainties have been swept away.

COLD SASSY TREE
Olive Ann Burns
Romance
ISBN-10: 038531258X
ISBN-13: 9780385312585

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On July 5, 1906, in a small Georgia town, things take a scandalous turn. That's the day E. Rucker Blakeslee, proprietor of the general store and barely three weeks a widower, elopes with Miss Love Simpson --- a woman half his age and, worse yet, a Yankee. That's the day an unimpeachably pious, deliciously irreverent town comes to life --- and the day fourteen-year-old Will Tweedy's adventures begin. COLD SASSY TREE explores timeless issues of love, death, coming of age, and the ties that bind families and generations.

THE COLOR PURPLE
Alice Walker
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0671727796
ISBN-13: 9780671727796

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Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is the story of Celie, a young girl abused by her father and then married off to a violent and angry man. She maintains her dignity and strength through her relationship with Shug, a flamboyant blues singer who is having an affair with Celie's husband. With Shug's love comes great courage, and Celie finds a new person inside herself, awaiting bloom.

A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES
John Kennedy Toole
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0802130208
ISBN-13: 9780802130204

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This American comic masterpiece outswifts Swift, whose poem gives the book its title. Set in New Orleans, this humorous classic is filled with unforgettable characters and unbelievable plot twists, shimmering with intelligence, and dazzling in its originality.

COPPER SUN
Sharon Draper
Historical Fiction
ISBN-10: 0689821816
ISBN-13: 9780689821813

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Fifteen-year-old Amari is taken from her village in Africa by pale-faced strangers and sent across the ocean to America. She is sold to a plantation owner in the Carolinas who wants a birthday present for his son. Here Amari meets Polly, an indentured white girl, and the two girls from different ends of the earth bond together in order to survive --- and their friendship just might help them fight their way to freedom.

CORELLI'S MANDOLIN
Louis De Bernieres
Romance
ISBN-10: 067976397X
ISBN-13: 9780679763970

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On an Italian-occupied Greek island during WWII, Pelagia, a willful, beautiful local girl, has two suitors vying for her love: Mandras, a gentle fisherman turned ruthless guerilla, and the charming, mandolin-playing Captain Corelli. Corelli's Mandolin is rich with loyalties and betrayals, and set against a landscape where the factual blends seamlessly with the fantastic.

CROW LAKE
Mary Lawson
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0385337639
ISBN-13: 9780385337632

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Set against the wild terrain of northern Ontario, where heartbreak and hardship are mirrored in the landscape, this universal drama of love and misunderstanding recounts a family' tragic and moving past. Poignant, funny, and utterly unforgettable, CROW LAKE is a deceptively simple masterpiece of literary fiction.

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME
Mark Haddon
Mystery
ISBN-10: 1400032717
ISBN-13: 9781400032716

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Christopher John Francis Boone is a fifteen-year-old autistic savant obsessed with Sherlock Holmes. He knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow. This improbable story of Christopher's quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for a captivating and unusual tale.

DAIRY QUEEN
Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0618683070
ISBN-13: 9780618683079

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When you don't talk, there's a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said. Like why D. J.'s best friend, Amber, isn't friendly anymore. Why her mom has two jobs and a big secret. Why her college-football-star brothers won't call home. And why Brian Nelson is so out of her league. Welcome to the summer that fifteen-year-old D. J. Schwenk of Red Bend, Wisconsin, learns to talk, and ends up having an awful lot of stuff to say.

DANDELION WINE
Ray Bradbury
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0380977265
ISBN-13: 9780380977260

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DANDELION WINE is Ray Bradbury's semi-autobiographical novel about 12-year-old Douglas Spaulding of Green Town, Illinois, who discovers that summer is more than the repetition of established rituals whose mystical power holds time at bay. It can be a best friend moving away, a human time machine who can transport you back to the Civil War, or a sideshow automaton able to glimpse the bittersweet future.

DEAR JOHN
Nicholas Sparks
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0446528056
ISBN-13: 9780446528054

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Internationally bestselling author Nicholas Sparks explores the complexities of love -- how it survives time and heartbreak, and how it transforms us forever --- in this incredibly moving novel about a young couple whose commitment to one another is put to the test.

THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
Erik Larson
History
ISBN-10: 0375725601
ISBN-13: 9780375725609

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Bringing Chicago circa 1893 to vivid life, Erik Larson's spellbinding bestseller intertwines the true tale of two men --- the brilliant architect behind the legendary 1893 World's Fair, striving to secure America's place in the world; and the cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims to their death.

THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL
Anne Frank
Memoir
ISBN-10: 0385480334
ISBN-13: 9780385480338

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First published in 1947, Anne Frank's diary --- in which she recounts the two years she spent hiding in an Amsterdam warehouse with her Jewish family during the Nazi occupation --- continues to resonate with readers. It remains a beloved and deeply admired testament to the indestructible nature of the human spirit.

THE DISTANCE FROM NORMANDY
Jonathan Hull
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0312314132
ISBN-13: 9780312314132

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Sixteen-year-old Andrew is a scared and angry high school sophomore who has just been expelled from school and is heading down a path of self-destruction. His grandfather, a WWII vet and recent widower, agrees to spend time with him --- and together they embark on an unforgettable journey to Normandy .

THE DIVE FROM CLAUSEN'S PIER
Ann Packer
Romance
ISBN-10: 0375727132
ISBN-13: 9780375727139

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Twenty-three-year-old Carrie Bell has lived in Wisconsin all her life, and she longs for a change, an upheaval, for a chance to begin again. When it comes in the wake of a tragedy, Carrie questions everything she thought she knew about herself and the meaning of home. How much do we owe the people we love? Is it a sign of strength or of weakness to walk away from someone in need? These questions lie at the heart of Ann Packer's riveting novel about loyalty and self-knowledge.

DUNE
Frank Herbert
Science Fiction
ISBN-10: 0441172717
ISBN-13: 9780441013593

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A blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune --- set on the desert planet Arrakis --- is the story of a mysterious man known as Maud'dib, who seeks to avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family and bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream.

THE EARTH, MY BUTT, AND OTHER BIG ROUND THINGS
Carolyn Mackler
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0763620912
ISBN-13: 9780763620912

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Don't let the whimsical title fool you --- although Carolyn Mackler's novel about 15-year-old Virginia Shreves is lighthearted and humorous, at its core is a serious message about self-confidence and self-acceptance.

EAST
Edith Pattou
Romance
ISBN-10: 0152052216
ISBN-13: 9780152052218

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Rose has always felt out of place in her family. So when an enormous white bear mysteriously shows up and asks her to come away with him, she readily agrees. The bear takes Rose to a distant castle, where each night she is confronted with a mystery. In solving that mystery, she finds love, discovers her purpose and realizes her travels have only just begun.

EAST OF EDEN
John Steinbeck
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0142000655
ISBN-13: 9780142000656

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John Steinbeck's passionate and exhilarating epic re-creates the seminal stories of Genesis through the intertwined lives of two American families. The result is a purely American saga set in Steinbeck's own childhood home, the Salinas Valley of northern California.

THE EIGHT
Katherine Neville
Fantasy/Adventure
ISBN-10: 0345419081
ISBN-13: 9780345419088

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Computer expert Cat Velis is heading for a job to Algeria. Before she goes, a mysterious fortune teller warns her of danger, and an antique dealer asks her to search for pieces to a valuable chess set that has been missing for years...In the South of France in 1790 two convent girls hide valuable pieces of a chess set all over the world, because the game that can be played with them is too powerful....

ELDEST
Christopher Paolini
Fantasy
ISBN-10: 037582670X
ISBN-13: 9780375826702

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In the second book in the Inheritance Trilogy, Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have just saved the rebel state from destruction by the mighty forces of King Galbatorix, cruel ruler of the Empire. Now Eragon must travel to Ellesmera, land of the elves, for further training as a Dragon Rider. But chaos and betrayal plague him at every turn, and nothing is what it seems.

ELLA ENCHANTED
Gail Carson Levine
Romance
ISBN-10: 0060558865
ISBN-13: 9780060558864

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Against a bold tapestry of princes, ogres, giants, wicked stepsisters, and fairy godmothers, Ella of Frell's spirited account of her quest to break a childhood curse (which forces her to obey any order given to her) is a funny, poignant, and enchanting tale --- based on the story of Cinderella --- about an unforgettable heroine who is determined to be herself.

ELSEWHERE
Gabrielle Zevin
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0374320918
ISBN-13: 9780374320911

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Fifteen-year-old Liz Hall is looking forward to earning her driver's license, graduating high school and attending college. But on the way to help her best friend shop for a prom dress, Liz is killed by a hit-and-run driver. End of story? Not even close. In Gabrielle Zevin's witty and wise new novel, Liz awakens on a cruise ship bound for the afterlife.

EMPIRE FALLS
Richard Russo
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0375726403
ISBN-13: 9780375726408

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Miles Roby has been slinging burgers at the Empire Grill for 20 years. What keeps him here? It could be his bright, sensitive teenage daughter. Or his soon-to-be ex-wife, who's taken up with a vain health-club proprietor. Or the rich widow who owns everything in town. In EMPIRE FALLS, Richard Russo delves deep into the blue-collar heart of America in a work that overflows with hilarity, heartache and grace.

ENDER'S GAME
Orson Scott Card
Science Fiction
ISBN-10: 0812550706
ISBN-13: 9780812550702

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To defend against a hostile alien race, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin is drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training. Is Ender the general Earth needs? His two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, and between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world --- if the world survives.

ERAGON
Christopher Paolini
Fantasy
ISBN-10: 044023848X
ISBN-13: 9780440238485

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A chance discovery changes the life of Eragon, a poor farm boy, overnight and thrusts him into a perilous world of destiny, magic, and power. With only an ancient sword, the advice of an old storyteller, and a fledgling dragon, Eragon must navigate the dangerous terrain of an Empire ruled by an evil king. Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands.

ESPERANZA RISING
Pam Munoz Ryan
Historical Fiction
ISBN-10: 043912042X
ISBN-13: 9780439120425

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A tragedy forces Esperanza and her mother to flee their Mexican ranch for California during the Great Depression. They settle in a camp for Mexican farm workers, and Esperanza isn't ready for the hard labor, financial struggles, or lack of acceptance she faces. When their new life is threatened, Esperanza must find a way to rise above her difficult circumstances --- Mama's life and her own depend on it.

FAHRENHEIT 451
Ray Bradbury
Science Fiction
ISBN-10: 0345342968
ISBN-13: 9780345342966

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In the alternate society presented in this science fiction classic, firemen start fires. Fireman Guy Montag loves to rush to a fire and watch books burn up, a mandate of the government. Then he meets a seventeen-year old girl who tells him of a past when people were not afraid, and a professor who tells him of a future where people can think. And Guy Montag knows what he has to do....

FALLEN ANGELS
Walter Dean Myers
Historical Fiction
ISBN-10: 0590409433
ISBN-13: 9780590409438

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From the mean streets of Harlem to the rice paddies and jungles of Vietnam, Walter Dean Myers's critically acclaimed FALLEN ANGELS is the riveting account of one soldier's tour of duty. Just out of high school, 17-year-old Richie Perry is fresh out of prospects. He has no money for college and the streets of Harlem are a dead-end, and so he enlists in the Army. But no one prepares him for the horrors of war.

FAST FOOD NATION: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
Eric Schlosser
Popular Culture
ISBN-10: 0060938455
ISBN-13: 9780060938451

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Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and propelled American cultural imperialism abroad. That's a lengthy list of charges, but here Eric Schlosser makes them stick with an artful mix of first-rate reportage, wry wit, and careful reasoning.

FEED
M.T. Anderson
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0763622591
ISBN-13: 9780763622596

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In a future where most people have computer implants in their heads to control their environment, Titus meets an unusual girl who is in serious trouble. Violet, a beautiful, brainy teenage girl, has decided to rebel against the system --- to fight the feed and its omnipresent ability to categorize human thoughts and desires.

THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN
Mitch Albom
Fiction
ISBN-10: 1401308589
ISBN-13: 9781401308582

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A wounded war veteran who is killed in a tragic accident soon discovers that heaven isn't merely a destination but a place where five people help the deceased understand the significance and value of their life on earth.

FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON
Daniel Keyes
Science Fiction
ISBN-10: 0156030306
ISBN-13: 9780156030304

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FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON is the classic story of a mentally disabled man whose experimental quest for intelligence mirrors that of Algernon, an extraordinary lab mouse. In poignant diary entries, Charlie tells how a brain operation increases his IQ and changes his life. As the experimental procedure takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands and seems to be a scientific breakthrough --- until Algernon begins a sudden deterioration. Will the same happen to Charlie?

FOR ONE MORE DAY
Mitch Albom
Fiction
ISBN-10: 1401303277
ISBN-13: 9781401303273

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Charley is constantly forced to choose between his divorced parents. Until one fateful weekend when he leaves his mother to secretly be with his father, and she dies while he is gone. Charley is haunted for years, his own young family unravels, and one night he decides to take his life. But somewhere between this world and the next he encounters his mother and gets to spend one last day with her.

THE FORETELLING
Alice Hoffman
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0316154091
ISBN-13: 9780316154093

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Rain is girl of the Amazon tribe of women warriors, born in a time of blood and fear. As the future leader of her people, she must seek and hold fast to her inner warrior. What she encounters along her poignant and harrowing path toward her destiny --- a kind young man, a strange, recurrent prophecy, and