1 2007 Summer Reading Program (juniors & seniors) Su

12007 Summer Reading Program (juniors & seniors)To our students -- The goal of the Nantucket High School English Department’s summer readingprogram is to build your lifelong literacy skills by guiding you to interesting, thought-provoking booksyou can read independently over the summer. When you return to school in the fall your English teacherwill use your summer reading assignments as the basis of class work for the 1st week or two of school. Itis essential that you complete your assignments in order to get off to a successful start. Enjoy your books!We look forward to discussing them with you.**Thank you to the Friends for purchasing copies of required titles and to the Atheneum for makingthem available at the library. Remember: you can also order books, free of charge, through theAtheneum’s Cape-Cod based inter-library loan system. Choose your books early._______________________________________________________________________Summer Reading GuidelinesAssignments are due to students’ English teachers on the first day of class. Any student enrolled in anhonors-level class who does not submit his or her summer reading assignments on that day will beremoved from the honors placement. Students will receive one test grade for the poster project and onetest grade per reading response journal assignment.Juniors and seniors taking English for level-one credit will read 1 book from the required list below andcomplete the Close Reading Notes assignment.Juniors and seniors taking English for level-two credit will read 1 book from the required list below andcomplete the Close Reading Notes assignment. They will also read 1 book from the choice list andcomplete a poster project.Juniors taking English for level-3 (honors) credit will read Pudd’nhead Wilson and 1 other text from therequired list and complete 2 reading response journal assignments (one for each book). They will alsoread 1 book from the choice list and complete a poster project. **AP U.S. History students see Mr.Panchy and Ms. Edzwald for details about modifications to this assignment.Seniors taking English for level-3 (honors) credit will read How to Read Literature Like a Professor and1 other text from the required list and complete 2 reading response journals (one for each book). Theywill also read 1 book from the choice list and complete a poster project.Required Reading ListJuniorsSeniorsFocus American Identity The QuestThe Bread Givers (Anzia Yezierska)Sarah, a young Polish immigrant living in 1900 NewYork City, defies her father to get an education.SelectionsJuniors and Seniors takingEnglish for level -2 credit willchoose 1 book from the requiredlist and complete 1 journal. Westrongly recommend How toRead Literature Like a Professorfor college- bound seniors.Bless Me, Ultima (Rudolfo Anaya)A young boy growing up on the border in NewMexico is torn between dreams of being a vaqueroand the life his mother wants for him.A Lesson Before Dying (Ernest Gaines)A compelling story of the friendship between ayoung black man on death row and his teacher.Honors Required Reading:Pudd’nhead Wilson (Mark Twain)Twain at his satirical best: a slave woman switchesher infant son with her master’s son.Hole in My Life (Jack Gantos)20-year-old Gantos agreed to smuggledrugs for $10,000, only to end up in jailand have to take stock of his young life.A Prayer for Owen Meany(John Irving) A poignant, funny storyof friendship in the days leading to theVietnam war.The Bluest Eye (Toni Morrison)An intense, critically-acclaimed workabout identity and culture.How to Read Literature Like aProfessor (Foster) Required forHonors, strongly recommended forCollege Prep

2Close Reading Notes (for your required reading selection)Good readers read actively—they respond and ask questions as they read. For your requiredreading book this summer, you will take notes as you read. Follow the requirements below;these are the guidelines your teacher will use to assess your work.1. Record words, phrases, and/or sentences from the book that:o remind you of your own life, something else you’ve read, something you’ve heardof, or seen;o seem interesting, strange, meaningful and/or important;o are confusing;o contribute to characterization, setting, conflict and/or theme;o show the writer’s technique, such as symbolism, metaphor, imagery …2. Respond. After the words, phrases, and/or sentences you record, respond by:o asking why a particular event, description, or word choice is important;o making predictions;o making inferences;o making connections to other works you have read;o analyzing a character’s action or a description of that character;o reflecting on the author’s use of symbolism, metaphor, imagery …***For example, if you are reading A Lesson Before Dying, you might record the following inyour notebook: (Of course, this would all be handwritten.)p. 33: “We pledged allegiance to the flag. The flag hung limp from a ten-foot bamboo pole in thecorner of the white picket fence that surrounded the church. Beyond the flag I could see smokerising from the chimneys in the quarter, and beyond the houses and chimneys I could hear thetractors harvesting sugarcane in the fields.” (Your quote may be shorter.)Below that, you might respond ……It sounds like the characters live in a rural area—tractors can be heard in the background.They also sound religious, since they are all pledging allegiance at the church. What does hemean by “quarter”? Are they poor? (Your responses do not have to be complete sentences.)Requirements (and how you will be graded): Your close reading notes must be handwritten (unless your IEP specifies otherwise) in astandard-size notebook (no small notebooks or loose papers). Responses may vary in length but the assignment as a whole should cover ten full pages(5 pages both sides, or 10 pages one side) and represent your reading of the entire book. Each entry must include specific quotes and page numbers. Responses must show thought and engagement with specific events, characters, ideas,etc. Avoid digressions that take you away from the book. AVOID PLOT SUMMARY.

3Close Reading Notes Rubric-11 th and 12 th GradeName_______________________Credit: MartineauCriteria Excellent (4) Satisfactory (3) Developing (2) Undeveloped (1)Requirements Notes cover 10 pages ormore Assignment is handwritten Assignment represents aclose reading of the wholebook Every response contains aquote and page number Notes average at least 9- 10pages Assignment is handwritten Assignment represents closereading of most of the book Every response contains aquote and page number Notes cover at least 7pages Assignment is handwritten Assignment represents mostof the book Most responses contain aquote and page number Notes cover about 4 pages Assignment is handwritten Assignment represents partof the book Some responses contain aquote and page numberContent Responses demonstrate asophisticated understandingof/engagement with the book Responses are detailed,insightful, and varied Responses reflect thoughtfulobservations/comments aboutevents, characters, ideas, style,etc. Responses demonstrate anunderstanding of/engagementwith the book Responses as a whole showeffort and are well developed,yet to the point Responses reflect thoughtabout events, characters,ideas, style, etc. Responses demonstratebasic understandingof/engagement with the book Responses as a whole showsome effort and somewhatdeveloped; may contain somedigressions Responses reflect somethought about events,characters, ideas, style, etc. Responses demonstratelittle/no understandingof/engagement with the book Responses show littlethought or effort, areundeveloped and/or containirrelevant details anddigressions Responses reflect little/nothought about events,characters, ideas, style, etc.OrganizationandConventions Responses are clear. Writing demonstrates nogrammatical/mechanical errors Responses are mostly clear. Writing demonstrates fewgrammatical/mechanical errors Responses are confusing,although some focus isevident Writing demonstrates manygrammatical/mechanical errors Responses are confusing &hard to follow. Writing demonstratesseriousgrammatical/mechanical errorsthat interfere with the reader’sunderstanding

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The Summer Reading Poster Project (for your “choice” book)5What is it and what is its purpose?One of the best parts of reading a good book is sharing with others what you’ve read. The posterproject is designed to jump-start conversations about literature and encourage one another to pickup books that members of our class have read and enjoyed. Follow the requirements below;these are the guidelines your teacher will use to assess your work. We hope you have funwith this assignment and make your posters something we will all enjoy looking at on the wallsof our classroom.The AssignmentCreate a visually appealing, poster (at least 18” x 24”) that brings your choice book to life forthe rest of us. (Remember to put your name on the front of the poster.)1. Include the following information: Book title (underlined, or italicized if you word process the title) Author’s name & life dates Characters (main and secondary) Publisher & number of pages Genre (for example, historical fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, etc.)NEATLY HANDWRITE #s 2 & 3 (DO NOT TYPE):2. Provide your audience with a three-to-five sentence summary of the plot (enough to sparkinterest in the book without giving it away).3. Quote 2 passages that stand out to you and explain, in three to five sentences, whythose passages are important to the meaning of the book as a whole.4. Create a visual image, or images, that captures/represents the novel as a whole, or animportant aspect of the novel. (Do not cut and paste images from the internet.)Consider illustrating the following for your visuals: Symbols/important images in the novel Dominant themes/meanings that resonate for you A central and/or memorable character A significant or especially striking settingRequirements:In addition to the requirements outlined above, your poster should: Reflect thoughtful consideration of the book Contain no spelling or grammatical errors Show pride, quality work, and attention to detailSummer Reading Poster Project Scoring Guide

________________________________________________________________________Martineau6Poster includes the following information:__________/ 1 Point: Book Title underlined or italicized__________/ 2 Points: Author’s name and life dates__________/ 1 Point: Publisher__________/ 1 Point: Number of pages__________/ 1 Point: Genre__________/ 1 Point: Main characters__________/ 1 Point: Secondary characters__________/ 8 Points: A 3-5 sentence summary of the plot (enough to spark interest inthe book without giving it away)__________/ 2 Points: Quote of 2 stand-out passages__________/ 8 Points: A 3-5 sentence explanation of why the passages are important tothe book as a whole__________/ 4 Points: Visual image/s that capture/represent the novel as a whole or animportant aspect of the novel________________________________________________________________________The poster as whole:__________/ 5 Points: Visual appeal__________/ 5 Points: Thoughtful consideration of the book__________/ 5 Points: Pride, quality work, attention to detail__________/ 5 Points: No spelling or grammatical errorsPoints earned: __________/ 50 PointsChoice List: Summer Reading Grades 11 and 12

7General FictionAtwood, Margaret. The Blind Assassin (2000 Booker Prize winner) Family secrets,sibling rivalry, political chicanery and social unrest, promises and betrayals, "loss and regretand memory and yearning" are the themes of Atwood's brilliant new novel, whose subtitlemight read: The Fall of the House of Chase. Octogenarian narrator Iris Chase Griffen reflectson the events following the suicide in 1945 of her fey, unworldly 25-year-old sister, Laura,and of the posthumous publication of Laura's novel, called The Blind Assassin.(Amazon.com)Chabon, Machael. The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Clay (2000 Pulitzer Prizewinner) Samuel Klayman--self-described little man, city boy, and Jew--first meets JosefKavalier when his mother shoves him aside in his own bed, telling him to make room fortheir cousin, a refugee from Nazi-occupied Prague. It's the beginning, however unlikely, of abeautiful friendship. In short order, Sam's talent for pulp plotting meets Joe's faultless,academy-trained line, and a comic-book superhero is born. Before they know it, Kavalierand Clay find themselves at the epicenter of comics' golden age. (Publishers Weekly andAmazon.com)Davis, Amanda. Wonder When You’ll Miss Me Faith was a fat girl, but after a suicideattempt keeps her hospitalized for seven months, she returns to school thinner, moreattractive, and optimistic that things will get better. Not only do they stay the same, but the"fat girl" inside her is still serving as a gluttonous, pessimistic shadow and vocal instigator,trying to persuade her to skip town and to take revenge on her enemies. The fat girl finallygets her way, and Faith joins the circus, hoping to end up with her new friend Charlie.(“Astonishing debut; dark, disturbing, and fiercely open hearted” – America LibraryAssociation)Dubus, Andre III. House of Sand and Fog Kathy Nicolo is a recovering addict whosehusband has left her and who is making her way in the straight world with her own cleaningbusiness. When her house in the California hills is mistakenly seized by the county for backtaxes and sold at public auction, she finds herself living out of her car and on the brink ofdesperation. Once a wealthy and powerful man in Iran and a colonel in the army under theShah's rule, Behrani is now a struggling immigrant. Emotions take precedence over ethics,logic, love and the law as paths collide in a surprising and tragic conclusion. (PublishersWeekly)Eugenides, Jeffrey. Middlesex: A Novel (2003 Pulitzer Prize winner) Eugenides's secondnovel (after The Virgin Suicides) is an epic tale of how Calliope Stephanides is transformedinto Cal. Spanning three generations and two continents, the story winds from the smallGreek village of Smyrna to the smoggy, crime-riddled streets of Detroit, past historicalevents, and through family secrets. The author's eloquent writing captures the essence ofCal, a hermaphrodite, who sets out to discover himself by tracing the story of his familyback to his grandparents. (Library Journal)Gaiman, Neil. Anansi Boys (2006 Alex Award winner) Charles Fat Charlie Nancy leads a,boring existence in London. However, when he calls the U.S. to invite his estranged fatherto his wedding, he learns that the man just died. Charlie not only discovers a brother hedidn't know he had, but also learns that his father was the West African trickster god,Anansi. Charlie's brother, who possesses his own powers, spins Charlie's life out of control,getting him fired, sleeping with his fiancée, and even getting him arrested for a white-collarcrime. Charlie fights back with assistance from other gods, and that's when the troublebegins. (School Library Journal)Green, John. Looking for Alaska Sixteen-year-old Miles Halter's adolescence has been

one long nonevent - no challenge, no girls, no mischief, and no real friends. Seeking whatRabelais called the "Great Perhaps," he leaves Florida for a boarding school in Birmingham,AL. His roommate, Chip, is a dirt-poor genius scholarship student who lives to one-up theschool's rich preppies. Chip's best friend is Alaska Young, with whom Miles and every othermale in her orbit falls instantly in love. She and Chip teach Miles to drink, smoke, and plotelaborate pranks. Alaska's story unfolds and the depth of her unhappiness becomesobvious. (School Library Journal)Gruen, Sara. Water for Elephants: A Novel Life is good for Jacob Jankowski. He's aboutto graduate from veterinary school and about to bed the girl of his dreams. Then his parentsare killed in a car crash, leaving him in the middle of the Great Depression with no home, nofamily, and no career. Almost by accident, Jacob joins the circus. There he falls in love withthe beautiful performer Marlena, who is married to the circus' psychotic animal trainer. Healso meets the other love of his life, Rosie the elephant. The book is partially based on realcircus stories and illustrated with historical circus photographs. (Booklist)Hegi, Ursula. Stones from the River Protagonist Trudi Montag is a dwarf living inGermany during the two World Wars. Trudi's mother slowly goes insane living in an "earthnest" beneath the family house; Trudi's best friend Georg’s parents dress him as the girlthey always wanted; and Trudi herself seems doomed to long for an impossible normalcy.Stones from the River is a nightmare journey with an unforgettable guide. (School LibraryJournal)Hosseini, Khaled. A Thousand Splendid Suns Another powerful story of hardship,survival and hope by Afghan-American novelist Hosseini. The author follows his bestsellingThe Kite Runner with a story that covers three decades of Taliban tyranny through the livesof two women. (Not yet in paperback, but we could not resist including this compelling workby the same author of The Kite Runner.)Lamb, Wally. She’s Come Undone Dolores has suffered almost every abuse that exists:Her father is a violent liar; her mother has the mental and emotional consistency of Jell-O;and the men in her life are loathsome creatures. While most kids her age were dealing withthe monumental importance of the latest Beatles single, Dolores was grappling with suchissues as divorce, rape, and mental illness. Whether you're disgusted by her antics ormoved by her pathetic ploys, you'll be drawn into Dolores's warped, hilarious, Mallomarmunchingworld. (Amazon.com)Lawson, Mary. Crow Lake The story, narrated by 26-year-old Kate Morrison, is set inCrow Lake, an isolated rural community where time has stood still. The reader dives in andout of a year's worth of Kate's childhood memories--when she was 7 and her parents werekilled in an automobile accident that left Kate, her younger sister Bo, and two olderbrothers, Matt and Luke, orphaned. When Kate, the successful zoologist and professor whois accustomed to dissecting everything through a microscope, receives an invitation toMatt's son's 18th birthday party, she must suddenly come to terms with her past.(Amazon.com)Malloy, Brian. The Year of Ice It's 1978 and a typical January day in Minnesota's TwinCities - except for Kevin Doyle, whose mother died two years ago when her car plunged intothe icy waters of the Upper Mississippi. A high school senior, Kevin is a marginal studentobsessed with keggers, rock and roll, maintaining his place in the pecking order of highschool males, and - unbeknownst to anyone else - a boy in his school with thick eyelashesand a bad attitude. In the past two years, Kevin's relationship with his father, Patrick, hasgrown increasingly distant, and as lonely women vie for his father's attention, Kevindiscovers Patrick's own closely guarded secret: At the time of his wife's death, he hadplanned to abandon his family for another woman. More disturbing, his mother's death may8

9well have been a suicide, not an accident. (Publisher)Martel, Yann. Life of Pi (2002 Booker Prize winner) Named for a swimming pool in Paristhe Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel begins this extraordinary tale as a teenager in India, where hisfather is a zoo keeper. Deciding to immigrate to Canada, his father sells off most of the zooanimals, electing to bring a few along with the family on their voyage to their new home.But after only a few days out at sea, their rickety vessel encounters a storm. After crewmembers toss Pi overboard into one of the lifeboats, the ship capsizes. Not long after, to hishorror, Pi is joined by Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. (Library Journal)O’Brien, Tim. In the Lake of the Woods John Wade is a man in crisis: after spendingyears building a political career, he finds his future derailed during a bid for the U.S. Senateby revelations about his past as a soldier in Vietnam. The election lost by a landslide, Johnand his wife, Kathy, retreat to a small cabin on the shores of a Minnesota lake--from whichKathy mysteriously disappears. Was she murdered? Did she run away? Instead of answeringthese questions, O'Brien raises even more as he reveals past lives and long-hidden secrets.(Amazon.com)Pessl, Marisha. Special Topics in Calamity Physics Following the mysterious death ofher butterfly-obsessed mother, Blue and her father, Gareth, embark, in another nod toNabokov, on a tour of picturesque college towns, never staying anyplace longer than asemester. This doesn't bode well for Blue's social life, but when the Van Meers settle inStockton, N.C., for the entirety of Blue's senior year, she befriends—sort of—a group ofeccentric geniuses (referred to by their classmates as the Bluebloods) and their ringleader,film studies teacher Hannah Schneider. As Blue becomes enmeshed with Hannah and theBluebloods, the novel becomes a murder mystery so intricately plotted that readers will betempted to start again at the beginning in order to watch the tiny clues fall into place.(Publishers Weekly)Picoult, Jodi. Nineteen Minutes Bestseller Picoult takes on another contemporary hotbuttonissue in her brilliantly told new thriller, about a high school shooting. PeterHoughton, an alienated teen who has been bullied for years by the popular crowd, bringsweapons to his high school in Sterling, N.H., one day and opens fire, killing 10 people.Flashbacks reveal how bullying caused Peter to retreat into a world of violent computergames. Alex Cormier, the judge assigned to Peter's case, tries to maintain her objectivity asshe struggles to understand her daughter, Josie, one of the surviving witnesses of theshooting. (Publishers Weekly)Pierre, D. B. C. Vernon God Little: A 21st Century Comedy in the Presence of Death(2003 Winner Man Booker Prize) This is a satiric first novel about the fallout from aColumbine-like shooting in Martirio, Texas, the barbecue-sauce capital of America. VernonGod Little has been mistakenly identified as the shooter in a rampage that left 16 dead atthe local high school. Stalked by the media, Vernon feels like his life has turned into a TVmovie (he hopes Brian Dennehy will be his lawyer). His mother and her frighteninglysimple-minded suburban posse of friends think that emotional support consists of acontinuous supply of ribs from the Bar-B-Chew Barn, although Vernon is facing the deathpenalty. Every page is saturated with humor and contempt for the media, the criminaljustice system, and the rampant materialism of contemporary culture. (Booklist)Sheeres, Julia. Jesus Land (2006 Alex Award winner) In the name of religion, Scheeresand her adopted black brother, David, suffer cruel abuse, first in their Calvinist home inIndiana in the 1970s and then when their surgeon father and missionary-minded mothersend the teens to a fundamentalist Dominican Republic reform school that is run like bootcamp. Their relationship is never sentimentalized: She is ashamed of the times she turns

her back on him, tired of being called "nigger-lover . . . the black boy's sister," but they helpeach other through the worst with horseplay, humor, and courage. (Booklist)Southgate, Martha. The Fall of Rome Delving deeply into issues of race and class, thisnovel by the author of an award-winning young adult work (Another Way To Dance) is toldthrough the voices of three characters: classics teacher Jerome Washington and newstudent Rashid Bryson, both African American, and Jana Hansen, a white teacher newlyarrived at the predominantly white boys' school in New England. Jana's attempts to connectthe two African American men ultimately fail despite their common ground. In a painfulconclusion, Rashid confronts Washington's self-hatred and his troubling attitudes race.(Library Journal)Historical Fiction10Brooks, Geraldine. March (2006 Winner Pulitzer Prize) Brooks's luminous second novel,imagines the Civil War experiences of Mr. March, the absent father in Louisa May Alcott'sLittle Women. An idealistic Concord cleric, March becomes a Union chaplain and later findshimself assigned to be a teacher on a cotton plantation that employs freed slaves, or"contraband." When a Confederate attack on the contraband farm lands March in aWashington hospital, sick with fever and guilt, the first-person narrative switches toMarmee, who describes a different version of the years past and an agonized reaction to thetruth she uncovers about her husband's life. (Publishers Weekly)Danticat, Edwidge. The Farming of Bones A Caribbean holocaust story, when nationalistmadness and ethnic hatred turn island neighbors into executioners. Amid the rumors ofterror, Annabelle and Sebastien hold on to love, to dignity—and struggle to survive.(American Library Association)Levy, Andrea. Small Island : A Novel (Winner Orange Prize, Whitbread Book of the YearAward, and National Book Critics Circle Award) Set mainly in the British Empire of 1948, thisstory of emigration, loss and love follows four characters—two Jamaicans and two Britons—as they struggle to find peace in postwar England. After serving in the RAF, Jamaican GilbertJoseph finds life in his native country has become too small for him. But in order to returnto England, he must marry Hortense Roberts—she's got enough money for his passage—andthen set up house for them in London. The pair move in with Queenie Bligh, whosehusband, Bernard, hasn't returned from his wartime post in India. But when does Bernardturn up, he is not pleased to find black immigrants living in his house. (Publishers Weekly)McEwan, Ian. Atonement: A Novel Set during the idyllic summer of 1935 at the countryestate of the Tallis family, the first section of this thought-provoking novel ambles throughone scorchingly hot day that changes the lives of almost everyone present. Overlyimaginative 13-year-old Briony accuses Robbie, her sister's childhood friend and theirhousemaid's son, of raping her cousin Lola. The young man is sent to prison and Cecilia,heartbroken, abandons her family and becomes a nursing sister in London. Finally, readersmeet Briony again, now a nursing student. She is aware that she might have been wrongthat day five years earlier and begins to seek atonement, having clearly ruined two lives.(School Library Journal)Otsuka, Julie. When the Emperor was Divine Otsuka researched historical sources andher own grandparents' experiences as background for this spare yet poignant first novelabout the ordeal of a Japanese family sent to an internment camp during World War II. Itsperspective shifts among different family members as the story unfolds. We see the mothernumbly pack up the family's middle-class belongings to leave behind in their Berkeleyhome. The dehumanizing train trip to the camp, and the bleak internment in the alkalineNevada desert, as related by the young son and daughter, become mythic events. Theirfather, picked up for questioning immediately after Pearl Harbor and imprisoned throughout

11the war, returns a broken and bitter man. (School Library Journal)Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief Death himself narrates the World War II-era story ofLiesel Meminger from the time she is taken, at age nine, to live in Molching, Germany, witha foster family in a working-class neighborhood of tough kids, acid-tongued mothers, andloving fathers who earn their living by the work of their hands. The child arrives having juststolen her first book–although she has not yet learned how to read–and her foster fatheruses it, The Gravediggers Handbook, to lull her to sleep when shes roused by regularnightmares about her younger brother’s death. (School Library Journal)Science Fiction/FantasyBear, Greg. Darwin’s Radio (2000 Winner Nebula Award) Bear takes on one of thehottest topics in science today in this riveting, near-future thriller. Discreditedanthropologist Mitch Rafelson has made an astonishing discovery in a recently uncovered icecave in the Alps, the mummified remains of a Neanderthal couple and their newborn,strangely abnormal child. Kaye Lang, a molecular biologist specializing in retroviruses, hasunearthed chilling evidence that so-called junk DNA may have a previously unguessed-atpurpose in the scheme of life. Christopher Dicken, a virus hunter at the National Center forInfectious Diseases in Atlanta, is hot in pursuit of a mysterious illness, dubbed Herod's flu,which seems to strike only expectant mothers and their fetuses. (Publishers Weekly)Clarke, Susanna. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: A Novel (2005 Winner Hugo Award)In Clarke's world, gentlemen scholars pore over the magical history of England, which isdominated by the Raven King, a human who mastered magic from the lands of faerie. Thestudy is purely theoretical until Mr. Norrell, a reclusive, mistrustful bookworm, reveals thathe is capable of producing magic and becomes the toast of London society, while animpetuous young aristocrat named Jonathan Strange tumbles into the practice, too, andfinds himself quickly mastering it. Though irritated by the reticent Norrell, Strange becomesthe magician's first pupil, and the British government is soon using their skills. Mr. Strangeserves under Wellington in the Napoleonic Wars, but afterward the younger magician findshimself unable to accept Norrell's restrictive views of magic's proper place and sets out tocreate a new age of magic by himself. (Publishers Weekly)Gibson, William. Pattern Recognition Cayce Pollard is a professional marketer. Whenshe is employed to discover the source of "the Footage," a mysterious film that has beenappearing in bits and pieces on the Web and gathering a worldwide underground following,her survival is at stake. In her search for the auteur, she outwits corporate spies, terrorists,and mobsters in London, Tokyo, Moscow, and New York; struggles with ethical issues; andeven delves into the mystery of her father's disappearance on September 11, 2001. (SchoolLibrary Journal)Ishiguro, Kazuo. Never Let Me Go (Alex Award winner) The elegance of Ishiguro's proseand the pitch-perfect voice of his narrator conspire to usher readers convincingly into theremembered world of Hailsham, a British boarding school for special students. Thereminiscence is told from the point of view of Kathy H., now 31. As an adult, Kathy reengagesin lapsed friendships with classmates Ruth and Tommy, examining the details oftheir shared youth and revisiting with growing awareness the clues and anecdotal evidenceapparent to them even as youngsters that they were different from everyone outside.Ultimately, readers learn that the Hailsham children are clones, raised solely for the purposeof medical harvesting of organs, their lifespan circumscribed by years when they aredesignated as carers (sic), followed by a short period as active donors, culminating in whatis obliquely referred to as completion. (School Library Journal)

Martinez, A. Lee. Gil's All Fright Diner (2006 Alex Award winner) Something Evil (that'swith a capital E) is stalking Gil's All Night Diner in Martinez's terrific debut, a comic horrorfantasynovel. Heading the delightfully eccentric cast are buddies Earl (aka the Earl ofVampires) and Duke (aka the Duke of Werewolves), who are looking for a place to eat asthey drive through Rockwood, a small desert community besieged by cosmically weird stuff.Soon after stopping at Gil's Diner, the pair help Loretta, the formidable owner-operator,fend off a zombie attack. Determined to do the right thing, the two supernatural misfits takeon further challenges, such as trying to prevent Tammy (aka Mistress Lilith, Queen of theNight) and her loyal but dumb boyfriend, Chad, from ending the world. Fans of DouglasAdams and Joe R. Lansdale, who supplies a blurb, will happily sink their teeth into thiscombo platter of raunchy laughs and ectoplasmic ecstasy. (Publishers Weekly)McCarthy, Cormac. The Road (2007 Pulitzer Prize) Violence, in McCarthy'spostapocalyptic tour de force, has been visited worldwide in the form of a "long shear oflight and then a series of low concussions" that leaves cities and forests burned, birds andfish dead and the earth shrouded in gray clouds of ash. In this landscape, an unnamed manand his young son journey down a road to get to the sea. (The man's wife, who gave birthto the boy after calamity struck, has killed herself.) They carry blankets and scavenged foodin a shopping cart, and the man is armed with a revolver loaded with his last two bullets.Beyond the ever-present possibility of starvation lies the threat of roving bands ofcannibalistic thugs. The man assures the boy that the two of them are "good guys," butfrom the way his father treats other stray survivors the boy sees that his father has turnedinto an amoral survivalist, tenuously attached to the morality of the past by his fierce lovefor his son. (Publisher’s Weekly)Niffenegger, Audrey. The Time Traveler’s Wife Henry De Tamble is a Chicago librarianwith "Chrono Displacement" disorder; at random times, he suddenly disappears withoutwarning and finds himself in the past or future, usually at a time or place of importance inhis life. This leads to some wonderful paradoxes. From his point of view, he first met hiswife, Clare, when he was 28 and she was 20. She ran up to him exclaiming that she'dknown him all her life. He, however, had never seen her before. But when he reaches his40s, already married to Clare, he suddenly finds himself time traveling to Clare's childhoodand meeting her as a six-year-old. The book alternates between Henry and Clare's points ofview, and so does the narration. Reed ably expresses the longing of the one always leftbehind, the frustrations of their unusual lifestyle, and above all, her overriding love forHenry. (Publishers Weekly)Palwick, Susan. The Necessary Beggar (2006 Alex Award winner) In Gandiffri, a worldof peace and abundance, no one goes homeless or hungry. Idyllic existence is ensured bythe people's spiritual beliefs and practices and by the Judges, whose justice is prompt,efficient, and, in one family's case, extreme. Twentysomething Darroti and a devout youngnoblewoman, Gallicina, fall in love. She is serving a year as the Mendicant, a holy beggarwhose blessing at a marriage brings peace and forgiveness to all. Darroti comes to beaccused of murdering her and is sentenced to exile in another dimension. Gandiffri's Law ofthe Heart states that family members may not abandon one another, so Darroti's father,brothers, and the latter's wives and children accompany him. Taking only what they cancarry, they walk through a strange blue door and into a refugee camp in Nevada. ThereDarroti inexplicably commits suicide, which marks each remaining family member differentlyand becomes the shadow under which they struggle to build a life together in the harsh landof America. (Booklist)Sawyer, Robert J. Hominids (Neanderthal Parallax) (Winner 2003 Hugo Award) PonterBoddit, a physicist in a world in which Neanderthals are the dominant primates, isperforming a quantum computing experiment in a Canadian mine, where cosmic rays won'tdisturb the test's delicate parameters. Suddenly, he is transferred into a heavy water tank12

in the same mine, but in the universe in which humans predominate. Human scientists arealarmed, then amazed by the spluttering Neanderthal in modern clothing with a curious AIimplant in his wrist. Ponter's scientific partner, Adikor, is equally shocked, but what's more,he now faces an inquiry into his best friend's disappearance and suspected murder. Ponteris a most winning creation--thoughtful, brave, and charming as, facing the loss ofeverything he loves, he befriends a wounded female scientist in the strange human world.(Booklist)13Mystery/ThrillerBarnes, Julian. Arthur and George (2005 short list Mann Booker Prize) Arthur is SirArthur Conan Doyle, physician, sportsman, gentleman par excellence and the inventor ofSherlock Holmes; George is George Edalji, also a real, if less well-known person, whosepath crossed not quite fatefully with the famous author's. In 1903, George, a solicitor, wasaccused of writing obscene, threatening letters to his own family and of mutilating cattle inhis farm community. He was convicted of criminal behavior in a blatant miscarriage ofjustice based on racial prejudice. Eventually, Sir Arthur heard about George's case andbegan to advocate on his behalf. In this combination psychological novel, detective storyand literary thriller, Barnes elegantly dissects early 20th-century English society as he spinsthis true-life story with subtle and restrained irony. (Publishers Weekly)Caldwell, Ian and Thomason, Dustin. The Rule of Four A compelling modern thrillerthat cleverly combines history and mystery. When four Princeton seniors begin the Easterweekend, they are more concerned with their plans for the next year and an upcomingdance than with a 500-year-old literary mystery. But by the end of the holiday, two peopleare dead, two of the students are injured, and one has disappeared. These events, blendedwith Renaissance history, code breaking, acrostics, sleuthing, and personal discovery, movethe story along at a rapid pace. Tom Sullivan, the narrator, tells of his late father's and thena roommate's obsession with the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, a 15th-century "novel" that haslong puzzled scholars. Paul has built his senior thesis on an unpopular theory posited byTom's father–that the author was an upper-class Roman rather than a monk–and has comeclose to proving it. This novel will appeal to readers of Dan Brown's TheDa Vinci Code but itsupplies a lot more food for thought. (School Library Journal)Fairstein, Linda. The Bone Vault "Coop" is an attractive workaholic in her 30s,ambivalent about her current relationship with an always-on-the-road NBC correspondent.While she's attending a reception at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, new Met directorPierre Thibodaux pulls her aside and asks for help with a recent crisis: a customs securitydog found that a Met sarcophagus ready for shipment back to Cairo contained the corpse ofa young female researcher from the Cloisters, the Met's medieval branch. Coop calls herusual NYPD sidekick detectives, brash Mike Chapman and burly Mercer Wallace, and the triosets out to search among the museum's staff and rich benefactors for a killer with a motive.(Publishers Weekly)Goodman, Carol. Lake of Dead Languages When Jane Hudson returns to her high schoolalma mater, the Heart Lake School for Girls, as a Latin teacher, tragic events of the pastbegin to resurface. Twenty years earlier at Heart Lake, roommates Jane, Lucy and Deirdrewere inseparable. They studied the classics together under the tutelage of the mesmerizingHelen Chambers, sneaking out for midnight skinny dipping in the lake and meeting Lucy'sbrother, Matt, in the sheltered woods of the campus. Their clandestine friendship ended inthe winter of senior year, amid scandal and suicide. Only Jane knows the truth behind themystery of Matt and the other girls' deaths and now, two decades later, the secret comesback to haunt her: someone has found her missing journal, written during that tragic time,and begins a macabre re-enactment of the past. (Publishers Weekly)

Goodwin, Jason. The Janissary Tree Historian Goodwin introduces a promising newmystery series set in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire. When a string of murdersdisturbs the tenuous tranquility of the sultan's royal court, savvy eunuch Yashim Togalu iscalled upon to investigate. Digging deeper into the past in order to understand the perils ofthe present, Yashim discovers a link between the crimes and the Janissaries, a disloyal bandof elite soldiers banned by the sultan ten years earlier. As Yashim wends his way in and outof the opulent palace and through the sordid back alleys of nineteenth-century Istanbul, thereader is treated to an appropriately exotic tour of a time and a place where intrigue, deceit,and corruption fueled perilous personal and political passions. (Booklist)King, Laurie R. Keeping Watch Now in his early 50s, Allen is ready to retire from hisdangerous vocation, to settle on his remote island and perhaps serve as a consultant tothose who continue the struggle. But his last rescue, that of a 12-year-old boy trapped in ahorrible situation, continues to haunt him. And when reports reach him that loose ends fromthat case may be unraveling, he's compelled to check it out since his actions may haveendangered others. King captures perfectly the contradictions of combat: the exhilarationand the horror, the isolation and the camaraderie. The niche Allen eventually finds, the onethat allows him to function more or less successfully, offers almost the same mix of extremeemotions. (School Library Journal)Le Carre, John. Absolute Friends The friends of the title are two beautifully realizedcharacters, both idealists in their very different ways. Ted Mundy, the bighearted son of apukka Indian Army officer, leads a life in which his inborn kindliness and lack of self-regardare turned to what he sees as good causes. With Sasha, the crippled son of an old Nazi whoturns bitterly against that past only to be tormented by the rise of a new brutalism in EastGermany, he forms a double-agent partnership that feeds British intelligence during theCold War years. With the collapse of the Soviet system, Ted is at loose ends, trying both tomake ends meet as a cheery tour guide for English-speaking visitors to Mad Ludwig's castlein Bavaria and to support his Muslim wife and her small son in Munich. Suddenly he hearsagain from Sasha, who tells him that a mysterious benefactor wishes to enlist his servicesas teacher and translator to counter the widespread propaganda on behalf of an Iraqi war,and he is inflamed once more with a desire to help. The grim consequences are spelled outby le Carr‚ with a deadly fury that is startling in the context of his usual urbanity.(Publishers Weekly)Straub, Peter. Lost Boy, Lost Girl This brilliant variation on the haunted house tale distillsthemes and characters from Straub's long career, including two of the author's mostpopular creations: Manhattan novelist Tim Underhill and Tim's friend, legendary privatedetective Tom Pasmore. Written from multiple viewpoints, the narrative shuttlesdisturbingly through time and space as Tim travels home to Millhaven, Ill., to attend thefuneral for his sister-in-law, a suicide. In that small city based loosely on Straub'shometown of Milwaukee, Tim spends time with his callow widowed brother, Philip, and hisnephew, sensitive Mark, 15, who found his mother's naked body in the bathtub, wrists slitand a plastic bag over her head. Meanwhile, a serial killer is snatching teen boys from alocal park, and Mark and his sidekick, Jimbo, begin to explore a nearby abandoned house.Mark grows obsessed with the house, eventually revealed as the rotting source of the evilthat stalks Millhaven, but also as the harbor of a great marvel. When Mark disappears, Timpursues his trail and, with Tom Pasmore's help, that of the serial killer who may have takenthe boy away. (Publishers Weekly)NonfictionAkbar, Said Hyder and Burton, Susan. Come Back to Afghanistan: A CaliforniaTeenager’s Story After the fall of the Taliban government in 2001, Afghans living in exilebegan to return home in hopes of participating in rebuilding their war-torn country. Akbar'sfather sold his hip-hop clothing store in Oakland to join his friend Hamid Karzai, now the14

elected president, serving first as his spokesman and later as the governor of the remoteprovince of Kunar. The author joined him right after he finished high school and spent threesummers, first in Kabul and then in Asadabad, the provincial capital. Equipped with amicrophone and recorder, he chronicled his experiences and his reactions for public radio's“This American Life.” (School Library Journal)15Alexievich, Svetlana, Gessen, Keith (Translator) Voices from Chernobyl : The OralHistory of a Nuclear Disaster (2005 winner Nation Book Critics Circle Awards) "Chernobylis like the war of all wars. There's nowhere to hide." On April 26, 1986, the people ofBelarus lost everything when a reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station exploded.Many people died outright, and many were evacuated, forced to leave behind everythingfrom pets to family photographs. Millions of acres remain contaminated, and thousands ofpeople continue to be afflicted with diseases caused by radiation as 20 tons of nuclear fuelsit in a reactor shielded by a leaking sarcophagus known as the Cover. For three years,journalist Alexievich spoke with scores of survivors--the widow of a first responder, an onthe-scenecameraman, teachers, doctors, farmers, Party bureaucrats, a historian, scientists,evacuees, resettlers, grandmothers, mothers--and she now presents their shockingaccounts of life in a poisoned world. And what quintessentially human stories these are, aseach distinct voice expresses anger, fear, ignorance, stoicism, valor, compassion, and love.(Booklist)Capote, Truman. In Cold Blood A true masterpiece of creative nonfiction, Capoterecounts the horrific murder a Kansas family in November, 1959. The images of this talecontinue to resonate in our minds: 16-year-old Nancy Clutter teaching a friend how to bakea cherry pie, Dick Hickock's black '49 Chevrolet sedan, Perry Smith's Gibson guitar and hisdreams of gold in a tropical paradise--the blood on the walls and the final "thud-snap" of therope-broken necks. (Amazon.com)Dubner, Stephen and Levitt, Steven. Freakonomics : A Rogue Economist Exploresthe Hidden Side of Everything Recognition by fellow economists as one of the best youngminds in his field led to a profile in the New York Times, written by Dubner, and that originalarticle serves as a broad outline for an expanded look at Levitt's search for the hiddenincentives behind all sorts of behavior. There isn't really a grand theory of everything here,except perhaps the suggestion that self-styled experts have a vested interest in promotingconventional wisdom even when it's wrong. Instead, Dubner and Levitt deconstructeverything from the organizational structure of drug-dealing gangs to baby-namingpatterns. Underlying all these research subjects is a belief that complex phenomena can beunderstood if we find the right perspective. Levitt has a knack for making that principlerelevant to our daily lives. (Publishers Weekly)Ferris, Timothy. The Whole Shebang: A State-of-the-Universe(s) Report Plenty ofbooks try to explain the origin of the universe, but despite the ascendance of the Big Bangtheory, numerous details of that theory remain in flux as new observations are made andnew hypotheses formed (and then confirmed or rejected). Timothy Ferris's The WholeShebang is an up-to-date account of the various mechanisms believed to have contributedto the universe as we now know it, from the Big Bang itself to inflation to superstrings. TheWhole Shebang eschews mathematics and formulae and explains cosmological concepts inclear and enticing prose. If you need an update on the state of the universe, you'll find ithere. (Amazon.com)Feynman, Richard. Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman A series of anecdotes shouldn'tby rights add up to an autobiography, but that's just one of the many pieces of receivedwisdom that Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman (1918-88) cheerfully ignores inhis engagingly eccentric book, a bestseller ever since its initial publication in 1985. It'spossible to enjoy Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman simply as a bunch of hilarious yarns

with the smart-alecky author as know-it-all hero. At some point, however, attentive readersrealize that underneath all the merriment simmers a running commentary on whatconstitutes authentic knowledge: learning by understanding, not by rote; refusal to give upon seemingly insoluble problems; and total disrespect for fancy ideas that have nogrounding in the real world. (Amazon.com)Gray, Francine du Plessix. Them : A Memoir of Parents Fifth Avenue; her stepfather,Alexander Liberman, was an artist who came to run the giant Condé Nast publishing house.Both being social animals, their tale brings with it appearances by the rich and famous ofthe mid-20th century; the couple's often cruel behavior as they strove to advance in thisworld is interesting if unpleasant. The book takes in many relatives and, given their lives,includes courtiers, artists, spies, and heroes. It provides a good look at many differentaspects of 20th-century social and political history, which alone makes it worthwhilereading. (School Library Journal)Katz, Jon. Geeks: How Two Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho Katz sets out toexplain geek culture by tracing the life stories of two 19 year old computer hackers JesseDailey and Eric Twilegar from Caldwell, ID. The young men had no money, no familysupport, but they did have a riveting passion for computers. A year after graduating fromhigh school, they were desperately seeking relief from their dead-end jobs. By chance, theauthor received a moving e-mail message from one of them and traveled to Idaho to meetthem. This meeting is the start of the boys' journey and is the book's beginning. (SchoolLibrary Journal)Lobo, Rebecca and RuthAnn. The Home Team: Of Mothers, Daughters, andAmerican Champions RuthAnn played basketball in college, became a teacher, marriedhistory teacher Dennis Lobo and taught her three children that "they could be anything theywanted." Her daughter Rebecca went on to become the captain of the basketball team atthe University of Connecticut, which won the national title in 1995, and the mostoutstanding player in that year's NCAA championship. In alternating chapters, mother anddaughter write of their happy family and of their crises. For RuthAnn, a successful battleagainst breast cancer; for Rebecca, the struggle to excel on the court and one day to find amale not intimidated by her height (6'4"). (Publisher’s Weekly)Montville, Leigh. Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero Montville coversall of Williams's heroic achievements-a Hall of Fame baseball career, two tours of duty as aMarine fighter pilot, an unmatched thirst for the thrill of the outdoors. But thanks to theauthor's ability to track down new sources of information, Montville presents a morenuanced portrayal of the baseball star than many previous biographies. The Kid, as Williamswas known, is brought to life with portraits supplied from the people who made upWilliams's very compartmentalized life. (Publishers Weekly)Remnick, David. King of the World: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an AmericanHero Born Cassius Clay in segregated Louisville, KY, in 1942, Muhammad Ali became "TheGreatest" boxer and world champion, admired for decency, courage, and now for hisdebilities from thousands of head injuries and the onset of Parkinson's disease. We followblow-by-blow reports of his first three momentous fights; his conversion to Islam; hisfriendship with and later rejection of Malcom X; the draft scandal that robbed him of threecrucial years and probably $10 million; and, briefly, his four marriages. (School LibraryJournal)Roach, Mary. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers Those curious or braveenough to find out what really happens to a body that is donated to the scientificcommunity can do so with this book. Dissection in medical anatomy classes is about theleast bizarre of the purposes that science has devised. Mostly dealing with such16

contemporary uses such as stand-ins for crash-test dummies, Roach also pulls togetherconsiderable historical and background information. Bodies are divided into types, including"beating-heart" cadavers for organ transplants, and individual parts-leg and foot segments,for example, are used to test footwear for the effects of exploding land mines. (SchoolLibrary Journal)Salzman, Mark. True Notebooks Wanting to add life to a cardboard juvenile delinquentcharacter in the novel he was trying to finish, Salzman visited a juvie lockup for high-riskoffenders where his friend taught a writing class. Despite entering the facility wishing "wecould tilt L.A. County and shake it until everybody with a shaved head and tattoos falls intothe ocean," Salzman ended up teaching a class himself. The remarkable results are detailedin this wonderful book. (School Library Journal)Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal Thegrowth of the fast food industry has changed America’s eating habits and greatly impactedagriculture, the meatpacking industry, the minimum wage, and other aspects of Americanlife. (American Library Association)Simon, Rachel. Riding the Bus with My Sister: A True Life Journey Rachel Simon’ssister, who has mental retardation, spends her days riding buses in the Pennsylvania citywhere she lives. When Rachel begins to accompany her sister on the bus, she learns a lotabout her sister and her disability, and about her own limitations. (American LibraryAssociation)Steinberg, Jacques. The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a PremierCollege Education reporter Steinberg presents a compelling tale in this account, told fromthe perspective of Ralph Figueroa, an admissions officer at Wesleyan University. Steinbergprovides an insider's look at how Figueroa and the school's admissions committee factoredgrades, test scores, essays, extracurricular activities and race into account as theywinnowed 700 students for the class of 2004 from nearly 7,000 applicants. Using realnames, applications and interviews, Steinberg follows six applicants of varying backgroundsfrom their first encounter with Figueroa to their final acceptance or rejection. (PublishersWeekly)Walls, Jeannette. The Glass Castle (2006 Alex Award winner) From her currentperspective as a contributor to MSNBC online, Walls remembers the poverty, hunger, jokes,and bullying she and her siblings endured, and she looks back at her parents: her flighty,self-indulgent mother, a Pollyanna unwilling to assume the responsibilities of parenting, andher father, troubled, brilliant Rex. His grand plans to build a home for the family neverevolved: the hole for the foundation of the "The Glass Castle," as the dream house wascalled, became the family garbage dump, and, of course, a metaphor for Rex Walls' life.Shocking, sad, and occasionally bitter, this gracefully written account speaks candidly, yetwith surprising affection, about parents and about the strength of family ties--for both goodand ill. (Booklist)ClassicsAusten, Jane. Pride and Prejudice Austen trains her sights on a country village and afew families--in this case, the Bennets, the Philips, and the Lucases. Into their midst comesMr. Bingley, a single man of good fortune, and his friend, Mr. Darcy, who is even richer.Mrs. Bennet, who married above her station, sees their arrival as an opportunity to marryoff at least one of her five daughters. Bingley is complaisant and easily charmed by theeldest Bennet girl, Jane; Darcy, however, is harder to please. His excessive pride offendsLizzy, who is more than willing to believe the worst that other people have to say of him.(Amazon.com)17

18Camus, Albert. The Stranger A young Algerian, Meursault, afflicted with a sort of aimlessinertia, becomes embroiled in the petty intrigues of a local pimp and, somewhatinexplicably, ends up killing a man. Once he's imprisoned and eventually brought to trial, hiscrime, it becomes apparent, is not so much the arguably defensible murder he hascommitted as it is his deficient character. The trial's proceedings are absurd, a parsing ofincidental trivialities--that Meursault, for instance, seemed unmoved by his own mother'sdeath and then attended a comic movie the evening after her funeral are two ostensiblydamning facts--so that the eventual sentence the jury issues is both ridiculous andinevitable. (Amazon.com)Cooper, James Fenimore. Last of the Mohicans The year is 1757, the English andFrench are at war in the Americas, the native peoples are caught up on both sides. Thenative guide Magua leads a British party astray and it is only due to the timely interventionof Hawkeye, Uncas and Chingachgook that they survive. Cora and Alice Munro reach FortyWilliam only to be caught up in a massacre and kidnapped by Magua. Heyward, white scoutHawkeye (real name Natty Bumppo) and Mohicans Uncas and Chingachgook set out torescue the young sisters in this classic adventure tale. (Allreaders.com)Dostoevski, Fyodor. The Brothers Karamazov Dostoevsky's last novel, The KaramazovBrothers (1880) is both a brilliantly told crime story and a passionate philosophical debate.The dissolute landowner Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov is murdered; his sons-- atheistintellectual Ivan, hot-blooded Dmitry, and saintly novice Alyosha--are all involved at somelevel. Brilliantly bound up with this psychological drama is Dostoevsky's intense anddisturbing exploration of many deeply felt ideas about the existence of God, freedom of will,the collective nature of guilt, and the disastrous consequences of rationalism. (Oxford WorldClassic book description)Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary This exquisite novel tells the story of one of themost compelling heroines in modern literature--Emma Bovary. Unhappily married to adevoted, clumsy provincial doctor, Emma revolts against the ordinariness of her life bypursuing voluptuous dreams of ecstasy and love. Her sensuous desires lead her only tosuffering corruption and downfall. Acclaimed as a masterpiece upon its publication in 1857,the work catapulted Flaubert to the ranks of the world's greatest novelists. (from thepublisher – Bantam Classics)Forester, E.M. A Room with a View A charming young English woman, LucyHoneychurch, faints into the arms of a fellow Britisher when she witnesses a murder in aFlorentine piazza. Attracted to this man, George Emerson--who is entirely unsuitable andwhose father just may be a Socialist--Lucy is soon at war with the snobbery of her class andher own conflicting desires. (from the publisher – Bantam Classics)Hemingway, Ernest. A Farewell to Arms The unforgettable story of an Americanambulance driver on the Italian front and his passion for a beautiful English nurse.Hemingway's frank portrayal of the love between Lieutenant Henry and Catherine Barkley,caught in the inexorable sweep of war, glows with an intensity unrivaled in modernliterature, while his description of the German attack on Caporetto -- of lines of fired menmarching in the rain, hungry, weary, and demoralized -- is one of the greatest moments inliterary history. (Amazon.com)Hugo, Victor. Les Misérables Les Misérables is set in the Parisian underworld. Theprotagonist, Jean Valjean, is sentenced to prison for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread.After his release, Valjean plans to rob monseigneur Myriel, a saintlike bishop, but cancelshis plan. However, he forfeits his parole by committing a minor crime, and for this crimeValjean is haunted by the inspector Javert. Valjean reforms and becomes a successful

usinessman, benefactor and mayor of a northern town. To save an innocent man, Valjeangives himself up and is imprisoned. He escapes and adopts Cosette, an illegitimate child of apoor woman. (The Literature Network)Kundera, Milan The Unbearable Lightness of Being Prague physician Tomas escapes toZurich with his wife Tereza after Russians invade their homeland in 1968. Their livesbecome increasingly complicated by political forces and Tomas’s infidelities. Kundera’sartistry weaves together questions of life and love in such a masterful way that the reader isleft exploring larger questions about human relationships. The novel, written in 1984, fiveyears before the Velvet Revolution, offers tremendous insight into a specific period of time,as well as the timeless questions of life.Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom’s Cabin Uncle Tom's Cabin was revolutionary in1852 for its passionate indictment of slavery and for its presentation of Tom, "a man ofhumanity," as the first black hero in American fiction. An immediate international sensation,Uncle Tom's Cabin sold 300,000 copies in the first year: its political impact was immense,its emotional influence immeasurable. (from the publisher – Bantam Classics)Wharton, Edith. The Age of Innocence Newland Archer saw little to envy in themarriages of his friends, yet he prided himself that in May Welland he had found thecompanion of his needs- tender and impressionable, with equal purity of mind and manners.The engagement was announced discreetly, but all of New York society was soon privy tothis most perfect match, a union of families and circumstances cemented by affection. EnterCountess Olenska, a woman of quick wit sharpened by experience, not afraid to floutconvention and determined to find freedom in divorce. Against his judgment, Newland isdrawn to the socially ostracized Ellen Olenska, who opens his eyes and has the power tomake him feel. (Amazon.com)19