Western Reserve Academy

Summer Reading Program 2007 Western Reserve Academy Summer Reading 2007

Most members of the Reserve community find pleasure in reading. For those of us tied to the academic calendar, summers and holidays give us what we need most – time. With that in mind, we offer students this booklet of recommended books for summer reading. This list is intended to be for student LEISURE reading. We hope students will find titles that will peak their interest, expand their horizons and capture their curiosity. Some titles are included just for the fun of it – titles that offer enter- tainment, escape and enjoyment. Other titles are included to broaden student hori- zons – titles to provide insight into history, science, social issues and the lives of others. Several titles offer insight into other places around the world – titles to increase awareness of different cultures in our global society. And finally many classic titles are included – titles to acquaint students with some of the best liter- ature in the world. This list is updated annually by the John D. Ong Library staff and is intend- ed to provide some variety: classic to recently published titles, relatively easy to challenging reading levels, and fiction, non-fiction and biography selections cov- ering diverse subjects. Also included is a list of recommended websites to locate further suggestions for award-winning books and titles in specific genres. Several of these titles have been suggested over the years by WRA students, faculty members, families and the WRA librarians. Other titles are award-win- ning titles recommended by the American Library Association for Young Adults. A few titles have frank passages that mirror some aspects of life explicitly. Therefore, we urge parents to explore the titles your teenagers choose and discuss the book as well as the choice with them. In general, books included in the WRA curriculum are not listed. However, the English Department will have a REQUIRED summer reading assign- ment for students. This information will be mailed to students and is also available on Summer Reading link listed below. Look for Summer Reading – Required. This list is accessible on the Ong Library home page at http://library.wra.net and then by selecting Library Publications/Summer Reading. Lists from previous years are accessible as well. All the books on this list should be available in libraries and/or bookstores. Check the Ong Library home at page for summer hours; students are welcome. Enjoy your summer, your free time and try to spend some of it reading. Your feedback about any of the titles on this list is welcome – and we also welcome your recommendations for titles to add in the future. Western Reserve Academy adheres to a longstanding policy of admitting students of any race, color, creed, religion, national and ethnic origin subject to all the rights, privileges, programs and activi- The John D. Ong Library Staff ties generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national or ethnic origin, or disability in the administration of its educational policies, scholarship and loan program or other school-administered programs. Table of Contents Summer Reading for Ninth/Tenth Graders

Fiction: Recommended Summer Reading for Ninth/Tenth Graders...... 1 Fiction...... 1 1984 (George Orwell, 1949) The classic novel in which Big Brother rules socie- Non-fiction...... 14 ty. Ministry of Truth employee, Wilbur Smith, joins the underground in his effort Biographies...... 22 to resist mind control. Recommended Summer Reading for Eleventh/Twelfth Graders...... 25 Abhorsen Trilogy (The): Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen (Garth Nix, 1996-2003) Fiction...... 25 This popular fantasy series focuses on good and evil, war and peace, and the Non-fiction...... 38 value of friendship. Biographies...... 45 All Quiet on the Western Front (Erich Maria Remarque, 1929) Enlisting with Something for Everyone: Informational Titles for Teenagers...... 49 enthusiasm, four German youths are sent to the front in World War I in this clas- Poetry, Anyone?...... 51 sic novel depicting the horrors of war. Looking for a Good Book? Some Websites to Help You...... 54 Title Index...... 56 Anahita’s Woven Riddle (Megan Whalen Turner, 2006) Young Anahita tries to Author Index...... 64 avoid marriage to a much older man by convincing her father to let her marry the man who can solve a riddle she has woven into a carpet. An inside look at Persian culture and history.

Ark Angel: An Alex Rider Adventure (Anthony Horowitz, 2006) In his sixth adventure Alex Rider runs afoul of a group of murderous “eco warriors” and befriends Paul Drevin, the lonely son of venerated multibillionaire Nikolai Drevin, who isn’t what he seems.*

Ask Me No Questions (Marina Budhos, 2006) Both the secrets and the family dynamics are dramatic in teenage Nadira’s first-person narrative, which reveals her mixed-up feelings about being an illegal alien as well as the diversity in her family and her contemporary Muslim community in New York.*

Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing (The), Traitor to the Nation, v.1: The Pox Party (M. T. Anderson, 2006) A young black boy in pre-revolutionary Boston experiences slavery’s monstrous horrors in this ambitious story rooted in eighteenth-century literary traditions.*

1 Bee Season (Myla Goldberg, 2000) There is so much pain in this powerful first Caramelo (Sandra Cisneros, 2002) The author’s novel is a sweeping, fictional- novel about a family’s unraveling that it often seems on the edge of unbearable. ized history of her Mexican American family. When Celaya (or “Lala”) Reyes And yet, as we watch nine-year-old Eliza Naumann transform herself from under- takes a family vacation from Chicago to Mexico City, she begins a journey from achiever to spelling prodigy, we endure the pain out of respect for one girl’s girl to young adult and from the present to the past.* courage and all-consuming love.* Code Talker: A Novel about the Navajo Marines of World War II (Joseph Big Stone Gap Trilogy (The): Big Stone Gap, Big Cherry Holler, and Milk Glass Bruchac, 2001) Six-year-old Ned Begay leaves his Navajo home for boarding Moon (Adriana Trigiani, 2000-2003) This trilogy recounts the memories of spin- school, where he learns the English language and American ways. At 16, he ster pharmacist Ave Maria Mulligan over a 20-year period as she marries and enlists in the U.S. Marines during World War II and is trained as a code talker, leaves her sleepy home town of Big Stone Gap. using his native language to radio battlefield information and commands in a code that was kept secret until 1969.* Birds of Prey (Wilbur Smith, 1998) Set in 1667, the story follows the escapades of the infamous pirate Sir Francis Courteney and his son, Hal. After the Courteneys Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (The) (Mark Haddon, 2003) and their rough-hewn pirate crew raid a Dutch East India Company ship (in the Fifteen-year-old Christopher is an autistic math genius determined to find out name of the British crown), they are pursued from one end of the African coast to who killed his neighbor’s poodle. Haddon’s debut novel is an inventive mystery the other. During the chase, treacherous sea battles ensue, with gory deaths and about self-discovery and living with illness.* gruesome shark and crocodile attacks thrown in for good measure.* Daniel Half Human: And the Good Nazi (David Chotjewitz, 2004) In 1933, Black Green Swan (David Mitchell, 2006) In a small English town in the 1980s, German teen Daniel is shocked to learn that he is not allowed to join the Nazi 13-year-old Jason lives in the wake of his brilliant sister and mediates between party because he is half-Jewish.* his feuding parents.* David Copperfield (Charles Dickens, 1849) Dickens’ well-known classic is the Black Juice (Margo Lanagan, 2006) Lanagan’s 10 fantasy short stories are set in story of a young man’s adventures as he journeys from an unhappy and impov- cultures both familiar and unknown and are peopled with empathetic characters erished childhood to success as an acclaimed novelist. Several memorable char- who battle nature, individuals, and events. The stories begin slowly…but acters are included along the way. Lanagan gradually draws readers into each brief, fresh reality.* Death Be Not Proud (John Gunther, 1949) A father’s story of his courageous son Bless Me, Ultima (Rudolfo Anaya, 1972) Ultima, a wise old mystic, helps a who dies of a brain tumor at the age of seventeen. young Hispanic boy resolve personal dilemmas caused by the differing back- grounds and aspirations of his parents and society.* Detective/Crime Mystery Writers: Try any book by the following mystery writ- ers: C. J. Box (featuring Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett); Laurie R. King Blue Sky: A Novel (Galsan Tschinag, 2006) The people of Tuva, nomadic shep- (featuring Mary Russell, former protégé to Sherlock Holmes); Edward Marston herds in western Mongolia’s Altai Mountains, revere the sky as sacred. But the (look for the Domesday series set in medieval England featuring commissioner sensitive young boy who narrates this novel of the joys and hardships of Tuvan Ralph Delchard); Elizabeth Peters (featuring Edwardian Egyptologist Amanda life comes to doubt that the sky is a sheltering force as he stands to lose two great Peabody); Ellis Peters (mysteries of the medieval monk, Brother Cadfael); loves – his dog and the woman he calls Grandma.* Gillian Roberts (featuring amateur sleuth Amanda Pepper, a prep school English teacher); Alexander McCall Smith (featuring Mma Precious Ramotswe, owner Bucking the Sarge (Christopher Paul Curtis, 2004) Fifteen-year-old Luther uses of Botswana’s #1 Ladies Detective Agency); Diane Mott Davidson (featuring his humor and smarts to cope with a longtime crush, an impending science fair, Goldy Bear, a caterer with a nose for trouble; delicious recipes are also part of the and the shady dealings of his slumlord mother.* reading bargain); or Les Roberts (featuring Cleveland private detective Milan Jacovich).

2 3 Dream Duet (The): Dreamhunter and Dreamquake (Elizabeth Knox, 2006- 2007) Imagining a society where dreams can be harvested and sold, Knox smart- ly explores the ramifications of this conceit through the coming-of-age experi- ences of 15-year-old cousins Rose and Laura.* The Book of Life: Earthly Knight (An) (Janet McNaughton, 2004) In 1162 Scotland, Jenny is sup- posed to save her family by marrying their chosen suitor; she falls in love with An Illustrated History of the Evolution of Life on Earth Tam Lin, returned from the fairies, instead.* (Stephen Jay Gould et al., 2001)

Egg On Three Sticks (An) (Jackie Fischer, 2004) In this unforgettable debut, 13- The Book of Life is a timeline of the many varied forms of life that have year-old Abby recounts her mother’s heartbreaking descent into mental illness. With appeared on this Earth since its origin to the beginning of modern man … It is acutely observed detail, Fischer describes a young adult’s pull between the univer- an extremely reliable source of information, not sal struggles of adolescence and the surreal anguish of losing a parent to disease.* only because the content is held to be true, but also because it is a compilation of the knowledge Eldest (Christopher Paolini, 2005) The second book in the Inheritance Trilogy, of many authors and scientists ... I believe that the following Eragon (2003), takes up the epic story just three days after the end of authors thoroughly accomplished their purposes the bloody battle in which Eragon slew the Shade Durza, and the Varden and of informing the general population about the ori- dwarves defeated the forces of the evil ruler of the Empire. Although Eragon has gins of all life on this Earth and of giving students proven himself in battle as a Dragon Rider, he has much to learn, so he travels to a wonderful and enriching source of information the land of the elves to complete his rigorous training.* to work with when studying such a topic. The Book of Life is not a long (only 251 Eyes of the Emperor (Philip Salisbury, 2005) This novel is about a teen, this time pages) and boring read, but rather an interesting from Honolulu, who lies about his age to enlist in the U.S Army during World and informational one whose pages are spiced War II. But Eddie Okubo, 16, is Japanese American, and the racism he encoun- with exquisitely detailed illustrations for the ters in the military is as terrifying to him as the fire of the enemy.* enjoyment of its readers … I would strongly rec- ommend this book to anyone who is interested or Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury, 1953) In this classic novel, books are for burn- would like to learn more about the origins of life on our planet and how we came ing in this future society where thinking and reading are crimes. to the place that we are now.

Fairest (Gail Carson Levine, 2006) Fifteen-year-old Aza feels awkward and ungainly – but her powerful and beautiful voice brings her to the attention of the new Queen who is a poor singer… But is that a good thing?

Far Traveler (Rebecca Tingle, 2005) Following the sudden death of her mother, 16-year-old Aelfwyn disguises herself as a bard to escape marriage to a much older man, an ally of her uncle, the King.*

Firebirds Rising: An Anthology of Original Science Fiction and Fantasy (Review by Drew McMurchy ’10)** (Sharyn November [ed.], 2006) Editor November follows Firebirds (2003) with an equally captivating collection of 16 original stories offering a rich variety of selections.*

4 5 Fire-Eaters (The) (David Almond, 2004) During the Cuban missile crisis in Gulliver’s Travels (Jonathan Swift, 1726) This classic novel, which satirized 1962, Bobby Burns fights his own battles with a sadistic headmaster and worries human moral and foibles, recounts the voyages of Lemuel Gulliver as he visits about his father’s illness.* four remote countries.

Forest Lover (The) (Susan Vreeland, 2004) A speculative portrait of the intrepid Harrowing the Dragon (Patricia McKillip, 2006) Fantasy writer McKillip offers and too little known British Columbian painter Emily Carr (1871-1945). a highly entertaining and clever collection of short stories that offer imaginative [Vreeland’s] dramatic depictions of Carr’s daunting solo journeys, arduous artis- twists on familiar fantasies, folklore, and fairy tales. tic struggle, persistent loneliness, and despair over the tragic fate of the endan- gered people she came to love truly are provocative and moving.* Heroes (Robert Cormier, 1998) Eighteen year old Francis comes back from World War II with his face blown off and a mission to murder his childhood hero.* Forgotten Fire (Adam Bagdasarian, 2000) Based on a true story from the Armenian Holocaust, this is an eloquent, touching and heart-wrenching portrait Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome (Robert Harris, 2006) Thrusting himself of pain and triumph during a time of tragedy.* upon the tumultuous Roman political scene at age 27, Cicero, an ambitious provincial lawyer, matches wits and wills with political and military heavy- Foundation Series (The) (Isaac Asimov) Written originally as a series of maga- weights Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus. The author paints a brilliant portrait of zine novellettes or novellas over an eight year period and later published in novel Roman senatorial intrigue and corruption, proving that the more things change, form, Foundation (1951), Foundation and Empire (1952), and Second the more they stay the same.* Foundation (1953) were then collected as a trilogy under one cover in 1963. Winner of the Hugo Award for the Best All-Time Science Fiction Series. Incantation (Alice Hoffman, 2006) Growing up in Spain around 1500 in the vil- lage where her family has lived for 500 years, Estrella, 16, knows that there are Foxmask (Juliet Marillier, 2004) This sweeping Dark Ages fantasy, a sequel to secrets in her home. As books are burned in the streets, and Jews from the near- the rousing Wolfskin (2003), follows 18-year-old Thorvald to remote northern by ghetto are murdered, she confronts the reality that she is a Marrano, part of a British isles in a suspenseful, romantic page-turner steeped in Norse lore.* community of underground Jews who attend a special “church.”*

Frankenstein (Mary Shelley, 1818) Despite being trivialized by cartoons, spoofs, Keturah and Lord Death (Martine Leavitt, 2006) The romance is intense, the and toys, this powerful story is a portrayal of the pride of a scientist and the con- writing is startling, and the story is spellbinding – and it is as difficult to turn sequences of his abuse of power. away from as the tales beautiful Keturah tells to the people of her village, Tide- by-Rood. But one day Keturah must use her storytelling skills with quite a dif- Girls (The) (Lori Lansens, 2006) Lansens creates fully realized, vivid characters ferent audience—Death.* in conjoined twins Rose and Ruby, who tell their stories of growing up in alter- nating narratives.* Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow (Faiza Guene, 2006) Doria, 15, a child of Muslim immi- grants, describes her daily struggle in Paris’ rough housing projects in a contem- Go and Come Back (Joan Abelove, 1998) In a story of mutual culture shock, porary narrative that touching, furious, and very funny.* Alicia, a young Isabo girl in a remote part of Peru, is just as fascinated by the American anthropologists, Joanna and Margarita, as they are with the ways of her Killing Mr. Griffin (Lois Duncan, 1978) A group of high school students kidnap people.* their English teacher to scare him, but the teacher dies as a result.

Gothic: Ten Original Dark Tales (Deborah Noyes [ed.], 2004) Ghouls, ghosts, Life All Around Me by Ellen Foster (The) (Kaye Gibbons, 2005) For orphaned Ellen and shocking twists and turns haunt these ten twisted tales.* Foster, now 15, this is a lucky time, centered around the home that Laura provides, school (where Ellen earns money by writing poetry for other students’ class assign- ments), and old and new friends.* The sequel to Gibbons’ 1987 novel Ellen Foster.

6 7 Looking for Alaska (John Green, 2005) Miles is looking for the Great Perhaps, and an Alabama boarding school offers the possibility of finding it, especially after he meets the captivating and unpredictable Alaska.*

Lords of Discipline (The) (Pat Conroy, 1980) The story of friendship and betray- al in a Southern military academy. Highly suspenseful.

Maxmium Ride: School’s Out Forever (James Patterson, 2005) Max and her flock are back in this new volume in the Maximum Ride series. In a flying fight with Erasers, Fang is injured so seriously that the flock takes him to a hospital. It’s obvious he’s not a normal human (having wings and avian DNA), so it isn’t long before the FBI shows up.*

Meteor Hunt (The): The First English Translation of Verne’s Original Manuscript (Jules Verne, 1909) A giant meteor made of gold is tumbling toward Earth in this classic story translated into English for the first time.

Monster (Walter Dean Myers, 1999) Steve Harmon is accused of being an accomplice to murder. He creates a screenplay of his wrenching experiences at the crime scene, in jail, and on trial.*

My Sister’s Keeper (Jodi Picoult, 2004) Teen Anna sues her parents for the rights to her own body when she is asked to donate a kidney to her sister. This spell- binding story will draw a wide range of readers with its strong characters and provocative questions.*

Old School (Tobias Wolff, 2003) A scholarship student with literary ambitions and a shameful secret experiences an unforgettable year when his prep school is DID YOU KNOW? visited by Robert Frost and Ayn Rand.* The Ong Library Over a Thousand Hills I Walk with You (Hanna Jansen, 2006) This account of collection includes perpetrators, victims, and bystanders tells the story of eight-year-old Jeanne, the only one of her family to survive the 1994 Rwanda genocide.* 45,000 book volumes, nine Pearl (The) (John Steinbeck, 1947) Greed, treachery and loss are the focus of this newspapers, 110 story featuring a poor Mexican pearl diver who finds a priceless pearl. periodicals and more than 3,000 Poison (Chris Wooding, 2005) After her baby sister is kidnapped by Phaeries, Poison is determined to get her back, not realizing that she and her sister are part videos and of a much larger, darker story.* music CDs.

9 Private Peaceful (Michael Morpurgo, 2004) The Peaceful brothers have always Darwin’s Ghost shared a close bond, and they vow that the trenches of WWI won’t change that. (Steve Jones, 2000) But there are some evils of war that have nothing to do with fighting.* Darwin’s Ghost, by Steve Jones, is simply stated, a modern adaptation of Promise (The) (Chaim Potok, 1969) In this sequel to The Chosen, two Jewish Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species. Stated early and often is the fact that friends, Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders, decide to change the life paths that although The Origin of Species is perhaps the most their fathers have chosen for them. influential text in modern biology, it still remains unread by many. Steve Jones attempts to change all Quiver (Stephanie Spinner, 2002) Atalanta takes a vow of chastity to the goddess that with revised examples and wording of The Artemis, who has granted her exceptional athletic and hunting abilities. But when Origin of Species along with the integration of new Aphrodite steps in, Atalanta falls in love with a beautiful runner and threatens her factual material thanks to modern technology. By vow. The feminist slant and comic relief enliven this taut reinterpretation of the using this modern technology, Jones is able to prove Greek myth.* many points that Darwin made in his text, but at the time were entirely un-provable due to insufficient Raptor Red (Robert T. Bakker, 1995) Introducing his superb animal biographical scientific materials. “novel,” Bakker…imagines a year in the life of such a dinosaur, a young adult As addressed in the introduction, Jones feels female he dubs, on account of her distinctive species markings, Raptor Red.* that Darwin may have “bogged down” the reader with an incredible number of facts, causing Red Sea (Diane Tullson, 2005) Libby, the book’s sullen, cranky 14-year-old hero- Darwin’s read to be much slower. Jones has light- ine, fights her stepfather, Duncan, at every turn and finds ways to cross her moth- ened the number of facts by replacing excess infor- er. But she is on a year’s sailing voyage with them, whining all the way. There’s mation with colorful short stories that bring this story of evolution to life. All this lots of fascinating sailing lore and the joy of watching Libby figure out what to is packaged into a much easier read (for a high school aged teen, at least) than do next, and how to do it. An absolute page-turner.* the original The Origin of Species. Much to my surprise, I found this read to be quite enjoyable. As dull as the Samurai Shortstop (Alan M. Gratz, 2006) Growing up in Tokyo in the 1890s, after topic may be on the surface (for some), it is expressed in a lively, easy to under- the emperor outlawed the samurai tradition of his ancestors, Toyo was not trained stand and exciting manner. Jones makes you think about truly how grand the in the old disciplines. He must find his own path between the old ways and the new magnitudes of Darwin’s thoughts were, and how revolutionary they must have ones, which are symbolized for Toyo by the sport he loves: baseball.* been at the time … I can recommend this book to any high school student inter- ested in the subject matter as a nice modern rendition of a scientific classic. Sarah (Orson Scott Card, 2000) A departure from his sci-fi and fantasy works, this novel recounts the story of the Biblical figure Sarah, wife of Abraham.

Saving Francesca (Melina Marchetta, 2004) As her high-powered mother suffers from severe depression, Francesca copes with her classes, her friends, and the complications that arise from being one of 30 girls in a school with 750 guys.*

Sharing Sam (Katherine Applegate, 2006) Just as Alison Chapman begins to fall in love with Sam Cody, the handsome yet distant new guy in school, she learns that her best friend, Isabella, is dying of a brain tumor. How can she possibly be (Review by Chris Mlynarski ’08)** so happy, so full of hope for the future, when Isabella has no future?*

10 11 Shylock’s Daughter (Mirjam Pressler, 2001) Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice Uglies (Scott Westerfeld, 2005) Fifteen-year-old Tally’s eerily harmonious, post- finds new life in this novel, which reexamines the characters’ complex motives apocalyptic society gives extreme makeovers to teens on their sixteenth birth- and illuminates the opulence and oppression of sixteenth-century Venice.* days, supposedly conferring equivalent evolutionary advantages to all. When a top-secret agency threatens to leave Tally ugly forever unless she spies on run- Sign of the Qin: Outlaws of Moonshadow Marsh (L. G. Bass, 2004) Dangers away teens, she agrees to infiltrate the Smoke, a shadowy colony of refugees abound in this magical martial-arts fantasy, which follows young Prince Zong and from the “tyranny of physical perfection.”* his mother after their separate escapes form the dangerous, corrupt Emperor Han.* Under the Feet of Jesus (Helena Maria Viramontes, 1996) Migrant Mexicans Something Rotten (Jasper Fforde, 2004) In the fourth Thursday Next book…the shackled to a life of itinerant farm labor form the backdrop for a summer in the literary detective is fed up with the bureaucracy and red tape of BookWorld, life of young Estrella and her family. Seemingly a prescription for sorrow, in where the characters and plots of novels are alive and need constant governing. Viramontes’ hands the canvas instead teems with color and builds toward hope The Council of Genres refuses to accept her resignation as head of JurisFiction, for a liberating future – at least for Estrella.* but she returns to her home in the real world anyway – Swindon, England.* Earlier titles in the series are The Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book and The Well Under the Persimmon Tree (Suzanne Fisher Staples, 2005) Najmah, an Afghan of Lost Plots. girl, witnesses the death of her mother and brother as well as her father’s and older brother’s conscription by the Taliban before she finds refuge in Pakistan Step from Heaven (A) (An Na, 2003) Young Ju’s parents don’t want her to with an American Muslim.* become too American, and Young Ju is ashamed of them. It’s the classic immi- grant child conflict, told here in the present tense with the immediacy of the girl’s Water Dancers (The) (Terry Gamble, 2003) From WWII to the Vietnam War, this voice. This coming-of-age drama will grab teens and make them think of their family saga tells a moving story of prejudice and the friction between classes. The own conflicts between home and outside.* story begins with teenage Native American Rachel, who falls in love with a wealthy heir.* Tales (Edgar Allan Poe, 1952) One of the many compilations of tales from the master of horror—mysterious, complex, sometimes horrifying, occasionally psy- When the Emperor Was Divine (Julie Otsuka, 2002) Otsuka tells an exquisite chotic, and always suspenseful. Look for Poe’s stories and poems in a variety of psychological tale, inspired by her own family’s travails, of the internment of tens collections of works by the author. of thousands of innocent Japanese Americans during World War II.*

Three Musketeers (The) (Alexandre Dumas, 1844) This perennial favorite Whistling Season (The) (Ivan Doig, 2006) Doig’s latest foray through Montana chronicles the adventures of swordsman D’Artagnan and the three musketeers he history begins in the late 1950s, with Superintendent of Public Instruction Paul befriends in 17th century France as they serve the King and Queen and outwit the Milliron on the verge of announcing the closure of the state’s one-room schools, devious Cardinal Richelieu. seen as hopelessly out of date in the age of Sputnik. But quickly the narrative takes us back to Paul’s pivotal seventh-grade year, 1910, when he was a student Time Capsule (Donald Gallo [ed.], 2001) Ten of today’s best YA writers con- in one of those one-room schools, and two landmark events took place: the tribute clever, captivating short stories that span the twentieth century and run the Milliron family acquired a housekeeper, and Halley’s comet came to Montana.* gamut of historical perspectives and tones. Each story, set in a different decade, centers on a major event and its effect on the life of one or more teenagers.* White Fang (Jack London, 1906) London tells the story of a wolf-dog who endures great cruelty before he comes to know human kindness.* Truth and Bright Water (Thomas King, 2000) The story of Native American teenage cousins, Tecumseh and Lum, and one summer full of mystery and unpre- dictable family relations on the Indian Reservation.

12 13 Year of Secret Assignments (The) (Jaclyn Moriarty, 2004) Written entirely in let- Come Back to Afghanistan: A California Teenager’s Story (Said Hyder Akbar ters, diary entries, lists, quizzes, transcripts, and mock subpoenas (there are a dis- and Susan Burton, 2005) In this thrilling memoir recorded during the summers of proportionate number of lawyerly parents here), the novel focuses on three 2002 through 2004, a California teen returns to his father’s homeland to help Australian girls who have each been assigned to write to a student at a rival rebuild Afghanistan.* school. The girls’ pen friends turn out to be three boys, and the entertaining cor- respondence between the couples reveals the characters’ quirky ingenuity, pranks, Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail (Ruben Martinez, 2001) burgeoning romances, and fierce friendships as well as deeper family stories, Martinez explores the powerful forces that drive men, women, and even children including one about a parent’s death.* to risk their lives crossing the border illegally from Mexico to the United States to find work.* Yossel: April 19, 1943: A Story of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (Joe Kubert, 2003) In this starkly illustrated and sharply written graphic novel, the author D-Day: The Greatest Invasion (Dan Van Der Vat, 2003) Insightful and com- imagines his fate if he had not left the Warsaw Ghetto. A chilling portrayal of hor- pelling, this well-balanced account details how the Canadians liberated a Dutch ror and courage.* village during D-Day. An arresting mix of rare photos and reproduced personal artifacts illustrate.* You Can’t Go Home Again (Thomas Wolfe, 1940) This autobiographical novel focuses on a successful writer who returns home after publishing a novel about Demon in the Freezer: A True Story (Richard Preston, 2002) A striking portrait his home town. An insightful look at America and Europe in the dramatic 1930’s. of smallpox makes readers uncomfortably aware that it could rise again as a bio- logical weapon of mass destruction.* Non-fiction: Eagle Blue: A Team, a Tribe, and a High School Basketball Team in Arctic American Insurrection (An): The Battle of Oxford, Mississippi, 1962 (William Alaska (Michael D’Orso, 2006) This fascinating sensitive account follows an Doyle, 2001) When James Meredith decided to integrate the University of Alaskan high-school basketball team through its season in a town above the Mississippi, it caused the worst crisis in American history since the Civil War.* Arctic Circle. The sports narrative is as gripping as the intimate portraits of the teens and their changing community.* Ancient Olympics (The) (Nigel Jonathan Spivey, 2004) The author provides the inside scoop of the ancient games – the events, the rules for competitors, athlete Endurance (The): Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition (Caroline preparation, the rampant cheating and bribery, and other fascinating details. He Alexander, 1998) It’s man against nature at the dawn of World War I, as the lure also provides the background for the modern Olympics and how we view them. of the last unclaimed land on earth dazzles with its beauty and danger in this adventure of discover and survival.* And Still We Rise: The Trials and Triumphs of Twelve Gifted Inner-City High School Students (Miles Corwin, 2000) During the year that California began dis- Eureka! Scientific Breakthroughs That Changed the World (Leslie Horvitz, mantling affirmative action at state universities, Los Angeles Times reporter 2002) Horvitz explores the dramatic events and thought processes of twelve great Corwin chronicled youngsters who would be affected by that change. He spent a minds that lead to profound scientific discoveries. The author examines the impact school year at Crenshaw High School in South-Central L.A., and he profiles of these discoveries on the way we live, think, and view the world around us.* Crenshaw students who braved great odds to even get to the point of college admission.* Everest: Summit of Achievement (The Royal Geographical Society, 2003) Spectacular photographs and gripping text commemorate nine historical Everest Blackstone Book of Magic & Illusion (The) (Harry Blackstone, Jr., 2002 reprint) expeditions. The climbers’ physical accomplishments are balanced by thought- The classic of legerdemain [sleight of hand] describes the rich history of magic provoking discussion of how Westerners and Tibetans differ in their views of the and reveals a few ‘tricks of the trade.’* mountain.*

14 15 Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream (H. G. Bissinger, 2003) In Odessa, Texas, high school football is more than a recreational interest, it is the whole town’s passion.*

Gone to New York: Adventures in the City (Ian Frazier, 2005) [WRA alum] Frazier, a staff writer for the New Yorker, where many of the punchy yet elegant The Human Story: essays in this collection were previously published, wraps his impressions of the Our Evolution from Prehistoric Ancestors to Today city he loves in prose infused with razor-sharp and self-effacing humor as well as (Christopher Sloan, 2004) a talent for isolating the telling detail.* The Human Story: Our Evolution from Prehistoric Ancestors to Today is a Guinea Pig Scientists: Bold Self-Experimenters in Science and Medicine great addition to the Reserve library … The book provides a large amount of (Leslie Dendy and Mel Boring, 2005) An extraordinary and often disturbing story detail on how modern humans evolved. One very introduces 10 people who cared so much about scientific exploration that they interesting thing that I learned was how scientists experimented upon themselves to test their theories.* try to study when and where modern humans arose. By looking at female mitochondrial DNA Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow (Susan Campbell Bartoletti, 2005) and male Y chromosomes scientists can see how What was it like to be a teenager in Germany under Hitler? Bartoletti draws on long the original DNA was passed down with a oral histories, diaries, letters, and her own extensive interviews with Holocaust few mutations. From these results they have fig- survivors, Hitler Youth, resisters, and bystanders to tell the history from the view- ured out that our genetic ancestors lived south of points of people who were there.* the Sahara in Africa between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago. In the Heart Of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex (Nathaniel This book also provides many drawings and Philbrick, 2000) Philbrick’s accessible narrative of the tragic 1820’s whaling voy- pictures that are relevant to the given topic … age whose central disaster was the violent encounter with a sperm whale engages About once every chapter there are asides that have readers with descriptions of Nantucket’s unusual commercial, religious, and to do with different topics such as fossils and muta- social characteristics, the class and racial aspects of Nantucket whaling, and other tions. The aside on mutants describes how all living beings are mutations. issues raised by the Essex’s final whale hunt. A fascinating tale, well-told.* This book definitely makes me interested in what will happen in the future to humans, their appearances and how they will behave. Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World (Jack Weatherford, 1990) Discover how profoundly the native peoples of North and South America influenced what we eat, how we trade, and our system of government.*

Insect Lives: Stories of Mystery and Romance from a Hidden World (Erich Hoyt and Ted Schultz [eds.], 1999) Erich and Schultz compiled a diverse collec- tion of brief essays and illustrations that entice readers to explore the fascinating and mysterious world of insects.* (Review by Kathleen McCallops ’10)** Inventing Modern America: From the Microwave to the Mouse (David Brown, 2002) Whose idea was it? [Read about] the human stories and faces behind American scientific concepts and technological innovations and achievements.*

16 17 Invisible Allies: Microbes that Shape Our Lives (Jeanette Farrell, 2005) This Outwitting History: The Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued a Million lively examination of microbes traces the path of a sandwich-and-chocolate-bar Yiddish Books (Aaron Lansky, 2004) Aaron Lansky discovered while studying lunch through the human body, from beginning to end.* Yiddish in the 1970s that thousands of Yiddish books were collecting dust in attics and basements or were being carted off to landfills. With no resources Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX, the Law That Changed the Future of Girls beyond his conviction, chutzpah, and fortitude, he set out to “save the world’s in America (Karen Blumental, 2005) In 1972, Congress passed Title IX, a Yiddish books” and soon found himself driving all over creation to visit with eld- momentous law that changed opportunities for American women. Blumenthal erly Jews who talked with great emotion about the beloved Yiddish books they introduces the historical events that led to the law.* were entrusting to him.*

Light at the Edge of the World: A Journey Through the Realm of Vanishing Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea (Guy Delisle, 2005) A French Canadian Cultures (Wade Davis, 2002) Through photographs and eloquent text, the author animator is sent to North Korea to oversee an outsourced animation project. He unveils the diversity and unique quality of human culture around the world.* describes his experiences as a foreigner in communist North Korea in this graph- ic novel. Men of Salt: Crossing the Sahara on the Caravan of White Gold (Michael Benanav, 2006) Benanav reveals that for the last 1,000 years, the so-called cara- Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City’s Most Unwanted van of white gold has plied the desolate sands of the Sahara to hack rock Inhabitants (Robert Sullivan, 2005) Perhaps this is more than you would ever salt…[where] men lead strings of camels over some of the most severe terrain on want to know about rats, but if not, Sullivan will give you the inside scoop based earth. The author joined a caravan after learning that trucks have begun compet- on his observations of rats in Manhattan: rat history, rat control, and rat ecology, ing for the salt trade…he wanted to get a glimpse of this age-old culture on the just to name a few. brink of extinction. The result is fascinating.* Riding the Bus with My Sister: A True Life Journey (Rachel Simon, 2002) Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Journey Home to My Rachel Simon’s sister, who has mental retardation, spends her days riding buses Father (Nando Parrado and Vince Rause, 2006) After his plane crashed in the in the Pennsylvania city where she lives. When Rachel begins to accompany her mountains of Uruguay, Parrado led some of the survivors over the Andes to res- sister on the bus, she learns a lot about her sister and her disability and about her cue. Parrado recounts his story in graphic, unforgettable detail.* own limitations.*

On the Water: Discovering America in a Rowboat (Nathaniel Stone, 2003) Stone, Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic (Tom Holland, 2004) Ancient a former teacher and newspaper publisher, followed his childhood dream of trav- history lives in this vivid chronicle of the tumultuous events that impelled Julius eling on water – a dream he took to a higher level after reading about the efforts Caesar across the one small river that separated the Roman Republic from cata- of Howard Blackburn, a fisherman from Gloucester, MA, to sail around the east- clysmic civil war…[and] pulls readers deep into the treacherous riptide of Roman ern United States in the 19th century. Stone decided to trace Blackburn’s route but politics.* does it entirely by rowing. A delightful account of a remarkable solitary voyage.* Savage Summit: The True Stories of the First Five Women Who Climbed K2, On Wings of Joy: The Story of Ballet from the 16th Century to Today (Trudy the World’s Most Feared Mountain (Jennifer Jordan, 2005) Five women, each Garfunkel, 2002) Immerse yourself in the world of ballet, from its earliest chore- with seemingly preternatural abilities to climb, have reached the summit of ography to the life of a modern ballerina.* K2…These five women – Polish climber Wanda Rutkiewicz, French climbers Lilane Barrard and Chantal Mauduit, and British climbers Julie Tullis and Alison Hargreaves – so very different from each other, were alike in their strength, abil- ity, determination, and willingness to endure not only the pain of high altitude but also the massive prejudice of the male-dominated climbing world.*

18 19 Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea (Gary Kinder, 1999) The steamship Central America sunk off the Carolina coast in 1857 laden with 200 passengers and 21 tons of gold. Kinder interweaves its story with the exploits of the Columbus- America Discovery Group that discovered and salvaged the wreck in 1989, recovering an estimated billion dollars in gold coin and bullion.

Shooting Under Fire: The World of the War Photographer (Peter Howe, 2002) War photographers seek out the most horrifying and dangerous places in the world to practice their craft. What compels them to do it?*

Simple Courage: A True Story of Peril on the Sea (Frank Delaney, 2006) On Christmas Day, 1951, the Liberty ship Flying Enterprise began splitting apart in a North Atlantic gale. Possibly guarding a secret cargo, the captain stayed aboard almost to the end, and a media blitz made him a hero. One of the great sea stories of the 20th century.

Smoke and Ashes: The Story of the Holocaust (Barbara Rogasky, 2002) Some of history’s darkest days are examined in this new look at the horror and human- ity of the Holocaust and its aftermath.*

Speak Truth to Power: Human Rights Defenders Who Are Changing Our World (Kerry Kennedy Cuomo, 2000) A collection of biographical sketches and haunting photographs of ordinary people from 35 countries who are leading the fight to ensure basic human rights for everyone.*

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (Mary Roach, 2003) Discover the amazing life-after-death adventures of human bodies in this examination of how medical and research scientists use cadavers to make our lives better.* DID YOU KNOW? Swimming to Antarctica: Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer (Lynne Cox, 2004) Cox, who swam the English Channel at 15, writes about her subsequent The Ong Library swims across some of the world’s most perilous waters. An inspirational account features a computer of how solitary acts can unite people.* laboratory, a Witch Hunt: Mysteries Of the Salem Witch Trials (Marc Aronson, 2003) Was it bibliographic pagan faith or a trick gone bad? A devious teenager’s power play or a rebellion instruction room, against the strictures of a rigid religious community? Aronson shows off both his study rooms, talent for historical interpretation and his facility as a nonfiction writer as he reading areas, and reconstructs events surrounding the witch trials of 1692.* the WRA Archives Collection.

20 Working Fire: The Making of an Accidental Fireman (Zac Unger, 2004) A Molecular Embryology: young rookie provides a look behind the firehouse doors, bringing close the dan- How Molecules Gave Birth to Animals ger, excitement, and challenge of fighting fire in a big city.* (Michael Barry, 2002) Biographies: Molecular Embryology describes the many complex processes that occur from the moment a sperm fertilizes an egg to the developing embryo to the adult All Creatures Great and Small (James Herriot, 1972) A Scottish veterinarian organism itself. It opens with the ‘vitalist theory,’ the enchants readers with this delightful memoir of his experiences treating nature’s theory that vital forces direct animal development, as animals. opposed to the random workings of molecules func- tioning in accordance with the laws of chemistry. The Brave Companions: Portraits in History (David McCullough, 1991) The emi- second and third chapters describe the formation of the nent historian offers a rich compilation of mini-biographies of 17 well-known and shape of the embryo and the differentiation of cells. lesser known individuals who have made cultural contributions in a variety of Chapter five and the rest of the book, however, move fields including social work, etymology, architecture, literature, and history. away from the world that is visible to the naked eye and instead begins a “descent into the molecular realm” (79) Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter (Adeline Yen … Not only does Barry describe the process of embryon- Mah, 1999) Wu Mei, also called Adeline, is the Fifth Younger Sister of her fam- ic development, but also the process of gaining knowl- ily, and the one who bears the blame for all their bad fortune. In her inspirational edge and how past scientists built on each other’s experi- tale of survival in 1940’s China, she triumphs against all odds.* ments and drew the conclusions that we learn as fact today. His final chapter, titled “The Frontiers of Research Daugher of the Ganges: A Memoir (Asha Miro, 2006) Born in India in 1967, in Molecular Embryology,” explains the newest findings on growth factors… Miro was adopted by her Spanish parents from a Bombay orphanage when she In the introduction, Barry writes that his purpose is to provide an easily com- was six. In 1995 she returned to India to participate in a work camp, but more prehensible summary to readers new to biology. It is obvious that Barry knows his importantly “to reconcile with the past.” She visits the orphanage in Bombay material well and harbors a passion for the subject, but a thorough understanding (now Mombai), then the first orphanage in which she was placed, hoping to learn does not guarantee cogency in writing … Molecular Embryology is no easy read. more about her biological parents.* Personally, I found the book to be fascinating, mainly because of the pletho- ra of questions it asks about our origins, even if the majority of them remain a Gang of One: Memoirs of a Red Guard (Fan Shen, 2004) In this irony-laden mystery … While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as summer reading to a memoir, a former Red Guard grows up swimming against the tide of the Cultural friend, I found it to be a great addition to our library, especially for people with Revolution. Teens will strongly identify with Shen’s maneuverings around prior interest in the subject. repressive regulations.*

Growing Up (Russell Baker, 1982) A columnist with a sense of humor takes a gentle look at his childhood in Baltimore during the Depression.*

Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez (Richard Rodriguez, 1982) Rodriguez’s journey through the educational system leads to his belief that family, culture, and language must be left behind to succeed in mainstream America.*

In Code: A Mathematical Journey (Sarah Flannery, 2001) One teenager’s dis- (Review by Danica Liu ’10)** coveries in the science of cryptography dramatically impact the modern world.*

22 23 Journey of Crazy Horse (The): A Lakota History (Joseph M. Marshall III, 2004) Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail (Malika Oufkir and Michele Fitoussi, Using his skills as a historian along with the oral histories Marshall collected 2001) The shocking true story of one family’s fight to survive an unjustified and from the children and grandchildren of contemporaries of Crazy Horse, he fresh- lengthy political imprisonment in Morocco. ly characterizes the charismatic leader.* Terror of the Spanish Main: Sir Henry Morgan and His Buccaneers (Albert Journey Toward Freedom: The Story of Sojourner Truth (Jacqueline Bernard, Marrin, 1999) What lies behind the dark and romantic image of the pirate, and 1967) Bernard skillfully recounts the life of Sojourner Truth who was born into what is the legacy of this brutal and bloody time?* slavery, freed some 30 years later, and began traveling the country as a outspo- ken voice for God and against slavery. Her influence extended into many areas of This Boy’s Life: A Memoir (Tobias Wolff, 1989) In and out of trouble in his social reform including women’s rights and prison reform. youth, this charter member of the “Bad Boy’s Club” survives a boyhood that stretches from Florida to the Pacific Northwest.* Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa (Mark Mathabane, 1986) Growing up under the brutalities of Warriors Don’t Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle of Integrate Little Rock’s apartheid South Africa, Mathabane describes the growing uprest in his country Central High (Melba Pattilo Beals, 1995) In this touching and poignant memoir, and his eventual escape through his ties to the tennis community.* Beals tells her story as one of the nine black students who integrated Little Rock High School in Arkansas in 1957. Madame Curie (Eve Curie, 1937) A biography of the remarkable pioneering woman scientist written by her daughter. An inspirational story for women everywhere. When I Was A Soldier: A Memoir (Valerie Zenatti, 2005) In this compelling memoir, the author, a French immigrant and Israeli citizen, comes of age in the Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog (John Grogan, 2005) Israeli army.* “Oh my. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so cute in my life.” Thus author Grogan’s wife sealed their fate when they “just went to look” at a litter of Summer Reading for Eleventh/Twelfth Graders Labrador retriever puppies and ended up picking out Marley.* Fiction: Player (The): Christy Mathewson, Baseball, and the American Century (Philip M. Seib, 2003) This is the biography of the first real national “star” the game of Abundance of Katherines (An) (John Green, 2006) Colin Singleton believes he is a baseball saw, who preceded Babe Ruth and the 1919 World Series scandal. Not washed-up child prodigy. A graduating valedictorian with a talent for creating ana- just about baseball, this is about a man who lived to the highest of moral and eth- grams, he fears he’ll never do anything to classify him as a genius. To make matters ical standards amongst a pretty raucous crowd, both in baseball and society. worse, he has just been dumped by his most recent girlfriend (all of them have been named Katherine), and he’s inconsolable. What better time for a road trip!* Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution (Ji-Li Jiang, 1997) A young Chinese girl must make difficult choices when the government urges her Age of Innocence (The) (Edith Wharton, 1920) Considered possibly Wharton’s to repudiate her ancestors and inform on her own parents.* best novel, this classic focuses on New York socialite Newland Archer who is engaged to May Welland, but becomes infatuated with her visiting cousin Sense of the World (A): How a Blind Man Became History’s Greatest Traveler Countess Ellen Ollenska—who has left her unfaithful husband behind in Europe. (Jason Roberts, 2006) James Holman (1786-1857) was a Royal Navy Lieutenant Will convention or passion win out? who went blind at the age of 25. Not content to let his condition hinder his ambi- tion, Holman traveled the world alone, encountering hardship, pain, and danger. American Born Chinese (Gene Luen Yang, 2006) Yang introduces three charac- Renowned in his time and known as the Blind Traveler, Holman served as a role ters in connected tales that touch on facets of Chinese American life. The thought- model for explorers who followed him. Truly one of the most dramatic and inspir- ful, powerful stories have a simple, engaging sweep as they introduce weighty ing stories of the human spirit. subjects, such as shame and racism.*

24 25 Amy (Mary Hooper, 2002) In a chilling story about the dangers of Internet dat- Color of the Sea (John Hamamura, 2006) In this simmering, provocative first ing, lonely teenager Amy finds company in Internet chat rooms, and an online novel, two young first-generation Japanese Americans fall in love on the eve of romance flourishes with Zed. Their face-to-face meeting, however, is far from World War II.* idyllic as her recorded statement to the police reveals.* Complete Stories (The) (Flannery O’Connor, 1971) She was not just the best Angelmonster (Veronica Bennett, 2006) A novel based on the scandalous life of “woman writer” of the South – O’Connor also expressed something secret about Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein. America. These stories about characters and misfits who live in small towns have the effect of an electric shock. Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy, 1877) Considered a literary masterpiece, the novel tells of the doomed love affair between Anna and the dashing Count Vronsky and Confederacy of Dunces (A) (John Kennedy Toole, 1980) In this Pulitzer Prize- offers a splendid look at society life in 19th century Russia. winning novel, the raucous and profane misadventures of an American comic anti-hero, a corpulent Holden Caulfield living in New Orleans, are unfolded in Birth of Venus (The) (Sarah Dunant, 2004) Dunant’s lush and intellectually gripping this funny and sad novel of lunatic excess.* novel is set in fourteenth-century Florence at the height of the Renaissance. Fifteen- year-old Alessandra Cecchi does not fit the mold of the compliant Florentine Confidential Agent (The) (Graham Greene, 1939) The forerunner of the modern woman. She avidly consumes books written in Greek and Latin as she keeps abreast spy thriller, this Greene novel finds special agent D the prime suspect in a murder of the art movement, hoping to some day create her own masterwork.* of a young woman.

Blue Girl (The) (Charles De Lint, 2004) Brash, blue-skinned, street-smart Constant Gardener (The) (John Le Carre, 2004) In this suspenseful thriller and Imogene battles the soul-eating Anamithims with her real, imaginary, and undead love story, Justin Quayle’s activist wife is brutally raped and murdered in Nairobi, friends.* and the normally placid career diplomat weaves his way through an assortment of unsavory characters to find out the truth behind what happened. Book Thief (The) (Marcus Zusak, 2006) Death, overwhelmed by the souls he must collect, turns his attention to orphaned Liesl, struggling to survive in Nazi Copper Sun (Sharon Draper, 2006) A searing work of historical fiction that imag- Germany, who discovers horrifying cruelty as well as kindness in unexpected ines a 15-year-old African girl’s journey through American slavery. The story places.* begins in Amari’s Ashanti village, but the idyllic scene explodes in bloodshed when slavers arrive and murder her family. Amari and her beloved, Besa, are Cairo Trilogy (The): Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, and Sugar Alley (Naiguib shackled, and so begins the account of impossible horrors from the slave fort, the Mahfouz, 1956-1957) Paralleling the politics of early 20th century Egypt, this is Middle Passage, and auction on American shores…* an extensive but rewarding series about a merchant-class family steeped in Islamic tradition. Cotton (Christopher Wilson, 2006) Over a period of 30 years, Cotton experiences life as a black boy, a white man, a white woman and a black woman through sev- Can’t Get There From Here (Todd Strasser, 2004) She calls herself Maybe. eral bizarre (to say the least) experiences. A thought-provoking novel about what Thrown out by her abusive mom, she struggles to survive on the streets of New it means to be human. York with homeless teens who become a family in the asphalt jungle.* Crooked River Burning (Mark Winegardner, 2001) Set in 1950s and 1960s Catch-22 (Joseph Heller, 1961) Set in the closing months of World War II, this is Cleveland, Ohio, this highly entertaining novel charts the rise and fall of an aging the classic satire of the absurdity of war featuring bombardier Yossarian, a char- industrial center and profiles its inhabitants both real and imagined.* acter like no other.

26 27 Cry the Beloved Country (Alan Paton, 1948) The struggle of Zulu pastor Stephen Every Man for Himself: Ten Short Stories About Being a Guy (Nancy Mercado, Kumalo and his son Absalom in racist South Africa and their ultimate peaceful [ed.], 2005) For this collection, 10 new and established male authors of YA fic- reconciliation between black and white. tion were asked to write a short story exploring aspects of young manhood.*

Darling (The) (Russell Banks, 2004) Banks continues his inquiry into the complex Farewell to Arms (A) (Ernest Hemingway, 1929) The story of an American legacy of slavery in this gripping and unpredictable tale of a 1960s American radical, ambulance driver on the Italian war front in World War I and his relationship with Hannah Musgrave, who surfaces in Liberia, where she cares for traumatized chim- an English nurse. Considered by some to be the best American novel about World panzees and becomes embroiled in the country’s horrifically bloody power struggles.* War I.

Detective/Crime Mystery Writers: Try any book by the following mystery writ- Farming of Bones (The) (Edwidge Danticat, 1998) A Caribbean holocaust story, ers: Nevada Barr (featuring National Park Ranger Amanda Pigeon; novels are when nationalist madness and ethnic hatred turn island neighbors into set in various U.S. National Parks); Stephanie Barron (featuring author Jane executioners. Amid the rumors of terror, Annabelle and Sebastian hold on to love, Austen as an amateur sleuth); Lindsey Davis (featuring “informer” Marcus to dignity—and struggle to survive. Didius Falco in ancient Rome); Henning Mankell (featuring Swedish police detective Kurt Wallender); Sue Grafton (featuring female sleuth Kinsey Farthing (Jo Walton, 2006) One summer evening in 1949, at a country-house Millhone); Dick Francis (featuring a variety of sleuths and locations); Robert B. party of the Farthing set, a guest is murdered. The Farthing set is the group that Parker (featuring hard-boiled Boston detective Spenser); Will Thomas (featur- organized peace with Hitler in 1941 and remained prominent in British politics ing “enquiry agent” Cyrus Barker and his young assistant Thomas Llewelyn in ever since. Lucy, daughter of two set members, was surprised to be invited to the Victorian England) or Steve Womack (WRA alumnus whose novels feature party, because relations with her family have been strained since she married Nashville reporter turned private investigator, Harry James Denton). David, a Jew. As the murder investigation proceeds, it becomes clear that David was to be framed for the killing.* Digging to America (Anne Tyler, 2006) Two families converge at the Baltimore airport, each nervously anticipating the arrival of an adopted Korean baby girl. Feed (Matthew T. Anderson, 2002) In this strange, disturbing future world, teens Bitsy and Brad Donaldson appear to be stereotypical white middle-class travel to the moon for spring break, live in stacked-up neighborhoods with Americans. The Yazdans – Ziba, Sami, and Sami’s glamorous, long-widowed artificial blue sky, and are bombarded by a constant advertising and media blitz mother, Maryam – are Iranian Americans. Hoping that the families will stay in through their feeds. The young people are bored unthinking pawns of touch so that their daughters can grow up together, Bitsy invents Arrival Day, an commercialism, speaking only in obnoxious slang, ignoring or disrespecting the annual celebration that grows increasingly elaborate each year.* few adults around. Many teens will feel a haunting familiarity about this future universe.* Disco for the Departed (Colin Cotterill, 2006) Third in the series featuring Laotian coroner (and spirit host!), Dr. Siri Paiboun, this novel focuses on solving Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders (Neil Gaiman, 2006) Thirty-one the murder of a body found at the President’s remote compound. short works by the talented author reveal yet again his gift of storytelling.

Drinking Coffee Elsewhere (Z. Z. Packer, 2003) A collection of stories told Ginger Man (The) (J. P. Donleavy, 1955) This acclaimed novel, set in Ireland through the eyes of a variety of youthful characters, each with a unique situation after World War II, follows the misadventures of American college student, and voice. Sebastian Dangerfield, who is studying at Trinity College in Dublin.

Einstein’s Dream (Alan Lightman, 1993) Focusing on three key months of Albert Good Soldier (The): A Tale of Passion (Ford Madox Ford, 1915) This American Einstein’s life in 1905 when he is working as a patent clerk at the Swiss Patent classic follows the relationship of two couples and the summers they spend Office in Bern, Lightman re-creates the dreams that allegedly lead Einstein to his together in pre-World War I Germany. spectacular conclusions about the nature of time.

28 29 Grab On to Me Tightly As If I Knew the Way (Bryan Charles, 2006) It’s 1992, Isle of Stone (The): A Novel of Ancient Sparta (Nicholas Nicastro, 2006) and Vim Sweeney, newly graduated from Kalamazoo High School and a member Nicastro brings to life the legendary war between Athens and Sparta, focusing on of the band Judy Lumpers, is casting a wary eye toward the future: “college, beer, 400 Spartan soldiers stranded on a narrow strip of land and cut off from supplies job, marriage, babies, debt, divorce, nuclear annihilation.”* who are surrounded by the massive Athenian navy.

His Dark Materials Trilogy: The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami, 2005) Acclaimed Japanese novelist Amber Spyglass (Philip Pullman, 1996-2000) The heroic fantasy series where Murakami navigates the surreal world in this tale of two troubled souls whose humans live with various creatures in a parallel universe. A masterful trilogy by lives are entwined by fate. Fifteen-year-old Tokyo resident Kafka Tamura runs the acclaimed author. away from home to escape a murderous curse inflicted by his famous sculptor father. Elderly Satoru Nakata wanders his way through each day after a mysteri- Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (The) (Douglas Adams, 1979) Adams’ highly ous childhood accident turns his mind into a blank slate.* successful radio series evolved into this first of five novels featuring Arthur Dent, an ordinary guy who ends up exploring other worlds as Earth is demolished. Later Kitchen Boy (The) (Robert Alexander, 2003) The final days of the last Russian novels in the series include: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (1980), tsar, Nicholas II, and his family are still a fascinating mystery. There is no one left Life, the Universe and Everything (1982), So Long and Thanks For All the Fish to bear witness to what happened at the execution. Or is there? Alexander takes a (1984), and Mostly Harmless (1992). very real, but forgotten and overlooked, potential witness, a young kitchen boy, and creates an amazing fictional account of what may have transpired.* I Am the Messenger (Marcus Zusak, 2005) After Ed, an aimless 19-year-old cab driver, foils a bank robbery, he begins to receive mysterious messages assigning Kite Runner (The) (Khaled Hosseini, 2003) Years after he flees Afghanistan, him to intervene in the lives of strangers.* Amir, now an American citizen, returns to his native land and attempts to atone for the betrayal of his best friend before he fled Kabul and the Taliban.* I, Claudius: From the Autobiography of Tiberius Claudius, Born 10 B.C., Murdered and Deified A.D. 54 (Robert Graves, 1934) This historical novel is Let It Be Morning (Sayed Kashua, 2006) Exposing the plight of Israel’s Arab written as an autobiographical memoir of the Roman emperor Claudius who minority, a young journalist and his family return to his native village home after reigned in the first century A.D. Considered an embarrassment to his family spending years in Tel Aviv. because of his physical weaknesses, Claudius eventually outlasted them all and gained the throne of the Empire. His story continues in Claudius the God. Lords of the North (The) (Bernard Cornwell, 2006) In the latest installment of Cornwell’s rousing Saxon Chronicles, Uhtred, the Saxon-born, Danish-bred hero Iliad (The) (Homer, c. 800 B.C.) One of the greatest epic poems and war stories of The Last Kingdom (2004) and The Pale Horseman (2005), continues to walk of all time, this is the sweeping account of Achilles, Agamemnon, Helen, Hector, a fine line between his divided loyalties. Traveling home to Bebbanburg after giv- and others in the Trojan War. ing the besieged King Alfred an assist in defeating the mighty Dane army threat- ening Wessex, the one remaining Saxon-controlled kingdom in Britain, he runs Inexcusable (Chris Lynch, 2005) Lynch’s chilling and thought-provoking novel into Guthred, the self-proclaimed king of Northumbria.* explores the issue of date rape from the point of view of the accused. Teenage football player Keir is a “good guy” who’s funny, intelligent, and polite—cer- Love and Sex: Ten Stories of Truth (Michael Cart [ed.], 2001) Michael Cart has tainly not capable of what he is charged with. Lynch raises many issues and ques- collected 10 stories from a stellar roundup of familiar writers for young adults tions about the culture of athletes, family denial, cultural violence, and the crime who explore, with candor and heart, how passion, sex, crushes, and commitment of rape. alter and influence teens’ lives.*

30 31 Messenger (The) (Daniel Silva, 2006) A terrorist bombing in St. Peter’s Square Polar Shift: A Novel from the NUMA Files (Clive Cussler with Paul Kemprecos, leaves hundreds dead, the Pope injured, and the Basilica a ghastly, smoking pile. 2007) This is Cussler’s and Kemprecos’ sixth novel starring Kurt Austin and his This tragedy confirms what began in London weeks before when a traffic accident NUMA Files National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) Files Special killed a talent scout for al-Qaeda, leaving his briefcase, filled with surveillance Assignments Team. This one concerns a polar shift, a phenomenon that can trig- photos of the Vatican, in the hands of Israeli agents. Silva’s series hero, Gabriel ger huge eruptions, earthquakes, and climate changes. Sixty years ago, a Allon, is at the center of this fast-paced, completely absorbing international spy Hungarian scientist discovered how to artificially set off such a shift, and now an thriller.* This is the latest installment in a terrific series of thrillers featuring Allon. antiglobalization group plans to strike the world’s industrialized countries.*

Midnight at the Dragon Café (Judy Fong Bates, 2005) After leaving China with Pompeii (Robert Harris, 2003) Popular thriller writer Harris sets his sights on one her mother, Su-Jen enjoys her comfortable new life in Canada, but dark secrets of the most famous natural disasters in history: the eruption of Mount Vesuvius threaten her family’s stability.* in A.D. 79. With rich historical details and scientific minutiae, Harris vividly brings to life the ancient world on the brink of unspeakable disaster.* Midnight’s Children (Salman Rushdie, 1981) Two baby boys, born in a Bombay hospital during the first hour of Indian independence from Britain, are switched Prodigal Summer (Barbara Kingsolver, 2001) Summer is the season for abun- by a nurse and end up living very different lives. dance and abandon, and all of its prodigal forces are at work in this seductive tale of romance, risk, conviction, and love. Deanna Wolfe, a passionate Forest Service Namesake (The) (Jhumpa Lahiri, 2003) Ashoke Ganguli, a doctoral candidate at wildlife biologist, lives alone in the woods far above her hometown. After dis- MIT, chose Gogol as a pet name for his and his wife’s first-born because a covering a family of coyotes, she becomes determined to protect them, a mission volume of the Russian writer’s work literally saved his life, but, in one of many jeopardized by her equally intense desire for a handsome hunter.* confusions endured by the immigrant Bengali couple, Gogol ends up on the boy’s birth certificate. Unaware of the dramatic story behind his unusual and, Rebecca (Daphne Du Maurier, 1938) This classic work of Gothic fiction tells the eventually, much hated name, Gogol refuses to read his namesake’s work, and story of a poor girl who meets and falls in love with the wealthy widower, mar- just before he leaves for Yale, he goes to court to change his name to Nikhil.* ries him and then lives in the shadow of the memory of the first wife.

Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro, 2005) There’s a dark secret at the Hailsham Romance of Tristan and Iseult (Joseph Bedier, 1930) This is Bedier’s interpre- School, where the students live in carefully planned, idyllic isolation, ignorant of tation of one of the greatest love stories in Western literature. After defeating a the future that’s been planned for them.* famous Irish warrior and gaining the favor of his uncle, King Marc of Cornwall, the Cornish warrior Tristan sets out a great mission: to bring home a queen for his Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway, 1953) Awarded the Pulitzer Prize for uncle. A story of doomed love and heartache. Fiction in 1953, this classic novel is the story of an aging Cuban fisherman, Santiago, who pursues and battles the catch of a lifetime—a magnificent marlin. Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection (2001) Nordic epics open up a world of won- This is a story of human courage, endurance, triumph. der and power, a Viking world of heroic adventure and discovery at the turn of the first millennium.* On the Road (Jack Kerouac, 1957) Considered to be one of Kerouac’s finest works and the classic work of the Beat Generation, this novel follows narrator Sal Secret River (The) (Kate Grenville, 2006) Grenville tells a story rooted in her Paradise and his best friend Dean Moriarty as they travel cross-county looking for family’s Australian past. In the early 1800s, William Thornhill is sentenced to the meaning of life. death for stealing a shipload of expensive woods. Offered an alternative, he chooses transportation to New South Wales, Australia. [Grenville] describe[s] Plot Against America (The) (Philip Roth, 2004) In a chilling alternate history set Thornhill’s progress from convict laborer to landowner, conveying the broader in 1940s America, hero and anti-Semite Charles Lindbergh wins the presidency history of Australian colonization through the experience of one convict family.* over FDR, and a Jewish family endures life in a new society. *

32 33 Sense of Honor (A) (James A. Webb, 1981) A top midshipman guides a plebe Terrorist (John Updike, 2006) This marvelous novel is a carefully nuanced build- through the rigors of his first year at the Naval Academy. ing up of the psychology of those who traffic in terrorism.*

Shadow of the Wind (The) (Carlos Ruiz Zafon, 2001) In post-World War II Their Eyes Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston, 1937) Written by the pre- Barcelona, young Daniel is taken by his bookseller father to the Cemetery of eminent black woman writer of the 1930s Harlem Renaissance, this is the story Forgotten Books, a massive sanctuary where books are guarded from oblivion. of Janie Crawford, a black woman living in Florida, her three marriages, and her Told to choose one book to protect, he selects The Shadow of the Wind, by Julian trial for murdering husband number three. Carax. He reads it, loves it, and soon learns it is both very valuable and very much in danger because someone is determinedly burning every copy of every Thinner Than Thou (Kit Reed, 2005) Three teens embark on a heroic rescue book written by the obscure Carax.* mission through an America in which body perfection has become a religion in this provocative, satiric novel.* Slaughterhouse Five (Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., 1968) A story of Billy Graha, a man who becomes unstuck in time after being captured by aliens. The classic anti-war Thirteenth Tale (The) (Diane Setterfield, 2006) Margaret Lea, a bookish loner, is novel. summoned to the home of Vida Winter, England’s most popular novelist, and com- manded to write her biography. Miss Winter has been falsifying her life story and her Songs of the Kings (The) (Barry Unsworth, 2003) Join Unsworth on another one identity for more than 60 years. Facing imminent death and feeling an unexplainable of his greatly atmospheric visits to times past, in this case, ancient Greece on the connection to Margaret, Miss Winter begins to spin a haunting, suspenseful tale of eve of the Trojan War. Adverse winds are keeping the allied forces of King an old English estate, a devastating fire, twin girls, a governess, and a ghost.* Agamemnon from sailing across the Aegean Sea in their planned siege of Troy, wherein inhabits Paris, who stole the beautiful Helen, wife of Agamemnon’s Time Traveler’s Wife (The) (Audrey Niffenegger, 2003) On the surface, Henry brother, Menelaus.* and Clare DeTamble are a normal couple living in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neigh- borhood. Henry works at the Newberry Library and Clare creates abstract paper Sound and the Fury (The) (William Faulkner, 1929) This book is about the art, but the cruel reality is that Henry is a prisoner of time. It sweeps him back decline and fall of the aristocratic Compson family in Faulkner’s fictional and forth at its leisure, from the present to the past, with no regard for where he Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi.* is or what he is doing.*

Stone Heart: A Novel of Sacajawea (Diane Glancy, 2003) You are there on the Troy (Adele Geras, 2001) The plot of Homer’s Iliad serves as backdrop to this epic journey of Lewis and Clark that opened the west to the call of manifest des- sweeping, vividly detailed epic that imagines the lives of Trojan women and tiny. Contrasts between the explorers’ actual journals and the young Shoshone shows the dramas of love and work at home while the battles raged.* woman’s own records reveal the inherent clash of cultures in this vast new land.* Turn of the Screw (The) (Henry James, 1898) This famous classic and terrifying Swallows of Kabul (The) (Yasmina Khadra, 2004) In Kabul under the Taliban, a ghost story is about a governess who sees ghosts—or does she? Are the children part-time jailer and the scion of a business family ruined by the revolution, each in her charge being manipulated by these spirits of two former servants? Can she caught in a spiral of disasters, cross paths when the latter’s beautiful wife is con- save them from their evil influence? To be sure, it is a fascinating and chilling tale. demned to death in this harrowing and painful portrayal of a society enslaved by anger.* Ulysses (James Joyce, 1934) Voted top novel of the twentieth century, Ulysses is usually reserved for college classrooms. Tackling such a rambling novel can be Talk Talk (T. C. Boyle, 2006) Boyd sculpts his bold but meticulous novel out of fun, if you have a guide book: check your local bookstore. Recounting the day in a frightening premise, a case of identity theft, which he develops into a breath- the life of an Irish Jew named Leopold Bloom, the novel contains humor, strong taking thriller.* language, stream-of-consciousness writing, drama-like passages, and intimate details of people’s lives.

34 35 Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green (The) (Joshua Braff, 2004) Jacob navi- gates the minefields of his father’s rage in this humorous and heartrending view of a suburban Jewish family in the late 1970’s.*

Wapshot Chronicle (The) (John Cheever, 1957) Based in part on his childhood, this novel follows the lives of the Wapshots—a family in a small Massachusetts fishing village. Winner of the National Book award, this work established Cheever as an acclaimed novelist.

War Trash (Ha Jin, 2004) Ha Jin revisits a forgotten facet of the Korean War through the keen eyes of Yu Yuan, a book-loving and English-speaking Chinese POW in an American-run camp in which prisoners undertake everything from murder and torture to producing plays and staging daring protests.*

Water for Elephants (Sara Gruen, 2006) Life is good for Jacob Jankowski. He’s about to graduate from veterinary school and about to bed the girl of his dreams. Then his parents are killed in a car crash, leaving him in the middle of the Great Depression with no home, no family, and no career. Almost by accident, Jacob joins the circus.*

What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng (Dave Eggers, 2006) Deng is a Sudanese “Lost Boy,” and his story is one of unimaginable suf- fering. Reworking Deng’s powerful tale with both deep feeling and subtlety, Eggers finds humanity and even humor, creating something much greater than a litany of woes or a script for political outrage.*

White Teeth (Zadie Smith, 2000) Archie and Samad, two unlikely friends, are brought together by bizarre twists of fate and near-death experiences in this epic DID YOU KNOW? novel of family, culture, love and loss set in post- World War II London.* The Ong Library World According to Garp (The) (John Irving, 1978) A comic novel interweaving offers over 30 the halting struggles of male maturation and feminist independence. The story follows the growth of a son through prep school and beyond as he deals with writ- online databases ing, parenthood, marital problems, and friendship with a transsexual former tight including TERC for end for the Philadelphia Eagles. At the same time, his unwed mother emerges as SAT and AP a feminist author and activist for women. information and practice tests.

37 Non-fiction: Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (Jared Diamond, 2004) Defining collapse as “extreme decline,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 1776 (David McCullough, 1997) A stirring account of the year that began with Guns, Germs, and Steel (1997), which posed questions about Western civiliza- the humiliating British abandonment of Boston and ended with Washington’s tion’s domination of much of the world, now examines the reverse side of that small but symbolically important triumph at Trenton. Yet it is his portrayals of the coin. Diamond ponders reasons why certain civilizations have collapsed. In addi- two principal antagonists [George Washington and George III] in this struggle tion, Diamond casts his critical but acute and inclusive gaze on the issue of why that makes this account both engrossing and poignant. This is a first-rate histori- civilizations fail to see collapse coming. A thought-provoking book containing cal account.* not a single page of dense prose.*

Atom: An Odyssey from the Big Bang to Life on Earth…and Beyond Columbus in the Americas (William Least Heat-Moon, 2003) Was he a visionary (Lawrence M. Krauss, 2001) Surpassing even Blake’s vision of the world in a and daring explorer, or a ruthless conquistador with dreams of riches and glory? grain of sand, Krauss offers readers the entire cosmos in a mere atom. A rigorous, Discover the truth behind the myth of a man whose impact still resonates through intellectually exciting book.* the continents he stumbled across .*

Barefootin’: Life Lessons on the Road to Freedom (Unita Blackwell, 2006) Cross-X: A Turbulent, Triumphant Season with an Inner-City Debate Squad From the age of 72, Blackwell looks back over her life begun in barefoot pover- (Joe Miller, 2006) Journalist Miller details an inner-city high-school debate ty in a Mississippi sharecropping family… [and] chronicles her personal awak- team’s season, moving from the squad’s wrenching personal stories to clear ening as she went on to careers as a civil rights activist, academician, and mayor observations about how poverty affects us all.* of Mayersville for 20 years. Through her own personal journey, Blackwell pass- es on the wisdom and lessons learned in a struggle that also changed the nation.* D-Day: June 6, 1945: The Climactic Battle of World War II (Stephen Ambrose, 1994) An expert on D-Day, Ambrose offers a highly readable account of and stun- Book of Honor (The): Covert Lives and Classified Deaths at the CIA (Ted Gup, ning tribute to the courageous World War II veterans who faced Nazi enemy fire 2000) WRA alumnus Gup has written a powerful book about the real lives of in this terrifying and gruesome battle.* secret agents in an unprecedented attempt to bring to light the names of those agents who died in the line of duty, but whose identities have never been publicly Demon Under the Microscope (The): From Battlefield Hospitals to Nazi Labs, revealed by the CIA. Gup pens a compelling and controversial must-read. One Doctor’s Heroic Search for the World’s First Miracle Drug (Thomas Hager, 2006) In medical-writer Hager’s opinion, sulfa, not penicillin, is the first Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky (The) (Ken Dornstein, 2006) Seventeen years after real miracle drug, and he feels its discovery is too often overlooked and under- his older brother, David, died in the airline bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, appreciated. His effort to amend this insult commences by tracing the life of Dornstein turns to David’s notebooks as a resource to draw out a life lost young physician Gerhard Domagk, from his days as a German military medical assis- and unexpectedly.* tant during World War I to his belated Nobel Prize… The drama of his undertak- ing, performed in the face of fierce competition and opposition from other physi- Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West cians and scientists, unfolds as a well-told tale of trailblazing science.* (Dee Brown, 1970) Here’s another side of America’s western expansion: the one seen through Native American eyes.* Distant Mirror (A): The Calamitous 14th Century (Barbara Tuchman, 1978) Castles and crusades, plague and famine, the glittering excitement of new ideas Candyfreak: A Journey Through the Chocolate Underbelly of America (Steve and discoveries and the agony and displacement of war – a time not unlike our Almond, 2004) Almond elevates what could have been dry reportage into a own in its rhythms and dimension.* riotously funny memoir about his obsession with candy, which reached “freak” status during adolescence. Tender, bawdy, and wickedly comical.*

38 39 Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (Barack Obama, In Cold Blood: A True Account of A Multiple Murder and Its Consequences 1995) The son of a black man and a white mother, Obama recounts his struggle (Truman Capote, 1966) This is the groundbreaking masterpiece that explores the to find in place growing up in America in this compelling memoir. lives and deaths of six people—a family of four savagely murdered in their home in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, in 1959 and the two convicted killers who Flags of Our Fathers (James Bradley, 2000) The picture of the flag-raising on were executed years later. Iwo Jima in 1945 may be the most famous photograph of the twentieth century. Its fame was immediate, and immediately hitched to the wagon of publicity. A Infidels: A History of the Conflict Between Islam and Christendom (Andrew riveting read that deals with every detail of the photograph – its composition, the Wheatcroft, 2004) In the roar of skyscrapers collapsing in New York and in the biographies of the men, what heroism is, and the dubious blessings of fame.* thunder of fusillades in Afghanistan and Iraq, a leading British historian hears echoes of battles fought centuries ago. Wheatcroft’s taut and memorable narra- Future of Ice (The): A Journey into Cold (Gretel Ehrlich, 2004) What does the cur- tive interprets today’s headlines within a very long chronology, showing how rent melting of the Arctic ice cap mean for the future of life on Earth? Ehrlich, vet- Muslim and Christian leaders alike have imbued their followers with hostility eran nature writer and lover of cold places, explores icy terrains, celebrates the beau- toward alien creeds.* ty of ice, portrays polar wildlife, and elucidates a crucial environmental concern.* Innocent Man (The): Murder and Injustice in a Small Town (John Grisham, Ghost Soldiers: The Forgotten Epic Story of World War II’s Most Dramatic 2006) In a true story that reads like a novel, Grisham chronicles the arrest and Mission (Hampton Sides, 2001) Among the plenitude of wartime horrors, the conviction of Ron Williamson for a crime he did not commit and how he was Japanese treatment of POWs in World War II was among the most horrific, the sent to death row, but eventually exonerated. Bataan Death March being one of the most notorious examples of the victors’ brutality. By January 1945 a few hundred survivors were in a squalid work camp Jefferson’s Children: The Story of One American Family (Shannon Lanier, on Luzon. Sides’ book recounts a gung-ho military raid to rescue them – and to 2000) Thomas Jefferson fathered two families—one black, one white, brought assuage American humiliation for their surrender in 1942.* together by his determined young descendant. [This is] a story about family, about identity, and a story about secrets revealed and history made complete.* Great Shame (The): And the Triumph of the Irish in the English-Speaking World (Thomas Keneally, 1999) Starting with his own family, Keneally offers an Jungle (The): The Uncensored Original Edition (Upton Sinclair, 1905) This is extraordinary chronicle of the Irish migration to countries around the world in the the complete edition of the landmark book as originally published by Sinclair. 19th and early 20th centuries. Probably the best known of the muckrakers, Sinclair penned this fictional story of Lithuanian immigrants working in the meat-packing industry outside Chicago, Heartless Stone (The): A Journey through the World of Diamonds, Deceit, and exposing the horrors of the industry to an uninformed public. Desire (Tom Zoellner, 2006) The grim reality of the politically charged labor, fanciful marketing, and secretive industry established by diamond merchants and Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 (Simon Winchester, myths that they propagate are presented in this warts-and-all exposé…* For 2003) When the earth’s most dangerous volcano exploded off the coast of Java, another powerful book on this topic, look for Greg Campbell’s Blood Diamonds: hundred foot waves flung ships inland, a rain of hot ash made temperatures Tracing the Deadly Path of the World’s Most Precious Stones (2003). plummet, the shock wave traveled around the world seven times, and 40,000 people died. The aftermath of this disaster saw the rise of radical Islam, civil Hiroshima (John Hershey, 1946) Six Hiroshima survivors reflect on the after- unrest and a legacy of anti-Western militancy that continues today.* math of the first atomic bomb.* Last Breath: Cautionary Tales from the Limits of Human Endurance (Peter Stark, 2001) Whether the danger is hypothermia, mountain sickness, or cerebral malaria, this blend of adventure and science takes you to the absolute edges of human endurance.*

40 41 Little Ice Age (The): How Climate Made History, 1300-1850 (Brian Fagan, One with Ninevah: Politics, Consumption, and the Human Future (Paul 2002) Fagan provides a fascinating look at how climate change influenced the Ehrlich and Anne Ehrlich, 2004) This powerful argument for saving the envi- course of the last thousand years of Western history. He highlights climate’s pro- ronment from disaster links social and economic policies with the empirical evi- found influence on the Viking discovery of North America, the Industrial and dence of overpopulation and materialistic consumption.* French Revolutions, and the Irish Potato Famine.* Play It Again: Baseball Experts on What Might Have Been (Jim Bresnahan Louis Armstrong’s New Orleans (Thomas Brothers, 2006) As its title indicates, [ed.], 2006) A panel of baseball experts including historians, journalists, former Brothers’ book is more about Armstrong’s context than his life, more a focused players, and broadcasters discusses some of the game’s larger “what-if” ques- microhistory than a biography. It is motivated by the perennial question, how did tions. What if the game had been integrated prior to Jackie Robinson in 1947? Armstrong become the central figure in the most significant musical develop- What if Shoeless Joe Jackson hadn’t been banned for life after the 1919 Black ment in American history?* Sox betting scandal?* You get the idea…

Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War (Nathaniel Philbrick, Radioactive Boy Scout (The): The Frightening True Story of a Whiz Kid and 2006) Philbrick recounts the story of the Pilgrims with a good deal of narrative His Homemade Nuclear Reactor (Ken Silverstein, 2004) In the early 1990s, suspense and a deep understanding of motivations: piety, wrath, gratitude, Detroit-area teenager David Hahn tried to build a nuclear reactor in his backyard. duplicity—a panorama of human character and historical portent is on display in Silverstein tells his shocking story in lively detail that personalizes Hahn’s world this skillful rendering.* without sensationalizing.*

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America (Barbara Ehrenreich, 2001) Remembering the Boys: A Collection of Letters, A Gathering of Memories This is social critic Ehrenreich’s on-the-job study of how a single mother (or any- (Lynna Piekutowski [ed.], 2000) A poignant, touching collection of letters one else) leaving welfare could survive without government assistance in the form between alumni of the Western Reserve Academy serving in WW II and its of food stamps, Medicaid, housing and child-care subsidies. To find the answers, headmaster, Joel Hayden. These letters reveal the loneliness, boredom, hardships Ehrenreich left her home in Key West and traveled from Florida to Maine and then and dangers of military life on the frontlines and the active war effort of those to Minnesota, working in low-paying jobs. Read this fascinating account. left behind at the Academy. A wonderful look at a special time in WRA history.

Omnivore’s Dilemma (The): A Natural History of Four Meals (Michael Pollan, Roman Revolution (The) (Ronald Syme, 1967, 2002 rev. ed.) An 2006) Humans were clearly designed to eat all manner of meats, vegetables, unconventional look at the fall of the Roman republic and rise of the emperor fruits, and grains. But, as Pollan points out, America’s farmers have succeeded Augustus by the renowned historian. so wildly that today’s fundamental agricultural issue has become how to deal sensibly with overproduction. Pollan also addresses issues of vegetarianism and Seven Daughters of Eve (The): The Science that Reveals Our Genetic Ancestry flesh eating, hunting for game, and foraging for mushrooms. Throughout, he (Bryan Sykes, 2001) Fascinating mitochondrial DNA evidence supports the idea takes care to consider all sides of issues…* that almost all modern Europeans are descended from just seven women.*

One Planet: A Celebration of Biodiversity (Nicolas Hulot, 2006) French jour- Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked nalist Hulot presents an eloquent survey of the beauty, diversity, and intercon- Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II (Robert Kurson, nectivity of earthly life illustrated with breathtaking color photographs that 2004) Who knew that German submarine U-869, long thought to have been sunk embrace the tiniest creatures to the most dramatic vistas.* off Gibraltar in 1945, was actually sunk by its own torpedo less than 60 miles from Brielle, New Jersey? No one – until 1991, when two death-cheating wreck- divers began exploring the boat’s wrecked hull, 230 feet underwater.* You will not want to put this book down!

42 43 Shame of a Nation (The): The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America True Notebooks (Mark Salzman, 2003) When Salzman agreed to teach a writing (Jonathan Kozol, 2005) Respected author Kozol delivers a scathing indictment of class at Central Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles, he had no idea how moved he would public education and the public policy that preserves inequities along race and class be by the lives and the eloquence of his students, all high-risk violent offenders.* lines – producing, in effect, an apartheid educational system. Drawing on his expe- riences as a teacher in the 1960s and his 40 years spent working with children in Universe in a Nutshell (The) (Steven Hawking, 2001) The physics guru illumi- inner-city schools, Kozol has a masterful overview of the public school system.* nates startling new theories about our world in a lavishly illustrated sequel to A Brief History of Time.* Short History of Nearly Everything (A) (Bill Bryson, 2003) Confessing to an aversion to science dating to his 1950s school days, Bryson here writes for those War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning (Chris Hedges, 2003) A Pulitzer Prize of like mind, perhaps out of guilt about his lack of literacy on the subject. Making winning author presents a passionate, thought-provoking look at wars through science less intimidating is Bryson’s essential selling point as he explores an the ages and exposes the myths of the culture of combat.* atom; a cell; light; the age and fate of the earth; the origin of human beings. Bryson’s organization is historical and his prose heavy on humanizing anecdotes War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars (2001) The about the pioneers of physics, chemistry, geology, biology, evolution and Legacy Project preserves the voices of soldiers and statesmen who lived through vio- paleontology, or cosmology.* lent times that changed the course of nations. Listen to their stories in their words.*

Spare Parts: A Marine Reservist’s Journey from Campus to Combat in 38 Days War Like No Other (A): How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the (Buzz Williams, 2004) Williams describes the day-to-day rigors of boot camp, Peloponnesian War (Victor Hanson, 2005 ) By the standards of modern mass the trials of his Gulf War tour of duty, and the particulars of his troubled reentry warfare, the Peloponnesian War, which ravaged Greece for 27 years, was a into society. A rare, honest account.* small-scale affair. The military forces were relatively small, and the weapons seem primitive. But by the standards of the classical Greek world, this conflict Stories that Changed America: Muckrakers of the 20th Century (Carl Jensen was massive and devastating. As a strictly military account, Hanson has written [ed.], 2000) This collection centers on the major muckraking stories of the twenti- a first-rate chronicle, capturing the intensity and savagery of ancient warfare and eth century, providing some biographical and background information along with conveying how ordinary warriors must have experienced it.* samples of each writer’s work. All of the included writers and their words have in some way—culturally, socially, or politically—altered the course of history. Washington’s Crossing (David Hackett Fischer, 2004) This outstanding analyti- cal narrative examines how the American colonists, at the nadir of their rebellion, Tell Them I Didn’t Cry: A Young Journalist’s Story of Joy, Loss, and Survival reversed their fortunes in a short, sharp campaign. Fischer’s exhaustive research, in Iraq (Jackie Spinner, 2006) In this intensely personal account of her experi- right down to the Americans’ collection of supplies, captures the utter precari- ences as a rookie reporter in Iraq, including escape from a terrifying kidnapping ousness of their situation.* attempt, Spinner offers a very human look at war in a nation that she openly declares she loves and admires.* World is Flat (The) (Updated and Expanded): A Brief History of the Twenty- first Century (Thomas Friedman, 2006) Globalization is the focus here—and There are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other how the vast changes in technology and communication have changed the world. America (Alex Kotlowitz, 1991) The powerful story of two young brothers In this updated edition, Friedman adds more commentary to the original edition. struggling to survive in a drug-infested, crime ridden Chicago neighborhood. Biographies: Ticket Out (The): Darryl Strawberry and the Boys of Crenshaw (Michael Sokolove, 2004) The individual stories of the vastly talented 1979 L.A. high Alexander Hamilton (Ron Chernow, 2004) As Chernow’s comprehensive and school baseball team come to life in the heartbreaking account of the players’ last superbly written biography makes clear, Hamilton was at least as influential as any season and the difficulties they faced in the years that followed.* of our Founding Fathers in shaping our national institutions and political culture.*

44 45 Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant Jane Goodall: The Woman Who Redefined Man (Dale Peterson, 2006) Goodall (Daniel Tammet, 2007) Although Tammet is only 27, his autobiography is as fas- is admired all around the world for her revolutionary work with chimpanzees, but cinating as Benjamin Franklin’s and John Stuart Mill’s, both of which are, like as Peterson reveals in this vivid and insightful biography, the hardships she faced his, about the growth of a mind. Not that Tammet is a scientist-statesman or and the extent of her accomplishments as a scientist and humanist are far greater philosopher. He is an autistic savant who can perform hefty arithmetical calcula- than most imagine.* tions at lightning speed and acquire speaking competency in a previously unknown language in mere days.* John Adams (David McCullough, 2001) He was a man of his times who tran- scended the time, and one of the least understood of the Founding Fathers.* Dream (The): Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Speech That Inspired a Nation (Drew Hansen, 2003) This great humanitarian and leader did indeed have a Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America and American in dream, and it has resonated through the years to expand all of our hopes for a Iran (Azadeh Moaveni, 2005) Always feeling trapped between two countries, future built on tolerance.* journalist Moaveni returns to the country her parents fled during the Islamic Revolution to learn more about Iran and about herself. Give Me My Father’s Body: The Life of Minik, the New York Eskimo (Kenn Harper, 2000) Imagine the horror as Minik visits the Museum of Natural History Lost Executioner (The): A Journey to the Heart of the Killing Fields (Nic and learns the true fate of his father. The next time you visit a museum, will you Dunlop, 2006) [Dunlop’s] visceral account of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge and the wonder about the exhibits and the dark price sometimes paid to extend our under- regime’s chief executioner, Comrade Duch.* standing of ourselves and our world?* Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig (Jonathan Eig, 2005) Lou Goya (Robert Hughes, 2003) Hughes brings eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Gehrig famously announced to the world at his 1938 Yankee Stadium tribute that Madrid to dynamic life and insightfully dissects every aspect of Goya’s ever- he was “the luckiest man in the world.” Not so. He was dying in his late thirties evolving paintings and etchings, indelible works that grew steadily darker, more from ALS, a disease that remains incurable to this day. He was not particularly disturbing, and increasingly radical in their indictment of injustice and violence.* colorful or quotable, especially compared with [Babe] Ruth; he was just a very good baseball player and a pretty nice guy, just what we would all like our heroes Grant and Sherman: The Friendship That Won the Civil War (Charles to be. Eig does a wonderful job of adding a third dimension – heart – to our Bracelen Flood, 2005) The story seems like a fairy tale: two men who were understanding of a legendary ballplayer…* remarkable failures as civilians use their West Point backgrounds to rejoin the army during the American Civil War. They steadily rise to the highest ranks and Moving Violations: War Zones, Wheelchairs, and Declarations of lead the North to victory over the secessionist South, becoming friends in the Independence (John Hockenberry, 1995) Journalist Hockenberry is fearless and process. But that’s exactly what happened.* funny as he relates the personal and professional experiences he encounters from his wheelchair.* Gum-Dipped: A Daughter Remembers Rubber Town (Joyce Dyer, 2003) Dyer’s memoir reads like a novel and builds to a surprising, but magnificent ending. A Nicholas and Alexandra (Robert K. Massie, 1967) At the brink of revolution, tribute to her father, Dyer captures life in the company town of Akron, Ohio, in the last Tsar of Russia and his family become victims of their own mismanage- the 1950s and ‘60s. ment and personal problems.*

Hole in My Life (Jack Gantos, 2002) Jack Gantos’ riveting memoir of the 15 Night (Elie Wiesel, 1960) This is Wiesel’s haunting and poignant memoir that months he spent as a young man in federal prison for drug smuggling is more details his survival as a teenager in the Nazi death camps. than a harrowing, scared-straight confession: it is a beautifully realized story about the making of a writer.*

46 47 Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books (Azar Nafisi, 2003) Nafisi, a for- Something for Everyone: Informational Titles for Teenagers mer English professor at the University of Tehran, decided to hold secret, private classes at her home after the rules at the university became too restrictive. She Bad Leadership: What It Is, How It Happens, and Why It Matters (Barbara invited seven insightful, talented women to participate in the class. At first they Kellerman, 2004) Harvard lecturer Kellerman’s book argues cogently, com- were tentative and reserved, but gradually they bonded over discussions of pellingly, and with an amazing clarity for the identification of bad leadership and, Lolita, Pride and Prejudice, and A Thousand and One Nights. Nafisi’s determi- then, for its removal.* nation and devotion to literature shine through, and her book is an absorbing look at primarily Western classics through the eyes of women and men living in a very Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life (Anne Lamott, 1995) different culture.* Advice to the fledging writers: “Just take it bird by bird.” A gentle, anecdotal guide for beginning authors.* River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey (Candace Millard, 2003) A solid contribution to the biographies of Theodore Roosevelt, Millard’s Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (Malcolm Gladwell, 2004) gripping account of Roosevelt’s adventure on the River of Doubt, a tributary of [Gladwell] brilliantly illuminates an aspect of our mental lives that we utterly rely on the Amazon, that nearly resulted in his death is not to be missed. yet rarely analyze, namely our ability to make snap decisions or quick judgments.*

Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII (David Starkey, 2003) Divorced, behead- Cheating Culture (The) : Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get ed, died; divorced, beheaded, survived: these are the fates of the six wives of Ahead (David Callahan, 2004) Are Americans today cheating more than ever? England’s king Henry VIII, as taught to British schoolchildren in the form of a Callahan says “yes” as he examines the moral crisis in our country and corrup- rhyme. It is a perennially popular story for history buffs: how the great Tudor tion in all walks of life. A very readable and well-researched book about this king sought a male heir and went to such extremes as establishing his own state moral epidemic. religion to ensure the success of his marital plans. But Starkey’s account is no rehash…* Choosing Civility: The Twenty-five Rules of Considerate Conduct (P.M. Forni, 2002) In a world where civility seems to be diminishing, Forni offers some basic Unbowed (Wangari Maathai, 2006) Nobel Peace Prize winner Maathai tells the rules of thoughtful, compassionate behavior and common decency. unforgettable story of her Kenya girlhood, struggles as a biologist and professor, and founding the Green Belt Movement to restore Kenya’s decimated forests and Courage to be Yourself (The): True Stories by Teens about Cliques, Conflicts, provide women with work.* and Overcoming Peer Pressure (Al Dessetta [ed.], 2005) Teens tell their per- sonal stories about facing some of life’s challenges. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (Jung Chang, 2003) This is the true story of how three generations of women in the author’s family fared in the polit- Damned Lies and Statistics: Untangling Numbers from the Media, Politicians, ical turbulence in China in the 20th century. Shocking, illuminating, and unset- and Activists (Joel Best, 2001) Do you know the difference between “good” and tling, this book provides an insider’s look that the reader will not forget. “bad” statistics or how statistics and public policy are connected?*

Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare (Stephen Greenblatt, Dinner at the New Gene Café: How Genetic Engineering Is Changing What 2004) A Harvard scholar here sheds penetrating light on this enigmatic genius, We Eat, How We Live, and the Global Politics of Food (Bill Lambrecht, 2001) teasing out the mystery of artistic transformation by carefully connecting the Lambrecht traces the scientific and political controversies surrounding the use of Bard’s brilliant verse to his times and circumstances.* genetically modified organisms and the food we eat.*

Encyclopedia of Acting Techniques (John Perry, 1997) The actor’s life—see how it’s done by the pros in this extravagantly illustrated primer on dramatic per- formance.*

48 49 Exploring World Art (Andrea Belloni, 1999) Take a fresh look at Western What are My Rights?: 95 Questions and Answers About Teens and the Law European art in a global context and discover the ways in which artists of differ- (Thomas A. Jacobs, 1997) In clear, everyday language, with just a sprinkling of ent times and cultures express universal themes.* legal terms, Jacobs presents useful guidelines and background on a variety of topically organized concerns related to teens’ rights within the family, at school, Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World (Greg on the job, in the community, and within the legal system itself…* Critser, 2004) Sixty percent of Americans are now overweight. Critser looks at the social and economic factors making us fat and offers some solutions to Without Reserve (James Gramentine [ed.], 2005) This 52-essay compilation reverse the trend. written by WRA alumni offers a rich history of Reserve over 50 years. From sto- ries of infamous pranks to profiles on inspiring faculty masters, this book truly Gatekeepers (The): Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College embodies the spirit of all that is Western Reserve Academy. (Jacques Steinberg, 2002) Getting in—who and what drives the college admis- sions cycle? Find out in a behind the scenes look at Wesleyan University through Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook (The): Life (Joshua Piven and David the eyes of an admissions officer seeking members for the class of 2004. Borgenicht, 2006) The latest guide in this series, check out how to handle life’s everyday mishaps. Look for other Survival handbooks including Travel, Extreme How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Edition, and The Worst Case Scenario Book of Survival Questions. Reading Between the Lines (Thomas Foster, 2003) Every author leaves clues to lead readers deeper into the inner meanings of their writings. Learn how to fol- Poetry, Anyone? low literary breadcrumbs in any story.* 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East (Naomi Shihab Nye, 2002) If It’s Purple, Someone’s Gonna Die: The Power of Color in Visual Another world, another culture—poems that personalize the conflicts and peo- Storytelling (Patti Bellantoni, 2005) The author presents a different way of look- ple, deepening understanding of the impact of Sept. 11th.* ing at movies, through the lens of color. She explains through examples from many different movies the power of reds, the corruption of some greens, and the Ariel (Sylvia Plath, 1965) An insightful collection of poems by the acclaimed poet. melancholy of blues.* Best Poems of the English Language (The): From Chaucer to Frost (Harold Little Green Handbook (The): Seven Trends Shaping the Future of Our Planet Bloom [ed.], 2004) A massive collection of the best of 108 British and American (Ron Nielsen, 2006) Neilson examines the major global developments impacting poets writing in English from Chaucer through Robert Frost… Bloom analyzes the planet today and how they affect our world tomorrow. the aesthetics of poetry and what poetry does for us and explains what he believes makes one poem better than another… He also provides illuminating Modern Mind (The): An Intellectual History of the 20th Century (Peter assessments of each poet.* Watson, 2001) Explore the thoughts of major players from Freud to Einstein and events from Kitty Hawk to the distant reaches of the universe.* Body Eclectic (The): An Anthology of Poems (Patrice Vecchione [ed.], 2002) Hand, blood, elbow, breast—this international anthology celebrates the body in Primal Teen (The): What the New Discoveries About the Teenage Brain Tell raw, beautiful poems by contemporary and classic poets.* Us About Our Kids (Barbara Strauch, 2004) Read the latest scientific studies about the development of the teenage brain and its critical growth during ado- Earth-Shattering Poems (Liz Rosenberg [ed.], 1998) Poets from around the world lescence which dispels a lot of what scientists had traditionally believed. and through the centuries express the emotional intensity of life’s experiences.*

Tracing Your Family History: The Complete Guide to Locating Your Ancestors Heart to Heart: New Poems Inspired by Twentieth Century American Art (Jan and Finding Out Where You Came From (Lisa Hull, 2006) Hull offers an Greenberg [ed.], 2001) Specially commissioned, original poems celebrate some organized approach for beginning and experienced genealogists. of the finest twentieth-century American art in this beautiful, surprising volume.*

50 51 In Search of Color Everywhere: A Collection of African-American Poetry Unsettling America: An Anthology of Contemporary Multicultural Poetry (Ethelbert E. Miller [ed.], 1994) From spirituals to rap to classic works by (Maria M. Gillan [ed.], 1994) This poetry feast challenges stereotypes about who famous poets, this presentation delights the senses.* or what is American.*

Isn’t It Romantic: 100 Love Poems by Younger American Poets (Brett Fletcher You Drive Me Crazy: Love Poems for Real Life (Mary Esselman and Elizabeth Lauer [ed.], 2004) A fresh and much-needed collection of love poems written by Velez [ed.], 2005) Editors Esselman and Velez showcase the phases of love, a 100 outstanding American poets born after 1960.* subject that has long inspired, redeemed, frustrated, and obsessed us... Timid poetry readers should feel comfortable here, discovering poems that not only Movin’: Teen Poets Take Voice (Dave Johnson [ed.], 2000) Budding poets will relate to what the average person experiences in love but that are expressed in be inspired by this collection of poems by teenagers.* accessible, lively language.*

Poems from Homeroom: A Writer’s Place to Start (Kathi Applet, 2002) In addi- *These annotations have been reproduced from the American Library tion to offering a variety of poems about individual longing, Applet offers stu- Association’s World Wide Website. Copyright 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, dents a guide for writing poetry for beginning poets. 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 American Library Association.

Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Being Young and Latino in the United The American Library Association is providing information and services on the States (Lori Carlson [ed.], 2006) Carlson follows up Cool Salsa (1994) with World Wide Web in furtherance of its non-profit and tax-exempt status. another bilingual collection of poems that appear in both Spanish and English. Permission to use, copy and distribute documents delivered from this World Wide Included are many well-known writers, such as Gary Soto and Luis J. Rodriguez, Web server and related graphics is hereby granted for private, non-commercial who appeared in the first volume, as well as emerging poets.* and education purposes only, and not for resale, provided that the above copy- right notice appears in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this School Among the Ruins (The): Poems 2000-2004 (Adrienne Rich, 2004) Rich, permission notice appear. All other rights reserved. a clarion poet of conscience, gets the fractured timbre of our times just right in a collection of vigorous lyric poems about cell phones and television, terror and **Thanks to Mrs. Breuker and her biology students for providing these book war, commercialization and “social impotence.”* reviews. The reviews have been edited for this booklet.

Spoken Word Revolution: Slam, Hip-Hop, and the Poetry of a New Generation (The) (Marc Smith and Mark Eleveld [ed.], 2003) This vibrant collection of spo- ken-word poetry captures the raw street-savvy language of rap and hip-hop and the aggressive energy of slam poems, as well as other poetry, all meant to be read out loud. A welcome anthology that reflects a growing movement with a large youth following.*

Things I Have to Tell You: Poems and Writing by Teenage Girls (Betty Franco [ed.], 2001) A companion to You Hear Me (2000), this collection of stories and poems by teen girls reveals the truth about boyfriends, body image, and being female.*

United States of Poetry (The) (Joshua Blum [ed.], 1996) Contemporary poems enhanced by outstanding photographs highlight poets ranging from Nobel laure- ates to rappers.*

52 53 Looking for A Good Book? Some Websites to Help You National Book Critics Circle: Awards (http://www.bookcritics.org/?go=awards) Prestigious awards given for the year’s Below are some websites that offer recommended books in a number of best books in five categories: fiction, general nonfiction, criticism, poetry and categories. While by no means all-inclusive, we hope to give you some useful biography/autobiography. suggestions of where to start looking… Overbooked: A Resource for Readers AllReaders.com (http://www.overbooked.org) Specializes in providing timely information about (http://allreaders.com) Look for books by plot, theme, character or setting. Book fiction (all genres) and readable nonfiction. It is a non-profit volunteer project reviews are also available. and a by-product of the work of the Chesterfield County (Va.) Public Library’s Collection Management department. American Library Association (ALA) – Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) Pulitzer Prizes (http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/yalsa.htm) A division of the American Library (http://www.pulitzer.org) Select any year to view the annual awards for distin- Association (ALA), YALSA offers a selection of booklists for people of all ages. guished writing by The Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University. Simply click on “Booklists & Book Awards” for links to several excellent lists for teenagers including Best Books for Young Adults and Outstanding Books for Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Inc. the College Bound. (http://www.sfwa.org) Look for the Nebula Awards for excellence in science fiction and fantasy writing. Bookwire: Book Awards (http://www.bookwire.com/bookwire/otherbooks/Book-Awards.html) This Western Writers of America Spur Awards website offers links to a wide variety of book awards. (http://www.slco.lib.ut.us/spur.htm) Here are the annual awards for distinguished writing about the American West. Edgar Awards (http://www.mysterywriters.org/pages/awards/index.htm) Link to the annual Edgar Allan Poe Awards given by the Mystery Writers of America for writing achievement in the mystery field.

Horror Writers Association (http://www.horror.org) Look under “Awards” for a variety of awards presented by the Horror Writers Association including the annual Bram Stoker Awards for achievement in horror writing.

Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize (http://www.kiriyamaprize.org) Under “Winners & Finalists,” look for the annual awards given to “books that will contribute to greater understanding among peoples and nations of the Pacific Rim.”

National Book Awards (http://www.nationalbook.org/index.html) Click on “National Book Awards” to find the annual awards presented by the National Book Foundation for literary achieve- ment in four categories: fiction, non-fiction, poetry and young people’s literature.

54 55 Title Index Cheating Culture (The): Why More Daughter of the Ganges: A Americans Are Doing Wrong to Memoir, 22 1776, 38 Big Cherry Holler, 2 Get Ahead, 49 D-Day: June 6, 1945: The Climactic 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Big Stone Gap Trilogy, 2 Chinese Cinderella: The True Story Battle of World War II, 39 Middle East, 51 Big Stone Gap, 2 of an Unwanted Daughter, 22 D-Day: The Greatest Invasion, 15 1984, 1 Bird by Bird: Instructions on Choosing Civility: The Twenty-Five David Copperfield, 3 Abhorsen Trilogy (The), 1 Writing and Life, 49 Rules of Considerate Conduct, 49 Death Be Not Proud, 3 Abhorsen, 1 Birds of Prey, 2 Code Talker: A Novel About the Demon in the Freezer (The): A True Abundance of Katherines (An), 25 Birth of Venus (The), 26 Navajo Marines of World Story, 15 Age of Innocence (The), 25 Black Green Swan, 2 War II, 3 Demon Under the Microscope (The): Alexander Hamilton, 45 Black Juice, 2 Collapse: How Societies Choose to From Battlefield Hospitals to Nazi All Creatures Great and Small, 22 Blackstone Book of Magic & Fail or Succeed, 39 Labs, One Doctor’s Heroic Search All Quiet on the Western Front, 1 Illusion (The), 14 Color of the Sea, 27 for the World’s First Miracle Amber Spyglass (The), 30 Bless Me, Ultima, 2 Columbus in the Americas, 39 Drug, 39 American Born Chinese, 25 Blink: The Power of Thinking Come Back to Afghanistan: A Digging to America, 28 American Insurrection (An): The Without Thinking, 49 California Teenager’s Story, 15 Dinner at the New Gene Café: How Battle of Oxford, Mississippi, Blue Girl (The), 26 Complete Stories (The), 27 Genetic Engineering is Changing 1962, 14 Blue Sky: A Novel, 2 Confederacy of Dunces (A), 27 What We Eat, How We Live, and Amy, 26 Body Eclectic (The): An Anthology Confidential Agent (The), 27 the Global Politics of Food, 49 Anahita’s Woven Riddle, 1 of Poems, 51 Constant Gardener (The), 27 Disco for the Departed, 28 Ancient Olympics (The), 14 Book of Honor (the): Covert Lives Copper Sun, 27 Distant Mirror (A): The Calamitous And Still We Rise: The Trials and and Classified Deaths at Cotton, 27 14th Century, 39 Triumphs of Twelve Gifted Inner- the CIA, 38 Courage to be Yourself (The): True Dream (The): Martin Luther King, City High School Students, 14 Book of Life: An Illustrated History Stories by Teens about Cliuquies, Jr., and the Speech that Inspired a Angelmonster, 26 of the Evolution of Life on Conflicts, and Overcoming Peer Nation, 46 Anna Karenina, 26 Earth, 5 Pressure, 49 Dream Duet (The), 4 Ark Angel: An Alex Rider Book Thief (The), 26 Crooked River Burning, 27 Dreamhunter, 4 Adventure, 1 Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Crossing Over: A Mexican Family Dreamquake, 4 Ariel, 51 Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic on the Migrant Trail, 15 Dreams from My Father: A Story of Ask Me No Questions, 1 Savant, 46 Cross-X: A Turbulent, Triumphant Race and Inheritance, 40 Astonishing Life of Octavian Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky Season with an Inner-City Debate Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, 28 Nothing (The): Traitor to the (The), 38 Squad, 39 Eagle Blue: A Team, a Tribe, and a Nation, v.1: The Pox Party, 1 Brave Companions: Portraits in Cry the Beloved Country, 28 High School Basketball Team in Atom: An Odyssey from the Big History, 22 Curious Incident of the Dog in the Arctic Alaska, 15 Bang to Life of Earth…and Bucking the Sarge, 2 Night-Time (The), 3 Earthly Knight (An), 4 Beyond, 38 Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, 38 Damned Lies and Statistics: Earth-Shattering Poems, 51 Bad Leadership: What It Is, How It Cairo Trilogy (The), 26 Understanding Numbers from the Egg On Three Sticks (An), 4 Happens, and Why It Matters, 49 Can’t Get There From Here, 26 Media, Politicians, and Activists, Einstein’s Dream, 28 Barefootin’: Life Lessons on the Candyfreak: A Journey Through the 49 Eldest, 4 Road to Freedom, 38 Chocolate Underbelly of Daniel Half Human: And the Good Encyclopedia of Acting Bee Season, 2 America, 38 Nazi, 3 Techniques, 49 Best Poems of the English Language Caramelo, 3 Darling (The), 28 (The): From Chaucer to Frost, 51 Catch-22, 26 Darwin’s Ghost, 11

56 57 Endurance (The): Shackleton’s Ghost Soldiers: The Forgotten Epic Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Innocent Man (The): Murder and Legendary Antarctic Story of World War II’s Most Shadow, 16 Injustice in a Small Town, 41 Expedition, 15 Dramatic Mission, 40 Hole in My Life, 46 Insect Lives: Stories of Mystery and Eureka! Scientific Breakthroughs Ginger Man (The), 29 How to Read Literature Like a Romance from a Hidden That Changed the World, 15 Girls (The), 6 Professor: A Lively and World, 16 Everest: Summit of Achievement, 15 Give Me My Father’s Body: The Entertaining Guide to Reading Inventing Modern America: From Every Man for Himself: Ten Short Life of Minik, the New York Between the Lines, 50 the Microwave to the Mouse, 16 Stories About Being a Guy, 29 Eskimo, 46 Human Story (The): Our Evolution Invisible Allies: Microbes that Shape Exploring World Art, 50 Go and Come Back, 6 from Prehistoric Ancestors to Our Lives, 18 Eyes of the Emperor, 4 Golden Compass (The), 30 Today, 17 Isle of Stone (The): A Novel of Fahrenheit 451, 4 Good Soldier (The): A Tale of Hunger of Memory: The Education Ancient Sparta, 31 Fairest, 4 Passion, 29 of Richard Rodriguez: An Isn’t It Romantic: 100 Love Poems Far Traveler, 4 Gone to New York: Adventures in Autobiography, 22 by Younger American Poets, 52 Farewell to Arms (A), 29 the City, 16 I Am the Messenger, 30 Jane Goodall: The Woman Who Farming of Bones (The), 29 Gothic: Ten Original Dark Tales, 6 I, Claudius: From the Redefined Man, 47 Farthing, 29 Goya, 46 Autobiography of Tiberius Jefferson’s Children: the Story of Fat Land: How Americans Became Grab On to Me Tightly As If I Knew Claudius, Born 10 B.C., One American Family, 41 the Fattest People in the the Way, 30 Murdered and Deified A.D. 54, 30 John Adams, 47 World, 50 Grant and Sherman: The Friendship If It’s Purple, Someone’s Gonna Journey of Crazy Horse (The): A Feed, 29 that Won the Civil War, 46 Die: The Power of Color in Visual Lakota History, 24 Firebirds Rising: An Anthology of Great Shame (The): And the Storytelling, 50 Journey Toward Freedom: The Story Original Science Fiction and Triumph of the Irish in the Iliad (The), 30 of Sojourner Truth, 24 Fantasy, 4 English-Speaking World, 40 Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Jungle (The): The Uncensored Fire-Eaters (The), 6 Growing Up, 22 Rome, 7 Original Edition, 41 Flags of Our Fathers, 40 Guinea Pig Scientists: Bold Self- Incantation, 7 Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Forest Lover (The), 6 Experimenters in Science and In Code: A Mathematical Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Forgotten Fire, 6 Medicine, 16 Journey, 22 Apartheid South Africa, 24 Foundation and Empire, 6 Gulliver’s Travels, 7 In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Kafka on the Shore, 31 Foundation Series (The), 6 Gum-Dipped: A Daughter Multiple Murder and Its Keturah and Lord Death, 7 Foundation, 6 Remembers Rubber Town, 46 Consequences, 41 Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow, 7 Foxmask, 6 Harrowing the Dragon, 7 In Search of Color Everywhere: A Killing Mr. Griffin, 7 Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Heart to Heart: New Poems Inspired Collection of African-American Kitchen Boy (The), 31 Wonders, 29 by Twentieth Century American Poetry, 52 Kite Runner (The), 31 Frankenstein, 6 Art, 51 In the Heart of the Sea: The Krakatoa: The Day the World Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Heartless Stone (The): A Journey Tragedy of the Whaleship Exploded: August 27, 1883, 41 Team, and a Dream, 16 Through the World of Diamonds, Essex, 16 Last Breath: Cautionary Tales from Future of Ice (The): A Journey into Deceit, and Desire, 40 Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Limits of Human Cold, 40 Heroes, 7 the Americas Transformed the Endurance, 41 Gang of One: Memoirs of a Red Hiroshima, 40 World, 16 Let It Be Morning, 31 Guard, 22 His Dark Materials Trilogy, 30 Inexcusable, 30 Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX, Gatekeepers (The): Inside the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Infidels: A History of the Conflict the Law That Changed the Future Admissions Process of a Premier (The), 30 Between Islam and of Girls in America, 18 College, 50 Christendom, 41

58 59 Life All Around Me by Ellen Foster Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on Palace Walk, 26 Riding the Bus with My Sister: A (The), 7 the Mountain and My Journey Pearl (The), 9 True Life Journey, 19 Light at the Edge of the World: A Home to My Father, 18 Play It Again: Baseball Experts on River of Doubt:Theodore Roosevelt’s Journey Through the Realm of Modern Mind (The): An Intellectual What Might Have Been, 43 Darkest Journey, 48 Vanishing Cultures, 18 History of the 20th Century, 50 Player (The): Christy Mathewson, Roman Revolution (The), 43 Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Molecular Embryology: How Baseball, and the American Romance of Tristan and Iseult, 33 Growing Up Iranian in America Molecules Gave Birth to Century, 24 Rubicon: The Last Years of the and American in Iran, 47 Animals, 23 Plot Against America (The), 32 Roman Republic, 19 Lirael, 1 Monster, 9 Poems from Homeroom: A Writer’s Sabriel, 1 Little Ice Age (The): How Climate Movin’: Teen Poets Take Voice, 52 Place to Start, 52 Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection, 33 Made History, 1300-1850, 42 Moving Violations: War Zones, Poison, 9 Samurai Shortstop, 10 Little Green Handbook (The): Seven Wheelchairs, and Declarations of Polar Shift: A Novel from the Sarah, 10 Trends Shaping the Future of Our Independence, 47 NUMA Files, 33 Savage Summit: The True Stories of Planet, 50 My Sister’s Keeper, 9 Pompeii, 33 the First Five Women Who Looking for Alaska, 9 Namesake (The), 32 Primal Teen (The): What the New Climbed K2, the World’s Most Lords of Discipline (The), 9 Never Let Me Go, 32 Discoveries about the Teenage Feared Mountain, 19 Lords of the North (The), 31 Nicholas and Alexandra, 47 Brain Tell Us About Our Kids, 50 Saving Francesca, 10 Lost Executioner (The): A Journey Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting Private Peaceful, 10 School Among the Ruins (The): to the Heart of the Killing By in America, 42 Prodigal Summer, 33 Poems 2000-2004, 52 Fields, 47 Night, 47 Promise (The), 10 Second Foundation, 6 Louis Armstrong’s New Orleans, 42 Old Man and the Sea, 32 Pyongyang: A Journey in North Secret River (The), 33 Love and Sex: Ten Stories of Old School, 9 Korea, 19 Sense of Honor (A), 34 Truth, 31 Omnivore’s Dilemma (The): A Quiver, 10 Sense of the World (A): How a Blind Luckiest Man: The Life and Death Natural History of Four Radioactive Boy Scout (The): The Man Became History’s Greatest of Lou Gehrig, 47 Meals, 42 True Story of a Boy and His Traveler, 24 Madame Curie, 24 On the Road, 32 Backyard Nuclear Reactor, 43 Seven Daughters of Eve (The): The Marley and Me: Life and Love with On the Water: Discovering America Raptor Red, 10 Science that Reveals Our Genetic the World’s Worst Dog, 24 in a Rowboat, 18 Rats: Observations on the History Ancestry, 43 Maximum Ride: School’s Out On Wings of Joy: The Story of Ballet and Habitat of the City’s Most Shadow Divers: The True Adventure Forever, 9 from the 16th Century to Unwanted Inhabitants, 19 of Two Americans Who Risked Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Today, 18 Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir Everything to Solve One of the Community, and War, 42 One Planet: A Celebration of in Books, 48 Last Mysteries of World War Men of Salt: Crossing the Sahara on Biodiversity, 42 Rebecca, 33 II, 43 the Caravan of White Gold, 18 One with Ninevah: Politics, Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Shadow of the Wind (The), 34 Messenger (The), 32 Consumption, and the Human Being Young and Latino in the Shame of a Nation (The): The Meteor Hunt (The): The First Future, 43 United States, 52 Restoration of Apartheid English Translation of Verne’s Outwitting History: The Amazing Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Schooling in America, 44 Original Manuscript, 9 Adventures of a Man Who Cultural Revolution, 24 Sharing Sam, 10 Midnight at the Dragon Café, 32 Rescued a Million Yiddish Red Sea, 10 Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Midnight’s Children, 32 Books, 19 Remembering the Boys: A Collection Sea, 20 Milk Glass Moon, 2 Over a Thousand Hills I Walk with of Letters, A Gathering of Shooting Under Fire: The World of You, 9 Memories, 43 the War Photographer, 20 Palace of Desire, 26

60 61 Short History of Nearly Everything Tell Them I Didn’t Cry: A Young War is a Force That Gives Us Yossel, April 19, 1943: A Story of the (A), 44 Journalist’s Story of Joy, Loss, Meaning, 45 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, 14 Shylock’s Daughter, 12 and Survival in Iraq, 44 War Letters: Extraordinary You Can’t Go Home Again, 14 Sign of the Qin: Outlaws of Terror of the Spanish Main: Sir Correspondence from American You Drive Me Crazy: Love Poems Moonshadow Marsh, 12 Henry Morgan and His Wars, 45 for Real Life, 53 Simple Courage: A True Story of Buccaneers, 25 War Like No Other (A): How the Peril on the Sea, 20 Terrorist, 35 Athenians and Spartans Fought Six Wives: The Queens of Henry Their Eyes Were Watching God, 35 the Peloponnesian War, 45 VIII, 48 There Are No Children Here: The War Trash, 37 Slaughterhouse Five, 34 Story of Two Boys Growing Up in Warriors Don’t Cry: A Searing Smoke and Ashes: The Story of the the Other America, 44 Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Holocaust, 20 Things I Have to Tell You: Poems Little Rock’s Central High, 25 Something Rotten, 12 and Writing by Teenage Girls, 52 Washington’s Crossing, 45 Songs of the Kings (The), 34 Thinner Than Thou, 35 Water Dancers (The), 13 Sound and the Fury (The), 34 Thirteenth Tale (The), 35 Water for Elephants, 37 Spare Parts: A Marine Reservist’s This Boy’s Life: A Memoir, 25 What Are My Rights?: 95 Questions Journey from Campus to Combat Three Musketeers (The), 12 and Answers About Teens and the in 38 Days, 44 Ticket Out (The): Darryl Strawberry Law, 51 Speak Truth to Power: Human and the Boys of Crenshaw, 44 What is the What: The Rights Defenders Who Are Time Capsule, 12 Autobiography of Valentino Changing Our World, 20 Time Traveler’s Wife (The), 35 Achak Deng, 37 Spoken Word Revolution (The): Tracing Your Family History: The When I Was A Soldier: A Memoir, 25 Slam, Hip-Hop, and the Poetry of Complete Guide to Locating Your When the Emperor Was Divine, 13 a New Generation, 52 Ancestors and Finding Out Where Whistling Season (The), 13 Step from Heaven (A), 12 You Came From, 50 White Fang, 13 Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Troy, 35 White Teeth, 37 Cadavers, 20 True Notebooks, 45 Wild Swans: Three Daughters of Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Truth and Bright Water, 12 China, 48 Desert Jail, 25 Turn of the Screw (The), 35 Will in the World: How Shakespeare Stone Heart: A Novel of Uglies, 13 Became Shakespeare, 48 Sacajawea, 34 Ulysses, 35 Witch Hunt: Mysteries Of the Salem Stories that Changed America: Unbowed, 48 Witch Trials, 20 Muckrakers of the 20th Under the Feet of Jesus, 13 Without Reserve, 51 Century, 44 Under the Persimmon Tree, 13 Working Fire: The Making of an Subtle Knife (The), 30 United States of Poetry (The), 52 Accidental Fireman, 22 Sugar Alley, 26 Universe in a Nutshell (The), 45 World According to Garp (The), 37 Swallows of Kabul (The), 34 Unsettling America: An Anthology World is Flat (The) (Updated and Swimming to Antarctica: Tales of a of Contemporary Multicultural Expanded): A Brief History of the Long-Distance Swimmer, 20 Poetry, 53 Twenty-first Century, 45 Tales, 12 Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Worst Case Scenario Survival Talk Talk, 34 Green (The), 37 Handbook (The): Life, 51 Wapshot Chronicle (The), 37 Year of Secret Assignments (The), 14

62 63 Author Index Francis, Dick, 28 Herriot, James, 22 Lahiri, Jhumpa, 32 Franco, Betty, 52 Hershey, John, 40 Lambrecht, Bill, 49 Abelove, Joan, 6 Borgenicht, David, 51 Davis, Wade, 18 Frazier, Ian, 16 Hockenberry, John, 47 Lamott, Anne, 49 Adams, Douglas, 30 Boring, Mel, 16 De Lint, Charles, 26 Friedman, Thomas, 45 Hoffman, Alice, 7 Lanagan, Margo, 2 Akbar, Said Hyder, 15 Box, C. J., 3 Delany, Frank, 20 Gaiman, Neil, 29 Holland, Tom, 19 Lanier, Shannon, 41 Alexander, Caroline, 15 Boyle, T. C., 34 Delisle, Guy, 19 Gallo, Donald, 12 Homer, 30 Lansens, Lori, 6 Alexander, Robert, 31 Bradbury, Ray, 4 Dendy, Leslie, 16 Gamble, Terry, 13 Hooper, Mary, 26 Lansky, Aaron, 19 Almond, David, 6 Bradley, James, 40 Dessetta, Al, 49 Gantos, Jack, 46 Horowitz, Anthony, 1 Lauer, Brett Fletcher, Almond, Steve, 38 Braff, Joshua, 37 Diamond, Jared, 39 Garfunkel, Trudy, 18 Horvitz, Leslie, 15 52 Ambrose, Stephen, 39 Bresnahan, Jim, 43 Dickens, Charles, 3 Geras, Adele, 35 Hosseini, Khaled, 31 Le Carre, John, 27 Anaya, Rudolfo, 2 Brothers, Thomas, 42 D’Orso, Michael, 15 Gibbons, Kaye, 7 Howe, Peter, 20 Leavitt, Martine, 7 Anderson, Matthew T., Brown, David, 16 Doig, Ivan, 13 Gillan, Maria M., 53 Hoyt, Erich, 16 Levine, Gail Carson, 4 29 Brown, Dee, 38 Donleavy, J. P., 29 Gladwell, Malcolm, 49 Hughes, Robert, 46 Lightman, Alan, 28 Anderson, M. T., 1 Bruchac, Joseph, 3 Dornstein, Ken, 38 Glancy, Diane, 34 Hull, Lisa, 50 London, Jack, 13 Applegate, Katherine, Bryson, Bill, 44 Doyle, William, 14 Goldberg, Myla, 2 Hulot, Nicolas, 42 Lynch, Chris, 30 10 Budhos, Marina, 1 Draper, Sharon, 27 Gould, Stephen Jay, 5 Hurston, Zora Neale, 35 Maathai, Wangari, 48 Applet, Kathi, 52 Burton, Susan, 15 Du Maurier, Daphne, Grafton, Sue, 28 Irving, John, 37 Mah, Adeline Yen, 22 Aronson, Marc, 20 Callahan, David, 49 33 Gramentine, James, 51 Ishiguro, Kazuo, 32 Mahfouz, Naguib, 26 Asimov, Isaac, 6 Capote, Truman, 41 Dumas, Alexander, 12 Gratz, Alan M., 10 Jacobs, Thomas A., 51 Mankell, Henning, 28 Bagdasarian, Adam, 6 Card, Orson Scott, 10 Dunant, Sarah, 26 Graves, Robert, 30 James, Henry, 35 Marchetta, Melina, 10 Bakker, Robert T., 10 Carlson, Lori, 52 Duncan, Lois, 7 Green, John, 9, 25 Jansen, Hanna, 9 Marillier, Juliet, 6 Baker, Russell, 22 Cart, Michael, 31 Dunlop, Nic, 47 Greenberg, Jan, 51 Jensen, Carl, 44 Marrin, Albert, 25 Banks, Russell, 28 Chang, Jung, 48 Dyer, Joyce, 46 Greenblatt, Stephen, 48 Jiang, Ji-Li, 24 Marshall, III, Joseph Barr, Nevada, 28 Charles, Bryan, 30 Eggers, Dave, 37 Greene, Graham, 27 Jin, Ha, 37 M., 24 Barron, Stephanie, 28 Cheever, John, 37 Ehrenreich, Barbara, 42 Grenville, Kate, 33 Johnson, Dave, 52 Marston, Edward, 3 Barry, Michael, 23 Chernow, Ron, 45 Ehrlich, Anne, 43 Grisham, John, 41 Jones, Steve, 11 Martinez, Ruben, 15 Bartoletti, Susan Chotjewitz, David, 3 Ehrlich, Gretel, 40 Grogan, John, 24 Jordan, Jennifer, 19 Massie, Robert K., 47 Campbell, 16 Cisneros, Sandra, 3 Ehrlich, Paul, 43 Gruen, Sara, 37 Joyce, James, 35 Mathabane, Mark, 24 Bass, L. G., 12 Conroy, Pat, 9 Eig, Jonathan, 47 Guene, Faiza, 7 Kashua, Sayed, 31 McCall Smith, Bates, Judy Fong, 32 Cormier, Robert, 7 Eleveld, Mark, 52 Gunther, John, 3 Kellerman, Barbara, 49 Alexander, 3 Beals, Melba Pattilo, 25 Cornwell, Bernard, 31 Esselman, Mary, 53 Gup, Ted, 38 Kemprecos, Paul, 33 McCullough, David, 22, Bedier, Joseph, 33 Corwin, Miles, 14 Fagan, Brian, 42 Haddon, Mark, 3 Keneally, Thomas, 40 38, 47 Bellantoni, Patti, 50 Cotterill, Colin, 28 Farrell, Jeanette, 18 Hager, Thomas, 39 Kerouac, Jack, 32 McKillip, Patricia, 7 Belloni, Andrea, 50 Cox, Lynne, 20 Faulkner, William, 34 Hamamura, John, 27 Khadra, Yasmina, 34 McNaughton, Janet, 4 Benanav, Michael, 18 Critser, Greg, 50 Fforde, Jasper, 12 Hansen, Drew, 46 Kinder, Gary, 20 Mercado, Nancy, 29 Bennett, Veronica, 26 Cuomo, Kerry Fischer, David Hackett, Hanson, Victor, 45 King, Laurie R., 3 Millard, Candice, 48 Bernard, Jacqueline, 24 Kennedy, 20 45 Harper, Kenn, 46 King, Thomas, 12 Miller, Ethelbert E., 52 Best, Joel, 49 Curie, Eve, 24 Fischer, Jackie, 4 Harris, Robert, 7, 33 Kingsolver, Barbara, 33 Miller, Joe, 39 Bissinger, H. G., 16 Curtis, Christopher Fitoussi, Michele, 25 Hawking, Steven, 45 Knox, Elizabeth, 4 Miro, Asha, 22 Blackstone, Harry Jr., Paul, 2 Flannery, Sarah, 22 Heat-Moon, William Kotlowitz, Alex, 44 Mitchell, David, 2 14 Cussler, Clive, 33 Flood, Charles Least, 39 Kozol, Jonathan, 44 Moaveni, Azadeh, 47 Blackwell, Unita, 38 Danticat, Edwidge, 29 Bracelen, 46 Hedges, Chris, 45 Krauss, Lawrence M., Moriarty, Jaclyn, 14 Bloom, Harold, 51 Davidson, Diane Mott, Ford, Ford Madox, 29 Heller, Joseph, 26 38 Morpurgo, Michael, 10 Blum, Joshua, 52 3 Forni, P. M., 49 Hemingway, Ernest, 29, Kubert, Joe, 14 Murakami, Haruki, 31 Blumenthal, Karen, 18 Davis, Lindsey, 28 Foster, Thomas, 50 32 Kurson, Robert, 43 Myers, Walter Dean, 9

64 65 Na, An, 12 Rodriguez, Richard, 22 Toole, John Kennedy, Nicastro, Nicholas, 31 Rogasky, Barbara, 20 27 Nafisi, Azar, 48 Rosenberg, Liz, 51 Trigiani, Adriana, 2 Nielsen, Ron, 50 Roth, Philip, 32 Tschinag, Galsan, 2 Niffenegger, Audrey, 35 Royal Geographical Tuchman, Barbara, 39 Nix, Garth, 1 Society (The), 15 Tullson, Diane, 10 November, Sharyn, 4 Rushdie, Salman, 32 Turner, Megan Whalen, Noyes, Deborah, 6 Salisbury, Philip, 4 1 Nye, Naomi Shihab, 51 Salzman, Mark, 45 Tyler, Anne, 28 Obama, Barack, 40 Schultz, Ted, 16 Unger, Zac, 22 O’Connor, Flannery, 27 Seib, Philip M., 24 Updike, John, 35 Orwell, George, 1 Setterfield, Diane, 35 Unsworth, Barry, 34 Otsuka, Julie, 13 Shelley, Mary, 6 Van Der Vat, Dan, 15 Oufkir, Malika, 25 Shen, Fan, 22 Vecchione, Patrice, 51 Packer, Z. Z., 28 Sides, Hampton, 40 Velez, Elizabeth, 53 Paolini, Christopher, 4 Silva, Daniel, 32 Verne, Jules, 9 Parrado, Nando, 18 Silverstein, Ken, 43 Viramontes, Helena Parker, Robert B., 28 Simon, Rachel, 19 Maria, 13 Paton, Alan, 28 Sinclair, Upton, 41 Vonnegut, Jr., Kurt, 34 Patterson, James, 9 Sloan, Christopher, 17 Vreeland, Susan, 6 Perry, John, 49 Smith, Marc, 52 Walton, Jo, 29 Peters, Elizabeth, 3 Smith, Wilbur, 2 Watson, Peter, 50 Peters, Ellis, 3 Smith, Zadie, 37 Weatherford, Jack, 16 Peterson, Dale, 47 Sokolove, Michael, 44 Webb, James A., 34 Philbrick, Nathaniel, Spinner, Jacqueline, 44 Westerfeld, Scott, 13 16, 42 Spinner, Stephanie, 10 Wharton, Edith, 25 Picoult, Jodi, 9 Spivey, Nigel Jonathan, Wheatcroft, Andrew, 41 Piekutowski, Lynna, 43 14 Wiesel, Elie, 47 Piven, Joshua, 51 Staples, Suzanne Fisher, Williams, Buzz, 44 Plath, Sylvia, 51 13 Wilson, Christopher, 27 Poe, Edgar Allan, 12 Stark, Peter, 41 Winchester, Simon, 41 Pollan, Michael, 42 Starkey, David, 48 Winegardner, Mark, 27 Potok, Chaim, 10 Steinbeck, John, 9 Wolfe, Thomas, 14 Pressler, Mirjam, 12 Steinberg, Jacques, 50 Wolff, Tobias, 9, 25 Preston, Richard, 15 Stone, Nathaniel, 18 Womack, Steve, 28 Pullman, Philip, 30 Strasser, Todd, 26 Wooding, Chris, 9 Rause, Vince, 18 Strauch, Barbara, 50 Yang, Gene Luen, 25 Reed, Kit, 35 Sullivan, Robert, 19 Zafon, Carlos Ruiz, 34 Remarque, Erich Maria, Swift, Jonathan, 7 Zenatti, Valerie, 25 1 Sykes, Brian, 43 Zoellner, Tom, 40 Rich, Adrienne, 52 Syme, Ronald, 43 Zusak, Marcus, 26, 30 Compiled by: Jacque Miller & Roach, Mary, 20 Tammet, Daniel, 46 Holly Bunt, John D. Ong Library Roberts, Gillian, 3 Thomas, Will, 28 Design: Thomas Moore, Roberts, Jason, 24 Tingle, Rebecca, 4 Communications Office, Roberts, Les, 3 Tolstoy, Leo, 26 Western Reserve Academy Printing: Duke Printing & Mailing 66 John D. Ong Library 115 College Street Hudson, Ohio 44236 330.650.9730 www.wra.net