The story of young John Grady Cole, the last of a long line of Texas ranchers, who, along with two companions, sets off on an idyllic, sometimes comic adventure, to a place where dreams are paid for in blood.
World-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a mysterious symbol seared into the chest of a murder victim, where he discovers evidence of the resurgence of an ancient brotherhood with a vendetta against the Catholic Church. Recommended for mature readers.
A biography of guitarist Carlos Santana, discussing his childhood, his early interest in the guitar, his success with the Santana Blues Band in the 1960s, and his award-winning comeback in the 1990s.
Investigating the murder of a Louvre curator, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon and French cryptologist Sophie Neveu find clues painted into a Da Vinci work, inadvertently uncovering a plot involving the Holy Grail and the secret society known as the Priory of Sion. Recommended for mature readers. ONLY AVAILABLE IN HARDCOVER AT THIS TIME.
An orphaned boy in 1930s Appalachian Tennessee learns about his cultural heritage when he is adopted by his Native American grandparents and learns about prejudice when he is sent to a boarding school run by Whites.
Travis Roy recounts how his life has changed since a freak accident in 1995 in his first Boston University hockey game that left him paralyzed from the neck down.
The story of the fall of Troy, from the point of view of Kassandra, daughter of King Priam. A story of love and betrayal, wars and kings, gods and magic. From the author of The Mists of Avalon.
A bitter 83-year-old war veteran who believes his life is meaningless dies while trying to save a little girl's life and finds himself in heaven, where five people from his past--some loved ones, some strangers--explain what his years on Earth really meant, and whether or not he succeeded in saving the child. ONLY AVAILABLE IN HARDCOVER AT THIS TIME.
A fifteen-year-old drug user chronicles her daily struggle to escape the pull of the drug world. Recommended for mature readers.
Harry Potter, a fourth-year student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, longs to escape his hateful relatives, the Dursleys, and live as a normal 14-year-old wizard, but what Harry does not yet realize is that he is not a normal wizard, and in his case, different can be deadly.
Reading Level = Medium/Difficult.
The book takes the reader into the heat of battle--as seen through the eyes of the Green Berets on the ground. This is the story of how only a few hundred men, operating from a secret Special Forces base, changed the course of history and destroyed a hundred-thousand-man terrorist army in less than ninety days. Contains graphic violence. Recommended for mature readers.
As Hilary, a Neo-Nazi initiate, lies in a coma, she is transported back to Poland at the onset of World War II into the life of a Jewish teenager.
Tells the story of the Essex, a whaleship that set sail from Nantucket in 1819 on a routine voyage, and was rammed and sunk by an enraged whale in the South Pacific. The crew drifted for more than ninety days in three tiny whaleboats, succumbing to weather, hunger, disease, and ultimately turning to cannibalism in the fight for survival. Herman Melville�s Moby Dick is based upon this event.
Pi Patel, having spent an idyllic childhood in India, as the son of a zookeeper, sets off with his family at the age of sixteen to start anew in Canada, but his life takes a marvelous turn when their ship sinks in the Pacific, leaving his adrift on a raft with a 450-pound Bengal tiger for company.
New York senator and former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton reflects on her public and private lives, discussing her upbringing in suburban America in the 1950s, her political journey, her marriage and career, motherhood, and life in the White House.
All students must read at least one book. Read just one or the entire trilogy. You do not need to select one or more books at this time; just sign up for the trilogy and decide over the summer how far into the story you wish to venture.
1. Fellowship of the Ring - Frodo the hobbit and a band of warriors from the different kingdoms set out to destroy the Ring of Power before the evil Sauron grasps control.
2. Two Towers - Frodo and his companions have been beset by danger during the quest to prevent the Ruling Ring from falling into the hands of the Dark Lord. Gandalf has been lost in the Mines of Moria and the fellowship has been broken into two bands, one which heads towards Mordor and another that heads towards cities of man.
3. Return of the King - As the Shadow of Mordor grows, the companions find their way through danger and mystery as they defeat the Dark Lord and celebrate Aragorn's ascent to become King of the West.
The author tells of his experiences in five foster homes and juvenile detention, after he was taken away from his abusive mother and alcoholic father, and discusses how he made it into the Air Force, and found love and contentment in his life. Sequel to A Child Called "It". Contains some disturbing descriptions of the child abuse experienced by the author.
Reading Level = Medium.
Marla Runyan, who lost her vision as a child, tells of her lifelong love of sports, and discusses the challenges she faced on her way to becoming the first legally blind woman to compete in the Olympic Games, after qualifying as a runner in 2000. PAPERBACK EDITION IS OUT OF PRINT � BUY USED OR BORROW FROM LIBRARY.
Noah Calhoun, recently returned from World War II in 1946, buys an old plantation home in rural North Carolina, where he contents himself with memories of his first love, a girl he met fourteen years earlier, but then she unexpectedly arrives at his door.
Odd Thomas keeps his ability to speak with ghosts a secret from all but his girlfriend, Stormy, and the local police chief who he occasionally helps solve or prevent crime. However, his unusual talent leads him and his fellow citizens into big trouble when a strange man comes to town followed by a horde of borachs--ghostly harbingers of mayhem.
Reading Level = Medium/Difficult.
Describes how three men worked together to turn a rough-hewn, undersized horse into one of the fastest horses in racing history.
Fourteen-year-old Lily and her companion, Rosaleen, an African-American woman who has cared for Lily since her mother's death ten years earlier, flee their home after Rosaleen is victimized by racist police officers. They find a safe haven in Tiburon, South Carolina at the home of three beekeeping sisters, May, June and August.
Reading Level = Medium.
The pants were magic -- worn, thrift-shop jeans that made each of four best friends look absolutely fabulous. Obviously they were life-changing pants. Thus the plan: route them to each of the four at their various summer destinations, with appropriate rules attached, of course, and watch wonderful things happen.
A schoolgirl growing up in a small town in wartime Iraq enjoys the pleasures of provincial life in her father's native land, but is encouraged by her English mother to study Western culture which she finally gets to experience firsthand as an adult.
A traumatic event near the end of summer has a devastating effect on Melinda's freshman year in high school. Recommended for mature readers due to nature of event.
Katie, blissfully in love, is suddenly abandoned by the man who made her happy, left with only a diary written by a new mother named Suzanne for her infant son, Nicholas--and as she reads, Katie gains a new understanding of Matt, the man who left her. Recommended for mature readers due to emotional content.
Teewinot is a mountain in the Grand Tetons, a magnificent mountain range that appears to rise straight up out of the ground. Turner, who has lived in Grand Teton National Park for the past 16 years and works as a mountain guide in the summer months, shows the reader why the range is magnificent.
Relates the adventures of two creatures which have escaped form a secret, sinister government laboratory where experiments in genetic engineering are conducted.
This Oprah pick is the hilarious tale of teenager Novalee Nation, who sets out for a new life in California but finds herself stranded and pregnant in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Oklahoma. The eccentric inhabitants of the town pitch in to take care of Novalee in their own unusual ways.
When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil? This is the story of the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to be the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil. An astonishingly rich re-creation of the land of Oz, Wicked just might change the reputation of one of the most sinister characters in literature. Recommended for mature readers.
Tells the story of young drawing master Walter Hartright and the events that unfold after he encounters a mysterious apparition at one o'clock in the morning on a deserted London road. A gripping tale of murder, intrigue, madness, and mistaken identity, Collins's psychological thriller has never been out of print in the 140 years since its publication. Be sure to read the unabridged version.
All books can be purchased (online or at a local bookstore) or borrowed through
interlibrary loan from your local public library.