Summer Reading List
Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School
2009 - 2010
Attached is the summer reading list for the 2009 - 2010 school year. Some new titles have been included this year to include graphic novels as well as traditional works of fiction and non-fiction.
Students in grades 9-12 are allowed to choose ANY book from the list.
Please read the descriptions carefully, as some content lends itself to upper-classmen only.
Students taking Honors English next year are REQUIRED to read ONE FICTION and ONE NON-FICTION novel. (a total of two (2) books)
These books are available at local bookstores and local libraries. (Please call ahead, as some libraries have limited summer hours).
ASSESSMENT = 10% of first semester grade!
Students are REQUIRED to take notes as they read. Notes must be handwritten and include detailed chapter summaries on plot development, and character analysis. Recording the theme(s) of the book is also recommended.
In English class during the first week(s) of academics, students will review literary terms (such as: theme, plot, conflict, setting, characterization, etc.) and will be assigned an in-class assessment connecting these terms with the novel(s) they read.
The required handwritten notes will be used to complete the assessment and will be included in the final evaluation (typically worth 30 points of the final grade for summer reading).
*Denotes a new addition to this year's list.
#Denotes graphic novel selection.
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*# Abel, Jessica, Gabriel Soria and Warren Place
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Life Sucks When a Goth girl falls for a Dracula wannabe, what's a young vampire to do? (F) |
Alvarez, Julia
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How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent A coming of age story for 4 girls exiled from the Dominican Republic in New York. (NF)
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*Anderson, Laurie Halse
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Chains Slaves Isabel and younger sister Ruthie are sold to harsh Loyalists at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. Isabel must decide to be loyal or spy for the American patriots. (F)
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Anonymous
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Go Ask Alice A painful diary of a young girl when she falls into the drug scene. (NF)
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*Aronson, Marc and Campbell, Patty
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War Is . . . Soldiers, Survivors, and Storytellers Talk About War A balanced collection of contemporary and historical writings including interviews, stories, memoirs, and a mili-blog addresses the experience of enlisting, serving, and surviving war from a variety of perspectives. (NF)
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Bachman, Richard
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Long Walk Of 100 boys in a marathon walk, 99 will die, 1 will survive. (F)
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Bauer, Joan
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Rules of the Road A 17-year-old heads to Texas to prevent a company takeover. (F)
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Bechard, Margaret
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Hanging on to Max Sam learns how to be a teen parent while going to high school. (F)
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Bell, William
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Forbidden City: A Novel of Modern China A Canadian boy gets mixed up in a Chinese massacre. (F)
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Block, Francesca Lia
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Weetzie Bat Punk teens search for love in a modern fairytale. (F)
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Bloor, Edward
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Tangerine Paul just wants to play soccer at his new high school in Florida, despite his parents' indifference and his evil brother. (F) |
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Boas, Jacob
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We are Witnesses: The Diaries of Five Teenagers Who Die in the Holocaust The diaries of five teenagers in the Holocaust and their tragic, courageous stories. (NF)
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*Bradbury, Jennifer
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Shift Chris and Win take a bicycle trip across America after graduation, but only one returns and that person is pressured to reveal what happened. (F)
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Brooks, Polly Schoyer
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Beyond the Myth: The Story of Joan of Arc A young girl in France is condemned as a witch and leads her countrymen in their battle against the English. (NF)
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Brown, Dan
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Deception Point Uncovering evidence of scientific trickery, a dangerous deception. (F)
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Brown, Dan
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Digital Fortress Mathematician must break a code for the National Security Agency. (F)
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Caldwell, Ian
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Rule of Four Two people work to unlock a Renaissance text against a ticking clock. (F)
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*Caletti, Deb
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The Fortunes of Indigo Skye At 18, Indigo wants no more out of life than to be a waitress and give people food, until a customer gives her $2,500,000. Can she stand the changes? (F)
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Card, Orson, Scott
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Ender's Game Ender may be the military genius Earth needs in its war against an alien enemy. (F)
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*Cashore, Kristin
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Graceling Katsa was born with the ability to kill men with her bare hands but can she find moral courage to stand up to evil rulers and fight for what is right? (F)
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*# Clevinger, Brian and Steve Wegener
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Atomic Robo: Atomic Robo and the Fightin' Scientists of Tesladyne Atomic Robo fights nefarious creatures and mad scientists armed with banter, a strong heart, and a swell pair of jodhpurs. (F)
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Cormier, Robert
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Fade One boy in each generation inherits the power, and curse, of invisibility. (F)
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Cormier, Robert
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I am the Cheese Adam searches through haunting memories that must not be revealed if he is to survive. (F)
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Cox, Lynne
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Swimming to Antarctica The world's most extraordinary distance swimmer writes about her emotional and spiritual need to swim and the almost mystical act of swimming itself. (NF)
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Crutcher, Chris
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Chinese Handcuffs A winning tri-athlete's need to understand his older brother's suicide is complicated by his memories. (F) |
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Crutcher, Chris
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Running Loose A boy's senior year of high school is interrupted by dirty football, love, and death. (F) |
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Crutcher, Chris
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Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes Only Sarah's best friend can help her come to terms with life when her past is revealed. (F) |
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*de la Pena, Matt
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Mexican White Boy Half white, half Mexican and 100% confused, Danny struggles with baseball, his absent father and first love while spending the summer with his familia in San Diego. (F)
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Deuker, Carl
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On the Devil's Court Is one perfect basketball season worth selling your soul the devil? (F)
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Dickinson, Peter
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Eva After a violent auto accident, 13 year old Eva wakes up in a hospital to find she must learn how to live as a chimpanzee. (F)
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Donnelly, Jennifer
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A Northern Light Mattie's writing ability holds the key to unraveling a story of a girl's death and her beau's mysterious disappearance. (F) |
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Duncan, Lois
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Don't Look Behind You How can April give up everything she's ever known? (F) |
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Edelman, Bernard
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Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam Soldiers reveal their daily lives in ÔNam. (NF)
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Ellison, Ralph
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Invisible Man The story of a black man's experience in a white world. (NF) |
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Farmer, Nancy
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The Ear, the Eye, the Arm In 2194 the only detective team that can do the job are mutant partners, the Ear, the Eye, and the Arm. (F)
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*Fleischman, Sid
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The Trouble Begins at 8: A Life of Mark Twain in the Wild, Wild West Meet the young Samuel Clemens and the coast-to-coast experiences that molded American's most famed humorist and social commentator. (NF) |
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Garden, Nancy
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Annie on my Mind Two girls fall in love despite society's opinions. (F) |
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*Geerling, Marjetta
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Fancy White Trash Abby Savage is determined not to be like her mother and sisters – each became pregnant as teens – but her only confidant is Cody who has his own sexual issues. (F)
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Greenlaw, Linda
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The Hungry Ocean An account of a sword-fishing trip which proves that every successful voyage is a study in narrowly averted disaster. (NF)
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Griffin, John Howard
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Black Like Me A sociological experiment of a white man who transforms his skin to experience 1950's Southern America. (NF) |
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Hobbs, Will
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Downriver A gang of teens find themselves stranded in the whitewaters of the West. (F)
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Hopkins, Ellen
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Crank A girl's life is turned upside down when she gets turned on to the drug ÒcrankÓ and becomes addicted. (F) |
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Hosseini, Khaled
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A Thousand Splendid Suns A story of the unconquerable spirit of a people and individuals seen through the eyes of two indomitable women. (NF)
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*# Inoue, Takehiko
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Real, v.1. and/or Real, v.2. If basketball is the best game on two feet, imagine how great it is on wheels. (F)
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Janeczko, Paul B.
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Place my Words are Looking For: What Poets Say About and Through their Work Writers share insight into their crafts & lives of poetry. (NF)
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Jenkins, A.M.
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Out of Order A baseball star learns what's important in school & life. (F) |
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Johnson, Angela
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The First Part Last Bobby must learn to raise a child on his own. (F)
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*Katcher, Brian
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Playing with Matches Leon Sanders is a loser until an extremely disfigured girl makes him feel special. Should he stay with her or be lured away by the girl of his dreams? (F)
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Kerouac, Jack
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On the Road Cross-country quest for self-knowledge. (F)
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Kindl, Patrice
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Owl in Love A girl deals w/ issues of changing into an owl every night. (F)
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King, Stephen
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The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon A child gets separated from her family in the woods can can't fight off the moon's affects. (F) |
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Klass, David
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You Don't Know Me A teenage boy fights off abuse from his mother's boyfriend. (F) |
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Klause, Annette Curtis
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The Silver Kiss Zoe is put under a vampire's spell until he avenges a death. (F) |
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Koertge, Ron
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The Arizona Kid A sophomore matures one summer at the racetrack. (F)
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*Kuklin, Susan
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No Choirboy: Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row Inmates sentenced to death as teenagers give firsthand accounts of life on Death Row and relatives of both victims and prisoners share their experiences in this collection of interviews. (NF)
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Kurson, Robert
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Shadow Divers The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II. (NF)
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*# Landowne, Youme and Anthony Horton
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Pitch Black Art can survive even underground. (NF)
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Larson, Erik
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Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed the World A serial killer masquerades as a doctor in the Chicago's World's Fair.(NF) |
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*Link, Kelly
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Pretty Monsters From straight fantasy to magic realism to horror, this collection includes tales of magic libraries, wizards, and dead girls getting tattoos. (F)
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Magorian, Michelle
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Good Night, Mr. Tom A battered & frightened young boy is evacuated from London during WWII. (F)
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Maguire, Gregory
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Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister Everyone knows about Cinderella; this is the story from the sister's point of view. (F) |
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Maguire, Gregory
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Wicked The life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West. (F)
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*Marillier, Juliet
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Cybele's Secret Paula travels with her merchant father to Istanbul and discovers a world filled with eunuchs, pirates, dervishes, and an entrance into the Other Kingdom. (F)
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Marsden, John
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Tomorrow, When the War Began Australia has been invaded and Ellie must accept her new way of life. (F)
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Martel, Yann
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Life of Pi Redemptive story of a boy and a 450lb. tiger. (F)
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*Mazer, Norma Fox
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The Missing Girl The five Herbert sisters find their innocent lives exploding in emotional turmoil when one of the sisters is abducted and held captive by a truly creepy child predator. (F)
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McCaffrey, Anne
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Dragonsinger Fire lizards help a young woman with prejudice on the planet Pern. (F)
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McCall, Nathan
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Makes Me Wanna Holler: A Young Black Man in America An American dream journey from working class, to prison, to the Washington Post. (NF)
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McCourt, Frank
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Tis: A Memoir The riveting sequel to Angela's Ashes. (NF)
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McDonald, Joyce
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Swallowing Stones Desperation, guilt, and fear plague Michael' s dreams after a stray bullet from his rifle kills a man. (F) |
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*McNamee, Graham
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Bonechiller An ancient demon, intent on satisfying its hunger for human flesh, stalks Danny and his three friends in the brutal cold of backwoods Canada. (F)
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*Meyer, Stephanie
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The Host Set in a believable futuristic time when Earth and other worlds have been taken over by the ÒsoulsÓ, this is a story of love, betrayal and compassion. (F)
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Myers, Walter Dean
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Fallen Angels A young man learns about friendship as his comrades die in Vietnam. (F)
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Myers, Walter Dean
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Hoops The Harlem ghetto basketball team learn the fine art of playing. (F)
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Nafisi, Azar
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Reading Lolita in Tehran The story of Iran's revolution from the unusual vantage point of an Iranian-born, American-schooled instructor of English literature, in the revolutionary year of 1979. (NF)
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*Napoli, Donna Jo
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Hush: An Irish Princess' Tale Melkorka, a 10th century Irish princess, must adapt to a harsh new life after she is stolen from her home by Russian slavers. (F)
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Naylor, Clare & Mimi Hare
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The Second Assistant A boisterous tale of a girl working up from the bottom of the Hollywood ladder. (F)
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*Ness, Patrick
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The Knife of Never Letting Go Todd Hewitt is the last boy in a town of all men. In a town where everyone can hear each other's thoughts what kind of secrets can be kept? (F) |
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Nix, Garth
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Sabriel A girl makes a desperate quest through the Gates of Death to free her father from the spirits of the dead. (F)
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Nolan, Han
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If I Should Die Before I Wake A Neo-Nazi in a coma is brought back to WWII into the life of a Jewish teenager. (F)
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Nowlin, Bill & Dan Desrochers, ed.
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The 1967 Impossible Dream Red Sox How the 1967 Boston Red Sox overcame 100 to 1 odds to go from 9th place to winning the Pennant. (NF)
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O'Brien, Robert C. |
Z for Zachariah Two survivors are brought together in an atomic holocaust. (F)
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O' Brien, Tim |
Things They Carried A collection of short stories based on O'Brien's Vietnam experiences. (F) |
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Peck, Richard
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The River Between Us A Northern family learns what staying together means when slavery hits home. (F)
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Pirsig, Robert M.
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Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance A philosophical journey through values as a father and his son travel cross country. (NF)
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Plath, Silvia
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The Bell Jar Esther is aware of her descent into madness in one odd, sultry summer. (F)
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*Porcellion, John
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Thoreau at Walden Simply but beautifully illustrated, this adaptation of ÒWaldenÓ introduces new readers to Thoreau's work while providing fresh perspective for those already familiar with the text. (NF) |
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Pullman, Phillip
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The Ruby in the Smoke An orphan must find her way through a maze of 19th century villains to claim her independence. (F)
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Rilke, Ranier Maria
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Letters to a Young Poet Ten letters written to a young man about to enter the German military. (NF)
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Roach, Mary
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Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers A graphic examination of how dead bodies have been used throughout history. (NF)
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Rowling, J.K.
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows The last book in the series. (F)
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*Scott, Elizabeth
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Stealing Heaven Living by burglarizing expensive homes with her mother, Dani's friendship with another girl stalls when it becomes clear she lives in the house they are planning to rob next. (F)
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Sebold, Alice
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Lucky Sebold tells the story of her rape at age 18and the aftermath. (NF)
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Sedaris, David
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Me Talk Pretty One Day Sedaris is as determined as ever to be nobody's hero--he never triumphs, he never conquers--and somehow, with each failure, he inadvertently becomes everybody's favorite underdog. (NF)
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*Shields, Charles J.
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I Am Scout: The Biography of Harper Lee Curious about Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird? Finally her story is told; her childhood, success, seclusion and rejection of fame. (NF)
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Sittenfeld, Curtis
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Prep A country girl enters the world of a Boston Prep school. (F)
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Sleator, William
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House of Stairs Five Orphans find themselves in an experimental nightmare. (F)
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Sparks, Nicholas
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The Guardian young widow is ready to love again. (F)
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*# Steinberger, Aimee Major
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Japan Ai: A Tall Girl's Adventures in Japan An American otaku does Japan. (NF)
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Stoll, Cliff
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The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through a Maze of Computer Espionage A detective tracks the trail of a computer hacker. (NF)
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*#Tamaki, Mariko and Jillian Tamaki
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Skim Friendship, love, identity, and a general feeling of isolation in an all-girl private school contributes to Kim Cameron (Skim)'s growing depression. (F) |
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Twain, Mark
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Autobiography of Mark Twain Assorted tales from his past to ruminate on more profound aspects of life. (NF)
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Voigt, Cynthia
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Dicey's Song The sequel to Homecoming; Dicey learns her own place. (F)
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Voigt, Cynthia
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A Solitary Blue The 3rd book in the Tillerman series. (F)
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Voigt, Cynthia
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Runner Compromise is necessary if an athlete is going to be the best. (F)
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*Voorhees, Coert
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The Brothers Torres Frankie Torres (or Towers depending which side his heritage is viewed) narrates his coming-of-age story of falling for a girl as his idolized brother runs with a group of cholos. (F)
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Walker, Rebecca
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Black, White & Jewish The story of a child's unique struggle for identity and home when nothing in her world told her who she was or where she belonged. (NF)
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White, Robb
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Deathwatch A hunting expedition becomes a deathwatch in the desert. (F)
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*#Wilson, G. Willow and M. K. Perker
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Cairo In this modern fable, a stolen hookah unleashes a genie who changes five lives forever. (F)
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Wolfe, Tom
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Electric Kool Aid Acid Test The story of Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters as they drive across the country reaching what they considered to be personal and collective revelations through the use of LSD and other psychedelic drugs. (NF)
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Wolfe, Virginia Euwer
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Make Lemonade A high-schooler matures in her process of babysitting for an unwed, teenage mother of two children. (F)
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Wright, Richard
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Black Boy The story of troubled youth and race relations in the South. (NF)
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Yolen, Jane
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Briar Rose A blend of the tale ÒSleeping BeautyÓ with a young girl's experiences in the Holocaust. (F) |
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X, Malcolm
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Autobiography of Malcolm X The blistering honesty with which he recounts his transformation from a bitter, self-destructive petty criminal into an articulate political activist. (NF)
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The resource for many of the selections is: www.ala.org American Library Association