The Dalton School
7th-into-8th Grade
2006 Summer Reading List

Series Books | Fiction | Science Fiction | Fantasy
Biography and Memoirs | Short Stories and Poetry | Plays and Musicals

NEW FAVORITES

BARTOLETTI, SUSAN CAMPBELL
HITLER YOUTH
By weaving the stories of twelve young Germans into the larger fabric of Nazism, Bartoletti raises awareness of Hitler’s manipulations and offers readers an chance to consider how they might have acted in the same situation.

GREEN, JOHN
LOOKING FOR ALASKA
Sixteen-year-old Miles' first year at Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama includes good friends and great pranks. Miles goes there to look for the "great perhaps." But what fills his year with both ecstacy and despair is Alaska, the girl who seems so alive and vivacious and yet so vulnerable.

GRUBER, MICHAEL
THE WITCH’S BOY
Woven into many familiar fairy tales, a good witch will sacrifice anything to protect her ungrateful foundling child.

HOWE, JAMES
TOTALLY JOE
Even though Joe always knows that he is gay, the 8th grade journal assignment helps him to explore and express his growing self-awareness.

KUIJER, GUUS
BOOK OF EVERYTHING
Thomas has visions, of levitating chairs and other oddities, but the most vivid are the visits from Jesus. Thomas slowly gains confidence to combat his father’s abusive behaviors.

SATRAPI, MARJANE
PERSEPOLIS
Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi's wise, funny, and heartbreaking memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. It is presented in black-and-white comic strip format. Through the simple lines, Satrapi's story is extremely powerful. A must-read for all! Check out some images and read about the book at the publisher's website.

ZEVIN, GABRIELLE
ELSEWHERE
This unusual, wryly humorous novel begins after 15-year-old Liz comes to Elsewhere, the island where people go after they die and begin to regress to babyhood and rebirth.

SERIES FOR ALL GRADES

FICTION

ABELOVE, JOAN
GO AND COME BACK
Set in a fictional tribe in the Peruvian jungle, the story is told from a first-person point of view of a young tribal girl about her encounters with two anthropologists from New York.

BARRY, LYNDA
THE GOOD TIMES ARE KILLING ME
Nationally syndicated cartoonist Lynda Barry's novel about a young girl growing up in the 1960s. The 41 short chapters are at once moving, quirky, honest, funny, intricate, and heartbreaking.

BAUER, JOAN
HOPE WAS HERE
Sixteen-year-old Hope and her aunt move to a small town in Wisconsin to join the "short order dance" of life at the Welcome Stairways Diner. In the course of just a few months, Hope encounters issues as diverse as her customers: corruption in politics, a new love, serious illness and the meaning of family. Newbery Honor Book

BLOCK, FRANCESCA LIA
I WAS A TEENAGE FAIRY
In the bubble-gum-snapping, glitter polish-wearing, lip-gloss-applying San Fernando Valley, a gentle girl of 16 named Barbie met a feisty fairy named Mab when she was very little. Barbie’s modeling career and problem parents are the source of her grief and only in Mab can she find solace. Dream-like scenes and unique language make this novel one of its kind.

BUCK, PEARL
THE GOOD EARTH
Wang Lung, an impoverished peasant in China in the 1920s, struggles to become a prosperous landowner. His wife, O-Lan helps him every step of the way. This novel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1932.

BURGESS, MELVIN
SMACK
After running away from their troubled homes, two English teenagers move in with a group of squatters in the port city of Bristol and try to find ways to support their growing addiction to heroin.

CARMI, DANIELLA (translated from Hebrew by Yael Lotan)
SAMIR AND YONATAN.
Samir, a Palestinian boy, enters an Israeli hospital for surgery. The initial fear and antagonism that he feels is mitigated by his bond with Yonatan, an Israeli. The relationship of the children in the ward grows as they face their own physical and emotional trials.

CATHER, WILLA
MY ANTONIA
Set in Nebraska prairie, this unconventional novel tells the story of a remarkable woman whose strength, passion, and honesty epitomize the pioneer spirit

CISNEROS, SANDRA
THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET
Sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous, this novel depicts the story of a young girl growing up in the Hispanic quarter of Chicago in a series of vignettes.

COLE, BROCK
CELINE
A sixteen-year-old artist Celine has to deal with many unbearable facts of life, including her father marrying someone close to her own age.

CONRAD, JOSEPH
HEART OF DARKNESS
The story about a cruel, corrupt trader in the Congo raises profound questions about the compromises people sometimes make with evil. Adventurous, compelling, exotic, and suspenseful, this is a vivid picture of the moral deterioration of characters' souls.

CORMIER, ROBERT
AFTER THE FIRST DEATH
When a terrorist hijacks a camp bus, everyone becomes a victim, and each is confronted with unexpected ways to live -- or die.

CORMIER, ROBERT
THE RAG AND BONE SHOP
12-year-old Jason is suspected for the killing of a little girl. He is questioned and pursued by Trent, a professional interrogator who, instead of trying to uncover the truth, is only interested in extract a confession from Jason. In the same chilling and yet brilliant prose, Cormier explores the darkest interior of human hearts.

CRANE, STEPHEN
THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE
A young soldier comes of age under the stress of Civil War combat.

CREW, LINDA
BRIDES OF EDEN: A TRUE STORY IMAGINED (Historical Fiction)
16-year-old Eva Mae, in 1903, became part of a small all-women religious cult that followed a charismatic leader, Joshua. This intense and tragic true historical event is recreated by Linda Crew in a most masterful way, an amazing read.

DESAI HIDIER, TANUJA
BORN CONFUSED (fiction)
Dimple Lala, the insightful 17-year-old narrator of this story of an ABCD (American Born Confused Desi,) tells about her life as a New Jersey Indian-American school girl who, as a perpetual outsider, is always trying to find herself.

CURTIS, CHRISTOPHER PAUL.
BUCKING THE SARGE
14-year-old Luther works for his mother, The Sarge, who runs a mid-way house for those less fortunate and who is nothing but a gigantic crook. Luther cannot stand his mother's evil ways. With great wit and intelligence, he plots to escape his ruthless mother’s plans for his life and to find his way in the world outside of Flint, Michigan. Author of BUD, NOT BUDDY once again wrote a humorous story that has something more to deliver than just a few funny punch lines.

DICKENS, CHARLES
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Pip's life is changed by a strange circumstance. He grows to adulthood expecting a great inheritance and marriage with his childhood sweetheart -- but neither expectation is fulfilled. And if you have not read A TALE OF TWO CITIES, you might want to consider it a highly recommended option over this summer.

DRUCKER, MALKA
JACOB'S RESCUE: A HOLOCAUST STORY
In answer to his daughter's questions, a man recalls the terrifying years of his childhood when a brave Polish couple hid him and other Jewish children from the Nazis. Based on a true story.

DUMAS, ALEXANDRE
THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO
Young sailor Edmond Dantes, unjustly accused of aiding the exiled Napoleon, is sentenced to life imprisonment. After 14 years, Dantes makes a aring escape and uncovers a vast treasure on the island of Monte-Cristo. Adopting the persona of the Count of Monte Cristo, Dantes comes back home to seek revenge. Full of excitement and suspense, this is one to read on summer nights.

FAST, HOWARD
APRIL MORNING
An hour-by-hour account of the Battle of Lexington, this account of historical fiction is compelling to the end.

FLEISCHMAN, PAUL
SEEK
In an intricate narrative pattern that is also a Radio Play, SEEK tells the story of Rob who is obsessed with a quest of seeking out his father, who was a talk radio host and who left him when he was a baby.

GOING, K.L.
FAT KID RULES THE WORLD
Troy, a 300-plus-pound-17-year-old High School laughing-stock, narrates his encounter with Curt, the legendary teen guitarist who is homeless, sick, and addicted to prescription drugs. This unlikely duo form a punk-rock band, and a fast friendship in this quirky, intelligent, and deeply moving tale set in New York City.

HEMINGWAY
THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Hemingway's triumphant yet tragic story of an old Cuban fisherman and his relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream combines the simplicity of a fable, the significance of a parable, and the drama of an epic. This short novel was awarded the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

HESSE, HERMAN
SIDDHARTHA
A young Indian mystic, a contemporary of Buddha, sacrifices everything to search for the true meaning of life. Nobel Prize winner Hesse wove an intriguing tale of spirituality and intelligence.

HURSTON, ZORA NEALE
THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD
Fair and long-legged, independent and articulate, Janie Crawford sets out to be her own person. For a black woman in the ‘30s, this is not an easy task. Janie's quest for identity takes her through three marriages and into a journey back to her roots. It is one of the greatest pieces of American literature.

JOHNSON, ANGELA.
THE FIRST PART LAST
16 year-old Bobby tells his story in alternating chapters of Now and Then, after the birth of his daughter, Feather. Bobby's life changes drastically as a high school artist and an affectionate father. The moving story never becomes sentimental.

KENNEDY, WILLIAM
IRONWEED
Francis Phelan, ex-ballplayer, part-time gravedigger, full-time drunk, is a man trying to make peace with the ghosts of his past and present. Pulitzer-Prize winner.

KEROUAC, JACK
ON THE ROAD
In this fictionalized autobiography, Kerouac describes a series of frenetic odyssey back and forth across the United States by a number of penniless young bohemians who are in love with life, beauty, jazz, sex, drugs, speed, and mysticism.

KESEY, KEN
ONE FLEW OVER CUCKOO’S NEST
Set in a mental facility, this story is about Randle Patrick McMurphy, a swaggering ex-Marine and gambler, whose free-spirited struggle against repression and institutionalized conformity ends in tragedy.

KLASS, DAVID
YOU DON'T KNOW ME
An incredibly clever narrative voice (inside John's head,) tells the trials of a 14-year-old boy in a very humorous manner, even though some of his trials could prove to be physically dangerous -- being chased after by a potential girl-friend's father wielding a shotgun, or confronting his mother's boy-friend who is not only verbally abusive, but also could be involved in illegal activities.

KINSELLA, W.P.
SHOELESS JOE
Read this classic story of dreams and baseball! It will enchant you!

KINDL, PATRICIA
OWL IN LOVE
Humorously and tenderly depicted, Owl Tycho's joy and angst of being a "were-owl" (a shape-shifter) who falls in love with her science teacher, guarantees a light but satisfying read.

KINGSOLVER, BARBARA
THE BEAN TREES
When plucky, ingenuous Taylor Greer leaves Kentucky and finds herself entrusted with the care of a silent, abused three-year-old Native American child. Taylor’s physical and spiritual journey is filled with danger, evil, and the unexpected.

KIPLING, RUDYARD
KIM
A young Irish boy in colonial India is involved with a native mystic and the Secret Service.

KRISHER, TRUDY
SPITE FENCES
Thirteen-year-old Maggie Pugh has lived in Kinship, Georgia. Seeing through her camera, she is able to focus in on what life in Kinship is really like in the early 60s and helps her to see the physical abuse she suffers from her mother as being unnatural.

LEHMANN, CHRISTIAN (Translated from French by William Rodarmor)
ULTIMATE GAME.
Lehmann's novel relates moments in the lives of three teenagers who purchase a computer game that recreates a virtual reality of a time machine of history's evils: war after war. Eric and Charles are pitted against Andreas, the oldest, whose need for power propels him to play the game as judge, jury, and finally, prey.

LEVITHAN, DAVID
BOY MEETS BOY
Paul, a high school sophomore who came out in kindergarten, lives In an eccentric, loving, and idealized wonderland where Gay-Straight Alliance has more members than the football team and Infinite Darlene, the star 6-foot-4 quarterback often appearing in high heels, a red shock wig, and heavy makeup, is also the Homecoming Queen. So, when boy meets boy, a tender romantic comedy ensues.

LIPSYTE, ROBERT
THE CHEMO KID (and others)
This intriguing novel tells the story of Fred Bauer, an unremarkable high-school wimp whose life is utterly changed when he discovers a cancerous growth on his neck.

LIPSYTE, ROBERT
THE CHEMO KID (and others)
This intriguing novel tells the story of Fred Bauer, an unremarkable high-school wimp whose life is utterly changed when he discovers a cancerous growth on his neck.

LONDON, JACK
THE CALL OF THE WILD
This enduring classic story tells the story of an extraordinary dog named Buck who is torn between his love of man and his love of the wild. Another Jack London classic is WHITE FANG, also highly recommended.

MIKAELSEN, BEN
TOUCHING SPIRIT BEAR
Cole Matthews is an angry and defiant young man. Because of his violent crime against another 9th grader, he sentenced to live on an island all by himself in an attempt to heal the wounds of all involved, including his own emotional ones.

MITCHELL, MARGARET
GONE WITH THE WIND
This epic saga of the years before, during and after the Civil War in Georgia continues to fascinate all ages. The many characters include the unforgettable Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler.

MORIARTY, JACLYN.
THE YEAR OF SECRET ASSIGNMENTS
When three girls from Brookfield High School start writing letters to three boys in the less prestigious Ashbury. In an attempt to bridge the gap between the rich Brookfielders and less-fortunate Ashbury kids, a penpal club is arranged with the intention that the exchange of letters will make the two sides better understand one another, but when things don’t go as planned, a full-scale war breaks out between the two schools.

MOSHER, RICHARD
ZAZOO
Zazoo, a Vietnamese orphan adopted by a French man who had a terrible and sorrowful past, has to deal with an aging foster parent, her own budding sense of romance, and grappling with the dark past when Nazis invaded France. Even though the tone is tender and often reflective, the story is charged with deep emotion and the plot gripping.

MYERS, WALTER DEAN
FALLEN ANGELS
This is a gripping war novel about the price five young men pay for their tour of duty in Vietnam.

NA, AN
A STEP FROM HEAVEN
This story traces the life of Korean-born Young Ju from the age of four through her teenage years, from Korea to the States. Young Ju's steady growth in language and understanding of the new culture presents a sharp contrast of her father's inability to adapt to the new environment. Frustrated, her father becomes abusive. The not-all-happy ending is convincing and promises an uplifting path for the main character. A 2002 Printz Award winner for Young Adult Literature.

NOLAN, HAN
SEND ME DOWN A MIRACLE
Life changes for 14-year-old Charity when she is left home alone with her pastor father and the artist Adrienne Dabney comes to town. Adrienne claims she has seen a vision of Jesus sitting in her living-room chair. Charity’s father reacts with fury of the town folks’ idol worshiping. Charity is caught between her fascination with Adrienne and her father’s fury.

PATON, ALAN
CRY THE BELOVED COUNTRY
This powerful novel of conflict and brotherhood between two families set in South Africa under Apartheid continues to haunt us.

PAULSEN, GARY
NIGHTJOHN
Imagine being beaten for learning to read, shackled and whipped for learning a few letters of the alphabet. Now, imagine a man brave enough to risk torture in order to teach others how to read; his name is Nightjohn. This is his story.

POTAK, CHAIM
THE CHOSEN (and others)
This odyssey of two young men journeying from adolescence to manhood is set in Brooklyn during the 1940's.

SCHMIDT, GARY D.
LIZZIE BRIGHT AND THE BUCKMINSTER BOY
Based on a little known piece of history, the island of Malaga Maine was originally settled by Benjamin Darling a freed (or escaped) slave and his white wife, Sarah Proverbs. More slaves followed. In the early 1900’s, as the shipping industry began to fail in neighboring white mainland Philipsburg, the town elders begin to see the poor community of Malaga as a possible lucrative tourist attraction and proceed to destroy it. Schmidt’s fictional portrayal of this story is told through the friendship between Lizze Bright, a Malaga local and Turner Buckminster, the bullied new preacher’s son and how they take a stand. Although the story is sad, there is much humor and it is filled with feeling and imagery.

SPINELLI, JERRY
MILKWEED
Set during WWII, within the Warsaw Ghetto, MILKWEED is the story of a little orphane boy, who does not remember his parents, does not really know his name, and does not know whether he is a Gypsy or a Jew. He finally settles on being Misha who is good at stealing food and supplies for himself and for others in the Ghetto and because his small size, he could even crawl through a hole in the Wall to get in and out of the Ghetto. This story, told through Misha's innocent voice and with plenty of actions, shows the horror of the Jewish Holocaust and the nobility of human spirit.

STEINBECK, JOHN
OF MICE AND MEN
The poignant story of George Milton and mentally retarded Lennie searching for a better life is a remarkable classic.

TAYLOR, MILDRED
THE LAND
This epic-scaled novel set in the post-Civil War time, delineates the childhood and young manhood of Paul Edward Logan, son of a white slave owner and a slave woman. Being given much privileged as a child (able to read and write, and rated as one of the legitimate children, etc.) Paul Edward has to suffer much with the reality of life as he grows older. Taylor's masterful skills in portraying the landscape, creating deep and vivid characters, and telling a most compelling story won her the Coretta Scott King Award of 2002, and is one of the top 10 best books for young adults.

THEROUX, PAUL
THE MOSQUITO COAST (and others)
Fourteen-year-old Charlie Fox records his family's experiences pursuing his disgruntled father's utopian dream in the Honduran wilderness.

TRUEMAN, TERRY
STUCK IN NEUTRAL
Suffering from cerebral palsy, a condition that robbed him of all muscle control, the ability to talk, walk, or even focus his eyes on his own, 14-year-old Shawn believes that his father is thinking of killing him. Shawn knows that his father is trying to be kind; he imagines that his son's life is an endless torment. His dad has no idea of the rich life that Shawn lives inside his head. And Shawn, helpless and mute, has no way of telling him.

TWAIN, MARK
THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER
This is the classically moving story about the swapped identities of a poor Cockney lad and the Prince of Wales. For any Arthurian fan out there, A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT definitely offers a very different view.

TWAIN, MARK
THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN
Twain's matchless excursion delves into the joys and troubles of boyhood on the Mississippi.

VOIGT, CYNTHIA
IZZY, WILLY-NILLY
Who are your real friends? Izzy struggles to rethink her friendships after losing a leg in a car crash.

VONNEGUT, KURT
CAT’S CRADLE
Filled with humor, the story tells of Earth’s ultimate end while a bunch of assorted characters chase each other around in search of the world's most important and dangerous substance, a new form of ice that freezes at room temperature.

WAUGH, EVELYN
SCOOP
A comedy about a clueless but honest reporter, William Boot, who is sent to cover a revolution in an African country and through many accidents and mistakes, Boot finally got the real SCOOP.

WOLFF, VIRGINIA EUWER
TRUE BELIEVER
In this poetically written sequel to MAKE LEMONADE, a highly acclaimed novel, LaVaughn, now 15, challenges her heart's resilience again when she develops her first deep crush. LaVaughn tells her own story in the powerful stream-of-consciousness manner that reveals her innocence, determination, intelligence, and growth. The supporting characters are also well-drawn.

WOODSON, JACQUELINE
I HADN'T MEANT TO TELL YOU THIS
In a quiet, beautiful friendship story, two young teenagers resist the racism in their school and the sorrow in their families and help each other find the strength to go on.

WOUK, HERMAN
MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR
Nineteen-year-old Marjorie is offered the job of her dreams -- working in a summer stock company where she meets her first love.

YOLEN, JANE AND ROBERT J. HARRIS
GIRL IN A CAGE (historical fiction)
In 1306, 11-year-old Marjorie, daughter of Robert Bruce, newly crowned king of Scotland finds herself captured by the enemy, locked in an iron cage and is displayed outdoors day and night in the Town Square. Marjorie tells in a first-person voice of her captivity and the exciting and moving events leading up to it. This is a compelling historical fiction.

SCIENCE FICTION

ADAMS, DOUGLAS
THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY
The hilarious journey of Arthur Dent and his friend Ford Prefect, who escape from Earth seconds before it is demolished and travel to a variety of galactic civilizations while gathering information for a hitchhiker's guidebook. Read the entire trilogy if you find this one fascinating: THE RESTAURANT AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE and LIFE, UNIVERSE & EVERYTHING,

ANDERSON, M.T.
FEED (sci-fi)
Anderson created a futuristic world in which schools are TradeMarked, run by big corporations, and everyone (if one can afford it) gets a "24/7 feed" implanted into the brain so one can IM a friend and receive ads. and sales information without the use of a computer or wires. Thus is the satirical social backdrop of a tragic romance between Titus and Violet, who becomes deadly ill when her "feed" malfunctions. This chilling tale of dystopia that contains strong language is NOT everybody's cup of tea!

ANTHONY, PIERS
SPLIT INFINITY
Welcome to the astonishing parallel worlds of Phaze and Proton, where magic and science maintain an uneasy truce. For all those who loved the Xanth series, this is the first book in The Apprentice Adept series.

ASIMOV, ISAAC
FANTASTIC VOYAGE
Four men and one woman, reduced to a microscopic fraction of their original size, board a miniaturized submarine and travel through the bloodstream of a brilliant scientist to save his life - and the world.

BELL, HILARI
A MATTER OF PROFIT
In this sci-fi mystery, Ahvren, the son of Saiden, investigates the rumored rebel force against the Emperor of The T'Chin Empire, a confederation of 40 planets. Along the way Ahvren learns much about himself, the larger picture of the T'Chins, and the secrets to maintaining the delicate balance amongst various species. T'Chin is a vivid and distinctive world and the alien life forms and cultures are entirely believable.

BRADBURY, RAY
DANDELION WINE
A twelve-year-old boy experiences the events of a strange and wonderful summer.

BRADBURY, RAY
FAHRENHEIT 451
This is the classic tale of an unsettling future in which all books are banned or burned.

BURGESS, ANTHONY
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
This is a futuristic story of a 15-year-old vicious young man who undergoes state-sponsored psychological rehabilitation for his deviant behavior.

CARD, ORSON SCOTT
ENDER'S GAME (series)
In this first book of a series (SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD, XENOCIDE & CHILDREN OF THE MIND), young (very young) Ender Wiggin is destined to become the leader of a troup of child army in a space mission to completely annihilate an alien species on another planet.New York Times called this Hugo and Nebula awards winner "intense." but it has more than just intensity. It is intelligent and full of surprises and imagination.

CARD, ORSON SCOTT
SHADOW OF THE HEGEMON
In this 2nd book of the proposed "Shadow" Quartet (first one: Ender's Shadow,) Bean and other soldiers come back to Earth after wiping out the alien planet under Ender's command. Bean is now facing both Achilles, his old and viscous enemy, and Peter, Ender's ambitious brother, and needs to use his intelligence and senses of strategies to survive. He also learns some devastating truth about himself and his destined future. The series continues and ends with SHADOW PUPPETS and SHADOW OF THE GIANT.

CLARKE, ARTHUR C.
CHILDHOOD'S END
In the near future, Earth is invaded and ruled by a kindly superior species, which is preparing humanity for a giant evolutionary step forward.

CLARKE, ARTHUR C.
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
After a signal is discovered on the moon, astronauts set out to trace its source, only to have their plans endangered by a computer gone berserk.

CRICHTON, MICHAEL
THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN
In a race to find out why people are dying in a small western town and whether Los Angeles will be next, Crichton is at his best.

DICKINSON, PETER
EVA 
When Eva wakes up in her hospital bed after the terrible accident, she finds her mind and memory transferred into the body of a Chimp. She has to learn how to "talk" with a keyboard hanging from her neck, and how to "live" with the impulse and ancient, almost tribal, memory of the body her mind now inhabits.  Incredibly convincing in details, Dickinson's somber prophecy of the future of our society will make you look at our world differently. 

FINNEY, JACK
TIME AND AGAIN
For mystery and romance, science fiction and nostalgia, this novel is a must-read!! One night, Si Morley steps out of his twentieth-century Upper West Side apartment - right into the winter of 1882.

HEINLEIN, ROBERT
STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND (and others)
Robert Heinlein gives his satirical view of human behavior as observed by the first human born on Mars who returns to Earth to claim his birthright.

HERBERT, FRANK
DUNE (and subsequent titles)
This Hugo and Nebula Award winner tells the sweeping tale of a desert planet called Arrakis, the focus of an intricate power struggle in a Byzantine interstellar empire.

HUGHES, MONICA
INVITATION TO THE GAME
A chilling account of life in 2154, when most jobs are done by machines. Lisse and her friends are unemployable after graduation, but the government gives them an abandoned warehouse in a neighborhood to live in. Anxious to escape their dreary lives, the friends embrace "The Game," which takes them to paradise. But is this world real or only a computer simulation?

HUXLEY, ALDOUS
BRAVE NEW WORLD
In this new world prophesied by Huxley, everyone consumes daily grams of soma, to fight depression, babies are born in laboratories, and the most popular form of entertainment is a "Feelie," a movie that stimulates the senses of sight, hearing, and touch

LE GUIN, URSULA
THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS
Genly Ai is an emissary from the human galaxy to Winter, a lost, stray world. His mission is to bring the planet back into the fold of an evolving galactic civilization, but to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own culture and prejudices and those that he encounters.

O'BRIEN, ROBERT C.
Z FOR ZACHARIAH
Seemingly the only person left alive after the holocaust of a war, Anne Burden is relieved to see a man arrive into her valley -- until she realizes that he is a tyrant and she must somehow escape.

ORWELL, GEORGE
1984
This is Orwell's chilling, prophetic vision of a totalitarian "future."

PULLMAN, PHILIP
THE AMBER SPYGLASS
In this powerful ending of a thrilling trilogy, as war rages and Dust drains from the sky, the fate of the living and dead comes to depend on Lyra and Will, two ordinary children with extraordinary powers. The first two titles in the trilogy are THE GOLDEN COMPASS and THE SUBTLE KNIFE.

FANTASY

ALMOND, DAVID
KIT'S WILDERNESS (Fantasy)
In an old coal-mining town, thirteen-year-old Kit meets a boy who invites him to play the game of "Death," and discovers the stories and ghosts of his child-ancestors.

BACH, RICHARD
JONATHAN LIVINGSTON SEAGULL
Jonathan Livingston Seagull is no ordinary bird. He believes it is every gull's right to fly, to reach the ultimate freedom of challenge and discovery, finding his greatest reward in the joy of flight and the power of dreams.

BEAGLE, PETER
THE LAST UNICORN
A funny/sad story in which an enchanting unicorn -- joined on her journey by a bungling magician, a pure-at-heart wench, and a butterfly -- leaves her idyllic forest in search of others of her kind.

BRADLEY, MARION ZIMMER
MISTS OF AVALON
Morgaine (more commonly known as Morgan Le Fay) and Gwenhwyfar (a Welsh spelling of Guinevere) struggle for power, using Arthur as a way to score points and promote their respective world views. Young and old alike will enjoy this magical Arthurian reinvention.

BRADSHAW, GIULIANO
BEYOND THE NORTH WIND
The Greek God Apollo sends a talented young magician from his home in ancient Greece to the land of the Arimaspians to conquer the one-eyed giants and save the griffins -- in a book filled with magic, heroism and myth.

BROOKS, TERRY
SHANNARA (series)
This is the richly detailed epic fantasy about three scientists who strive to save their Four Lands.

CLARKE, SUSANNA.
JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL
This unique, dark, fantastic tale of two rival magicians, set against an "alternative" Britain during early 19th century, will fill many of the summer nights with wit and stunning feats. Not published as a children's or young adult novel, it is nevertheless a most suitable read for teen fantasy lovers.

DICKINSON, PETER
THE ROPEMAKER
Tilja is a young woman whose families have been protecting the forest with a magic ritual for nearly 20 generations from the greedy barbaric empire to the south. When the magic starts to fade, Tilja and her family set out on a quest to find the powerful magician who can renew the magic spell. Adventure and imagination fill this page-turning fantasy.

EDDINGS, DAVID
PAWN OF PROPHECY
This is the beginning volume in a fantasy series set against a history of 7,000 years of the struggles of Gods and Kings and men -- of strange lands and events -- and a prophecy that must be fulfilled.

HILTON, JAMES
LOST HORIZON
Four people are brought against their will to the mysterious land of Shangri-La, a place where no one grows old.

HEARN, LIAN
ACROSS THE NIGHTINGALE FLOOR
Drawing on elements and the tradition of Samurai stories, Lian Hearn presents an intriguing and blood-pumpingly exciting tale of The Tribe (Ninja-like assassins with super-human/natural powers,) The Hidden (a peaceful religious group whose members are being masacred,) and the Clan (warlords and their networks.) This is the first title in the Tales of Otori trilogy. GRASS FOR HIS PILLOW follows it and the trilogy concludes with BRILLIANCE OF THE MOON.

KLAUSE, ANNETTE CURTIS
BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE
Teenager Vivian, a were-wolf in modern day America, is confined socially with her "pack." When she meets a "meat-boy" (a human boy who ordinarily will be food for her) who seems to understand the darkness of her soul, she couldn’t help but falling in love and revealing her true identity. Deadly danger than befalls both her and the boy.

KLAUSE, ANNETTE CURTIS
THE SILVER KISS
17-year-old Zo grieves over her mother's imminent death due to cancer. She meets Simon. Simon is startlingly handsome and has the darkest secret. Together they have to battle Simon’s younger brother who is actually a vampire in disguise. Simon’s own journey to redemption accompanied by his romance with Zo is compellingly moving.

LE GUIN, URSULA
TEHANU: THE LAST BOOK OF EARTHSEA
Sparrowhawk, the archmage of Earthsea, returns from the dark land stripped of his magic powers. He finds refuge with the aging widow Tenar and a crippled girl who carries an unknown destiny. A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA, TOMBS OF ATUAN, and THE FARTHEST SHORE are the first three titles in the series.

MAHY, MARGARET
THE CHANGEOVER: A SUPERNATURAL ROMANCE
In this chilling tale, Laura finds herself in a life-or-death struggle to save her brother from evil forces -- discovers love and her own supernatural power in the process.

MCCAFFREY, ANNE
DRAGONSINGER
Pursuing her dream to be a Harper of Pern, Menolly studies under the Masterharper learning that more is required than a facility with music and a clever way with words.

MCKINLEY, ROBIN
THE HERO AND THE CROWN; THE BLUE SWORD
Seeking her birthright, Aerin, daughter of a Damarian king, becomes the legendary female warrior whose blue sword is wielded years later by Harry Crewe, a young woman destined to be another female warrior.

NICHOLSON, WILLIAM
THE WIND SINGER
Kestrel Hath and her twin brother Bowman escape from their stifling city of Aramanth to rescue the key to the wind singer and free their
people. The sequel is SLAVES OF THE MASTERY. A third title FIRESONG is coming at the end of the summer.

NIX, GARTH
SABRIEL, LIRAEL, and ABHORSEN (fantasy)
Sabriel, daughter of and the most recent Abhorsen (a necromancer who, instead of focusing on bringing back the Dead, is skilled at making sure that they stay dead,) is now faced suddenly with the incredible task of rescuing her father from the land of the dead and combating the evil power in the Old Kingdom. LIRAEL is the 2nd book in this series from Australia and ABHORSEN follows directly after the stirring LIRAEL and offers a dazzling conclusion of the Abhorsen Trilogy begun with SABRIEL. The forces of evil from the Old Kingdom now takes hold of even the outside world and Lirael, Sabriel, along with others, have to combine forces to save the world from its seemingly inevitable doom.

PIERCE, TAMORA
WILD MAGIC (series, The Immortals)
In the first book of a quartet, Daine shows her magical talent to communicate with animals. With this power and other magical training, she embarks on many quests, including combatting the evil "Immortals" and raising a baby dragon as a pet. Daine’s adventures continue and get more exciting in WOLF-SPEAKER, EMPEROR MAGE, and REALS OF THE GODS.

RICE, ANNE
INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE
Having suffered a tremendous personal loss, an 18th-century Louisiana plantation owner named Louis Pointe du Lac becomes depressed. He is confronted by Lestat, a charismatic and powerful vampire, who chooses Louis to be his apprentice. They prey on innocent victims and seek out other vampires.

SPRINGER, NANCY
I AM MORGAN LE FAY
The arch-villain in the Arthurian legend, Morga le Fay, gets to tell her own story from a magically gifted little girl to the embittered grown woman whose struggle against Fate (her namesake) seems always turns back to haunt her.

STEWART, MARY R.
THE CRYSTAL CAVE (series)
This series consists of the spellbinding adventures of King Arthur's court told by a master storyteller.

SWIFT, JONATHAN
GULLIVER'S TRAVELS
A satire revealing human foibles through Gulliver's adventures in fantastic lands, this classic continues to endure.

TOLKIEN, J.R.R.
THE LORD OF THE RING (series)
Starting with THE HOBBIT, the journey through Middle Earth, told with poetic language and vivid description of creatures and landscapes, this classic series (FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, THE TWO TOWERS and THE RETURN OF THE KING) has enjoyed the highest acclaim in the realm of fantasy writings in our century.

WHITE, T.H.
THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING
The magnificent legend of King Arthur is retold as a novel for modern readers. Arthur's anguish over war, the love story of Guinevere and Lancelot, and the evil Mordred comprise the story of Camelot. Also: The Book of Merlyn.

BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIRS

ANGELOU, MAYA
I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS (1st of series)
This is Angelou's moving and award-winning autobiography that recalls the joy and pain of growing up in the South during the depression.

CRUTCHER, CHRIS
KING OF THE MILD FRONTIER: AN ILL-ADVISED AUTOBIOGRAPHY (biography)
Chris Crutcher is an author whose Young Adult novels are based on his experience as a family therapist and child protection specialist. In this autobiography, he details his teen years full of failures and anger and how he became a teacher, a family therapist, and eventually, an author of great acclaim.

DUNCAN, LOIS
WHO KILLED MY DAUGHTER?
Popular Mystery writer Lois Duncan’s 18-year-old daughter was found shot in the head and dead with in her car. Until this day, the murderer has not been found and the police have classified this case as random death. This is the account of a mother’s relentless effort in seeking the truth behind a great tragedy.

FREEDMAN, RUSSELL
MARTHA GRAHAM: A DANCER’S LIFE
Freedman has crafted a beautiful, intriguing biography of a great dancer of the 20^TH century. The fascinating biography is complemented by exquisite black-and-white photographs that reveal Graham's sense of beauty and her remarkable ability to translate pure, raw emotions into expressive movement.

GIBLIN, JAMES CROSS
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF ADOLF HITLER (biography)
This Sibert Award of Informational Books for Young People winner poses and attempts to answer this question, "What sort of man could plan and carry out such horrendous schemes, win support for his deadly ventures and why did no one stop him until it was almost too late?"

GUNTHER, JOHN
DEATH BE NOT PROUD
Gunther's moving story of his son's courageous battle against cancer is compelling.

HERRIOT, JAMES
ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL (series)
The humorous, serious and heartwarming adventures of an English veterinarian are fun to read.

HERSEY, JOHN
HIROSHIMA
John Hersey gives us the timeless and agonizing accounts of six survivors of the atomic bomb which was dropped on Hiroshima during World War Two.

HOUSTON, JEANNE WAKATSUKI
FAREWELL TO MANZANAR
This is an autobiographical account of one Japanese American family's attempt to survive the indignities of internment during World War II.

JENKINS, PETER
A WALK ACROSS AMERICA
In 1973 a disillusioned college graduate set out with his dog, Cooper, to walk across America.

KENEALLY, THOMAS
SCHINDLER'S LIST
This is the riveting story of Oscar Schindler who saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust.

KINGSTON, MAXINE HONG
WOMAN WARRIOR
This is a beautifully written memoir of growing up Chinese American in Stockton, California, interwoven with Chinese myths and family stories.

MAH, ADELINE YEN
FALLING LEAVES: THE MEMOIR OF AN UNWANTED CHINESE DAUGHTER
An international best-seller, a heart-wrenching but ultimately inspiring memoir recounts the author's painful childhood as the unwanted daughter of a wealthy yet abusive Chinese family, from which she escaped to the West.

MATHABANE, MARK
KAFFIR BOY
Under Apartheid, a young man comes of age in this autobiographical account.

NELSON, MARILYN
CARVER: A LIFE IN POEMS
A collection of Marilyn Nelson's (Canadian Poet Laureate) poems about the genius, the humanity, and the contribution of George Washington Carver. The poems never shy away from harsh realities and reach for the soul of their subject matter. Readers gain tremendous understanding of the man who has been simplified to "the peanut guy" in American History texts.

PARTRIDGE, ELIZABETH
THIS LAND WAS MADE FOR YOU AND ME: THE LIFE AND SONGS OF WOODY GUTHRIE
The creatively prolific and yet deeply troubled life of Woody Gutherie, song-writer of modern American ballads and social protest music, is documented with sensitivity and honesty in this handsome volume.

SALZMAN, MARK
IRON & SILK
A young Yale graduate describes his two years in China teaching English to medical students, perfecting his Chinese and studying martial arts with a master.

SALZMAN, MARK
TRUE NOTEBOOKS
In late 1990s, Mark Salzman visited his friend Duane Noriyuki's writing class in Central Juvenile Hall, a correction center in Los Angeles for juvenile offenders. Soon he found himself become the teacher, friend, mentor, and the Northen Light to more than a dozen teenage inmates (most of them on trials for murder cases.) In this work of Nonfiction, Salzman intersperses his soul-searching story with the actual, often heart-wrenching and surprising, writings of his students from their True Notebooks.

SPIEGELMAN, ART
MAUS & MAUS II
The story of a Holocaust survivor is recounted in comic strip form featuring mice as the Jews and cats as the Germans. It is like nothing else you have ever read or seen. A Pulitzer Prize winner.

STEINBECK, JOHN
TRAVELS WITH CHARLEY
Steinbeck travels across the United States with his French poodle, Charley.

WIESEL, ELIE
NIGHT
A terrifying account of the Nazi death camp horror that turns a young Jewish boy into an agonized witness to the death of his family and a whole people. Technically a novel, the incidences are largely based on real personal experiences of the author. The story continues in DAWN. ACCIDENT (or DAY) completes the trilogy.

SHORT STORIES AND POETRY

ANDERSON, SHERWOOD
WINESBURG, OHIO
A collection of short stories dealing with a small town in Ohio. The stories reveal the hidden passions that turn ordinary lives into unforgettable emotions.

BAUER, MARION DANE
AM I BLUE? COMING OUT FROM THE SILENCE
These sixteen short stories by noted young adult authors are about growing up gay or lesbian or having gay or lesbian friends or parents.

BRADBURY, RAY
THE ILLUSTRATED MAN
Bradbury is at his very best in these eighteen tales involving time and space -- without and within.

BRADBURY, RAY
THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Bradbury continues to enrich us with these short stories about the Earth and Mars.

CATHER, WILLA
THE TROLL GARDEN
These elegant stories often deal with the conflicts faced in society by individuals of artistic temperament.

GALLO, DONALD R., ed.
CONNECTIONS; SHORT STORIES VISIONS; 19 SHORT STORIES
Gallo has edited several volumes of short stories by well-known writers for young adults.

HAWTHORNE, NATHANIEL
HAWTHORNE’S SHORT STORIES, edited by Newton Arvin
With an introduction to Hawthorne’s mind and art by Arvin.

IRVING, WASHINGTON
SKETCH BOOK
In his light stories rooted in folktales, Irving makes a lasting contribution to the modern short story.

LARDNER, RING
HAIRCUT AND OTHER STORIES
Ring Lardner, a satirist with a keen voice, writes of ordinary people with razor-sharp wit.

LONDON, JACK
TO BUILD A FIRE AND OTHER STORIES
Jack London, author of the Call of the Wild, continues his adventures in this collection of stories.

MAUPASSANT, GUY DE
SELECTED SHORT STORIES (Penguin Classics)
Full of insights into the darker side of the human soul, and robust humor, Maupassant's short stories are his greatest achievements.

McCULLERS, CARSON
BALLAD OF THE SAD CAFÉ AND OTHER STORIES
A collection of McCullers best short stories about grotesque people and situations in the southern United States.

MOORE, ROBIN
WHEN THE MOON IS FULL
These six haunting, rustic tales that involve relationships between people and animals are of the supernatural and inspired by folk legends from the old Pennsylvania Mountains.

NYE, NAOMI SHIHAB
19 VARIETIES OF GAZELLE: POEMS OF THE MIDDLE EAST (poetry)
Arab American poet Naomi Nye gathered more than 40 poems she wrote about the Middle East and her own experience of being an Arab American after the 9/11 tragedy. This is a solid, affecting collection of a beloved poet for young people.

ROCKMAN, HAZEL, ed.
SOMEHOW TENDERNESS SURVIVES: STORIES OF SOUTHERN AFRICA
This is a wonderful anthology of ten stories and memoirs by black and white South African writers.

SOTO, GARY
BASEBALL IN APRIL (and others)
This group of eleven stories is about growing up Mexican-American in central California.

TWAIN, MARK
THE CELEBRATED JUMPING FROG OF CALAVERAS COUNTY, AND OTHER SKETCHES (Oxford Mark Twain)
Twenty-seven humorous sketches include the story of a man who loved to make wagers and acquired a frog, which he claimed could outjump any frog in the county.

WELTY, EUDORA
A CURTAIN OF GREEN: AND OTHER STORIES
A Half-century has not dated these stories, which include "Petrified Man," "Powerhouse," "Why I Live at the P.O." and more and first published in 1941.

PLAYS AND MUSICALS

ABBOTT; WEIDMAN; HAMICK; BOCK
FIORELLO
1960 Pulitzer Prize winning musical based on the life of New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia.

BARRIE, JAMES M.
PETER PAN
The adventures of the three Darling children in Never Land with Peter Pan, the boy who would not grow up.

CHASE, MARY
HARVEY
A pleasant and very polite middle-aged drunk is friends with an imaginary white rabbit. His sister, embarrassed by his behavior, tries to have him committed.

GOODRICH, HACKET
THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK
Dramatization of a young girl's diary describing the lives of eight people who hide in an attic for two years to avoid arrest by the Nazis.

INGE, WILLIAM
COME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA
The stirring tale of a life-weary couple who rescue hope from the ruins of the past.

KAUFMAN, BEL
UP THE DOWN STAIRCASE
The humorous story of a young English instructor's foray into the frenetic, often dangerous world of a modern big-city high school.

LARSEN, JONATHAN
RENT
the Tony- and Pulitzer-musical about love and loyalty among starving AIDS-stricken artists in New York's East Village.

ROSTAND, EDMOND
CYRANO DE BERGERAC
It is the moving and exciting drama of one of the finest swordsmen in France, gallant soldier, brilliant wit, tragic poet-lover with the face of a clown.

SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
With an amusing cast of humans and fairies, and comical relationships between characters, this is one of the Bard’s most accessible plays.

SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW
Considered one of Shakespeare's bawdier works, the play describes the volatile courtship between the shrewish Katharina and the canny Petruchio, who is determined to subdue Katharina's legendary temper and win her dowry. In 1999, the play was adapted as the movie, TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU.

SHAW, GEORGE BERNARD
PYGMALION
The inspiration behind the popular My Fair Lady, Pygmalion is one of Shaw's best-known works. It is a perceptive comedy of wit and grit about the unique relationship that develops between cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, and her irascible speech professor, Henry Higgins.

WASSERSTEIN, WENDY
THE HEIDI CHRONICLES
Spanning 25 years of an unmarried art historian named Heidi Holland, the play relates events from Heidi's personal life and professional career as a feminist.

WILDER, THORNTON
OUR TOWN
A study of life, love and death in a New England town at the turn of the century.

ZINDEL, PAUL
THE EFFECT OF GAMMA RAYS ON MAN-IN-THE-MOON MARIGOLDS
In this 1971 Pulitzer Prize winner, two sisters Tillie and Ruth trying vainly to please their mother Beatrice, a woman already regarded by the community as more than slightly loony.

Last updated
08/24/2006