These are the most recommended free reading books from the Desert Hills High School Library.

1. Science Fiction/Supernatural
The Hitchhiker’s Construction workers arrive at Arthur Dent's house, in order to
Guide to the Galaxy demolish it to make way for a bypass. His friend, Ford Prefect,
arrives while Arthur is lying in front of the bulldozers, to keep
Adams, Douglas them from demolishing it. He tries to explain to Arthur that he
is actually from a planet somewhere in the vicinity of
Pages: 216 Betelgeuse and that the Earth is about to be destroyed.
Seconds before Earth is demolished, Ford saves Arthur, and
FIC ADA together they journey through the galaxy.
Kit’s Wilderness It seems fated that 13-year-old Christopher Watson, nicknamed
Kit, would move to Stoneygate, an old English coal-mining
Almond, David village where his ancestors lived, worked, and died. The drama
unfolds as the haunted, hulking, dark-eyed John Askew draws
Pages: 229 Kit and other classmates into the game of Death, a spin-the-
knife, pretend-to-die game that he hosts in a deep hole dug in
FIC PED the earth, with candles, bones, and carved pictures of the
children of the old families of Stoneygate.
Thirsty Chris has problems; bickering, divorce-bound parents, a
domineering older brother, and his best friends becoming
Anderson, M. T. estranged. Overshadowing everything is the fact that Chris, is
becoming a vampire. The good people of his Massachusetts
Pages: 237 town are almost inured to the murders committed by vampires.
Yet violent mobs shortcut justice with stake-through-the-heart
FIC AND lynchings. As Chris's blood lust grows, he's increasingly
challenged to hide his transformation.
Feed This book is set in a future world where television and
computers are connected directly into people's brains when
Anderson, M. T. they are babies. The result is a chillingly recognizable consumer
society where empty-headed kids are driven by fashion and
Pages: shopping and the avid pursuit of silly entertainment – even on
trips to Mars and the moon – and by constant customized
FIC AND murmurs in their brains of encouragement to buy, buy, buy.
The Handmaid’s In the Republic of Gilead, formerly the United States, far-right-
Tale type ideals have been carried to extremes in the
monotheocratic government. The resulting society is a
Atwood, Margaret feminist's nightmare: women are strictly controlled, unable to
have jobs or money and assigned to various classes: the chaste,
Pages: 311 childless Wives; the housekeeping Marthas; and the
reproductive Handmaids, who turn their offspring over to the
FIC ATW "morally fit" Wives.

2. The Brief History of The City, where the recently departed reside as long as they are
the Dead remembered by the living, is home to Kuka Sims, who prints the
City's only newspaper, Coleman Kinzler, a vagrant who speaks
Brockmeier, Kevin the word of God, and Marion and Philip Byrd, who find
themselves falling in love once again, all of whom are
Pages: 252 remembered by Laura Byrd, whose own time is running out.
FIC BRO
Counter Clockwise When Nathan's mother is hit by a bus in London, his father
struggles with the tragedy and disappears through the
Cockcroft, Jason bathroom wall to travel back in time and prevent her death;
Nathan, with help from a Beefeater named Bartelby, tries to
Pages: 202 prevent his father from changing the future.
FIC COC
Rebecca A novel of mystery and passion, a dark psychological tale of
secrets and betrayal, dead loves and an estate called
Du Maurier, Manderley that is as much a presence as the humans who
Daphne inhabit it. Manderley is filled with memories of the elegant and
flamboyant Rebecca, the first Mrs. DeWinter. Rebecca may be
Pages: 357 physically dead, but she is a force to contend with.
FIC DU
The House of the In a future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special
Scorpion status as the young clone of El Patron, the one hundred forty-
two-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between
Farmer, Nancy Mexico and the United States. Fields of white opium poppies
stretch away over the hills, and uniformed workers bend over
Pages: 400 the rows, harvesting the juice. Gradually he realizes the fate
that is in store for him, and with the help of Tam Lin, his
FIC FAR Scottish bodyguard, he tries to escape.
The Secret Life of In Lily Dale, New York, a community dedicated to the religion of
Sparrow Delaney Spiritualism, tenth-grader Sparrow Delaney, the youngest
daughter in an eccentric family of psychics, agonizes over
Harper, Suzanne whether or not to reveal her special abilities in order to help a
friend.
Pages: 364
FIC HAR

3. Brave New World "Community, Identity, Stability" is the motto of Aldous Huxley's
utopian World State. Here everyone consumes daily grams of
Huxley, Aldous soma, to fight depression, babies are born in laboratories, and
the most popular form of entertainment is a "Feelie," a movie
Pages: 259 that stimulates the senses. Though there seems to be no
problems, Bernard Marx feels something is missing and senses
FIC HUX his relationship with a young women has the potential to be
much more than the confines of their existence allow.
Never Let Me Go Through the voice of thirty-one-year-old Kathy, along with old
friends from school, are forced to face the truth about their
Ishiguro, Kazuo childhood at Hailsham. All children should believe they are
special. But the students of Hailsham, an elite school in the
Pages: 288 English countryside, are so special that visitors shun them, and
only by rumor and the occasional fleeting remark by a teacher
FIC ISH do they discover their unconventional origins and strange
destiny.
Gossamer Readers first meet the dream-givers as they creep around a
dark house in the middle of the night where an old woman and
Lowry, Lois a dog named Toby are sleeping. Littlest is very small, new to the
work, energetic and curious. Fastidious is tired, impatient, and
Pages: 176 had a headache. Littlest is soon paired with a new partner, Thin
Elderly, who is a much better guide and teacher than Fastidious
FIC LOW was. They are benevolent beings who visit humans (and pets,
too) at night.
The Host A species of altruistic parasites has peacefully assumed control
of the minds and bodies of most humans, but feisty Melanie
Meyer, Stephanie Stryder won't surrender her mind to the alien soul called
Wanderer. Overwhelmed by Melanie's memories of fellow
Pages: 619 resistor Jared, Wanderer yields to her body's longing and sets
off into the desert to find him. Likely the first love triangle
FIC MEY involving just two bodies.
Hero Thom, the teenage son of a fallen superhero who seems to be
linked to his mother's disappearance, joins the League and finds
Moore, Perry himself dealing with confusing sexual feelings for the hero
Uberman while learning to use his powers and moving toward
Pages: 428 the truth about his mother's disappearance.
FIC MOO

4. 1984 Published in 1949, the book offers political satirist George
Orwell's nightmare vision of a totalitarian, bureaucratic world
Orwell, George and one poor stiff's attempt to find individuality. The brilliance
of the novel is Orwell's prescience of modern life – the ubiquity
Pages: 268 of television, the distortion of the language--and his ability to
construct such a thorough version of hell. Required reading for
FIC ORW students since it was published. It ranks among the most
terrifying novels ever written.
Virals Tory is the science-obsessed niece of a famous forensic
anthropologist, Temperance Brennan, living on a remote island
Reichs, Kathy off the coast of South Carolina. An old military ID tag leads Tory
and her best friends, Ben, Hi, and Shelton – all self proclaimed
Pages: 454 “sci-philes” – to an illegal research lab, where they are exposed
to a mutant strain of canine parvovirus. When the teens begin
FIC REI experiencing preternatural physical changes, their search for
answers brings them in contact with cold-blooded killers.
Across the Universe Amy, having been cryogenically frozen and placed onboard a
spaceship which was supposed to land on a distant planet three
Revis, Beth hundred years in the future, is unplugged fifty years too early
and finds herself stuck inside an enclosed world ruled by a
Pages: 398 tyrannical leader and his rebellious teenage heir and confused
about who to trust and why someone is trying to kill her.
FIC REV
The Forest of Through twists and turns of fate, orphaned Mary seeks
Hands and Teeth knowledge of life, love, and especially what lies beyond her
walled village and the surrounding forest, where dwell the
Ryan, Carrie unconsecrated, aggressive flesh-eating people who were once
dead.
Pages: 310
FIC RYA
Impossible On the night of her prom, Lucy, 17, is raped by her date and
becomes pregnant. She decides to keep the child, and she is
Werlin, Nancy supported by her foster parents and Zach, her childhood friend.
The teen discovers the curse on the women in her family when
Pages: she reads her birth mother's diary. Lucy is destined for madness
at 18 unless she can perform the three impossible tasks
FIC WER described in the song and break the curse of the Elfin Knight.

5. A Certain Slant of Helen, who has been dead for 130 years, describes what it's like
Light to live as Light, clinging to a human host, then reentering an
empty human body and becoming physically and emotionally
Whitcomb, Laura attuned to the world. Helen is startled when she realizes that a
student in her host's English class can see her. James, too, is
Pages: 282 Light, but he has taken over the body of Billy, who almost
overdosed on drugs.
FIC WHI
Elsewhere Although Liz is maturing, coping with disappointments, and
controlling her anger, she is getting younger. Having been killed
Zevin, Gabrielle by a hit and run driver, she now lives in Elsewhere with the
grandmother who died before she was born. After death, the
Pages: 275 residents get younger until they become babies and are reborn
onto Earth again.
FIC ZEV

6. Fantasy
Skellig After moving into a new house, Michael discovers Skellig, the
man-owl-angel who lies motionless behind the tea chests in
Almond, David the abandoned garage. As disturbing as this discovery is, it is
the least of Michael's worries. The new house is a mess, his
Pages: 182 parents are distracted, and his brand-new baby sister is
seriously ill. Still, he can't get this mysterious creature out of
FIC ALM his mind – even as he wonders if he has really seen him at all.
Tithe Sixteen-year-old Kaye Fierch is not human, but she doesn't
know it. Sure, she knows she's interacted with faeries since
Black, Holly she was little – but she never imagined she was one of them.
Kaye spends most of her time taking care of a would-be rock
Pages: 331 star mom, but when her mom's latest boyfriend turns
homicidal, they return to Gram's house at the New Jersey
FIC BLA shore where Kaye hooks up with childhood friend Janet and
her gay brother, Corny Stone.
Ironside In the realm of Faerie, the time has come for Roiben's
coronation. Uneasy in the midst of the malevolent Unseelie
Black, Holly Court, pixie Kaye is sure of only one thing – her love for
Roiben. But when Kaye, drunk on faerie wine, declares herself
Pages: 323 to Roiben, he sends her on a seemingly impossible quest. Now
Kaye can't see or speak to Roiben unless she can find the one
FIC BLA thing she knows doesn't exist: a faerie who can tell a lie.
The Child Thief Born of faerie blood, Peter hunts abandoned children,
runaways and the hopeless, recruiting for his Devils in Avalon
Brom and promising them a place where you never have to grow
up. He conveniently fails to mention that Avalon's monsters
Pages: 481 are very real, and the Devils must practice their war games or
risk being tortured to death, eaten or worse.
FIC BRO
The Blue Girl Seventeen-year-old Imogene decides to reinvent herself after
moving to a new town with her family, hoping to leave behind
de Lint, Charles her tough, rebellious nature, befriending the high school
outcast and trying her best to avoid trouble, but when she
Pages: 368 gets on the wrong side of a gang of malicious fairies, Imogene
finds herself in more trouble than ever before.
FIC DE

7. One Hundred Years The story follows 100 years in the life of Macondo, a village
of Solitude founded by José Arcadio Buendía and occupied by
descendants all sporting variations on their progenitor's
Garcia Marquez, name: his sons, José Arcadio and Aureliano, and grandsons,
Gabriel Aureliano José, Aureliano Segundo, and José Arcadio
Segundo. Then there are the women – the two Úrsulas, a
Pages: 417 handful of Remedios, Fernanda, and Pilar – who struggle to
remain grounded even as their men build castles in the air.
FIC GAR
Runemarks Seven o'clock on a Monday morning, five hundred years after
the end of the world, and goblins have been at the cellar
Harris, Joanne again. Not that anyone would admit it was goblins. In Maddy
world, order rules. Chaos, old gods, faeries, magic—all of
Pages: 526 these were supposedly vanquished centuries ago. But Maddy
knows that a small bit of magic has survived. The “ruinmark”
FIC HAR she was born with on her palm proves it—and makes the
other villagers fearful and suspicious that she is a witch.
Sign of the Raven Tomwould rather be home in Dorset enjoying his summer
vacation and hanging out with his mates. Instead, his cancer-
Hearn, Julie stricken mother has driven them both to London to stay with
her estranged mother. As soon as they arrive, Tom begins to
Pages: 328 hear voices from across the gap, a time portal in the
basement of his grandmother's house. Tom enters their 18th-
FIC HEA century world and, with the assistance of some 21st-century
technology, helps to free them from their oppressive lives.
The Foretelling Growing up the daughter of an Amazon queen who shuns her
because she is the product of a rape, Rain struggles to find her
Hoffman, Alice identity and prove herself. She rebels against the ways of her
tribe through her sister-like relationship with Lo and her
Pages: 182 feelings for a boy from a tribe of wanderers.
FIC HOF
A Wrinkle in Time Meg Murry, her brother Charles, and their friend Calvin,
embark on a journey through space and time, assisted by
L’Engle, Madeleine three otherworldly women, when they set out to find Meg's
father, a physicist who disappeared while experimenting with
Pages: 245 time travel.
FIC LEN

8. Floating Islands When Trei loses his family in a tragic disaster, he must search
out distant relatives in a new land with the majestic Floating
Neumeier, Rachel Islands. Trei is instantly sky-mad, and desperate to be a
kajurai himself. The only one who fully understands his
Pages: passion is Araene, his newfound cousin. Prickly, sarcastic, and
gifted, Araene has a secret of her own. Trei and Araene
FIC NEU quickly become conspirators as they pursue their individual
paths.
Sabriel After receiving a cryptic message from her father, Abhorsen, a
necromancer trapped in Death, 18-year-old Sabriel sets off
Nix, Garth into the Old Kingdom. Fraught with peril and deadly trickery,
her journey takes her to a world filled with parasitical spirits,
Pages: 491 Mordicants, and Shadow Hands. Sabriel, who has taken on
her father's title and duties, must now slip over the border
FIC NIX into the icy river of Death, sometimes battling the evil forces
that lurk there, waiting for an opportunity to escape into the
realm of the living.
East In the rural villages of Norway, there is an ancient belief that
children inherit the qualities of the direction in which they are
Pattou, Edith born. Nymah Rose, the last daughter of eight siblings born to
a poor mapmaker and his superstitious wife, was a North-
Pages: 507 born baby. North-born babies are wild, unpredictable, and
destined to break their mothers' hearts because they all leave
FIC PAT home to travel to the far ends of the earth. Rose’s mother lied
and told her she had been born of the East, but destiny
cannot be denied.
The Children of With the lands of Middle-earth populated by Men and other
Hurin humanoid races: Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs, as well as divine
beings, Maiar and Valar. This story concentrates on a Man of
Tolkien, J.R.R. the House of Hador, Túrin Turambar, and his sister Niënor
Níniel, who are cursed along with their father Húrin by the
Pages: 320 Dark Lord Morgoth. The events take place more than 6,500
years before the War of the Ring.
FIC TOL
The Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, an upstanding member of the "little people.”
He is, like most of his kind, well off, well fed, and best pleased
Tolkien, J. R. R. when sitting by his own fire with a pipe, a glass of good beer,
and a meal to look forward to. When Gandalf the Grey invites
Pages: 320 him on an adventure, he feverishly refuses, but before he can
even grab his hat or an umbrella, Bilbo Baggins is swept out
FIC TOL his door and into a dangerous adventure.

9. Thriller/Adventure
The True On a long, grueling journey from England to Rhode Island in
Confessions of 1802, a 12 year old changes from a prim and proper girl to a
Charlotte Doyle swashbuckling mate of a mutinous crew and is accused of
murder by the captain. Awash with shipboard activity, intense
Avi feelings, and a keen sense of time and place, the story is a
throwback to good old-fashioned adventure yarns on the high
Pages: 232 seas.
FIC AVI
Candor The picture-perfect new town of Candor, Florida, is attracting
more and more new families, drawn by its postcard-like small-
Bachorz, Pam town feel. But the parents are drawn by something else as
well. They know that in Candor their rebellious teenagers will
Pages: 249 somehow become rewired - they'll learn to respect their elders,
to do their chores, and enjoy their homework. They'll give up
FIC BAC the tattoos, metal music, and partying that have been driving
their parents crazy. They'll become every parent's dream.
The River Following her father’s emotional breakdown, Veronica moves
with her family from Portland to tiny Hoodoo, Oregon, where
Beaufrand, Mary her parents open an inn. Her father’s condition improves and
Jane her mother, a celebrity chef, is just fine, thank you. But Ronnie
is bereft, unable to get over all the things she’s left behind in
Pages: 215 the big city. And then the young girl she’s been babysitting
dies—an accidental drowning, the authorities think, but
FIC BEA Ronnie’s not so sure and sets out to investigate.
Mr. Shivers After his daughter is brutally murdered, a revenge-seeking
Marcus Connelly leaves Memphis on a hunt across America's
Bennett, Robert hobo camps and ghost towns for the grotesquely scarred,
Jackson ghostly figure known as "Mr. Shivers." On his quest Connelly
teams up with a scrappy band of hobos recovering from their
Pages: 327 own brushes with "the gray man," and the body count
increases as they ride the rails tracking their target.
FIC BEN
The Dark Days of Will Halpin has ditched his former "deaf school" and is now
Hamburger Haplin trying to merge into the auditory-able mainstream at Carbon
High in eastern Pennsylvania. As the new, overweight kid who
Berk, Josh has to sit off to the side during classes so he can try to read the
lips of both his teachers and his classmates, Will—no slouch
Pages: 250 when it comes to reading human reactions—quickly downsizes
his social expectations and retreats back into the soundless
FIC BER cocoon of his own skull.

10. The Rule of Four Tom Sullivan and Paul Harris are determined to unlock the
centuries old mystery behind an ancient Renaissance text
Caldwell, Ian before their graduation from Princeton, but just as they are
about to discover its secrets, the campus is rocked with a series
Pages: 372 of suspicious deaths.
FIC CAL
The Alchemist Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy, sets out from his home
in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of buried treasure, but
Coelho, Paulo through his encounters with a Gypsy woman, a man who calls
himself a king, and an Alchemist, he learns the value of the
Pages: 197 treasures found within himself.
FIC COE
I Am the Cheese 14-year-old Adam Farmer’s whole life has been fiction. His
identity altered and a new family history created. Suddenly
Cormier, Robert nothing is as it once seemed; he can trust no one, maybe not
even himself. It is exactly this revelation that turns Adam’s life
Pages: 256 upside down. As he tries to ascertain who he really is, he
encounters a past, present, and future too horrible to
FIC COR contemplate.
The Rag and Bone A 7-year-old girl has been battered to death, and there are no
Shop suspects, no leads. The police, under political pressure to make
an arrest, bring in Trent, a cold, ambitious professional
Cormier, Robert interrogator who prides himself on his ability to extract
confessions. His victim is 12-year-old Jason – the last person to
Pages: 154 see the girl. It becomes clear to readers that Trent’s goal is a
confession (even a false one) rather than truth.
FIC COR
The Hound of the Upon hearing Dr. James Mortimer's saga of the haunted
Baskervilles Baskerville family and the recent death of family head Sir
Charles Baskerville, apparently from the hound of the legend,
Doyle, Arthur Holmes and Watson begin their investigation. When the
Conan estate's heir, Sir Henry Baskerville, arrives in London from
Canada strange things immediately occur and Holmes
Pages: 250 dispatches Watson to accompany Sir Henry to Baskerville Hall.
FIC DOY

11. Peace Like a River In the winter of his 11th year, two schoolyard bullies break into
the Lands' house, and Rube's big brother Davy guns them down
Enger, Leif with a Winchester. Shortly after his arrest, Davy breaks out of
jail and goes on the lam. Swede is Rube's younger sister and
Pages: 313 shortly after Davy's escape, Rube, Swede, and their father, a
widowed school custodian, hit the road too, swerving this way
FIC ENG and that across Minnesota and North Dakota, determined to
find their lost outlaw Davy.
Now You See Her This is a story about Marcy Taggart, who, at 50, is newly
divorced and mourning her daughter, Devon, who two years
Fielding, Joy ago disappeared in a boating accident and is presumed dead.
On what was to be her 25th wedding anniversary, Marcy travels
Pages: 200 to Ireland for a vacation and spots a girl she believes to be
Devon, and her sightseeing quickly turns into a quest.
FIC FIE
Anansi Boys "Fat Charlie" Nancy leads a life of comfortable workaholism in
London, with a stressful job he doesn't much like, and a
Gaiman, Neil pleasant fiancée, Rosie. When Charlie learns of the death of his
estranged father in Florida, he attends the funeral and learns
Pages: 400 two facts that turn his well-ordered existence upside-down:
that his father was a human form of Anansi, the African
FIC GAI trickster god, and that he has a brother, Spider, who has
inherited some of their father's godlike abilities.
Paper Towns Quentin or Q has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently
adventurous Margo from afar. So when she cracks open a
Green, John window and climbs back into his life, dressed like a ninja and
summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge, he
Pages: 305 follows. After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q
arrives at school to discover that Margo has now become a
FIC GRE mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues – and they're
for him.
Invisible City An action-packed adventure involving conspiracy theories, end-
of-the-world prophecies, government agents, futuristic
Harric, M.G. technology, and a bit of the supernatural. When Joshua's father
dies in a suspicious plane crash in Mexico, the 13-year-old flies
Pages: across the Atlantic to investigate. Eventually Joshua discovers a
secret society that has remained hidden for centuries.
FIC HAR

12. It They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the
horror. Now they were grown-up men and women who had
King, Stephen gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But
none of them could withstand the force that drew them back to
Pages: 1093 Derry, Maine to face the nightmare without an end, and the evil
without a name.
FIC KIN
Mystic River The past comes back to haunt three men who shared a
friendship as children when Sean Devine, now a policeman, is
Lehane, Dennis assigned to investigate the murder of Jimmy Marcus's teenage
daughter, a crime the third member of their group, Dave Boyle,
Pages: 401 is suspected of committing.
FIC LEH
Rosemary’s Baby Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse move into an apartment in a
building with a bad reputation. They discover that their
Levin, Ira neighbors are a very friendly elderly couple named Roman and
Minnie Castevet, and Guy begins to spend a lot of time with
Pages: 319 them, and strange things start to happen. A woman Rosemary
meets dies mysteriously, Rosemary has strange dreams and
FIC LEV Guy becomes distant. Then Rosemary falls pregnant and begins
to suspect that her neighbors have special plans for her child.
Life of Pi Pi Patel, having spent an idyllic childhood in Pondicherry, India,
as the son of a zookeeper, sets off with his family at the age of
Martel, Yann sixteen to start anew in Canada, but his life takes a marvelous
turn when their ship sinks in the Pacific, leaving him adrift on a
Page: 401 raft with a 450-pound Bengal tiger for company.
FIC MAR
The Eight In the 20th century, Catherine Velis is a computer expert with a
flair for music, painting, and chess who, on her way to Algeria,
Neville, Katherine she is invited to take a mysterious moonlighting assignment:
recover the pieces of an old chess set missing for centuries.
Pages: 598 Meanwhile, in the midst of the French Revolution, a young nun
discovers that her abbey is the hiding place of a chess set, once
FIC NEV owned by the great Charlemagne, which allows those who play
it to tap into incredible powers beyond the imagination.

13. Bel Canto A group of international guests, taken hostage by terrorists
while attending a birthday party at the home of the vice
Patchett, Ann president of a small South American country, form bonds with
their captors and enter into an almost idyllic lifestyle, united by
Pages: 318 the music of Roxanne Coss, opera's most revered soprano.
FIC PAT
The Shadow of the In 1945 Spain, the young son of an an que-book dealer
Wind searches for more books by Juli n Carax, an author he has
recently discovered, and finds that everything Carax has ever
Ruiz, Carlos Zafon written has been destroyed--and that his search has put his
friends and family in danger.
Pages: 486
FIC RUI
In the Woods When Cameron rescues a baby abandoned in the woods,
everyone says it is a miracle. A stroke of luck that he just
Stevenson, Robin happened to be there, riding his bike along that trail, and heard
the baby's cry. But Cameron has a secret: It wasn't just luck. He
Pages: 124 was there because his twin sister Katie begged him to go. Did
Katie know about the baby? Is she covering for someone? At
FIC STE first Cameron just wants some answers but once he knows the
truth he has to decide what to do with it.
The Secret History Richard Papen comes from a lower-class family and a loveless
California home to Vermont's Hampden College. Almost too
Tartt, Donna easily, he is accepted into a clique of five socially sophisticated
students who study Classics with an idiosyncratic, morally
Pages: 559 fraudulent professor. Finally they reveal to Richard that they
accidentally killed a man during a bacchanalian frenzy; when
FIC TAR one of their members seems ready to spill the secret, the group
– now including Richard – must kill him, too.
I Am The Nineteen-year-old cabbie Ed Kennedy has little in life to be
Messenger proud of: his dad died of alcoholism, and he and his mom have
few prospects for success. He has little to do except share a
Zusak, Markus run-down apartment with his faithful yet smelly dog, drive his
taxi, and play cards. Then, after he stops a bank robbery, Ed
Pages: 357 begins receiving anonymous messages marked in code on
playing cards in the mail, and almost immediately his life begins
FIC ZUS to swerve off its beaten-down path.

14. Young Adult Literature
The Five People A bitter eighty-three-year-old war veteran who believes his life
You Meet in is meaningless dies while trying to save a little girl's life and
Heaven finds himself in heaven, where five people from his past--some
loved ones, some strangers – explain what his years on Earth
Albom, Mitch really meant, and whether or not he succeeded in saving the
child.
Pages: 196
FIC ALB
For One More Day After years of drinking, being rejected by his wife and
daughter, and a suicide attempt, ex-baseball star Charley
Albom, Mitch Benetto returns to his childhood home where he encounters
the ghost of his mother, who tells him family secrets and
Pages: 197 guides him in making his life better.
FIC ALB
The Absolutely Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the
True Diary of a Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town
Part-Time Indian school where the only other Native American is the school
mascot. Finding his niche on the basketball team and meeting
Alexie, Sherman his old classmates on the court, Junior grapples with questions
about what constitutes one's community, identity, and tribe.
Pages: 229 This book is filled with illustrations that help fuel the storyline.
FIC ALE
How the Garcia This is a story of four sisters who must adjust to life in America
Girls Lost Their after having to flee from the Dominican Republic is told
Accents through a series of episodes beginning in adulthood, when
their lives have been shaped by U. S. mores, and moving
Alvarez, Julia backwards to their wealthy childhood on the island. Adapting
to American life is difficult and causes embarrassment when
Pages: 290 friends meet their parents, anger as they are bullied.
FIC ALV

15. The Blood of The death of her father leads a teenage girl in seventeenth-
Flowers century Iran to go live with her mother as a servant in the
home of her uncle, a wealthy rug designer in the court of the
Amirrezvani, Anita Shah, where she is able to develop her talent for rug design--a
skill that becomes vital to her survival after her lack of a dowry
Pages: 377 forces her into a contract marriage, renewable every three
months, with the son of a horse trader.
FIC AMI
Catalyst Eighteen-year-old Kate, who sometimes chafes at being a
preacher's daughter, finds herself losing control in her senior
Anderson, Laurie year as she faces difficult neighbors, the possibility that she
Halse may not be accepted by the college of her choice, and an
unexpected death.
Pages: 232
FIC AND
Prom Ashley is a senior from a lower-middle-class family, dating a
high school dropout, and gearing up for graduation but with no
Anderson, Laurie plans for college. But when the new math teacher steals the
Hulse prom money, Ashley - who swears she doesn't care - finds
herself sucked into turning nothing into the best prom ever
Pages: 215 because it means the world to her best friend, Nat.
FIC AND
Twisted After finally getting noticed by someone other than school
bullies and his ever-angry father, seventeen-year-old Tyler
Anderson, Laurie enjoys his tough new reputation and the attentions of a
Halse popular girl, but when life starts to go bad again, he must
choose between transforming himself or giving in to his
Pages: 250 destructive thoughts.
FIC AND
Beach Blondes Three months. Three guys. One amazing summer. Summer
Smith is in for the best summer of her life. Between the cold
Applegate, weather and her boyfriendless existence in Minnesota,
Katherine Summer is ready for sun, sand, and boys in the Florida Keys.
And by the end of the first day, she has more than enough to
Pages: 736 keep her busy: Adam has looks and power. Diver is mellow and
intriguing. And Seth is the perfect guy except he has a
FIC APP girlfriend. But with new friends, cute guys, and miles of hot
white sand, Summer's in for more trouble than she thinks.

16. Thirteen Reasons High school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail
Why containing seven cassette tapes recorded by his crush, Hannah
Baker, who committed suicide, and spends a bewildering and
Asher, Jay heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to
Hannah's voice recounting the events leading up to her death.
Pages: 288
FIC ASH
Weetzie Bat Weetzie, now 23, is a child of Hollywood who hated high
school but loves the memories of Marilyn Monroe and Charlie
Block, Francesca Chaplin. Nobody understands her, least of all her divorced
Lia parents, until she meets Dirk. After he tells her he’s gay, he
takes her slam-dancing at the hot clubs in L.A. After moving in
Pages: 128 together with their significant others, the four of them make
movies and have a baby. They spend no time considering
FIC BLO college or career. Their only priority is finding love and keeping
it once they find it.
Tyrell Fifteen-year-old Tyrell, who is living in a Bronx homeless
shelter with his spaced-out mother and his younger brother,
Booth, Coe tries to avoid temptation so he doesn’t end up in jail like his
father. Torn between the needs of the women in his life and
Pages: 310 his seven-year-old brother, Tyrell is determined to stay clean
as he agonizes over creating a new life for his family.
FIC BOO
Dandelion Wine Twelve-year-old Douglas Spaulding knows Green Town, Illinois,
is as vast and deep as the whole wide world that lies beyond
Bradbury, Ray the city limits. It is a pair of brand-new tennis shoes, the first
harvest of dandelions for Grandfather's renowned intoxicant,
Pages: 239 the distant clang of the trolley's bell on a hazy afternoon. It is
yesteryear and tomorrow blended into an unforgettable
FIC BRA always. But as young Douglas is about to discover, summer can
be more than the repetition of established rituals whose
mystical power holds time at bay.
The Rope Walk Alice MacCauley's eleventh summer is shaped by new
friendship, the twinges of first love, and adult lessons about
Brown, Carrie life and death when she and Theo, a New York City boy of
mixed race visiting his white New England grandparents,
Pages: 321 become the companions of Kenneth, an artist dying of and
losing his eyesight to AIDS, reading him the journals of Lewis
FIC BRO and Clark and building him a secret "rope walk" through the
woods.

17. Breakfast at Contains the title work about Holly Golightly, a Manhattan
Tiffany’s playgirl whose antics mask a pain-filled past; and includes
three additional stories, "House of Flowers," "A Diamond
Capote, Truman Guitar," and "A Christmas Memory." This collection gives
readers a continually fresh and exciting look at how human
Pages: 161 beings successfully connect with one another.
FIC CAP
The Perks of Being Charlie, a freshman in high school, explores the dilemmas of
a Wallflower growing up through a collection of letters he sends to an
unknown receiver. Charlie is a freshman. And while he's not
Chbosky, Stephen the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. He's
a wallflower – shy and introspective, yet intelligent beyond his
Pages: 213 years. Charlie encounters the same struggles that many kids
face in high school – how to make friends, the intensity of a
FIC CHB crush, family tensions, a first relationship, exploring sexuality,
experimenting with drugs. Charlie's letters take on the
intimate feel of a journal as he shares his day-to-day thoughts
and feelings.
Frozen Rodeo Peggy Fleming Farrell, 17, feels no obligation to live up to her
famous namesake-much to the disappointment of her father, a
Clark, Catherine retired professional skater hoping to make a comeback at a
local summer rodeo-on-ice. Taking care of siblings Dorothy,
Pages: 304 Torvill, and Dean; coaching mom at Lamaze class; and working
at the coffee bar at Gas 'n Git are enough responsibility for the
FIC CLA self-involved teen.
The Chocolate War Does Jerry Renault dare to disturb the universe? You wouldn't
think that his refusal to sell chocolates during his school's
Cormier, Robert fundraiser would create such a stir, but it does; it's as if the
whole school comes apart at the seams. To some, Jerry is a
Pages: 191 hero, but to others, he becomes a scapegoat – a target for
their pent-up hatred. But Jerry is just trying to stand up for
FIC COR what he believes, but perhaps there is no way for him to
escape becoming a pawn in this game of control.
The Little Prince The narrator is a downed pilot in the Sahara Desert, frantically
trying to repair his wrecked plane. His efforts are interrupted
De Saint-Exupery, one day by the apparition of a little, well, prince, who asks him
Antoine to draw a sheep. And so begins their dialogue, which stretches
the narrator's imagination in all sorts of surprising, childlike
Pages: 110 directions.
FIC DE

18. The Secret Deborah Monroe makes a split-second decision to take the
Between Us blame for a car accident that left a man dead, hiding the fact
that her daughter, Grace, was driving from the police, and as
Delinsky, Barbara the lie seems to overshadow everything else, Grace and
Deborah find their relationship tested and their futures forever
Pages: 343 changes.
FIC DEL
Keeping the Moon Because her aerobics-star mother is taking her famous weight-
loss program to Europe, 15-year-old Colie leaves her home in
Dessen, Sarah Charlotte to spend the summer with her endearing but
uncompromisingly unusual Aunt Mira in coastal Colby, NC.
Pages: 228 Colie has recently dropped 45 pounds, but unlike her positive-
thinking mother, the teen has not succeeded in shedding her
FIC DES negative self-image.
Someone Like You Halley has always been close to her mother, but the summer
before her junior year, Halley begins cutting the umbilical cord.
Dessen, Sarah She and her best friend, Scarlett, start hanging out with Ginny
Tabor, dumps her nerdy boyfriend, and becomes involved with
Pages: 281 reckless Macon, a boy her parents have forbidden her to see.
Then Scarlett discovers she is pregnant. Walking a line
FIC DES between childhood and adulthood, the two girls turn to each
other instead of their families for support.
A Northern Light Mattie Gokey, 16, a talented writer, promised her dying
mother that she will always take care of her father and
Donnely, Jennifer younger siblings. She is stuck on a farm, living in near poverty,
with no way of escaping, even though she has been accepted
Pages: 408 at Barnard College. She promises to marry handsome Royal
Loomis, but after being assigned to burn some old letters,
FIC DON Mattie is swept along in a tale of self discovery by learning that
she can’t always live her life for other people.
A Yellow Raft in This novel is based on three generations of Indian Women.
Blue Water Rayona, 15, half black and half Indian, is abandoned by her
mother and in turn abandons her Aunt Ida. Her mother faces
Dorris, Michael what appears to be the last days of her often wild life in the
kind company of a misunderstood man who was both a
Pages: 372 childhood friend and enemy on the reservation. Linked to both
is Aunt Ida, the stony family matriarch who lost her favored
FIC DOR son to the Viet Nam War and now warms her heart before the
electronic fires of television soap operas.

19. The Memory Dr. David Henry, forced to deliver his own twins during a
Keeper’s Daughter snowstorm in 1964 with only a nurse to help him, makes a
decision that has far-reaching effects on his life, and the lives
Edwards, Kim of his wife and son, when his infant daughter is born with
Down Syndrome, and in a vain attempt to protect his wife, he
Pages: 401 orders the nurse to take the baby to an institution.
FIC EDW
Jane Slayer Jane Slayre sets out on the advice of her ghostly uncle to hone
her skills as the fearless slayer she’s meant to be. When she
Erwin, Sherri takes a job as a governess at a country estate, she falls head-
Browning & over-heels for her new master, Mr. Rochester, only to discover
Bronte, Charlotte he’s hiding a violent werewolf in the attic. Vampyres, Zombies,
and werewolves transform Charlotte Bronte’s unforgettable
Pages: 391 masterpiece into an eerie paranormal adventure.
FIC ERW
White Oleander Astrid Magnussen has a mother who is as sharp as a new
knife. Ingrid despises weakness and self-pity, telling her
Fitch, Janet daughter that they are descendants of Vikings, savages who
fought fiercely to survive. And when one of Ingrid's boyfriends
Pages: 446 abandons her, she illustrates her point, killing the man with
the poison of oleander flowers. This leads to a life sentence in
FIC FIT prison, leaving Astrid to teach herself the art of survival in a
string of Los Angeles foster homes.
Fried Green The classic novel of two women in the 1980s. Gray-headed
Tomatoes at the Mrs. Threadgoode telling her life story to Evelyn, who is in the
Whistle Stop Café sad slump of middle age. The tale she tells is also of two
women – of the irrepressibly dare devilish tomboy Idgie and
Flagg, Fannie her friend Ruth – who back in the thirties ran a little place in
Whistle Stop, Alabama, a Southern kind of Cafe Wobegon
Pages: 403 offering good barbecue and good coffee and all kinds of love
and laughter, even an occasional murder.
FIC FLA
Breaking Point Tripped in class, mooned in the hall, cola poured through the
slats in his locker, spitballs stuck in his hair – Paul Richmond
Flinn, Alex can’t take much more at his super-snobby private school. Paul
is there free because his mom works in the guidance office,
Pages: 240 but that fact makes him an instant outcast, his only friend a
funny-looking, independent girl named Binky. Even worse off is
FIC FLI David Blanco, whose mom is a cafeteria lady and whose father
is the janitor.

20. Cloaked Teenaged Johnny works as a cobbler in his mother's shoe
repair shop in a posh hotel in South Beach. Unexpectedly, the
Flinn, Alex striking Princess Victoriana of Aloria comes to the swanky
Miami hotel for a royal visit. The super-hot partying princess
Pages: 352 pleads for Johnny's help in finding her missing brother, and
offers of money and a royal marriage convince him to take her
FIC FLI seriously-even when she explains that the prince has been
turned into a frog.
Jane Bites Back Jane Austen, living in a sleepy college town in upstate New
York nearly two hundred years after being turned into a
Ford, Michael vampire, must hide her true identity. Jane may be undead, but
Thomas her books have taken on a life of their own. To make matters
worse, the manuscript she finished just before being turned
Pages: 299 into a vampire has been rejected by publishers. Jane longs to
let the world know who she is, but when fate suddenly thrusts
FIC FOR her back in the spotlight, she must hide her real identity.
If I Stay The last normal moment that Mia, a talented cellist, can
remember is being in the car with her family. Then she is
Forman, Gayle standing outside her body beside their mangled Buick and her
parents' corpses, watching herself and her little brother being
Pages: 259 tended by paramedics. As she ponders her state, Mia is
whisked away to a hospital, where, her body in a coma, she
FIC FOR reflects on the past and tries to decide whether to fight to live.
Juliet American Julie Jacobs travels to Sienna to learn more about
her Italian heritage and discovers she is a direct descendant of
Fortier, Anne Giulietta Tomei, the woman's whose love for Romeo
supposedly inspired Shakespeare's classic tale, and that her
Pages: 447 Italian relatives are still suffering from the curse upon their
houses.
FIC FOR
Sophie’s World Wanting to understand the most fundamental questions of the
universe isn't the province of ivory-tower intellectuals alone,
Gaarder, Jostein as this book's enormous popularity has demonstrated. A young
girl, Sophie, becomes embroiled in a discussion of philosophy
Pages: 518 with a faceless correspondent. At the same time, she must
unravel a mystery involving another young girl, Hilde, by using
FIC GAA everything she's learning. The truth is far more complicated
than she could ever have imagined.

21. Romeo and Juliet The Capulets and Montagues have some deep and essential
and Vampires differences. Blood differences. Of course, the Capulets can
escape their vampire fate, and the Montagues can try not to
Gabel, Claudia & kill their undead enemies. But at the end of the day, their
Shakespeare, blood feud is unstoppable. So it’s really quite a problem when
William Juliet, a vampire-to-be, and Romeo, the human who should be
hunting her, fall desperately in love. What they don’t realize is
Pages: 231 how deadly their love will turn out to be – or what it will mean
for their afterlives .
FIC GAB
Babe in Boyland When high school junior Natalie-or Dr. Aphrodite, as she calls
herself when writing the relationship column for her school
Gehrman, Jody paper-is accused of knowing nothing about guys and giving
Elizabeth girls bad relationship advice, she decides to investigate what
guys really think and want. But the guys in her class won't give
Pages: 292 her straight or serious answers. The only solution is to disguise
herself as a guy and spend a week at Underwood Academy,
FIC GEH the private all-boy boarding school in town.
What Happened to Cass is that girl in high school who does whatever it takes to be
Cass McBride? popular-which means stomping all over everyone else. David is
that awkward boy who painfully lurks on the outside of all of
Giles, Gail the social groups. When he commits suicide, his older brother
is out for revenge against the girl whom he believes is
Pages: 211 responsible for David's death. Slowly readers see what caused
David's suicide and Kyle's anger and are given insight as to why
FIC GIL Cass behaves as she does.
Bee Season Eliza Naumann is used to being the unremarkable member of
her family, but when she wins a series of spelling bees, her
Goldbert, Myla once distant family begins to lavish praise on her, bringing
about surprising complications. Teachers regard her with a
Pages: 275 new fondness; the studious girls begin to save a place for her
at lunch. Even Eliza can sense herself changing.
FIC GOL
Abraham Lincoln While Abraham Lincoln is widely renowned for saving a Union
Vampire Hunter and freeing millions of slaves, his valiant fight against the
forces of the undead has remained in the shadows for
Grahame-Smith, hundreds of years. That is, until his secret journal is stumbled
Seth upon. This book is a reconstruction of the true life story of our
greatest president for the first time – all while revealing the
Pages: 336 hidden history behind the Civil War.
FIC GRA

22. Little Women and The March girls learn some biting lessons, transforming from
Werewolves wild girls into little women – just as their neighbors transform
from gentlemen into blood-thirsty werewolves! Here are
Grand, Porter & tomboy Jo, meek Beth, ladylike Amy, and good-hearted Meg,
Alcott, Louisa May plus lovable neighbor Laurie Laurence, now doomed to prowl
the night on all fours, maiming and devouring the locals. As
Pages: 396 the Civil War rages, the girls learn the value of being kind, the
merits of patience and grace, and the benefits of knowing a
FIC GRA werewolf who can disembowel your teacher.
Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth Bennett marries Mr. Darcy and sets off with him on
Vampyre what she anticipates will be a happy wedding tour, but her
spirits are dampened by her new husband's dour mood, and a
Grange, Amanda series of strange incidents leads her to suspect something is
very wrong.
Pages: 308
FIC GRA
Wuthering Bites A retelling of the classic novel "Wuthering Heights" in which
Heathcliff is reimagined as a half-vampire who protects
Gray, Sarah Catherine by fighting bloodsuckers that roam the moors, and
Catherine is forced to choose between the wealthy Edgar
Pages: 362 Linton and the dangerous Heathcliff.
FIC GRA
An Abundance of Having been recently dumped for the nineteenth time by a girl
Katherines named Katherine, recent high school graduate and former
child prodigy Colin sets off on a road trip with his best friend to
Green, John try to find some new direction in life while also trying to create
a mathematical formula to explain his relationships
Pages: 227 hypothesizing that romantic relationships can be graphed and
predicted.
FIC GRE
Looking for Alaska Sixteen-year-old Miles Halter's adolescence has been one long
nonevent - no challenge, no girls, no mischief, and no real
Green, John friends. Seeking what Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps," he
leaves Florida for a boarding school in Birmingham, AL. His
Pages: 221 roommate, Chip, is a dirt-poor genius scholarship student with
a Napoleon complex who lives to one-up the school's rich
FIC GRE preppies. Chip's best friend is Alaska Young, with whom Miles
and every other male in her orbit falls instantly in love.

23. Bronx Masquerade Open Mike Friday is everyone's favorite day in Mr. Ward's
English class. On Fridays, his 18 high-school students dare to
Grimes, Nikki relax long enough to let slip the poets, painters, readers, and
dreamers that exist within each of them. Students at this
Pages: 167 Bronx high school share their creative sides by revealing their
innermost thoughts and fears to their formerly clueless
FIC GRI classmates.
A Painted House It's harvest time on the Chandler farm, and the family has
hired a crew of migrant Mexicans and "hill people" to pick 80
Grisham, John acres of cotton. A certain camaraderie pervades this bucolic
dream team. But it's backbreaking work, particularly for the 7-
Pages: 388 year-old narrator, Luke. What's more, tensions begin to
simmer between the Mexicans and the hill people, one of
FIC GRI whom has a penchant for bare-knuckles brawling. This leads to
a brutal murder, which young Luke has the bad luck to witness.
Marley and Me The author presents a tender story of his family's love for their
yellow Labrador retriever, Marley, and recalls how he grew
Grogan, John from a mischievous puppy into a nearly impossible adult that
no amount of obedience school training could correct, and of
Pages: 305 the love they felt for him.
FIC GRO
The Curious Late one night, Christopher comes across his neighbor's
Incident of the Dog poodle, Wellington, impaled on a garden fork. Wellington's
in the Night-time owner finds him cradling her dead dog in his arms, and has him
arrested. After spending a night in jail, Christopher resolves--
Haddon, Mark against the objection of his father and neighbors – to discover
just who has murdered Wellington. He is encouraged by
Pages: 226 Siobhan, a social worker at his school, to write a book about
his investigations, and the result – quirkily illustrated, with
FIC HAD each chapter given its own prime number.
The Noah For her 16th birthday, Lynnie expects a car, but instead, she
Confessions receives something puzzling, though of much greater
importance: a charm bracelet that belonged to her deceased
Hall, Barbara mother. Later that day, her dad gives her a long letter from her
mother to a boy called Noah. The teen begins to read about
Pages: 240 her family's past and learns why she never met her
grandparents. Lynnie is swept up in her mother's secrets and
FIC HAL begins to doubt her own future.

24. Jenna and Jonah’s Teen stars Charlie Tracker and Fielding Withers, known as
Fauxmance Jenna and Jonah on their hit television series about young
neighbors in love, are forced to carry on the charade off the
Haplin, Brendan set for the press and their fans, but when the paparazzi blow
their cover, Charlie and Fielding must disappear until the
Pages: 229 publicity dies down, and once off the Hollywood grid, they
realize they may like each other after all.
FIC HAP
Plainsong Tom Guthrie is a high school teacher whose wife can't--or
won't – get out of bed; the McPherons are two bachelor
Haruf, Kent brothers who know little about the world beyond their farm
gate; Victoria Roubideaux is a pregnant 17-year-old with no
Pages: 301 place to turn. Their lives parallel each other in much the same
way any small-town lives would--until Maggie Jones, another
FIC HAR teacher, makes them intersect.
Godless Jason is a smart 15-year-old, an agnostic-leaning-toward-
atheism, who resists following in the footsteps of his devoutly
Hautman, Peter Catholic father. Getting clocked under the water tower by the
nasty and unpredictable Henry leads Jason and his friend Shin
Pages: 198 to combine their talents to posit a new religion.
"Chutengodianism" sanctifies water, the source of all life, as
FIC HAU manifested by the Ten-Legged God, aka that same million-
gallon water tower.
The Outsiders According to Ponyboy, there are two kinds of people in the
world: greasers and socs. A soc has money, can get away with
Hinton, S.E. just about anything, and has an attitude longer than a
limousine. A greaser, on the other hand, always lives on the
Pages: 180 outside and needs to watch his back. Ponyboy is a greaser, and
he's always been proud of it, even willing to rumble against a
FIC HIN gang of socs for the sake of his fellow greasers – until one
terrible night when his friend Johnny kills a soc.
Dawn of the This book is a thrilling prequel set four years before the horrific
Dreadfuls events of Price and Prejudice and Zombies. As the story opens,
the Bennet sisters are enjoying a peaceful life in the English
Hockensmith, countryside until a funeral at the local parish goes strangely
Steve and horribly awry. Suddenly corpses are springing from the
soft earth and only one family can stop them. As the bodies
Pages: 287 pile up, Elizabeth Bennet evolves from a naïve young teenager
into a savage slayer of the undead.
FIC HOC

25. Green Angel Moody, introspective Green, 15, stays at home while her
parents and younger sister travel to the city to sell their
Hoffman, Alice produce. Her disappointment at being left behind causes her
to be cold and not say good-bye. But when I fire takes the city,
Pages: 116 Green is haunted by grief and by her past after losing her
family. She retreats into her ruined garden as she struggles to
FIC HOF survive emotionally and physically on her own.
When Zachary Summer in the tiny Texas town of Antler is traditionally a time
Beaver Came to for enjoying Wylie Womack's Bahama Mama snow cones and
Town racking up the pins at Kelly's Bowl-a-Rama, but this year it's
not going well for Toby. His 13-year-old heart has been broken
Holt, Kimberly twice: once by his mother, and his father to become a country
Willis singer in Nashville, and then again by his crush Scarlett, the
town beauty who barely acknowledges Toby's existence. But
Pages: 227 when Zachary Beaver, "The World's Fattest Boy," comes to
Antler as part of a traveling sideshow, Toby begins to realize
FIC HOL that there might just be people who have it worse than him.
A Time for Dancing Juliana, at age 16 is a gifted dancer along with her "one-and-
only" best friend, Samantha. Their initial concerns about
Hurwin, Davida boyfriends and dance class seem trivial after Jules is diagnosed
Wills with a deadly form of cancer. Through graphic depictions of
what follows’ endless sessions of chemotherapy, emergency
Pages: 257 runs to the hospital and Jules's periodic escapes into a dream
state, readers will feel the young victim's weariness as she
FIC HUR fights against the body which has betrayed her.
A Prayer for Owen Tells the story of Owen Meany who believes he is God's
Meany instrument and his friendship with John Wheelwright;
beginning at age eleven when Owen hits a foul ball that kills
Irving, John John's mother during a Little League game in 1953.
Pages: 617
FIC IRV
The Lottery and A collection of twenty-six stories by twentieth-century
Other Stories American author Shirley Jackson, including her famous work,
"The Lottery," in which the people of a village perform their
Jackson, Shirley annual lottery even though they have long forgotten the
reason for the ritual.
Pages: 320
FIC JAC

26. Emma and the Oblivious to the real evils within Highbury, Emma proceeds to
Vampires match make her friends to unsuitable vampires with disastrous
results. Even though she has never had the discipline to apply
Josephson, Wayne herself to reading or drawing, or the desire to marry, she
& Austen, Jane discovers quite suddenly that she is a skilled vampire slayer
and proceeds to rid the neighborhood of the fiendish Undead
Pages: 292 while winning the approval and heart of the one gentleman
vampire who she discovers she truly loves.
FIC JOS
Skunk Girl Sixteen-year-old Nina Khan feels like an outsider, and there are
two things that she particularly set her apart from others in
Karim, Sheba her small town: her perfect older sister, Sonia, and the fact
that she has inherited the “Pakistani hairy gene.” Begin a
Pages: 231 Muslim Pakistani-American, Nina’s parents have very firm
views on social behavior: she is not allowed to date or attend
FIC KAR parties, but as she forms a mutual attraction for a classmate,
Nina stages a mild rebellion.
The Juvie Three Terence, Gecko, and Arjay made serious mistakes and wound
up doing time in juvenile-detention facilities. Empathetic adult
Kerman, Gordon Douglas Healy, a former juvenile offender himself, has secured
a grant to operate an experimental halfway house in New York
Pages: 256 City designed to provide second chances to boys deemed as
deserving. The teens accept his offer to become his first
FIC KER reformees, willing to trade their bleak incarceration for a small
taste of freedom, even though the bargain entails maintaining
academic excellence, therapy, and community service.
Flowers for Algernon is a laboratory mouse who has undergone surgery to
Algernon increase his intelligence by artificial means. Charlie Gordon,
born with an unusually low IQ, and is the first human test
Keys, Daniel subject for the surgery. But must face his gradual return to his
former state when the astounding results of an experimental
Pages: 311 surgery that increased his intelligence prove to be only
temporary.
FIC KEY
The Bean Trees Feisty Marietta Greer changes her name to "Taylor" when her
car runs out of gas in Taylorville, Ill. By the time she reaches
Kingsolver, Barbara Oklahoma, this strong-willed young Kentucky native with a
quick tongue and an open mind is catapulted into a surprising
Pages: 323 new life. Taylor leaves home in a beat-up '55 Volkswagen bug,
on her way to nowhere in particular, savoring her freedom.
FIC KIN But when a forlorn Cherokee woman drops a baby in Taylor's
passenger seat and asks her to take it, she does.

27. Interpreter of This book is a collection of nine short stories dealing with
Maladies issues ranging from the disintegrating relationship of an Indian
couple to a newly married couple, are exploring their new
Lahiri, Jhumpa house, to a young woman, and her affair with a married Indian
man named Dev. Navigating between the Indian traditions
Pages: 198 they've inherited and the baffling new world, the characters in
this book provide touching stories.
FIC LAH
The Girls A fictional autobiography of conjoined twins told by Rose and
Ruby Darlen, two young women who, nearing the age of thirty,
Lansens, Lori are about to become history's oldest surviving twins to be
joined at the head. Born in a small town outside Toronto in the
Pages: 346 midst of a tornado and abandoned by their unwed teenage
mother two weeks later, the girls are cared for by Aunt Lovey,
FIC LAN a nurse who refuses to see them as deformed or even
disabled.
Crow Lake Four children living in northern Ontario struggle to stay
together after their parents die in an auto accident in Lawson's
Lawson, Mary fascinating debut, a compelling and lovely study of sibling
rivalry and family dynamics in which the land literally becomes
Pages: 320 a character. Kate Morrison narrates the tale in flashback mode,
starting with the fatal car accident that leaves seven-year-old
FIC LAW Kate; her toddler sister, Bo; 19-year-old Luke; and 17-year-old
Matt to fend for themselves.
Ella Enchanted In this novel based on the story of Cinderella, Ella is
inadvertently cursed by an imprudent fairy named Lucinda,
Levine, Gail Carson who bestows on her the "gift" of obedience. Anything anyone
tells her to do, Ella must obey. Another girl might have been
Pages: 238 cowed by this affliction, but not feisty Ella. When her beloved
mother dies, leaving her in the care of a mostly absent father,
FIC LEV and later, a loathsome stepmother and two treacherous
stepsisters, Ella's life and well-being seem in grave peril.
The Highest Tide Marine tidal life becomes a subtly executed metaphor for the
bewilderments of adolescence in this novel. As a precocious,
Lynch, Jim undersized 13-year-old living on the shore of Puget Sound, in
Washington State, Miles O'Malley has developed a consuming
Pages: 272 passion for the abundant life of the tidal flats. His simple
pleasure in observing is tested and complicated over the
FIC LYN course of a remarkable summer, when he finds a giant squid, a
discovery that brings him the unwelcome attention of
scientists, TV reporters and a local cult.

28. Saving Francesca Francesca is stuck at St. Sebastians, a boys' school that's
pretends it’s coed by giving the girls their own bathroom.
Marchetta, Melina Then there's Francesca's mother, who always thinks she knows
what's best for Francesca—until she is suddenly stricken with
Pages: 243 acute depression, leaving Francesca lost, along, and without an
inkling of who she really is.
FIC MAR
In Country Sam, 17, is obsessed with the Vietnam War and the effect it
has had on her life losing a father she never knew and now
Mason, Bobbie Ann living with Uncle Emmett, who seems to be suffering from the
effects of Agent Orange. In her own forthright way, she tries to
Pages: 272 sort out why and how Vietnam has altered the lives of the vets
of Hopewell, Kentucky.
FIC MAS
The No.1 Ladies’ Mma Ramotswe's cases come slowly and hesitantly at first:
Detective Agency women who suspect their husbands are cheating on them; a
father worried that his daughter is sneaking off to see a boy; a
McCall Smith, missing child who may have been killed by witchdoctors to
Alexander make medicine; a doctor who sometimes seems highly
competent and sometimes seems to know almost nothing
Pages: 282 about medicine. The desultory pace is fine, since she has only a
detective manual, the frequently cited example of Agatha
FIC MCC Christie and her instincts to guide her.
Let the Great Philippe Petit's illicit 1974 high-wire walk between the World
World Spin Trade Center towers is the touchstone for meaningful stories
from the people down below, including an Irish monk living in
McCann, Colum the Bronx projects, a Park Avenue mother in mourning for her
son who died in Vietnam, and a heroin-addicted hooker. Each
Pages: 349 tells their moving stories as it relates to Philippe’s daring act.
FIC MCC
The Heart is a Deaf-mute John Singer, who becomes the confidant for all
Lonely Hunter various types of misfits in a Georgia mill town during the
1930s. Each one yearns for escape from small town life. When
McCullers, Carson Singer's mute companion goes insane, Singer moves into the
Kelly house, where Mick Kelly, the book's heroine finds solace
Pages: 430 in her music.
FIC MCC

29. Atonement Imaginative thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis, misinterpreting a
scene between her older sister Cecilia and Robbie Turner, the
McEwan, Ian housekeeper's son, later accuses Robbie of a crime she has no
proof he committed and spends years trying to atone for her
Pages: 351 actions.
FIC MCE
Little Vampire The dear, sweet March sisters are back, and Marmee has told
Women them to be good little women. Good little vampire women,
that is. The girls have grown up since you last read their tale,
Messina, Lynn & and now they have much longer lives and much more
Alcott, Louisa May ravenous appetites. Marmee has taught them well, and so
they live by an unprecedented moral code of abstinence . . .
Pages: 317 from human blood. They must learn to get along with one
another, help make society a better place, and avoid the
FIC MES vampire hunters who pose a constant threat to their existence.
Queen Victoria London, 1838. Queen Victoria is crowned; she receives the
Demon Hunter orb, the scepter, and an arsenal of bloodstained weaponry. If
Britain is about to become the greatest power of the age,
Moorat, A. E. there’s the small matter of the undead to take care of first.
Demons stalk the crown, but rather than dreams of demon
Pages: 374 hunting, Queen Victoria’s thoughts are occupied by Prince
Albert.
FIC MOO
The Rest of Her Life Now a junior high school English teacher married to a college
professor, Leigh's strained relationship with her eighteen-year-
Moriarty, Laura old daughter, Kara, is put to the test after Kara accidentally
kills another teenage girl--an event that forces Leigh to also
Pages: 333 deal with her resentment toward her husband and her feelings
about her mother.
FIC MOR
Taking Off In 1985 in Clear Lake, Texas, home of the Johnson Space
Center, high school senior Annie Porter struggles with her
Moss, Jenny desire to become a poet, but her resolve to pursue her dream
is strengthened when she meets Christa McAuliffe, the first
Pages: 340 teacher to go into space.
FIC MOS

30. Monster Steve Harmon, 16, is accused of serving as a lookout for a
robbery of a Harlem drugstore. The owner was shot and killed,
Myers, Walter and now Steve is in prison awaiting trial for murder. From
Dean there, he tells about his case and his incarceration. Steve, an
amateur filmmaker, recounts his experiences in the form of a
Pages: 281 movie screenplay. Steve searches deep within his soul to
prove to himself that he is not the "monster" the prosecutor
FIC MYE presented him as to the jury.
Wait for Me As her senior year in high school approaches, Mina yearns to
find her own path in life, but working at the family business,
Na, An taking care of her little sister, and dealing withher mother's
impossible expectations are as stifling as the southern
Pages: 169 California heat until she falls in love with Ysrael, a young
migrant worker with dreams of becoming a musician, who
FIC NA offers a way out.
Things I Want My Before Barbara Forbes, a mother of four, succumbs to terminal
Daughters to Know cancer, she leaves words of wisdom for her four daughters in
the form of letters to each of them. In the year following
Noble, Elizabeth Barbara's death, her daughters draw strength from her words
and from each other as they move forward with their lives.
Pages: 374
FIC NOB
Twenty Boy More than a year has passed since Matt’s sudden death, and
Summer all that time Anna has kept her brief relationship with Matt a
secret from Frankie. Matt had planned to tell his sister but
Ockler, Sarah died before he had the opportunity. Now, while on a beach
vacation with Frankie’s family, Anna finds herself falling for
Pages: 290 cute, sensitive Sam against her will. If she can love someone
else, does that mean she no longer loves Matt? Dealing with
FIC OCK loss, Anna tries to move on.
The Dive from Twenty-three-year-old Carrie Bell, engaged to her high school
Clausen’s Pier sweetheart, is ready to make a break from a life that has
become suffocating in its sameness, but her decision is
Packer, Ann complicated when her fiancée is paralyzed in a diving accident
and everyone expects her to stay and care for him.
Pages: 413
FIC PAC

31. Jacob Have I Loved Sara Louise Bradshaw is sick and tired of her beautiful twin
Caroline. Ever since they were born, Caroline has been the
Paterson, pretty one, the talented one, the better sister. Even now,
Katherine Caroline seems to take everything: Louise's friends, their
parents' love, her dreams for the future. For once in her life,
Pages: 256 Louise wants to be the special one. But in order to do that, she
must first figure out who she is . . . and find a way to make a
FIC PAT place for herself outside her sister's shadow.
Beginner’s Luck When Hallie Palmer, a 16-year-old gambling whiz kid, gets
kicked off her Ohio high school's soccer team for skipping
Pedersen, Laura class, she quits school altogether. With her parents and six
siblings breathing down her neck, she also decides to leave her
Pages: 336 chaotic home, hiding in the summerhouse of the Stocktons-the
delightfully quirky family for whom she's just started doing
FIC PED yard work.
The Big Shuffle After the death of her father and her mother's emotional
breakdown, graphic design student Hallie Palmer decides to
Pedersen, Laura leave college and take care of her eight younger siblings.
Assistance from offbeat relatives, church ladies, and friends
Pages: 387 goes a long way to make survival possible, but Hallie bears all
of the responsibility. Faced with twin baby brothers she can't
FIC PED tell apart, a sister who decamps to Boston, and the day-to-day
challenge of keeping all those people dressed, fed, and in
school, she takes little time to mourn.
King Dork 14-year-old outsider, Tom Henderson’s life is a series of
humiliations, from the principal who mocks him to the popular
Portman, Frank girls who put him on their Dud list. The teen’s only refuge is in
his music. When Tom looks for a copy of The Catcher in the
Pages: 368 Rye in a box of books left by his father, a detective who died
under strange circumstances. Tom sets out to read each
FIC POR volume, decode the secret messages that he finds, and figure
out who his father really was.
Hester In The Scarlet Letter, Nathanial Hawthorne hints that after
Hester Prynne's husband and lover die, Hester and her
Reed, Paula daughter, Pearl, travel abroad. In her own inventive way, Reed
takes this suggestion and runs with it. Eager to start anew,
Pages: 308 travels to England with Pearl and to find a suitable marital
match. Upon arrival, Hester reunites with a childhood friend
FIC REE whose husband is an ally of Oliver Cromwell. When Cromwell
learns of Hester's magical ability, he recruits her to help ferret
out those plotting against him.

32. A Brief Chapter in Sixteen-year-old atheist Simone Turner-Bloom's life changes in
My Impossible Life unexpected ways when her parents convince her to make
contact with her biological mother. Simone has always known
Reinhardt, Dana she was adopted and that her birth mother is named Rivka,
but never wanted to meet her. When contact is finally made,
Pages: 228 she finds out her mother is an agnostic from a Jewish family
who is losing her battle with cancer.
FIC REI
Brooklyn Rose It's 1900, the dawn of a new century, and fifteen-year-old Rose
Frampton is beginning a new life. She's left her family in South
Rinaldi, Ann Carolina to live with her handsome and wealthy husband in
Brooklyn, New York – a move that is both scary and exciting.
Pages: 224 As mistress of the large Victorian estate on Dorchester Road,
she must learn to make decisions, establish her independence,
FIC RIN and run an efficient household.
Gilead John Ames, is 76, a preacher who has lived almost all of his life
in Gilead, Iowa. He is writing a letter to his almost seven-year-
Robinson, old son, the blessing of his second marriage. The reason for
Marilynne the letter is Ames's failing health. He wants to leave an
account of himself for this son who will never really know him.
Pages: 247 His greatest regret is that he hasn't much to leave them, in
worldly terms.
FIC ROB
Other Words for Ari, having transferred to an elite Manhattan prep school after
Love receiving a large inheritance and been introduced to the
glamorous side of New York by wealthy student Leigh, begins
Rosenthal, Lorriane dating Leigh's cousin Blake, but when her parents start to
worry about how close she has gotten to Blake and he pulls
Pages: 354 away after his family suffers misfortune, Ari is forced to
reevaluate their intense relationship.
FIC ROS
How I Live Now To get away from her pregnant stepmother in New York City,
fifteen-year-old Daisy goes to England to stay with her aunt
Rosoff, Meg and cousins, with whom she instantly bonds, but soon war
breaks out and rips apart the family while devastating the land.
Pages: 194 This riveting first novel paints a frighteningly realistic picture of
a world war breaking out in the 21st century.
FIC ROS

33. Just in Case After rescuing his baby brother from an open window's ledge,
15-year-old David Case becomes convinced that Fate is toying
Rosoff, Meg with him, so David tries to elude detection by creating a new
identity, starting with his name and his wardrobe. Eventually,
Pages: 246 he refuses to return home and plunges into an affair with an
older girl.
FIC ROS
What I Was An unnamed man recounts his time as a disgruntled student at
St. Oswald's boarding school; upon ditching an outdoor
Rosoff, Meg physical education class jog, he stumbles upon a mysterious
fellow teen named Finn who lives alone in a hut by the sea.
Pages: 209 The protagonist makes it his business to spend as much time
as possible with Finn, a major challenge. Weeks go by and Finn
FIC ROS falls ill, setting the stage for a surprising revelation that will
dramatically transform both boys.
So Shelly When their mutual friend Shelly is drowned in a sailing
accident, high school junior John Keats and his volatile
Roth, Ty classmate Gordon Byron decide to steal Shelly's ashes and, in a
romantic gesture, return them to the small Lake Erie island
Pages: 328 where her body washed up, but the journey proves more
revealing and emotionally complicated than either of them
FIC ROT had anticipated.
Empire Falls Miles Roby, called back from college to the small town of
Empire Falls in Dexter County, Maine to take care of his ailing
Russo, Richard mother, falls into a rut that keeps him trapped until years later
when a series of revelations and tragedies jolts him back into
Pages: 483 an awareness of his life.
FIC RUS
The Catcher in the This book details the two days in the life of 16-year-old Holden
Rye Caulfield after he has been expelled from prep school.
Confused and disillusioned, he searches for truth and rails
Salinger, J.D. against the "phoniness" of the adult world. He ends up
exhausted and emotionally ill, in a psychiatrist's office. After he
Pages: 214 recovers from his breakdown, Holden relates his experiences
to the reader.
FIC SAL

34. Nine Stories A Compilation of the stories: A Perfect Day for Bananafish,
Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut, Just Before the War with the
Salinger, J.D. Eskimos, The Laughing Man, Down at the Dinghy, For Esme —
With Love and Squalor, Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes, De
Pages: 320 Daumier-Smith's Blue Period, and Teddy. War hangs over
these wry stories of loss and occasionally unsuppressed rage.
FIC SAL Salinger's children are fragile, odd, whereas his adults seem
beaten down by circumstances – some neurasthenic, others
deeply unsympathetic.
Not a Happy This sweet tale takes a nostalgic look back at the experience of
Camper attending sleepaway camp through the eyes of a 13-year-old
Jewish girl. Though this may not be quite the camp many baby
Schneider, Mindy boomers attended, this book succeeds in provoking gentle
flashbacks to a simpler shared time of teenage angst and
Pages: 256 hormone surges, before cable television, all recalled in a
humorous tone.
FIC SCH
The Lovely Bones On her way home from school on a snowy December day in
1973, 14-year-old Susie Salmon is lured into a makeshift
Sebold, Alice underground den in a cornfield and brutally raped and
murdered, the latest victim of a serial killer – the man she
Pages: 328 knew as her neighbor, Mr. Harvey. This story is an odd yet
affecting coming-of-age story. Susie struggles to accept her
FIC SEB death while still clinging to the lost world of the living.
The Pilot’s Wife Kathryn Lyon's life was peacefully routine, she had a good job
and a happy marriage, so when she received the news that her
Shreve, Anita pilot husband has died in a crash, her world was drastically
changed. Even before his body is recovered the media
Pages: 293 discovers that her husband had a secret life, and Kathryn sets
out to learn who her husband really was.
FIC SHR
I Capture the Seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain wants to become a
Castle writer. Trouble is, she's the daughter of a once-famous author
with a severe case of writer's block. Her family is barely
Smith, Dodie scraping by in a crumbling English castle they leased when
times were good. Now there's very little furniture, hardly any
Pages: 352 food, and just a few pages of notebook paper left to write on.
Cassandra manages to get a hold of a journal and begins her
FIC SMI literary apprenticeship by refusing to face the facts.

35. The Geography of A coming-of-age novel in poems, in which small-town
Girlhood teenager, Penny Morrow, longs for love, courage, and a life of
adventure and struggles through the absence of her mother,
Smith, Kirsten the mental illness of a friend, the death of someone from her
past, and a romance with her sister's ex-boyfriend.
Pages: 184
FIC SMI
Dear John An angry rebel, John dropped out of school and enlisted in the
Army, not knowing what else to do with his life--until he meets
Sparks, Nicholas the girl of his dreams, Savannah. Their mutual attraction
quickly grows into the kind of love that leaves Savannah
Pages: 276 waiting for John to finish his tour of duty, and John wanting to
settle down with the woman who captured his heart. But 9/11
FIC SPA may change everything.
The Notebook In 1932, two North Carolina teenagers from opposite sides of
the tracks fall in love. Spending one idyllic summer together,
Sparks, Nicholas Noah and Allie don’t meet again for 14 years. Noah decides to
restore the house of his dreams, and Allie, programmed by the
Pages: 272 caste system of the South to marry a prosperous man, is
engaged to attorney Lon Hammond. When she reads a
FIC SPA newspaper story about Noah's restoration project, she shows
up at his door, re-entering his life for two very important days.
Message in a Bottle When Divorcée Theresa Osborne takes a much-needed
summer holiday at Cape Cod, she finds a lot more than a break
Sparks, Nicholas from the hustle and bustle. On an early-morning jog along
Cape Cod Bay, she comes across a corked bottle with a
Pages: 370 scrolled-up message inside. From there, a romance buds and
blossoms into a colorful bouquet of emotional baggage.
FIC SPA
Stargirl A series of interesting theories are concocted to explain
Stargirl Caraway, a new 10th grader at Arizona's Mica Area
Spinelli, Jerry High School who wears pioneer dresses and kimonos to school,
strums a ukulele in the cafeteria, laughs when there are no
Pages: 186 jokes, and dances when there is no music. The whole school is
stunned by her, including our 16-year-old narrator Leo Borlock.
FIC SPI

36. The Art of Racing in If you've ever wondered what your dog is thinking, Stein's third
the Rain novel offers an answer. Enzo is a lab terrier mix plucked from a
farm outside Seattle to ride shotgun with race car driver Denny
Stein, Garth Swift as he pursues success on the track and off. Enzo,
frustrated by his inability to speak and his lack of opposable
Pages: 336 thumbs, watches Denny's old racing videos, and hopes for the
day when his life as a dog will be over and he can be reborn a
FIC STE man.
The Joy Luck Club The personal, often painful, histories of four Chinese American
women who began meeting in San Francisco in 1949 to play
Tan, Amy mah jong are revealed as the daughter of one who has died
searches for her sisters in China to tell them about the mother
Pages: 288 they never knew.
FIC TAN
The Gospel Highly intelligent 17-year-old Josh Swensen wants to save the
According to Larry world and hopefully seduce Beth, the best friend for whom he
pines. Josh's self-deprecating, humorous tone carries readers
Tashjian, Janet swiftly along. As the anonymous Larry, the hero starts a Web
site (www.thegospelaccordingtolarry.com) on which he rants
Pages: 227 against consumer culture and its obsession with celebrities.
FIC TAS
Vote for Larry After going underground as a student at C.U.-Boulder, Josh
finds his anti-consumer ideals slipping--he tries to maintain his
Tashjian, Janet vow of austerity, but the slippery slope of a new girlfriend and
an even newer credit card finds Josh in a Polo sweatshirt and
Pages: 224 Nautica pajamas before he can say "Walden Pond."
Fortunately, Beth sweeps back into his life again bringing along
FIC TAS with her jealousy and a Harvard boyfriend.
The Girl Who Regina Bloomsbury makes a wish to be as famous as her idols,
Became a Beatle the Beatles, and awakens one morning to find that her band,
the Caverns, has replaced the legendary British band in the
Taylor, Greg pages of history, which makes Regina a celebrated rock star,
but the price of fame wanes on her and Regina must decide
Pages: 281 whether to reset the record.
FIC TAY