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Back/Inside Cover:Hilariously picaresque, epic in scope, alive with the poetry and vigor of the American people, Mark Twain's story about ayoung boy and his journey down the Mississippi was the first great novel to speak in a truly American voice. Influencing subsequent generations of writers-from Sherwood Anderson to Twain's fellow Missourian T.S. Eliot, from Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner to J.D. Salinger-Huckleberry Finn, like the river that flows through its pages, is one of the great sources that nourished and still nourish the literature of America.
My Thoughts:This was an okay book. I think it's kind of overrated to be honest. I mean, I read it without annotating and that kinda sorta helped make it better, but really, it's only an okay book. There are definitely other books I could've, scratch that, wanted to fill my time reading instead.
Reccomendations for...:
Middle school/high school students looking to read books that would look good on highschool/college applications. It looks impressive that you read it on your own, not only in the classroom.
Price, genre, publisher, info.:
US $5.95
CAN $6.95
Fiction
Bantam Classic
http://www.bantamdell.com/
Back/Inside Cover:Winner of both the Whitbread Children's Book Award and the Guardian Children's Fiction PrizeWho knows where the time goes?There never seems to be enough time in Kinvara, or anywhere else in Ireland for that matter. When J.J.'s mother says that what she really wants for her birthday is more time in her day, J.J. decides to find her some. But how can he find time for her, when he barely has enough time to keep up with school and his music? And where will he get time to find out if the shocking rumor is true-that his great-grandfather was a murderer?It seems as though J.J.'s given himself an impossible task. But then a neighbor reveals a secret to him-there is a place where time stands still. J.J. realizes he's the only person who can make the journey, but to do so he'll have to vanish from his own life.And when J.J. disappers from the village, enter the new policeman..."There is something hallucinatory, if not delirious, about this stylish, magical book." --The GuardianMy Thoughts:This was an entertaining novel that made me smile and sometimes laugh while reading. The idea of a parallel world existing, especially one where our socks dissapear to, is funny to imagine and will captivate anyone who picks it up to read. The twist at the end is concieled very well until the author finally reveals it. Also, it is ever so slightly predictable; at the same time there are secrets that seem to drop into the book without any preconcieved thought to the possibility of the event happening! Idk, it's a good book that for once, wasn't 100% predictable, and that has to be my favorite quality about this book :)Reccommendations for...:Mmmm, I'd say even older elementary school kids could read this. I only found it in highschool, but it has an easy vocabulary and the plot line isn't hard to follow. Boy + magical land + a couple more things = good novel.Price, genre, publisher, info.:US $8.99CAN $11.25FictionHarperCollins Publishers
Back/Inside Cover:"This powerful first novel...tells a story of fierce cruelty and fierce yet redeeming love. Both transform the life of Amir, Khaled Hosseini's privileged young narrator, who comes o fage during the last peaceful days of the monarchy, just before his country's revolution and its invasion by Russian forces. But political events, even as dramatic as the ones that are presented in The Kite Runner, are only a part of this story. In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini gives us a vivid and engaging story that reminds us how long his people have been struggling to triumph over the forces of violence-forces that continue to threaten them even today." --The New York Times Book Review"A Powerful book...no frills, no nonsense, just hard, spare prose...an intimate account of family and friendship, betrayal and salvation that requires no atlas or translation to engage and enlighten us. Parts of The Kite Runner are raw and excruciating to read, yet the book in its entirety is lovingly written." --The Washington Post Book WorldMy Thoughts:This was a great school book and would have been a good book to read outside of class too. This is one of the very very rare books I've come across that even though we disected it a lot I never grew tired of the story. This is a great book that never got old for me.Reccommendations for...:High schoolers looking for a good, modern book to read. It really opens your eyes to what is going on over in Afghanistan.Price, genre, publisher, info:US $14CAN ???FictionPenguin Grouphttp://www.riverheadbooks.com/http://www.penguin.com/
Back/Inside Cover:Michael Dorris's contemporary classic novel is a fierce saga of three generations of Indian women, beset by hardships and torn by angry secrets, yet inextricably joined by the bonds of kinship. Starting int he present day and moving back in time, the novel is told in the voices of three women: fifteen-year-old part-black Rayona, searching for a way to find herself; her American Indian mother, Christine, consumed by tenderness and resentment toward those she loves; and the fierce and mysterious Ida, mother and grandmother, whose haunting secrets, betrayals, and dreams echo through the years, braiding together the strands of the shared past - and their future.My Thoughts:This is a good book for school because you can easily pick up on the themes and symbols in the book. I wouldn't read it outside of school because I found the story to be drawn out and some what pointless, but for school, it's great.Reccommendations for:Uh, only to teachers looking for a book that students wouldn't get confused with.Price, genre, publisher, info:US $14CAN $20FictionPicador Distributed by Holtzbrinck Publishershttp://www.picadorusa.com/
Back/Inside Cover:My Thoughts:I didn't enjoy this book very much. I found Holden to be very annoying and I couldn't follow where the story was going. Writing a paper on it was even worse. Anyway, bad book, didn't like it.Reccommendations for...:No one really.Price, genre, publisher, info:US $6.99CAN $9.99Teen Fiction - Boys and Young MenLittle, Brown and Company Hachette Book Group USAhttp://www.hachettebookgroupusa.com/
Back/Inside Cover:
In the powerful, stunning dramatic work that won August Wilson his first Pullitzer Prize, Troy Maxson has gone through life in a country where to be proud and black was to face pressures that could crush a man, body and soul. But the 1950s are yielding to the new spirit of liberation int he 1960s. It's a spirit that is making him a stranger, angry and afraid, in a world he never knew and to a wife and son he understands less and less.My Thoughts: (Read for school/sophomore year)
If you dislike reading plays, this isn't for you. If you don't like reading about history, this isn't for you. If you like a quick, simple read, this isn't for you. If you like action, this IS NOT FOR YOU! If you like boring, boring, boring stores, THIS IS FOR YOU!!I absolutely cannot stand this book! I'm sorry, but I found this book to be a difficult read because I couldn't become captivated in the story. I didn't relate to one character in the book, and I didn't like the story line, whatever it was. I didn't like this book at all.Reccommendations for...:I pretty much covered that above lol.Price, genre, publisher, info:
US $12CAN $17DramaA Plume Bookhttp://www.penguin.com/
Back/Inside Cover:It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.By her brother's graveside, Liesel Meminger's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden int he snow. It is The Grave Digger's Handbook, left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up and closed down.In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the mose enduring stories of our time.My Thoughts:I haven't exactly finished the book yet,-I have a couple of chapters left I'll confess-but this is a great book. I'm reading it for school, and it's pretty good. Not exactly something I would usually read, but still just as captivating. It can get slow at some parts, but picks up pretty quickly. I'll give you a hint right now, Death is the narrator, I didn't figure this out for a couple chapters, call me slow, so I'm just telling you that right now. This book definitely lets you in to the world of the Jewish Hollocaust and tells the story pretty well. There is suspence, fear, comedy, well, a lot of emotions really. It's a good book, but definitely not as happy as others I've read.Reccommendations for...:Kids in high school. It's a mature book that doesn't give the gory details, but your imagination is more than enough to scare any younger audiences.Price, genre, publisher, info:US $11.99CAN $15.99Teen fictionBorzoi Book published by Alfred A. Knopfhttp://www.randomhouse.com/teens
Back/Inside Cover:Historian Jean Sheridan returns to Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, excited about her twenty-year high-school reunion at Stonecroft Academy. But a dear friend of hers soon becomes the fifth woman in the class to meet a sudden, mysterious end. Then Jean receives a taunting fax about a child she gave up for adoption ,whose existence she had kept a secret but whose life may now be in danger. For present at the reunion is The Owl, a murderer on a mission of vengeance against women who once humiliated him . . . and Jean is his final intended victim.My Thoughts:This was a great mystery novel. It truly was an amazing book that had my suspecting a character in one sentence and then ruling them out in the next. In the end the murderer is the last person at the reunion you would suspect. This sends a good chill down your back and keeps you reading through the end. It's a longer read, but a good page turner.Reccommendations for...:This is for either boys or girls. It's probably good for as young as, umm, I would say 8th grade. I don't know, you really have to be into mysteries to appreciate this book, and you have to be willing to be scared. If you're easily scared, this book isn't for you.Price, genre, publisher, info.:US $7.99CAN $11.99Simon & Schuster, Inc.www.simonsays.com/mhclark
Back/Inside Cover:There's a first for everything.When you build up something in your mind-really imagine it, wish for it-sometimes, when it actually happens, it doesn't live up to your expectations.True love is nothing like that.Especially not for Katherine and Michael, whosd can't get enough of each other. Their relationship is unique: sincere, intense, and fun all at the same time. Although they haven't been together all that long, they know it's serious. A whole world opens up as young passion and sexuality bloom.But it's senior year of high school, and there are big changes ahead. Michael and Katherine are destined for another big "first": a decision. Is this the love of a lifetime, or the very beginning of a lifetime of love?My thoughts:
This book was only okay. I wasn't very happy about how much sex there was and how detailed it seemed to be. But don't think that because it was "detailed" that it like goes into detail about everything, no, of course not, i wouldn't have finished reading it if it had! No no, it just, idk, it just wasn't a very appropriate book for me. At least thats what I think.Reccommendations for...:Well, probably college students at least. High school students might be okay, but I wouldn't reccommend it because of the growing rate of teenagers having sex, so, yeah. Idk, I wouldn't reccommend this to any of my friends for sure, but it is very innapropriate for anyone younger than, oh, end of year freshman.Price, genre, publisher, info.:US $8.99CAN $10.99Teen Romance and FriendshipSimon & Schuster Children's Publishinghttp://www.simonsaysteen.com/
Back/Inside Cover:
