Special Collections
Battle of the Books
- Table View
- List View
The Tale of Despereaux
by Kate DiCamilloWelcome to the story of Despereaux Tilling, a mouse who is in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea. It is also the story of a rat called Roscuro, who lives in the darkness and covets a world filled with light. And it is the story of Miggery Sow, a slow-witted serving girl who harbors a simple, impossible wish. These three characters are about to embark on a journey that will lead them down into a horrible dungeon, up into a glittering castle, and, ultimately, into each other's lives. What happens then? As Kate DiCamillo would say: Reader, it is your destiny to find out. Winner of the 2000 Newbery award, and from the master storyteller who brought us Because of Winn-Dixie. This is another classic, a fairy tale full of quirky, unforgettable characters.
Winner of the 2000 Newbery award.
Winner of Pacific Northwest Library Association’s Young Reader’s Choice Junior Award
A Tale of Two Cities
by Charles DickensA Tale of Two Cities is Charles Dickens's great historical novel, set against the violent upheaval of the French Revolution. The most famous and perhaps the most popular of his works, it compresses an event of immense complexity to the scale of a family history, with a cast of characters that includes a bloodthirsty ogress and an antihero as believably flawed as any in modern fiction. Though the least typical of the author's novels, A Tale of Two Cities still underscores many of his enduring themes--imprisonment, injustice, and social anarchy, resurrection and the renunciation that fosters renewal.Over the years the Modern Library has become a staple of the American book trade, providing readers with affordable, beautifully produced, hardbound editions of important works of literature and thought. Perfect for students, the Modern Library comprises over 170 titles by such oft-studied authors as Plato, Chaucer, Bronte, Dostoevsky, Faulkner, Joyce, Keats, Shakespeare and Chekhov. And coming soon, more Modern Library titles on the Random House Web Site.From the Hardcover edition.
Crime and Punishment
by Fyodor DostoyevskyENDURING LITERATURE ILLUMINATED BY PRACTICAL SCHOLARSHIP Dostoyevsky's penetrating study of a man for whom the distinction between right and wrong disappears, and a riveting portrait of guilt and retribution. EACH ENRICHED CLASSIC EDITION INCLUDES: A concise introduction that gives readers important background information A chronology of the author's life and work A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context An outline of key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations Detailed explanatory notes Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience Enriched Classics offer readers affordable editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and insightful commentary. The scholarship provided in Enriched Classics enables readers to appreciate, understand, and enjoy the world's finest books to their full potential. SERIES EDITED BY CYNTHIA BRANTLEY JOHNSON
The Robe
by Lloyd C. DouglasMore than 6 million copies sold! The classic Christian novel of the crucifixion and one Roman soldier&’s transformation through faith. At the height of his popularity, Lloyd C. Douglas was receiving an average of one hundred letters a week from fans. One of those fans, a department store clerk in Ohio named Hazel McCann, wrote to Douglas asking what he thought had happened to Christ&’s garments after the crucifixion. Douglas immediately began working on The Robe, sending each chapter to Hazel as he finished it. It is to her that Douglas dedicated this book. A Roman soldier wins Christ&’s robe as a gambling prize. He then sets forth on a quest to find the truth about the Nazarene—a quest that reaches to the very roots and heart of Christianity. Here is the fascinating story of this young Roman soldier, Marcellus, who was in charge at the crucifixion of Jesus. After he won Christ&’s robe in a game of dice on Calvary, he experienced a slow and overpowering change in his life. Through the pages of this great book, the reader sees how a pagan Roman was eventually converted to Christ. Set against the vividly drawn background of ancient Rome, this is a timeless story of adventure, faith, and romance, a tale of spiritual longing and ultimate redemption . . .
The London Eye Mystery
by Siobhan DowdWhen Ted and Kat watched their cousin Salim get on board the London Eye, he turned and waved before getting on. But after half an hour it landed and everyone trooped off - and no Salim. Where could he have gone? How on earth could he have disappeared into thin air? So Ted and his older sister, Kat, become sleuthing partners, since the police are having no luck. Despite their prickly relationship, they overcome their differences to follow a trail of clues across London in a desperate bid to find their cousin. And ultimately it comes down to Ted, whose brain works in its own very unique way, to find the key to the mystery. This is an unputdownable spine-tingling thriller - a race against time.
Phineas L. MacGuire ... Erupts! The First Experiment
by Frances O'Roark Dowell and Preston McdanielsHERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PHINEAS L. MACGUIRE, BOY-SCIENTIST EXTRAORDINAIRE, AKA MAC: 1. He's allergic to purple, telephone calls, and girls, and can prove it. 2. He's probably the world's expert on mold, including which has the highest stink potential. 3. He does not have a best friend. He does, however, have an un-best friend, who he does not -- repeat, not -- want to upgrade to best-friend status. But disaster strikes when his teacher pairs Mac and his un-best friend together for the upcoming science fair. Worse, this un-best friend wants the project to be on dinosaurs, which is so third grade. Worse still, it seems as though everyone else in his class finds the un-best friend as unlikable as Mac does. But, being a boy-scientist, once Mac notices this, he just might have to do some investigating. This very funny young middle-grade novel includes tantalizingly gruesome experiments for exploding your own volcanoes and imploding marshmallows.
Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief
by Wendelin Van DraanenAlthough she's a girl detective starring in a new series, Sammy is not Nancy Drew. She's smart-mouthed & hard-hitting, unpopular at school & on the outs with the law.
Readers follow the sleuth through her saucy first-person narrative as she tries to find a burglar who's made a number of hits in her neighborhood, one of which she witnessed while spying on her neighbors with binoculars.
Killing Lincoln
by Bill O'Reilly and Martin DugardThe anchor of The O'Reilly Factor recounts one of the most dramatic stories in American history - how one gunshot changed the country forever. In the spring of 1865, the bloody saga of America's Civil War finally comes to an end after a series of increasingly harrowing battles. President Abraham Lincoln's generous terms for Robert E. Lee's surrender are devised to fulfill Lincoln's dream of healing a divided nation, with the former Confederates allowed to reintegrate into American society. But one man and his band of murderous accomplices, perhaps reaching into the highest ranks of the U. S. government, are not appeased. In the midst of the patriotic celebrations in Washington D. C. , John Wilkes Booth - charismatic ladies' man and impenitent racist - murders Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre. A furious manhunt ensues and Booth immediately becomes the country's most wanted fugitive. Lafayette C. Baker, a smart but shifty New York detective and former Union spy, unravels the string of clues leading to Booth, while federal forces track his accomplices. The thrilling chase ends in a fiery shootout and a series of court-ordered executions - including that of the first woman ever executed by the U. S. government, Mary Surratt. Featuring some of history's most remarkable figures, vivid detail, and page-turning action, Killing Lincolnis history that reads like a thriller.
The Mysterious Benedict Society
by Trenton Lee Stewart and Carson EllisDozens of children respond to this peculiar ad in the newspaper and are then put through a series of mind-bending tests, which readers take along with them. Only four children-two boys and two girls-succeed. Their challenge: to go on a secret mission that only the most intelligent and inventive children could complete. To accomplish it they will have to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules. But what they'll find in the hidden underground tunnels of the school is more than your average school supplies. So, if you're gifted, creative, or happen to know Morse Code, they could probably use your help.
Founding Brothers
by Joseph J. EllisIn this landmark work of history, the National Book Award--winning author of American Sphinx explores how a group of greatly gifted but deeply flawed individuals--Hamilton, Burr, Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, Adams, and Madison--confronted the overwhelming challenges before them to set the course for our nation. The United States was more a fragile hope than a reality in 1790. During the decade that followed, the Founding Fathers--re-examined here as Founding Brothers--combined the ideals of the Declaration of Independence with the content of the Constitution to create the practical workings of our government. Through an analysis of six fascinating episodes--Hamilton and Burr's deadly duel, Washington's precedent-setting Farewell Address, Adams' administration and political partnership with his wife, the debate about where to place the capital, Franklin's attempt to force Congress to confront the issue of slavery and Madison's attempts to block him, and Jefferson and Adams' famous correspondence--Founding Brothers brings to life the vital issues and personalities from the most important decade in our nation's history.
Things We Couldn't Say
by Diet Eman and James SchaapTrue story of Diet Eman, a young Dutch woman who, with her fiancé, risked her life to rescue Jews from Nazi-occupied Holland during World War II. Later edition subtitled "A dramatic account of Christian resistance in Holland during WWII
The Birchbark House
by Louise ErdrichOmakayas, a seven-year-old Native American girl of the Ojibwa tribe, lives through the joys of summer and the perils of winter on an island in Lake Superior in 1847.
[This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts in grades 4-5 at http://www.corestandards.org.]
Whirligig
by Paul FleischmanNew to town, Brent Bishop longs to stroll around school with the popular Brianna on his arm. But when Brianna begs him at a party full of schoolmates to stop hounding her, Brent's hopes are shattered. Trying to escape his humiliation, he attempts to destroy himself in a car crash -- and ends up killing Lea, an innocent teen unfortunate enough to cross his path. Lea's mother asks one thing of Brent: that he create four whirligigs from a picture of Lea and set them up at the four corners of the United States. Lea's mother believes that by spreading the joy that whirligigs gave Lea as a child, Brent will keep Lea's spirit alive. And so Brent goes off with an unlimited bus ticket and the tools he needs to memorialize Lea. On his journey, he rediscovers his own love of life, and he begins to realize how -- like the pieces that form the intricate whirligigs -- people come together to affect each other in surprising ways.
By the Great Horn Spoon!
by Sid FleischmanIn this rollicking adventure set during the California Gold Rush, Jack's aunt is forced to sell her beloved mansion to meet her debts. She is still unable to raise enough money to pay her creditors, and twelve-year-old Jack goes to California in search of gold to help her. Joined by his trusty butler, Praiseworthy, Jack finds adventure and trouble at every turn. Will Jack strike gold in San Francisco or come home empty-handed?
Boxes for Katje
by Candace FlemingSimple seeds of friendship grow into something extraordinary After World War II there is little left in Katje's town of Olst in Holland. Her family, like most Dutch families, must patch their old worn clothing and go without everyday things like soap and milk. Then one spring morning when the tulips bloom "thick and bright," Postman Kleinhoonte pedals his bicycle down Katje's street to deliver a mysterious box - a box from America! Full of soap, socks, and chocolate, the box has been sent by Rosie, an American girl from Mayfield, Indiana. Her package is part of a goodwill effort to help the people of Europe. What's inside so delights Katje that she sends off a letter of thanks - beginning an exchange that swells with so many surprises that the girls, as well as their townspeople, will never be the same. This inspiring story, with strikingly original art, is based on the author's mother's childhood and will show young readers that they, too, can make a difference.
The Patchwork Quilt
by Valerie FlournoyTanya loved listening to her grand-mother talk about the patchwork quilt as she cut and stitched together the pieces of colorful fabric. A scrap of blue from brother Jim's favorite old pants, a piece of gold left over from Mama's Christmas dress, a bright square from Tanya's Halloween costume-all fit together to make a quilt of memories.
But one day Tanya's grandmother becomes ill, and Tanya doesn't know how to help her. It's then she decides to finish Grandma's masterpiece herself, and with the help of Mama and the whole family, she sets to work.
All the trust and sharing between a young girl and her treasured grand-mother is captured in Valerie Flournoy's story, lovingly illustrated in Jerry Pinkney's evocative paintings.
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Medal
Shattered
by Dick FrancisWhen jockey Martin Stukely dies after a fall at Cheltenham, he accidentally embroils his friend Gerard Logan in a perilous search for a stolen videotape. Logan is a glassblower on the verge of widespread acclaim. Long accustomed to the frightful dangers inherent in molten glass and in maintaining a glassmaking furnace at never less than 1800 degrees Fahrenheit, Logan is suddenly faced with terrifying threats to his business, his courage, and his life. Believing that the missing video holds the key to a priceless treasure, and wrongly convinced that Logan knows where to find it, criminal forces set out to press him for information he doesn't have. To survive, he realizes that he himself must sort out the truth. The final race to the tape throws more hazards in Logan's way than his dead jockey friend could ever have imagined. Glass shatters. Logan doesn't ...but it's a close-run thing.
Anne Frank
by Anne FrankA teenage Jewish girl's recorded thoughts and impressions while she and her family were being hidden in a safe house during the Nazi occupation of Holland.
Becoming Ben Franklin
by Russell FreedmanIn 1723 Ben Franklin arrived in Philadelphia as a poor and friendless seventeen-year-old who had run away from his family and an apprenticeship in Boston. Sixty-two years later he stepped ashore in nearly the same spot but was greeted by cannons, bells, and a cheering crowd, now a distinguished statesman, renowned author, and world-famous scientist. Freedman's riveting story of how a rebellious apprentice became an American icon comes in an elegantly designed book filled with art and includes a timeline, source notes, bibliography, and index
Out of Darkness
by Russell FreedmanA biography of the 19th century Frenchman who developed Braille. The book spans Braille's life from childhood through his days at the Royal Institute for Blind Youth and into his final years, when the alphabet he invented was finally gaining acceptance.
What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin?
by Jean FritzA brief biography of the eighteenth-century printer, inventor, and statesman who played an influential role in the early history of the United States.
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
by Ernest J. GainesThis is a novel in the guise of the tape recorded recollections of a black woman who has lived 110 years, who has been both a slave and a witness to the black militancy of the 1960s.
My Father's Dragon
by Ruth Stiles GannettWhen Elmer Elevator hears about the plight of an overworked and underappreciated baby flying dragon, he stows away on a ship and travels to Wild Island to rescue the dragon.
A Newbery Honor book
Stone Fox
by John Reynolds Gardiner and Greg HargreavesJohn Reynolds Gardiner's action-packed canine adventure story of a thrilling dogsled race has captivated readers for more than thirty years.
Based on a Rocky Mountain legend, Stone Fox tells the story of Little Willy, who lives with his grandfather in Wyoming. When Grandfather falls ill, he is no longer able to work the farm, which is in danger of foreclosure. Little Willy is determined to win the National Dogsled Race—the prize money would save the farm and his grandfather. But he isn't the only one who desperately wants to win. Willy and his brave dog Searchlight must face off against experienced racers, including a Native American man named Stone Fox, who has never lost a race.
Exciting and heartwarming, this novel has sold millions of copies and was named a New York Times Outstanding Children's Book.
Julie of the Wolves
by Jean Craighead GeorgeFaced with the prospect of a disagreeable arranged marriage or a journey acoss the barren Alaskan tundra, 13-year-old Miyax chooses the tundra. She finds herself caught between the traditional Eskimo ways and the modern ways of the whites. Miyax, or Julie as her pen pal Amy calls her, sets out alone to visit Amy in San Francisco, a world far away from Eskimo culture and the frozen land of Alaska.
During her long and arduous journey, Miyax comes to appreciate the value of her Eskimo heritage, learns about herself, and wins the friendship of a pack of wolves. After learning the language of the wolves and slowly earning their trust, Julie becomes a member of the pack.
Newbery Medal Winner