Special Collections
Browse by Lexile: 1200L +
- Table View
- List View
A People's History of the United States
by Howard ZinnSince its original landmark publication in 1980, A People's History of the United States has been chronicling American history from the bottom up, throwing out the official version of history taught in schools-with its emphasis on great men in high places-to focus on the street, the home, and the workplace.Known for its lively, clear prose as well as its scholarly research, A People's History is the only volume to tell America's story from the point of view of-and in the words of-America's women, factory workers, African Americans, Native Americans, working poor, and immigrant laborers. As historian Howard Zinn shows, many of our country's greatest battles-for a fair wage, an eight-hour workday, child-labor laws, health and safety standards, universal suffrage, women's rights, racial equality-were carried out at the grassroots level, against bloody resistance. Covering Christopher Columbus's arrival through the 2000 Election and the "war on terrorism," A People's History of the United States, which was nominated for the American Book Award in 1981 and has sold more than one million copies, features insightful analysis of the most important events in our history.This new edition contains two new chapters covering the Clinton presidency, the 2000 Election, and the "war on terrorism," continuing Zinn's important contribution to a complete and balanced understanding of American history.
Cleared for Takeoff
by Rowland WhiteAll of aviation's dangerous, exciting, and most courageous moments are featured within this stunning compendium on flight. Packed with stories of heroic and innovative pioneers, fascinating profiles of remarkable planes from Spitfires to space shuttles, and how-to instructions for making everything from origami helicopters to bottle rockets—all accompanied by sensational photographs, illustrations, and diagrams—Cleared for Takeoff promises to astonish, entertain, and fire the imaginations of everyone with their head in the clouds.
Up from Slavery
by Booker T. WashingtonBorn in a Virginia slave hut, Booker T. Washington (1856–1915) rose to become the most influential spokesman for African Americans of his day. In this eloquently written book, he describes events in a remarkable life that began in bondage and culminated in worldwide recognition for his many accomplishments. In simply written yet stirring passages, he tells of his impoverished childhood and youth, the unrelenting struggle for an education, early teaching assignments, his selection in 1881 to head Tuskegee Institute, and more.A firm believer in the value of education as the best route to advancement, Washington disapproved of civil-rights agitation and in so doing earned the opposition of many black intellectuals. Yet, he is today regarded as a major figure in the struggle for equal rights, one who founded a number of organizations to further the cause and who worked tirelessly to educate and unite African Americans.
The Smart Girl's Guide to Going Vegetarian
by Rachel Meltzer WarrenWhat would you love. Love what you eat. No labels. No fuss. It's not about what you call yourself--it's about how you feel. Whether you're going vegan, vegetarian, fish-only, chicken-only, or all veggies except grandma's famous pigs-in-a-blanket, this book is your new best friend. Eating less meat can boost your energy, help you lose weight, and it's better for the environment. If you're looking to cut down on meat or cut it out completely, here you'll find awesome advice and the answers you need to make it work for you. Get the Scoop On: Daily meal ideas and easy recipes even your non-veggie friends will want to try How to convince your family this isn't just a fad or a phase Finding good food when you're away from home: veggie-friendly restaurants, colleges, and travel spots Getting enough iron, protein, and other vital nutrients to be healthy (because being vegetarian does NOT mean a diet of ice cream and pasta) Sneaky meaty things that can end up in food that seems perfectly safe for vegetarians
The Pluto Files
by Neil Degrasse TysonWhen the Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History reclassified Pluto as an icy comet, the New York Times proclaimed on page one, "Pluto Not a Planet? Only in New York. " Immediately, the public, professionals, and press were choosing sides over Pluto's planethood. Pluto is entrenched in our cultural and emotional view of the cosmos, and Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Rose Center, is on a quest to discover why. He stood at the heart of the controversy over Pluto's demotion, and, consequently, plutophiles have freely shared their opinions with him, including endless hate mail from third-graders.
Yes We Can
by Garen ThomasTHIS IS OUR MOMENT. This is our time--to put people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth--that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope; and where we are met with cynicism and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can. -- President Barack Obama, Acceptance Speech; Chicago, IL; November 4, 2008. Born in the U.S.A., the son of an African father and an American mother, a boy who spent his childhood in Indonesia and Hawaii, Barack Obama is truly a citizen of the world. In kindergarten, he wrote an essay titled, "I Want to Become President," and now, with his fierce optimism, exuberant sense of purpose and determination, and above all, his belief that change can happen, Barack Obama, the first African-American president of the United States, has made that dream come true. Garen Thomas takes us through the life of Barack Obama, from his struggle to fit in with his classmates, and concern about not knowing his biological father, through his term as an Illinois senator, and the long campaign for president, to his historic victory.
Black Ships Before Troy
by Rosemary SutcliffThe Story of the Iliad Homer's epic poem, The Iliad, is one of the greatest adventure stories of all time. In it, the abduction of the legendary beauty, Helen of Troy, leads to a conflict in which even the gods and goddesses take sides and intervene.
It is in the Trojan War that the most valiant heroes of the ancient world are pitted against one another. Here Hector, Ajax, Achilles, and Odysseus meet their most formidable challenges and in some cases their tragic ends.
[This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts in grades 6-8 at http://www.corestandards.org.]
Small Is Beautiful
by E. F. SchumacherSmall is Beautiful is the perfect antidote to the economics of globalization. As relevant today as when it was first published, this is a landmark set of essays on humanistic economics. This 25th anniversary edition brings Schumacher's ideas into focus for the end-of-the-century by adding commentaries by contemporary thinkers who have been influenced by Schumacher. They analyze the impact of his philosophy on current political and economic thought. Small is Beautiful is the classic of common sense economics upon which many recent trends in our society are founded. This is economics from the heart rather than from just the bottom line. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.
The Impossible Rescue
by Martin W. SandlerThe dead of an Arctic winter. Whaling ships full of men, stranded in ice. Follow three rescuers in a race against time--and all odds--in this heartpounding true adventure. Martin W. Sandler takes us on every step of their riveting journey, facing raging blizzards, killing cold, injured sled dogs, and setbacks to test the strongest of wills.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard
by J. K. RowlingThe Wizard and the Hopping Pot, The Fountain of Fair Fortune, The Warlock's Hairy Heart, Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump, and The Tale of the Three Brothers. This is the book that Dumbledore willed to Hermione.
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
by Howard PyleThe key to life is to build in the mental equivalents of what you want and to expunge the equivalents of what you do not want. How do you do it? You build in the mental equivalents by thinking quietly, constantly, and persistently of the kind of thing you want, and by thinking that has two qualities: clearness or definiteness, and interest. If you want to build anything into your life-if you want to bring health, right activity, your true place, inspiration; if you want to bring right companionship, and above all if you want understanding of God-form a mental equivalent of the thing which you want by thinking about it a great deal, by thinking clearly and with interest. Remember clarity and interest; those are the two poles. Wilder Publications is a green publisher. All of our books are printed to order. This reduces waste and helps us keep prices low while greatly reducing our impact on the environment.
Dodger
by Terry PratchettBeloved and bestselling author Sir Terry Pratchett's Dodger, a Printz Honor Book, combines high comedy with deep wisdom in a tale of one remarkable boy's rise in a fantasy-infused Victorian London. Seventeen-year-old Dodger is content as a sewer scavenger. But he enters a new world when he rescues a young girl from a beating, and her fate impacts some of the most powerful people in England. From Dodger's encounter with the mad barber Sweeney Todd, to his meetings with the great writer Charles Dickens and the calculating politician Benjamin Disraeli, history and fantasy intertwine in a breathtaking account of adventure and mystery.
In the Heart of the Sea (Young Readers Edition)
by Nathaniel PhilbrickOn November 20, 1820, the whaleship Essex was rammed and sunk by an angry whale. Within minutes, the twenty-one-man crew, including the fourteen-year-old cabin boy Thomas Nickerson, found themselves stranded in three leaky boats in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with barely any supplies and little hope. Three months later, two of the boats were rescued 4,500 miles away, off the coast of South America. Of the twenty-one castaways, only eight survived, including young Thomas.
The Rifle
by Gary PaulsenA treasured antique rifle gets into the wrong hands in this YA novel by the Newbury Award-winning author: &“a truly mesmerizing tale, from beginning to end&” (Publishers Weekly). In 1768, gunsmith Cornish McManus painstakingly crafted his masterpiece: a rifle of extraordinary beauty and accuracy. Though he knows he will never be able to replicate it, Cornish is forced to sell it to a man named John Byam, who carried it with pride into the Revolutionary War. Passed down through generations, the beloved rifle ends up decorating the mantle of a modern-day mechanic and father named Harv. But what happens then is shocking, terrifying, and completely devastating. Reader&’s guide included
Empire of Ivory
by Naomi Novik"A new writer is soaring on the wings of a dragon." -The New York Times "Enthralling reading-it's like Jane Austen playing Dungeons & Dragons with Eragon's Christopher Paolini." -Time, on His Majesty's Dragon Tragedy has struck His Majesty's Aerial Corps, whose magnificent fleet of fighting dragons and their human captains valiantly defend England's shores against the encroaching armies of Napoleon Bonaparte. An epidemic of unknown origin and no known cure is decimating the noble dragons' ranks- forcing the hopelessly stricken into quarantine. Now only Temeraire and a pack of newly recruited dragons remain uninfected-and stand as the only means of an airborne defense against France's ever bolder sorties. Bonaparte's dragons are already harrowing Britain's ships at sea. Only one recourse remains: Temeraire and his captain, Will Laurence, must take wing to Africa, whose shores may hold the cure to the mysterious and deadly contagion. On this mission there is no time to waste, and no telling what lies in store beyond the horizon or for those left behind to wait, hope, and hold the line. "A gripping adventure full of rich detail and the impossible wonder of gilded fantasy." -Entertainment Weekly, on His Majesty's Dragon "A thrilling fantasy . . . All hail Naomi Novik." -The Washington Post Book World, on His Majesty's DragonBONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Naomi Novik's Victory of Eagles.
12 Years a Slave
by Solomon NorthupOne of the best and most enduring of the slave narratives, it is a frank, incisive depiction of slavery in the American south. Solomon was an African American born free in New York during the 19th century, but was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the south. Twelve Years a Slave paints a vivid picture of the horrid realities of slavery and the harrowing circumstances under which Northup was restored to freedom. It was recently adapted into a multi-Oscar winning film directed by Steve McQueen and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'o, Michael Fassbender, and Benedict Cumberbatch. Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in ebook form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.
1776
by David McCulloughAmerica&’s beloved and distinguished historian presents, in a book of breathtaking excitement, drama, and narrative force, the stirring story of the year of our nation&’s birth, 1776, interweaving, on both sides of the Atlantic, the actions and decisions that led Great Britain to undertake a war against her rebellious colonial subjects and that placed America&’s survival in the hands of George Washington.In this masterful book, David McCullough tells the intensely human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence—when the whole American cause was riding on their success, without which all hope for independence would have been dashed and the noble ideals of the Declaration would have amounted to little more than words on paper. Based on extensive research in both American and British archives, 1776 is a powerful drama written with extraordinary narrative vitality. It is the story of Americans in the ranks, men of every shape, size, and color, farmers, schoolteachers, shoemakers, no-accounts, and mere boys turned soldiers. And it is the story of the King&’s men, the British commander, William Howe, and his highly disciplined redcoats who looked on their rebel foes with contempt and fought with a valor too little known. Written as a companion work to his celebrated biography of John Adams, David McCullough&’s 1776 is another landmark in the literature of American history.
Ring of Bright Water
by Gavin MaxwellThis classic memoir of otters in the Scottish Highlands and the naturalist who cared for them is “one of the outstanding wildlife books of all time” (New York Herald Tribune).While touring the Iraqi marshes, Gavin Maxwell was captivated by an otter and became a devoted advocate of and spokesman for the species. Maxwell moved to a remote house in the Scottish Highlands, co-habiting there with three otters and living an idyllic and isolated life—until fate, fame, and fire conspired against him. This volume weaves together the Scottish otter stories from Maxwell’s three non-fiction books, Ring of Bright Water, The Rocks Remain, and Raven Meet Thy Brother—and includes his beautifully expressive illustrations. Ring of Bright Water: A Trilogy stands as a lasting tribute to a man, his work, and his passion for another species.
One Hundred Years of Solitude
by Gabriel MárquezOne of the 20th century's enduring works, One Hundred Years of Solitude is a widely beloved and acclaimed novel known throughout the world, and the ultimate achievement in a Nobel Prize-winning career.
The novel tells the story of the rise and fall of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendia family.
It is a rich and brilliant chronicle of life and death, and the tragicomedy of humankind. In the noble, ridiculous, beautiful, and tawdry story of the Buendia family, one sees all of humanity, just as in the history, myths, growth, and decay of Macondo, one sees all of Latin America.
Love and lust, war and revolution, riches and poverty, youth and senility -- the variety of life, the endlessness of death, the search for peace and truth -- these universal themes dominate the novel.
Whether he is describing an affair of passion or the voracity of capitalism and the corruption of government, Gabriel Garcia Marquez always writes with the simplicity, ease, and purity that are the mark of a master.
The Prince
by Niccolo MachiavelliENDURING LITERATURE ILLUMINATED BY PRACTICAL SCHOLARSHIP 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
Cod
by Mark KurlanskyFrom the Bestselling Author of Salt and The Basque History of the WorldCod, Mark Kurlansky's third work of nonfiction and winner of the 1999 James Beard Award, is the biography of a single species of fish, but it may as well be a world history with this humble fish as its recurring main character. Cod, it turns out, is the reason Europeans set sail across the Atlantic, and it is the only reason they could. What did the Vikings eat in icy Greenland and on the five expeditions to America recorded in the Icelandic sagas? Cod, frozen and dried in the frosty air, then broken into pieces and eaten like hardtack. What was the staple of the medieval diet? Cod again, sold salted by the Basques, an enigmatic people with a mysterious, unlimited supply of cod. As we make our way through the centuries of cod history, we also find a delicious legacy of recipes, and the tragic story of environmental failure, of depleted fishing stocks where once their numbers were legendary. In this lovely, thoughtful history, Mark Kurlansky ponders the question: Is the fish that changed the world forever changed by the world's folly?"A charming fish tale and a pretty gift for your favorite seafood cook or fishing monomaniac. But in the last analysis, it's a bitter ecological fable for our time." -Los Angeles Times"Every once in a while a writer of particular skill takes a fresh, seemingly improbable idea and turns out a book of pure delight. Such is the case of Mark Kurlansky and the codfish." -David McCullough"One of the 25 Best Books of the Year." -The New York Public LibraryMark Kurlansky is the author of many books including Salt, The Basque History of the World, 1968, and The Big Oyster. His newest book is Birdseye.
A Rare Breed of Love
by Jana KohlThis true story chronicles the travels of Baby, a three-legged poodle rescued from a puppy mill, who, along with her human, Kohl, aim to raise awareness and help stop animal cruelty.
The Dark Game
by Paul B. JaneczkoFrom clothesline codes to surveillance satellites and cyber espionage, Paul B. Janeczko uncovers two centuries' worth of true spy stories in U. S. history. Ever since George Washington used them to help topple the British, spies and their networks have helped and hurt America at key moments in history. In this fascinating collection, Paul B. Janeczko probes such stories as that of Elizabeth Van Lew, an aristocrat whose hatred of slavery drove her to be one of the most successful spies in the Civil War; the "Choctaw code talkers," Native Americans who were instrumental in sending secret messages during World War I; the staggering engineering behind a Cold War tunnel into East Berlin to tap Soviet phones (only to be compromised by a Soviet mole); and many more famous and less-known examples. Colorful personalities, daring missions, the feats of the loyal, and the damage of traitors are interspersed with a look at the technological advances that continue to change the rules of gathering intelligence.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
by Washington IrvingThe Legend of Sleepy Hollow, along with its companion piece, Rip Van Winkle is one of the best-known short stories to have come from America—though written while Irving was living abroad in England. Best enjoyed at Hallowe'en! The story is set in 1790 in the countryside around the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town (historical Tarrytown, New York), in a secluded glen called Sleepy Hollow. Sleepy Hollow is renowned for its ghosts and the haunting atmosphere that pervades the imaginations of its inhabitants and visitors. Some residents say this town was bewitched during the early days of the Dutch settlement. Other residents say an old Native American chief, the wizard of his tribe, held his powwows here before the country was discovered by Master Hendrick Hudson. The most infamous spectre in the Hollow is the Headless Horseman, said to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper that had his head shot off by a stray cannonball during "some nameless battle" of the American Revolutionary War, and who "rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head".
The Odyssey of Homer
by Homer and Richmond LattimoreThe most eloquent translation of Homer's Odyssey into modern English. [This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts in grades 9-10 at http://www.corestandards.org.]