Special Collections
Amplify ELA Curriculum Grades 6-8
Description: Here you will find the books listed as Core texts and the Extra texts for each unit of the Amplify ELA Grade 6-8 Curriculum.
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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark TwainWilliam Collins Books and Decca Records are proud to present ARGO Classics, a historic catalogue of classic fiction read by some of the world’s most renowned voices. Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly abridged and remastered stories are now available to download for the first time. During a long hot summer, a young boy’s taste for excitement lands him in and out of trouble. Bing Crosby narrates the coming-of-age tale that made Mark Twain one of America’s best loved novelist with all of Tom’s mischief and fun. Tom catches criminals, gets the girl and carries out hijinks, all with his best friend Huckleberry Finn at his side.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark TwainWhether tricking other boys into doing his work or sneaking off to bury a dead cat, Tom Sawyer is a boy with a fondness for mischief. But things become grim when he and his pal Huck Finn witness a murder and cover-up by the lawless Injun Joe. Even though he’s scared the murderer will come after him next, Tom continues to explore the Missouri countryside with his friends and attempts to woo the new girl in town. Another encounter with Injun Joe, however, will put both Tom and Huck's daringness to the ultimate test. This unabridged version of Mark Twain's classic American tale, including original illustrations by True Williams and others, is taken from the 1884 copyright edition.
An Age of Extremes
by Joy HakimFor the captains of industry men like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, J. P. Morgan, and Henry Ford, the Gilded Age was a time of big money. Technology boomed with the invention of trains, telephones, electric lights, harvesters, vacuum cleaners, and more. But for millions of immigrant workers, it was a time of big struggles, with adults and children alike working 12 to 14 hours a day under extreme, dangerous conditions. The disparity between the rich and the poor was dismaying, which prompted some people to action. In An Age of Extremes, you'll meet Mother Jones, Ida Tarbell, Big Bill Haywood, Sam Gompers, and other movers and shakers, and get swept up in the enthusiasm of Teddy Roosevelt. You'll also watch the United States take its greatest role on the world stage since the Revolution, as it enters the bloody battlefields of Europe in World War I. [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.]
The Arabian Nights Entertainments
by Andrew LangA collection of 26 tales told by Scheherazade to save herself and other young girls from death at the Sultan's hands. The story of the merchant and the genius -- The story of the first old man and of the hind -- The story of the second old man and of the two black dogs -- The story of the fisherman -- The story of the Greek king and the physician Douban -- The story of the husband and the parrot -- The story of the vizir who was punished -- The story of the young king of the black isles -- The story of the three Calenders [Calendars], sons of kings, and of five ladies of Baghdad -- The story of the first Calender [Calandar], son of a king -- The story of the second Calender [Calandar], son of a king -- The story of the envious man, and of him who was envied -- The story of the third Calendar [Calandar], son of a king -- The seven voyages of Sindbad [Sinbad] the sailor. The little hunchback -- The story of the barber's fifth brother -- The story of the barber's sixth brother -- The adventures of Prince Camaralzaman and the Princess Badoura -- Noureddin and the fair Persian -- Aladdin and the wonderful lamp -- The adventures of Haroun-al-Raschid, caliph of Baghdad -- Story of the blind Baba-Abdalla -- The story of Sidi-Noumann -- Story of Ali Cogia, merchant of Baghdad -- The enchanted horse -- The story of two sisters who were jealous of their younger sister. (Goodreads)
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
by Benjamin FranklinBetween 1771 and 1790, American Founding Father Benjamin Franklin sat down to record the important events of his life, from his childhood in Boston to his work as a printer in Philadelphia, to his trips to Paris and his plans for the first public library. The story of the invention of the Franklin stove, the first Poor Richard's Almanac, and his experiments with electricity are all included here. His "Project for Moral Perfection"—a list of desirable virtues and steps to achieve them—influenced the modern self-help genre. Hundreds of years later, Franklin's account of his rise from middle-class obscurity to become a world-renowned scholar and civic figure continues to promote the American Dream. First published in 1791, this unabridged version of Franklin's autobiography is taken from the 1909 copyright edition.
A Ball, a Dog, and a Monkey
by Michael D'AntonioA Ball, a Dog, and a Monkey tells the remarkable story of America's first efforts to succeed in space, a time of exploding rockets, national space mania, Florida boomtowns, and interservice rivalries so fierce that President Dwight Eisenhower had to referee them. When the Soviet Union launched the first orbital satellite, Sputnik I, Americans panicked. The Soviets had nuclear weapons, the Cold War was underway, and now the USSR had taken the lead in the space race. Members of Congress and the press called for an all-out effort to launch a satellite into orbit. With dire warnings about national security in the news almost every day, the armed services saw space as the new military frontier. But President Eisenhower insisted that the space effort, which relied on military technology, be supervised by civilians so that the space race would be peaceful. The Navy's Vanguard program flopped, and the Army, led by ex-Nazi rocket scientist Wernher von Braun and a martinet general named J. Bruce Medaris (whom Eisenhower disliked), took over. Meanwhile, the Soviets put a dog inside the next Sputnik, and Americans grew more worried as the first animal in space whirled around the Earth. Throughout 1958 America went space crazy. UFO sightings spiked. Boys from Brooklyn to Burbank shot model rockets into the air. Space-themed beauty pageants became a national phenomenon. The news media flocked to the launchpads on the swampy Florida coast, and reporters reinvented themselves as space correspondents. And finally the Army's rocket program succeeded. Determined not to be outdone by the Russians, America's space scientists launched the first primate into space, a small monkey they nicknamed Old Reliable for his calm demeanor. And then at Christmastime, Eisenhower authorized the launch of a secret satellite with a surprise aboard. A Ball, a Dog, and a Monkey memorably recalls the infancy of the space race, a time when new technologies brought ominous danger but also gave us the ability to realize our dreams and reach for the stars.
Benjamin Franklin
by Walter IsaacsonIn this authoritative and engrossing full-scale biography, Walter Isaacson, bestselling author of Einstein and Steve Jobs, shows how the most fascinating of America's founders helped define our national character.Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winks at us, the one who seems made of flesh rather than marble. In a sweeping narrative that follows Franklin’s life from Boston to Philadelphia to London and Paris and back, Walter Isaacson chronicles the adventures of the runaway apprentice who became, over the course of his eighty-four-year life, America’s best writer, inventor, media baron, scientist, diplomat, and business strategist, as well as one of its most practical and ingenious political leaders. He explores the wit behind Poor Richard’s Almanac and the wisdom behind the Declaration of Independence, the new nation’s alliance with France, the treaty that ended the Revolution, and the compromises that created a near-perfect Constitution.In this colorful and intimate narrative, Isaacson provides the full sweep of Franklin’s amazing life, showing how he helped to forge the American national identity and why he has a particular resonance in the twenty-first century.
Boy
by Roald DahlA famous children's author recounts the formative crises of his boyhood in Great Britain. These include severe canings from teachers, watching a sadistic doctor lance another little boy's boil, discovering photography, an and the indignity of having to warm a senior's lavatory seat at public school.
Boy and Going Solo
by Roald DahlBoy and Going Solo is the whole of Roald Dahl's extraordinary autobiography in one volume. Roald Dahl wasn't always a writer. Once he was just a schoolboy. Have you ever wondered what he was like growing up?In BOY you'll find out why he and his friends took revenge on the beastly Mrs Pratchett who ran the sweet shop. He remembers what it was like taste-testing chocolate for Cadbury's and he even reveals how his nose was nearly sliced off.Then in GOING SOLO you'll read stories of whizzing through the air in a Tiger Moth Plane, encounters with hungry lions, and the terrible crash that led him to storytelling.Roald Dahl tells his story in his own words - and it's all TRUE.And now you can listen to all of Roald Dahl's novels for children on Roald Dahl Audiobooks read by some very famous voices, including Kate Winslet, David Walliams and Steven Fry - plus there are added squelchy soundeffects from Pinewood Studios! Also look out for new Roald Dahl apps in the App store and Google Play- including the disgusting TWIT OR MISS! and HOUSE OF TWITS inspired by the revolting Twits.
The Boys' War
by Jim MurphyFirst-hand accounts that include diary entries and personal letters describe the experiences of boys, sixteen years old or younger, who fought in the Civil War.
The Call of the Wild
by Jack LondonPuffin Classics: the definitive collection of timeless stories, for every childTo Buck it was boundless delight, this hunting, fishing, and indefinite wandering through strange places. Pampered dog Buck lives a comfortable life in Santa Clara Valley, where he spends his days eating and sleeping in the golden sunshine. But one day a terrible act of betrayal leads to his kidnap, and he is forced into a life of work and danger. Dragged away to be a sledge dog in the harsh and freezing cold Yukon, Buck must fight for his place in the wilderness - and a place to call home.The Call of the Wild is a beautiful and thought-provoking tale following a dog's journey of hope, resilience and finding your family. This edition includes an introduction by award-winning author Melvyn Burgess, a behind-the-scenes journey, an author profile, a guide to who's who, activities and more.
A Child of Hitler
by Alfons HeckTen-year-old Alfons Heck attended a meeting of the Nazi regime. In this book he describes his rise to power as the leader of Hitler Youth.
Chocolat
by Joanne HarrisEven before it was adapted into the Oscar-nominated film starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp, Joanne Harris' New York Times bestselling novel, Chocolat entranced readers with its mix of hedonism, whimsy, and, of course, chocolate.
In tiny Lansquenet, where nothing much has changed in a hundred years, beautiful newcomer Vianne Rocher and her exquisite chocolate shop arrive and instantly begin to play havoc with Lenten vows. Each box of luscious bonbons comes with a free gift: Vianne's uncanny perception of its buyer's private discontents and a clever, caring cure for them. Is she a witch? Soon the parish no longer cares, as it abandons itself to temptation, happiness, and a dramatic face-off between Easter solemnity and the pagan gaiety of a chocolate festival. Chocolat's every page offers a description of chocolate to melt in the mouths of chocoholics, francophiles, armchair gourmets, cookbook readers, and lovers of passion everywhere. It's a must for anyone who craves an escapist read, and is a bewitching gift for any holiday.
A Christmas Carol
by Charles DickensPuffin Classics: the definitive collection of timeless stories, for every childRediscover the Puffin Classics collection and bring the best-loved classics to a new generation - including this charming edition A Christmas Carol complete with a bold new cover.Ebenezer Scrooge was a mean, miserable, bitter old man, until one Christmas Eve changed everything. . .Guided by three ghosts, Scrooge visits his past, present, and what could be to come should he not learn the true meaning behind Christmas.Will Scrooge learn to love Christmas and everyone around him?
Colors of the Mountain
by Da Chen"I was born in southern China in 1962, in the tiny town of Yellow Stone. They called it the Year of Great Starvation. " In 1962, as millions of Chinese citizens were gripped by Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution and the Red Guards enforced a brutal regime of communism, a boy was born to a poor family in southern China. This family--the Chens--had once been respected landlords in the village of Yellow Stone, but now they were among the least fortunate families in the country, despised for their "capitalist" past. Grandpa Chen couldn't leave the house for fear of being beaten to death; the children were spit upon in the street; and their father was regularly hauled off to labor camps, leaving the family of eight without a breadwinner. Da Chen, the youngest child, seemed destined for a life of poverty, shame, and hunger. But winning humor and an indomitable spirit can be found in the most unexpected places. Colors of the Mountain is a story of triumph, a memoir of a boyhood full of spunk, mischief, and love. The young Da Chen is part Horatio Alger, part Holden Caul-field; he befriends a gang of young hoodlums as well as the elegant, elderly Chinese Baptist woman who teaches him English and opens the door to a new life. Chen's remarkable story is full of unforgettable scenes of rural Chinese life: feasting on oysters and fried peanuts on New Year's Day, studying alongside classmates who wear red armbands and quote Mao, and playing and working in the peaceful rice fields near his village. Da Chen's story is both captivating and endearing, filled with the universal human quality that distinguishes the very best memoirs. It proves once again that the concerns of childhood transcend time and place.
Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe
by Edgar Allan PoeThis single volume brings together all of Poe's stories and poems, and illuminates the diverse and multifaceted genius of one of the greatest and most influential figures in American literary history.From the Hardcover edition.
The Complete War of the Worlds
by H. G. WellsFrom the father of science fiction, the nineteenth-century British classic novel of alien invasion, along with two sequels. Together in one volume for the first time—H. G. Wells&’s seminal science fiction classic The War of the Worlds, with the contemporaneous, unauthorized, but extremely popular sequel Edison&’'s Conquest of Mars, as well as Wells&’s own, much later conceptual sequel, Star Begotten. How often do you watch the sky at night? Ever see bright streaks of light exploding from the red planet? Get ready for adventurous reading as you embark on a journey to find out just how these alien invasions play out! In The War of the Worlds, how will woefully unprepared Earthlings respond to towering three-legged &“fighting machines&” armed with heat-rays and chemical weapons that far exceed the capabilities of the nineteenth-century English military? In Edison&’s Conquest of Mars, Earth's leaders fear that the Martians will return to invade once more. US President William McKinley, Queen Victoria, Kaiser Wilhelm II and Emperor Mutsuhito unite to plan an attack on Mars. Led by American inventor Thomas Edison, a group of scientists develop new technologies based on what earlier Martian visitors left behind. They design and build a fleet of space ships for the pre-emptive move. What will happen when the two opposing forces meet? The protagonist of Star Begotten, Joseph Davis, is an author of popular histories, who becomes suspicious that he and his family have been exposed to a Martian influence of another sort and are in the process of being changed. What might that influence be? Three classics of Martian invasion in one volume.
The Dharma Bums
by Jack KerouacOne of the best and most popular of Kerouac's autobiographical novels, The Dharma Bums is based on experiences the writer had during the mid-1950s while living in California, after he'd become interested in Buddhism's spiritual mode of understanding. One of the book's main characters, Japhy Ryder, is based on the real poet Gary Snyder, who was a close friend and whose interest in Buddhism influenced Kerouac.
Enrique's Journey
by Sonia NazarioIn this astonishing true story, award-winning journalist Sonia Nazario recounts the unforgettable odyssey of a Honduran boy who braves unimaginable hardship and peril to reach his mother in the United States.
When Enrique is five years old, his mother, Lourdes, too poor to feed her children, leaves Honduras to work in the United States.
The move allows her to send money back home to Enrique so he can eat better and go to school past the third grade. Lourdes promises Enrique she will return quickly. But she struggles in America. Years pass. He begs for his mother to come back. Without her, he becomes lonely and troubled. When she calls, Lourdes tells him to be patient. Enrique despairs of ever seeing her again.
After eleven years apart, he decides he will go find her. Enrique sets off alone from Tegucigalpa, with little more than a slip of paper bearing his mother's North Carolina telephone number. Without money, he will make the dangerous and illegal trek up the length of Mexico the only way he can-clinging to the sides and tops of freight trains. With gritty determination and a deep longing to be by his mother's side, Enrique travels through hostile, unknown worlds.
Each step of the way through Mexico, he and other migrants, many of them children, are hunted like animals. Gangsters control the tops of the trains. Bandits rob and kill migrants up and down the tracks. Corrupt cops all along the route are out to fleece and deport them. To evade Mexican police and immigration authorities, they must jump onto and off the moving boxcars they call El Tren de la Muerte--The Train of Death.
Enrique pushes forward using his wit, courage, and hope-and the kindness of strangers. It is an epic journey, one thousands of immigrant children make each year to find their mothers in the United States.
Based on the Los Angeles Times newspaper series that won two Pulitzer Prizes, one for feature writing and another for feature photography, Enrique's Journey is the timeless story of families torn apart, the yearning to be together again, and a boy who will risk his life to find the mother he loves.
Fever 1793
by Laurie Halse AndersonIt's late summer 1793, and the streets of Philadelphia are abuzz with mosquitoes and rumors of fever. Down near the docks, many have taken ill, and the fatalities are mounting. Now they include Polly, the serving girl at the Cook Coffeehouse. But fourteen-year-old Mattie Cook doesn't get a moment to mourn the passing of her childhood playmate. New customers have overrun her family's coffee shop, located far from the mosquito-infested river, and Mattie's concerns of fever are all but overshadowed by dreams of growing her family's small business into a thriving enterprise. But when the fever begins to strike closer to home, Mattie's struggle to build a new life must give way to a new fight-the fight to stay alive.
Flight
by Chris KraftFlight is the stirring account of the U.S. space program from its infancy to its greatest triumphs - written by the one man who was there for it all, Christopher Columbus Kraft, Jr., the first NASA flight director.
The Gift of the Magi
by O. HenryLittle Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith.O. Henry is one of the most popular American writers of the twentieth century and a true master of the short story. This selection of tales ranges from Christmas in New York to the cattle-lands of Texas, taking in con men, clerks, shop assistants, tramps and tricksters. They all highlight O. Henry's comic eye, his gift for evoking speech and setting, and his unique approach to life's quirks of fate.'His stories are perfectly executed mini-classics' Washington Post
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
by Stephen KingFrom international bestseller Stephen King, a classic story that engages our emotions on the most primal level, a fairy tale grimmer than Grimm but aglow with a girl’s indomitable spirit.What if the woods were full of them? And of course they were, the woods were full of everything you didn’t like, everything you were afraid of and instinctively loathed, everything that tried to overwhelm you with nasty, no-brain panic. The brochure promised a “moderate-to-difficult” six-mile hike on the Maine-New Hampshire branch of the Appalachian Trail, where nine-year-old Trisha McFarland was to spend Saturday with her older brother Pete and her recently divorced mother. When she wanders off to escape their constant bickering, then tries to catch up by attempting a shortcut through the woods, Trisha strays deeper into a wilderness full of peril and terror. Especially when night falls. Trisha has only her wits for navigation, only her ingenuity as a defense against the elements, only her courage and faith to withstand her mounting fear. For solace she tunes her Walkman to broadcasts of Boston Red Sox games and the gritty performances of her hero, number thirty-six, relief pitcher Tom Gordon. And when her radio’s reception begins to fade, Trisha imagines that Tom Gordon is with her—her key to surviving an enemy known only by the slaughtered animals and mangled trees in its wake.
The Glass Castle
by Jeannette WallsJeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains.
Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn't stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an "excitement addict." Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever.
Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town--and the family--Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents' betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.
What is so astonishing about Jeannette Walls is not just that she had the guts and tenacity and intelligence to get out, but that she describes her parents with such deep affection and generosity. Hers is a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms. For two decades, Jeannette Walls hid her roots. Now she tells her own story. A regular contributor to MSNBC.com, she lives in New York and Long Island and is married to the writer John Taylor.
A New York Times Bestseller
Good Fortune
by Li Keng WongIn this dramatic memoir of early-twentieth century immigration, author Li Keng Wong shares her family's difficult journey from rural China to a new life in California.In 1933, seven-year-old Li Keng's life changed forever when her father decided to bring his family from a small village in southern China to California. Getting to America was not easy, as their family faced America's strict anti-Chinese immigration laws that meant any misstep could mean deportation and disgrace. Life in America during the Great Depression brought many exciting surprises as well as many challenges. Hunger, poverty, police raids, frequent moves, and the occasional sting of racism were a part of everyday life, but slowly Li Keng and her family found stability and a true home in "Gold Mountain."An author's note contains photos and an update on Li Keng Wong's family. This evocative memoir presents the joys and sorrows of pursuing the American Dream during a time of racism and great poverty, but also immense opportunity. The book also contains information on Angel Island and its significance in history as well as an explanation of the Chinese Exclusion Act.