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 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.
Pale Blue Dot
by Carl Sagan and Ann DruyanIn Cosmos, the late astronomer Carl Sagan cast his gaze over the magnificent mystery of the Universe and made it accessible to millions of people around the world. Now in this stunning sequel, Carl Sagan completes his revolutionary journey through space and time.
Future generations will look back on our epoch as the time when the human race finally broke into a radically new frontier--space. In Pale Blue Dot Sagan traces the spellbinding history of our launch into the cosmos and assesses the future that looms before us as we move out into our own solar system and on to distant galaxies beyond. The exploration and eventual settlement of other worlds is neither a fantasy nor luxury, insists Sagan, but rather a necessary condition for the survival of the human race.
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.
Two Sides of the Moon
by David Scott and Alexei LeonovGrowing up on either side of the Iron Curtain, David Scott and Alexei Leonov experienced very different childhoods but shared the same dream to fly. Excelling in every area of mental and physical agility, Scott and Leonov became elite fighter pilots and were chosen by their countries' burgeoning space programs to take part in the greatest technological race ever-to land a man on the moon. In this unique dual autobiography, astronaut Scott and cosmonaut Leonov recount their exceptional lives and careers spent on the cutting edge of science and space exploration. With each mission fraught with perilous risks, and each space program touched by tragedy, these parallel tales of adventure and heroism read like a modern-day thriller. Cutting fast between their differing recollections, this book reveals, in a very personal way, the drama of one of the most ambitious contests ever embarked on by man, set against the conflict that once held the world in suspense: the clash between Russian communism and Western democracy.Before training to be the USSR's first man on the moon, Leonov became the first man to walk in space. It was a feat that won him a place in history but almost cost him his life. A year later, in 1966, Gemini 8, with David Scott and Neil Armstrong aboard, tumbled out of control across space. Surviving against dramatic odds-a split-second decision by pilot Armstrong saved their lives-they both went on to fly their own lunar missions: Armstrong to command Apollo 11 and become the first man to walk on the moon, and Scott to perform an EVA during the Apollo 9 mission and command the most complex expedition in the history of exploration, Apollo 15. Spending three days on the moon, Scott became the seventh man to walk on its breathtaking surface. Marking a new age of USA/USSR cooperation, the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project brought Scott and Leonov together, finally ending the Cold War silence and building a friendship that would last for decades. Their courage, passion for exploration, and determination to push themselves to the limit emerge in these memoirs not only through their triumphs but also through their perseverance in times of extraordinary difficulty and danger.
Moondust
by Andrew SmithThe Apollo lunar missions of the 1960s and 1970s have been called the last optimistic acts of the twentieth century. Twelve astronauts made this greatest of all journeys and were indelibly marked by it, for better or for worse. Journalist Andrew Smith tracks down the nine surviving members of this elite group to find their answers to the question "Where do you go after you've been to the Moon?" A thrilling blend of history, reportage, and memoir, Moondust rekindles the hopeful excitement of an incandescent hour in America's past and captures the bittersweet heroism of those who risked everything to hurl themselves out of the known world -- and who were never again quite able to accept its familiar bounds.
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.
Rocket Boys
by Homer H. Hickam Jr.The #1 New York Times bestselling memoir that inspired the film October Sky, Rocket Boys is a uniquely American memoir—a powerful, luminous story of coming of age at the dawn of the 1960s, of a mother's love and a father's fears, of a group of young men who dreamed of launching rockets into outer space . . . and who made those dreams come true.
With the grace of a natural storyteller, NASA engineer Homer Hickam paints a warm, vivid portrait of the harsh West Virginia mining town of his youth, evoking a time of innocence and promise, when anything was possible, even in a company town that swallowed its men alive. A story of romance and loss, of growing up and getting out, Homer Hickam's lush, lyrical memoir is a chronicle of triumph—at once exquisitely written and marvelously entertaining.
Hero on a Bicycle
by Shirley HughesItaly, 1944: Florence is occupied by Nazi forces. The Italian resistance movement has not given up hope, though -- and neither have thirteen-year- old Paolo and his sister, Costanza. As their mother is pressured into harboring escaping POWs, Paolo and Costanza each find a part to play in opposing the German forces. Both are desperate to fight the occupation, but what can two siblings -- with only a bicycle to help them -- do against a whole army? Middle-grade fans of history and adventure will be riveted by the action and the vividly evoked tension of World War II.
Shores Beyond Shores:
by Kris Holloway and Irene Butter and John D. BidwellAs Irene’s Pappi fights to save his family during the Holocaust, Irene’s childhood is lost. Play is restricted. Family and friends disappear. Finally, with the Dutch police at their door comes the reality that Irene’s father has not moved his family far enough from Hitler’s Germany. By January 1945, the family is struggling to survive a death camp. Irene tends her ailing parents, cares for starving kids, and even helps bring clothes to her Amsterdam neighbor Anne Frank, before her family is offered a singular chance for freedom…providing the Nazi doctor says they are healthy enough. After two weeks of heart-lifting miracles and heart-breaking tragedies, Irene arrives in the Algerian desert to journey into redemption and womanhood, without her parents or brother. Irene’s first person memoir, Shores Beyond Shores, is an account of how the heart keeps its common humanity in the most inhumane and turbulent of times. Irene’s hard-earned lessons are a timeless inspiration.
Night
by Elie WieselBorn into a Jewish ghetto in Hungary, as a child, Elie Wiesel was sent to the Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald. This is his account of that atrocity: the ever-increasing horrors he endured, the loss of his family and his struggle to survive in a world that stripped him of humanity, dignity and faith. Describing in simple terms the tragic murder of a people from a survivor's perspective, Night is among the most personal, intimate and poignant of all accounts of the Holocaust.
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.
Street Love
by Walter Dean MyersYour first love is totally wrong for you. Do you follow your heart? Or do you run away?
Junice
What am I doing? He'll take one quick look
And wish he was anywhere else but here
I'm already ashamed of what I think
He will think of me, of the life I lead
Damien Yes, she is the fruit that will
Sustain me and yes, she brings
A rain that I know can chill
But it is a rain so sweet and sings
A song my soul insists
That I follow, if I would exist
As more than I have ever, ever been
If my mother calls it evil, then I embrace the sin
Romeo and Juliet
by William Shakespeare'Shakespeare invented the human as we continue to know it' Harold BloomSet in a city torn apart by feuds and gang warfare, Shakespeare's immortal drama tells the story of star-crossed lovers, rival dynasties and bloody revenge. Romeo and Juliet is a hymn to youth and the thrill of forbidden love, charged with sexual passion and violence, but also a warning of death: a dazzling combination of bawdy comedy and high tragedy. Used and Recommended by the National TheatreGeneral Editor Stanley WellsEdited by T. J. B. Spencer Introduction by Adrian Poole
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.]
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.
Steve Jobs
by Matt DoedenOn October 5, 2011, the news of the death of technology innovator Steve Jobs rocked the world. The failing health of the Apple cofounder and Pixar CEO was no secret. Jobs had given up his role as Apple's CEO just a few months prior because of his struggle with pancreatic cancer. But his death still drew a huge reaction. From Apple employees and fans to political and business leaders, people honored Jobs's passing by reflecting on his prolific life that greatly influenced the way technology is used. In 1976, Jobs founded Apple Computer with Steve Wozniak. As the leaders of Apple, they developed concepts—such as navigating by using a mouse to click screen icons—that shaped the way we use and interact with computers. Jobs's forward-thinking engineering also influenced pop culture, bringing us a music revolution with the iPod, the ultimate communication device with the iPhone, and some of the first computer-animated films through Pixar. Called by some "the da Vinci of our time," Jobs used his innovation and vision to help advance technology like no other. He lived his life following a simple premise: "The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do."
A Lady's Life In The Rocky Mountains
by Isabella L. BirdBorn in 1831, Isabella, daughter of a clergyman, set off alone to the Antipodes in 1872 'in search of health' and found she had embarked on a life of adventurous travel. In 1873, wearing Hawaiian riding dress, she rode on her spirited horse Birdie through the American 'Wild West', a terrain only recently opened to pioneer settlement. Here she met Rocky Mountain Jim, her 'dear (one-eyed) desperado', fond of poetry and whisky - 'a man any women might love, but no sane woman would marry'. He helped her climb the 'American Matterhorn' and round up cattle on horseback.The wonderful letters which make up this volume were first published in 1879 and were enormously popular in Isabella Bird's lifetime. They tell of magnificent unspoilt landscapes and abundant wildlife, of small remote townships, of her encounters with rattlesnakes, wolves, pumas and grizzly bears and her reactions to the volatile passions of the miners and pioneer settlers.
The Innovators
by Walter IsaacsonFollowing his blockbuster biography of Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson&’s New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed The Innovators is a &“riveting, propulsive, and at times deeply moving&” (The Atlantic) story of the people who created the computer and the internet.What were the talents that allowed certain inventors and entrepreneurs to turn their visionary ideas into disruptive realities? What led to their creative leaps? Why did some succeed and others fail? The Innovators is a masterly saga of collaborative genius destined to be the standard history of the digital revolution—and an indispensable guide to how innovation really happens. Isaacson begins the adventure with Ada Lovelace, Lord Byron’s daughter, who pioneered computer programming in the 1840s. He explores the fascinating personalities that created our current digital revolution, such as Vannevar Bush, Alan Turing, John von Neumann, J.C.R. Licklider, Doug Engelbart, Robert Noyce, Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, Tim Berners-Lee, and Larry Page. This is the story of how their minds worked and what made them so inventive. It’s also a narrative of how their ability to collaborate and master the art of teamwork made them even more creative. For an era that seeks to foster innovation, creativity, and teamwork, The Innovators is “a sweeping and surprisingly tenderhearted history of the digital age” (The New York Times).
Gris Grimly's Frankenstein
by Mary ShelleyGris Grimly's Frankenstein is a twisted, fresh, and utterly original full-length, full-color graphic-novel adaptation of Mary Shelley's original text, brought to life by acclaimed illustrator Gris Grimly."Grimly enlivens the prose while retaining its power to both frighten and engage sympathy for the monster-creator Victor Frankenstein. This is a richly morose nightmare of a book, a primer for young readers on the pleasures and dangers of decadent languidness."—New York Times Book ReviewThe first fully illustrated version to use the original 1818 text, this handsome volume is destined to capture the imagination of those new to the story as well as those who know it well.New York Times bestselling illustrator Gris Grimly has long considered Frankenstein to be one of his chief inspirations. From the bones and flesh of the original, he has cut and stitched Mary Shelley's text to his own artwork, creating something entirely new: a stunningly original remix, both classic and contemporary, sinister and seductive, heart-stopping and heartbreaking.
Up from Slavery
by Booker T. WashingtonIn this acclaimed autobiography, Booker T. Washington makes a case for lifting up his race through education. Washington uses his personal story as the example, from his birth to slave parents on a Virginia plantation and his struggle to go to school to his adult achievements as a public speaker and black leader. Washington outlines more than forty years of his life, emphasizing how he overcame great obstacles in order to pursue his education at Hampton University. As an adult, he opened a school for black students in Tuskegee, Alabama, and later he established other successful vocational schools. Throughout the book, Washington describes his educational philosophy and his hopes and dreams for African Americans. This is an unabridged version of Booker T. Washington's life story, which was first published in 1901.
The Narrative of Sojourner Truth
by Sojourner TruthFrom slavery to liberation to life as an abolitionist, feminist, orator, and preacher—the autobiography of a woman who refused to be anything but free. Born into slavery in New York around 1797, then sold from master to master, Sojourner Truth spent her formative years witnessing the cruelty inherent in the institution of slavery. Escaping to a friendly household before emancipation, she learned that her young son had been sold illegally and launched a lawsuit that would end with his release—the first time in America that a black woman went to court against a white man and won. But Truth hadn&’t even begun her work. She made it her life&’s mission to free all those who were considered less than equal—both those in chains and those held down because of their gender—ultimately inspiring her friends and followers with the legendary speech that came to be known as &“Ain&’t I a Woman?&” So great was Truth&’s renown and respect that she met with President Abraham Lincoln in 1864. She was later named one of the 100 Most Significant Americans of All Time by Smithsonian magazine. Published in 1850, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth was spoken aloud to Truth&’s friend and neighbor Olive Gilbert, as she herself was illiterate. Along with The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, it remains one of the most moving and eloquent slave narratives—a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave (Civil War Classics)
by Frederick DouglassTo commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the end of the Civil War, Diversion Books is publishing seminal works of the era: stories told by the men and women who led, who fought, and who lived in an America that had come apart at the seams. One of the most important figures of the Civil War, Frederick Douglass, was born into slavery but rose to become a tremendous orator, an impassioned abolitionist, and a representative of all who remained voiceless through slavery and oppression. His narrative resonates today with its eloquence, its incendiary history, and its profound and moving arguments for the humanity, and the equality, of Americans.
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.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
by Harriet JacobsTormented by her master, a young mother plots a daring escape, in this courageous and captivating slave narrative When her mother dies, six-year-old slave girl Linda Brent is sent to the big house, where she grows up serving a gentle mistress who teaches her to read and write. But the mistress&’s death brings about a sudden and terrible change in Linda&’s fortunes. Her lecherous new master torments Linda mercilessly, making her life a living hell. Unable to join her two young children in their escape to the North, Linda hides in the attic above her grandmother&’s house. For seven years, she waits for the opportunity to flee North Carolina and reunite with her son and daughter in the land of freedom. But when the chance finally comes, Linda discovers she has yet more pain to endure. Based on the true story of Harriet Jacobs&’s escape from the South, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is one of American literature&’s most powerful indictments of the evils of slavery. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
The Wide Window
by Lemony Snicket and Brett Helquist and Michael KuppermanDear Reader,
If you have not read anything about the Baudelaire orphans, then before you read even one more sentence, you should know this: Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are kindhearted and quick-witted, but their lives, I am sorry to say, are filled with bad luck and misery. All of the stories about these three children are unhappy and wretched, and this one may be the worst of them all.
If you haven't got the stomach for a story that includes a hurricane, a signalling device, hungry leeches, cold cucumber soup, a horrible villain, and a doll named Pretty Penny, then this book will probably fill you with despair.
I will continue to record these tragic tales, for that is what I do. You, however, should decide for yourself whether you can possibly endure this miserable story.
With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket