Classics

Treasure Island

Posted on October 1, 2013 by webmaster

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Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson

A classic tale of a treasure map, a perilous sea journey across the Spanish Main, a mutiny led by the infamous Long John Silver, and a lethal scramble for buried treasure as seen through the eyes of cabin boy Jim Hawkins.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
1100L	Middle School	160	Adventure	1993	1416925082

Of Mice and Men

Posted on September 23, 2013 by webmaster

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Of Mice and Men

by John Steinbeck

This is a story of the strange friendship between a strong man and a giant with the mind of a not-quite-bright child. Driven from job to job by the failure of the giant man-child to fit into the social pattern, they finally find – in a ranch – what they feel their chance to achieve a homely dream they have built. But once again, society defeats them.

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Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
630L	High School	112	Historical Fiction	2002	0142000671

Tales of the Jazz Age

Posted on September 20, 2013 by webmaster

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Tales of the Jazz Age
by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Tales of The Jazz Age is an anthology of classic short stories by the renowned 20th Century American author F. Scott Fitzgerald, who is best known for his enduring classic “The Great Gatsby”. Satirizing the selfishness of the wealthy, depicting revelry that escalates into a destructive mob, while offering a sharp look at the flaws of society, and enhanced with introductions to each story by the author.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
690	High School	240	Romance	2010	1451535554

Dracula

Posted on September 15, 2013 by webmaster

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Dracula
by Bram Stoker

This novel tells the story of Dracula’s attempt to move from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing.
It takes place largely in England and Transylvania during 1893. Jonathan Harker, a newly qualified English solicitor, visits Count Dracula in the Carpathian Mountains on the border of Transylvania, Bukovina, and Moldavia, to provide legal support for a real estate transaction overseen by Harker’s employer.

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Harker is at first enticed by Dracula’s gracious manners but soon realizes that he is Dracula’s prisoner. Wandering the Count’s castle against Dracula’s admonition, Harker encounters three female vampires, called “the sisters”, from whom he is rescued by Dracula. Harker barely escapes from the castle with his life. Not long afterward, a Russian ship, the Demeter, having weighed anchor at Varna, runs aground on the shores of Whitby.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
990L	High School	666	Fantasy	2014	1500371432

Romeo & Juliet

Posted on September 10, 2013 by webmaster

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Romeo and Juliet
by William Shakespeare

This magnificent, timeless drama is the world’s most famous tale of “star-crossed lovers.” The young, unshakable love of Juliet and Romeo defies the feud that divides their families–the Capulets and Montagues–as their desperate need to be together, their secret meetings, and finally their concealed marriage drive them toward tragedy.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
1260L	High School	336	Drama	2004	0743477111

Lord of the Flies

Posted on September 10, 2013 by webmaster

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Lord of the Flies
by William Golding

A group of English schoolboys are plane-wrecked on a deserted island. At first, the stranded boys cooperate, attempting to gather food, make shelters, and maintain signal fires. Overseeing their efforts are Ralph, “the boy with fair hair,” and Piggy, Ralph’s chubby, wisdom-dispensing sidekick whose thick spectacles come in handy for lighting fires. Although Ralph tries to impose order and delegate responsibility, there are many in their number who would rather swim, play, or hunt the island’s wild pig population. Soon Ralph’s rules are being ignored or challenged outright. His fiercest antagonist is Jack, the redheaded leader of the pig hunters, who manages to lure away many of the boys to join his band of painted savages.

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The situation deteriorates as the trappings of civilization continue to fall away, until Ralph discovers that instead of being hunters, he and Piggy have become the hunted:

“He forgot his words, his hunger and thirst, and became fear; hopeless fear on flying feet.”

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
770L	Middle School	208	Adventure	1954	0399501487

Martian Chronicles

Posted on September 10, 2013 by webmaster

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Martian Chronicles
by Ray Bradbury

Leaving behind a world on the brink of destruction, man came to the Red planet and found the Martians waiting, dreamlike.Seeking the promise of a new beginning, man brought with him his oldest fears and his deepest desires. Man conquered Mars?and in that instant, Mars conquered him.

The strange new world with its ancient, dying race and vast, red-gold deserts cast a spell on him, settled into his dreams, and changed him forever. Here are the captivating chronicles of man and Mars.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
740L	High School	182	Science Fiction	1977	0553278223

1984

Posted on August 1, 2013 by webmaster

1984
by George Orwell

Winston Smith keeps a diary full of illegal thoughts about his unhappiness with the way things are, knowing that, at any moment, he might be taken away to some torture cell. He soon discovers that one of the people he works with, the beautiful Julia, has secretly fallen in love with him. Winston also wonders about the mysterious O’Brien. People say that he is a secret leader of the Brotherhood, an organization that is trying to destroy the existing government.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
1090L	High School	336	Science Fiction	1949	0451524934

Fahrenheit 451

Posted on July 1, 2013 by webmaster

Fahrenheit 451

by Ray Bradbury

Guy Montag is a fireman who lives in a time when people enjoy mindless entertainment and state authority controls the spread of knowledge. However, his job is not to put out flames but to extinguish rebellion by burning books. The government has the firemen punish suspected book carriers for fear that ideas would get out that contradict what authority tells the people to think.
After a chance meeting with young Clarisse, a starry-eyed girl who prefers reading and meaningful experiences to the cheap and violent car crash sideshows her peers enjoy, Montag begins to think that the world he grew up with is misguided. Will he stand against the governmental authority and all that he has ever known?

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Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
890L	High School	208	Science Fiction	1953	0345342968

Pearl

Posted on July 1, 2013 by webmaster

The Pearl
by John Steinbeck

Kino is a poor Mexican fisher and diver who one day discovers a large and beautiful pearl. He thinks that it may be valuable and shares the news with his wife, Juana. Kino dreams that the pearl will bring him and his family a better life. However, his good fortune has some unplanned consequences. Will he and his family eventually find happiness, or will the pearl bring them only misfortune?

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The Pearl is a deceptively small book that teaches a very important lesson – that you should be careful what you wish for. Despite Kino’s hope that a priceless jewel can help him achieve the American Dream, he is faced with an attempt on his life, the burning of his home, and violent conflicts with his wife. It is a novella that reveals the capacity for yearning and jealousy within us all.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
1010L	High School	90	Drama	1973	04017737x

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