Review: No Place to Fall

In No Place to Fall  by Jaye Robin Brown, Amber Vaughn is a good Southern girl, who secretly longs for a life outside of her small town.  She sings solos at church, babysits her nephew after school, and spends every Friday night hanging out at her best friend Devon’s house. It’s only when Amber goes exploring in the woods near her home, singing camp songs with the hikers she meets on the Appalachian Trail, that she feels free—and when the bigger world feels just a little bit more in reach.

When Amber learns about an audition at the North Carolina School of the Arts, she decides that her dream—to sing on bigger stages—could also be her ticket to a new life. Devon’s older (and unavailable) brother, Will, helps Amber prepare for her one chance to try out for the hypercompetitive arts school. But the more time Will and Amber spend together, the more complicated their relationship becomes . . . and Amber starts to wonder if she’s such a good girl, after all.

Then, in an afternoon, the bottom drops out of her family’s world—and Amber is faced with an impossible choice between her promise as an artist and the people she loves. Amber always thought she knew what a good girl would do. But between “right” and “wrong,” there’s a whole world of possibilities.

 Amber has never left her small town and doesn’t know if she can. Between the drama with her drug dealing sister and brother-in-law, her parents' disastrous marriage, and the new attention of her best friend’s brother, Will, Amber’s life is far from simple. Will she be able to find the courage to make her dreams come true?

Sounds intriguing, which is why I checked out No Place to Fall immediately after it was processed by our Cataloging Department. Too bad the book jacket blurb didn’t paint an accurate portrait of No Place to Fall.

First off, Amber Vaughn is not a good girl. Within the first few pages, she discusses her plans to have sex with a virtual stranger, including almost going through with the deed, eating pot brownies, and actually having sex with someone…and not caring about the fact that he has a girlfriend. She preached about her sister being sucked into the drug dealing world, but Amber was hooking up with the guy that made the pot brownies. I was annoyed because it seemed that there was a big difference between the book jacket blurb and what I was actually reading. I carried on thinking that maybe Amber had to have a big fall from grace before redeeming herself…but no.

I know I’m sounding harsh and yes, I understand that teenagers do stupid shit. If she or any of the other characters actually grew during the story you might be reading a different review. This book was filled with half-ass characters. No one was likable (except Amber’s mom) and all the characters were two-dimensional. I found it impossible to connect with any of them, especially Amber. In fact, all Amber did was get on my nerves. I kept hoping that Amber would redeem herself to the reader. She made some mistakes, but there was still the possibility of a good story. I’m sorry to say that it didn’t happen though. I haven’t disliked a main character this much since Whitley in Kody Keplinger’s A Midsummer’s Nightmare.

The story and the characters were all over the place. There were too many secondary characters and too much going on. It definitely needed to be simplified. Nothing ever came together for me and I’m sorry to say that I wouldn’t recommend this book to my patrons. I think it will check out though because of the cover and the book jacket blurb. Maybe I expected too much. The story was there, but it was lacking the glue to hold it together. 

Review: The Jewel by Amy Ewing

Back in September I posted a list of 7 YA titles that wereon my radar (and should be on yours). One of the titles was Amy Ewing’s debut novel The Jewel. I had been hearing a lot about The Jewel, mainly through Epic Reads, a website for anything and everything Young Adult Literature.

Here is the synopsis for The Jewel:

The Selection meets The Handmaid’s Tale in this darkly riveting debut filled with twists and turns, where all that glitters may not be gold.

The Jewel means wealth, the Jewel means beauty—but for Violet, the Jewel means servitude. Born and raised in the Marsh, Violet finds herself living in the Jewel as a servant at the estate of the Duchess of the Lake. Addressed only by her number—#197—Violet is quickly thrown into the royal way of life. But behind its opulent and glittering facade, the Jewel hides its cruel and brutal truth, filled with violence, manipulation, and death.

Violet must accept the ugly realities of her life . . . all while trying to stay alive. But before she can accept her fate, Violet meets a handsome boy who is also under the Duchess’s control, and a forbidden love erupts. But their illicit affair has consequences, which will cost them both more than they bargained for. And toeing the line between being calculating and rebellious, Violet must decide what, and who, she is willing to risk for her own freedom.

Quite intriguing right?

I was able to finish The Jewel in one sitting, which is highly unusual for me with YA books. Typically, I spend two or three days thumbing through a YA novel. Ewing’s writing style was easy to follow and flowed well. The plot had merit, even though it was slow in some situations, and I found myself immersed in Violet’s story.

I would give this story 3.5 stars out of 5. There are two main reasons. I do feel that the story could have been longer. I say this mainly because I felt it was anticlimactic until the very last page or so.  I know that Violet was in several intense situations, but I did not feel the intensity leap of the pages. A few more well constructed paragraphs describing the direness of this situation and Violet’s role really would have elevated the plot.

The second reason is because of the character of Ash…or more importantly, the relationship between Ash and Violet. At first, I suspected the character of Garnet to be the romantic interest. Garnet is the 19 year old son of Violet’s owner, the Duchess of the Lake. He is unpredictable, devastatingly handsome, and an all around bad boy. Perfect romantic interest right? I was surprised by the introduction of Ash, a companion who was purchased to teach the Duchess’ niece how to flirt and land a husband. I felt that Ash and Violet’s relationship was flat. For whatever reason, I could not get the idea of Violet and Garnet out of my head. I found myself annoyed with the scenes that Ash was featured in. If the novel had been drawn out more, I might have found myself more accepting of the pairing. That being said, I hope that Ewing will either dedicate more time to expand on this relationship or revisit the Violet/Garnet pairing that my heart seems to want. The last page of the book was slightly reassuring to me though. Fingers crossed - #violetandgarnet

Though I had a few small issues with the novel, Amy Ewing did a splendid job on her debut book. I think teens will devour this book and I encourage you to check it out. 

Cover Reveal: The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski

Last month I posted a review of The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski. I loved this book...except for the cover. 

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions. 

One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin. 

But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined. 

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

I had issues with the vertical text and the font. Turns out I wasn't the only one. Several of you agreed with me. I'm also glad to report that the cover for The Winner's Crime, which is set to be released in March 2015, is much better. 

The engagement of Lady Kestrel to Valoria’s crown prince means one celebration after another. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement…if she could only trust him. Yet can she even trust herself? For—unknown to Arin—Kestrel is becoming a skilled practitioner of deceit: an anonymous spy passing information to Herran, and close to uncovering a shocking secret.

As Arin enlists dangerous allies in the struggle to keep his country’s freedom, he can’t fight the suspicion that Kestrel knows more than she shows. In the end, it might not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth. And when that happens, Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will cost them

Gone is the vertical text (thank you!) and I'm much more impressed with the blue dress vs the pink scheme. Not only does it stand out more, I think the deeper color fits more with the character of Kestrel. I'm very excited about The Winner's Crime and if you haven't given The Winner's Curse a chance yet then you are missing out!

If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch Review

Hey, what do you know? I read a YA book!

I’m sure by now y’all are a little tired of romance novels. I have decided to diversify my reading in 2014!

I usually have 3 or 4 YA novels checked out, especially since I belong to the FYA book club.

Whether or not I actually read them remains to be seen…

But 2014 is a new year and I’m turning over a new leaf. I do a lot of YA book talking at my library. Even though I’m the Reference Librarian, I have read tons of YA, so patrons ask me about it. I have several patrons that regularly come to me for YA recommendations. Well, I’m running low on recommendations now!

How I found out about If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch: A friend of mine who reads YA like it is going out of style added it on Goodreads. I saw it in my feed and thought the synopsis had a lot of potential.

There are some things you can’t leave behind…

A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.

Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won’t let her go… a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn’t spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.

If You Fine Me is a quick read and impossible to put down until you are finished. I read it in one sitting, even though I told myself I was only going to read 75 pages before bed. Ha!

I thought Murdoch did a beautiful job of handling difficult situations. She didn’t use a lot of vulgarity to describe the situations and I thought this was refreshing and just right for Carey’s story.

Carey’s story is heartbreaking, there is no doubt about that, but I enjoyed how Carey grew to learn about trust and love. Reading about how Carey deals with being forced into a new world and with the loss of the woods is a poignant growth throughout the story.  I thought I knew where the ending was going, but Murdoch surprised me. Though this is a stand alone novel, it has the potential for a sequel. If you have the opportunity to read If You Find Me, you will not be disappointed. 

Discards find new home!

Oooh these were being deleted from my library bc we have multiple copies. I snagged them before they went to the friends! These are two of my favorite YA authors. Super excited! :)

Grave Mercy....ahhhhmazing!

I could write a really nice review about Grave Mercy and you might say "Hmmm, sounds like a good book. Maybe I'll read it." Fast forward 3 years later and it is still on your Goodreads To-Be-Shelf. That is not where this book belongs!

 

or you can absolutely trust me on this and go read this book. Like right now. Stop reading this blog and read this book. Why? Here are some simple reasons:

1. With a tag line, "Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?" how can this book not be awesome?

2.  The first chapter will hook you in!

3. Devious plots and lots of intrigue.

4. Assassin nuns.

If reason 4 isn't enough for you, then I don't know what is. I would have put amazing cover, but lots of YA books have awesome covers, but it's the material that's crap. 

Seriously, this book is a great YA read and it is one of the books that I intend to buy for my personal collection (ie, I'm about to spend money for a book.....librarians don't really tend to do that). You will not regret moving this book up to the top of your TBR list. Trust me.

52 Reasons to Hate My Father by Jessica Brody

Lexington Larrabee has everything. Fabulous clothes, an expensive car, a mansion, a jet at her disposal and a check for $25 million dollars waiting for her….that is until her dad spoils everything. After causing one too many scandals Lexi’s father decides she has to earn her inheritance… all $25 million. Now she must complete 52 weeks of 52 dead end minimum wage jobs before she can cash in on her fortune. Now add in the fact that her father has stuck her with a babysitter, granted a very cute babysitter who is quite ripped, and Lexi’s world pretty much sucks. But there is more to meets the eye with this rich girl. Underneath her fabulous lifestyle, Lexi’s lives in a world without love. Will her 52 jobs be able to solve her problems or will Lexi be drawn back into her old life of scandal?

     52 Reasons To Hate My Father is a great summer novel. I was looking for something light that I could read in one sitting. This was just what I was looking for. We have all seen the socialites scattered on the tabloids, but in Jessica Brody’s new novel she adds a certain twist to the out of control rich girl that we usually see. I would have liked to see Brody go deeper into the jobs and expo some hard truths about minimum  wage jobs today. I’m not saying go full on Barbara Ehrenreich, but a little more exposure on the plight of middle and lower classes would have been refreshing. Still, I loved this book. If I laugh out loud while reading any book, then I know I have found a winner. 52 Reasons to Hate My Father will keep you entertained and smiling as Lexi struggles to adjust to her new lifestyle.

A Midsummer's Nightmare by Kody Keplinger

A Midsummer's Nightmare

By Kody Keplinger

Pub. Date: June 5, 2012

Pages: 304

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars - Okay.

Urgh, I was so looking forward to this book. I love Kody Keplinger's work. I picked up The DUFF at a YA book sale and fell in love with her characters and writing. When Shut Out came out, I was hooked again. I love that her characters are real. Real problems, they talk like normal teenagers do, and they have sex. Real. Plus the fact that Keplinger is so young, I love her fresh perspectives on situations. So when Barnes and Noble sent me A Midsummer's Nightmare 3 weeks before the street day I was beyond stoked! (Sidenote, I did write to BN to let them know their mistake. Street dates are there for a reason, no matter how awesome it is to get a copy early).

Now, the actual review. Sigh. I wanted to love this book more than anything.... but I couldn't. Reason? The main character Whitley was just beyond annoying. If you are going to make your main character a bitch, you need to make her either lovable or redeemable. Also, Keplinger had too many factors into the storyline. There was alcohol abuse, cyberbulling, daddy issues, dealing with divorce, etc. etc. and then you add a romance into the mix? Way too much going on. It needed to be simplified. The storyline itself was awesome. Girl hooks up with random guy for one night stand and then he turns out to be her future stepbrother? That little blurb was enough for me to pre-order this book. Remember, I am a librarian, so buying books is a huge deal for us.

I didn't fall for the romance. I didn't think the character of Nathan had much going for him. I needed to know more about him. I did think the ending was open enough for a sequel, which I would read. I do not think all Whitley's issues were resolved at the end of the book (mainly regarding her relationship with her mother). 

If you have never read any of Keplinger's books, go get The Duff... It is awesome. A Midsummer's Nightmare? Not so much.


Second Sidenote, her next book, Goldfish, looks awesome. 

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

By Emily M. Danforth

480 pages

Pub. Date: Feb. 7 2012 by Balzer + Bray



    Life for thirteen-year-old Cameron Post had been pretty normal so far. Living in a small town in the late 1980s, she and her best friend Irene spend their summer just hanging out. Then Irene kisses Cameron and Cameron’s parents die in a car accident in the same day. Cameron’s world is turned upside down. Not only are parents gone, but she has to figure out what is going on with herself. Now add in the fact that Cameron’s

conservative Aunt Ruth has become her legal guarding and the reader begins

to see the double life Cameron starts to live.

     The Miseducation of Cameron Post will grab you in and not let you go. You fear that every time Cameron meets with a girl or even has the slightest crush on someone that she will be found out. It is also extremely important to factor in the time of this book. Set in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Internet, and all the quick availableness that comes with the World Wide Web, doesn’t exist yet. There is no online support/information for her to receive like today. There are no answers to the questions she has. She rents movies that might even contain the slightest hint of a lesbian love scene and scours through the issues of The Advocate that are secretly mailed to her. You know Cameron is going to be found out. The ominous feeling lingers through the entire first half of the book. The second half of the book picks up after her secret life is revealed and her Aunt Ruth sends her away to a boarding school that specialized in ‘de-gaying’ youths. To most, it is unthinkable that someone can pray away the gay, but it is important to remember that these schools to exist.

      How I heard about this book: A friend, and fellow librarian, had told me to check this out, which I did, but it sat at the bottom of my TBR for about two weeks. She mentioned the book again, but she sold me on it when she stated, “It has the most graphic girl on girl love scene I have ever read.” Sold. I went home and started reading right away. I wanted to see how graphic this got, because this is a young adult book. It was graphic. Not only are the scenes with Cameron and Coley pretty racy, but there was also an attempted suicide that went into all the gory details.

      What I like about this book: The story. Emily Danforth creates a great story that really captures the reader. Her writing style was very detailed and you had to pay attention to every sentence to catch the littlest of details. When a book gets you so riled up about a subject, about a character, you know that that is a good book.   

      What I didn’t like: The ending. I really wanted Cameron to turn 18

and sue Aunt Ruth for the tuition cost for the school. The cost of the school tuition was about $9,000 which came out of a trust left to Cameron from her parents. I know this is a little extreme, but I was so angry at Ruth for sending Cameron away. I mainly wanted Cameron to break away from the small town and her Aunt Ruth. Also, the length could have been shorted down some. At over 400 pages, this book took several days to read, just because of the precision of detail that I mentioned before. I fear that a lot of people won’t pick this book up because of the size. Those people are definitely missing out on an amazing story.

My Awesome/Awful Popularity Plan by Seth Rudestsky

My Awesome/Awful Popularity Plan by Seth Rudestsky
Random House, Jan. 2012.

288 pages

Justin Goldblatt is tired of being the unpopular kid in high school. Sure there are about six kids that he is more popular than, but Justin dreams of being the guy that everyone wants to be. So he devises a plan. First he needs to get Chuck the quarterback to notice him. With a quarterback as a boyfriend, Justin will be unstoppable. Too bad is plan is destined to fail.

  My Awesome/Awful Popularity Plan is the first novel by Seth Rudestsky, who is a Broadway actor and SiriusXM radio host. The one thing that really irked me about Rudestsky’s writing style was his tendency to insert absolutely random pieces of information that did nothing for the story. His writing didn’t really have a style to it. It lacked feeling. I wasn’t invested in the storyline and I felt like I needed adderall to keep up with his writing. I would end up skimming 10 to 15 pages, because I knew that I would still be able to keep up with the storyline. The premise behind the storyline is interesting, especially when Justin has to pretend to be the boyfriend of Becky, the most popular girl in school. Now add in the fact that Becky is the secret girlfriend of Chuck, the object of Justin's affection, and you have a recipe for disaster for poor Justin. The two supporting characters of Spencer and Becky did help keep the story grounded, but the main character of Justin was more annoying than relatable

The Fault in Our Stars

    If I ever decide to write author John Green a letter, I am pretty sure it

would go something like this, “Dear John Green….Thanks for ripping out my

heart with The Fault In Our Stars. I laughed, cried, then cried some more.

But it was a pleasure to have my heart ripped out by such an awesome

book.”

Sound a little extreme? Well this is an extreme book. Extremely Awesome. I have been dreading reading this book because of personal happenings in my life right now. All I could think was "A cancer book is really the last thing I need to read right now" and so for a whole month this book sat on my floor. I knew I would eventually have to buckle down because a certain PeachELibrarian had picked it for our book group pick. So I decided to tackle my personal stuff and ready this cancer book and boy am I glad that I did. I was crying by page 12, but I am so glad I read this book.

   Hazel Grace Lancaster is anything but ordinary. Actually she probably

wishes she was ordinary. Because ordinary kids don’t get cancer and they

certainly don’t have to tote around oxygen tanks. Enter Augustus Waters, a

witty terribly handsome one-legged cancer survivor. Hazel doesn’t stand a

chance and neither does the reader. Together they chase a recluse author, battle cancer, help a blind kid, and discover how fantastic living can be.  It is impossible not to fall in love with Hazel and Augustus’ epic love story.

John Green has written a superb book. I do not think I cannot stress the intensity and power that he has packed into a mere 318 pages. Yes it is a cancer book and cancer books are generally sad, but The Fault in Our Stars goes well beyond your average ‘cancer story’.This book is a force of emotions to be reckoned with.  Don’t believe me? Check it out for yourself!

Adult Content....

I happen to overhear this conversation the other day and it made me giggle...a lot.

Setup: A librarian was recommending a book to a teenage girl, maybe around 15. The book in question had some adult content, so the librarian simply told the young girl that this book had some material in there that was pretty adult.

Girl: Oh, its okay. I have read Twilight.

Librarian (who was trying to keep from grinning): Well, this might be a little stronger than Twilight.

Girl: Have you read the 4th book? Its extremely graphic.

Most popular books (picked by teens)

You really didn't think I was gonna post that list without revealing the number 1 pick?

No. 1 (in a landslide) is.................... The Harry Potter Series!

No. 2 Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

No. 3 Hunger Games Series

Other popular picks - Crank by Ellen Hopkins, Twilight,

Christy Miller series by Robin Jones Gunn

Book Recommendations - By students for students

So after polling over 1,000 kids and going through lots of answers, I have compiled the list! I'm super proud of the kids because the results were totally varied! Infact I decided to read every book on this list just for fun!

So how did we decide to format this list? We toyed around with grouping them in genres, but decided that some students might cast aside certain books because they don't like that genre. A lot of the students listed their favorite classic books, mostly which they have read in class, so we decided to create a catagory just for the classics. Check them out!

Here's the list:

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Boy In The Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Women by Charles Bukowski

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

Heaven Is For Real by Todd Burpo

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Crazy Love: Overwhelmed By A Restless God by Francis Chan

Papillon by Henri Charrière

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare

The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer

The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

Beach Music by Pat Conroy

Timeline by Michael Crichton

Spartan Gold by Clive Cussler

Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly

Thr3e by Ted Dekker

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? By Philip K. Dick

Drama High series by L. Divine

The Daughters of the Moon series by Lynne Ewing

Beastly by Alex Flinn

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

Sandman series by Neil Gaiman

Old Yeller by Fred Gipson

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Be True To Your School by Bob Greene

Rachel and Darcy series by Emily Griffin

Christy Miller series by Robin Jones Gunn

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Crank series by Ellen Hopkins

Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz

 Redwall series by Brian Jacques

Scar Tissue by Anthony Keidis

Alabama Moon by Watt Key

It by Stephen King

Take One by Karen Kingsbury

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

14,000 Things To Be Happy About by Barbara Ann Kipfer

Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt

Dramarama by E. Lockhart

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy & Goth Girl by Barry Lyga

The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx

Wake by Lisa McMann

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead

Twilight series by Stephanie Meyers

Wilderness: The Lost Writings Of Jim Morrison by Jim Morrison

Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull

The Watchmen by Alan Moore

Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini

Witch and Wizard by James Patterson

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

Song Of The Lioness series by Tamora Pierce

The Chosen by Chaim Potak

Anthem by Ayn Rand

Confessions of Georgia Nicholson series by Louise Rennison

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan

Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

Rainbow High Trilogy by Alex Sanchez

A Non-Blonde Cheerleader series by Kieran Scott

The Alchemyst series by Michael Scott

The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

Pretty Little Liars series by Sara Shepard

A Series Of Unfortunate Events series by Lemony Snicket 

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

The Wolves of Mercy Falls series by Maggie Stiefvater

Deadly Little Secrets series by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Give A Boy A Gun by Todd Strasser

Lord Of The Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien

Slaughtehouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegurt

Night Angel series by Brent Weeks

Impossible by Nancy Werlin

Uglies series by Scott Westerfield

Night by Elie Wiesel

The Extraordinary Adventure of Alfred Kropp by Rick Yancy

Favorite Authors

Laurie Halse Anderson

Jane Austen

Dan Brown

Charles Bukowski

Orson Scott Card

Agatha Christie

Cassandra Clare

Suzanne Collins

Pat Conroy

Michael Crichton

Sarah Dessen

Philip K. Dick

Alex Flinn

Neil Gaiman

John Green

Robin Jones Gunn

Ellen Hopkins

Stephen King

Karen Kingsberry

Bernard Henri Levy

E. Lockhart

Alan Moore

Stephanie Meyers

George Orwell

James Patterson

Jodi Picoult

Tamora Pierce

Ayn Rand

Rick Riordan

Francine Rivers

J.K. Rowling

Nicholas Sparks

Laurie Faria Stolarz

J.R.R. Tolkien

Mark Twain

Scott Westerfield

Students’ Favorite Classics

The Divine Comedy by  Dante Alighieri

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Animal Farm by George Orwell

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

War And Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain