Classic Adventure
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Perhaps the best-loved nineteenth-century American novel, Mark Twain’s tale of boyhood adventureoverflows with comedy, warmth, and slapstick energy. It brings to life an array of irresistible characters - the awesomely self-confident Tom, his best buddy Huck Finn, indulgent Aunt Polly, and the lovely, beguiling Becky - as well as such unforgettable incidents as whitewashing a fence, swearing an oath in blood, and getting lost in a dark and labyrinthine cave. Below Tom Sawyer’s sunny surface lurk hints of a darker reality, of youthful innocence and naïveté confronting the cruelty, hypocrisy, and foolishness of the adult world. Despite such suggestions, Tom Sawyer remains Twain’s joyful ode to the endless possibilities of childhood.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
An incomparable adventure story, it is a vignette of a turbulent, yet hopeful epoch in American history, defining the experience of a nation in voices often satirical, but always authentic.
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
After being knocked unconscious during a fight, Hank Morgan awakes at Camelot in AD 528. As minister to KingArthur, Hank tries to help the peasantry only to be confronted with opposition from the Church, knights, and sorcerers.
The Cay by Theodore Taylor
When the freighter on which they are traveling is torpedoed by a German submarine during World War II, an adolescent white boy, blinded by a blow on the head, and an old black man are stranded on a tiny Caribbean island where the boy acquires a new kind of vision, courage, and love from his old companion.
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
In 1872, English gentleman Phileas Fogg has many adventures as he tries to win a bet that he can travel aroundthe world in eighty days.
classic science fiction & fantasy
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
Professor Aronnax and his two companions, trapped aboard a fantastic submarine as prisoners of the deranged Captain Nemo, come face to face with exotic ocean creatures and strange sights hidden from the world above. Also check out Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth.
The Once & Future King by T. H. White
The world's greatest fantasy classic is the magical epic of King Arthur and his shining Camelot, of Merlyn and Guinevere, of beasts who talk and men who fly, of wizardry and war. It is the book of all things lost and wonderful and sad. It is the fantasy masterpiece by which all others are judged.
The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
The Time Traveller journeys 800,000 years into the future and discovers two bizarre races at war on the Earth, the ethereal Eloi and the subterranean Morlocks. Also check out The War of the Worlds.
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin
Ged was the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, but once he was called Sparrowhawk, a reckless youth, hungry for power and knowledge, who tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tale ofhis testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death's threshold to restore the balance. First in a series.
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin is drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training. Growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers, Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister. Is Ender the general Earth needs? First in a series.
classic horror
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Inspired by three scenes in a dream Stevenson had, this story follows Dr. Jekyll, who by day he works as a respectable doctor and by night roams the back alleys of old-town London as a monstrous criminal.
Dracula by Bram Stoker
When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula purchase a London house, he makes horrifying discoveries in his client's castle. Soon afterwards, disturbing incidents unfold in England: an unmanned ship is wrecked; strange puncture marks appear on a young woman's neck; and a lunatic asylum inmate raves about the imminent arrival of his 'Master'.
Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
A monster assembled by a scientist from parts of dead bodies develops a mind of his own as he learns to loathe himself and hate his creator.
Carrie by Stephen King
An introverted girl with remarkable powers of telekinesis faces the horrors of teenage life and unleashes a few horrors of her own when she attends the high school prom.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
A superstitious schoolmaster, in love with a wealthy farmer's daughter, has a terrifying encounter with a headless horseman.
classic social commentary
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
In 18th century Boston, a Puritan girl is condemned to wear the letter "A" for bearing an illegitimate daughter.
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Chronicles the adventures of a group of rabbits searching for a safe place to establish a new warren so that they can live in peace.
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
The beloved, classic story of a mentally disabled man whose experimental quest for intelligence mirrors that of Algernon, an extraordinary lab mouse. In poignant diary entries, Charlie tells how a brain operation increases his IQ and changes his life. As the experimental procedure takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment seems to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance-until Algernon begins his sudden, unexpected deterioration. Will the same happen to Charlie?
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
A high school freshman discovers the devastating consequences of refusing to join in the school's annual fund raising drive and arousing the wrath of the school bullies.
The Pearl by John Steinbeck
For the diver Kino, finding a magnificent pearl means the promise of a better life for his impoverished family. His dreams blind him to the greed that the pearl arouses in him and his neighbors. Baring the fallacy of the American dream--that wealth erases all problems--Steinbeck's classic illustrates our fall from innocence.
classic race in america
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gaines
Fictional biography of a Black slave, who lived for 100 years after the Civil War.
China Boy by Gus Lee
Warm, funny, and deeply moving, Gus Lee's semi-autobiographical account of growing up in a conflict-ridden family, unable to fully embrace either American or Chinese culture, is an enthralling story of family relationships, the perils of boyhood, and the difficulty of being Chinese in 1950's San Francisco.
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
Ultima is a curandera, one who cures with herbs and magic, and she joins Antonio Marez's family when he is six years old, teaching him the magical secrets of the pagan past.
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Celie is a poor black woman whose letters tell the story of 20 years of her life, beginning at age 14 when she is being abused and raped by her father and attempting to protect her sister from the same fate, and continuing over the course of her marriage to "Mister," a brutal man who terrorizes her. Celie eventually learns that her abusive husband has been keeping her sister's letters from her and the rage she feels, combined with an example of love and independence provided by her close friend Shug, pushes her finally toward an awakening of her creative and loving self.
Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories by Sandra Cisneros
From the author of the widely acclaimed The House on Mango Street comes a story collection of breathtaking range and authority, whose characters give voice to the vibrant and varied life on both sides of the Mexican border. The women in these stories offer tales of pure discovery, filled with moments of infinite and intimate wisdom.
