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Anastasia, Absolutely
Synopsis: The trouble begins when Anastasia goes to the mailbox with two packages and her new dog, Sleuth. It's there that she accidentally puts the bag of dog droppings into the mailbox instead of her mother's package. When she realizes her mistake, Anastasia uses her school Values Class experience to help her decide what to do. But when the police take the corner mailbox, Anastasia's sure she's committed a crime that will land her in jail.
Publication Date: 03/10/97
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Humor
A Picture of Freedom
Patricia C. McKissack
Synopsis: Having secretly taught herself how to read and write, Clotee, a brave twelve-year-old Virginia slave, witnesses the horrors of slavery and eventually becomes a conductor on the Underground Railroad.
Publication Date: 03/01/97
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Historical Fiction
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
Synopsis: Summary:

A vicious captain, a mutinous crew --
and a young girl caught in the middle

Not every thirteen-year-old girl is accused of murder, brought to trial, and found guilty. But I was just such a girl, and my story is worth relating even if it did happen years ago. Be warned, however: If strong ideas and action offend you, read no more. Find another companion to share your idle hours. For my part I intend to tell the truth as I lived it.



About the Author:

Avi is the author of more than sixty books, including Crispin: The Cross of Lead, a Newbery Medal winner, and Crispin: At the Edge of the World. His other acclaimed titles include The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle and Nothing But the Truth, both Newbery Honor Books, and most recently The Seer of Shadows. He lives with his family in Colorado.


Author:Avi
Illustrator:0
Publisher:HarperCollins
Published Date:04/01/1997
Format:Paperback
ISBN:0380728850
#of pages:#N/A
Publication Date: 04/30/97
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Five Children and It
H. R. Millar, E. Nesbit
Synopsis: A series of phenomenal adventures follow when young Anthea discovers a sand-fairy who can grant wishes
Publication Date: 12/01/96
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Shock Wave
Clive Cussler
Synopsis: In the wake of a mysterious disaster that kills thousands of marine animals and nearly two hundred cruise ship passengers, Dirk Pitt rescues Maeve Fletcher and traces the incident to her father and sisters. Reprint.
Publication Date: 12/01/96
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Charley Skedaddle
Patricia Beatty
Synopsis: During the Civil War, a twelve-year-old Bowery Boy from New York City joins the Union Army as a drummer, deserts during a battle in Virginia, and encounters a hostile old mountain woman
Publication Date: 10/01/96
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Historical Fiction
Wuthering Heights
Emily Brontë
Synopsis:

Considered lurid and shocking by mid-19th-century standards, Wuthering Heights was initially thought to be such a publishing risk that its author, Emily Brontë, was asked to pay some of the publication costs. A somber tale of consuming passions and vengeance played out against the lonely moors of northern England, the book proved to be one of the most enduring classics of English literature.
The turbulent and tempestuous love story of Cathy and Heathcliff spans two generations — from the time Heathcliff, a strange, coarse young boy, is brought to live on the Earnshaws' windswept estate, through Cathy's marriage to Edgar Linton and Heathcliff's plans for revenge, to Cathy's death years later and the eventual union of the surviving Earnshaw and Linton heirs.
A masterpiece of imaginative fiction, Wuthering Heights (the author's only novel) remains as poignant and compelling today as it was when first published in 1847.

Publication Date: 09/24/96
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance
The Midwife's Apprentice
Karen Cushman
Synopsis: 'Like Cushman's 1995 Newbery Honor Book, Catherine, Called Birdy, this novel is about a strong young woman in medieval England who finds her own way home. This is a world, like Chaucer's, that's . . . dangerous, primitive and raucous. From the first page you're caught by the spirit of the homeless, nameless waif, somewhere around 12 years old. She gets the village midwife to take her in, befriends a cat, names herself Alyce, and learns something about delivering babies. When she fails, she runs away, but she picks herself up again and returns to work and independence.' --ALA Booklist (starred review). '. . .A fascinating view of a far distant time.' -- The Horn Book (starred review)

Publication Date: 08/16/96
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Historical Fiction
The Princess and Curdie
Helen Stratton, George MacDonald
Synopsis: A classic story of magic, mystery, and adventure in a fairy-tale world.

Princess Irene’s great-great-grandmother has a testing task for Curdie. Curdie will not go alone though; she provides him with a companion, the oddest and ugliest creature Curdie has ever seen, but one who turns out to be the most loyal friend he could have hoped for.
Publication Date: 08/01/96
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Acorn People
Ron Jones
Synopsis: This true story of a boy who must overcome prejudice and weakness to treat a group of special needs children with the respect—and love—they deserve “will give your innards a bear hug. . . . You will read this book with a lump in your throat.” (Lincoln Journal)
 
From Ron Jones, a teacher who started the classroom program that inspired the movie The Wave, comes a memoir about a life-changing summer.
 
Ron expected that his time as a counselor at Camp Wiggin would be filled with sunny days spent hiking, swimming, and boating. But when he arrives on day one, his illusions are quickly shattered. He knew that the kids would be “handicapped,” but he didn’t anticipate having to care for children who can barely walk or see or retain the use of their limbs. At first, the severity of the campers’ disabilities seems too much to bear. But everything changes once Ron gets to know his group—kids who call themselves “the Acorn People” because of the acorn necklaces they wear around their necks. The campers teach him that, inside, they are the same as any average kid, and with encouragement, determination, and friendship, nothing is impossible.
 
“A fantastic and beautiful story.”—Seattle Times

“Uncomfortably moving, yet told in surprisingly unsentimental terms. . . . Succinct and tender, it will haunt the reader long after the brief passages have been read.”—Houston Chronicle

"Ron Jones' true story of a group of handicapped children at summer camp is one of the most poignant, beautiful and eloquent tales to come this way in a long time."—Flint Journal
Publication Date: 06/11/96
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Nonfiction
Animal Farm
Russell Baker, George Orwell
Synopsis: George Orwell's timeless fable—a parable for would-be liberators everywhere, glimpsed through the lens of our own history.

As ferociously fresh as it was more than a half century ago, this remarkable allegory of a downtrodden society of overworked, mistreated animals, and their quest to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality is one of the most scathing satires ever published. As we witness the rise and bloody fall of the revolutionary animals, we begin to recognize the seeds of totalitarianism in the most idealistic organization; and in our most charismatic leaders, the souls of our cruelest oppressors.

With a foreword by Ann Patchett
Publication Date: 06/01/96
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Family Under the Bridge
Garth Williams, Natalie Savage Carlson
Synopsis:

The heartwarming and memorable Newbery Honor-winning book about finding family in the unlikeliest places, featuring artwork by beloved illustrator Garth Williams.

Armand, an old Parisian living on the streets of Paris, relished his solitary life. He begged and did odd jobs for money to keep himself warm and fed, and he liked his carefree life.

Then one day just before Christmas, a struggling mother and her three children walked into his life. Though he tried to ignore their troubles, Armand soon found himself caring for the family and sharing his unusual home under the bridge with them. It did not take Armand very long to realize that he had gotten himself ready-made family; one that he loved with all his heart, and one for whom he would have to find a better home than the bridge.

Children will treasure this warm and funny adventure of family, freedom, and Santa Claus. The book includes illustrations by Garth Williams, the acclaimed illustrator of E. B. White's Charlotte's Web and Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series, among many other books.

Publication Date: 04/12/96
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Horse Shy: The Saddle Club
Synopsis: When one of Pine Hollow's students makes a terrible mistake, causing a tragic accident, Carole is done with riding forever. Unless Stevie and Lisa can remind her what friendship and the Saddle Club are all about.
Publication Date: 04/01/96
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
California Blue
David Klass
Synopsis: Discovering a beautiful blue butterfly, John is forced to choose between an important cause and his own townspeople when he learns that the butterfly is unique in all the world and that the local mill must be closed in order to save it. Reprint.
Publication Date: 04/01/96
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Broken Bridge
Lynne Reid Banks
Synopsis:

The attack came suddenly and without warning, as twoyoung teenagers walked casually through the streets of Jerusalem,When it was over, one lay dead, the other mysteriously spared,yet left to face the horrendous choices and consequences thatresulted from being the sole witness.

In this gripping sequel to One More River, Lynne Reid Bankscaptures the spirit and complex passions of present-day Israelthrough the powerful voices of a new generation as they join theunrelenting struggle against the consequences of decades of war.

Publication Date: 04/01/96
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Historical Fiction
Anthem
Leonard Peikoff, Ayn Rand
Synopsis: Ayn Rand’s classic tale of a dystopian future of the great “We”—a world that deprives individuals of a name or independence—that anticipates her later masterpieces, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.

They existed only to serve the state. They were conceived in controlled Palaces of Mating. They died in the Home of the Useless. From cradle to grave, the crowd was one—the great WE.

In all that was left of humanity there was only one man who dared to think, seek, and love. He lived in the dark ages of the future. In a loveless world, he dared to love the woman of his choice. In an age that had lost all trace of science and civilization, he had the courage to seek and find knowledge. But these were not the crimes for which he would be hunted. He was marked for death because he had committed the unpardonable sin: He had stood forth from the mindless human herd. He was a man alone. He had rediscovered the lost and holy word—I.

“I worship individuals for their highest possibilities as individuals, and I loathe humanity, for its failure to live up to these possibilities.”—Ayn Rand
Publication Date: 03/01/96
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction

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