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The Journey Back
Johanna Reiss
Synopsis: How does it feel to leave the people you've grown to love -- and go back to a family you no longer know?

Holland,1945 -- World War II has finally ended. For thirteen-year-old Annie de Leeuw and her sister Sini, Almost three years of hiding from the Germans in the upstairs room of a remote farmhouse have also ended. Saying good-bye to the courageous family who hid them is very difficult. And Annie finds that being home again isn't easy either. Her mother is dead; her father, distant and distracted. Sini is out dancing with the soldiers every night , trying to make up for lost time, and Annie's oldest sister, Rachel, has become a Christian. Soon Annie has another problem -- getting used to a new stepmother she cannot seem to please. Annie learns that though the fighting is over, some of the wounds of the war still remain. Her old home is gone. Now she must build a new life for herself.

Publication Date: 09/25/87
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Historical Fiction
The Killer Angels
Michael Shaara
Synopsis: This novel reveals more about the Battle of Gettysburg than any piece of learned nonfiction on the same subject. Michael Shaara's account of the three most important days of the Civil War features deft characterizations of all of the main actors, including Lee, Longstreet, Pickett, Buford, and Hancock. The most inspiring figure in the book, however, is Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, whose 20th Maine regiment of volunteers held the Union's left flank on the second day of the battle. This unit's bravery at Little Round Top helped turned the tide of the war against the rebels. There are also plenty of maps, which convey a complete sense of what happened July 1-3, 1863. Reading about the past is rarely so much fun as on these pages.
Publication Date: 08/12/87
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Historical Fiction
Friedrich
Edite Kroll, Hans Peter Richter
Synopsis: "Superb, sensitive, honest and compelling . . . a simple but terrifying tale of the destruction of a single Jewish family."--The New York Times

Winner of the Mildred L. Batchelder Award

His best friend thought Friedrich was lucky. His family had a good home and enough money, and in Germany in the early 1930s, many were unemployed. But when Hitler came to power, things began to change. Friedrich was expelled from school, and then his mother died and his father was deported. For Friedrich was Jewish.
Publication Date: 05/01/87
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Historical Fiction
I Was There
Hans Peter Richter, Edite Kroll
Synopsis: From winner of Winner of the Mildred L. Batchelder Award for Friedrich and for readers of Number the Stars and If I Should Die Before I Wake. 

Hans and his friend Gunther, are just trying to get through life with Adolf Hitler being elected in Germany. Gunther's father was against Hitler, but eight-year-olds Hans and Gunther join the SS youth program, and later enter the military, where they are swept away by Hitler's regime.
Publication Date: 05/01/87
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Historical Fiction
Johnny Tremain
Esther Forbes
Synopsis: This story of a tragically injured young silversmith who ends up hip-deep in the American Revolution is inspiring, exciting, and sad. Winner of the prestigious Newbery Award in 1944, Esther Forbes's story has lasted these 50-plus years by including adventure, loss, courage, and history in a wonderfully written, very dramatic package. It's probably not great for little guys but mature 11-year-olds or older will find it a great adventure.
Publication Date: 04/01/87
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Historical Fiction
All Quiet on the Western Front
A W. Wheen, Erich Maria Remarque
Synopsis: Paul Baumer enlisted with his classmates in the German army of World War I. Youthful, enthusiastic, they become soldiers. But despite what they have learned, they break into pieces under the first bombardment in the trenches. And as horrible war plods on year after year, Paul holds fast to a single vow: to fight against the principles of hate that meaninglessly pits young men of the same generation but different uniforms against each other--if only he can come out of the war alive.
"The world has a great writer in Erich Maria Remarque. He is a craftsman of unquestionably first trank, a man who can bend language to his will. Whether he writes of men or of inanimate nature, his touch is sensitive, firm, and sure."
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
Publication Date: 03/12/87
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Historical Fiction
The Whipping Boy
Peter Sis, Sid Fleischman
Synopsis: A bratty prince and his whipping boy have many adventures when they inadvertently trade places after becoming involved with dangerous outlaws.
Publication Date: 04/30/87
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Z for Zachariah
Robert C. O'Brien
Synopsis: Seemingly the only person left alive after a nuclear war, a sixteen-year-old girl is relieved to see a man arrive into her valley until she realizes that he is a tyrant and she must somehow escape.
Publication Date: 04/30/87
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Historical Fiction
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
John Seelye, Mark Twain
Synopsis: The classic adventure story of boyhood escapades on the shores of the Mississippi
Publication Date: 10/07/86
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The Complete Sherlock Holmes
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Synopsis: The complete collection of Sherlock Holmes’s adventures in crime, including all four novels and fifty-six short stories featuring Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic hero

Volume I includes the early novel A Study in Scarlet, which introduced the eccentric genius of Sherlock Holmes to the world. This baffling murder mystery, with the cryptic word Rache written in blood, first brought Holmes together with Dr. John Watson. Next, The Sign of Four presents Holmes’s famous “seven percent solution” and the strange puzzle of Mary Morstan in the quintessential locked-room mystery. Also included are Holmes’s feats of extraordinary detection in such famous cases as “The Adventure of the Speckled Band,” “The Musgrave Ritual,” and “The Five Orange Pips.”

Volume II begins with The Hound of the Baskervilles, a haunting novel of murder on eerie Grimpen Moor, which has rightly earned its reputation as the finest murder mystery ever written. The Valley of Fear matches Holmes against his archenemy, the master of imaginative crime, Professor Moriarty. In addition, the loyal Dr. Watson has faithfully recorded Holmes’s exploits from “The Adventure of the Red Circle” to the twelve baffling enigmas from The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes.

Conan Doyle’s incomparable tales bring to life a Victorian England of horse-drawn cabs, fogs, and the famous lodgings at 221B Baker Street, where for more than forty years Sherlock Holmes earned his undisputed reputation as the greatest fictional detective of all time.
Publication Date: 10/01/86
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Mystery
Twenty-One Balloons
William Pene du Bois
Synopsis: A Newbery Medal Winner

Professor William Waterman Sherman intends to fly across the Pacific Ocean. But through a twist of fate, he lands on Krakatoa, and discovers a world of unimaginable wealth, eccentric inhabitants, and incredible balloon inventions.Winner of the 1948 Newbery Medal, this classic fantasy-adventure is now available in a handsome new edition.


"William Pene du Bois combines his rich imagination, scientific tastes, and brilliant artistry to tell astory that has no age limit."—The Horn Book
Publication Date: 05/06/86
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
The People Could Fly
Diane Dillon Ph.D., Virginia Hamilton, Leo Dillon
Synopsis: "The well-known author retells 24 black American folk tales in sure storytelling voice: animal tales, supernatural tales, fanciful and cautionary tales, and slave tales of freedom. All are beautifully readable. With the added attraction of 40 wonderfully expressive paintings by the Dillons, this collection should be snapped up."--(starred) School Library Journal.  
Publication Date: 10/12/85
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Historical Fiction
The Yearling
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, N. C. Wyeth
Synopsis: Fighting off a pack of starving wolves, wrestling alligators in the swamp, romping with bear cubs, drawing off the venom of a giant rattlesnake bite with the heart of a fresh-killed deer--it's all in a day's work for the Baxter family of the Florida scrublands. But young Jody Baxter is not content with these electrifying escapades, or even with the cozy comfort of home with Pa and Ma. He wants a pet, a friend with whom he can share his quiet cogitations and his corn pone. Jody gets his pet, a frisky fawn he calls Flag, but that's not all. With Flag comes a year of life lessons, frolicking times, and achingly hard decisions. This powerful book is as compelling now as when it was written over 60 years ago. Read simply as a naturalist study of the Florida interior, it fascinates and entices. Add the heart-stopping adventure and heart-wrenching human elements, and this is a classic well worth its Pulitzer Prize. Earthy dialect and homespun wisdom season the story, giving it a unique and unforgettable flavor, and N.C. Wyeth's warm, soft illustrations capture an era of rough subsistence and sweet survival. (Ages 12 and older) --Emilie Coulter
Publication Date: 10/01/85
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver
Synopsis: Eleanor of Aquitaine has every reason to be  upset.



For centuries she's been  patiently waiting for her husband, King Henry II, to  meet her in Heaven. Luckily, she's sharing a cloud  with some old friends who knew her when she and  Henry ruled supreme. As long as they're together, they  might as well gossip about old times--and soon all  of Eleanor's adventures in the Middle Ages spring  to life again.



Finally, just when  they're about to give up on Henry, Eleanor spots  three men floating toward them. After all this  time, could one of them be Henry?
Publication Date: 02/01/85
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Bridges at Toko-Ri
James A. Michener
Synopsis: In one of his beloved early bestsellers, Pulitzer Prize–winning author James A. Michener crafts a tale of the American men who fought the Korean War, detailing their exploits in the air as well as their lives on the ground. Young and innocent, they arrive in a place they have barely ever heard of, on a ship massive enough to carry planes and helicopters. Trained as professionals, they prepare for the rituals of war that countless men before them have endured, and face the same fears. They are American fighter pilots. Together they face an enemy they do not understand, knowing their only hope for survival is to win.
 
Praise for The Bridges at Toko-Ri
 
“A vivid and moving story, as well as an exciting one . . . The humanity of the people is deeply felt.”—Chicago Tribune
 
“The Banshees screaming over Korea, the perilous landings on an aircraft carrier deck ‘bouncing around like a derelict rowboat,’ a helicopter rescue from the freezing waters . . . all are stirringly rendered.”—The Denver Post
 
“Michener’s best . . . a story of action, ideas, and civilization’s responsibilities.”—Saturday Review
Publication Date: 09/12/84
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Historical Fiction
Where The Red Fern Grows
Synopsis:

Where the Red Fern Grows is a beloved classic that captures the powerful bond between man and man’s best friend. This edition also includes a special note to readers from Newbery Medal winner and Printz Honor winner Clare Vanderpool.
 
   Billy has long dreamt of owning not one, but two, dogs. So when he’s finally able to save up enough money for two pups to call his own—Old Dan and Little Ann—he’s ecstatic. It doesn’t matter that times are tough; together they’ll roam the hills of the Ozarks.
   Soon Billy and his hounds become the finest hunting team in the valley. Stories of their great achievements spread throughout the region, and the combination of Old Dan’s brawn, Little Ann’s brains, and Billy’s sheer will seems unbeatable. But tragedy awaits these determined hunters—now friends—and Billy learns that hope can grow out of despair, and that the seeds of the future can come from the scars of the past.
 
Praise for Where the Red Fern Grows
 
A Top 100 Children’s Novel, School Library Journal
A Must-Read for Kids 9 to 14, NPR
A Great American Read's Selection (PBS)
Winner of Multiple State Awards
Over 14 million copies in print!

“A rewarding book . . . [with] careful, precise observation, all of it rightly phrased....Very touching.” —The New York Times Book Review
 
“One of the great classics of children’s literature . . . Any child who doesn’t get to read this beloved and powerfully emotional book has missed out on an important piece of childhood for the last 40-plus years.” —Common Sense Media

“An exciting tale of love and adventure you’ll never forget.” —School Library Journal
 
“A book of unadorned naturalness.” —Kirkus Reviews
 
“Written with so much feeling and sentiment that adults as well as children are drawn [in] with a passion.” —Arizona Daily Star
 
“It’s a story about a young boy and his two hunting dogs and . . . I can’t even go on without getting a little misty.” —The Huffington Post
 
“We tear up just thinking about it.” —Time on the film adaptation

Publication Date: 08/01/84
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction

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