College-Recommended Books
(Various Publication Dates and Genres):
Albom, Mitch
The Five People You Meet in Heaven
Eddie, an eighty-three-year-old man in charge of maintenance at an amusement
park, is often overlooked by others and underestimated by himself. When he
dies trying to save a young girl, Eddie is greeted in Heaven by five people
whose lives he had impacted in VERY surprising ways. Meanwhile, Eddie is
anxious to find out whether or not the girl he tried to save is still alive…
“This slim tale reminds us of what really matters here on earth, of what our
lives are given to us for.” –Publishers Weekly
Ansary, Mir Tamim
American Story
West of Kabul, East of New York: An Afghan
In this eye-opening account, Ansari discusses his experiences growing up in
Afghanistan with an Afghan father and American mother, moving to the United
States as a teenager to attend school, traveling to Muslim communities in the
height of tensions, parting ways with his fundamentalist brother, and facing
discrimination in America in the wake of 9/11.
“Gracefully written and very powerful, Ansary's meditative memoir reaches
deeper and illuminates more brightly than any news report or political analysis.”
–Booklist
Beah, Ishmael
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
Ishmael Beah describes his experiences overcoming the harrowing events
that left him an orphan and turned him into a twelve-year old soldier in
Sierra Leone.
“A gripping story and powerful record of war told in a conversational,
accessible style.”–School Library Journal
Cather, Willa
My Antonia
Jim Burden, an American-born lawyer, reminisces about his
childhood spent with Antonia Shimerda, a Bohemian girl who came to
America with her family for a chance at a better life. As he travels back to
Nebraska to visit the prairies where he and Antonia spent so much time
together, he realizes just how much can change over time and wonders if
anything will be the same.
“No romantic novel ever written in America, by man or woman, is one half
so beautiful as My Antonia." -H.L. Mencken
Conrad, Joseph
Heart of Darkness
Marlow, a river boat captain, travels the Congo River in search of the famously
successful ivory trader Kurtz. As he sees the treatment of Africans by the
Europeans who are colonizing the area, Marlow grows disgusted and longs to find
Kurtz, who Marlow hopes will have some justification for all of the horrors that he
has seen…
Dickens, Charles
Great Expectations
Pip, an orphan, leaves the humble life that he leads with his sister and
her husband after falling in love with an upper-class girl. Sponsored by a
mysterious benefactor, Pip is trained to become a mannered, wealthy
gentleman. As Pip becomes accustomed to the higher-class life and
develops a snobbish attitude, he is forced to face the cost of his
transformation…
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor
Crime and Punishment
Do the ends justify the means? Is it just to kill someone if the person has inflicted
suffering on others? In this novel, impoverished Russian student Raskolnikov
plans and executes what he believes to be the prefect murder… but can he handle
the consequences?
“Gripping psychological tension” –Amazon.com Editorial Review
Ehrenreich, Barbara
Nickel and Dimed: On [Not] Getting By in America
In this fascinating, fast-paced account, journalist Barbara Ehrenreich gives up
her comfortable lifestyle to go undercover. She assumes the role of a minimumwage worker so that she can report on the conditions of the working poor
firsthand. Through her frustrations, humor, determination, and heart, Ehrenreich
recounts her many eye-opening revelations.
"Jarring, full of riveting grit . . . This book is unforgettable” –Newsweek
Friedman, Thomas
Century
The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First
In this astounding, highly acclaimed work, Friedman discusses the rise
of new technologies, ever-increasing globalization, and the effects that
these modern evolutions are having on our world.
“A brilliantly paced, articulate, and accessible explanation of today's
world… This is a smart and essential read for those who will be
expected to live and work in this new global environment.–” –School
Library Journal
Gaines, Ernest
A Lesson Before Dying
How do you help a man who is awaiting an execution for a murder he didn’t
commit? In 1940s Louisiana, Jefferson, a young black man, is sentenced to
death after being convicted of a murder of which he is innocent. He meets a
reluctant teacher, Grant Wiggins, who, while frustrated with his own place in
life, is charged with the task of teaching Jefferson pride. Can either man
change before time runs out?
“Gaines evokes a sense of reality through rich detail and believable
characters in this moving story.” –School Library Journal
Gladwell, Malcolm
The Tipping Point
Have you ever wondered how certain trends begin? Who has the power to
begin a positive or negative fad, and how does it become popular? Gladwell,
a writer for The New Yorker, offers a compelling social account of the ways
in which new trends and “epidemics” are born.
"Hip and hopeful, The Tipping Point, is like the idea it describes: concise,
elegant but packed with social power." –ABC News Political Correspondent
George Stephanopoulos
Haddon, Mark
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Fifteen-year old Christopher, a brilliant mathematician who has autism
that often prevents him from understanding people and being understood,
investigates the murder of a neighborhood dog. Through his investigation,
Christopher becomes aware of startling truths.
“Superb. . . . Bits of wisdom leap off the page.” —Newsday
Heller, Joseph
Catch 22
In this satire, Yossarian tries to escape war as his supervisor continues to
increase the amount of missions that he must fly before he can finish his
tour of duty. Ironically, Yossarian knows that continuing to fight
dangerous war missions is insane, but admitting this point makes him too
sane to be discharged from the war.
Hurston, Zora Neale Their Eyes Were Watching God
In the 1930s South, fiercely independent black woman Janie Crawford
tries to find love, happiness, and dignity despite events that make her the
talk of the town.
Hosseini, Khaled
The Kite Runner
In this suspenseful work of realistic fiction, Amir, a wealthy Afghan who
moved to California and became a successful novelist, learns that his
childhood friend, whom he betrayed years earlier, has been killed by the
Taliban. Amir returns to Afghanistan on a dangerous quest to attempt to
save his friend’s son. Will he succeed?
“Stunning . . . an incisive, perceptive examination of recent Afghan history.
It is rare that a book is at once so timely and of such high literary quality."
–Publishers Weekly
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Huxley portrays a “utopian” world where all citizens are drugged up on
soma pills to ensure obedience and the absence of depression, babies are
born in laboratories, mindless entertainment prevails, and everyone is a
content conformist in a rigid hierarchy… almost everyone, that is. When
an outsider is introduced into this society, will he be able to convince
everyone that their “utopia” is far from ideal? Or is it ideal after all?
“A classic science fiction work that continues to be a significant
warning to our society today” –Library Journal
Kidd, Sue Monk The Secret Life of Bees
Fourteen-year-old Lily is wrestling with guilt over the death of her
mother and is desperate to escape her abusive father. She runs away
with her servant nanny, who is on the run from white men looking to
teach her a lesson for exercising her newly acquired right to vote.
Among her personal troubles and the civil unrest of the 1960s South,
Lily and her nanny follow clues that Lilly hopes will lead her to a
better understanding of both her mother and herself.
“A moving novel...Lily is an authentic and winning character and her
story is compellingly told.” –USA Today
Kidder, Tracy
Mountains Beyond Mountains
Kidder describes the quest of Dr. Paul Farmer to bring medical care to third
world countries in desperate need of help. He depicts the realities and tradeoffs
of Farmer’s nonstop work schedule, the controversial incidents caused by
Farmer’s determination to act on his beliefs at any cost, and the ultimate impact
that Farmer has had on so many people under his care.
“A skilled and graceful exploration of the soul of an astonishing human being”
–Kirkus starred review
Krakauer, Jon
Into the Wild
Krakauer uncovers the true stories behind the mysterious life and death of
Christopher McCandless, a bright, social, and athletic college graduate who
suddenly gave all of his savings to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska to live
alone in the wilderness, where he was found dead four months later.
“Terrifying...Eloquent...A heart-rending drama of human yearning."
—New York Times
Martel, Yann
The Life of Pi
Born the son of an Indian zookeeper, Pi Patel had become both knowledgeable
and appreciative of the animals around him. When a storm destroys the boat
on which Pi, his family, and their animals were traveling to Canada, Pi finds
himself in a predicament for which even his past couldn’t fully prepare him—
a 227-day journey across the Pacific on a life raft with a 450-pound tiger.
Who, if either character, will survive, and which stories should be believed in
the end?
“A fabulous romp through an imagination. By turns ecstatic, cunning,
despairing and resilient, this novel is an impressive achievement”
-Publishers Weekly
McBride, James The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White
Mother
James McBride reflects on the amazing heroism of his mother, a white,
Polish, Jewish woman who married an African American man in Harlem,
had twelve biracial children, and refused to let racism, religious intolerance,
and poverty run her life.
“Unforgettable” –Publishers Weekly
Miller, Arthur
The Crucible
Set during the Salem Witch Trials in the late sixteen hundreds, this is the story
of a spiteful teenager who accuses her former lover’s wife of being a witch
and sparks a chain of events that lead to more destruction than anyone had
originally intended…
Morrison, Toni
Beloved
Sethe, an escaped slave who moves to Ohio, cannot free herself from the grief
of her past and is haunted even as she tries to begin a new life.
“A brutally powerful, mesmerizing story. . . . Read it and tremble.” —People
Orwell, George
1984
Published in 1949, this thrilling and frightening novel is the story of a futuristic
society in which a man who is one of the only free-thinkers left pursues a
forbidden woman in a society in which “Big Brother” watches everyone and
thoughts, memories, and emotions are controlled by “The Party.”
Rand, Ayn
The Fountainhead
Rand presents readers with the morally intriguing story of Howard Roark,
an architect who begins to blur distinctions between right and wrong while
trying to stubbornly establish his nonconformist identity.
“Ayn Rand is a writer of great power. She has a subtle and ingenious mind
and the capacity of writing brilliantly, beautifully, bitterly.” –The New
York Times
Steinbeck, John
East of Eden
Twin brothers Cal and Aron Trask vie for their father’s attention
while searching for love and identity in this thrilling but dark
twentieth-century-California version of Cane and Abel.
“An entirely interesting and impressive book” –The New York
Herald Tribune
Tyler, Anne
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
Pearl Tull’s three grown children join together as she dies while trying to
understand and resolve their past and present experiences.
“Beautiful . . . funny, heart-hammering, wise . . . Superb entertainment.”
–The New York Times