2011+Books


 * Each book can be listed as a different discussion topic in the Discussion tab above. When you have read a book, add a new post with the title of the book. Give your name so we know who has read which books. Include any other information about the book that'd you'd like. It would be useful to give a summary, the time period, list of main characters, etc., that would help your teammates better understand the book. **

**__ 2010-11 Reading Olympics Books __**
 * __ After the Dancing Days __** by Margaret Rostkowski: Annie is both fascinated and repelled by the wounded soldiers whom she sees being wheeled off of a train in her small Kansas town at the end of World War I. When she has the opportunity to visit the soldiers in the hospital and her Mother objects, Annie learns to stand up to her Mother through her friendship with a wounded vet. Her discovery of the truth about her Uncle’s heroism, and other truths about the war makes this a compelling coming-of–age novel.


 * __ All But My Life __** by Gerda Klein: The unforgettable story of Gerda Weissmann Klein's six-year ordeal as a victim of Nazi cruelty. This story takes the reader from her comfortable home in Bielitz (present-day Bielsko) in Poland to her miraculous survival and her liberation by American troops--including the man who was to become her husband. Set in Volary, Czechoslovakia, in 1945, Gerda takes the reader on a terrifying journey.


 * __ Bite of Mango __** by Mariatu Kamara and Susan McClelland: Kamara's account of the atrocities she suffered at the hands of rebel soldiers in Sierra Leone is both harrowing and hopeful. The young woman had a typical childhood in her small rural village until she came face to face with rebels bent on destroying everything in their path. When boy soldiers cut off her hands, she showed incredible strength not only in surviving, but in pursuing an education, and eventually daring to share her story with the world.


 * __ Bound __** by Donna Jo Napoli: Drawing from traditional Chinese Cinderella stories, this story is set in a small village during China's Ming period. Since her beloved father's death, Xing Xing has become "hardly more than a slave," in her own home. She endures forced domestic servitude, her stepmother’s botched attempt to bind her feet, and has only a carp (Her dead mother’s spirit?) for friendship. This tale has elements from every Cinderella story, including a lost slipper and an unconventional prince.


 * __ Bucking The Sarge __** by Christopher Curtis: Luther's mother, "the Sarge," runs an empire of Flint, MI, slums and halfway houses, and has a loan-sharking business. At age 15, Luther manages one of her halfway houses, drives the residents around in a van with an illegal license, and readies the homes of evicted tenants for the Sarge's next desperate victims . He really only wants to live the life of a normal teen and someday get into Harvard, and the inspired, wry and humorous way he gets his revenge is not to be missed.


 * __ Dopesick __** by Walter Dean Myers: Pursued by police after a drug deal goes disastrously wrong, 17-year-old Lil J hides out in an abandoned building where he encounters a strange, solitary man named Kelly, who is watching television. Stranger still is what Kelly is watching: scenes from Lil J’s past and his prospective future. Through Kelly's TV, Lil J revisits pivotal moments and wrestles with his fate.


 * __ Dragon’s Blood __** by Jane Yolen: Jakkin, a “bond boy” who works as a Keeper in a dragon nursery on the planet Austar IV, secretly steals and trains a fighting pit dragon of his own in hopes of winning his freedom. He has a natural affinity for dragons, and this adventure becomes a kind of edge-of-the-universe boy and his dog story.


 * __ Dreamland __** by Sarah Dessen: Caitlin O'Koren has always had to follow in the footsteps of her perfect older sister, Cassandra (homecoming queen, soccer star, student body president). When Cassandra runs away from home, Caitlin finds herself trying to fill the gap Cass's absence creates. She meets Rogerson, who she believes will help her forge a path for herself, but Caitlin must now frantically manage her every action to avoid being hit by the hands that once seemed so gentle.


 * __ Ellen Foster __** by Kay Gibbons: Eleven year old Ellen’s mother dies and she lives with her father until it becomes too dangerous. She suffers abuse and misfortune, moving in with various families searching for a better life. Ellen survives through creativity, imagination, courage and wisdom, but will she ever find a home where she is wanted and loved?


 * __ Enchantment __** by Orson Scott Card: American graduate student, Ivan, finds a princess on top of a pedestal in a forest. She appears to be lifeless, but an evil presence prevents him from getting too close and scares him away. Years later he returns to the forest, which is just as he left it, but this time he does not run away.


 * __ Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close __** by Jonathan Safran Foer: Young Oskar is on a secret mission to find the lock that matches a mysterious key belonging to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on September 11. His journey of searching and subsequent healing takes him through New York, where he meets and begins to build complex relationships with survivors who are somehow connected to his father.


 * __ Flygirl __** by Sherri Smith: Ida Mae, a light skinned African American girl, wants to enter the Women’s Air Force as a pilot during World War II. Her deceased father was a pilot and her connection to him is strongest when she’s flying. As a black female from Louisiana in the 1940’s, she cannot live her dream, so she uses her light skin to pass for white, but can she really hide from herself and her secret?


 * __ Friday Night Lights __** by H. G. Bissinger: This is a compelling story of a small town, a football team and a dream. The town’s problems with race, unemployment and crime seem to vanish on Friday nights when the high school team plays and dreams of a championship season seem as bright as the lights.


 * __ The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon __** by Stephen King: Trisha wanders away from her family on the Appalachian Trail. Taking a shortcut, she becomes lost in a wilderness of terror. To stay calm, she listens to baseball on her walkman and her hero pitcher, Tom Gordon. As her radio batteries begin to fade, she pretends Tom is protecting her from the lurking terror.


 * __ Girl With The Pearl Earring __** by Tracy Chevalier: A sixteen year old girl goes to work as a maid in the home of the city’s most renowned painter, Johannes Vermeer. She catches his eye and he begins to pull her into his world. A scandal breaks out and her life is transformed, as she herself is immortalized on canvas.


 * __ Give A Boy A Gun __** by Todd Strasser: Story of school violence, as two sophomore boys have had enough bullying from the high school jocks, especially one football player. They steal guns, storm a dance and block the doors with homemade bombs for a violent show of force with tragic consequences.


 * __ Going Bovine __** by Libba Bray: Sixteen year old Cameron wants to get through high school, but is diagnosed with fatal mad cow disease. While hospitalized, he befriends a death-obsessed dwarf and the two of them set off on a road trip to find his cure. On the journey, Cameron pursues the question of why we must die, and how we can really learn to live.


 * __ Hiroshima __** by John Hersey: True accounts of six people who survived the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The course of their lives is followed from the exact time of the explosion until forty years later, when the author searches for these people to find out how they got through the aftermath and restored their lives.


 * __ I Am The Messenger __** by Markus Zusak: Ed Kennedy, an underage cab driver without much of a future, inadvertently stops a bank robbery. That’s when the first “ace” arrives in the mail and Ed becomes the messenger. Ed’s so called worthless life takes a turn and one question remains…Who is behind his mission?


 * __ Icefire __** by Chris D’Lacey: David’s quest is to discover the link between the fire of the last known dragon on earth and the icy regions of the Arctic. This opens to the possibility that a great treasure also exists there. His journey will change his life forever as he discovers the legend of the dragons and the ancient secret of the icefire. Book 2 in the Last Dragon Chronicles.


 * __ In Country __** by Bobbie Ann Mason: Before Samantha was born, her father was killed in the Vietnam War. She longs to know more about him and other veterans from her town. Her quest is to better understand the psychological and moral fallout of this war, but finds it difficult for veterans to openly discuss the conflict.


 * __ Into Thin Air __** by Jon Krakauer: Story of author’s climb of Mount Everest and his six fellow climbers who never reached the top. This is an eyewitness account of struggle and survival during the deadliest season in the history of Everest. What makes people subject themselves to such risk, hardship and expense?


 * __ Leviathan __** by Scott Westerfeld: Deryn is a commoner, a girl disguised as a boy in the British Air Service and her secret is in constant danger of being discovered. Alek is a prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and his own people have turned on him. As the Great War brews, their paths unexpectedly cross, taking them aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical around the world adventure.


 * __ Liar __** by Justine Larbalestier: The only honest thing Micah will ever tell you is that she is a compulsive liar. She always manages to stay one step ahead of her lies until her boyfriend dies under brutal circumstances and her dishonesty begins to catch up with her. Is it possible for her to tell the truth? Will she finally come clean?


 * __ Looking for Alaska __** by John Green: Miles Halter leaves “Friendless” Florida for boarding school in Alabama. There he falls in with a prankster roommate and a sassy girl named Alaska Young, with whom every guy is in love, including Miles. The three indulge in reckless behavior, but as Miles gets to know Alaska, he learns that she has a dark side.


 * __ Make Lemonade __** by Virginia Ewer Wolf: Jolly, at 17, can’t spell, has a dead-end job and is raising two kids from different, absent fathers. She needs a babysitter, and finds one in 14 year old Verna, who joins her family. As Verna starts to plan for her future, Jolly realizes that she too needs to begin to think about the direction of her own future.


 * __ My Most Excellent Year __** by Steve Kluger: Written in multiple voices, this novel follows three high-school freshmen through an earth-shaking year in which musical-theater-obsessed Augie realizes that he is gay, Alejandra reveals her theatrical talents to disapproving parents, and T. C. tries to make a deaf child’s greatest wish come true. Baseball, romantic sparring, the concept of family, and social activism are at the heart of this high-spirited story.


 * __ Neverwhere __** by Neil Gaiman: Richard Mayhew learns the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished. He ceases to exist in the ordinary world of “London Above,” and joins a quest through the dark and dangerous “London Below,” a shadow city of lost and forgotten people, places, and times. The story plunges through this world of assassins, tricksters and hunters like a speeding underground train— with plenty of action and a satisfying conclusion.


 * __ On Fortune’s Wheel __** by Cynthia Voigt: Birle, a bored inkeeper’s daughter, dives into the river in pursuit of a thief who is stealing from her father. The thief is Orien, a young runaway Lord of the Kingdom with whom Birle falls in love, and she decides to accompany him on his dangerous and world-spanning adventures. This is the second of Voigt’s novels of The Kingdom.


 * __ The Once and Future King __** : by T.H. White: The legend of King Arthur, told with wit and humor. White deftly weaves the story of Arthur Pendragon’s childhood, his tutoring by the wizard Merlyn, his claim to the throne, his knights of the round table and his quest for the sword Excalibur.


 * __ The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane __** by Katherine Howe: Connie, a grad student in 1991, is forced to go to Marblehead, Mass. To prepare her grandmother’s house for sale. While in the spooky, overgrown mansion, she discovers a mysterious key, which reads only “Deliverance Dane.” Unknowingly, she has forged an unbreakable connection to a mystery surrounding a local healer during the 1692 Salem Witch trials. A fast-paced mystery with many cliff-hangers, this story gives a hauntingly clear picture of life during this turbulent time in American history.


 * __ The Rag and Bone Shop __** by Robert Cormier: A seven year old girl is murdered, and the police have no suspects or leads. Police hire a renowned interrogator, Trent, who goes after 12 year old Jason, who is the last person to see her alive. Trent interrogates Jason even though he knows he is innocent, and wants a confession nonetheless. Will Jason hold up?


 * __ Ray Bradbury’s Farenheit 451: The Graphic Novel __** by Tim Hamilton: In 1953, Ray Bradbury envisioned one of the world's most unforgettable and frightening futures, and in //Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451//, the artist Tim Hamilton translates this chilling modern masterpiece into a gorgeously imagined graphic novel. As could only occur with Bradbury's full cooperation in this authorized adaptation, Hamilton has created a striking work of art that captures the evil of government-controlled thought and the incalculable value of books.
 * __ The Ropemaker __** by Peter Dickinson: The Valley is left alone by barbarian marauders from the north and by the powerful, greedy Empire to the south. Although the ancient legends are hardly believed any more, Tilja’s family has been protecting the Valley for nearly 20 generations. Now that magical protection is breaking down, and Tilja, her grandmother, Tahl, and his grandfather set out on a quest to find a mysterious man who may or may not still be alive but who probably holds the secret they need to discover.
 * __ Swift Pure Cry __** by Siobhan Dowd: Everything's been wrong since 15-year-old Shell's Mom died. Her father forces his kids to say the rosary and then gets drunk. They live from money he skims off donations he collects for the church. Shell is left to take care of her younger brother and sister in their Irish village; her only joy comes in stolen moments with a local lad. Then her guy goes off to America, and though Shell pretends otherwise, she is pregnant . Her strength is proven in the harrowing aftermath, which threatens to destroy her family and the village they live in.
 * __ The Chosen One __** by Carol Lynch Williams: A look inside a polygamist cult and the dangers it poses for one girl. Kyra and her father, three mothers, and 20 siblings live in an isolated community under the thumb of a prophet, who controls every aspect of his apostles’ lives. The most shocking intrusion of all comes when the prophet decrees that Kyra is to become the wife of her 60-year-old uncle. Secret visits to the mobile library show her a life apart from what she knows, and serve to rescue her from this fate.
 * __ The Help __** by Kathryn Stockett: Set during the civil rights movement in Jackson, Mississippi, where black maids were trusted to raise white children, but not to polish the silver. It is 1962, and new college graduate Skeeter sets out to put the experiences of maids such as the one who raised, loved and cared for her on paper. The result rocks the lives of the maids, Skeeter, and the people of Jackson, and reveals the true lot of these brave women who made such sacrifices to raise children who were not their own.
 * __ The Land __** by Mildred Taylor: The son of a wealthy landowner and former slave, Paul-Edward learns his life will not be easy. Black people distrust his white looks and white people discriminate because of his black heritage. He rebels and leaves home with nowhere to go except to follow his dream of someday owning his own land.
 * __ The Maze Runner __** by James Drashner: When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls. Every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift. Thomas may be even more important than he realizes, in the Gladers’ quest for escape.
 * __ The Road __** by Cormac McCarthy: This is a world of post-apocalyptic blight where gray skies drizzle ash, all matter of wildlife is extinct, starvation is not only prevalent but nearly all-encompassing, and marauding bands of cannibals roam the environment. A boy and his father travel through the bleakness to try to reach the sea, and in the process, the boy discovers the reality of the world that will be his.
 * __ The Thirteenth Tale __** by Diane Setterfield: A spooky, mysterious tale in which nothing is as it seems. Margaret Lea, a London bookseller's daughter, gets wrapped up in a dark, haunted ruin of a house, which guards family secrets that are not hers and that she must discover at her peril. Renowned aging author Vida Winter, finally wishes to tell her own, long-hidden, life story, and chooses Margaret to write it, with strange and unexpected consequences.
 * __ Their Eyes Were Watching God __** by Zora Neale Hurston: Told in the captivating voice of a woman who refuses to live in sorrow, bitterness, fear, or foolish romantic dreams, it is the story of fair-skinned, fiercely independent Janie Crawford, and her evolving selfhood through three marriages and a life marked by poverty, trials, and purpose.
 * __ Three Cups of Tea __** by Greg Mortensen: Dangerously ill when he finished his K2 climb in 1993, Mortenson was sheltered for seven weeks by the small Pakistani village of Korphe. In return, he promised to build the impoverished town's first school, a project that grew into the Central Asia Institute, which has since constructed more than 50 schools across rural Pakistan and Afghanistan. This is the absorbing story of his ongoing journey to educate girls in spite of mountains, religious oppression and politics.


 * __ Wintergirls __** by Laurie Halse Anderson: Lia and Cassie had been best friends since elementary school, and each developed her own style of eating disorder which leads to disaster. Now 18, they are no longer friends. Despite their estrangement, Cassie calls Lia 33 times on the night of her death, and Lia never answers. Lia then enters a dark yet utterly realistic world where self worth is easily gauged in calories, and she becomes the absence of food.
 * __ Yellow Raft in Blue Water __** by Michael Dorris: Starting in the present and moving backward in time, this is the tale of three women: Rayona, a 15 year old part-black; Christine, her American Indian mother; and Ida, the mother and grandmother. It is the story of a girl who is searching for a way to find herself and the bonding and braiding of the three women who are sharing their past to forge their future.