Read for a Lifetime 2011

Around the World in Eighty Days-JulesVerne, 240 pages (Lexile: 1090)

The year is 1873, and Englishman Phileas Fogg along with his French manservant, Passepartout, have set out to do the unthinkable – travel around the world in 80 days.  Filled with comedy, exotic locations, and suspense, this unusual pair starts out trying to win a bet, but ends up learning much more about loyalty and friendship.

Trailer (1989 Film Adaptation)

Autobiography of a Face – Lucy Grealy, 223 pages (Lexile:1200)

Lucy Grealy was nine years old when she was diagnosed with cancer and had to have a third of her jaw removed.  In this memoir, Grealy tells her story of suffering and strength as a child and young adult dealing with the pain of peer rejection, the desire to be special, wanting to be loved, and wanting to be perfect.

Because I Am Furniture – Thalia Chaltas, 368 pages (Lexile: 990)

Anke’s father is abusive to the rest of her family and she is a silent witness.  But when she makes the school volleyball team, her confidence grows and she finds a voice she never knew existed, and she’s not so invisible anymore.  Will she be able finally rescue everyone at home, including herself?

The Boy Who Dared – Susan Campbell Bartoletti, 192 pages (Lexile: 760)

Germany feels completely defeated after World War I, and Hitler’s new Third Reich offers hopeful solutions for the country.  Propoganda campaigns end up turning into oppressive new laws, and young Helmuth Hubner questions if the Nazi ideals are as great as they claim to be. He starts writing a newsletter of his own and his boldness.

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Trailer #4 (For upcoming film Truth and Treason telling the story of the same boy)

Dream Keeper – Langston Hughes, 96 pages (Lexile: NP)

Hughes’ classic poetry collection, originally published for young people in 1932, includes seven additional poems.  Black-and-white scratchboard illustrations express the emotion and beat of the poetry, the laughter that hides pain, the celebration and the struggle of the African American experience.

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Five Flavors of Dumb – Antony John, 352 pages
(Lexile: 890)

If Piper can find a paying gig for Dumb – the hot new rock band at school – in one month, she’ll get to be their manager and have a share of the profits, and ever since her parents hijacked her college fund, she needs the money.  The band is an eccentric group of teens, and Piper’s trying to figure out them and the music business when she herself is deaf. 

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From Baghdad, With Love: A Marine, The War, and a Dog Named Lava – Jay Kopelman, 216 pages

When Marines enter a house in Fallujah, Iraq, the strange noises that almost prompt them to open fire turn out to be coming from an abandoned puppy. Despite military laws against pets, the Marines take him in. Thus begins the dramatic rescue attempt of a dog named Lava and Lt.Col. Kopelman’s determination to save him from the war.

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The Glass Menagerie – Tennessee Williams, 104 pages (Lexile: NP)

In this classic dramatic play, Tom works to provide for Amanda, his loving but oftentimes ungrateful mother, and Laura, his sister who as a result of being incredibly shy and having a lame leg, seldom leaves their apartment.  A grown man, how much more will Tom have to give up to care for Laura and to satisfy Amanda?

Trailer (1987 Film Adaptation)

Good Brother, Bad Brother – James Cross Giblin, 256 pages
(Lexile: 1130)

Actors Edwin and John Wilkes Booth couldn’t have been more different brothers: one working to be a trained classical actor, the other impulsive, brash, and the man who assassinated Abraham Lincoln.  This book traces both men’s lives and choices as one man loved the Confederacy and the other grew old with a now disgraced name.

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The Good Earth – Pearl S. Buck, 368 pages
(Lexile: 1530)

Wang Lung, rising from humble Chinese farmer to wealthy land owner, gloried in the soil he worked – it was more important to him than his family or even the gods.  But then came flood, drought, pestilence, and revolution.  Buck weaves a tale about the cycle of life and the destiny of men.

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The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald, 216 pages
(Lexile: 1070)

Nick Carraway rents a house in the West Egg district of New York the summer of 1922 to learn about the bond business.  Instead, he becomes wrapped up in the story of his next door neighbor, the mysterious Jay Gatsby, who lives in a mansion, throws lavish parties, and is willing to do anything to lure back Daisy, the love of his life and Nick’s cousin, who is married to somebody else.

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Green Glass Sea – Ellen Klages, 336 pages
(Lexile: 790)

In 1943, 10-year-old budding inventor Dewey Kerrigan sets off to be with her father at Los Alamos, a compound where the adults are all involved in “war work,” leaving everyone who lives there tense.  Dewey isn’t liked by her girl classmates, but she likes it there until her father leaves for Washington and Dewey is left to fend off the biggest bully in Los Alamos.

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Half Brother – Kenneth Oppel, 384 pages
(Lexile: 680)

Ben’s parents are scientists intending to prove that chimps are capable of intelligent thought and communication, so they bring home baby chimp Zan to teach him sign language and incorporate him in the family’s daily lives.  Reluctant at first, Ben develops a strong connection with Zan, but the family is forced to make a choice when Zan’s animal instincts become more pronounced.

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Hold Me Closer, Necromancer – Lish McBride, 352 pages (Lexile: 650)

Sam is a fast-food employee in Seattle who has grown up unaware of his ability to raise the dead.  After a strange encounter with a customer, he gets beaten up by a stranger and his coworker shows up missing her body below the neck – all the result of Douglas, an evil local necromancer who sees Sam as a threat.  With the help of his friends, Sam must master his own abilities to beat Douglas at his own game.

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The Importance of Being Earnest – Oscar Wilde, 64 pages (Lexile: NP)

Jack pretends to be his own imaginary brother Ernest so his city life choices won’t ruin his reputation in the country.  Unfortunately, he loves Gwendolen who insists she could only marry a man named Ernest. Then Jack’s best friend Algernon also pretends to be Ernest, and falls in love with Cecily – another woman who feels Ernest is the only name for a husband.

Trailer (2002 Film Adaptation)

A Long Walk to Water – Linda Sue Park, 128 pages (Lexile: 720)

After 11-year-old Salva’s school in Sudan is brutally attacked by rebels in 1985, he spends several terrifying years on the run before he makes it to refugee camps in Kenya, where he is selected as one of 3,000 boys to be sent to America.  After he is adopted by a family in New York, he is eventually reunited with the Sudanese family he left.

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Please Ignore Vera Dietz – A.S. King, 336 pages
(Lexile: 830)

Vera and Charlie were best friends growing up until they started to fall for each other.  Jenny wants Charlie for herself, and when he refuses her offer of oral sex, she tells everyone his secret about his father’s domestic abuse and blames Vera.  In response, Charlie reveals that Vera’s mother used to be a stripper and he starts a relationship with Jenny that results in his early death.

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Rules of Attraction – Simone Elkeles, 336 pages
(Lexile: 690)

Sequel to Perfect Chemistry Even after being sent to live with his brother, Carlos refuses to straighten up and gets framed for narcotics possession by a drug lord with powerful gang ties.  He avoids expulsion and tries to release himself from the grasp of the drug lord by living with Professor Westford and attending an after-school program where romance blooms between Carlos and the professor’s daughter, Kiara.

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Ship Breaker – Paolo Bacigalupi, 336 pages
(Lexile: 690)

Nailer’s job is to crawl deep into the wrecks of ancient oil tankers, scavenging copper wire and turning it over to his boss.  After a hurricane, Nailer and his friend Prima stumble upon the wreck of a luxury clipper filled with valuable goods that could make them rich and a girl that’s barely alive.  She promises to show them a world of privilege if they help her, but who is she and can she be trusted?

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The Sky is Everywhere – Jandy Nelson, 288 pages (Lexile: 860)

When her older sister dies, 17-year-old Lennie finds that people are awkward around her, including her best friend.  While dealing with her conflicted feelings toward her sister’s boyfriend, Bailey’s unexpected death, and her sudden curiosity about sex, Lennie must also cope with unresolved feelings about her mother who left when Lennie was an infant.

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Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer – John Grisham, 263 pages (Lexile: 790)

Theo hasn’t taken the bar, but he offers advice to his friends and hangs out at the courthouse.  But things turn serious when a young illegal immigrant is a witness to a murder and comes to Theo with evidence.  The trial has started and it looks like the defendant will walk unless Theo comes forward, but can he when Theo’s promised to keep the young man’s identity confidential?

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Three Black Swans – Caroline B. Cooney, 288 pages (Lexile: 650)

Sixteen-year-olds Missy and Claire are cousins and best friends with a striking physical resemblance and strong emotional connection.  When a science project asks them to create a believable scientific hoax backed by evidence, the girls make a video pretending to be identical twins separated at birth.  However the truth comes out that they really are sisters, and their identical triplet Genevieve was raised only 20 miles away.

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What Happened to Goodbye – Sarah Dessen, 416 pages
(Lexile: 760)

McLean and her dad have been on the move ever since her parents’ bitter divorce – four towns in two years.  She follows her dad, hoping to leave the past behind, and tries out a new persona in each place, from cheerleader to drama diva.  But now McLean has a desire to stay where she is and just be herself.

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Willow – Julia Hoban, 336 pages
(Lexile: 730)

Seven months ago, 16-year-old Willow’s parents died in a horrible car accident and Willow was the one driving.  Now her older brother barely speaks to her, her new classmates know her as the killer orphan girl, and Willow blocks the pain by secretly cutting herself.  But when one sensitive boy discovers Willow’s secret, it sparks a relationship that turns her “safe” world upside down.

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Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dustbowl – Timothy Egan, 352 pages