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Students Choice
Description: List created by a teacher for high school students to make independent reading choices,
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Every New Day
by Lauren BrookeWhen Amy has no cure for Mercury's jumping problem, she can't believe Ty thinks they should suspend treatment. But a Native American healer has some new methods that just may work.
Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy
by William Irwin and Christopher RobichaudDo demons and devils have free will? Does justice exist in Menzoberranzan? What's the morality involved with player characters casting necromancy and summoning spells? Dungeons & Dragons and Philosophy probes the rich terrain of philosophically compelling concepts and ideas that underlie Dungeons & Dragons, the legendary fantasy role-playing game that grew into a world-wide cultural phenomenon. A series of accessible essays reveals what the imaginary worlds of D&D can teach us about ethics, morality, metaphysics and more. Illustrates a wide variety of philosophical concepts and ideas that arise in Dungeons & Dragons gameplay and presents them in an accessible and entertaining manner Reveals how the strategies, tactics, improvisations, and role-play employed by D&D enthusiasts have startling parallels in the real world of philosophy Explores a wide range of philosophical topics, including the nature of free will, the metaphysics of personal identity, the morality of crafting fictions, sex and gender issues in tabletop gameplay, and friendship and collaborative storytelling Provides gamers with deep philosophical insights that can lead to a richer appreciation of D&D and any gaming experience
Elfish Gene
by Mark Barrowcliffe"[Barrowcliffe] writes how D&D twisted his teenage development -- and about how twisted teenage development is in general. It's easy to read in a weekend, and thanks to several hilarious, unbelievably well-remembered recountings of dialogue-heavy extreme nerdiness, begs a movie adaptation."--Seattle Times "Barrowcliffe's retrospective self-awareness is by turns poignant and amusing ... as fantasy movies dominate the box office; the author offers a timely, appropriate memoir of addiction recovery ... worth a few hours holed up in the basement." -Kirkus Reviews "I urge you to buy it yourself and make up your own mind. You'll love discussing it with your friends. There's not a whole lot written about gaming, especially from the inside, and The Elfish Gene belongs in every gamer's library." -Enter the Octopus Blog "This is a good, funny book, and I am enjoying the heck out of it so far. Barrowcliffe ... has an excellent writing style that is light and funny, and when he describes the game, you feel his excitement as he rolls the dice.... I hope [it] intrigues you as much as it intrigued me." -Geekscribe.com Summer, 1976. Twelve-year-old Mark Barrowcliffe had a chance to be normal. He blew it. While other teenagers were being coolly rebellious, Mark--and twenty million other boys in the 1970s and '80s--chose to spend his entire adolescence pretending to be a wizard, a warrior, or an evil priest. Armed only with pen, paper, and some funny-shaped dice, this lost generation gave themselves up to the craze of fantasy role-playing games. Spat at by bullies and laughed at by girls, they now rule the world. They were the geeks, the fantasy war gamers, and this is their story. Mark Barrowcliffe grew up in Coventry, England. He worked as a stand-up comedian before writing his first hit novel, Girlfriend 44. He has written two other acclaimed comic novels, Lucky Dog and Infidelity for First-Time Fathers. He lives in Brighton, England.From the Hardcover edition.
Cabin Fever
by Jeff KinneyGreg Heffley is in big trouble. School property has been damaged, and Greg is the prime suspect. But the crazy thing is, he’s innocent. Or at least sort of. The authorities are closing in, but when a surprise blizzard hits, the Heffley family is trapped indoors. Greg knows that when the snow melts he’s going to have to face the music, but could any punishment be worse than being stuck inside with your family for the holidays?
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
by Sherman AlexieBestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation.
Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.
Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.
With a forward by Markus Zusak, interviews with Sherman Alexie and Ellen Forney, and four-color interior art throughout, this edition is perfect for fans and collectors alike.
After the Storm
by Lauren BrookeAlthough Amy is helping out with the horses at Heartland again, she still feels guilty about her mother's death. To make matters worse, she is trying to care for Spartan, the horse she and her mother rescued before the accident. For Amy, Spartan is an everyday reminder of the wreck. And Amy is a reminder for Spartan as well. Finally, Amy realizes that Spartan will never forgive her until she forgives herself.
Bless Me, Ultima
by Rudolfo AnayaStories filled with wonder and the haunting beauty of his culture have helped make Rudolfo Anaya the father of Chicano literature in English, and his tales fairly shimmer with the lyric richness of his prose.
Acclaimed in both Spanish and English, Anaya is perhaps best loved for his classic bestseller ...
Antonio Marez is six years old when Ultima comes to stay with his family in New Mexico. She is a curandera, one who cures with herbs and magic.
Under her wise wing, Tony will test the bonds that tie him to his people, and discover himself in the pagan past, in his father's wisdom, and in his mother's Catholicism. And at each life turn there is Ultima, who delivered Tony into the world-and will nurture the birth of his soul.
Always and Forever, Lara Jean
by Jenny HanLara Jean’s letter-writing days aren’t over in this surprise follow-up to the New York Times bestselling To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and P.S. I Still Love You.
Lara Jean is having the best senior year a girl could ever hope for. She is head over heels in love with her boyfriend, Peter; her dad’s finally getting remarried to their next door neighbor, Ms. Rothschild; and Margot’s coming home for the summer just in time for the wedding. But change is looming on the horizon. And while Lara Jean is having fun and keeping busy helping plan her father’s wedding, she can’t ignore the big life decisions she has to make.
Most pressingly, where she wants to go to college and what that means for her relationship with Peter. She watched her sister Margot go through these growing pains. Now Lara Jean’s the one who’ll be graduating high school and leaving for college and leaving her family—and possibly the boy she loves—behind. When your heart and your head are saying two different things, which one should you listen to?
Always There
by Lauren BrookeEven at graduation, Amy cannot concentrate on her accomplishments. She is distracted by her concern for a sick horse back at Heartland. College is weeks away, but she dreads having to leave her home and her work at the stable - the work she took over after her mother's death. It doesn't help that Lou, Joni, and Ty - her boyfriend - are already making decisions without her, anticipating life after she is away at school. When a new horse arrives for treatment, everyone seems wary of telling Amy his story. As she starts to treat him, his fear seems a mystery.
The Bad Beginning
by Lemony Snicket and Brett HelquistImagine tales so terrible that as many as fifty million innocents have been ruined by them - tales so indelibly horrid that the New York Times bestseller list has been unable to rid itself of them for seven years.
Now imagine if this scourge suddenly became available in a shameful new edition so sensational, so irresistible, so riddled with lurid new pictures that even a common urchin would wish for it. Who among us would be safe?
Begin at the beginning - even if it is a bad one - with the first in A Series of Unfortunate Events.
CliffsNotes on Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima
by Ruben O. MartinezThis CliffsNotes guide includes everything you've come to expect from the trusted experts at CliffsNotes, including analysis of the most widely read literary works.
Beyond the Horizon
by Lauren BrookeBeing away from Heartland has been anything but easy for Amy Fleming. The work at the horse sanctuary was her life for years. Now she is in a pre-vet program, and she has new challenges and new friends. Amy refuses to believe anything has changed. But as soon as she's come home for spring break and been reunited with her boyfriend, Ty, she gets a call from another vet student. Will Savage is on a ranch in Colorado where there's a horse that needs Amy's help. Torn between her old life and her new one, Amy has to decide. But, in the end, she learns that she isn't the only one who is moving on.
Breaking free
by Lauren BrookeHeartland is a horse farm nestled in the hills of Virginia, but it's much more than that. Heartland is like no other place - it's a place where scars of the past can be healed, where frightened and abused horses can learn to trust again. Pegasus is all Amy has left of her past, but he's steadily growing weaker. Amy's trying to care for him and hold Heartland together. She's trying to do just what her mother would have done, but everything is beginning to unravel. It will take all Amy's courage to let go of her mother's legacy, but it is the only way she will break free. Grades 3-6. Sequel to "After the storm", followed by "Taking chances". 2000.
Darkest Hour
by Lauren BrookeWhen Heartland is quarantined due to an equine flu, Amy learns there are limits to what she can do.
Charlotte's web
by Kate DiCamillo and E. B. White and Garth WilliamsFern, a young girl with a unique understanding of animals, shares a special friendship with her uncle's pig and Charlotte, a wise spider who weaves encouraging words in her web. Digital restoration of Alexander Scourby's original 1960 analog recording for the American Foundation for the Blind. For grades 3-6. 1952
CliffsNotes on Cisneros' The House on Mango Street & Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories
by Mary ThornburgThis CliffsNotes guide includes everything you’ve come to expect from the trusted experts at CliffsNotes, including analysis of the most widely read literary works.
Everything Changes
by Lauren BrookeWith Ty in the hospital, Amy is struggling to keep up with her Heartland chores and stay positive.
Goosebumps Wanted
by R. L. StineFor the first time ever, Goosebumps is in hard cover! Catch the series' most notorious characters--undead or alive... From horror master R.L. Stine come two new chilling stories in one spooky standalone: The Haunted Mask has returned and is determined to make this the worst night of your life! Where's the last place you would want to get stuck? A haunted pumpkin patch where the jack o'lanterns are after you! And watch for Goosebumps: Most Wanted, an all-new paperback series coming in the fall.
CliffsNotes on Lowry's The Giver
by Suzanne PavlosThe original CliffsNotes study guides offer a look into key elements and ideas within classic works of literature.CliffsNotes on The Giver explores a world in which disease, hunger, poverty, war, and lasting pain simply don't exist. The members of this utopia have given up all human emotions and memories to live in a state of Sameness.Following the story of a 12-year-old boy who recognizes the hypocrisy of his community's "social order" - and who crafts a way to free everyone from the bane of Sameness, this study guide provides summaries and critical commentaries for each chapter within the novel. Other features that help you figure out this important work includePersonal background on the author, Lois LowryIntroduction to and synopsis of the bookCharacter descriptionsCritical essays on the author's themes, style, language, and moreReview section that features interactive questions and suggested essay topicsSelected bibliography and list of critical worksClassic literature or modern-day treasure -- you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.
The Dragons of Noor
by Janet Lee CareyA dreamwalker who has lost her way. A shape shifter who fears his own dark power. A fire herd punished for his magic. Can these three teens keep the human world of Noor and the magical world of Oth from splitting apart? The ancient trees of Noor are dying. If the blight kills the last azure trees whose deep roots bind the worlds, the bridge between Noor and Oth will split apart forever. Already as Hanna, Miles, and Taunier sail to the source of the blight, the rent between the worlds is widening, and magic is going out of Noor. The quest deepens when a strange wind blows across Noor stealing young children, and Hanna is powerless to protect her younger brother from the stealing wind. The Three journey east to the azure forests of Jarrosh. East to the dragon lands. East to the place where the wind-stolen children were taken. In Jarrosh, among dragons, the Three will be challenged to discover their hidden powers. Each of them must break beyond the boundaries of self to discover the ancient magic joining all to all.
Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy
by Jon Cogburn and Mark SilcoxThis volume will convince readers that the swift ascent of the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons to worldwide popularity in the 1970s and 1980s is "the most exciting event in popular culture since the invention of the motion picture." Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy presents twenty-one chapters by different writers, all D&D aficionados but with starkly different insights and points of view. It will be appreciated by thoughtful fans of the game, including both those in their thirties, forties, and fifties who have rediscovered the pastime they loved as teenagers and the new teenage and college-student D&D players who have grown up with gaming via computer and console games and are now turning to D&D as a richer, fuller gaming experience. The book is divided into three parts. The first, "Heroic Tier: The Ethical Dungeon-Crawler," explores what D&D has to teach us about ethics and about how results from the philosophical study of morality can enrich and transform the game itself. Authors argue that it's okay to play evil characters, criticize the traditional and new systems of moral alignment, and (from the perspective of those who love the game) tackle head-on the recurring worries about whether the game has problems with gender and racial stereotypes. Readers of Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy will become better players, better thinkers, better dungeon-masters, and better people. Part II, "Paragon Tier: Planes of Existence," arouses a new sense of wonder about both the real world and the collaborative world game players create. Authors look at such metaphysical questions as what separates magic from science, how we express the inexpressible through collaborative storytelling, and what the objects that populate Dungeons and Dragons worlds can teach us about the equally fantastic objects that surround us in the real world. The third part, "Epic Tier: Leveling Up," is at the crossroads of philosophy and the exciting new field of Game Studies. The writers investigate what makes a game a game, whether D&D players are artists producing works of art, whether D&D (as one of its inventors claimed) could operate entirely without rules, how we can overcome the philosophical divide between game and story, and what types of minds take part in D&D.
Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana
by Michael Witwer and Kyle Newman and Jon Peterson and Sam Witwer and Official Dungeons & Dragons LicensedAn illustrated guide to the history and evolution of the beloved role-playing game told through the paintings, sketches, illustrations, and visual ephemera behind its creation, growth, and continued popularity.FINALIST FOR THE HUGO AWARD • FINALIST FOR THE LOCUS AWARD • NOMINATED FOR THE DIANA JONES AWARDFrom one of the most iconic game brands in the world, this official DUNGEONS & DRAGONS illustrated history provides an unprecedented look at the visual evolution of the brand, showing its continued influence on the worlds of pop culture and fantasy. Inside the book, you&’ll find more than seven hundred pieces of artwork—from each edition of the core role-playing books, supplements, and adventures; as well as Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance novels; decades of Dragon and Dungeon magazines; and classic advertisements and merchandise; plus never-before-seen sketches, large-format canvases, rare photographs, one-of-a-kind drafts, and more from the now-famous designers and artists associated with DUNGEONS & DRAGONS. The superstar author team gained unparalleled access to the archives of Wizards of the Coast and the personal collections of top collectors, as well as the designers and illustrators who created the distinctive characters, concepts, and visuals that have defined fantasy art and gameplay for generations. This is the most comprehensive collection of D&D imagery ever assembled, making this the ultimate collectible for the game's millions of fans around the world.
The Taming of the Shrew
by Stephen Orgel and A. R. Braunmuller and William ShakespeareThe legendary Pelican Shakespeare series features authoritative and meticulously researched texts paired with scholarship by renowned Shakespeareans. Each book includes an essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare's time, an introduction to the individual play, and a detailed note on the text used. Updated by general editors Stephen Orgel and A. R. Braunmuller, these easy-to-read editions incorporate over thirty years of Shakespeare scholarship undertaken since the original series, edited by Alfred Harbage, appeared between 1956 and 1967. With stunning new covers, definitive texts, and illuminating essays, the Pelican Shakespeare will remain a valued resource for students, teachers, and theater professionals for many years to come.This edition of The Taming of the Shrew is edited with an introduction and notes by series editor Stephen Orgel.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Firelight
by Kazu KibuishiThe unforgetable seventh installment of Kazu Kibuishi's #1 New York Times bestselling series! Emily, Trellis, and Vigo visit Algos Island, where they can access and enter lost memories. They're hoping to uncover the events of Trellis's mysterious childhood -- knowledge they can use against the Elf King. What they discover is a dark secret that changes everything. Meanwhile, the voice of Emily's Amulet is getting stronger, and threatens to overtake her completely.
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Diary of a Wimpy Kid
by Jeff KinneyBoys don't keep diaries--or do they?
The launch of an exciting and innovatively illustrated new series narrated by an unforgettable kid every family can relate to It's a new school year, and Greg Heffley finds himself thrust into middle school, where undersized weaklings share the hallways with kids who are taller, meaner, and already shaving. The hazards of growing up before you're ready are uniquely revealed through words and drawings as Greg records them in his diary.
In book one of this debut series, Greg is happy to have Rowley, his sidekick, along for the ride. But when Rowley's star starts to rise, Greg tries to use his best friend's newfound popularity to his own advantage, kicking off a chain of events that will test their friendship in hilarious fashion.
Author/illustrator Jeff Kinney recalls the growing pains of school life and introduces a new kind of hero who epitomizes the challenges of being a kid.
As Greg says in his diary, "Just don't expect me to be all 'Dear Diary' this and 'Dear Diary' that." Luckily for us, what Greg Heffley says he won't do and what he actually does are two very different things.