Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 4/19/2005
ISBN: 9780375411885
ISBN-10: 0375411887

In this very sympathetic portrayal of Brown, Reynolds continually hammers home two points: That of all the whites fighting for the freedom of slaves, Brown was the only one who truly saw them as equals. And that sometimes matters of great moral and ethical import should not be left to the people to decide. After all, if this issue had been left to the popular vote, we might very well still have slavery in this country, and we'd certainly still have segregation.

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Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 2/1/1998
ISBN: 9780374265823
ISBN-10: 0374265828

Descended from southern slaveholders, Ball has a wealth of family documents to draw from in this very personal account of the history of slavery. This is the most vivid and engrossing account of the everyday lives of slaves I've ever read. National Book Award Winner for Nonfiction in 1998.

First Chapter  Table of Contents  

Publisher: Doubleday
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 7/1/2003
ISBN: 9780385502641
ISBN-10: 0385502648

If the sign of a great memoir is its ability to make you want to meet the author and have a meal and a good talk, this one is very great indeed. Dubbed the "gay, black Danielle Steel," Harris tells of his troubled childhood and early adulthood, as he struggles to find his way. Honest, clear and incredibly sympathetic, this is a tender and wonderful book. (And just look at that cover!)

First Chapter  

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/3/1999
ISBN: 9780618001903
ISBN-10: 0618001905

While slavery had been officially abolished in most of the western world by this time, in 1885 King Leopold of Belgium took the institution to Africa where he made the Congo his own personal colony. A reign of terror ensued until the atrocities came to light, due mainly to the efforts of investigative journalist Edmund Morel, and supporters like Mark Twain and Arthur Conan Doyle. A terrible yet fascinating story of the powerful's seemingly unending capacity for cruelty and greed.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 5/1/2004
ISBN: 9780743245128
ISBN-10: 0743245121

In 1957 in Massachusetts, residents of a state institution for the "feeble-minded" staged a well-planned and executed rebellion. This story of the institutionalization of the developmentally disabled in this country, shows that most of the process was simply another war on the poor. Most of the children in these institutions were simply poor and from dysfunctional families, needing just about anything but the horrible and degrading treatment they got in these "homes." Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist D'Antonio, makes this story a very personal one, as he follows former residents of these institutions in their struggle for a normal, dignified life.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Bloomsbury
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 11/27/2007
ISBN: 9781599901558
ISBN-10: 1599901552

Ashley is a spoiled teenage brat, her mom gives her whatever she wants and popularity is her middle name. However, her life gets flipped upside down when her mother is charged with embezzlement and disappears. Now Ashley has to get a job, find a place to live and survive on her own.and what about her mom, where is she? Will she ever come back? I loved the reality of this book and that it was written by a local author, with the setting in San Francisco and Burlingame.

Publisher: WildStorm Productions
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/20/2006
ISBN: 9781401211325
ISBN-10: 1401211321

Emma is a housemaid in Victorian England when she meets William. While it seems there is some attraction there, they are from two different classes. William is a wealthy business man, and Emma is merely a housemaid. She is rejecting many offers for marriage in hopes that William will show interest. I really love the drawings in this graphic novel; it is a sweet romantic story that will develop in future volumes.

Publisher: Viper Comics
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 3/30/2005
ISBN: 9780975419328
ISBN-10: 0975419323

Daisy used to rob trains for a living, but she has finally taken the high road. That is until she loses her entire savings (and store) in a poker game. The only way to get everything back is with one last heist. This graphic novel was fantastic! The artwork was incredible and the dialogue intriguing. Unfortunately I think it's a single volume, so enjoy it!

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/7/2005
ISBN: 9781582349725
ISBN-10: 158234972X

How boring it must be for farm animals, all they do is eat the same thing everyday.the chickens eat chicken feed, the ducks eat fish and the pigs eat slop. When the animals get a hold of some ingredients like tomatoes, cilantro, beans and chilies, a full-blown fiesta begins! This book is really hilarious, the illustrations are bright and vibrant.all that's missing is the mariachi music.

Publisher: Wea Corp
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/12/2006
UPC: 00045778682829

Matt Skiba, the lead singer of Alkaline Trio (the best band ever) has a side project, and it's called Heavens. While this album is a little slower than the Alkaline Trio albums, Matt's voice reigns supreme. Check out the songs Patent Pending and Annabelle, they are my two favorites.

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/5/2006
ISBN: 9780374380441
ISBN-10: 0374380449

This is a beautifully illustrated picture book for all ages. (But if you know a 4 or 5 year-old, you will especially want to share it with them.) In Paris in the early 1900s, Adele picks up her brother Simon at school, and warns him not to lose anything today. As they make their way home, they stop at various places - a market, the Jardins du Luxembourg, the natural history museum, the Louvre, Notre Dame, a patisserie-and, not surprisingly, Simon loses one of his belongings in each location. If you look carefully, you can find each lost item in the picture spread, but even if you don't you'll have fun looking at the gorgeous pictures of Paris. A map on the endpapers (from the 1907 edition of Baedeker) shows their route through Paris, and notes at the end give information about each of the locations. This book is outstanding!

Publisher: Disney Editions/Hyperion Books for Children
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 7/1/2006
ISBN: 9780786837878
ISBN-10: 078683787X

Jim Dale, narrator of the Harry Potter books, does an equally wonderful narration of this prequel to the Peter Pan stories (and sequel to Peter and the Starcatchers). Peter is happily lobbing overripe mangos at Captain Hook on Mollusk Island (aka Never Land) when a ship arrives carrying a very strange and sinister creature known as Lord Ombra. Ombra, who can control people by stealing their shadows, wants to find the "starstuff" he thinks was left on the island. When he returns to London in search of Peter's friend Molly and her father, Peter (accompanied by Tinker Bell) manages to stow away so that he can save Molly and help the Starcatchers protect the starstuff. Once in London, the adventures are non-stop, culminating in a showdown on Salisbury Plain. This is a great adventure story, and a wonderful audio book.

Publisher: Aladdin Paperbacks
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 6/1/2001
ISBN: 9780689844454
ISBN-10: 068984445X

King of Shadows by Susan Cooper, is not a new book, but I think it is an overlooked one. Nat Field is rehearsing for the part of Puck in an upcoming production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, to be mounted in the newly renovated Globe Theatre. He has been chosen, along with a group of other boys from America, to travel to England for the performance. When Nat is suddenly stricken with a serious illness, he awakens to find himself once again cast as Puck at the Globe Theatre, but the year is 1599. Okay, so I'm a sucker for time-travel novels, but this is a particularly good one, especially if you like Shakespeare.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Harcourt
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/1/2006
ISBN: 9780152057954
ISBN-10: 0152057951

Iggy Corso is a kid who doesn't have a lot going for him. He was born addicted to crack (although he doesn't do drugs himself), he lives in a crummy housing project, his drug-addict mother has been away "visiting" for over a month, his father comes home drunk or stoned every night, and Iggy is still a freshman, even though he's 16, because he has failed two grades and been suspended multiple times. But somehow, despite all that, Iggy is one of the sweetest characters I've ever encountered. When he gets suspended (again) for an altercation with a teacher, he decides he needs to do something heroic and wonderful before his expulsion hearing. The whole story takes place in the week before Christmas, as Iggy wanders the city, thinking about how he can make a contribution to the world. He is innocent and earnest, but at the same time he has learned a lot in his life about how people deal with one another. This is a book that is sometimes painful, sometimes funny, and always touching.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 2/28/2006
ISBN: 9780385746984
ISBN-10: 0385746989

Despite the title, Simone's life is actually pretty good, although admittedly she's having an interesting year. She's 16, she has always known she was adopted, but she fits perfectly with her family. Her mom is an ACLU attorney, her dad is a political cartoonist who works from home and cooks fabulous meals, and her younger brother is cute, popular, and nice. But now, just as Simone is starting to think about college, and about beginning a relationship with a boy she works with on the school paper, her parents have begun pushing her to contact her birth mother, Rivka. This is a thoughtful book about family, friendship, and faith, and about how all those things work together in the life of a teenager.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Little Simon
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/1/1998
ISBN: 9780689822032
ISBN-10: 0689822030

Before Dinosaur can go to sleep, he needs to find his blanket. Help him find his blanket by lifting the flaps to see if the blanket is somewhere around the house. Dinosaurs were one of my favorite topics in school, and it's still a hot topic today.

Publisher: Random House
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 11/1/1997
ISBN: 9780679889113
ISBN-10: 0679889116

Elmer Elevator wants an adventure. An old cat tells him how to rescue a baby dragon, and that's just what Elmer sets out to do! All three adventures of Elmer and his dragon are in this book. The pictures really make the story come alive. I liked this book so much, I bought my own copy.

Publisher: PaperStar
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/1/1999
ISBN: 9780833548924
ISBN-10: 0833548921

Wolf sees a delicious Chicken, and secretly brings her good things to eat in order to fatten her up and have her for dinner! He cooks all kinds of wonderful meals for Chicken. Read the story to see what Wolf will do next, and how Chicken can prevent becoming dinner. I like this story because I'm fond of chickens.

Publisher: Magic Carpet Books/Harcourt Brace
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 3/1/1998
ISBN: 9780152017682
ISBN-10: 0152017682

Ariel is a servant girl whose mistress is stolen by a vampire. She must decide if the vampire is evil or worthy of saving, as she begins her quest to prevent a witch from using an army of vampires to destroy the world. This is the first book in a trilogy, and is continued with: A Gathering of Gargoyles and The Pearl of the Soul of the World. This story is a mix of fantasy, fairy tale, and monsters. It was the first page of the book that grabbed my attention and led me to read the entire trilogy.

Publisher: Farrar, Straus, Giroux
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/1/1993
ISBN: 9780606060004
ISBN-10: 0606060006

Horribly hideous Shrek leaves home and terrifies everyone he encounters in his search for his equally ugly bride.