Books

"IRRESISTIBLE!"--The Boston GlobeSeconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor.Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox--the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years. Where are these pens? Why are we born? Why do we die? Why do we spend so much time between wearing digital watches? For all the answers stick your thumb to the stars. And don't forget to bring a towel!"[A] WHIMSICAL ODYSSEY...Characters frolic through the galaxy with infectious joy".--Publishers Weekly

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The period of World War II, especially with reference to the German invasions and persecutions of the Jews by the Nazi is one of the darkest periods in the course of humanity. This journal of a teenage girl who along with her family was forced into hiding and had to go through a series of tragedies and total disruption of their everyday lives, brings to light the tortures that people had to go through owing to tyranny of the leaders. The book offers an innocent account of how the girl, Anne, who was transported from her regular life, of school, friends and infatuations, to life of morbid horror and constant fear. An abrupt silent towards the end of the book, screams about the unfortunate end to the plans, visions and future that one weaves with so much hope.

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MARIE-LAURE LIVES WITH HER FATHER in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure's reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum's most valuable and dangerous jewel. In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie- Laure's converge. Doerr's "stunning sense of physical detail and gorgeous metaphors" ("San Francisco Chronicle") are dazzling. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, he illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another. Ten years in the writing, "All the Light We Cannot See" is a magnificent, deeply moving novel from a writer "whose sentences never fail to thrill" ("Los Angeles Times").

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"If you're one of the few who haven't experienced the genius of Agatha Christie, this novel is a stellar starting point." -- DAVID BALDACCI, #1 New York Times Bestselling AuthorAn exclusive authorized edition of the most famous and beloved stories from the Queen of Mystery.Ten people, each with something to hide and something to fear, are invited to an isolated mansion on Indian Island by a host who, surprisingly, fails to appear. On the island they are cut off from everything but each other and the inescapable shadows of their own past lives. One by one, the guests share the darkest secrets of their wicked pasts. And one by one, they die...Which among them is the killer and will any of them survive?"Agatha Christie is the gateway drug to crime fiction both for readers and for writers. . . . Just one book is never enough." -- VAL MCDERMID, Internationally Bestselling Author

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Jonas, an insightful twelve-year old, and his family reside in a unique society where there is no poverty, hate, fear, pollution, dissension, conflict, pain or love. To achieve this end, the society has gained control over every aspect of their lives. When Jonas turns twelve he is singled out to receive special training from The giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now it's time for Jonas to receive the truth and there is no turning back.Reproducible chapter questions, plus comprehension questions, a story summary, author biography, creative and cross curricular activities, complete with answer key. 64 pages.The students will: - become acquainted with the writings of Lois Lowry.- be introduced to a society that is opposite to their own.- reflect on societal differences and similarities.- reinforce reading comprehension skills in a variety of assignments and activities.- appreciate living in a free and democratic society.Novel by Lois Lowry.

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WINNER OF THE 2024 MILES FRANKLIN AWARD WINNER OF THE 2024 STELLA PRIZE WINNER OF THE 2024 JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZE WINNER OF THE 2023 QUEENSLAND AWARD FOR LITERARY FICTION SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD In a small town in the north of Australia, a mysterious haze cloud heralds both an ecological catastrophe and a gathering of the ancestors. A visionary on his own holy quest, Cause Man Steel seeks the perfect platinum donkey to launch an Aboriginal-owned donkey transport industry, saving Country and the world from fossil fuels. His wife, Dance, seeking solace from his madness, studies butterflies and moths and dreams of repatriating her family to China. One of their sons, named Aboriginal Sovereignty, is determined to end it all by walking into the sea. Their other child, Tommyhawk, wants nothing more than to be adopted by Australia's most powerful white woman. Praiseworthy is an epic masterpiece that bends time and reality--a cry of outrage against oppression, greed, and assimilation.

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