Agee, James. A Death in the Family. 1957.
The enchanted childhood summer of 1915 suddenly becomes a baffling experience for Rufus Follet when his father dies. Allison, Dorothy.

Bastard Out of Carolina. 1992.
Bone confronts poverty, the troubled marriage of her mother and stepfather, and the stigma of being considered "white trash" as she comes of age in South Carolina.

Alvarez, Julia. In the Time of Butterflies. 1994.
Dede, the only survivor of the four Mirabel sisters, code named Mariposas or butterflies, reveals their role in the liberation of the Dominican Republic from the dictator Trujillo.

Anaya, Rudolfo. Bless Me, Ultima. 1972.
Ultima, a wise old mystic, helps a young Hispanic boy resolve personal dilemmas caused by the differing backgrounds and aspirations of his parents and society.

Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale. 1986.
In Gilead, a Christian fundamentalist dystopia, fertile lower-class women serve as birth-mothers for the upper class.

Butler, Octavia. Parable of the Sower. 1993.
Lauren Olamina, who suffers from a hereditary trait called "hyperempathy" that causes her to feel others' pain physically, journeys north along the dangerous highways of twentieth-first century California.

Card, Orson Scott. Ender's Game. 1985.
In a world decimated by alien attacks, the government trains young geniuses like Ender Wiggin in military strategy with increasingly complex computer games.

Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. 1899.
Edna Pontellier, an unhappy wife and mother, discovers new qualities in herself when she visits Grand Isle, a resort for the Creole elite of New Orleans.

Cisneros, Sandra. The House On Mango Street. 1991.
In short, poetic stories, Esperanza describes life in a low-income, predominantly Hispanic neighborhood in Chicago.

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. 1866.
A sensitive intellectual is driven by poverty to believe himself exempt from moral law.

Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. 1952.
A young African American seeking identity during his high school and college days, and later in New York's Harlem, relates his terrifying experiences.

Emecheta, Buchi. Bride Price. 1976.
Aku-nna, a very young Ibo girl, and Chike, her teacher, fall in love despite tribal custom forbidding their romance.

Faulkner, William. The Bear. 1931.
Ike McCaslin's hunting trips for the legendary bear, Old Ben, are played out against opposing ideas of corruption and innocence. Frazier, Charles.

Cold Mountain. 1997.
Inman, a wounded Civil War soldier, endures the elements, The Guard, and his own weakness and infirmity to return to his sweetheart, Ada, who is fighting her own battle to survive while farming the mountainous North Carolina terrain.

Gaines, Ernest. A Lesson Before Dying. 1993.
When Jefferson's attorney states, "I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this," disillusioned teacher Grant Wiggins is sent into the penitentiary to help this slow learner gain a sense of dignity and self-esteem before his execution.

Gardner, John. Grendel. 1971.
In a unique interpretation of the Beowulf legend, the monster Grendel relates his struggle to understand the ugliness in himself and mankind in the brutal world of fourteenth-century Denmark.

Gibbons, Kaye. Ellen Foster. 1987.
Casting an unflinching yet humorous eye on her situation, eleven-year-old Ellen survives her mother's death, an abusive father, and uncaring relatives to find for herself a loving home and a new mama.

Heller, Joseph. Catch-22. 1961.
In this satirical novel, Captain Yossarian confronts the hypocrisy of war and bureaucracy as he frantically attempts to survive.

Hemingway, Ernest. Farewell to Arms. 1929.
World War I is the setting for this love story of an English nurse and a wounded American ambulance officer.

Hesse, Hermann. Siddhartha. 1951.
Emerging from a kaleidoscope of experiences and tasted pleasures, Siddhartha transcends to a state of peace and mystic holiness in this strangely simple story.

Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. 1932.
In a chilling vision of the future, babies are produced in bottles and exist in a mechanized world without soul. Keneally, Thomas. Schindler's List. 1982.
Oskar Schindler, a rich factory owner, risks his life and spends his personal fortune to save Jews listed as his workers during World War II.

King, Laurie R. The Beekeeper's Apprentice, or, on the Segregation of the Queen. 1994.
Retired Sherlock Holmes meets his intellectual match in 15-year-old Mary Russell, who challenges him to investigate yet another case.

Kosinski, Jerzy. Painted Bird. 1965.
An abandoned dark-haired child wanders alone through isolated villages of Eastern Europe in World War II.

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. 1960.
A young girl tells of life in a small Alabama town in the 1930s and her father's defense in court of an African American accused of raping a white woman.

LeGuin, Ursula. The Left Hand of Darkness. 1969.
First envoy to the technologically primitive world of Winter, Al must deal with a hostile climate; a suspicious, bickering government; and his own conventional sexual mores.

McCullers, Carson. The Member of the Wedding. 1946.
A young Southern girl is determined to be the third party on a honeymoon, despite all advice.

McKinley, Robin. Beauty. 1978.
Love is the only key to unlocking a curse and transforming the Beast into a man.

Malamud, Bernard. The Fixer. 1966.
Victim of a vicious anti-Semitic conspiracy, Yakov Bok is in a Russian prison with only his indomitable will to sustain him.

Markandaya, Kamala. Nectar In A Sieve. 1954.
Natural disasters, an arranged marriage, and industrialization of her village are the challenges Rukmani must face as the bride of a peasant farmer in southern India.

Mason, Bobbi Ann. In Country. 1985.
After her father is killed in the Vietnam War, Sam Hughes lives with an uncle whom she suspects suffers from the effects of Agent Orange, and struggles to come to terms with the war's impact on her family.  

Mori, Kyoko. Shizuko's Daughter. 1993.
In the years following her mother's suicide, Yuki develops the inner strength to cope with her distant father, her resentful stepmother, and her haunting, painful memories.

Morrison, Toni. Beloved. 1987.
Preferring death over slavery for her children, Sethe murders her infant daughter who later mysteriously returns and almost destroys the lives of her mother and sister.

O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried: A Work of Fiction. 1990.
These stories follow Tim O'Brien's platoon of American soldiers through a variety of personal and military encounters during the Vietnam War.

O'Connor, Flannery. Everything That Rises Must Converge. 1965.
Stories about misfits in small Southern towns force the reader to confront hypocrisy and complacency.

Potok, Chaim. The Chosen. 1967.
A baseball injury brings together two Jewish boys, one Hasidic, the other Orthodox, first in hostility but finally in friendship.

Power, Susan. The Grass Dancer. 1994.
Ending in the 1980s with the love story of Charlene Thunder and grass dancer Harley Wind Soldier, this multigenerational tale of a Sioux family is told in the voices of the living and the dead.

Shaara, Michael. Killer Angels. 1974.
Officers and foot soldiers from both the Union and Confederacy steel themselves for the bloody Battle of Gettysburg.

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. 1939.
An Oklahoma farmer and his family leave the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression to go to the promised land of California.

Uchida, Yoshiko. Picture Bride. 1987.
Taro journeys to America in the early 1900s to marry a man she has never met.

Watson, Larry. Montana 1948. 1993.
The summer he is 12, David watches as his family and small town are shattered by scandal and tragedy.

Wright, Richard. Native Son. 1940.
For Bigger Thomas, an African American man accused of a crime in the white man's world, there could be no extenuating circumstances, no explanations and only death.

Yolen, Jane. Briar Rose. 1992.
Disturbed by her grandmother Gemma's unique version of Sleeping Beauty, Rebecca seeks the truth behind the fairy tale.

Asinof, Eliot. Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 WorldSeries. 1963.
It's all here: the players, the scandal, the shame, and the damage the 1919 World Series caused America's national pastime.

Atkin, S. Beth. Voices from the Streets: Young Former Gang Members Tell Their Stories. 1996.
Gang members from all races and backgrounds describe why they joined, and why--and how--they left.

Alvarez, Walter. T. Rex and the Crater of Doom. 1997.
Geologist Alvarez presents the development of the impact theory of dinosaur extinction as the adventure/mystery it was.

Aronson, Marc. Art Attack: A Short Cultural History of the Avant-Garde. 1998.
Discover everything you ever wanted to know about bohemians, hipsters, and the development of the world's most radical art.

Bernstein, Leonard. The Joy of Music. 1959.
Bernstein describes all aspects of classical music.

Blackstone, Harry, Jr. The Blackstone Book of Magic & Illusion. 1985.
A well-known magician introduces readers to the history, principles, and effects of one of the oldest entertainment arts.

Blais, Madeleine. In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle. 1995.
Learn about the year of heart, sweat, and muscle that transformed the Amherst Lady Hurricanes basketball team into state champions.

Bodanis, David. The Secret Family: Twenty-four Hours Inside the Mysterious World of Our Minds and Bodies. 1997.
The unseen world around us and within our bodies is shown in vivid detail as we follow a typical family through their day.

Boorstin, Jon. Making Movies Work: Thinking Like a Filmmaker. 1996.
Both novice and expert can enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at the art of filmmaking.

Brown, Dee. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West. 1970.
There's another side of America's western expansion: the one seen through Native American eyes.

Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls. 1997.
The historical evolution of body perception has turned the value system of American girls inside out.

Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. 1962.
This landmark book gave birth to the environmental movement.

Chang, Iris. The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II. 1997.
Barely a postscript in official Japanese history, the horrific rape, mutilation, torture, and murder of hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens took place over the course of just seven weeks.

Clark, Kenneth. Civilization: A Personal View. 1970.
Clark explores history through the works, impulses, and beliefs of the great creative individuals of Western civilization.

Cooke, Mervyn. The Chronicle of Jazz. 1998.
Cooke provides a comprehensive guide to this uniquely American musical form.

Copland, Aaron. What to Listen For in Music. 1939.
The composer provides a basic introduction to the mysteries of musical composition and music appreciation.

Cumming, Robert. Annotated Art. 1995.
Art masterpieces are made understandable through the exploration of some of the world's greatest paintings.

DuBois, W.E.B. The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches. 1903.
Educator DuBois describes the lives and history of African American farmers, including the career of Booker T. Washington.

Day, David. The Search for King Arthur. 1995.
Discover through magnificent illustrations and romantic retellings what is fact and what islegend about this fifth-century hero.

Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. 1997.
Diamond contends that these three factors determined the course of world power throughout history.

Dorris, Michael. The Broken Cord. 1989.
The persistent physical and emotional problems of his adopted son baffled the author until he learned the condition had a name: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

Due, Linnea. Joining the Tribe: Growing Up Gay and Lesbian in the '90's. 1995.
Being young and gay in America means surviving cruelty, abuse, and isolation, as these individual stories of courage from teens around the country attest.

Edelman, MarionWright. The Measure of Our success: A Letter to My Children andYours. 1992.
A child advocate shares her thoughts on values, raising families, and the future of our country.

Epictetus and Sharon Lebell. The Art of Living: The Classic Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness. 1995.
A modern interpretation of the Stoic philosopher answers the timeless questions of how to be a good person and live a good life

Faludi, Susan. Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women. 1991.
This unflinching analysis examines the current status of American women.

Finn, David. How to Look at Sculpture: Text and Photographs. 1989.
To understand sculpture, you have to know what to look for.

Ford, Michael Thomas. The Voices of AIDS: Twelve Unforgettable People Talk About How AIDS Has Changed Their Lives. 1995.
Individuals whose AIDS experiences have been catalysts for making a difference share their poignant and personal stories.

Fouts, Roger. Next of Kin: What Chimpanzees Have Taught Me About Who We Are. 1997.
Describing his career of communicating with chimpanzees, Fouts explains evolutionary, genetic, and emotional bonds with our next of kin.

Freedman, Samuel G. SmallVictories: The Real World of a Teacher, Her Students, and Their High School. 1990.
How does this overcrowded, under funded inner city school send 92% of its graduates to college?

Fremon, Celeste. Father Greg & the Homeboys: The Extraordinary Journey of Father Greg Boyle and His Work With the Latino Gangs of East L.A. 1995.
Conscience, parent, motivator, drill sergeant: Father Greg was all this and more to the gangbangers who called his barrio parish community home.

Garfunkel, Trudy. On Wings of Joy: The Story of Ballet from the 16th Century to Today. 1994.
Fascinating history, dancers, choreographers, and stories: here is everything that has helped create this wonderful art form.

Goldberg, Vicki. The Power ofPhotographs: How Photography Changed Our Lives. 1991.
Photographers and photographs evolve, rather than spring forth fully formed.

Gould, Stephen Jay. The Mismeasure of Man. 1981.
Gould's history of the attempt to quantify intelligence could be called the "misuse of science."

Gombrich, E. H. TheStory of Art. 1995.
Everything from cave paintings to the experimental art of today is covered, in words and pictures, in this sixteenth edition of one of the most famous and popular art books ever published.

Green, Bill. Water, Ice, and Stone: Science and Memory on the Antarctic Lakes. 1995.
A chemist investigates Antarctica’s ice-covered lakes and discovers beauty and poetry.

Hafner, Katie and Matthew Lyon. Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet. 1996.
The origins of the world's first computer network are explained, with tales of the motivations, breakthroughs, and personalities that created it.

Hamilton, Edith. Mythology. 1942.
Gods and heroes, their clashes and adventures, come alive in this splendid retelling of the Greek, Roman, and Norse myths.

Hawking, Stephen. A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes. 1988.
Cosmology becomes understandable as the author discusses the origin, evolution, and fate ofour universe.

Hersch, Patricia. A Tribe Apart: A Journey into the Heart of American Adolescence. 1998.
An intimate three-year journey through contemporary adolescence with eight "typical" teens reveals aseparate culture spawned not from personal choice, but rather from adult alienation and abandonment.

Hersey, John. Hiroshima. 1946.
Six Hiroshima survivors reflect on the aftermath of the first atomic bomb.

Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. 1973.
Biblical scholars revise text and modernize terms to bring one version of the Bible up-to-date.

Humes, Edward. No Matter How Loud I Shout: A Year in the Life of Juvenile Court. 1996.
Humes paints a tragic and heartbreaking portrait of the chaos characterizing America’s juvenile justice system where, as one inmate writes, "my screams have no voice, no matter how loud I shout."

Hubbell, Sue. A Country Year: Living the Questions. 1986.
A former wife and librarian observes her natural surroundings during a year spent as a beekeeper on a beautiful Ozark farm.

Jonas, Gerald. Dancing: The Pleasure, Power, and Art of Movement. 1992.
This international survey explores dance as social, cultural, and religious expression.

Jones, K. Maurice. Say It Loud! The Story of Rap Music. 1994.
From a village in West Africa to a street in Brooklyn, to MTV, rappers make the Scene.

Junger, Sebastian. The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea. 1997.
Haunting premonitions didn’t save seven fishermen from the ferocious and deadly power of the sea.

Karnos, David D. and Robert G. Shoemaker, editors. Falling in Love With Wisdom: American Philosophers Talk About Their Calling. 1993.
Contemporary philosophers share their contemplations and epiphanies.

Kendall, Elizabeth. Where She Danced. 1979.
The contributions of major innovators and the conditions of their times are the basis for this history of modern American dance.

Kerner, Mary. Barefoot to Balanchine: How to Watch Dance. 1990.
Understand dance by reading about its history, choreography, and backstage action.

Kolb, Rocky. Blind Watchers of the Sky: The People and Ideas that Shaped Our View of the Universe. 1996.
Kolb delivers a witty and lively history of astronomy and cosmology.

Kotlowitz, Alex. The Other Side of the River: A Story of Two Towns, a Death, and America's Dilemma. 1998.
Geographically, only a river separates two closely neighboring towns, but the murder mystery surrounding the death of a young black man exposes a deeply rooted racial divide.

Kozol, Jonathan. Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools. 1991.
Kozol's stinging indictment of America's public school system advocates an equal distribution of per pupil funding to right the gross inequities inour current system.

Krakauer, John. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster. 1997.
His dream expedition to Everest became a nightmare when human error and a sudden storm combined to claim the lives of some of the world's best mountain climbers.

McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. 1993.
A comic book asks and answers the question of whether or not comics are a literary form.

McPhee, John. In Suspect Terrain. 1983.
Traveling along I-80 with geologist Anita Harris, McPhee describes the geologic features that reveal the history of the Appalachians.

Murray, Albert. Stomping the Blues. 1976.
An aficionado gives the lowdown on what it is and its origins.

Occhiogrosso, Peter. The Joy of Sects: A Spirited Guide to the World's Religious Traditions. 1994.
This lively, easy to understand guidebook is foreveryone from the faithful believer to the curious doubter.

O'Gorman, James F. ABC of Architecture. 1998.
Function, structure, and beauty are the interdependent basics -- the ABC -- of architecture.

Paulos, John Allen. Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and its Consequences. 1988.
Paulos illustrates the importance of understanding and the consequences of misunderstanding mathematical concepts in everyday life.

Penn, W. S., editor. The Telling of the World: Native American Stories and Art. 1996.
Traditional and contemporary legends, stories, and art from many tribes explain ourworld and its life forms.

Petroski, Henry. Invention by Design: How Engineers Get From Thought to Thing. 1996.
Using examples from paper clips to monumental bridges, Petroski shows how engineers work.

Pipher, Mary.
Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls. 1994.
Pipher looks at societal "girl poisoning" and the emotional and psychological havoc it wreaks on the lives of youngwomen.

Regis, Ed. Virus Ground Zero: Stalking the Killer Viruses with the Centers for Disease Control. 1996.
The history of the CDC is told through the handling of the Ebola outbreak in Zaire.

Rybczynski, Witold . The Most Beautiful House in the World. 1989.
The author's dream of building a boat evolves into the building of a home, a process he uses to explain complex architectural ideas.

Sheehan, Neil. A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vannand America in Vietnam. 1988.
A soldier exposes the corruption undermining the American war effort in Vietnam.

Sherman, Robert and Philip Seldon. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Classical Music. 1997.
This practical guide will help you understand and enjoy classical music.

Simon, David and Edward Burns. The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood. 1997.
Crack owns this corner and infects the lives of all those within reach.

Singh, Simon. Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World’s Greatest Mathematical Problem. 1997.
A Princeton professor pursuesa lifelong dream of solving a 350-year-old mathematical puzzle.

Sobel, Dava. Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time. 1995.
A self-taught eighteenth-century English clockmaker succeeded where the scientific community failed.

Spiegelman, Art. Maus: A Survivor's Tale and Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began. 1986.
Using comic book format, the author chronicles his father’s experience of the Holocaust and its impact on his family.

Strickland, Carol and John Boswell. The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in Art History From Prehistoric to Post-Modern. 1992.
Fromcave paintings to conceptual art, art history is demystified.

Stringer, Christopher and Robin McKie. African Exodus: The Origins of Modern Humanity. 1997.
The authors support the theory of a single origin of modern humanity with paleoanthropological, archaeological, and DNA evidence.

Thomas, Lewis. The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher. 1974.
These essays offer an optimistic scientist's view of a wide variety of subjects.

Watson, James D. The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery and Structure of DNA. 1968.
The author recreates the excitement of participating in a momentous discovery and demonstrates to the non-scientist how the scientific method works.

Williams, Juan. Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965. 1987.
From Brown v. the Board of Education to the Voting Rights Act, Williams outlines the social and political gains of African Americans.

Yolen, Jane, editor. Favorite Folktales from Around the World. 1986.
This collection of international folktales provides an understanding of the roots of diverse cultures.