Short Books, Big StoriesLike this list

12 items

• Of Mice and Men

  Steinbeck, John, 1902-1968

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  In Depression-era California, two migrant workers dream of better days on a spread of their own until an act of unintentional violence leads to tragic consequences.

• The Old Man and the Sea

  Hemingway, Ernest, 1899-1961

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  Told in his famed powerful and minimalist prose, this story of courage and personal triumph remains one of Ernest Hemingway's most enduring works.

• The Giver

  Lowry, Lois,

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  Children's Book: Living in a "perfect" world without social ills, a boy approaches the time when he will receive a life assignment from the Elders, but his selection leads him to a mysterious man known as the Giver, who reveals the dark secrets…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Empress of Salt and Fortune

  Vo, Nghi,

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  "A young royal from the far north, is sent south for a political marriage in an empire reminiscent of imperial China. Her brothers are dead, her armies and their war mammoths long defeated and caged behind their borders. Alone and sometimes reviled,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Mr. Popper's Penguins

  Atwater, Richard

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  Children's Book: The unexpected delivery of a large crate containing an Antarctic penguin changes the life and fortunes of Mr. Popper, a house painter obsessed by dreams of the Polar regions.

• Because of Winn-Dixie

  DiCamillo, Kate

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  Children's Book: Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni describes her first summer in the town of Naomi, Florida, and all the good things that happen to her because of her big ugly dog Winn-Dixie.

• We Have Always Lived in the Castle

  Jackson, Shirley, 1916-1965,

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  "First published in the United States of America by The Viking Press 1962. Published in a Viking Compass edition 1970. Published in Penguin Books 1976. Previously published with an afterword by Jonathan Lethem in Penguin Books 2006." -- Title page…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The War of the Worlds

  Wells, H. G. (Herbert George), 1866-1946,

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  This story begins at an observatory in England where the narrator witnesses explosions on Mars. This event is followed by what is thought to be a meteor landing not far from the observatory. Once the narrator travels to the spot of the meteor…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Graveyard Shift

  Rio, M. L.,

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  "The author of sales sensation If We Were Villains returns with a story about a ragtag group of night shift workers who meet in the local cemetery to unearth the secrets lurking in an open grave. Every night, in the college's ancient cemetery, five…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The House on Mango Street

  Cisneros, Sandra

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  This book tells the story of Esperanza Cordero, a young girl growing up in the Hispanic quarter of Chicago, whose neighborhood is one of harsh realities and harsh beauty. Esperanza doesn't want to belong, not to her run-down neighborhood, and not to…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Elevation

  King, Stephen, 1947-

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  "Set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine The latest from legendary master storyteller Stephen King, a riveting, extraordinarily eerie, and moving story about a man whose mysterious affliction brings a small town together--a timely, upbeat…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Foster

  Keegan, Claire,

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  "An international bestseller and one of The Times's "Top 50 Novels Published in the 21st Century," Claire Keegan's piercing contemporary classic Foster is a heartbreaking story of childhood, loss, and love, now released as a standalone book for the…Read moreRead more of this annotation