Class VIII

Grab your pen and paper, and learn to draw in a single continuous line, a technique first made famous by Pablo Picasso.

The classic tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit, and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future.

In an alternate London in 1923, one girl accidentally breaks the tenuous truce between dragons and humans in this sweeping debut and epic retelling of Bletchley Park steeped in language, class, and forbidden romance. Read the sequel A War of Wyverns as well!

When a girl who's never longed for adventure is hit with a curse that begins to transform her into a demon, she embarks on a quest to reverse the curse and return to her normal life, but along the way is forced to confront her true power within.

Young Francie Nolan, having inherited both her father's romantic and her mother's practical nature, struggles to survive and thrive growing up in the slums of Brooklyn in the early twentieth century.

Growing up as the only child of a single mother in Seoul, Korea, wasn't always easy, but it has bonded them fiercely together. So when a vacation to visit friends in Huntsville, Alabama, unexpectedly becomes a permanent relocation--following her mother's announcement that she's getting married--Robin is devastated. Overnight, her life changes. 

Set in a terrifyingly brutal Rome-like world, this is an epic fantasy about an orphan fighting for her family and a soldier fighting for his freedom.

Discusses the international competition to create the first atomic bomb.

In this Printz Award Winning graphic novel set in summer of 1995, almost-fifteen-year-old Almudena is sent to live with her estranged Spanish-speaking father, and together they renovate a brownstone and build a relationship while Almudena navigates the Latin American side of her heritage for the first time.

A chronicle of one of American history's most notorious cults that follows Jim Jones from humble origins to "Jonestown" in Guyana, South America, and traces his transformation of Peoples Temple into an experiment in mind control.

Eragon (Inheritance Cycle 1-4) 

by Christopher Paolini

Fifteen-year-old Eragon believes that he is merely a poor farm boy–until his destiny as a Dragon Rider is revealed. Gifted with only an ancient sword, a loyal dragon, and sage advice from an old storyteller, Eragon is soon swept into a dangerous tapestry of magic, glory, and power. Now his choices could save–or destroy–the Empire.

Carrie Sinclair tells the ghost of her son Johnny about the summer of 1987, when "the boys" arrive on Beechwood Island, setting off events that will haunt her for years to come.

Charlie Gordon is about to embark upon an unprecedented journey. Born with an unusually low IQ, he has been chosen as the perfect subject for an experimental surgery that researchers hope will increase his intelligence-a procedure that has already been highly successful when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon.

If you liked Great Expectations, try…

Hard Times

by Charles Dickens

A gripping and revealing exploration of Victorian society, set in a polluted town in Northern England with smoke-filled factories and soulless workers.

Easy to follow, step-by-step instructions and full-color photographs.

Set in the 1930s, seventeen-year-old Cassandra, living in a crumbling English castle with her family, wants to become a writer but is distracted by her wealthy and adventurous neighbors and the prospect of an unexpected romance of her own.

Set between New Jersey and Seoul, this coming-of-age story follows the author as she goes to South Korea, where she realizes something that changes her perspective on her family, her heritage, and herself.

This collection of interconnected stories serves up laughter, love, Native pride, and the world's best frybread.

A dramatic account of the 1875 attempt to steal the 16th president's body.

March, books 1-3 

by John Lewis

A graphic novel trilogy based on the life of civil rights leader and congressman John Lewis.

The story of Daniel Ellsberg and his decision to steal and publish secret documents about America's involvement in the Vietnam War.

The reminiscences of a New York lawyer, Jim Burden, about his boyhood in Nebraska, particularly a young Bohemian girl named Antonia Shimerda.

In this debut memoir, author Bess Kalb’s recently deceased grandmother Bobby is speaking to Bess once more, in a voice as passionate as it ever was in life.

An eye-opening portrait of the artist as a young black man in the Midwest.

If you liked Great Expectations, try…

Oliver Twist

by Charles Dickens

In nineteenth-century England, a young orphan boy lives in the squalid surroundings of a workhouse until he runs away and is captured by a gang of thieves, and is finally reunited with his long-lost family.

In two interwoven timelines, a ragtag crew travels to the deepest reaches of space, rebuilding beautiful, broken structures to piece the past together, and two girls meet in boarding school and fall deeply in love, only to learn the pain of loss.

Learning from "unpopular creatures." Neither domesticated nor completely feral, "outsider animals," as biologist Zuk calls them, are feared or loathed by many--but they have a lot to teach us about adaptation and interspecies relationships. 

From the Top Chef host and award-winning cookbook author, a culinary anthology filled with 100 authentic recipes from ethnic communities across America and discovered while filming Taste the Nation.

The story of the author’s life in Tehran, Iran, where she lived from ages six to fourteen while the country came under control of the Islamic regime.

In a near-future society that claims to be rid of all monstrous people, a creature emerges from a painting seventeen-year-old Jam's mother created, a hunter from another world seeking a real-life monster.

The sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission to save both humanity and the earth, Ryland Grace is hurtled into the depths of space when he must conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

Raised in isolation, Tarisai yearns for the closeness she could have as one of the Crown Prince's Council of 11, but her mother, The Lady, has magically compelled Tarisai to kill the Crown Prince.

The second Mrs. de Winter narrates the haunting events surrounding her marriage to Maxim de Winter and her growing obsession with his first wife, the beautiful, now dead Rebecca.

Forced to become trained killers in a disease-free world where people can only die if eliminated by professional "gleaners," Citra and Rowan reluctantly train under a master reaper. First in a trilogy.

Almost every treat can be made in under one hour, in one bowl, and with no fancy ingredients or equipment--leaving you with less time in the kitchen and more time for snacking!

At his wits’ end, Zacharias Wythe, Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers, encounters Prunella Gentlewoman, a woman with immense power, which sets him on a path that will alter the nature of sorcery in all of Britain—and the world at large…

As the day dawns on the 50th annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he's been set up to fail.

The memoir of a restaurant critic of the New York Times—with recipes--of a life spent as a restaurant owner, chef, and food critic, from California to New York City.

Mary Russell, an intelligent young woman, becomes the apprentice of Sherlock Holmes.

An anthology of ten stories by young adult authors about surprising and unusual collections.

A luminous book that traces the passing of seasons, both personal and natural.

British writer Hector Hugh Munro, a.k.a. Saki, whose witty works satirized Edwardian society and culture, led him to be known as a master of the short story.

With recipes ranging from Biang Biang Mian (Hand-Pulled Noodles) to Steak Tacos with Charred Corn Salsa, Arepas to Congee, French Fries and Cheeseburger Sliders to Apple-Cider Donuts, this book features helpful sidebars to ensure that teens can learn more about why a recipe works, and how to take their recipes to the next level.

The Davenports are one of the few Black families of immense wealth and status in 1910 Chicago, and the two daughters, Olivia and Helen, are finding their way and finding love—even where they are not supposed to.

Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an adventure.

Seventeen-year-old Veronica "Ronnie" Miller's life was turned upside-down when her parents divorced and her father moved from New York City to Wilmington, North Carolina. Three years later, she remains angry and alienated from her parents, especially her father... until her mother decides it would be in everyone's best interest if she spent the summer in Wilmington with him.

A graphic novel biography of the escaped slave, abolitionist, public speaker, and most photographed man of the nineteenth century, based on his autobiographical writings and speeches.

It's hard enough trying to communicate with your parents as a kid, but for Tíên, he doesn't even have the right words because his parents are struggling with their English. Is there a Vietnamese word for what he's going through? Is there a way to tell them he's gay?

Favorite poems of the editors that include both classics and surprises. 

In LA's Chinatown in 1924, sixteen-year-old Ruby Chan rebels against her parents' conventional plans for her future when a friendship with nineteen-year-old Anna May Wong, a rising Hollywood film star, opens up new possibilities.

South Side of Chicago native McGhee explores the toll racial injustice past and present takes on the life of every American in this accessible, abridged (but no less intellectual) volume.

Back to the Future meets Joy Luck Club in this fresh, funny novel about a Gen Z Korean American girl who gets stuck in the 90s with her teenaged mother.

The last weeks of the Trojan War find the women sick of tending the wounded, men tired of fighting, and bored gods and goddesses trying to find ways to stir things up.

In a series of moments spanning two years, seventeen-year-old Neon navigates the progression of his relationship with Aria, culminating in a case of the jitters as the two intend to take the next big step in their relationship.

A 17-year-old girl who has always served others, fights for her place in a world of magic and lies and decides to take power for herself.

A collection of sixteen stories introduces a host of strange, wondrous beings that have never existed anywhere but in the imagination, with stories from Neil Gaiman, Diana Wynne Jones, and E. Nesbit.

Jasmine and Chelsea, best friends, plan to rock the theater and poetry clubs at their progressive NYC high school until Chelsea realizes the poetry club is more interested in the "classics." So they start a new club. But when Jasmine and Chelsea's work goes viral, fans and foes come out online and in real life, and the school administration threatens to shut them down. 

Omar and his younger brother live in a refugee camp, and when an opportunity for Omar to get an education comes along, he must decide between going to school or caring for his nonverbal brother.

If you liked Great Expectations, try…

Wives and Daughters 

by Elizabeth Gaskell

Set in English society before the 1832 Reform Bill, this narrative traces the development of two girls into womanhood within the gossiping and watchful society of Hollingford.

The story of how a cynic and a hopeless romantic become friends, fall in love, and break up unfolds from their different perspectives.