From the back cover: Set in an exclusive boys' school in the summer of '42, A Separate Peace offers a quietly told story of the relationship between two boys. Under the surface though, violent thoughts and feelings lurk, mirroring events in the outside world. It is these deeper levels of meaning that have made the novel an enduring classic of American literature. Through … [Read more...] about A Separate Peace by John Knowles: B
Books
Mr. Midshipman Hornblower by C. S. Forester: B+
From the back cover: This year is 1793, the eve of the Napoleonic Wars, and Horatio Hornblower, a seventeen-year-old boy unschooled in seafaring and the ways of seamen, is ordered to board a French merchant ship and take command of crew and cargo for the glory of England. Though not an unqualified success, this first naval adventure teaches the young midshipman enough to … [Read more...] about Mr. Midshipman Hornblower by C. S. Forester: B+
Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography by Lemony Snicket: B
Book description: Virtually every detail of the volume has Snicket's indelible mark, from the book jacket (reversible to help readers disguise this "extremely dangerous" and "objectionable" autobiography) to the copyright page text to the intentionally blurry and bewildering black-and-white photographs appearing throughout. An apparently false obituary for Lemony Snicket sets … [Read more...] about Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography by Lemony Snicket: B
To Kill a Mockinbird by Harper Lee: A+
From the back cover: Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill a Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior—to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. This regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as … [Read more...] about To Kill a Mockinbird by Harper Lee: A+
The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket: A
From the back cover: Dear Reader, Unless you are a slug, a sea anemone, or mildew, you probably prefer not to be damp. You might also prefer not to read this book, in which the Baudelaire siblings encounter an unpleasant amount of dampness as they descend into the depths of despair, underwater. In fact, the horrors they encounter are too numerous to list, and you wouldn't … [Read more...] about The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket: A