School Book List Titles

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Finnegans Wake is a 1939 novel by James Joyce. The experimental style of the novel has given Finnegans Wake a reputation for being one of the most challenging texts in the English language. Joyce’s use of idiosyncratic language and phrasing, his structural innovations, and his ambitious themes attempt to explore the boundaries between sleep, dreams, and waking life. Though Finnegans Wake has not been adapted into other media in its totality, its influence and legacy... Read Finnegans Wake Summary

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Seventh grade loner Tom Bender’s life is changed by his friendship with Jessica, a severely disfigured burn survivor in Tony Abbott’s moving contemporary middle grade novel, Firegirl (2006). Shy and empathetic, Tom gradually overcomes his fear of Jessica and gets to know his new classmate, causing a rift between Tom and his friend, Jeff. While Jeff spreads malicious talk about Jessica, Tom sees past Jessica’s exterior to the person inside. Abbott sensitively explores themes of... Read Firegirl Summary

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Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures is a middle-grade magical realism novel written by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by K. G. Campbell, and originally published in 2013. DiCamillo is a renowned middle-grade author who also wrote Because of Winn-Dixie and The Tale of Despereaux, among other books. Flora and Ulysses was the recipient of the John Newbery Medal for the Most Distinguished Contribution to American Literature for Children in 2014. It was also adapted into a... Read Flora And Ulysses Summary

Foe is a 1986 novel by J. M. Coetzee. Foe is a parallel novel, reimagining the story of Daniel Defoe’s 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe from the perspective of a shipwrecked woman named Susan Barton, who then tries to convince a fictionalized version of Defoe to write her story. This guide refers to the 2015 Penguin edition. Content Warning: The source material uses outdated, offensive terms for Black people throughout, which is replicated in this guide... Read Foe Summary

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For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940) is a novel by the Modernist American author Ernest Hemingway. The novel tells the story of Robert Jordan, an American volunteer working as a demolition specialist for the Republican army during the Spanish Civil War. Robert, sent to blow up a bridge to aid a Republican offensive, enlists the aid of a band of guerrilla fighters in the mountains. Robert falls in love with a woman in their care... Read For Whom the Bell Tolls Summary

Freak the Mighty tells the story of two boys—a slow-learning giant and a genius in a disabled body—who become friends, share adventures, and defend themselves against bullies and social rejection. Published in 1993, Freak the Mighty sold two million copies in nine languages, received multiple awards, and was made into a Golden Globe-nominated film, The Mighty, starring Sharon Stone, Kieran Culkin, Gillian Anderson, and Harry Dean Stanton. Max’s adventures continue in a sequel called Max... Read Freak the Mighty Summary

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From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is a 1967 children’s novel by E. L. Konigsburg. With elements of mystery and adventure, the novel follows two children who run away from home to hide out in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where they are drawn into a mystery involving a newly acquired sculpture, even as they learn about themselves and the world around them. Praised for its humor and characters, the novel won... Read From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler Summary

Jennifer L. Holm’s Full of Beans is a 2016 middle-grade historical novel set in 1934. Main character and first-person protagonist Beans Curry is a 10-year-old boy born and raised in Key West, Florida. The Great Depression causes difficulties for the locals of the dilapidated town, including Beans’s family. “New Dealer” Mr. Julius Stone, Jr. arrives with the plan to boost Key West’s failing economy by recreating it as a tourist destination, but Beans decides that... Read Full of Beans Summary

In Newbery medalist Louis Sachar’s sci-fi thriller Fuzzy Mud (2015), Tamaya and Marshall cut through the restricted woods behind their school to avoid a bully—but encounter a strange mud that has the potential to destroy nearly all life on Earth. While Marshall struggles with the emotional effects of being bullied, Tamaya develops an unusually aggressive rash from the mud and worries that in protecting Marshall she has gravely injured Chad. Each character faces difficult ethical... Read Fuzzy Mud Summary

The Life of Gargantua and Pantagruel is a series of five novels written in French by François Rabelais in the 16th century. The novel-cycle relates the adventures of two giants in hyperbolic, satirical prose. Using humor ranging from slapstick to irony, Rabelais explores serious themes such as the development of education and religious reformation. The books are noted for their colorful, rich literary style, bursting with puns, allusions, and social commentary. An early example of... Read Gargantua And Pantagruel Summary

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