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2005-2006 Books

The Bookworm Book Club

Book Groups for April 12:

Among the Hidden by Margaret Perterson Haddix, 153 pp. 1998.
In a future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on his family's farm, until another "third" convinces him that the government is wrong.
- Mariah
- Kiara

The Book Thief by Marcus Zuzak, 550 pp. 2006
Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel--a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors. (VIA)
- Gabe
- Nils
- Ivy

The Children of Men by P.D. James. 241 pp. 1992 (reprinted 2006 to go with the current movie)
The year is 2021. No child has been born for twenty-five years. The human race faces extinction. Under the despotic rule of Xan Lyppiat, the Warden of England, the old are despairing and the young cruel. Theo Faren, a cousin of the Warden, lives a solitary life in this ominous atmosphere. That is until a chance encounter with a young woman leads him into contact with a group of dissenters. Suddenly his life is changed irrevocably, as he faces agonising choices, which could affect the future of mankind. Amazon.com
- Shannon
- Jacob
- Codey

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. 377 pp. 2005.
After learning that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea, Percy Jackson is transferred from boarding school to Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp for demigods, and becomes involved in a quest to prevent a war between the gods. VIA description
- Adela
- Ivy
- Chris
- Gabriel
- Chris
- Amy

Midshipwizard Halycyon-Blithe by James M. Ward. 288 pp. 2005.
Possessing latent magical abilities that he hopes will enable him to fulfill his potential, Halcyon Blithe takes on the duties of Midshipwizard aboard a nautical juggernaut, a vessel that harnesses a dragon with seafaring technology.
“Hogwarts goes to sea in Ward's workmanlike fantasy debut.” PW Review
- Hanna
- Jenna
- Ali
- Kate
- Shanna
- Ana
- Caitlin
- Robert A.

Peaches by Jodi Lynn Anderson. 311 pp. 2005
Three teenaged girls from very different backgrounds, thrown together to pick peaches in a Georgia orchard, spend a summer in pursuit of the right boy, the truest of friends, and the perfect peach. VIA description
- Jamie
- Crystal

The Importance Of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
Classic comic play…
- Emily

Here's what we read last year, along with the number of copies that the library has:

Bookworm Club Books 2005-2006

Acceleration by Graham McNamee; 210 pp. 2003 13 copies
Stuck working in the Lost and Found of the Toronto Transit Authority for the summer, seventeen-year-old Duncan finds the diary of a serial killer and sets out to stop him. LibNet

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel; 355 pp. 2004 2 copies
Matt, a young cabin boy aboard an airship, and Kate, a wealthy young girl traveling with her chaperone, team up to search for the existence of mysterious winged creatures reportedly living hundreds of feet above the Earth's surface. LibNet

Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison; 247 pp. 2001. 3 copies
A yearlong comic romp with Georgia as she flips from soaring joys to bottomless angst. (YALSA) Many other books in the series.

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie; 192 pages, 2002. 2 copies
…Set in China during the Cultural Revolution…this little gem of a book…is the story of two whimsical young men ordered to the countryside for reeducation as a result of their parents' political designation as "class enemies. Booklist

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller; 453 pp. 1961 (original publication) 9 copies
"One of the most bitterly funny works in the language... explosive, bitter, subversive, brilliant." LibNet

Companions of the Night by Vivian Vande Velde; 212 pp. 1995. 2 copies
When sixteen-year-old Kerry Nowicki helps a young man escape from a group of men who claim he is a vampire, she finds herself faced with some bizarre and dangerous choices. Libnet

The Constant Gardener by John le Carre; 576 pages: 2000 2 copies
“Featuring his strongest heroine since "The Russia House", le Carre's "The Constant Gardener" combines the international suspense of his Cold War thrillers with the exotic romanticism of "The Little Drummer Girl". This is a masterful novel by one of the most compelling and elegant storytellers of our time.” Amazon.com description

Dangerous Girls: The Novel by R.L. Stine; 292 pp. 2003 4 copies
After sixteen-year-old Destiny and her twin sister Livvy are turned into partial vampires at a summer camp, they try to find the "Restorer," someone who can return them to normal. (The Taste of Night is the sequel.)

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown; 454 pp. 2003. 13 copies
In a two-day span, American symbologist Robert Langdon finds himself accused of murdering the curator of the Louvre, on the run through the streets of Paris and London, and teamed up with French cryptologist Sophie Neveu to uncover nothing less than the secret location of the Holy Grail…Brown's intricate plot delivers more satisfying twists than a licorice factory. Booklist

Dawn by Ellie Wiesel; 102 pp. 1961. 4 copies
An illuminating document . . . the plight of traditional Jewish morality confronted with the modern world of power politics and of murder."--Maxwell Geismar Amazon.com

East by Edith Pattou; 498 pp. 2003. 4 copies
A young woman journeys to a distant castle on the back of a great white bear who is the victim of a cruel enchantment. LibNet

Eldest by Christopher Paolini.; 681 pp. 2004. 2 copies
After successfully evading an Urgals ambush, Eragon is adopted into the Ingeitum clan and sent to finish his training so he can further help the Varden in their struggle against the Empire.

Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time, Book 1) by Robert Jordan; 814 pages: 1990
“The peaceful villagers of Emond's Field pay little heed to rumors of war in the western lands until a savage attack by troll-like minions of the Dark One forces three young men to confront a destiny which has its origins in the time known as The Breaking of the World. This richly detailed fantasy presents a fully realized, complex adventure which will appeal to fans of classic quests. Recommended.” From Library Journal

First French Kiss and Other Traumas by Adam Bagdasarian; 144 pages, 2002 3 copies
A series of vignettes (short stories) from three points of view capture significant moments in his coming-of-age. It made Sam laugh and cry.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom; 196 pp. 2003. 4 copies
Weaves three stories about 83-year-old Eddie, the head maintenance person at Ruby Point Amusement park. Eddie meets 5 individuals in heaven each with a story to share, a secret to reveal and a lesson. The have profound meanings for Eddie on the real purpose of his life. LibNet

Freakenomics: A Rogue Economist Exploring the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner 4 copies
256 pages; 2005: “Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much heralded scholar who studies the stuff and riddles of everyday life -- from cheating and crime to sports and child rearing -- and whose conclusions regularly turn the conventional wisdom on its head. He usually begins with a mountain of data and a simple, unasked question. Some of these questions concern life-and-death issues; others have an admittedly freakish quality. Thus the new field of study contained in this book: freakonomics.” Amazon.com

Goose Girl by Shannon Hale; 363 pp. 2003. 6 copies
On her way to marry a prince she's never met, Princess Anidori is betrayed by her guards and her lady-in-waiting and must become a goose girl to survive until she can reveal her true identity and reclaim the crown that is rightfully hers. LibNet

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray; 2004 7 copies
After the suspicious death of her mother in 1895, sixteen-year-old Gemma returns to England, after many years in India, to attend a finishing school where she becomes aware of her magical powers and ability to see into the spirit world. LibNet Sequel: Rebel Angels

The Gunslinger (Gunslinger, Book 1) by Stephen King 5 copies
The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King (2nd in The Gunslinger series) 463 pp. 2003
Elaborating at great length on Robert Browning's cryptic narrative poem "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came," the second volume of King's post-Armageddon epic fantasy presents the equally enigmatic quest of Roland, the world's last gunslinger, who moves through an apocalyptic wasteland toward the Dark Tower, "the linchpin that holds all of existence together." LibNet

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: by Douglas Adams; Books 2 –5 of the “trilogy”:
Restaurant at the End of the Universe; 245 pp. 1980. 5 copies
Life, the Universe, and Everything; 277 pp. 1985. 3 copies
So Long and Thanks for All the Fish; 214 pp. 1985 4 copies
Mostly Harmless; 218 pp. 1992 3 copies

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice; 340 pages: 1976. 4 copies
“It seems amazing to me that I didn't get around to reading this book until years after it had been first published, especially because I'm a big vampire fan. I was working in a bookstore and finally picked it up...and couldn't put it down until I'd finished it. Interview is one of those books that stays with you long after you've read it. I still have moments where something will remind me of it and I'll sit there thinking about a particular scene or character. It was only a few months after reading this, and tearing through the sequel, as well, that I went to work for Ballantine and got the chance to sell Anne Rice's books as well as read them. I guess it was fate.” Amazon.com
Sequels: The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice; 491 pp. 1989.

Joy of Pi by David Blatner; 144 pp.
No number has captured the attention and imagination of people throughout the ages as much as the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. Pi–or ? as it is symbolically known–is infinite and, in The Joy of pi, it proves to be infinitely intriguing. With incisive historical insight and a refreshing sense of humor, David Blatner explores the many facets of pi and humankind's fascination with it–from the ancient Egyptians and Archimedes to Leonardo da Vinci and the modern-day Chudnovsky brothers, who have calculated pi to eight billion digits with a homemade supercomputer. Amazon.com

Life of Pi: A Novel by Yann Martel; 326 pages; c2001. 5 copies
“Life of Pi is a masterful and utterly original novel that is at once the story of a young castaway who faces immeasurable hardships on the high seas, and a meditation on religion, faith, art and life that is as witty as it is profound. Using the threads of all of our best stories, Yann Martel has woven a glorious spiritual adventure that makes us question what it means to be alive, and to believe.” Amazon.com

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden; 434 pp. c1997 3 copies
Enter a world where appearances are paramount, where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder, where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men, and where love is scorned as illusion. LibNet

A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly; 389 pp. 2003. 8 copies
In 1906, sixteen-year-old Mattie, determined to attend college and be a writer against the wishes of her father and iancé, takes a job at a summer inn where she discovers the truth about the death of a guest. Based on a true story. LibNet

One of Those Hideous Books where the Mother Dies by Sonya Sones; 268 pp. 2004. 4 copies
Fifteen-year-old Ruby Milliken leaves her best friend, her boyfriend, her aunt, and her mother's grave in Boston and reluctantly flies to Los Angeles to live with her father, a famous movie star who divorced her mother before Ruby was born.LibNet

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld (author of Uglies); 310 pp. 2005. 4 copies
Cal Thompson is a carrier of a parasite that causes vampirism, and must hunt down all of the girlfriends he has unknowingly infected. LibNet

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky; 213 pp. 1999 3 copies
What is most notable about this funny, touching, memorable first novel from Stephen Chbosky is the resounding accuracy with which the author captures the voice of a boy teetering on the brink of adulthood. Charlie is a freshman. And while's he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. He's a wallflower--shy and introspective, and intelligent beyond his years, if not very savvy in the social arts. Amazon.com

Pirates!: the true and remarkable adventures of Minerva Sharpe and Nancy Kington, Female Pirates by Celia Rees; 379 pp. 2003. 4 copies
In 1722, after arriving with her brother at the family's Jamaican plantation where she is to be married off, sixteen-year-old Nancy Kington escapes with her slave friend, Minerva Sharpe, and together they become pirates traveling the world in search of treasure.

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld; 384 pp. 2005. (Sequel to Uglies) 4 copies
In this highly anticipated sequel to the hit Uglies 2005), Tally Youngblood struggles to retain her mental acuity after undergoing the operation that transformed her into a Pretty. While in the renegade Ugly community, Tally learned that along with cosmetic enhancements, new Pretties are given brain lesions that leave them in a perpetual state of lazy vanity. Booklist

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen; 435 pp. Originally published in 1813. 5 copies
Jane Austen's classic novel captures all the affectations of class consciousness in the eighteenth century. LibNet

Pulling Princes: The Calypso Chronicles by Tyne O’Connell; 199 pp. 2004. 2 copies
“To pull”: to make out, to score, to kiss
Calypso, the lone American at a posh British all-girl’s boarding school , has raucous adventures as she tries to fit in with the British upper crust. Sam recommends! Ignore the cheesy cover!

Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice; 491 pp. 1989. 4 copies
Did you ever wonder where all those mischievous vampires roaming the globe in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles came from? In this, the third book in the series, we find out. That raucous rock-star vampire Lestat interrupts the 6,000-year slumber of the mama of all bloodsuckers, Akasha, Queen of the Damned. Amazon.com

Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez; 2001 3 copies
”Three high school seniors, a jock with a girlfriend and an alcoholic father, a closeted gay, and a flamboyant gay rights advocate, struggle with family issues, gay bashers, first sex, and conflicting feelings about each other.” LibNet

Rainbow High by Alex Sanchez; 247 pages: 2003 4 copies
Sequel to: Rainbow Boys.
Follows three gay high school seniors as they struggle with issues of coming out, safe sex, homophobia, being in love, and college choices.

Rebel Angels by Libba Bray; 560 pp. 2005 3 copies
In this sequel to the Victorian fantasy A Great and Terrible Beauty, Gemma continues to pursue her role as the one destined to bind the magic of the Realms and restore it to the Order--a mysterious group who have been overthrown by a rebellion. Gemma, Felicity and Ann, (her girlfriends at Spence Academy for Young Ladies), use magical power to transport themselves on visits from their corseted world to the visionary country of the Realms, with its strange beauty and menace. Amazon.com

Rumble Fish by S. E. Hinton; 135 pp. 1975. 6 copies
Rusty-James wants to be as great a street-fighter as his older brother until Bill Wilcox suddenly pulls a knife on him. LibNet

Sight by David Clement-Davies; 554 pp. 2003. 3 copies
In Transylvania during the Middle Ages, a pack of wolves sets out on a perilous journey to prevent their enemy from calling upon a legendary evil one that will give her the power to control all animals. LibNet

Shadowmarch: Volume 1 by Tad Williams; 656 pp. 2004. 5 copies
656 pages, 2004. “Shadowmarch: Volume 1 introduces a world conquered by humans, who have driven the Qar, or fairy folk, into the far north…” Great fantasy!

Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman; 262 pp. 2002 6 copies
Seventeen-year-old Vince's life is constantly complicated by the fact that he is the son of a powerful Mafia boss, a relationship that threatens to destroy his romance with the daughter of an FBI agent. LibNet

Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire (Sequel to Wicked) 1 copy
The death of Elphaba Thropp, the Wicked Witch of the West, brings about spectacular changes in this masterfully imaginative sequel to Maguire's 1995 blockbuster Wicked—most notably, the startling possibility that Elphaba had a son… Amazon.com

So Yesterday by Scott Westerfield; 225 pages, 2004. 5 copies
Hunter Braque, a New York City teenager who is paid by corporations to spot what is "cool," combines his analytical skills with girlfriend Jen's creative talents to find a missing person and thwart a conspiracy directed at the heart of consumer culture. LibNet

Speaker for the Dead (Ender – Book2) by Orson Scott Card; 382 pages: 1991 2 copies
Ender Wiggin, the hero and scapegoat of mass alien destruction in Ender's Game, receives a chance at redemption in this novel. Ender, who proclaimed as a mistake his success in wiping out an alien race, wins the opportunity to cope better with a second race, discovered by Portuguese colonists on the planet Lusitania. Orson Scott Card infuses this long, ambitious tale with intellect by casting his characters in social, religious and cultural contexts. Like its predecessor, this book won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards. Amazon.com description

Sun-tzu & The Art of War; 375 pp. 1994. 2 copies
Sun-Tzu is a landmark translation of the Chinese classic that is without a doubt one of the most important books of all time. Popularly known as The Art of War, Sun-Tzu is one of the leading books on strategic thinking ever written. While other books on strategy, wisdom, and philosophy come and go, both leaders and gentle contemplators alike have embraced the writings of Sun-tzu. Amazon.com

Tortilla Flat by John Stienbeck; 179 pages. 1935 2 copies
Originally published in 1935. The first of his novels to be set in the Monterey peninsula of California, this episodic, humorous tale of the adventures of a group of pleasure-loving Mexican-Americans contains some of Steinbeck's most interesting characters. The men drink, steal, chase women, make music, and dance until they are eventually undone by a climactic fire. Amazon.com

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer; 512 pages, 2005. 10 copies
Isabella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Isabella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Isabella, the person Edward holds most dear. The lovers find themselves balance precariously on the point of a knife -- between desire and danger.” (Publisher)

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld; 448 pages, 2005 5 copies
Tally Youngblood lives in a futuristic society that acculturates its citizens to believe that they are ugly until age 16 when they'll undergo an operation that will change them into pleasure-seeking "pretties." Amazon.com

The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green by Joshua Braff; 259 pp. 2004. 2 copies
A witty, sensitive boy observes the darkly humorous goings-on in his Orthodox Jewish family in 1970s New Jersey. Jacob Green idolizes his older brother, Asher, and misses his withdrawn mother, Claire, but his father, the charismatic, tyrannical Abram, dominates the family. At 10, Jacob's unthinkable sin of forgetting to wear his tzitzit to yeshiva sets off an amusing chain of events…Amazon.com

The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice; 550 pp. 1980. 2 copies
Sequel to Interview with a Vampire; followed by Queen of the Damned. Once an aristocrat in the heady days of pre-revolutionary France, now Lestat is a rockstar in the demonic, shimmering 1980s. He rushes through the centuries in search of others like him, seeking answers to the mystery of his terrifying exsitence. His story, the second volume in Anne Rice's best-selling Vampire Chronicles, is mesmerizing, passionate, and thrilling. Amazon.com

Warriors series by Erin Hunter
Into the Wild; 272 pp. 2002 4 copies
When Rusty, an ordinary housecat, becomes ThunderClan's new apprentice, he realizes that his past life has not prepared him for the hardships he now faces and so must work extra hard to prove he can be a true warrior. LibNet
Fire and Ice; 350 pp. 2005 4 copies
Forest of Secrets; 312 pp. 2004 1 copy

What Happened to Lani Garver by Carol Plum-Ucci; 307 pp. 2002. 4 copies
Sixteen-year-old Claire is unable to face her fears about a recurrence of her leukemia, her eating disorder, her need to fit in with the popular crowd on Hackett Island, and her mother's alcoholism until the enigmatic Lani Garver helps her get control of her life at the risk of his own. LibNet

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
406 pages, 1996 8 copies
When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil? Amazon.com