Bestselling Classics Books for Teen & Young Adults

Here are the top 30 bestselling classics books for teen & young adults. Please click Read Review to read book reviews on Amazon. You can also click Find in Library to check book availability at your local library. If the default library is not correct, please follow Change Library to reset it.

1. The Outsiders

by: S. E. Hinton
Release date: Apr 20, 2006
Number of Pages: 224
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50 years of an iconic classic! This international bestseller and inspiration for a beloved movie is a heroic story of friendship and belonging.

No one ever said life was easy. But Ponyboy is pretty sure that he’s got things figured out. He knows that he can count on his brothers, Darry and Sodapop. And he knows that he can count on his friends—true friends who would do anything for him, like Johnny and Two-Bit. But not on much else besides trouble with the Socs, a vicious gang of rich kids whose idea of a good time is beating up on “greasers” like Ponyboy. At least he knows what to expect—until the night someone takes things too far.

The Outsiders is a dramatic and enduring work of fiction that laid the groundwork for the YA genre. S. E. Hinton’s classic story of a boy who finds himself on the outskirts of regular society remains as powerful today as it was the day it was first published.

The Outsiders transformed young-adult fiction from a genre mostly about prom queens, football players and high school crushes to one that portrayed a darker, truer world.” —The New York Times

“Taut with tension, filled with drama.” —The Chicago Tribune

“[A] classic coming-of-age book.” —Philadelphia Daily News

A New York Herald Tribune Best Teenage Book
A Chicago Tribune Book World Spring Book Festival Honor Book
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
Winner of the Massachusetts Children’s Book Award

tags:

Children’s Books

2. The Catcher in the Rye

by: J.D. Salinger
Release date: May 01, 1991
Number of Pages: 240
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Anyone who has read J.D. Salinger’s New Yorker stories ? particularly A Perfect Day for Bananafish, Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut, The Laughing Man, and For Esme ? With Love and Squalor, will not be surprised by the fact that his first novel is fully of children. The hero-narrator of THE CATCHER IN THE RYE is an ancient child of sixteen, a native New Yorker named Holden Caulfield. Through circumstances that tend to preclude adult, secondhand description, he leaves his prep school in Pennsylvania and goes underground in New York City for three days. The boy himself is at once too simple and too complex for us to make any final comment about him or his story. Perhaps the safest thing we can say about Holden is that he was born in the world not just strongly attracted to beauty but, almost, hopelessly impaled on it. There are many voices in this novel: children’s voices, adult voices, underground voices-but Holden’s voice is the most eloquent of all. Transcending his own vernacular, yet remaining marvelously faithful to it, he issues a perfectly articulated cry of mixed pain and pleasure. However, like most lovers and clowns and poets of the higher orders, he keeps most of the pain to, and for, himself. The pleasure he gives away, or sets aside, with all his heart. It is there for the reader who can handle it to keep.
tags:

Literature & Fiction > Classics

3. You’re Only Old Once!: A Book for Obsolete Children

by: Dr. Seuss
Release date: Jan 27, 2009
Number of Pages: 56
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With his unmistakable rhymes and signature illustration style, Dr. Seuss creates a classic picture-book ode to aging in You’re Only Old Once! On a visit to “the Golden Years Clinic on Century Square for Spleen Readjustment and Muffler Repair,” readers will laugh with familiar horror at the poking and prodding and testing and ogling that go hand in hand with the dreaded appellation of “senior citizen.” Though Dr. Seuss is known for his peerless work in books for children, this comical look at what it’s like to get older is ideal for Seuss fans of advanced years. In his own words, this is “a book for obsolete children.” A perfect gift for retirement, birthdays, and holidays!
tags:

Business & Money

4. The Little Prince

by: Antoine de Saint-ExupéryRichard Howard
Release date: Jun 29, 2000
Number of Pages: 96
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Few stories are as widely read and as universally cherished by children and adults alike as The Little Prince. Richard Howard’s translation of the beloved classic beautifully reflects Saint-Exupéry’s unique and gifted style. Howard, an acclaimed poet and one of the preeminent translators of our time, has excelled in bringing the English text as close as possible to the French, in language, style, and most important, spirit. The artwork in this edition has been restored to match in detail and in color Saint-Exupéry’s original artwork. Combining Richard Howard’s translation with restored original art, this definitive English-language edition of The Little Prince will capture the hearts of readers of all ages.

This title has been selected as a Common Core Text Exemplar (Grades 4-5, Stories).

tags:

Literature & Fiction > Classics

5. The Wrinkle in Time Quintet Boxed Set (A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, An Acceptable Time)

by: Madeleine L’Engle
Release date: Oct 02, 2007
Number of Pages: 244
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The Time Quintet by Madeleine L’Engle consists of A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time. The digest box set features the art of Taeeun Yoo.

A Wrinkle in Time is one of the most significant novels of our time. This fabulous, ground-breaking science-fiction and fantasy story is the first of five in the Time Quintet series about the Murry family. A Wrinkle in Time is soon to be a major motion picture from Disney, directed by Ava DuVernay, starring Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling.

A Wind in the Door?When Charles Wallace falls ill, Meg, Calvin, and their teacher, Mr. Jenkins, must travel inside C.W. to make him well, and save the universe from the evil Echthros.

A Swiftly Tilting Planet?The Murry and O’Keefe families enlist the help of the unicorn, Gaudior, to save the world from imminent nuclear war.

Many Waters?Meg Murry, now in college, time travels with her twin brothers, Sandy and Dennys, to a desert oasis that is embroiled in war.

An Acceptable Time?While spending time with her grandparents, Alex and Kate Murry, Polly O’Keefe wanders into a time 3,000 years before her own.

tags:

Teen & Young Adult > Literature & Fiction > Classics

6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower

by: Stephen Chbosky
Release date: Aug 14, 2012
Number of Pages: 224
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Read the cult-favorite coming of age story that takes a sometimes heartbreaking, often hysterical, and always honest look at high school in all its glory. Also a major motion picture starring Logan Lerman and Emma Watson, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a funny, touching, and haunting modern classic.

The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky, Perks follows observant “wallflower” Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.

A #1 New York Times best seller for more than a year, an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults (2000) and Best Book for Reluctant Readers (2000), and with millions of copies in print, this novel for teen readers (or “wallflowers” of more-advanced age) will make you laugh, cry, and perhaps feel nostalgic for those moments when you, too, tiptoed onto the dance floor of life.

tags:

Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Coming of Age

7. Thirteen Reasons Why

by: Jay Asher
Release date: Jun 14, 2011
Number of Pages: 288
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THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES AND INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

“Eerie, beautiful, and devastating.” —Chicago Tribune

“A stealthy hit with staying power. . . . thriller-like pacing.” —The New York Times

Thirteen Reasons Why will leave you with chills long after you have finished reading.” —Amber Gibson, NPR’s “All Things Considered”
 

You can’t stop the future. 

You can’t rewind the past.
The only way to learn the secret . . . is to press play.

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker—his classmate and crush—who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah’s voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out why.
               
Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah’s pain, and as he follows Hannah’s recorded words throughout his town, what he discovers changes his life forever.
tags:

Children’s Books > Growing Up & Facts of Life > Fiction

8. The Hobbit

by: J. R. R. Tolkien
Release date: Sep 18, 2012
Number of Pages: 300
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Now a major motion picture

A great modern classic and the prelude to THE LORD OF THE RINGS

 
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. They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon. Bilbo reluctantly joins their quest, unaware that on his journey to the Lonely Mountain he will encounter both a magic ring and a frightening creature known as Gollum.

“A glorious account of a magnificent adventure, filled with suspense and seasoned with a quiet humor that is irresistible . . . All those, young or old, who love a fine adventurous tale, beautifully told, will take The Hobbit to their hearts.” – New York Times Book Review

tags:

Children’s Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy & Magic

9. Scott Pilgrims Precious Little Boxset

by: Bryan Lee O’Malley
Release date: Nov 23, 2010
Number of Pages: 1208
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Looking for the perfect entry point into the world of Scott Pilgrim? Well, this is it, buddy! All six volumes of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s epic tale of a slacker’s quest to win the heart of the girl of his dreams by defeating her seven evil ex-boyfriends! All together in a beautiful new slipcase! Also includes an exclusive poster featuring an all-new full color piece by Bryan Lee O’Malley!
tags:

Comics & Graphic Novels > Graphic Novels > Fantasy

10. The Fire Next Time

by: James Baldwin
Release date: Dec 01, 1992
Number of Pages: 128
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A national bestseller when it first appeared in 1963, The Fire Next Time galvanized the nation and gave passionate voice to the emerging civil rights movement. At once a powerful evocation of James Baldwin’s early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice, the book is an intensely personal and provocative document. It consists of two “letters,” written on the occasion of the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, that exhort Americans, both black and white, to attack the terrible legacy of racism. Described by The New York Times Book Review as “sermon, ultimatum, confession, deposition, testament, and chronicle…all presented in searing, brilliant prose,” The Fire Next Time stands as a classic of our literature.
tags:

Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National > African-American & Black

11. The Outsiders 50th Anniversary Edition

by: S.E. Hinton
Release date: Nov 01, 2016
Number of Pages: 224
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50 years of an iconic classic! The international bestseller and inspiration for a beloved movie–now with bonus content.

This special edition of the groundbreaking novel contains:

Never before seen photos and letters from the publisher’s archives
Original review clippings and media coverage
Photos from the author’s personal collection
A gallery of covers around the world
New material from the stars and director of the iconic film–including Francis Ford Coppola, Rob Lowe, Matt Dillon, and others
And much more!
 
Celebrating 50 years of the novel that laid the groundwork for the YA genre, this is the ultimate edition for fans of THE OUTSIDERS. A perfect way to honor this impressive milestone and a must-have for fans of all ages.
 

Ponyboy can count on his brothers. And on his friends. But not on much else besides trouble with the Socs, a vicious gang of rich kids whose idea of a goo d time is beating up on “greasers” like Ponyboy. At least he knows what to expect—until the night someone takes things too far.

tags:

Teen & Young Adult > Literature & Fiction > Social & Family Issues > Family > Siblings

12. Meditations (Dover Thrift Editions)

by: Marcus Aurelius
Release date: Jul 11, 1997
Number of Pages: 112
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One of the world’s most famous and influential books, Meditations, by the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 121–180), incorporates the stoic precepts he used to cope with his life as a warrior and administrator of an empire. Ascending to the imperial throne in A.D. 161, Aurelius found his reign beset by natural disasters and war. In the wake of these challenges, he set down a series of private reflections, outlining a philosophy of commitment to virtue above pleasure and tranquility above happiness.
Reflecting the emperor’s own noble and self-sacrificing code of conduct, this eloquent and moving work draws and enriches the tradition of Stoicism, which stressed the search for inner peace and ethical certainty in an apparently chaotic world. Serenity was to be achieved by emulating in one’s personal conduct the underlying orderliness and lawfulness of nature. And in the face of inevitable pain, loss, and death — the suffering at the core of life — Aurelius counsels stoic detachment from the things that are beyond one’s control and a focus on one’s own will and perception.
Presented here in a specially modernized version of the classic George Long translation, this updated and revised edition is easily accessible to contemporary readers. It not only provides a fascinating glimpse into the mind and personality of a highly principled Roman of the second century but also offers today’s readers a practical and inspirational guide to the challenges of everyday life.

tags:

Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > Europe > Rome

13. One Hundred Years of Solitude (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)

by: Gabriel Garcia MarquezGregory Rabassa
Release date: Feb 21, 2006
Number of Pages: 417
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One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendía family. Inventive, amusing, magnetic, sad, and alive with unforgettable men and women — brimming with truth, compassion, and a lyrical magic that strikes the soul — this novel is a masterpiece in the art of fiction.

tags:

Literature & Fiction > Classics

14. The Essential Calvin and Hobbes: a Calvin and Hobbes Treasury

by: Bill Watterson
Release date: Jan 05, 1988
Number of Pages: 256
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Beginning with the day Hobbes sprang into Calvin’s tuna fish trap, the first two Calvin and Hobbes collections, Calvin and Hobbes and Something Under The Bed Is Drooling, are brought together in this treasury. Including black-and-white dailies and color Sundays, The Essential Calvin and Hobbes also features an original full-color 16-page story.

Perhaps the most brilliant comic strip ever created, Calvin and Hobbes continues to entertain with dazzling cartooning and tremendous humor.
Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes has been a worldwide favorite since its introduction in 1985. The strip follows the richly imaginative adventures of Calvin and his trusty tiger, Hobbes. Whether a poignant look at serious family issues or a round of time-travel (with the aid of a well-labeled cardboard box), Calvin and Hobbes will astound and delight you.

Beginning with the day Hobbes sprang into Calvin’s tuna fish trap, the first two Calvin and Hobbes collections, Calvin and Hobbes and Something Under The Bed Is Drooling, are brought together in this treasury. Including black-and-white dailies and color Sundays,  The Essential Calvin and Hobbes also features an original full-color 16-page story.

tags:

Comics & Graphic Novels > Comic Strips

15. A Confederacy of Dunces

by: John Kennedy TooleWalker Percy
Release date: Sep 01, 2019
Number of Pages: 405
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A Confederacy of Dunces is an American comic masterpiece. John Kennedy Toole’s hero, one Ignatius J. Reilly, is “huge, obese, fractious, fastidious, a latter-day Gargantua, a Don Quixote of the French Quarter. His story bursts with wholly original characters, denizens of New Orleans’ lower depths, incredibly true-to-life dialogue, and the zaniest series of high and low comic adventures” (Henry Kisor, Chicago Sun-Times).
tags:

Literature & Fiction > Classics

16. A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel

by: Madeleine L’EngleHope Larson
Release date: Mar 31, 2015
Number of Pages: 416
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A graphic novel adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s ground-breaking science fiction and fantasy classic, soon to be a major motion picture.

The world already knows Meg and Charles Wallace Murry, Calvin O’Keefe, and the three Mrs?Who, Whatsit, and Which?the memorable and wonderful characters who fight off a dark force and save our universe in the Newbery Award–winning classic A Wrinkle in Time. But in 50 years of publication, the book has never been illustrated. Now, Hope Larson takes the classic story to a new level with her vividly imagined interpretations of tessering and favorite characters, like the Happy Medium and Aunt Beast. Perfect for delighting old fans and winning over new ones, this graphic novel adaptation is a must-read.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle is soon to be a major motion picture from Disney, directed by Ava DuVernay, starring Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling.

tags:

Teen & Young Adult > Literature & Fiction > Classics

17. Hamlet ( Folger Library Shakespeare)

by: William ShakespeareDr. Barbara A. MowatPaul Werstine Ph.D.
Release date: Jul 01, 2003
Number of Pages: 342
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Hamlet: An UPDATED EDITION from the Folger Shakespeare Library

Hamlet is Shakespeare’s most popular, and most puzzling, play. It follows the form of a “revenge tragedy,” in which the hero, Hamlet, seeks vengeance against his father’s murderer, his uncle Claudius, now the king of Denmark. Much of its fascination, however, lies in its uncertainties.

Among them: What is the Ghost–Hamlet’s father demanding justice, a tempting demon, an angelic messenger? Does Hamlet go mad, or merely pretend to? Once he is sure that Claudius is a murderer, why does he not act? Was his mother, Gertrude, unfaithful to her husband or complicit in his murder?

The authoritative edition of Hamlet from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes:

-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
-Newly revised explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play
-Scene-by-scene plot summaries
-A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases
-An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language
-An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
-Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books
-An up-to-date annotated guide to further reading

Essay by Michael Neill

Enjoy this updated Folger edition of Hamlet in either the handy pocket-sized mass market paperback (ISBN 978-0743477123), elegant trade paperback featuring finer paper and wider margins (ISBN 978-1451669411), or Kindle edition (ASIN B00IWTWDA6).
tags:

Literature & Fiction > Classics

18. Macbeth (Folger Shakespeare Library)

by: William ShakespeareDr. Barbara A. MowatPaul Werstine Ph.D.
Release date: Jul 01, 2003
Number of Pages: 304
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In 1603, James VI of Scotland ascended the English throne, becoming James I of England. London was alive with an interest in all things Scottish, and Shakespeare turned to Scottish history for material. He found a spectacle of violence and stories of traitors advised by witches and wizards, echoing James’s belief in a connection between treason and witchcraft.

In depicting a man who murders to become king, Macbeth teases us with huge questions. Is Macbeth tempted by fate, or by his or his wife’s ambition? Why does their success turn to ashes?

Like other plays, Macbeth speaks to each generation. Its story was once seen as that of a hero who commits an evil act and pays an enormous price. Recently, it has been applied to nations that overreach themselves and to modern alienation. The line is blurred between Macbeth’s evil and his opponents’ good, and there are new attitudes toward both witchcraft and gender.

The authoritative edition of Macbeth from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes:

-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
-Newly revised explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play
-Scene-by-scene plot summaries
-A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases
-An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language
-An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
-Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books
-An up-to-date annotated guide to further reading

Essay by Susan Snyder

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu.

tags:

Literature & Fiction > Classics

19. Cat’s Cradle: A Novel

by: Kurt Vonnegut
Release date: Sep 08, 1998
Number of Pages: 304
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Cat’s Cradle is Kurt Vonnegut’s satirical commentary on modern man and his madness. An apocalyptic tale of this planet’s ultimate fate, it features a midget as the protagonist, a complete, original theology created by a calypso singer, and a vision of the future that is at once blackly fatalistic and hilariously funny. A book that left an indelible mark on an entire generation of readers, Cat’s Cradle is one of the twentieth century’s most important works—and Vonnegut at his very best.
tags:

Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Cats, Dogs & Animals

20. The Prince (Dover Thrift Editions)

by: Niccolò MachiavelliN. H. Thompson
Release date: Sep 21, 1992
Number of Pages: 80
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As a young Florentine envoy to the courts of France and the Italian principalities, Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527) was able to observe firsthand the lives of people strongly united under one powerful ruler. His fascination with that political rarity and his intense desire to see the Medici family assume a similar role in Italy provided the foundation for his “primer for princes.” In this classic guide to acquiring and maintaining political power, Machiavelli used a rational approach to advise prospective rulers, developing logical arguments and alternatives for a number of potential problems, among them governing hereditary monarchies, dealing with colonies and the treatment of conquered peoples. Refreshing in its directness, yet often disturbing in its cold practicality, The Prince sets down a frighteningly pragmatic formula for political fortune. Starkly relevant to the political upheavals of the 20th century, this calculating prescription for power remains today, nearly 500 years after it was written, a timely and startling lesson in the practice of autocratic rule that continues to be much read and studied by students, scholars and general readers as well.
tags:

Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Movements & Periods > Renaissance

21. Bridge to Terabithia

by: Katherine PatersonDonna Diamond
Release date: Dec 28, 2004
Number of Pages: 208
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This Newbery Medal-winning novel by bestselling author Katherine Paterson is a modern classic of friendship and loss.

Jess Aarons has been practicing all summer so he can be the fastest runner in the fifth grade. And he almost is, until the new girl in school, Leslie Burke, outpaces him. The two become fast friends and spend most days in the woods behind Leslie’s house, where they invent an enchanted land called Terabithia. One morning, Leslie goes to Terabithia without Jess and a tragedy occurs. It will take the love of his family and the strength that Leslie has given him for Jess to be able to deal with his grief.

In addition to being a Newbery Medal winner, Bridge to Terabithia was also named an ALA Notable Children’s Book and has become a touchstone of children’s literature, as have many of Katherine Paterson’s other novels, including The Great Gilly Hopkins and Jacob Have I Loved.

Supports the Common Core State Standards

tags:

Teen & Young Adult > Literature & Fiction > Classics

22. The Souls of Black Folk (Dover Thrift Editions)

by: W. E. B. Du BoisWilliam Edward Burghardt Du Bois
Release date: May 20, 1994
Number of Pages: 176
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This landmark book is a founding work in the literature of black protest. W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) played a key role in developing the strategy and program that dominated early 20th-century black protest in America. In this collection of essays, first published together in 1903, he eloquently affirms that it is beneath the dignity of a human being to beg for those rights that belong inherently to all mankind. He also charges that the strategy of accommodation to white supremacy advanced by Booker T. Washington, then the most influential black leader in America, would only serve to perpetuate black oppression.
Publication of The Souls of Black Folk was a dramatic event that helped to polarize black leaders into two groups: the more conservative followers of Washington and the more radical supporters of aggressive protest. Its influence cannot be overstated. It is essential reading for everyone interested in African-American history and the struggle for civil rights in America.
tags:

Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National > African-American & Black

23. The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern’s Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure

by: William Goldman
Release date: Oct 08, 2007
Number of Pages: 512
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William Goldman’s modern fantasy classic is a simple, exceptional story about quests—for riches, revenge, power, and, of course, true love—that’s thrilling and timeless.

 

Anyone who lived through the 1980s may find it impossible—inconceivable, even—to equate The Princess Bride with anything other than the sweet, celluloid romance of Westley and Buttercup, but the film is only a fraction of the ingenious storytelling you’ll find in these pages. Rich in character and satire, the novel is set in 1941 and framed cleverly as an “abridged” retelling of a centuries-old tale set in the fabled country of Florin that’s home to “Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passions.”

tags:

Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > TV, Movie, Video Game Adaptations

24. Harry Potter – The Ultimate Book of Facts

by: Jack GoldsteinFrankie Taylor
Release date: Dec 03, 2013
Number of Pages: 60
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Are you a huge fan of Harry Potter? You have probably read every book and seen every film many times over. But how much do you really know? This excellent book has more than two hundred facts that will surprise and amaze you in equal measure. Sections include: – Harry Potter and Daniel Radcliffe – Quidditch – Hermione Granger and Emma Watson – The Ministry of Magic – The Triwizard Tournament – Hogwarts – And many more If you love Harry Potter and want to expand your knowledge of the series, this is the perfect way to do it – you can even use these fantastic facts to make the ultimate quiz for your friends!
tags:

Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Genres & Styles > Children’s Literature

25. The Grapes of Wrath

by: John SteinbeckRobert DeMott
Release date: Mar 28, 2006
Number of Pages: 464
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The Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of the Great Depression, a book that galvanized—and sometimes outraged—millions of readers.

First published in 1939, Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of the Great Depression chronicles the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s and tells the story of one Oklahoma farm family, the Joads—driven from their homestead and forced to travel west to the promised land of California. Out of their trials and their repeated collisions against the hard realities of an America divided into Haves and Have-Nots evolves a drama that is intensely human yet majestic in its scale and moral vision, elemental yet plainspoken, tragic but ultimately stirring in its human dignity. A portrait of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless, of one man’s fierce reaction to injustice, and of one woman’s stoical strength, the novel captures the horrors of the Great Depression and probes into the very nature of equality and justice in America. At once a naturalistic epic, captivity narrative, road novel, and transcendental gospel, Steinbeck’s powerful landmark novel is perhaps the most American of American Classics.

This Penguin Classics edition contains an introduction and notes by Steinbeck scholar Robert Demott.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

tags:

Literature & Fiction > Classics

26. Animal Farm: 1984

by: George OrwellChristopher Hitchens
Release date: Jun 01, 2003
Number of Pages: 400
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ANIMAL FARM

George Orwell’s classic satire of the Russian Revolution is an intimate part of our contemporary culture. It is the account of the bold struggle, initiated by the animals, that transforms Mr. Jones’s Manor Farm into Animal Farm–a wholly democratic society built on the credo that All Animals Are Created Equal. Out of their cleverness, the pigs Napoleon, Squealer, and Snowball emerge as leaders of the new community in a subtle evolution that proves disastrous. The climax is the brutal betrayal of the faithful horse Boxer, when totalitarian rule is reestablished with the bloodstained postscript to the founding slogan: But some Animals Are More Equal Than Others. . . .

1984

In 1984, London is a grim city where Big Brother is always watching you and the Thought Police can practically read your mind. Winston is a man in grave danger for the simple reason that his memory still functions. Drawn into a forbidden love affair, Winston finds the courage to join a secret revolutionary organization called The Brotherhood, dedicated to the destruction of the Party. Together with his beloved Julia, he hazards his life in a deadly match against the powers that be.

tags:

Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Satire

27. A Clockwork Orange

by: Anthony Burgess
Release date: Apr 17, 1995
Number of Pages: 213
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Great Music, it said, and Great Poetry would like quieten Modern Youth down and make Modern Youth more Civilized. Civilized my syphilised yarbles.

A vicious fifteen-year-old droog is the central character of this 1963 classic. In Anthony Burgess’s nightmare vision of the future, where the criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, who talks in a brutal invented slang that brilliantly renders his and his friends’ social pathology. A Clockwork Orange is a frightening fable about good and evil, and the meaning of human freedom. When the state undertakes to reform Alex to “redeem” him, the novel asks, “At what cost?” This edition includes the controversial last chapter not published in the first edition and Burgess’s introduction “A Clockwork Orange Resucked.”

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Literature & Fiction > Classics

28. Flowers for Algernon

by: Daniel Keyes
Release date: May 01, 2005
Number of Pages: 324
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Oscar-winning film Charly starring Cliff Robertson and Claire Bloom-a mentally challenged man receives an operation that turns him into a genius…and introduces him to heartache.
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Literature & Fiction > Classics

29. The Lord of the Rings: 50th Anniversary, One Vol. Edition

by: J.R.R. Tolkien
Release date: Oct 12, 2005
Number of Pages: 1178
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One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell by chance into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.

From Sauron’s fastness in the Dark Tower of Mordor, his power spread far and wide. Sauron gathered all the Great Rings to him, but always he searched for the One Ring that would complete his dominion.

When Bilbo reached his eleventy-first birthday he disappeared, bequeathing to his young cousin Frodo the Ruling Ring and a perilous quest: to journey across Middle-earth, deep into the shadow of the Dark Lord, and destroy the Ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom.

The Lord of the Rings tells of the great quest undertaken by Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring: Gandalf the Wizard; the hobbits Merry, Pippin, and Sam; Gimli the Dwarf; Legolas the Elf; Boromir of Gondor; and a tall, mysterious stranger called Strider.

This new edition includes the fiftieth-anniversary fully corrected text setting and, for the first time, an extensive new index.

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973), beloved throughout the world as the creator of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion, was a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford, a fellow of Pembroke College, and a fellow of Merton College until his retirement in 1959. His chief interest was the linguistic aspects of the early English written tradition, but while he studied classic works of the past, he was creating a set of his own.

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Literature & Fiction > Classics

30. The Color Purple

by: Alice Walker
Release date: May 28, 2003
Number of Pages: 300
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Now a Broadway musical
 
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize
 
Winner of the National Book Award
 
Published to unprecedented acclaim, The Color Purple established Alice Walker as a major voice in modern fiction. This is the story of two sisters—one a missionary in Africa and the other a child wife living in the South—who sustain their loyalty to and trust in each other across time, distance, and silence. Beautifully imagined and deeply compassionate, this classic novel of American literature is rich with passion, pain, inspiration, and an indomitable love of life.

“Intense emotional impact . . . Indelibly affecting . . . Alice Walker is a lavishly gifted writer.” — New York Times Book Review

“Places Walker in the company of Faulkner.” — The Nation

“Superb . . . A work to stand beside literature of any time and place.” — San Francisco Chronicle

“A novel of permanent importance.” — Peter S. Prescott, Newsweek
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Literature & Fiction > Classics

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Last updated: Monday, December 5, 2016 9:52 AM