Norman Dietz
Author
Series
Accelerated Reader
IL: MG - BL: 2.4 - AR Pts: 1
Lexile measure
370L
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
"The classic boyhood adventure tale, updated with a new introduction by noted Mark Twain scholar R. Kent Rasmussen. A consummate prankster with a quick wit, Tom Sawyer dreams of a bigger fate than simply being a "rich boy." Yet through the novel's humorous escapades-from the famous episode of the whitewashed fence to the trial of Injun Joe-Mark Twain explores the deeper themes of the adult world, one of dishonesty and superstition, murder and revenge,...
Author
Accelerated Reader
IL: MG+ - BL: 6.6 - AR Pts: 18
Lexile measure
GN 980L
Language
English
Appears on list
Formats
Description
Classics. Mark Twain's tale of a boy's picaresque journey down the Mississippi on a raft conveyed the voice and experience of the American frontier as no other work had done before. When Huck escapes from his drunken father and the 'sivilizing' Widow Douglas with the runaway slave Jim, he embarks on a series of adventures that draw him to feuding families and the trickery of the unscrupulous 'Duke' and 'Dauphin'. Beneath the exploits, however, are...
3) The Odyssey
Author
Accelerated Reader
IL: UG - BL: 10.3 - AR Pts: 24
Lexile measure
1050L
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Description
"The first great adventure story in the Western canon, The Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty, and power; about marriage and family; about travelers, hospitality, and the yearning for home. In this fresh, authoritative version--the first English translation of The Odyssey by a woman--this stirring tale of shipwrecks, monsters, and magic comes alive in an entirely new way. Written in iambic pentameter verse...
Author
Series
Accelerated Reader
IL: MG - BL: 5.5 - AR Pts: 3
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
The enchanting story of a shipwrecked family--a minister, his wife, and four sons--who are cast up on a desert island, build a wonderful house in a tree, and survive so cleverly and happily apart from the world that they never want to be rescued.
Author
Accelerated Reader
IL: UG - BL: 9.2 - AR Pts: 21
Lexile measure
1080L
Language
English
Description
A blow on the head transports a Yankee to 528 A.D. where he proceeds to modernize King Arthur's kingdom by organizing a school system, constructing telephone lines, and inventing the printing press.
6) Roughing It
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Mark Twain's semi-autobiographical travel memoir, "Roughing It" was written between 1870-1871 and subsequently published in 1872. Billed as a prequel to "Innocents Abroad", in which Twain details his travels aboard a pleasure cruise through Europe and the Holy Land in 1867, "Roughing It" conversely documents Twain's early days in the old wild west between the years 1861-1867. Employing his characteristically humoristic wit and flare for regional dialect,...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Think back to when you were little, visiting relatives--the ones who lived in a small town, in a house with a big front porch. After supper you sat on the porch, at the edge of the conversation's circle, listening to story after story. The sun was setting. The western sky turned pink. The crickets started up. Somewhere down the block, a screen door banged. You've been there haven't you--and long to go back? Let master storyteller Philip Gulley take...
Author
Series
Accelerated Reader
IL: UG - BL: 9.1 - AR Pts: 24
Language
English
Formats
Description
He was Sam Clemens, steamboat pilot, before he was Mark Twain, famous author. His better-known name originated with the lingo of navigation, and much of his writing was informed by his shipboard adventures on one of the world's great rivers. In this classic of American literature, Twain offers lively recollections ranging from his salad days as a novice pilot to views from the passenger deck in the twilight of the river culture's heyday. Under the...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Master storyteller Philip Gulley returns to the winsome ways of Harmony, Indiana, the small Midwestern town that captured the hearts of readers in his acclaimed debut novel, Home to Harmony. Just Shy of Harmony follows the happenings of an eventful year spanning two Easters, in which Quaker pastor Sam Gardner and the members of his flock discover surprising answers to life's challenging mysteries.
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
The title story of this collection of short gems by America's greatest humorist, published in 1900, tells of a man's attempt to gain revenge on the hypocritcal citizens of a supposedly "incorruptible" town. Other stories include "The Man Who Put Up at Gadsby's" and "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County."
12) The Bootlegger
Author
Language
English
Description
The story of Colchester, Illinois, and its hometown gangster turned folk hero, Henry "Kelly" Wagle. Legendary for his good deeds & slick driving, notorious for his violent temper & dark secrets, Wagle is also the central figure in 2 unsolved murder cases.
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
A Southern town scandalized by the murder of its most prominent citizen uncovers a mystery even more shocking in this ironic suspense story from a great American master Afraid for her infant son's life, a slave switches the boy with her master's child. A young New York lawyer fascinated by palmistry and fingerprint analysis moves below the Mason–Dixon line, makes a bad joke, and is immediately and forever branded a "pudd'nhead." Two Italian noblemen...
Author
Accelerated Reader
IL: UG - BL: 4 - AR Pts: 7
Language
English
Description
"An unpretentious, finely-crafted novel that will linger with the readers like the last strains of a favorite hymn. It is more enjoyable than a pitcher full of sweet tea and one of Mattie's home-cooked dinners."--The Atlanta Journal & Constitution
She had as much business keeping a stray dog as she had walking across Egypt--which not so incidentally is the title of her favorite hymn. She's Mattie Rigsbee, an independent, strong-minded senior citizen,...
Author
Series
Harmony series (Philip Gulley) volume 6
Language
English
Formats
Description
It's summer in Harmony, but not everything is as sunny as the weather. The good citizens of Harmony are back and stirring up trouble as usual, sometimes with disastrous results.
Pastor Sam Gardner must take a leave of absence from his post at Harmony Friends Meeting to take care of his ailing father.
But when spunky pastor Krista Riley comes to fill his position, the quirky Quakers seem to fall in love with her, and it begins to look like Sam's...
18) The rifle
Author
Accelerated Reader
IL: MG - BL: 6.8 - AR Pts: 3
Lexile measure
1480L
Language
English
Formats
Description
A priceless, handcrafted rifle, fired throughout the American Revolution, is passed down through the years until it fires on a fateful Christmas Eve of 1994.
19) Spirit wolf
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
In frigid Montana, a boy tracks a killer wolf and learns to be a man. It is the worst winter anyone in Montana can remember. If the cold doesn't let up soon, the Brue family farm may be done for good - and the Brues along with it. Young Nashua Brue is shivering over his breakfast one morning when his father announces that Nash will be taking the week off school. A great wolf has been savaging the local cattle, and the cattlemen's association has offered...