Lord of the Flies (1954) ?????
Written by: William Golding
Genres: social commentary, allegory
Movie versions:Lord of the Flies (1963),Lord of the Flies (1990)
Summary::In Lord of the Flies, British schoolboys are stranded on a tropical island. In an attempt to recreate the culture they left behind, they elect Ralph to lead, with the intellectual Piggy as counselor. But Jack wants to lead, too, and one-by-one, he lures the boys from civility and reason to the savage survivalism of primeval hunters. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding gives us a glimpse of the savagery that underlies even the most civilized human beings.
Reader level: Difficult
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The Crysalids(1955) ?????
Written by: John Wyndham
Genres: classic science fiction
Movie versions:none
Summary::The Chrysalids is set in the future after a devastating global nuclear war. David, the young hero of the novel, lives in a tight-knit community of religious and genetic fundamentalists, who exist in a state of constant alert for any deviation from what they perceive as the norm of God’s creation, deviations broadly classified as ‘offenses’ and ‘blasphemies.’ Offenses consist of plants and animals that are in any way unusual, and these are publicly burned to the accompaniment of the singing of hymns. Blasphemies are human beings; ones who show any sign of abnormality, however trivial. They are banished from human society, cast out to live in the wild country where, as the authorities say, nothing is reliable and the devil does his work. David grows up surrounded by admonitions: KEEP PURE THE STOCK OF THE LORD; WATCH THOU FOR THE MUTANT. At first he hardly questions them, though he is shocked when his sternly pious father and rigidly compliant mother force his aunt to forsake her baby. It is a while before he realizes that he too is out of the ordinary, in possession of a power that could doom him to death or introduce him to a new, hitherto-unimagined world of freedom.
Reader level: Medium
The Graduate(1963) ?????
Written by: Charles Webb
Genres: classic juvenile fiction
Movie versions:1964
Summary::As far as Benjamin Braddock’s parents are concerned, his future is sewn up. Now he has graduated from college, he will go to Yale or Harvard, get a good job and enjoy a life of money, cocktails and pool parties in the suburbs, just like them. For Benjamin, however, this isn’t quite enough. When his parents’ friend Mrs Robinson, a formidable older woman, strips naked in front of him and they begin an affair, it seems he might have found a way out. That is, until her daughter Elaine comes into the picture, and things get far more complicated.
Reader level: Easy
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The Shadow of the Wind(2001) ?????
Written by: Carlos Ruiz Zaf?n
Genres: historical,thriller
Movie versions:none
Summary::Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer?s son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Juli?n Carax. But when he sets out to find the author?s other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax?s books in existence. Soon Daniel?s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona?s darkest secrets–an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.
Reader level: Medium
The Boy in the striped Pyjamas(2001) ?????
Written by: John Boyne
Genres: historical,drama
Movie versions:2008
Summary:When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance.
But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.
Reader level: Easy
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The Catcher in the Rye(1951) ?????
Written by: J.D.Salinger
Genres:classic fiction
Movie versions:none
Summary:The first-person narrative follows Holden Caulfield’s experiences in New York City in the days following his expulsion from Pencey Prep, a fictional college preparatory school in the fictional city of Agerstown, Pennsylvania. Holden shares encounters he has had with students and faculty of Pencey, whom he criticizes as being superficial, or, as he would say, “phony”. After being expelled from the school for poor grades, Holden packs up and leaves the school in the middle of the night after an altercation with his roommate. He takes a train to New York, but does not want to return to his family and instead checks into the dilapidated Edmont Hotel. There, he spends an evening dancing with three tourist girls and has a clumsy encounter with a prostitute; he refuses to do anything with her and, after he tells her he just wants to talk, she becomes annoyed with him and leaves. However, he still pays her for her time. She demands more money than was originally agreed upon and when Holden refuses to pay he is beaten by her pimp, Maurice.
Reader level: Easy
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