Rachel Baack

Summary: Rainbow Rowell’s book follows the story of two high-school outcasts: Eleanor Douglas and Park Sheridan. Each of these characters has behind-the-scenes personal struggles that no-one would guess, but, when they begin to bond over comic books and mix tapes, they start a relationship that will bring them into each other’s worlds and change each of their lives.

Summary: Christopher is a 15-year old boy who excels in math but struggles to understand human emotions, hates to be touched, and can’t stand the colors yellow or brown. As Christopher investigates the murder of a neighborhood dog, he begins to unravel some even bigger mysteries surrounding his own family.

Summary: In 1996, Catholic priest Frank Docherty, who holds a doctorate in psychology and is an expert in the pathology behind cases of sexual abuse committed by priests against children, chances to learn that a very powerful man in the Catholic church in Australia, the country where he grew up and which he considers home, has committed atrocious acts against several victims, all of whom have reached adulthood and one of whom has died by suicide. Frank must decide what to do to seek justice for these victims amidst a church climate that is less than helpful in reaching reconciliation and healing.

Summary: When Holden Caulfield is set to get kicked out of his private school at the end of the semester, he leaves a few days early to wander around New York City. He spends his days thinking and cussing to himself. His scattered, teenage-boy thought patterns reveal that this lost young man is something of an accidental lay philosopher with some deep thoughts and surprising past events on which to reflect.

Summary: When Buck, a majestic St. Bernard-shepherd mix is stolen from his owner to be sold to a prospector heading to Alaska in search of gold, he begins an action-filled, often brutal adventure. The book gives several rather graphic descriptions of violence toward and between Buck and the other dogs and humans he encounters.

Summary: Omakayas, a member of the Ojibwa Native American tribe, is a spirited young girl who, throughout the course of the book, learns about a special gift that she has. Her family and her tribe work hard, using the resources around them to make their living and experiencing several hardships along the way—some of them almost unspeakably painful. The book, in my opinion, is pretty slow getting started, but a little over halfway through, it starts to pick up, and it offers an excellent depiction of Native American life.

Summary: The shy, quiet protagonist, Aristotle, meets and begins a friendship with the outgoing Dante. As the two boys learn more about each other, make sacrifices for each other, and share the difficult parts of their lives with each other, their friendship develops into something deeper.

This book offers a comprehensive exposition of the progression of both racist and antiracist ideas and policies in the United States. It offers insight into the reality of racist ideas—in both segregationist and assimilationist forms—being produced to justify racist policies.

This book offers a comprehensive exposition of the progression of both racist and antiracist ideas and policies in the United States. It offers insight into the reality of racist ideas—in both segregationist and assimilationist forms—being produced to justify racist policies.

Summary: This story is told through several frames. The narrator is Mr. Lockwood, who has moved into a house called Thrushcross Grange. He is recounting a story that the housekeeper, Nelley, is telling him about the owner of Thrushcross Grange (Heathcliff) and the people he grew up with. Heathcliff was adopted by the parents of Catherine and Hindley, and Nelley tells about the relationship that developed between Heathcliff and the other members of the dysfunctional family. She traces the story all the way to Heathcliff's adulthood, and she tells Mr. Lockwood of the surprising amount of cruelty that took place in his house.

Summary: This story is told through several frames. The narrator is Mr. Lockwood, who has moved into a house called Thrushcross Grange. He is recounting a story that the housekeeper, Nelley, is telling him about the owner of Thrushcross Grange (Heathcliff) and the people he grew up with. Heathcliff was adopted by the parents of Catherine and Hindley, and Nelley tells about the relationship that developed between Heathcliff and the other members of the dysfunctional family. She traces the story all the way to Heathcliff's adulthood, and she tells Mr. Lockwood of the surprising amount of cruelty that took place in his house.