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NOTE: A “classic” is a work
of literature which has stood the “test of time” to be recognized for its
high quality. Classics generally display excellence in characterization,
theme, plot, and literary style.
Focus on Classics
Pick for December
2009
Collodi,
Carlo. PINOCCHIO (1881) (AR
6pts. Rdg. Level 5.3 )
In Gepetto’s hand a piece of wood that talks becomes a living mischievous
marionette
and eventually becomes a real boy. |
MORE CLASSICS
Alcott, Lousia May. LITTLE WOMEN (1868)
Story of the family life of the author and her
sisters as they grow up in a
busy New England household.
Austen, Jane. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (1813)
In a
middle-class English household, Mrs. Bennett is on a shameless
“husband-hunt”
for each of
her five daughters.
Barrie, J. M. PETER PAN (1906)
John, Wendy
and Michael join Peter Pan, the boy who would not grow up, and
Tinkerbell in
this classic story of adventure.
Baum, L. Frank. THE WIZARD OF OZ (1900)
Whisked from
Kansas to the magical land of Oz, Dorothy Gale meets a Scarecrow,
a Tin
Woodsman and a Cowardly Lion, and they all set off to find the Wizard.
Blackmore, R. D. LORNA DOONE (1869)
The romance and adventures of a Scottish nobleman’s daughter and the English
yeoman who rescued her from kidnappers.
Bronte, Charlotte. JANE EYRE (1847)
Jane becomes governess for the children of the strange, moody Mr. Rochester,
and
then falls in love with him.
Bronte, Emily. WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1848)
Heathcliff, a waif from the streets of Liverpool, England, becomes a
disruptive catalyst
in the Earnshaw family’s lonely moorland estate.
Buck,
Pearl. THE GOOD EARTH (1931)Flood, drought, pestilence, and revolution
are
interwoven into the story of a virtuous Chinese peasant and his wife.
Bunyan, John. PILGRIM’S PROGRESS (1678)
The character Christian encounters many friends and foes as he journeys from
the
“City of Destruction” to the “Celestial City.”
Burnett, Frances Hodgson. THE SECRET GARDEN (1911)
Mary, a self-centered girl and Colin, a pampered invalid boy, learn
compassion and generosity within the walls of an abandoned garden.
Carroll, Lewis. ALICE’S ADVENTURE IN WONDERLAND (1865)
Alice follows a rabbit down a rabbit hole and comes face to face with
adventure and
strange characters.
Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de. DON QUIXOTE OF THE MANCHA (1605)
The adventures of an eccentric country gentleman and his faithful companion
who set
out as knight and squire of old to right wrongs and punish evil.
Clemens, Samuel L. (Mark Twain) ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER (1876)
Tom and his friend Huck Finn accidentally witness a murder, run away to a
river island, and are assumed dead by the townspeople.
Clemens, Samuel L. A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR’S COURT
(1889) Satirical spoof taking an American backward in time to the England of
Galahad.
Clemens, Samuel L. (Mark Twain) HUCKLEBERRY FINN (1884)
Huck learns about life when he escapes from his brutal father and rafts down
the
Mississippi River with Jim, a runaway slave.
Clemens, Samuel L. (Mark Twain) THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER (1881)
Tale of a royal prince and a poor street boy, identical in appearance, who
change places accidentally.
Collodi,
Carlo. PINOCCHIO (1881)
In Gepetto’s hand a piece of wood that talks becomes a living mischievous
marionette
and eventually becomes a real boy.
Colum,
Padriac (editor). THE ARABIAN NIGHTS (1200-1500)
A collection of ancient mid-Eastern tales, including “Sinbad the Sailor” and
“Ali Baba
and the Forty Thieves.” Told by an Arabic woman to delay her execution.
Cooper, James Fenimore. THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS (1826)
Natty Bumppo is the central heroic figure in the “Leather-stocking Tales.”
In this
second novel of the series, he and his Indian friend Uncas try to save the
two daughters
of a British commander during the French and Indian War.
Crane, Stephen. THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE (1895)
Portrays a young soldier’s fear at the Civil War battle of Chancellorsville.
DeFoe,
Daniel. ROBINSON CRUSOE (1719)
A young seaman is cast ashore on an uninhabited tropical island for more
than 28 years.
Dickens, Charles. DAVID COPPERFIELD (1850)
Traces the life of a mistreated boy who overcomes many obstacles to find
literary
success and marital happiness.
Dickens, Charles. GREAT EXPECTATIONS (1861)
When Pip receives sudden wealth from an unknown benefactor, he forsakes his
friends
in order to become a London gentleman.
Dickens, Charles. OLIVER TWIST (1838)
Tale of an apprenticed orphan who escapes to London where he is captured by
thieves
and forced into a life of treachery.
Dodge, Mary Mapes. HANS BRINKER or THE SILVER SKATES. (1865)
A Dutch boy and girl work toward two goals – finding the doctor who can
restore their
father’s memory and winning the competition for the silver skates.
Doyle, A. Conan. THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (1891)
The brilliant but eccentric detective solves tough cases which even Scotland
Yard
cannot handle.
Doyle, A. Conan. THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (1902)
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson set out to solve the mystery that has haunted
the Baskerville Family for years.
Dumas, Alexandre. THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1844)
During a turbulent time in French history, three adventurers support a
French nobleman
with their amazing exploits and narrow escapes.
Grahame,
Kenneth. THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS (1907)
Mole and Badger love their Toad until he becomes involved in crime, in this
classic
animal fantasy of the English countryside.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES (1851)
The Pyncheon family of Salem, Massachusetts suffers from a curse placed upon
their
home by Matthew Maule.
Hemingway, Ernest. THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA (1952)
An old fisherman catches a giant marlin and struggles to bring it ashore.
Hilton, James. LOST HORIZON (1933)
The classic fantasy about a peaceful hidden valley in Tibet where people do
not grow old.
Hudson, W. H. GREEN MANSIONS (1904)
The tragic story of a man’s love for a half-wild bird girl of the South
American jungle.
Hughes, Thomas. TOM BROWN’S SCHOOLDAYS (1857)
The story of a boy’s life at Rugby, and English public school, and the ways
he is changed
by school life.
Hugo,
Victor. THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1831)
A romance from medieval times in which a deformed bellringer of the Paris
cathedral
defends the woman Esmeralda.
Hugo,
Victor. LES MISERABLES (THE MISERABLES ONES) (1862)
A panoramic view of French society centered around the character Valjean, a
peasant victimized by circumstances.
Kipling, Rudyard. CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS (1897)
The story of a spoiled boy who is washed overboard from an ocean liner,
picked up by
a fishing trawler, and forced to work for his keep.
Kipling, Rudyard. THE JUNGLE BOOKS (1895)
A collection of animal stories set in India, featuring the life of Mowgli, a
boy who
was brought up as a wolf cub.
London, Jack. CALL OF THE WILD (1903)
Rugged outdoor story of the sled dog, Buck, who was badly mistreated until
rescued
by his beloved master John Thornton.
Malory,
Sir Thomas. LE MORTE D’ARTHUR (1469)
(and other versions of the King Arthur legends)
A collection of medieval Celtic legends revolving around a partly mythical,
partly
historical hero known as a mighty warrior and a just ruler. His Knights of
the Round
Table were known for their deeds of daring and chivalry.
Melville, Herman. MOBY DICK (1851)
An American epic tale about a captain of a whaleship and his obsession to
catch the
whale named Moby Dick.
Mitchell, Margaret. GONE WITH THE WIND (1936)
A classic Civil War novel in which Scarlet O’Hara, a willful “Southern
belle,”
tries to defy the devastation of the South and the men who want to control
her.
Orczy, Baroness. THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL (1905)
An English nobleman pretends to be a sissy to rescue French royalty from
Terrorists
during the Revolution.
Pyle,
Howard. THE MERRY ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1883)
A cycle of English legends about a popular English outlaw who lived in
Sherwood Forest
and protected the downtrodden.
Sewell, Anna. BLACK BEAUTY (1877)
An imaginary autobiography of a horse who led an interesting life with a
series of good
and bad owners.
Spyri,
Johanna. HEIDI (1880)A Swiss orphan is heartbroken when she must leave
her
beloved grandfather and their happy home in the mountains to go to school
and to
care for an invalid girl in the city.
Steinbeck, John. THE PEARL (1947)
A tragic story about the disaster which a giant pearl brings to a simple man
and
his family.
Stevenson, Robert Louis. THE BLACK ARROW (1888)
During the War of the Roses, Richard Shelton’s cross-bow and stout heart are
pitted
against the ambitious and wily Sir Daniel.
Stevenson, Robert Louis. KIDNAPPED (1886)
The story of young David Balfour, an orphan, whose miserly uncle cheats him
out of
his inheritance and schemes to have him kidnapped, shanghaied, and sold into
slavery.
Stevenson, Robert Louis. STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE
(1886)
A physician preoccupied with problems of good and evil creates a drug which
transforms him into two distinct personalities.
Stevenson, Robert Louis. TREASURE ISLAND (1883)
Jim Hawkins learns of a buried treasure from an old sailor and sets off to
find it with two friends and a mutinous ship’s crew.
Stoker, Bram. DRACULA (1897)
Having deduced the double identity of Count Dracula, a wealthy Transylvanian
nobleman, a small group of people vow to rid the world of the evil vampire.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher. UNCLE TOM’S CABIN (1852)
A pre-Civil War book condemning slavery which centers upon the trials and
human
dignity of an old black slave.
Swift, Jonathan. GULLIVER’S TRAVELS (1726)
Written in the form of a journal, the story traces the journeys of Lemuel
Gulliver to
four mythical lands, and makes fun of mankind’s stupidity.
Tolkein,
John R. R. THE HOBBIT (1938)
The gentle hobbit Bilbo Baggins pursues the stolen treasure in the
adventure-packed
fantasy of “Middle Earth.”
Verne, Jules. AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS (1873)
The hero Phileas Fogg undertakes a hasty world tour with his loyal French
valet Passepartout, to win a bet made at his London club.
Verne, Jules. 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA (1870)
Verne correctly predicts the invention of deep-sea submarines in this story
in which
the central characters are captured by the evil Captain Nero.
Wharton, Edith. ETHAN FROME (1911)
In this New England tale, the lives of a poor farmer and his complaining
wife are
greatly complicated by the arrival of cousin Mattie.
Wilde, Oscar. THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (1891)
A handsome young man has his portrait painted and unleashes a gradual
deterioration
of his character.
Wyss,
Johann. THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON (1813)
A Swiss clergyman, his wife and four sons are shipwrecked on a desert
island.
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