Classics Reading List

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z

All books are shelved by the author's last name in alphabetical order unless a call number is given in parentheses. Please see a librarian if you cannot find an item on the shelf.

FIC=Fiction.
M=Mystery
SF=Science Fiction
YA=Young Adult Section

A

Alcott, Louisa May. Jack and Jill. Charming old-fashioned friendship story of Jack and Jill and their journey into young adulthood. FIC

Alcott, Louisa May. Little Women. Chronicles the joy and sorrow of the four March sisters in 19th century New England. FIC

Anaya, Rudolfo. Bless Me, Ultima. Young Tony's eyes are opened to himself and the world around him when mystical Ultima comes to stay with his family. FIC

Armstrong, William. Sounder. A young black boy grows in courage and understanding with the help of his dog, Sounder. FIC

Austen, Jane. Emma. The story of a rich, clever, beautiful woman who can't resist meddling in other people's love lives. FIC

Austen, Jane. Northanger Abbey. An intriguing tale of men and women in pursuit of love, marriage and money. FIC

Austen, Jane. Persuasion. Apart eight years, lovers Anne and Wentworth attempt to renew their love. FIC

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Mrs. Bennett is faced with the task of marrying off her five daughters. FIC

Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. Two sisters attempt to find happiness in the tightly structured society of 18th century England. FIC

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B

Baldwin, James. Go Tell It on the Mountain. A family in Harlem is the focal point of this magnificent novel of black consciousness. FIC

Barrett, William. Lilies of the Field. A free-spirited ex-G.I. stumbles upon five refugee nuns and helps them build a chapel. FIC

Barrie, J.M. Peter Pan. The adventure of the Darling children in Neverland with Peter Pan, the boy who would not grow up. FIC

Baum, Frank L. The Wizard of Oz. A tornado snatches Dorothy and Toto from Kansas and deposits them in Oz, a wondrous world of sorcery and danger. FIC

Blackmore, Richard D. Lorna Doone. Kind-hearted Lorna, of the powerful, hated Doone clan, meets a young man whose father is killed by her family. FIC

Bligh, William. Mutiny on the Bounty. Fletcher Christian leads a mutiny on the high seas against the tyrannical Captain Bligh aboard the H.M.S. Bounty. FIC

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. A fireman in charge of burning forbidden books, suddenly finds himself a hunted fugitive, forced to choose between personal safety and intellectual freedom. YA SF

Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. A harshly treated orphan becomes a governess in a mysterious Yorkshire mansion. FIC

Bronte, Charlotte. Villette. A penniless governess, working at a foreign school, gets involved in mysterious incidents involving jealousy and love. FIC

Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. A tortured love affair between Heathcliff and Cathy ends when she marries the wealthy Edgar. Heathcliff's savage retaliation upon the woman he loves explodes in a stunning climax. FIC

Buck, Pearl. The Good Earth. A peasant farmer grows rich with the help of his wife only to lose it all when he betrays his family and neglects the earth he loves. FIC

Bunyon, John. The Pilgrim's Progress. The pilgrim Christian undertakes the dangerous journey into the Celestial City, experiencing physical and spiritual obstacles along the way. FIC

Burnett, Frances Hodgson. The Secret Garden. A magical tale of three youths who discover a world they never knew existed, and, in the process, a strength they didn't know they had. FIC

Butler, Samuel. The Way of All Flesh. This author takes a look at Darwinism and his own views on the creation theory. FIC

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C

Cather, Willa. Death Comes for the Archbishop. Father Latour attempts to win the Southwest for Catholicism. FIC

Cather, Willa. My Antonia. A pioneer woman pursues her quest for happiness in the big city. FIC

Cather, Willa. O Pioneers. A young immigrant girl inherits her father's undeveloped land and transforms it into a prosperous farm. FIC

Carroll, Lewis. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass. By following a rabbit down a hole, Alice experiences adventures with a variety of nonsensical characters. FIC

Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de. Don Quixote. Adventures of an eccentric country gentleman and his faithful companion who set out as knight and squire to right wrongs and punish evil. FIC

Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. A woman in search of self-discovery turns away from her material world and society, and toward the natural world and it's quiet beauty. FIC

Conrad, Joseph. Chance. Abandoned after her father is imprisoned, a girl learns the harsh truths about a woman's position in the world. FIC

Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer. Two stories, one of a civilized man who embarks on a harrowing journey into the heart of Africa, only to find his dark and evil soul and the saga of a young, inexperienced skipper forced to decide the fate of a fugitive sailor who killed a man in self-defense. FIC

Conrad, Joseph. Lord Jim. Story of a British sailor haunted by a single, youthful act of cowardly betrayal. FIC

Conrad, Joseph. Nostromo. Dramatic tale of high adventure set in a small South African state, involving revolution, deception, and the struggle of man fighting his greatest enemy-himself. FIC

Cooper, James Fenimore. The Deerslayer. Suspenseful story of an idealistic youth raised among the Mohawk Indians. FIC

Cooper, James Fenimore. The Last of the Mohicans. A brave woodsman, raised among the Mohawk Indians, becomes embroiled in the bloody battles of the French and Indian War. FIC

Cooper, James Fenimore. The Pioneers. A woodsman, raised among Mohawk Indians, reaches old age, finds his way of life challenged when open frontier becomes private property. FIC

Crane, Stephen. Maggie: A Girl of the Streets & Other Short Stories. Starkly realistic story of a pretty child of the Bowery along with four other of Crane's best short stories. FIC

Crane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage. A young soldier's romantic notions of war are shattered by his first experience in battle. FIC

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D

Defoe, Daniel. Moll Flanders. A high-spirited woman stops at nothing to overcome her background of impoverishment. FIC

Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe. A man is stranded on a uninhabited, tropical island for many years until one day he discovers footprints and realizes he is no longer alone. FIC

Dickens, Charles. A Christmas Carol. A miser learns the true meaning of Christmas when three ghostly visitors review his past and foretell his future. FIC

Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. Dickens tale of the French Revolution and it's "Reign of Terror." FIC

Dickens, Charles. Bleak House. The story of several generations of the Jarndyce family who wait in vain to inherit money from a disputed fortune in the settlement of the lawsuit Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce. FIC

Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. After harsh early years, the orphan Pip is given the means to become a gentleman by an unknown benefactor and learns that outward appearances can be deceiving. FIC

Dickens, Charles. Hard Times. In this bitter attack on materialism, Dickens uses the stage of the Industrial Revolution to carry his uniquely powerful message. FIC

Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. After escaping from a dreary workhouse, young Oliver runs away to London, only to fall into a gang of thieves. FIC

Dickens, Charles. The Pickwick Papers. Follow the bumbling Pickwickians along the highways and byways of Old England, as Dickens creates a vivid world of duels, lawsuits, jails, and hilarious romantic conflicts. FIC

Dodge, Mary Mapes. Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates. Poor Hans and his sister are excellent skaters but how can they compete for the magnificent silver skates prize racing on hand carved wooden skates? FIC

Dostoevsky, Fyodor. The Brothers Karamazov. A father is murdered and all four of his sons have a motive for the crime. FIC

Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Notes From the Underground and The Grand Inquisitor. The passionate confessions of a suffering man with a tormented soul. FIC

Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. A desperate young man plans and carries out the perfect crime only to plunge into a hell of persecution, madness and terror. FIC

Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. The Hound of the Baskervilles. Sherlock Holmes and Watson set out to solve the bloodcurdling case of a demon animal that is lurking about the Baskerville estate. YA M

Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. The Lost World. A professor leads an expedition into the deepest jungles of South America seeking a land still roaming with dinosaurs. FIC

Dreiser, Theodore. Sister Carrie. An 18 year old girl leaves her small town home for the big city in 1900. FIC

Dreiser, Theodore. An American Tragedy. A depiction of the harsh realities of American life and the dark side of the American dream. FIC

DuMaurier, Daphne. Rebecca. The second Mrs. de Winter begins her search for the real fate of Rebecca, the beautiful first wife of her rich husband. FIC

Dumas, Alexander. The Count of Monte Cristo. An escaped convict finds a hidden treasure, assumes a noble title and plans revenge against those who betrayed him. FIC

Dumas, Alexander. The Man in the Iron Mask. One of the Musketeers sneaks into prison where a mysterious prisoner holds a secret that could topple the king from his throne. FIC

Dumas, Alexander. The Three Musketeers. A young nobleman joins the Musketeers, and with his trio of friends, sets out to preserve the honor of King Louis XIII. FIC

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E

Edmonds, Walter. Drums Along the Mohawk. A young frontier leader protects Mohawk Valley settlers from Indian attacks. FIC

Eliot, George. Middle March. A young widow inherits a fortune only to find she will forfeit it if she remarries. FIC

Eliot, George. Silas Marner. A selfish, independent miser adopts an abandoned child. FIC

Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. A black man's search for success and the American dream leads him out of college to Harlem and a growing sense of personal rejection and social invisibility. FIC

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F

Faulkner, William. The Reivers. The grand misadventure of three unlikely thieves. FIC

Faulkner, William. The Sound and the Fury. Tells the tragic story of the Compson family. FIC

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Tells the tragic love story of Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. FIC

Flaubert,Gustave. Madame Bovary. An unsparing depiction of a woman's gradual corruption. FIC

Forbes, Esther. Johnny Tremain. A silversmith's apprentice in Boston becomes a messenger for the Sons of Liberty in the days before the American Revolution. FIC

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G

Goethe, Johann W. von. Sorrows of Young Werther and Selected Writings. A unique collection comprising those works of Goethe which stress his positive attitude toward love and death. FIC

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. A group of boys struggle to survive after their plane crashes on an isolated island. FIC

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H

Haggard, H. Rider. Allan Quartermain. Adventure story of three men and their guide who trek into the remote interior of Africa in search of a lost race. FIC

Hardy, Thomas. Jude the Obscure. An impoverished stone mason aspires to be a minister. FIC

Hardy, Thomas. The Mayor of Casterbridge. An ambitious man finds that the blind energies and defiant acts that bring him power can also destroy him. FIC

Hardy, Thomas. Return of the Native. A young man returns to his village inspired to improve the life of the villagers only to have his plans upset by love. FIC

Hardy, Thomas. Tess of the D'Ubervilles. The story of a young woman who is a victim of both circumstance and a rigid Victorian society, tortured by guilt for the wrong she feels she's committed. FIC

Harte, Bret. Outcasts of Poker Flat and Other Tales. A collection of stories about the American West. FIC

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The House of the Seven Gables. An excellent haunted house yarn that mixes reality with imagination. FIC

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. After two years in prison, a man returns to find his wife with a baby. She is condemned to wear the mark of an adultress. FIC

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Selected Short Stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne. A collection of Hawthorne's best short stories. FIC

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Twice Told Tales. A collection of short stories that reflect Hawthorne's moral insight and lifelong interest in Puritan New England. FIC

Hemingway, Ernest. A Farewell to Arms. WWI romantic yet tragic tale of a wounded soldier and his nurse. FIC

Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom the Bell Tolls. An American demolition expert lends his abilities to the anti-fascist freedom fighters of Spain. FIC

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. The story of a Cuban fisherman who becomes locked in a struggle with a giant marlin in the Gulf Stream. FIC

Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. This story encapsulates the angst of the post-World War I generation, known as the Lost Generation. FIC

Hesse, Herman. Demian. Dramatic story of a young man's awakening to selfhood. FIC

Hesse, Herman. Siddhartha. Story of a young man's spiritual quest. FIC

Hilton, James. Goodbye, Mr. Chips. Triumphant story of the world's most beloved schoolmaster. FIC

Hilton, James. Lost Horizon. A plane is hijacked to an idyllic valley where time has virtually stopped. FIC

Homer. The Iliad. The fiery inner conflict of Achilles. (YA 883.01 H752RI 1950)

Homer. The Odyssey. Homer's best loved poem recounting Odysseus' wanderings after the Trojan war. (YA 883.01 H75)

Hope, Anthony. The Prisoner of Zenda. The story of the good and evil brothers, one whom will be the king of Ruritania. FIC

Hughes, Thomas. Tom Brown's School Days. Follows Tom's career at Rugby, from his first day as a nobody to his last cricket match as captain of the team. FIC

Hugo, Victor. Hunchback of Notre Dame. A deformed bell ringer falls in love with a beautiful gypsy. FIC

Hugo, Victor. Les Miserables. A man in jail for stealing bread escapes and is pursued relentlessly by a fanatical inspector. FIC

Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. In a perfect world, marriage is against the law, babies are created in test tubes, old people are drugged and young people are brainwashed. FIC

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I
 

Irving, Washington. Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. A superstitious school master has a terrifying encounter with a headless horseman. FIC

J

James, Henry. The Ambassadors. A man encounters an unprecedented moral situation which he solves by blending his New World morals and his newly found Old World wisdom. FIC

James, Henry. Daisy Miller. An American living abroad with her daffy mother and bratty brother scandalize the Victorian high society of 1878. FIC

James, Henry. The Europeans. A captivating woman and her brother come to seek their fortunes in America. FIC

James, Henry. Portrait of a Lady. A spirited young American heiress insists on complete freedom to make her own decisions and choose her own fortune. FIC

James, Henry. Turn of the Screw. With horror, Miles and Flora's governess discovers that the children are willing victims of ghosts who seek to control the children's bodies, steal their minds and destroy their souls. FIC

James, Henry. Washington Square. A classic drama of an heiress, a dominating father, and a fortune-hunting suitor. FIC

Joyce, James. Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man. A highly autobiographical depiction of the intellectual awakening of one of literature's most memorable young heroes. FIC

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K

Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. Story of a young man who, transformed overnight into a giant beetle-like insect, becomes an object of disgrace to his family. FIC

Keller, Helen. Story of My Life. The dramatic true story of a blind, deaf and non-speaking girl and how she overcame the odds. (YA 923 K282)

Kipling, Rudyard. Captain's Courageous. A spoiled young millionaire is forced to work for the fisherman who saves him from drowning. FIC

Kipling, Rudyard. The Jungle Books. Eight stories of Mowgli, the Indian boy raised by wolves, befriended by Bagheera the Panther and Baloo the Bear. FIC

Kipling, Rudyard. Kim. An Irish boy living in India is raised by a half caste woman. He is free to roam until he meets his father's regiment and trades his free wheeling life to be a secret agent. FIC

Kipling, Rudyard. The Light That Failed. Story of an artist who makes a fortune and loses it when he loses his sight. FIC

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L

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Two children in a small, southern town are thrust into a world of racial bigotry and hatred when their lawyer father chooses to defend a black man unjustly accused of raping a white girl. FIC

Leroux, Gaston. Phantom of the Opera. An accident with acid produces a murderous madman who haunts the Paris Opera house causing bazaar deaths. FIC

Llewellyn, Richard. How Green Was My Valley. A man looks back on his life as a boy in a small, Welsh mining town. FIC

Lewis, Sinclair. Arrowsmith. Arrowsmith, a dedicated instructor of medicine and small town doctor, is forced to give up his love of science due to public ignorance and a publicly driven foundation. FIC

Lewis, Sinclair. Babbitt. A conniving, prosperous real estate man proves to be an opportunist in his business and personal affairs. FIC

Lewis, Sinclair. Elmer Gantry. A golden-tongued evangelist lives a life of hypocrisy, sensuality and ruthless self-indulgence. FIC

Lewis, Sinclair. Main Street. The lonely predicament of Carol Kennicott, caught between her desires for social reform and individual happiness. FIC

London, Jack. Call of the Wild. A coddled dog, stolen and sold as a sled dog, escapes captivity and becomes the most feared and admired dog in the North. FIC

London, Jack. Martin Eden. An autobiographical account of Jack London's life. FIC

London, Jack. Sea Wolf. High seas adventure about a man possessed with the power he holds over his crew. FIC

London, Jack. Stories of the North. Short stories of the North. FIC

London, Jack. To Build a Fire and Other Stories. Adventure stories of dogs and the Yukon territory. FIC

London, Jack. White Fang. The story of the wolf -dog White Fang, trained to be a vicious fighter, finds love and kindness in his new master. FIC

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M

Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince. When young Edward VI of England and a poor boy who resembles him switch places, each learns something about the other's very different station in life. FIC

Maugham, W. Somerset. Razor's Edge. A young man's search for identity in the tumultuous period following WWI. FIC

McCullers, Carson. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. A strange girl in a small southern town searches for beauty in her life. FIC

Melville, Herman. Billy Budd, Sailor and Other Stories. A tyrannical captain who tries to break the spirit of a courageous sailor and other stories. FIC

Melville, Herman. Moby Dick. A sea saga of one man's obsession for revenge upon the enormous white whale that has defeated Captain Ahab once before. FIC

Melville, Herman. Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life. Two sailors escape the squalor and bondage of their ship, reach the relative safety of an island valley and are unsure of the natives they encounter. FIC

Milton, John. Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained. Two of the greatest epic poems in English literature that explore God's justice and morality. (ADULT 821.4 M642)

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O

Orczy, Baroness. The Scarlet Pimpernel. Dashing English dandy, Sir Percy Blakeney, poses as the Scarlet Pimpernel to rescue aristocrats from death in revolutionary France. FIC

Orwell, George. Animal Farm. A fable about Farmer Jones' farm animals who revolt against their cruel master and are taken over by the pigs, finding they have exchanged one form of tyranny for another. FIC
Orwell, George. 1984. A chilling story of an imaginable future. FIC

O'Hara, Mary. My Friend Flicka. A 10-year-old boy sets his heart on taming a wild-spirited filly. FIC

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P

Paton, Alan. Cry the Beloved Country. Deeply moving story of the Zulu pastor, Stephen Kumalo and his son Absalom, set against the background of a land and people driven by racial injustice. FIC

Poe, Edgar Allan. Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales. Macabre stories of men and women caught up by mysterious or supernatural forces. FIC

Poe, Edgar Allan. Ghostly Tales and Eerie Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. (YA 818.3 P752G)

Poe, Edgar Allan. Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. (YA 818.3 P752H)

Poe, Edgar Allan. Tales of Mystery and Terror. FIC

Poe, Edgar Allan. Ten Great Mysteries. YA M

Poe, Edgar Allan. The Tell-tale Heart and Other Writings. (YA 818.3 P752)

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R

Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front. A group of young WWI German recruits pass from idealism to disillusionment with war. FIC

Richter, Conrad. Country of Strangers. A moving story of a girl torn between the claims of blood and loyalty. FIC

Richter, Conrad. The Fields. The powerful epic of an invincible woman who raised her family in a forbidding wilderness. FIC

Richter, Conrad. The Light in the Forest. Johnny Butler, an Indian since he was four years old, is unwillingly taken to his "true" home by white soldiers. FIC

Richter, Conrad. The Trees. The moving story of a courageous pioneer woman struggling to survive in an awakening land. FIC

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S

Saint-Exupery, Antoine de. The Little Prince. If you were the Little Prince you could fly all about the universe on flaming comets. FIC

Salinger, J.D. Catcher in the Rye. Classic coming of age story of Holden Caulfield. FIC

Salinger, J.D. Franny and Zooey. An insightful examination into the psychology of a young woman through the seemingly mundane events of her day to day life. FIC

Shakespeare, William. Antony and Cleopatra. Tragic story of the Queen of Egypt and the man she loved. (YA 822.33 S1 SH15)

Shakespeare, William. As You Like It. In this comedy, Orlando, the youngest of three brothers, is forced into exile in the forest by one brother and remains there as an outlaw until he is restored to his rightful position. (YA 822.33 03 SH15G)

Shakespeare, William. The Comedy of Errors. The action in this early comedy is based on the confusions between identical twin brothers. (YA 822.33 05 SH15M)

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. A prince senses treachery behind his royal father's death. (YA 822.33 S7 SH15B)

Shakespeare, William. Henry IV, part one and part two. Henry V. A trilogy on the youth and young manhood of the victor at Agincourt, a popular king of the Elizabethan period. (YA 822.33 W1 SH15)

Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. Shakespeare's play depicting the conspiracy to assassinate the Roman emperor, Julius Caesar. (YA 822.33 T1 SH15BA)

Shakespeare, William. King Lear. A foolish king divides his realm between two ungrateful daughters. (YA 822.33 T3 SH15b)

Shakespeare, William. Love's Labor Lost. A comedy about a group of young men who vow to deny love for three years and devote themselves to study and the young women determined to cause them to break their vow. (YA 822.33 O7 SH15)

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. A tragic story of love, murder and betrayal set around the murder of the King of Scotland. (YA 822.33 T5 SH15)

Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. Comedy adventure of Bassanio who borrows money from his merchant friend, Antonio, to woo a rich woman. (YA 822.33 P3Sh15BA)

Shakespeare, William. The Merry Wives of Windsor. In this comedy, Sir John Falstaff decides to court Mistress Page and Mistress Ford in hopes of obtaining money, only to be played the fool. (YA 822.33 P5 SH15M)

Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream. Shakespeare's comedy about fairy creatures who meddle with varying results in the lives of humans wandering in the woods. (YA 822.33 P7 SH15G)

Shakespeare, William. Much Ado About Nothing. Shakespeare's comedy about two army officers who fall in love and have very different outcomes with their relationships. (YA 822.33 Q1 SH15B)

Shakespeare, William. Othello. The tragic story of how the sinister Iago manipulates the trust of Othello until Othello murders his loving wife Desdemona in a fit of jealousy. (YA 822.33 T7 SH15)

Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Timeless tragedy of young lovers caught in the middle of their feuding families. (YA 822.33 U3 SH15G)

Shakespeare, William. Shakespeare's Stories. (YA 822.33)

Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. This play revolves around an enchanted island, an exiled duke, young lovers and a framework of conspiracy. (YA 822.33 Q5 SH15G)

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Richard III. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, having determined to obtain the crown, sets out to dispose of every obstacle that may stand in his way. (YA 822.33 X5 SH15M)

Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night. Shakespeare comedy about a girl disguised as a page who acts as an emissary from the man she loves to the woman he loves. (YA 822.33 T5 C838M)

Scott, Sir Walter. Ivanhoe. The romantic tale of a knight who returns home from the Crusades to claim his princess bride, but gets caught up in the feud between Prince John and his brother Richard the Lionhearted. FIC

Sewell, Anna. Black Beauty. The horse Black Beauty tells of his joyous and heartbreaking life. FIC

Shaw, George Bertrand. Caesar and Cleopatra. Story of the great Cleopatra and the man she loved. FIC

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. A scientist creates a terrifying monster. FIC

Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. Explores the working man's lot at the turn of the century; the back breaking labor, the injustices of "wage slavery", the bewildering chaos of urban life. FIC

Smith, Betty. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. The story of a young girl in turn of the century Brooklyn who adores her charming but irresponsible father and resents her mother who tries to hold the family together. FIC

Smith, Betty. Joy in the Morning. A story of the difficult first year of marriage between a Brooklyn girl and a law student. FIC

Solzhenitsyen, Alexander. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. A common carpenter is viciously imprisoned for countless years on baseless charges and sentenced to work in the Soviet work camps of Siberia. FIC

Soroyan, William. Human Comedy. A fourteen year old telegraph messenger finds himself caught between reality and illusion as delivering his messages of wartime death, love and money brings him face to face with human emotion at it's most naked and raw. FIC

Steinbeck, John. Cannery Row. Set in a seedy California town that once a harbored a thriving fishing industry, a marine biologist and a young runaway find romance amid an assortment of hapless characters. FIC

Steinbeck, John. East of Eden. The searing story about the oldest and most terrible of conflicts: brother against brother. FIC

Steinbeck, John. Grapes of Wrath. The migration of the Joad family to California from their dust bowl farm in Oklahoma during the Great Depression. FIC

Steinbeck, John. Moon is Down. When German soldiers invade a provincial Norwegian town, the people of Norway refuse to let their spirit die. FIC

Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. In Depression-era California, two migrant workers dream of better days until an act of unintentional violence leads to tragic consequences. FIC

Steinbeck, John. The Pearl. Tells the story of a poor Mexican fisherman whose dreams of wealth are both realized and shattered. FIC

Steinbeck, John. The Red Pony. The love of a family is threatened by a boy's devotion to a red pony. FIC

Steinbeck, John. Tortilla Flat. In the run-down district of Tortilla Flat lives a gang whose adventures compare to those of King Arthur's knights. FIC

Stevenson, R.L. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. A scientist concocts a potion that releases the animal side of man. FIC

Stevenson, R.L. Kidnapped. Exciting saga of a young man's quest for his rightful inheritance. FIC

Stevenson, R.L. Treasure Island. The story of Jim Hawkins's journey across the high seas and his battle of wits with Long John Silver in search of buried treasure. FIC

Stoker, Bram. Dracula. Timeless tale of the infamous count and the lovely Eva. FIC

Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom's Cabin. Helpless slaves are driven to rebel against their wicked oppressors. FIC

Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's Travels. The tale of an 18th century physician who travels through a variety of fantastical lands, only to have everyone but his wife take him for a madman when he returns home. FIC

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T

Tarkington, Booth. Monsieur Beaucaire. The honorable Duke of Chartes is forced to assume a new identity after he ignores a command from King Louis XV to marry the spoiled and sharp-tongued princess. FIC

Thackery, William. Vanity Fair. Charming, willful Becky Sharp climbs to the top of society, living surprisingly beyond her means. FIC

Tolstoy, Leo. Anna Karenina. A married Russian woman is madly in love with a military officer. FIC

Tolstoy, Leo. The Death of Ivan Ilyich. A high court judge faces his own mortality and is surprised by his reaction. FIC

Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace. The personal stories, love affairs and philosophies of many characters in Russia during Napoleon's invasion at the turn of the 19th century. FIC

Traven, B. Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Story of three American adventurers who hunt for gold in the mountains of Mexico. FIC

Twain, Mark. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. A boy can no longer stand the restrictions of his life, fakes his death and escapes to the freedom of the Mississippi River. FIC

Twain, Mark. Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Tom's adventures along the Mississippi River with his friends Huckleberry Finn and Becky Thatcher. FIC

Twain, Mark. The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain. FIC

Twain, Mark. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. A turn-of-the-century blacksmith is knocked unconscious and awakens in 6th century Camelot. FIC

Twain, Mark. Life on the Mississippi. Mark Twain's own experiences as an apprentice riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River before the Civil War. FIC

Twain, Mark. Prince and the Pauper. A prince and a poor boy who resembles him, switch places. FIC

Twain, Mark. Pudd'nhead Wilson. A mulatto slave switches her disconcertingly White baby with her master's son to protect it in a time of strong racial prejudice. FIC

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V

Verne, Jules. Around the World in Eighty Days. Phineas Fogg and his companion set out to circle the globe in 80 days. FIC

Verne, Jules. Journey to the Center of the Earth. Three men enter the earth through a volcano and begin a perilous, astonishing journey. YA SF

Verne, Jules. Mysterious Island. Five Union prisoners are stranded on an uncharted island. FIC

Verne, Jules. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Join Captain Nemo aboard the Nautilus as he does battle with a great squid and escapes the crushing pressure of the polar ice cap. FIC

Voltaire. Candide. Story of a gentle man who, though beaten by fate, clings desperately to the belief that he lives in "the best of all possible worlds." FIC

Vonnegut, Kurt. Cat's Cradle. An ultimate commentary on modern man and his madness. FIC

Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughter House Five. A man becomes unstuck in time after he is abducted by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore. FIC

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Wallace, Lew. Ben-Hur. A Judean prince is unjustly arrested and enslaved. FIC

Wharton, Edith. The Age of Innocence. A man is torn between his respect for tradition and family and his attraction to his fiancee's cousin. FIC

Wharton, Edith. Ethan Frome. The story of a man torn between his joyless marriage to one woman and his desire for another. FIC

Wharton, Edith. House of Mirth. Introduction to Edith Wharton's New York. FIC

Wells, H.G. Invisible Man. An obscure scientist finds a way to turn his body invisible and goes insane. YA SF

Wells, H.G. War of the Worlds. The chilling story of the invasion of earth by Martians.

Wells, H.G. The Time Machine. A young scientist's ingenious machine propels him to a civilization thoroughly devitalized by centuries of war. YA SF

Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. This tale follows a young rake's progress toward complete moral decay as he pledges his soul for youth and beauty. FIC

Wilder, Thornton. Bridge of San Luis Rey. A humble monk witnesses an inexplicable tragedy and is committed to discovering whether the tragedy was divine intervention or fate. FIC

Wright, Richard. Native Son. Tragic story of Bigger Thomas, a hard-working, honest black man trying to get by in the white man's world. FIC

Wyss, Johann. The Swiss Family Robinson. A Swiss family becomes shipwrecked on a deserted island where they spend ten years imaginatively creating their home. FIC

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