PATRIARCH/MATRIARCH

B ALI

Remnick, David. King of the World. New York: Vintage Books, [1998].

Note: Born Cassius Clay in segregated Louisville, KY, in 1942, Muhammad Ali became "The Greatest" boxer and world champion, admired for decency, courage, and now for his debilities from thousands of head injuries and the onset of Parkinson's disease. We follow blow-by-blow reports of his first three momentous fights; his conversion to Islam; his friendship with and later rejection of Malcom X; the draft scandal that robbed him of three crucial years and probably $10 million; and, briefly, his four marriages.

B BRADFORD

Doherty, Kieran. William Bradford : rock of Plymouth. Brookfield, Conn: Twenty

-First Century Books, [1999].

Note: A biography of one of the founders of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts

and a history of the Pilgrims' difficult times during their early years in

the New World.

B CARSON

Carson, Ben. Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, [1990].

Note: Raised in inner-city Detroit by a mother with a third grade education, Ben lacked motivation. He had terrible grades. And a pathological temper threatened to put him in jail. But Sonya Carson convinced her son that he could make something of his life, even though everything around him said otherwise.  Trust in God, a relentless belief in his own capabilities, and sheer determination catapulted Ben from failing grades to the top of his class — and beyond to a Yale scholarship, the University of Michigan Medical School, and finally, at age 33, the directorship of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.

B CLEMENC

Stanley, Jerry. Big Annie of Calumet: A true story of the Industrial Revolution. New York: Crown, [1996].

Note: In 1913, miners in Calumet, Michigan, fought to a bitter stand-off with the powerful C & H Mining Company. An inspiration for many strikers was the wife of a Croatian miner, Annie Clemec. At 6-foot-2 inches, "Big Annie" led marches seven days a week over the months of the strike, carrying a "massive American flag on a 10-foot staff." Protesting the brutal working conditions, low pay, and the fact that "on average, one worker a week died in the mines, and two were crippled for life every day" at Calumet, Annie's dedication won the hearts and attention of many citizens and newspapers, who in turn backed the striking miners.

B JOR

Dolan, Sean. Michael Jordan: Basketball great. Topeka, KS: Econo-Clad, [1999].

B NAKAHAMA

Blumberg, Rhoda. Shipwrecked! The True Adventures of a Japanese Boy. New York: HarperCollins, [2001].

Note: The true tale of a 14-year-old Japanese boy who, after being shipwrecked while fishing in 1841, was marooned for six months, rescued by an American whaling ship, educated in New England, and returned home to become an honored samurai.

B WAS

Norton, Richard. Patriarch:George Washington and the New American Nation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, [1997].

Notes: A dramatic portrait of George Washington's presidential years, Patriarch is a gripping story of politics and statecraft.

Fic BARTOLETTI

Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. No man's Land : a Young Soldier's Story. New York:

Blue Sky Press, [1999].

Note: Because he had been unable to fight off the gator which injured his

father, fourteen-year-old Thrasher joins the Confederate Army hoping to

prove his manhood.

Fic BAUER

Bauer, Joan. Rules of the Road. New York: Putman's, [1998].

Note: Sixteen-year-old Jenna gets a job driving the elderly owner of a chain of

successful shoe stores from Chicago to Texas to confront the son who is

trying to force her to retire, and along the way Jenna hones her talents as

a saleswoman and finds the strength to face her alcoholic father.

Fic CAM

Campbell, Eric. Papa Tembo. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace, [1996].

Note: "Left with an injured leg when hit by an elephant calf running from

gunfire during a massacre, the poacher vows revenge and initiates a tragedy

which only one young girl can prevent."

Fic COONEY

Cooney, Caroline B. Driver's Ed. New York: Delacorte Press, [1994].

Note: Three teenagers' lives are changed forever when they thoughtlessly steal a

stop sign from a dangerous intersection and a young mother is killed in an

automobile accident there.

Fic CRU

Crutcher, Chris. Running Loose. 1st ed. New York: Greenwillow Books, [1983].

Note: Louie, a high school senior in a small Idaho town, learns about

sportsmanship, love, and death as he matures into manhood.

Fic CRUTCHER

Crutcher, Chris. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes : a novel. 1st ed. New York, N.Y:

Greenwillow Books, [1993].

Note: The daily class discussions about the nature of man, the existence of God,

abortion, organized religion, suicide and other contemporary issues serve as

a backdrop for a high-school senior's attempt to answer a friend's dramatic

cry for help.

Fic CRUTCHER

Crutcher, Chris. Stotan! 1st ed. New York: Greenwillow Books, [1986].

Note: A high school coach invites members of his swimming team to a memorable

week of rigorous training that tests their moral fiber as well as their

physical stamina.

Fic GARLAND

Garland, Sherry. Letters From the Mountain. Harcourt Brace, [1996].

Note: A teenage boy, sent for the summer to relatives in the mountains in order to remove him from gang influences, discovers life's really important values through his unlikely friendship with an economically challenged boy.

Fic HOBBS

Hobbs, Will. The Maze. New York: Morrow Junior Books, [1998].

Note: Rick, a fourteen-year-old foster child, escapes from a juvenile detention

facility near Las Vegas and travels to Canyonlands National Park in Utah

where he meets a bird biologist working on a project to reintroduce condors

to the wild.

Fic Ibb

Ibbotson, Eva and Hawkes, Kevin. Island of the Aunts. New York: Puffin, [2001].

Note: As they get older, several sisters decide that they must kidnap children

and bring them to their secluded island home to help with the work of caring

for an assortment of unusual sea creatures.

Fic KLA

Klass, David. California Blue. Topeka, KS: Econo-Clad, [1999].

Note: When seventeen-year-old John Rodgers discovers a new sub-species of butterfly which may necessitate closing the mill where his dying father works, they find themselves on opposite sides of the environmental conflict.

Fic KOERTGE

Koertge, Ronald. The Harmony Arms. New York, N.Y: Avon Books, [1994, 1992].

Note: Fifteen-year-old Gabriel is continually embarrassed by his teacher/writer

father, but when he goes to live with him in Los Angeles in an apartment

complex full of unusual characters, Gabriel gains new insights into himself

and his father.

Fic LYNCH

Lynch, Chris. Shadow Boxer. 1st ed. New York, NY: HarperCollins, [1993].

Note: After their father dies of boxing injuries, George is determined to

prevent his younger brother, who sees boxing as his legacy, from pursuing a

career in the sport.

Fic LAW

Lawrence, Iain. The Smugglers. New York: Delacorte Press, [1999].

Note: In eighteenth-century England, after his father buys a schooner called the

Dragon, sixteen-year-old John sets out to sail it from Kent to London and

becomes involved in a dangerous smuggling scheme.

Fic Mik

Mikaelsen, Ben. Touching Spirit Bear. 1st ed. New York: HarperCollins

Publishers, [2001].

Note: After his anger erupts into violence, Cole, in order to avoid going to

prison, agrees to participate in a sentencing alternative based on the

native American Circle Justice, and he is sent to a remote Alaskan Island

where an encounter with a huge Spirit Bear changes his life.

Fic Mor

Morey, Walter. Canyon Winter. New York: Puffin, [1994].

Notes: Stranded for six months in the Rocky Mountains following an airplane crash, a 15-year-old boy is taken in by an old hermit who teaches him the ways of the wilderness.

Fic MYERS

Myers, Walter Dean. Hoops : a novel. New York: Delacorte Press, [1981].

Note: A teenage basketball player from Harlem is befriended by a former

professional player who, after being forced to quit because of a point

shaving scandal, hopes to prevent other young athletes from repeating his

mistake.

Fic OKE

Oke, Janette. Too Long A Stranger. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, [1999].

Notes: When mothers and daughters have to separate, it tests their ability to retain common beliefs.

Fic Shu

Shusterman, Neal. The Shadow Club Rising. 1st ed. New York: Dutton Children's

Books, [2002].

Note: Even though he has disbanded his Shadow Club, formed to play mean-spirited

tricks on his enemies, fourteen-year-old Jared finds himself suspected when

a popular boy at school becomes the target of new pranks.

Fic URE

Ure, Jean. Plague. 1st U.S. ed. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, [1991].

Note: Three teenagers attempt to survive on their own when a devastating plague

sweeps London.

Fic WAL

Wallace, Bill. True Friends. New York: Holiday House, [1994].

Notes: An unlikely pair of girls become fast friends.

Fic Zin

Zindel, Paul. The Gadget. 1st ed. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, [2001].

Note: In 1945, having joined his father at Los Alamos, where he and other

scientists are working on a secret project to end World War II, thirteen

-year-old Stephen becomes caught in a web of secrecy and intrigue.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Other Titles Recommended but not available in the school library:

B CAR

Kent, Zachary. Andrew Carnegie: Steel King and Friend to Libraries. Springfield, NJ: Enslow, [1999].

Notes: A biography of the Scottish immigrant who made a fortune in the steel industry and used much of it for philanthropic causes.

B FEY

Feynman, Richard. The Meaning of it all: Thoughts of a Citizen Scientist. Cambridge, MA: Perseus, [1999].

Notes: From the great physicist's archives, three delightful lectures on science, society, and our precious freedom of ignorance.

Fic LYN

Lynch, Chris. Gypsy Davey. New York: HarperCollins, [1994].

Notes: Twelve-year-old Davey is the man of the household, taking care of his mother and older sister as best he can and avoiding them when they're either too mean or too sad.

Fic SHU

Shulman, Neil. The Backyard Tribe. New York: St. Martin’s [1994].

Note: Shulman, author of "Doc Hollywood", writes with familiarity about a doctor who visits an African village to provide health care, in a novel with striking similarities to his previous one. Once again, a medical man, a community in need, and a more than adequate dose of humorous situations carry the plot.

All annotations are excerpts from Amazon.com and Novelist.

More information on each title is available at either website.