https://padlet.com/swapna_gardner/67truf1tgl5e The following books strongly relate to themes of home, the consequences of one's actions, and/or the importance of possessions. Read through the synopses and see which one interests you! The opening pages or first chapter is available for you to read. Books with an asterisk* are not available at AHS. You will need to find them on your own if you wish to read them. en-us 2014-08-18 20:25:39 UTC 2017-02-13 20:05:41 UTC hello@padlet.com swapna_gardner https://padlet.com/swapna_gardner/67truf1tgl5e/wish/94057182 "The summer of '28 was a vintage season for a growing boy. A summer of green apple trees, mowed lawns, and new sneakers. Of half-burned firecrackers, of gathering dandelions, of Grandma's belly-busting dinner. It was a summer of sorrows and marvels and gold-fuzzed bees. A magical, timeless summer in the life of a twelve-year-old boy named Douglas Spaulding." This book shows small town life in the Midwest, and shows a boy coming of age as he discovers the secrets of life and his town.]]> 2016-02-09 14:43:15 UTC https://padlet.com/swapna_gardner/67truf1tgl5e/wish/94057182 swapna_gardner https://padlet.com/swapna_gardner/67truf1tgl5e/wish/94057534 "Clear-eyed and spirited, Taylor Greer grew up poor in rural Kentucky with the goals of avoiding pregnancy and getting away. But when she heads west with high hopes and a barely functional car, she meets the human condition head-on. By the time Taylor arrives in Tucson, Arizona, she has acquired a completely unexpected child, a three-year-old- American Indian girl named Turtle, and must somehow come to terms with both motherhood and the necessity for putting down roots. Hers is a story about love and friendship, abandonment and belonging, and the discovery of surprising resources in apparently empty places."]]> 2016-02-09 14:44:11 UTC https://padlet.com/swapna_gardner/67truf1tgl5e/wish/94057534 swapna_gardner https://padlet.com/swapna_gardner/67truf1tgl5e/wish/94057665 "Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He's pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery. 

That's when the first ace arrives in the mail.

That's when Ed becomes the messenger.

Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains: Who's behind Ed's mission?"]]> 2016-02-09 14:44:33 UTC https://padlet.com/swapna_gardner/67truf1tgl5e/wish/94057665 swapna_gardner https://padlet.com/swapna_gardner/67truf1tgl5e/wish/94060230 "The classic apocalyptic novel that stunned the nation with its vivid portrayal of a small town's survival after nuclear holocaust devastates the country."]]> 2016-02-09 14:51:06 UTC https://padlet.com/swapna_gardner/67truf1tgl5e/wish/94060230 swapna_gardner https://padlet.com/swapna_gardner/67truf1tgl5e/wish/94060980 " 'Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again...'
With these words, the reader is ushered into an isolated gray stone mansion on the windswept Cornish coast, as the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter recalls the chilling events that transpired as she began her new life as the young bride of a husband she barely knew. For in every corner of every room were phantoms of a time dead but not forgotten--a past devotedly preserved by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers: a suite immaculate and untouched, clothing laid out and ready to be worn, but not by any of the great house's current occupants. With an eerie presentiment of evil tightening her heart, the second Mrs. de Winter walked in the shadow of her mysterious predecessor, determined to uncover the darkest secrets and shattering truths about Maxim's first wife--the late and hauntingly beautiful Rebecca."

]]> 2016-02-09 14:53:02 UTC https://padlet.com/swapna_gardner/67truf1tgl5e/wish/94060980 swapna_gardner https://padlet.com/swapna_gardner/67truf1tgl5e/wish/94062726 "A mission to Mars. A freak accident. One man's struggle to survive.

Six days ago astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.

Now he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. 

After a dust storm forces his crew to evacuate the planet while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded on Mars's surface, with no way to signal Earth that he's alive. And even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone years before a rescue could arrive. 

Chances are, though, Mark won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain old 'human error' are much more likely to kill him first.
Armed with nothing but his ingenuity, his engineering skills--and a gallows sense of humor that proves to be his greatest source of strength--Mark embarks on a dogged quest. But will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?"]]> 2016-02-09 14:58:39 UTC https://padlet.com/swapna_gardner/67truf1tgl5e/wish/94062726 swapna_gardner https://padlet.com/swapna_gardner/67truf1tgl5e/wish/94064332 " 'One of the most unforgettable characters in contemporary literature' (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), Eilis Lacey has come of age in small-town Ireland in the hard years following World War Two. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn offers to sponsor Eilis in America, she decides she must go, leaving her fragile mother and her charismatic sister behind.

Eilis finds work in a department store on Fulton Street, and when she least expects it, finds love. Tony, who loves the Dodgers and his big Italian family, slowly wins her over with his patient charm. But just as Eilis begins to fall in love, devastating news from Ireland threatens the promise of her future."]]> 2016-02-09 15:03:16 UTC https://padlet.com/swapna_gardner/67truf1tgl5e/wish/94064332 swapna_gardner https://padlet.com/swapna_gardner/67truf1tgl5e/wish/94065753 "Composed with the skill of a master, THE GOLDFINCH is a haunted odyssey through present-day America and a drama of enthralling force and acuity.

It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a thirteen-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his longing for his mother, he clings to the one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo  into the criminal underworld.

As an adult, Theo moves silkily between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty labyrinth of an antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love--and his talisman, the painting, places him at the center of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle.

THE GOLDFINCH is a novel of striking narrative energy and power. It combines unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language, and breathtaking suspense, while plumbing with a philosopher's calm the deepest mysteries of love, identity, and art. It is a beautiful, stay-up-all-night-and-tell-all-your-friends triumph, an old-fashioned story of loss and obsession, survival and self-invention, and the ruthless machinations of fate."]]> 2016-02-09 15:07:26 UTC https://padlet.com/swapna_gardner/67truf1tgl5e/wish/94065753 swapna_gardner https://padlet.com/swapna_gardner/67truf1tgl5e/wish/94069485 Here's a link to well-known eco-apocalyptic novels: http://www.andrewdobson.com/eco-apocalypse-novels.html

Links to the first chapter of all the books on this page:
http://tinyurl.com/tinybooksch1

College Bound Reading List: http://tinyurl.com/collegetitans]]> 2016-02-09 15:18:12 UTC https://padlet.com/swapna_gardner/67truf1tgl5e/wish/94069485 swapna_gardner https://padlet.com/swapna_gardner/67truf1tgl5e/wish/152589716 I am the Messenger:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_VGUJw6pzJzSlhMZlYteTgtNG8/view?usp=sharing

The Martian: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SHt_h8EVJQtb4e4auRrXVFt5TIq7OAoAE7rhWzo1i2AiFtduS61ZOaz2lJa2tY_h7VGnd5VFvbDsbM1Q/view?usp=sharing

Rebecca: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Pw0O8tPWcWD5f8vR-N0DAhxRrdDC_wLa0UZirAzbZOgpn8tLW6UkO7Lj9gGcasLVYOqwDine-mEmAYcd/view?usp=sharing

The Bean Trees: http://cl.powayusd.com/Graphics/Content/Toolkits/OHS/English3/Tools/the_bean_trees.pdf

Brooklyn: http://www.readon9.com/brooklyn

Goldfinch: https://www.readanybook.com/ebook/the-goldfinch-565108

A Raisin in the Sun: http://www.napavalley.edu/people/LYanover/Documents/English%20123%20Lorraine%20Hansberry%20A%20Raisin%20in%20the%20Sun.pdf

Alas, Babylon: http://www.humbleisd.net/cms/lib2/TX01001414/Centricity/Domain/5915/alas-babylon.pdf]]> 2017-02-08 19:18:58 UTC https://padlet.com/swapna_gardner/67truf1tgl5e/wish/152589716