 | The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn by Diane Ravitch
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $4.00 Here is the book itself, a must-read for anyone who cares about the state of education and literature today.
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 | A Lantern in Her Hand (Puffin Classics) by Bess Streeter Aldrich
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $0.77 "Based on actual pioneer and family history, this novel relays the life of Abbie Deal, who accompanies her family to the Nebraska prairie and settles in a hod house."
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 | The Admirable Crichton: A Comedy by James Matthew Barrie
Buy new: $13.25 / Used from: $11.80 An adventure in which the author "offers perceptive and touching insights into human nature." Barrie is best known for Peter Pan.
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 | Hold Fast to Dreams: Poems Old and New by Arna Bontemps
Buy used from: $1.75 A Harlem Renaissance poet.
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 | Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
Buy used from: $10.06 A memoir of the author's boyhood. Bradbury is best known for Fahrenheit 451, a much different book from this one.
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 | Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Buy used from: $0.01 "These sonnets are an excellent introduction to love poetry."
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 | The Ox-Bow Incident (Modern Library Classics) by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
Buy new: $5.95 / Used from: $0.75 A great Old West novel. "Few American novels penetrate the human proclivity for rumor, self-righteousness, and mob psychology as well as this."
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 | Lord Jim (Penguin Popular Classics) by Joseph Conrad
Buy new: $3.19 / Used from: $0.01 |
 | Heart of Darkness (Norton Critical Editions) by Joseph Conrad
Buy new: $11.16 / Used from: $3.74 Adventure and philosophy in both of these Conrad books.
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 | The Deerslayer (Penguin Classics) by James Fenimore Cooper
Buy new: $9.89 / Used from: $0.39 "Cooper was the first important novelist to address the American character." The most important novels that he wrote should be read once again in schools, as they are extremely important in understanding American heritage.
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| My Soul's High Song
Buy used from: $1.03 A black poet who took his inspiration from the romantic poets.
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 | David Copperfield (Penguin Classics) by Charles Dickens
Buy new: $9.00 / Used from: $2.50 |
 | Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Buy new: $3.50 / Used from: $0.99 Two massive classic novels with a "wealth of memorable characters."
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 | Lord of the Flies (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century) by William Golding
Buy new: $9.75 / Used from: $1.89 An immortal and important parable.
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 | She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith
Buy new: $10.95 / Used from: $6.53 "This comedy of manners is one of the most heartily humorous plays ever written."
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 | Green Mansions by W.H. Hudson
Buy new: $11.01 / Used from: $0.48 "This poetic and almost mystical tale of the tropics deals with Mr. Abel and his love for Rima, the orphaned girl of the birds."
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 | Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Buy new: $10.17 / Used from: $4.49 A dystopian novel, one of the most important classics.
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 | Eighty Acres (The Condord Library Series) by Ronald Jager
Buy used from: $6.07 |
 | LAST HOUSE ON THE ROAD by Ronald Jager
Buy used from: $3.75 "Having been raised in an agrarian society, Jager sees life and community with different depth perception that do the heads of the media age."
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| Rudyard Kipling's Verse: Definitive Edition. by Rudyard Kiping
Buy used from: $3.00 "L'Envoi to the Seven Seas" and "The Gods of the Copybook Headings."
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 | Typee
Buy used from: $2.43 The book that garnered Melville more fame in his lifetime than Moby Dick.
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| Seven Plays of the Sea by Eugene O'Neill
Buy used from: $3.55 It's a real shame that these plays are essentially forgotten. "Based upon O'Neill's personal experiences as a seaman, [they] are rich with atmosphere and dramatic intensity."
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 | Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales & Poems by Edgar Allan Poe
Buy new: $9.35 / Used from: $6.36 A weighty sampling of Poe's stories and poems would be good for early high school students.
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 | The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Buy new: $13.26 / Used from: $2.49 "This tragic coming-of-age story transpires during one year in the life of a backwoods boy and his father and mother. It is a compelling depiction of the decisions and painful choices that force maturity."
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 | The Human Comedy by William Saroyan
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $0.01 A wise, sweet, and beautiful story. As a personal aside, this is one of my favorite books of all time. It portrays human beings as their very best. It is heartfelt, sincere, and warm. Read it.
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 | Ivanhoe (Penguin Classics) by Walter Scott
Buy new: $8.00 / Used from: $1.62 "The father of modern historical fiction, Scott is exceptional in his ability to fashion a grand story with historical color, atmosphere, and picturesque detail." It is a Middle Ages tale of love and adventure.
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 | Holy Bible, Giant Print Presentation Edition: King James Version by Bible
Buy new: $13.59 / Used from: $12.01 It doesn't matter if you're religious or not, the Bible is a work that should be studied to some extent. "The King James version of the Bible contains some of the most majestic passages in the English language, and the formative influence of its wisdom literature is perennial."
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 | A Midsummer Night's Dream (The New Folger Library Shakespeare) by William Shakespeare
Buy new: $5.99 / Used from: $0.42 |
 | As You Like It (The New Folger Library Shakespeare) by William Shakespeare
Buy new: $5.99 / Used from: $0.98 |
 | Much Ado About Nothing (Folger Shakespeare Library) by William Shakespeare
Buy new: $5.99 / Used from: $0.01 Start with Shakespeare's comedies (like the previous three).
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 | Romeo and Juliet (Folger Shakespeare Library) by William Shakespeare
Buy new: $5.99 / Used from: $0.01 The theme of Romeo and Juliet is prevalent in more culture than arguably anything else based in literature. Ninth grade would be a good time to read the book.
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 | Kidnapped (Penguin Classics) by Robert Louis Stevenson
Buy new: $9.00 / Used from: $3.00 David Balfour is kidnapped by his evil uncle and taken to sea. The book follows him as he finds his way home.
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 | A Girl of the Limberlost (Library of Indiana Classics) by Gene Stratton-Porter
Buy new: $10.17 / Used from: $2.33 A girl and nature. "Elnora is a heroine of grace, self-reliance, and resolve."
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 | Life on the Mississippi (Dover Thrift Editions) by Mark Twain
Buy new: $3.50 / Used from: $0.99 Understanding the life that goes on all up and down America's greatest river.
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