"Such is our task, and such lies before us all: Liberty or Death."
In the summer of 1775, fleeing from a death sentence, Octavian and his tutor, Dr. Trefusis, escape through rising tides and pouring rain to find shelter in British-occupied Boston.
High school senior Ashley Hannigan doesn't care about prom, but she's the exception. It's pretty much the only good thing at her urban Philadelphia high school, and everyone plans to make the most of it, especially Ash's best friend, Natalia, who's the head of the committee.
Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words - and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet Francois Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps." Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young. Clever, funny, screwed-up, and dead sexy, Alaska will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.
World renowned critic John Gardner has received prestigious awards for his wide range of literary achievements, including short stories, novels, and essays. When he turns his talents to retelling "Beowulf", the earliest epic in British literature, the result is a work that combines extensive knowledge with a marvelous strain of pure fun.
Now a modern classic, this story of two boys' friendship at an exclusive New Hampshire prep school as it parallels the inescapable and escalating atmosphere of World War II, is intense and engaging to the last word.
Tally Youngblood never felt like the other Pretties - she almost didn't become one. But Tally isn't the only one who feels like she's missing a part of herself. After uncovering sinister clues about the Pretty surgery, she stumbles upon a possible cure for Pretty-mindedness and a possible escape from the city. But the cure could have deadly consequences.
Tally Youngblood is quickly approaching her 16th birthday and the mandatory pretty-making surgery that accompanies it. But Tally isn't sure if she wants to be a placidly happy Pretty. When a top secret organization threatens her with remaining Ugly forever, she reluctantly spies on the rebels who have refused the surgery. They think it changes more than just looks and are working on a cure.
Tally never wanted to be Special, but some talents cannot be denied. Specials keep the Pretties happy and naive, keep the Uglies wishing to be Pretty and - most importantly - keep the Smokies powerless.
The New York Times best-selling author heralds the future of business in Free. In his revolutionary best seller, The Long Tail, Chris Anderson demonstrated how the online marketplace creates niche markets, allowing products and consumers to connect in a way that has never been possible before.
Eddie is a grizzled war veteran who feels trapped in a meaningless life of fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. His days are a dull routine of work, loneliness, and regret.
This young readers edition of the worldwide best seller Three Cups of Tea has been specially adapted for younger readers and updated by Greg Mortenson to bring his remarkable story of humanitarianism up to date for the present.
David Sedaris' new collection of essays - including live recordings! - tells a most unconventional life story. It begins with a North Carolina childhood filled with speech-therapy classes ("There was the lisp, of course, but more troubling than that was my voice itself, with its excitable tone and high, girlish pitch") and unwanted guitar lessons taught by a midget.
Thirteen-year-old Anna was born after an embryonic selection process that ensured she would be an ideal matching donor for her sister Kate, who suffers from leukemia. After many years of bone marrow transplants and the like, Anna decides to sue her parents to prevent a kidney donation that could save Kate's life.
Now read by the author, this edition also includes an interview with Alice Sebold and the first chapter of her new book, The Almost Moon. When we first meet 14-year-old Susie Salmon, she is already in heaven.
