Confronting and Resolving Fears

The Ocean at the End of the Lane (Unabridged)

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Sussex, England: A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. He is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet sitting by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean), the unremembered past comes flooding back.

Author:

Neil Gaiman

Grade Level:

Middle

High

Length:

05:48

The Ocean at the End of the Lane (Unabridged)

Redwall

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Copies: 5

Welcome to Mossflower Wood, where the gentle mice have gathered to celebrate a year of peace and abundance. All is well...until a sinister shadow falls across the ancient stone abbey of Redwall. It is rumored that Cluny is coming--Cluny, the terrible one-eyed rat and his savage horde--Cluny, who has vowed to conquer Redwall Abbey! The only hope for the besieged mice lies in the lost sword of the legendary Martin the Warrior. And so begins the epic quest of a bumbling young apprentice--a courageous mouse who would rise up, fight back...and become a legend himself.

Author:

Brian Jacques

Lexile:

800L

Tuck Everlasting

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Copies: 5

Doomed to—or blessed with—eternal life after drinking from a magic spring, the Tuck family wanders about trying to live as inconspicuously and comfortably as they can. When ten-year-old Winnie Foster stumbles on their secret, the Tucks take her home and explain why living forever at one age is less a blessing that it might seem. Complications arise when Winnie is followed by a stranger who wants to market the spring water for a fortune.

Author:

Natalie Babbitt

Lexile:

770L

Dragon of the Lost Sea

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Copies: 5

The outlawed princess of the Dragon Clan and her young human companion undergo fearsome trials in their quest for an evil enchantress. ‘Dramatic tension stays high. Weaves Chinese legend into an exciting tapestry of myth and folklore.’ —BL.
Notable Children's Books of 1982 (ALA)
100 Favorite Paperbacks of 1989 (IRA/CBC)

Author:

Laurence Yep

Lexile:

890L

The Long Winter

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Copies: 5

The adventures of Laura Ingalls and her family continue as Pa, Ma, Laura, Mary, Carrie and Little Grace bravely face the hard winter of 1880-1881 in their little house in the Dakota territory. Blizzards cover the little town in snow, cutting off all supplies. Soon they are almost out of food, so young Almanzo Wilder and a friend make a dangerous trip across the prairie to find some wheat. Finally a joyous Christmas is celebrated in a very unusual way with the most exciting of all the Little House books.

Author:

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Lexile:

790L

On the Banks of Plum Creek

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Copies: 5

The adventures of Laura Ingalls and her family continue as they leave their little house on the prairie and travel in their covered wagon to Minnesota. Here they settle in a little house made of sod beside the banks of beautiful Plum Creek. Soon Pa builds a wonderful new little house with real glass windows and a hinged door. Laura and her sister Mary go to school, help with the chores, and fish in the creek. At night everyone listens to the merry music of Pa's fiddle.

Author:

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Lexile:

720L

The Cellist of Sarajevo

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Sarajevo in the 1990's, is a hellish place. The ongoing war devours human life, tears families apart and transforms even banal routines, such as acquiring water, into life-threatening expeditions. Day after day, a cellist stations himself in the midst of the devastation, defying the ever-present snipers to play tributes to victims of a massacre.

Author:

Steven Galloway

Grade Level:

High

Length:

05:23

Mirette on the High Wire

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Copies: 1

Mirette learns tightrope walking from Monsieur Bellini, a guest in her mother's boarding house, not knowing that he is a celebrated tightrope artist who has withdrawn from performing because of fear.

Author:

Emily Arnold McCully

Lexile:

580L