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books tagged “islands”
books tagged “islands”
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Abel's Islandby William SteigISBN 0374300100 (0-374-30010-0)
Hardcover, Farrar Straus & Giroux
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Abel's Island'Book summary:One summer day, newlywed mice Abel and Amanda are out for a picnic in the woods when they are caught in a sudden storm--a "full-fledged, screaming hurricane" to be precise. As they take refuge in a cave, a wind scoops up Amanda's scarf, and Abel foolishly lunges from safety to retrieve it. So begins William Steig's Newbery Honor Book Abel's Island, the ensuing adventures of this rather foppish mouse as he comes head to head with nature. Amazingly, Abel is swept up in a stream, then a river, then eventually marooned on an island (about 12,000 tails long). He is sure that his rescue is imminent: "It's certainly gotten around that Abelard Hassam di Chirico Flint, of the Mossville Flints, is missing," the society mouse speculates. But he is not so lucky. What will this intelligent, imaginative rodent do to get off the island and back to his beloved Amanda? He busies himself with finding ways to get to shore (including bridges, boats, catapults, stepping stones, and gliders); figuring out what he should eat (everything from mulberries to roasted seeds); and investigating where he should take shelter (in a rotten log). As the weeks and months go by, he misses his books, his paintings, his comfortable stuffed chair, his stylish clothes (now damp, torn, and lumpy), but above all his precious wife Amanda, whom he thinks about constantly. As the mouse faces his new life Robinson Crusoe-style, Abel discovers what it's like to be in tune with the natural world as well as his true nature, and what it's like to return, fortified, to his real home and to the arms of the one he loves. Along the way, readers can't help but rediscover the joys of being alive. (Ages 8 and older, but an engaging read-aloud for younger children, too) --Karin Snelson [via]
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And the Sea Will Tellby Vincent BugliosiISBN 0393327965 (0-393-32796-5)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'And the Sea Will Tell'Book summary:And the Sea Will Tell spins a riveting story--a story that could have been the backbone for a classic novel by Herman Melville or Joseph Conrad. Two couples--one wealthy and married, the other an ex-con and his hippie girlfriend-- separately set sail for a remote South Pacific island, each hoping to play "Adam and Eve" in paradise. Instead of getting away from it all, they take it with them-- their pasts and prejudices, and the petty battles over status and material goods that arise from their different social classes. Only two people out of the original four live through the experience. One of them has the extraordinary good luck to be defended in court by master attorney Vincent Bugliosi (author of Helter Skelter). As the Los Angeles Times writes, "The book succeeds on all counts. The final pages are some of the most suspenseful in trial literature." [via]
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Anil's Ghostby Michael OndaatjeISBN 0375724370 (0-375-72437-0)
Softcover, Vintage Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Anil's Ghost'Book summary:In his Booker Prize-winning third novel, The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje explored the nature of love and betrayal in wartime. His fourth, Anil's Ghost, is also set during a war, but unlike in World War II, the enemy is difficult to identify in the bloody sectarian upheaval that ripped Sri Lanka apart in the 1980s and '90s. The protagonist, Anil Tissera, a native Sri Lankan, left her homeland at 18 and returns to it 15 years later only as part of an international human rights fact-finding mission. In the intervening years she has become a forensic anthropologist--a career that has landed her in the killing fields of Central America, digging up the victims of Guatemala's dirty war. Now she's come to Sri Lanka on a similar quest. But as she soon learns, there are fundamental differences between her previous assignment and this one:
The bodies turn up weekly now. The height of the terror was 'eighty-eight and 'eighty-nine, but of course it was going on long before that. Every side was killing and hiding the evidence. Every side. This is an unofficial war, no one wants to alienate the foreign powers. So it's secret gangs and squads. Not like Central America. The government was not the only one doing the killing.
In such a situation, it's difficult to know who to trust. Anil's colleague is one Sarath Diyasena, a Sri Lankan archaeologist whose political affiliations, if any, are murky. Together they uncover evidence of a government-sponsored murder in the shape of a skeleton they nickname Sailor. But as Anil begins her investigation into the events surrounding Sailor's death, she finds herself caught in a web of politics, paranoia, and tragedy.Like its predecessor, the novel explores that territory where the personal and the political intersect in the fulcrum of war. Its style, though, is more straightforward, less densely poetical. While many of Ondaatje's literary trademarks are present--frequent shifts in time, almost hallucinatory imagery, the gradual interweaving of characters' pasts with the present--the prose here is more accessible. This is not to say that the author has forgotten his poetic roots; subtle, evocative images abound. Consider, for example, this description of Anil at the end of the day, standing in a pool of water, "her toes among the white petals, her arms folded as she undressed the day, removing layers of events and incidents so they would no longer be within her." In Anil's Ghost Michael Ondaatje has crafted both a brutal examination of internecine warfare and an enduring meditation on identity, loyalty, and the unbreakable hold the past exerts over the present. --Alix Wilber [via]
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Anne of Avonleaby L.M. Montgomery, Clare SieffertISBN 0448400634 (0-448-40063-4)
Hardcover, Grosset & Dunlap
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Anne of Avonlea'Book summary:One of the most beloved books of all time, with an introduction by Jennifer L. Holm.[via]
Anne of Green Gables is all grown up--almost. At sixteen, Anne has transformed from student to teacher, and she's the new big sister to seven-year-old twins, quiet Dora and mischievous Davy. A grumpy new neighbor has moved next door, and Anne's best friend, Diana, is falling in love.
Despite all these changes, she's still the same fun, impulsive Anne--a romantic dreamer with a redheaded temper. 
Antigua and Barbuda: The Heart of the Caribbeanby Brian DydeISBN 0333413946 (0-333-41394-6)
Hardcover, Macmillan Caribbean
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Atlas of Islandsby Donald GrantISBN 0439044022 (0-439-04402-2)
Hardcover, Scholastic
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Baltimore's Mansion: A Memoirby Wayne JohnstonISBN 0385720300 (0-385-72030-0)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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Bear Islandby Katharine Ross, Lisa McCueISBN 0394886313 (0-394-88631-3)
Hardcover, Random House Childrens Books
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The Bermuda Triangleby Charels BerlitzISBN 0380004658 (0-380-00465-8)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Bermuda Triangle'Book summary:Charles Berlitz sets out to discover possibl e explanations for a series of bizarre happenings that have baffled scientists for decades. He has talked to people who have experienced the forces of the Bermuda Triangle and have escaped to tell the tale. ' [via]
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The Broken Earby HergeISBN 0416148727 (0-416-14872-7)
Hardcover, French & European Pubns
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Broken Ear'Book summary:The Adventures of Tintin (Les Aventures de Tintin) is a series of comic strips created by Belgian artist Herge the pen name of Georges Remi (1907 1983). The series first appeared in French in Le Petit Vingtieme, a children's supplement to the Belgian newspaper Le Vingtieme Siecle on 10 January 1929. Set in a painstakingly researched world closely mirroring our own, Herge's Tintin series continues to be a favorite of readers and critics alike 80 years later.
The hero of the series is Tintin, a young Belgian reporter. He is aided in his adventures from the beginning by his faithful fox terrier dog Snowy (Milou in French). Later, popular additions to the cast included the brash, cynical and grumpy Captain Haddock, the bright but hearing-impaired Professor Calculus (Professeur Tournesol) and other colorful supporting characters such as the incompetent detectives Thomson and Thompson (Dupond et Dupont). Herge himself features in several of the comics as a background character; as do his assistants in some instances.
The success of the series saw the serialized strips collected into a series of albums (24 in all), spun into a successful magazine and adapted for film and theatre. The series is one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century, with translations published in over 50 languages and more than 200 million copies of the books sold to date.
The comic strip series has long been admired for its clean, expressive drawings in Herge's signature ligne claire style. Engaging, well-researched plots straddle a variety of genres: swashbuckling adventures with elements of fantasy, mysteries, political thrillers, and science fiction. The stories within the Tintin series always feature slapstick humor, accompanied in later albums by sophisticated satire, and political and cultural commentary. [via]More editions of The Broken Ear:
Caribbean Canvasby Frane LessacISBN 0397323670 (0-397-32367-0)
Hardcover, Lippincott
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The Cinder-Eyed Catsby Eric RohmannISBN 0440417430 (0-440-41743-0)
Softcover, Dragonfly
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Clouds Endby Sean StewartISBN 044100332X (0-441-00332-X)
Softcover, Ace Books
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The Colony of Unrequited Dreamsby Wayne JohnstonISBN 0385495439 (0-385-49543-9)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Colony of Unrequited Dreams'Book summary:In 1949, Joseph Smallwood became the first premier of the newly federated Canadian province of Newfoundland. Predictably, and almost immediately, his name retreated to the footnotes of history. And yet, as Wayne Johnston makes plain in his epic and affectionate fifth novel, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, Smallwood's life was endearingly emblematic, an instance of an extraordinary man emerging at a propitious moment. The particular charm of Johnston's book, however, lies not merely in unveiling a career that so seamlessly coincided with the burgeoning self-consciousness of Newfoundland itself, but in exposing a simple truth--namely, that history is no more than the accretion of lived lives.
Born into debilitating poverty, Smallwood is sustained by a bottomless faith in his own industry. His unabashed ambition is to "rise not from rags to riches, but from obscurity to world renown." To this end, he undertakes tasks both sublime and baffling--walking 700 miles along a Newfoundland railroad line in a self-martyring union drive; narrating a homespun radio spot; and endlessly irritating and ingratiating himself with the Newfoundland political machine. His opaque and constant incitement is an unconsummated love for his childhood friend, Sheilagh Fielding. Headstrong and dissolute, she weaves in and out of Smallwood's life like a salaried goad, alternately frustrating and illuminating his ambitions. Smallwood is harried as well by Newfoundland's subtle gravity, a sense that he can never escape the tug of his native land, since his only certainty is the island itself--that "massive assertion of land, sea's end, the outer limit of all the water in the world, a great, looming, sky-obliterating chunk of rock."
The Colony of Unrequited Dreams bogs down after a time in its detailing of Smallwood's many political intrigues and in the lingering matter of a mysterious letter supposedly written by Fielding. However, when he speculates on the secret motives of his peers, or when he reveals his own hyperbolic fantasies and grandiose hopes--matters no one would ever confess aloud--the novel is both apt and amiable. Best of all is to watch Smallwood's inevitable progress toward a practical cynicism. It seems nothing less than miraculous that his countless disappointments pave the way for his ascension, that his private travails ultimately align with the land he loves. This is history resuscitated. --Ben Guterson [via]
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Count of Monte Cristoby Alexandre DumasISBN 037576030X (0-375-76030-X)
Softcover, Modern Library
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Count of Monte Cristo'Book summary:Set against the tumultuous years of the post-Napoleonic era, The Count of Monet Cristo recounts the swashbuckling adventures of Edmond Dantes, a dashing young sailor falsely accused of treason. The story of his long imprisonment, dramatic escape, and carefully wrought revenge offers up a vision of France that has become immortal.
From the Hardcover edition. [via]More editions of Count of Monte Cristo:
- The Count of Monte Cristo: ISBN 0345483545 (0-345-48354-5)
Softcover, Random House Publishing Group - Count of Monte Cristo: ISBN 0439574293 (0-439-57429-3)
Softcover, Scholastic Paperbacks - Count of Monte Cristo: ISBN 0396082556 (0-396-08255-6)
Hardcover, Dodd Mead - Count of Monte Cristo: ISBN 037576030X (0-375-76030-X)
Softcover, Modern Library
- The Count of Monte Cristo: ISBN 0345483545 (0-345-48354-5)
Diary : A Novelby Chuck PalahniukISBN 0385509472 (0-385-50947-2)
Hardcover, Doubleday Publishing
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Edistoby Padgett PowellISBN 0374146519 (0-374-14651-9)
Hardcover, Farrar, Straus & Giroux
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Elmer and the Dragonby Ruth Stiles GannettISBN 0394890493 (0-394-89049-3)
Softcover, Random House Childrens Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Elmer and the Dragon'Book summary:A stand-alone sequel to My Father's Dragon, in which Elmer Elevator and the flying baby dragon help the king of the canaries find treasure. [via]
Envyby Sandra BrownISBN 0446611808 (0-446-61180-8)
Softcover, Grand Central Pub
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Flight 714by HergeISBN 0416926509 (0-416-92650-9)
Hardcover, French & European Pubns
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The Foods of the Greek Islands: Cooking and Culture at the Crossroads of the Mediterraneanby Aglaia Kremezi, Jim BotsacosISBN 0395982111 (0-395-98211-1)
Hardcover, Houghton Mifflin
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Galapagosby Kurt VonnegutISBN 0385333870 (0-385-33387-0)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Galapagos'Book summary:Galapagos takes the reader back one million years, to A.D. 1986. A simple vacation cruise suddenly becomes an evolutionary journey. Thanks to an apocalypse, a small group of survivors stranded on the Galapagos Islands are about to become the progenitors of a brave new, and totally different human race. Here, America's master satirist looks at our world and shows us all that is sadly, madly awry -- and all that is worth saving. [via]
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Galapagos/300854by Kurt VonnegutISBN 0385294166 (0-385-29416-6)
Hardcover, Smithmark Pub
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Galapagos/300854'Book summary:The human survivors of the "Nature Crisis of the Century", are quietly evolving into sleek, furry creatures with flippers and small brains. All other forms of humankind have ceased to exist, made redundant by their prized big brains. From the author of "Slaughterhouse 5". [via]
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Geological Observations on the Volcanic Island and Parts of South America Visited During the Voyage of H M S Beagleby Charles DarwinISBN 0404084036 (0-404-08403-6)
Hardcover, Ams Pr Inc
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The Goatsby Brock ColeISBN 0374425752 (0-374-42575-2)
Softcover, Farrar Straus & Giroux
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Guadalcanal : The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battleby Richard B. FrankISBN 0394588754 (0-394-58875-4)
Hardcover, Random House Publishing Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Guadalcanal : The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle'Book summary:A history of the battle at Guadalcanal draws on first-time translations of official Japanese defense accounts and declassified U.S. radio intelligence to recreate this critical campaign. Reprint. 25,000 first printing. NYT. [via]
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Guns of Navaroneby Alistair MacLeanISBN 0385089953 (0-385-08995-3)
Hardcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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The Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacificby Paul TherouxISBN 0399137262 (0-399-13726-2)
Hardcover, Putnam Pub Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific'Book summary:The author of The Mosquito Coast recounts his journey to the islands of the Pacific, describing the people, landscape, and wildlife he encounters in New Zealand, Australia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Fiji. 100,000 first printing. $90,000 ad/promo. [via]
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Hittyby Rachel FieldISBN 0440403375 (0-440-40337-5)
Softcover, Random House Childrens Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Hitty'Book summary:Hitty is a very special doll who belongs to Phoebe. Phoebe is proud of her beautiful doll and brings Hitty everywhere she goes. This is thrilling for Hitty, who finds herself involved in the most wonderful adventures both on land and at sea. She meets many people and makes new friends.
This is the story of the first hundred years of Hitty's life. And that's only the beginning for a doll as special as Hitty. [via]More editions of Hitty:
In the Country of the Youngby Lisa CareyISBN 0380976757 (0-380-97675-7)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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Isla Negraby Pablo Neruda, Alastair ReidISBN 0374517347 (0-374-51734-7)
Softcover, Farrar Straus & Giroux
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The Island of Dangerous Dreamsby Joan Lowery NixonISBN 0440202582 (0-440-20258-2)
Softcover, Random House Children's Books
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The Island of the Colorblind and Cycad Island: And, Cycad Islandby Oliver W. SacksISBN 0375700730 (0-375-70073-0)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Island of the Colorblind and Cycad Island: And, Cycad Island'Book summary:In his books An Anthropologist on Mars and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks details the lives of patients isolated by neurological disorders, shedding light on our common humanity and the ways in which we perceive the world around us. Now he looks at the effects of physical isolation in The Island of the Colorblind. On this journey, he carried with him the intellectual curiousity, kind understanding, and unique vision he has so consistently demonstrated.
Drawn to the Micronesian island of Pingelap by reports of a community of people born totally colorblind, Dr. Sacks set up a clinic in a one-room dispensary. There he listened to patients describe their colorless world in terms rich with pattern and tone, luminance and shadow. Then, in Guam, he investigated a puzzling neurodegenerative paralysis, making housecalls amid crowing cockerels, cycad jungles, and the remains of a colonial culture. The experience affords Sacks an opportunity to elaborate on such personal passions as botany and history and to explore the meaning of islands, the dissemination of species, the birth of disease, and the nature of deep geologic time. [via]
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Islands of the South Pacificby Frances Coleberd, Joan EricksonISBN 037606384X (0-376-06384-X)
Hardcover, Lane Pub Co
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Kensuke's Kingdomby Michael MorpurgoISBN 0439591813 (0-439-59181-3)
Softcover, Scholastic Paperbacks
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Kon-Tikiby Thor HeyerdahlISBN 039486364X (0-394-86364-X)
Softcover, Random House Childrens Books
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Lizard Musicby D. Manus PinkwaterISBN 0440413192 (0-440-41319-2)
Softcover, Laurel Leaf
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The Lost Worldby Michael CrichtonISBN 034540288X (0-345-40288-X)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Lost World'Book summary:Written in the wake of Jurassic Park's phenomenal box-office success, The Lost World seems as much a guidebook for Hollywood types hard at work on the franchise's followup as it is a legitimate sci-fi thriller. Which begs the inevitable questions: Is the plot a rehash of the first book? Sure it is, with the action unfolding on yet another secluded island, the mysterious "Site B." Is the cast of characters basically the same? Absolutely, from a freshly minted pair of cute, compu-savvy kids right down to the neatly exhumed chaos theorist Ian Malcolm (who was presumed dead at the close of JP). But is it fun to read? You betcha. Hollywood (and Michael Crichton) keeps telling us the same old stories for a very good reason: we like them. And the pulp SF formula Crichton has mastered with Jurassic Park and The Lost World is no exception. --Paul Hughes [via]
Lucasby Kevin BrooksISBN 0439530636 (0-439-53063-6)
Softcover, Scholastic Paperbacks
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Medusa's Giftby Lois GouldISBN 0394582292 (0-394-58229-2)
Hardcover, Knopf Publishing Group
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The Mermaids Singingby Lisa CareyISBN 0380815591 (0-380-81559-1)
Softcover, Perennial
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Mermaids Singing'Book summary:This stunning first novel--rich with Celtic imagery and unforgettable characters--explores three generations of contemporary Irish-American mothers and daughters, in a story that vividly depicts truths universal to all families. [via]
Montserrat, Emerald Isle of the Caribbeanby Howard A. FergusISBN 0333358295 (0-333-35829-5)
Softcover, Macmillan Caribbean
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My Father's Dragonby Ruth Stiles GannettISBN 0394890485 (0-394-89048-5)
Softcover, Random House Childrens Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'My Father's Dragon'Book summary:My Father's Dragon--a favorite of young readers since the 1940s and a Newbery honor book--captures the nonsensical logic of childhood in an amusingly deadpan fashion. The story begins when Elmer Elevator (the narrator's father as a boy) runs away with an old alley cat to rescue a flying baby dragon being exploited on a faraway island. With the help of two dozen pink lollipops, rubber bands, chewing gum, and a fine-toothed comb, Elmer disarms the fiercest of beasts on Wild Island. The quirky, comical adventure ends with a heroic denouement: the freeing of the dragon. Abundant black-and-white lithographs by Ruth Chrisman Gannett (the author's stepmother) add an evocative, lighthearted mood to an already enchanting story. Author Ruth Stiles Gannett 's stand-alone sequel, Elmer and the Dragon, and her third volume, The Dragons of Blueland both received starred reviews in School Library Journal and are as fresh and original as her first. (Ages 4 to 8) [via]
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- My Father's Dragon: ISBN 0440421217 (0-440-42121-7)
Softcover, Yearling Books - My Father's Dragon: ISBN 0394884604 (0-394-88460-4)
Hardcover, Random House Childrens Books - My Father's Dragon: ISBN 0394914384 (0-394-91438-4)
Hardcover, Random House Childrens Books - My Father's Dragon: ISBN 0394890485 (0-394-89048-5)
Softcover, Random House Childrens Books
- My Father's Dragon: ISBN 0440421217 (0-440-42121-7)
Mystery of Cabin Islandby Franklin W. DixonISBN 0448089084 (0-448-08908-4)
Hardcover, Price Stern Sloan
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Mystery of Cabin Island'Book summary:When the Hardy Boys are able to locate Mr. Jefferson's stolen car, he rewards the duo with a stay on his deserted island. While there, the sleuths are asked to help solve two lingering mysteries. [via]
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Nevis: Queen of the Caribeesby Joyce GordonISBN 0333389387 (0-333-38938-7)
Softcover, Hunter Pub Inc
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No Great Mischiefby Alistair MacLeodISBN 0375726659 (0-375-72665-9)
Softcover, Vintage Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'No Great Mischief'Book summary:For the MacDonalds, the past is not a foreign country. This Cape Breton clan may have lived in the New World since 1779, when Calum Ruadh ("the red Calum") and his wife, 12 children, and dog landed. Scotland, however, remains their true home. So profound is their connection to their lost land that on brief visits they find themselves welcomed by strangers. When one descendent tells a Scotswoman that she's from Canada, she is offered a gentle rejoinder: "That may be.... But you are really from here. You have just been away for a while." In some ways this is unsurprising, since the MacDonalds either have deep black hair or their ancestor's coloring. And those with the latter have "eyes that were so dark as to be beyond brown and almost in the region of glowing black. Such individuals would manifest themselves as strikingly unfamiliar to some, and as eerily familiar to others." Another sport of nature? Many are fraternal twins, including Alistair MacLeod's narrator, Alexander, and his sister.
But No Great Mischief is far more than the straightforward saga of one family over the generations. Instead the author has created a painfully beautiful myth in which the long-ago is in many ways more present than modern existence. Even in the last decades of the 20th century, the MacDonalds fall into Gaelic--its inflections, rhythms, and song--with deep nostalgia. This is a family that is used to composing itself in the face of disaster. They often assure one another, "My hope is constant in thee," and in the light of their many losses, the clan must cling to its motto.
No Great Mischief begins with Alexander's visit to Toronto, where his eldest brother now subsists on a diet of drink and memories. The narrator, a successful orthodontist, doesn't have much to do with the former but is unable (or unwilling) to escape the latter. As the novel proceeds, Alexander fills in his family history, including such key episodes as his great-great-grandfather's self-exile from Scotland. Though Calum Ruadh had intended to leave his dog behind, it broke away and tried to catch up with him. MacLeod piercingly captures the animal's struggle as her master first tries to make her head for shore and then--realizing she won't desert him--spurs her on. Throughout No Great Mischief various people recall this incident, an emblem of intensity, hope, and dependence. A descendant of the bitch is also on hand when Alexander's parents and one of his brothers disappear under the ice on a cold spring night. She persists in searching for her people and tries to protect their lighthouse from the new keeper, receiving in return "four bullets into her loyal waiting heart." When Alexander's grandfather hears of her death, he uses a phrase that becomes one of the book's litanies, "It was in those dogs to care too much and to try too hard."
This is a MacDonald characteristic as well. A good deal of No Great Mischief's strength stems from scenes of longing and despair--for those who die for a lost cause, whether in 1692 when one leader is killed ("the redness of his hair dyed forever brighter by the crimson of his blood") or in an Ontario uranium mine where one brother is decapitated. MacLeod evokes his clan, and the elemental beauty of their landscape, in quiet, precise language that gains power with each repetition. (A sentence such as "All of us are better when we're loved" comes to acquire a near proverbial ring.) If he occasionally tips his hand too much, pressing home his point that present-day prosperity isn't all it's cracked up to be, no matter. I doubt that this inspired and elegiac novel will ever leave those who are lucky enough to read it--proving after all the persistence of the clann Chalum Ruaidh. --Kerry Fried [via]
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Outpostsby Simon WinchesterISBN 0340337729 (0-340-33772-9)
Hardcover, Trafalgar Square
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Outposts'Book summary:This is the reissue of a Simon Winchester classic. In 1985 Simon Winchester, struck by a sudden need to discover exactly what was left of the British Empire travelled 100,000 miles back and forth from Antarctica to the Caribbean to visit the far-flung islands that are all that remain of what once made Britain great. His adventures in these distant and forgotten ends of the earth make compelling and often funny reading. With a new introduction and additional material in many of the chapters, this revised edition tells us what has happened while the author's been away. [via]
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The Owl and the Pussy-Catby Edward Lear, Jan BrettISBN 0399219250 (0-399-21925-0)
Hardcover, Putnam Pub Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Owl and the Pussy-Cat'Book summary:Edward Lear's nonsense poem about two unlikely sweethearts--an elegant owl and a beautiful cat--has found a perfect match in artist Jan Brett. She traveled to the Caribbean (the land where the Bong-tree grows, perhaps?) to research her illustrations as well as the settings, costume details, plants, and fish native to the area. Readers can follow an illustrated subplot of two yellow fish who also fall in love under the pea-green boat. A charming treatment of a classic children's poem. (Ages 3 to 7) [via]
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Paying the Piperby Sharyn McCrumbISBN 0345345185 (0-345-34518-5)
Softcover, Random House Publishing Group
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The Prince of Tidesby Pat ConroyISBN 0395353009 (0-395-35300-9)
Hardcover, Houghton Mifflin
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Prince of Tides'Book summary:In his most brilliant and powerful novel, Pat Conroy tells the story of Tom Wingo, his twin sister, Savannah, and the dark and violent past of the family into which they were born. Set in New York City and the lowcountry of South Carolina, the novel opens when Tom, a high school football coach whose marriage and career are crumbling, flies from South Carolina to New York after learning of his twin sister's suicide attempt. Savannah is one of the most gifted poets of her generation, and both the cadenced beauty of her art and the jumbled cries of her illness are clues to the too-long-hidden story of her wounded family. In the paneled offices and luxurious restaurants of New York City, Tom and Susan Lowenstein, Savannah's psychiatrist, unravel a history of violence, abandonment, commitment, and love. And Tom realizes that trying to save his sister is perhaps his last chance to save himself. With passion and a rare gift of language, the author moves from present to past, tracing the amazing history of the Wingos from World War II through the final days of the war in Vietnam and into the 1980s, drawing a rich range of characters: the lovable, crazy Mr. Fruit, who for decades has wordlessly directed traffic at the same intersection in the southern town of Colleton; Reese Newbury, the ruthless, patrician land speculator who threatens the Wingos' only secure worldly possession, Melrose Island; Herbert Woodruff, Susan Lowenstein's husband, a world-famous violinist; Tolitha Wingo, Savannah's mentor and eccentric grandmother, the first real feminist in the Wingo family. Pat Conroy reveals the lives of his characters with surpassing depth and power, capturing the vanishing beauty of the South Carolina lowcountry and a lost way of life. His lyric gifts, abundant good humor, and compelling storytelling are well known to readers of The Great Santini and The Lords of Discipline. The Prince of Tides continues that tradition yet displays a new, mature voice of Pat Conroy, signaling this work as his greatest accomplishment.[via]More editions of The Prince of Tides:
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A Salty Piece of Landby Jimmy BuffettISBN 0316908452 (0-316-90845-2)
Hardcover, Little Brown & Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'A Salty Piece of Land'Book summary:Handle: The #1 bestseller Jimmy Buffett flies back into view with a delectable new collection of tales from his carefree and adventurous world. Description: The beloved traveler/troubadour offers up a plate of stories--some real, some imagined, some where it's impossible to say--from his world of seaplanes, tropical isles, and wayward adventures. A Salty Piece of Land is a rollicking story collection that belongs as much on a bookshelf as it does atop the liquor cabinet. It has been five years since Jimmy's last book, and fans of his previous bestsellers, A Pirate Looks at Fifty, Where's Joe Merchant, and Tales From Margaritaville--not to mention the millions of fans of his songs and concerts--are sure to flock to his newest hit. This fall, as the temperatures drop and the sun gets scarce, A Salty Piece of Land is going to be the book that takes readers away from the snowdrifts and to a warm beach, cold beer, and some of the wildest characters ever to dip their toe in the ocean. This irresistible collection will be the next in an impressive line of bestsellers for the inimitable Jimmy Buffett. [via]
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Searching for Paradise: A Journey Among the Last Real Islandsby Thurston ClarkeISBN 0345435109 (0-345-43510-9)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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Seeking Robinson Crusoeby Timothy SeverinISBN 0333905563 (0-333-90556-3)
Softcover, Macmillan
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Seeking Robinson Crusoe'Book summary:Who was the real Robinson Crusoe? In search of the world's most famous castaway, Tim Severin travels where men were shipwrecked or abandoned in the days of the pirates and buccaneers...and lived to tell their tales of survival. A Scottish sailor, Alexander Selkirk, has long been considered as the real life inspiration for Crusoe. So Severin begins his quest on the islands of Juan Fernandez 400 miles off the coast of Chile where Selkirk was marooned for four years. Daniel Defoe, author of "Robinson Crusoe", also knew the extraordinary survival tale of an English buccaneer surgeon, Lionel Wafer, wounded in a pirate raid and abandoned in the jungle of Panama. So Severin goes to meet the Indian tribe, the Kuna, who rescued him. Carrying on his journey he finally takes a 100 year old sailing boat to Salt Tortuga, a small uninhabited island off the coast of Venezuela. There he establishes the truth about a runaway 'white slave', Henry Pitman, marooned by pirates thirty years before Defoe created Crusoe... [via]
Snow Falling on Cedarsby David GuttersonISBN 037570437X (0-375-70437-X)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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St Kitts: Cradle of the Caribbeanby Brian DydeISBN 0333499417 (0-333-49941-7)
Softcover, Hunter Pub Inc
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Tar Babyby Toni MorrisonISBN 0394423291 (0-394-42329-1)
Hardcover, Alfred a Knopf Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Tar Baby'Book summary:BEAUTIFUL, UN-READ BOOK & DUST COVER, GREAT PRICE !!! [via]
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The Tempestby William Shakespeare, Peter Hulme, William H. ShermanISBN 0393978192 (0-393-97819-2)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Tempest'Book summary:One of Shakespeare's most famous but also enigmatic plays, for many years the story of Prospero's exile from his native Milan, and life with his daughter Miranda on an unnamed island in the Mediterranean, was seen as an autobiographical dramatisation of Shakespeare's departure from the London stage. The Epilogue, spoken by Prospero, claims that "now my charms are all o'erthrown", appeared to reflect Shakespeare's own renunciation of his magical dramatic powers as he retired to Stratford. But The Tempest is far more than this, as recent commentators have pointed out. The dramatic action observes the classical unities of time, place and action, as Prospero uses his "rough magic" to lure his wicked usurping brother, Antonio, and King Alonso of Naples to his island retreat to torment them before engineering his return to Milan.
However, the play is full of extraordinary anomalies and fantastic interludes, including Gonzalo's fantasy of a utopian commonwealth, Prospero's magical servant Ariel, and the "poisonous slave" Caliban. The creation of Caliban has particularly fascinated critics, who have noticed in his creation a colonial dimension to the play. In this respect Caliban can be seen as an American Indian or African slave, who articulates a particularly powerful strain of anti-colonial sentiment, telling Prospero that "this island's mine, by Sycorax my mother,/ Which thou tak'st from me". This has led to an intense reassessment of the play from a post-colonial perspective, as critics and historians have debated the extent to which the play endorses or criticises early English colonial expansion. --Jerry Brotton [via]
More editions of The Tempest:
- The Tempest: ISBN 0415027047 (0-415-02704-7)
Softcover, Van Nostrand Reinhold - The Tempest: ISBN 0416101909 (0-416-10190-9)
Softcover, Routledge - The Tempest: ISBN 0416473601 (0-416-47360-1)
Softcover, Routledge, Chapman & Hall, Incorporated - The Tempest: ISBN 0333001109 (0-333-00110-9)
Hardcover, Macmillan - The Tempest: ISBN 0393978192 (0-393-97819-2)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
- The Tempest: ISBN 0415027047 (0-415-02704-7)
The Turks and Caicos Islands: Lands of Discoveryby Amelia SmithersISBN 0333539680 (0-333-53968-0)
Softcover, Hunter Pub Inc
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Typeeby Herman Melville, Holly Dugan, Robert SullivanISBN 0375757457 (0-375-75745-7)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Typee'Book summary:Melville's first and most popular novel during his lifetime, Typee is a provocative and lively account of his exploits in the exotic South Seas during the early 1840s, where he journeyed as a young sailor. This edition includes notes on the text. [via]
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The Weight of Waterby Anita ShreveISBN 0316780375 (0-316-78037-5)
Softcover, Little Brown & Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Weight of Water'Book summary:A newspaper photographer, Jean, researches the lurid and sensational ax murder of two women in 1873 as an editorial tie-in with a brutal modern double murder. (Can you guess which one?) She discovers a cache of papers that appear to give an account of the murders by an eyewitness. The plot weaves between the narrative of the eyewitness and Jean's private struggle with jealousies and suspicions as her marriage teeters. A rich, textured novel. [via]
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