Twisted

by Laurie Halse Anderson

Tyler Miller was the kind of kid who didn't stand out; that is, until he got busted for tagging the school. After a summer of working outside, Tyler returns to school and finds that he is getting kind of popular and that he has attracted the attention of the super-popular Bethany Milbury. Things go well for awhile, until a series of events upsets everything.

--Sasha B., Student

Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story

by Christopher Moore

Tommy Flood, a budding teenaged writer from Indiana, moved to San Francisco for some inspiration and adventure. Everything changes for Tommy one night while working at Safeway when a beautiful, undead, redheaded woman walks in.

--Philip S., Student

The Hour I First Believed

by Wally Lamb

This story is about a middle-aged high school English teacher named Caelum who is desperately trying to keep his third marriage together. When Caelum discovers that his wife is having an adulterous affair, he attacks her lover with pipe wrench. After Caelum's prosecution for assault, the couple moves to Colorado hoping to make a new start. Both get jobs at Columbine High School just prior to the Harris and Klebold attack. The story follows the couple as they attempt to put their life back together after wittnessing such a life altering event.

--Jeana Khalaf Cheetany, Faculty

Teacher Man

by Frank McCourt

A brilliant book about a high school teaching experience. McCourt, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Angela's Ashes and Tis, has written a memoir of his 30-year career in the New York City Public Schools. The writing is original and witty, and his anecdotes of his experiences in and out of the classroom are often hilarious. Underlying it all, however, is McCourt's love for the profession and what it, ironically, has taught him.

--Josh Curnett, Faculty

The Work of Wolves

by Kent Meyers

The story takes place in South Dakota where four lives are intimately connected in the unfolding drama: Carson Fielding, Earl Walks Alone, Ted Kills Many, and Will Schubert, a German exchange student with a love of all things Lakota. The four attempt to save horses from being starved by Magnus Fielding. Fielding bears the immediate consequences and has the most to lose in facing the wrath of Yarborough, but the four young men are ultimately linked by their actions, their friendship deepening with the desperation of their endeavor.

--Sharon Cobb, Faculty

March

by Geraldine Brooks

Brooks takes the character of the father, Mr. March, from Little Women and tells his story. Mr. March serves with the Union army first as a minister, then as a teacher to ex-slaves on a Southern plantation.

--Christine Avery, Faculty

The Afghan Campaign: A Novel

by Steven Pressfield

2,300 years ago, an unbeaten army from the West, led by Alexander the Great, invaded the tribal homeland of the fierce Afghan people. This is the story of Matthias, an 18 year old Macedonian foot soldier in Alexander's army. Once again, Steven Pressfield has written a harrowing and thought-provoking historical novel that closely parallels the experiences of the Romans, British, Soviets and Americans, and demonstrates his understanding of the realities that continue to influence our world today.

--Joe Geisendorfer, Faculty