2002 Alex Awards

Discover the 2002 Alex Award-winning books, celebrating outstanding adult literature with appeal for young adult readers. Explore this prestigious list now!

Year of Wonders Cover
Book

Year of Wonders

by Geraldine Brooks

"When an infected bolt of cloth carries plague from London to an isolated mountain village, a housemaid named Anna Frith emerges as an unlikely heroine and healer. Through Anna's eyes, we follow the story of the plague year, 1666, as her fellow villagers make an extraordinary choice. Convinced by a visionary young minister, they elect to quarantine themselves within the village boundaries to arrest the spread of the disease. But as death reaches into every household, faith frays. When villagers turn from prayers and herbal cures to sorcery and murderous witch-hunting, Anna must confront the deaths of family, the disintegration of her community, and the lure of a dangerous and illicit love. As she struggles to survive, a year of plague becomes, instead, annus mirabilis, a "year of wonders.' Inspired by the true story of Eyam, a village in the rugged mountain spine of England. Year of Wonders is a detailed evocation of a singular moment in history."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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ID: 0385499701
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Gabriel's Story Cover
Book

Gabriel's Story

 

No summary available.
Nickel and Dimed Cover
Book

Nickel and Dimed

 

No summary available.
Peace Like a River Cover
Book

Peace Like a River

by Leif Enger

A bag with ten copies of the title that may also include miscellaneous notes, discussion questions, biographical information, and reading lists to assist book group discussion leaders.
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ID: 0345444264
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ID: 0618109277
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ID: 0765341948
(Type: books)
Motherland Cover
Book

Motherland

by Vineeta Vijayaraghavan

Over the course of a single transformative summer, an American teenager travels to southern India to visit her relatives and gains new insight into her past, her family and her heritage. Born in Kerala, Maya spent the first four years of her life there, cared for mainly by her grandmother, Ammamma, until she was sent to live with her parents in New York. At 15, with her parents' marriage undergoing a rough patch, she is sent back to India to stay with her Aunt Reema and Uncle Sanjay, their 10-year-old daughter, Brindha, and Ammamma at their house in the tea hills above Coimbatore. It's been years since Maya came to visit, and this time she is keenly aware of cultural differences: the different spheres of men and women and the persistence of the caste system. She feels stifled by the attentions of Ammamma and resentful of the time she must spend with the old woman. When Maya suffers an accident while most of the family is away, she and Ammamma grow closer, and Maya learns a hidden family fact. But only when Ammamma falls ill and the entire family gathers, including Maya's parents from New York, does Maya begin to comprehend more deeply the complexities of relationships.
Black, White & Jewish Cover
Book

Black, White & Jewish

 

No summary available.