books read in the 08-09 academic year
Discover the curated reading list from the 08-09 academic year, featuring standout titles like *The Time Traveler's Wife* and *I Am the Messenger*. Explore academic book selections mixing fiction and young adult literature, from Randa Abdel-Fattah to Markus Zusak, perfect for your next scholarly or casual read.
Book
A Sky So Close
by Betool Khedairi
Evocative and exquisite, A Sky So Close was first published to controversy in the Middle East. Now in English, it has received wide acclaim as a haunting coming-of-age tale that plunges into the heart of the cultural clash between East and West.
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I Am the Messenger
by Markus Zusak
DON’T MISS BRIDGE OF CLAY, MARKUS ZUSAK’S FIRST NOVEL SINCE THE BOOK THIEF AND AN UNFORGETTABLE AND SWEEPING FAMILY SAGA. From the author of the extraordinary #1 New York Times bestseller The Book Thief, I Am the Messenger is an acclaimed novel filled with laughter, fists, and love. A MICHAEL L. PRINTZ HONOR BOOK FIVE STARRED REVIEWS Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He's pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery. That's when the first ace arrives in the mail. That's when Ed becomes the messenger. Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains: Who's behind Ed's mission?
Book
The Time Traveler's Wife
by Audrey Niffenegger
A Magical love story that is as sad as it is joyous.
Book
Does My Head Look Big in This?
by Randa Abdel-Fattah
Year Eleven at an exclusive Melbourne prep school was tough enough before Amal decides to wear the hijab as a badge of her faith.
Book
Shattered
by Jennifer Armstrong
As bullets ring and bombs are dropped, children watch—mostly from the sidelines, but occasionally in the direct line of fire. Unaware of the political issues or power struggles behind the battle, all they know are the human, emotional consequences of this thing called war. This collection examines all of war’s implications for young people—from those caught in the line of fire to the children of the veterans of wars long past. Critically acclaimed author Jennifer Armstrong brings together 12 powerful voices in young people's literature to explore the realities of war from a child's perspective. The settings vary widely—the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, an attempted coup in Venezuela, the American Civil War, crisis in the Middle East—but the effects are largely the same. In war, no life is ever left untouched. In war, lives are shattered.
