Norman Dietz
1) The rifle
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A priceless, handcrafted rifle, fired throughout the American Revolution, is passed down through the years until it fires on a fateful Christmas Eve of 1994. This tough, thought-provoking novel for young adults takes deadly aim at the oft-quoted notion: "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." With subtle mastery and precision, Paulsen's novel challenges the idea that firearms don't become instruments of destruction and murder until they are...
2) Old Yeller
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At first, Travis couldn't stand the sight of Old Yeller. The stray dog was ugly, and a thieving rascal, too. But he sure was clever, and a smart dog could be a big help on the wild Texas frontier, especially with Papa away on a long cattle drive up to Abilene. Strong and courageous, Old Yeller proved that he could protect Travis's family from any sort of danger. But can Travis do the same for Old Yeller?
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In this collection of essays, McManus ponders the strange allure of the RV, a thirtieth-century hunting trip, the art of wrestling toads, the existential implications of being lost, the baffling tendency of animals to outsmart those who wish to hunt them, the singular pleasure of doubling the size of every fish one doesn't catch, and what happens when a bear named Pooky decides to hibernate in the attic.
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Patrick McManus, the bestselling author of such hilarious books as A Fine and Pleasant Misery and Never Sniff a Gift Fish, now offers readers solid thoughts on the qualities that define leadership, beginning with the need to be tall, and much more, in this outrageous collection of short pieces that reveals his tortuous trip along the writer's path.
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Appears on list
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An inventive nineteenth-century resident of Hartford named Hank Morgan travels back in time to sixteenth-century England where he tries to introduce modern technology and political ideas. Along the way he constructs telephone lines, founds the first tabloid, the Camelot Weekly Hosannah and Literary Volcano, organizes a school system and arranges a game of baseball between armor-clad knights.
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At once a romantic history of the mighty Mississippi River, an autobiographical account of Twain's early steamboat days, and a storehouse of anecdotes and sketches, this stirring account of America's vanished past is the raw material from which Twain wrote his finest novel--"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn".
7) Tom Sawyer
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A simplified retelling of the classic story of the mischievous 19th-century boy in a Mississippi River town and his friends, Huck Finn and Becky Thatcher, as they run away from home, witness a murder, and find treasure in a cave.
8) White Fang
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Born in the wilds of the freezing cold Yukon, the wolf cub White Fang soon learns the harsh laws of nature, growing fiercer and more independent in his struggle to survive. Yet buried deep inside him are distant memories of affection and love. Can he learn to trust man again?
10) Home to Harmony
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Harmony volume 1st year
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The new pastor in a small Indiana town experiences one humorous adventure after another as he acclimates to his new congregation and lifestyle.
11) The Odyssey
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Composed at the rosy-fingered dawn of world literature almost three millennia ago, The Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty and power; about marriage and family; about travelers, hospitality, and the yearning for home. This fresh, authoritative translation captures the beauty of this ancient poem as well as the drama of its narrative. Its characters are unforgettable, none more so than the "complicated"...
12) Baseball pals
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When Jimmie is elected captain of his baseball team his first decision is to elect himself pitcher but when Jimmie's pitches fail to find their mark the team wants their olf pitcher back.
13) The hit-away kid
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Formats
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Barry McGee, hit-away batter for the Peach Street Mudders, enjoys winning so much that he has a tendency to bend the rules--until the dirty tactics of the pitcher on a rival team give him a new perspective on sports ethics.
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From the bestselling author of Day of Infamy: In the bloodiest island combat of WWII, one group of men kept watch from behind Japanese lines.
The Solomon Islands was where the Allied war machine finally broke the Japanese empire. As pilots, marines, and sailors fought for supremacy in Guadalcanal, Bougainville, and the Slot, a lonely group of radio operators occupied the Solomon Islands' highest points. Sometimes encamped in comfort,...
The Solomon Islands was where the Allied war machine finally broke the Japanese empire. As pilots, marines, and sailors fought for supremacy in Guadalcanal, Bougainville, and the Slot, a lonely group of radio operators occupied the Solomon Islands' highest points. Sometimes encamped in comfort,...
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Mark Twain's darkly comic short classic set in the antebellum South stands as a literary condemnation of slavery and racial inequality. Includes a concise introduction that gives readers important background information, a chronology of the author's life and work, a timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context, an outline of key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations, detailed explanatory...
16) Second glance
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"An intricate tale of love, haunting memories, and renewal, "Second Glance" begins in current-day Vermont, where an old man puts a piece of land up for sale and unintentionally raises protest from the local Abenaki Indian tribe, who insist it's a burial ground. When odd, supernatural events plague the town of Comtosook, a ghost hunter is hired by the developer to help convince the residents that there's nothing spiritual about the property. Enter...
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The adventures of a boy and a runaway slave as they travel down the Mississippi River on a raft. Originally intended as a sequel to his immensely popular Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn stands on its own as one of America's most important and beloved literary classics. For generations, young and old alike have delighted in the unforgettable adventures of runaways Huck Finn and Jim, a slave. In vivid, often gripping...
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“Red Sky at Morning is a minor marvel: it is a novel of paradox, of identity, of an overwhelming YES to life that embraces with wonder what we are pleased to call the human condition. In short, a work of art.” — Harper Lee
Hailed by the Washington Post Book World as “a sort of Catcher in the Rye out West,” Richard Bradford’s Red
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The adventures and pranks of a mischievous boy growing up in a Mississippi River town on the early nineteenth century. Here is one of the great American novels, illustrated by one of this country's most distinguished artists. Readers will enjoy the antics of that irrepressible boy-hero, Tom, who lies to his Aunt Polly and still is forgiven, wins the heart of Becky Thatcher by getting whipped at school, gets out of whitewashing a fence by tricking...
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"An unpretentious, finely-crafted novel that will linger with the readers like the last strains of a favorite hymn. It is more enjoyable than a pitcher full of sweet tea and one of Mattie's home-cooked dinners."--The Atlanta Journal & Constitution
She had as much business keeping a stray dog as she had walking across Egypt--which not so incidentally is the title of her favorite hymn. She's Mattie Rigsbee, an independent, strong-minded senior citizen,...