"Let each day begin and end with gratitude and joy." -- Unknown -- 

 “Music is my higher power” ― Oliver James

Minn of the Mississippi

Title: Minn of the Mississippi

Author: Holling Clancy Holling

Rating: ★★★★★

Ages: 6 - 18+

    Back Cover Synopsis: 

    A turtle hatched at the source of the Mississippi is carried through the heart of America to the Gulf of Mexico.

 “Freedom means the opportunity to be what we never thought we would be.” – Daniel J. Boorstin

O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman

O Captain! My Captain!

by Walt Whitman

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,

The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;

                         But O heart! heart! heart!

                            O the bleeding drops of red,

                               Where on the deck my Captain lies,

                                  Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;

Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills,

For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding,

For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;

                         Here Captain! dear father!

                            This arm beneath your head!

                               It is some dream that on the deck,

                                 You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,

My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,

The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,

From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;

                         Exult O shores, and ring O bells!

                            But I with mournful tread,

                               Walk the deck my Captain lies,

                                  Fallen cold and dead.

 “Life is like a beautiful melody, only the lyrics are messed up.” ― Hans Christian Andersen

"If wrinkles must be written on our brows, let them not be written up on the heart. The spirit should never grow old." -- James Garfield -- 

"You've got to think high to rise. 

You've got to be sure of yourself before 

You can ever win a prize."

-- Walter D. Wintle --

"You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give." -- Kahlil Gibran --

Old Yeller

Title: Old Yeller

Author: Fred Gipson

Rating: ★★★★☆

Ages: 10 - 16

    Back Cover Synopsis: 

    It was lucky that old yellow-haired dog came along. Travis couldn't have managed without him. When his dad goes off on a cattle drive, 14-year-old Travis is left in charge. First a bear attacks his kid brother . . . then he hears about a terrifying disease that turns animals and humans into mad creatures! Before his dad returns, that "Old Yeller" dog has become the best-loved friend a boy could ever want. 

 “The freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic governments.” – George Mason

The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe

The Raven

by Edgar Allen Poe

Deep into that darkness peering,

Long I stood there wondering, fearing, 

Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals

Ever dared to dream before;

But the silence was unbroken,

And the stillness gave no token, 

And the only word there spoken

Was the whispered word, "Lenore!"

This I whispered, and an echo

Murmured back the word, "Lenore!"

Merely this, and nothing more.

 “In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

 “The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear.” – Aung San Suu Kyi

"Don't stop until you're proud." --  Unknown --

"The externals are simply so many props; everything we need is within us." -- Etty Hillesum --

Small Acts of Amazing Courage

Title: Small Acts of Amazing Courage

Author: Gloria Whelan

Rating: ★★★★☆

Ages: 13 - 18+

     Back Cover Synopsis: 

    As an English girl in India in 1918, Rosalind is alone. Ever since the death of Rosalind's brother, Edward, Rosalind's mother hasn't been the same. Her father, away at war, wishes for Rosalind to live in England and get a proper British education. England is "home" to Rosalind, but she has never been there. 

    Rosalind awaits the return of her father from the war, and more and more she ventures out onto the streets. There she learns of a man named Gandhi and hears talk of how India must be free to rule itself. Then late one night she makes a fateful discovery. She knows that she should not be seeking out the beggars who live under the bridge near the river, but she wants to help, even if her parents will never understand.

    National Book Award recipient Gloria Whelan weaves a captivating story of love and family, secrets and sisterhood, and most of all, identity.

“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.” — Lemony Snicket, Horseradish --

Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep by Mary Elizabeth Frye

Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep

by Mary Elizabeth Frye

Do not stand at my grave and weep

I am not there. I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry;

I am not there. I did not die.

 "If animals could speak, the dog would be a blundering outspoken fellow; but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much." -- Mark Twain --

 “Books can be dangerous. The best ones should be labeled ‘This could change your life.’”― Helen Exley --

 "A few alligators are naturally of the vicious type and inclined to resent it when you prod them with a stick. You can find out which ones these are by prodding them." -- Will Cuppy --

"The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another." -- William James --

The Hawk and the Dove

Title: The Hawk and the Dove

Author: Penelope Wilcock

Rating: ★★★★★

Ages: 12 - 18+

    Back Cover Synopsis: 

    Father Peregrine is appointed Abbot of St Alcuin's Benedictine abbey. An arrogant, impatient man, a hawk trying hard to be a dove - his name in religion is "Columbia" - he is respected, but not loved. 

    A sudden, shocking act of violence changes everything. As the story unfolds, this community of monks, serious about their calling but as flawed and human as we are, come to love their ascetic but now vulnerable leader. 

    They lived six centuries ago, yet their struggles are our own. Finding our niche; coping with failure; living with impossible people; and discovering that we are the impossible ones. 

"The power of finding beauty in the humblest things makes home happy and life lovely." -- Lousia May Alcott --

Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night

by Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,

Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

"A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow." -- Charlotte Bronte --

"You can't start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one." -- Unknown --

"One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above little things." -- John Burroughs --

"My strength is as the strength of ten, 

Because my heart is pure." 

-- Alfred Tennyson --

Pride and Prejudice

Title: Pride and Prejudice

Author: Jane Austen

Rating: ★★★★★

Ages: 14 - 18+

    Back Cover Synopsis: 

    Pride and Prejudice, which opens with one of the most famous sentences in English Literature, is an ironic novel of manners. In it the garrulous and empty-headed Mrs Bennet has only one aim - that of finding a good match for each of her five daughters. In this she is mocked by her cynical and indolent husband. 

    With its wit, its social precision and, above all, its irresistible heroine, Pride and Prejudice has proved one of the most enduringly popular novels in the English language.