Universals | Park County Library System

Author

Burnett, Frances Hodgson, 1849-1924

Earliest Publication Date

1975

Summary

Seven year old Sara Crewe learns of the tragic death of her father not long after she is left in the care of Miss Michin, headmistress of a boarding school. Now an orphan and stripped of her family fortune, Sara must survive the emotional trials of loss and the mental anguish of abuse at the hands of her new caretakers.

2) A midsummer night's dream

Author

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616

Earliest Publication Date

1897

Summary

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The original play by Shakespeare's drama telling how Demetrius and Lysander love Hermia, Hermia loves Lysander but is betrothed to Demetrius, much to her dismay. And no one loves Helena, though her heart belongs to Demetrius. When Hermia and Lysander escape escape through the forest to elope, Demetrius chases them, and Helena chases Demetrius. With the magic of the forest bewitching the hand of fate, perhaps their dream of love will come true.

3) Animal farm

Author

Orwell, George, 1903-1950

Earliest Publication Date

1946

Summary

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Since its publication fifty years ago, Animal Farm has become one of the most controversial books ever written. It has been translated into seventy languages and sold millions of copies throughout the world. This edition is being published to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of its original U.S. publication. It features 100 full-color and halftone illustrations by world-renowned artist Ralph Steadman. As vital and relevant as it was fifty years...

4) Black Beauty

Author

Sewell, Anna, 1820-1878

Earliest Publication Date

1890

Summary

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One of the best loved animal stories ever written, the dramatic and heartwarming Black Beauty is told by the magnificent horse himself, from his idyllic days on a country squire's estate to his harsh fate as a London cab horse. No one can ever forget the gallant Black Beauty, a horse with a white star on his forehead and a heart of unyielding courage.

5) Dubliners

Author

Joyce, James, 1882-1941

Earliest Publication Date

1926

Summary

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Fifteen stories evoke the character, atmosphere, and people of Dublin at the turn of the century.

6) Emma

Author

Austen, Jane, 1775-1817

Earliest Publication Date

1948

Summary

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"The culmination of Jane Austen's genius, a sparkling comedy of love and marriage--now in a stunning 200th-anniversary Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition Beautiful, clever, rich--and single--Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and attempts to...

7) Gulliver's travels

Author

Swift, Jonathan, 1667-1745

Earliest Publication Date

1912

Summary

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Presents Jonathan Swift's satire in which a shipwrecked Englishman encounters bizarre populations in unheard-of lands, including an enlightened race of horses that makes him see his fellow humans in a different light; and includes explanatory notes and a note on the text, which is based on the 1726 edition.

8) Island nights' entertainments

Author

Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894

Earliest Publication Date

1914

Summary

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Island Nights' Entertainments brings together a series of stories set in the islands of the South Pacific, where the apparent serenity of the tropical landscape is pierced by violence, superstition, and the moral conflicts arising from encounters between cultures. Traders, missionaries, adventurers, and native inhabitants coexist in remote settings in which greed, fear, and desire emerge with force, giving rise to extreme situations and unsettling...

9) Jane Eyre

Author

Brontë, Charlotte, 1816-1855

Earliest Publication Date

1933

Summary

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In early nineteenth-century England, an orphaned young woman accepts employment as a governess and soon finds herself in love with her employer who has a terrible secret. Charlotte Bronte's novel about the passionate love between Jane Eyre, a young girl alone in the world, and the rich, brilliant, domineering Rochester has enthralled every kind of reader, from the most critical and cultivated to the youngest and most unabashedly romantic, ever since...

10) Kim

Author

Kipling, Rudyard, 1865-1936

Earliest Publication Date

1901

Summary

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Rudyard Kipling's epic rendition of the imperial experience in India is also his greatest long work. Born in India and growing into early manhood, Kim is the son of an Irish soldier born under British Imperial rule in 19th century India. Left in the care of a half-caste woman, Kim is free to explore the back allies and bazaars of Lahore. But when he meets with his father's old regiment he trades his native clothes for European suits and abandons his...

11) Little Lord Fauntleroy

Author

Burnett, Frances Hodgson, 1849-1924

Earliest Publication Date

1911

Summary

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An American boy goes to live with his grandfather in England where he becomes heir to a title, estate, and fortune.

12) Little women

Author

Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888

Earliest Publication Date

1915

Summary

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For generations, children around the world have come of age with Louisa May Alcott's March girls: hardworking eldest sister Meg, headstrong, impulsive Jo, timid Beth, and precocious Amy. With their father away at war, and their loving mother Marmee working to support the family, the four sisters have to rely on one another for support as they endure the hardships of wartime and poverty. We witness the sisters growing up and figuring out what role...

13) Mansfield Park

Author

Austen, Jane, 1775-1817

Earliest Publication Date

1964

Summary

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When young Fanny Price comes to live with her aunt and uncle Bertram at Mansfield Park, it is because of the outcast state of her own parents. Her dreadful aunt and three cousins become her enemies, making her life miserable and causing Fanny to grow up quiet and shy. When the arrival of the Crawfords upsets the Bertram household, the young people become involved in dangerous plots to marry to better their station. Fanny has fallen in love with her...

14) Peter Pan

Author

Barrie, James Matthew

Earliest Publication Date

2006

Summary

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Peter Pan, the boy who refuses to grow up, invites Wendy Darling and her brothers John and Michael on a wondrous adventure where the skies shimmer with fairy dust, pirates lurk in the shadows, and childhood dreams come alive. Together, they will confront the daring Captain Hook, befriend the mischievous Tinker Bell, and discover that the greatest magic lies in the power of imagination and the courage to believe. This beloved classic by J.M. Barrie...

15) Pollyanna

Author

Porter, Eleanor H. (Eleanor Hodgman), 1868-1920

Earliest Publication Date

1913

Summary

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Unwanted and unloved, Pollyanna Whittier comes to her aunt's home without a warm welcome. Pollyanna's irrepressible spirits make punishments seem like treats and her cheerfulness brings happiness to her aunt and other members of the community.

16) Pride and prejudice

Author

Austen, Jane, 1775-1817

Earliest Publication Date

1917

Summary

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When Elizabeth Bennet meets Fitzwilliam Darcy for the first time at a ball, she writes him off as an arrogant and obnoxious man. He not only acts like an insufferable snob, but she also overhears him rejecting the very idea of asking her for a dance! As life pits them against each other again and again, Darcy begins to fall for Elizabeth's wit and intelligence and Elizabeth begins to question her feelings about Darcy. But when Darcy saves her youngest...

17) The heart of darkness

Author

Conrad, Joseph, 1857-1924

Earliest Publication Date

1973

Summary

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The Nellie, a cruising yawl, swung to her anchor without a flutter of the sails, and was at rest. The flood had made, the wind was nearly calm, and being bound down the river, the only thing for it was to come to and wait for the turn of the tide. The sea-reach of the Thames stretched before us like the beginning of an interminable waterway. In the offing the sea and the sky were welded together without a joint, and in the luminous space the tanned...

18) The House of the Seven Gables

Author

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804-1864

Earliest Publication Date

1893

Summary

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The Pyncheons, having lived for generations under the curse of a supposed witch who once occupied the land on which the family mansion was built, gain a new lease on life with the arrival of young Phoebe Pyncheon from the country.

19) The legend of Sleepy Hollow

Author

Irving, Washington, 1783-1859

Earliest Publication Date

1966

Summary

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One of the most popular pieces of American fiction is Washington Irving s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, originally published in 1820 in Irving s short story collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. Set in New York s Hudson River valley after the American Revolution, it is rich with Dutch culture, regional history, and ghost stories. In schoolmaster Ichabod Crane and his adversary the Headless Horseman, Irving created two of the most unforgettable...

20) The life and adventures of Robinson Crusoe

Author

Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731

Earliest Publication Date

1982

Summary

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"The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe relates the story of a man's shipwreck on a desert island and his subsequent adventures. Epistolary, confessional, and didactic in form, the book is presented as an autobiography of the title character--a castaway who spends thirty years on a remote tropical island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and mutineers, before ultimately being rescued."--Amazon.com.