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After a tragedy in her family, Lucy Snow leaves her home to become a teacher at a French boarding school. Lucy soon begins to fight against an overwhelming sense of desolation. Meeting a charming doctor and a strict, peculiar schoolmaster changes her life forever-- and threatens to break her spirit. (summary by heatherausten)...

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Romance

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On an American college campus, in the early years of World War II, a professor from Germany is murdered and the plans for a new bomb sight he had invented are missing. Who murdered the professor and stole the plans? And are the accidents happening with alarming frequency to young student aviators from the campus really accidents -- or is some unknown conspiracy afoot? This mystery novel was written by Daniel A Lord, S.J., a priest and popular American Catholic writer. The subjects of the works in his bibliography range from religion, humor, plays, songs, mysteries and even politics. His most influential work was possibly in drafting the 1930 Production Code for motion pictures. (Introduction by Maria Therese)...

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Fiction, Mystery, War stories

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Candide is a relentless, brutal assault on government, society, religion, education, and, above all, optimism. Dr. Pangloss teaches his young students Candide and Cunegonde that everything in this world is for the best, a sentiment they cling to as the world steps in to teach them otherwise. The novel is brilliant, hilarious, blasphemous. . . and Voltaire never admitted to writing it....

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Literature

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ENGLISH: Heart (Italian: Cuore) was a children's novel written by Italian author Edmondo De Amicis. It is set during the Italian unification, and includes several patriotic themes. It was issued by Treves on October 17, 1886, the first day of school in Italy, and rose to immediate success. The novel is written in a diary form as told by Enrico Bottini, a 10-year old primary school student in Italy with an upper class background who is surrounded by classmates of working class origin. The entire chronological setting corresponds to the third-grade season. Enrico's parents and older siblings sometimes correspond with Enrico through the means of his diary: his teacher assigns him with homework dealing with stories of children throughout the Italian states, who should serve as role models - the stories are then given in full as Enrico is supposed to have written them. Most topics revolve around moral values, and the predilect ones include helping those in need, love for family and friends, and patriotism. ITALIAN: Cuore è un romanzo scritto nel 1886 da Edmondo de Amicis, pubblicato nel 1888. Fu un grande successo, tanto che de Amicis di...

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Children

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If it is possible to conquer space, then perhaps it is also possible to conquer time. At least that was the theory American scientists were exploring in an effort to explain the new sources of knowledge the Russians possessed. Perhaps Russian scientists had discovered how to transport themselves back in time in order to learn long-forgotten secrets of the past. That was why young Ross Murdock, above average in intelligence but a belligerently independent nonconformist, found himself on a hush-hush government project at a secret base in the Arctic. The very qualities that made him a menace in civilized society were valuable traits in a man who must successfully act the part of a merchant trader of the Beaker people during the Bronze Age. For once they were transferred by time machine to the remote Baltic region where the Russian post was located, Ross and his partner Ashe were swept into a fantastic action-filled adventure involving Russians, superstitious prehistoric men, and the aliens of a lost galactic civilization that demanded every ounce of courage the Americans possessed. (Summary by Gutenberg text)...

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Science fiction

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If it is possible to conquer space, then perhaps it is also possible to conquer time. At least that was the theory American scientists were exploring in an effort to explain the new sources of knowledge the Russians possessed. Perhaps Russian scientists had discovered how to transport themselves back in time in order to learn long-forgotten secrets of the past.

That was why young Ross Murdock, above average in intelligence but a belligerently independent nonconformist, found himself on a hush-hush government project at a secret base in the Arctic. The very qualities that made him a menace in civilized society were valuable traits in a man who must successfully act the part of a merchant trader of the Beaker people during the Bronze Age.

For once they were transferred by time machine to the remote Baltic region where the Russian post was located, Ross and his partner Ashe were swept into a fantastic action-filled adventure involving Russians, superstitious prehistoric men, and the aliens of a lost galactic civilization that demanded every ounce of courage the Americans possessed. [summary taken from gutenberg e-text]...

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Science fiction

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The miniature novel Helsinkiin by Juhani Aho was published in 1889. A psychological novel about a young man’s stepping into adult life, it also touches the then heated language politics as Finnish was emerging as a language of academia in the bilingual country. Aho (1861 - 1921) was among the first professional writers in Finland. This reading is in Finnish. (Summary by Tuija Aalto)...

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Psychology

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The Eye of Osiris is an early example from the Dr. Thorndyke series of detective stories written by R. Austin Freeman. In these stories, the author drew on his extensive medical and scientific knowledge for his main character, a medico-legal expert who relies on forensic evidence and logical deduction in solving cases. In this case, Thorndyke steps in to investigate the disappearance of one John Bellingham, an English gentleman and amateur Egyptologist, who has vanished under very mysterious circumstances. Thorndyke's involvement in the case arises from a both purely professional interest in the unique character of the case, as well as from the fact that a young doctor and former student of his has recently become closely acquainted with the missing man's brother and niece. (summary by J.M. Smallheer)...

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Mystery

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Sylvia Fulton is a ten-years-old girl from Boston who stayed in Charleston, South Carolina, before the opening of the civil war. She loves her new home, and her dear friends. However, political tensions are rising, and things start to change. Through these changes, Silvia gets to know the world better: from Estrella, her maid, she starts to understand what it is to be a slave, from her unjust teacher she learns that not all beautiful people are perfect, and from the messages she carries to Fort Sumter she learns what is the meaning of danger. However, this is a lovely book, written mostly for children.(Summary by Stav Nisser)...

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Children, Historical Fiction, Teen/Young adult, War stories

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The Prime Minister is the fifth in Trollope's series of six Palliser novels. With Phineas' difficulties resolved, Trollope introduces new characters. A respectable young girl forsakes the man her family had always intended her to marry when she falls in love with a man of foreign extraction and an unknown family. He has a gentleman's education and manners, but his family background and financial means are mysterious. Is he really a gentleman? Meanwhile, Plantagenet Palliser becomes Prime Minister of a shaky coalition government, and Glencora and Madame Goessler are busy with the ensuing social obligations. (Summary by Karen Merline)...

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Historical Fiction, Politics, Romance

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Pierre and Luce were an unlikely young pair who found themselves in the chaos of Paris during the war; Pierre, the shy, recently conscripted pacifist, and Luce, the free spirited artist in training, and both confused about the things going on around them. Why were these war birds flying overhead? Why these warning sirens, and occasional bombs exploding in the distance? Why did the government leaders, who didn't even know one another, hate and destroy so much? Why did these two delicate young adults find each other now? This story takes place between Jan. 30 and Good Friday, May 29, 1918. (Introduction by Roger Melin)...

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Literature, War stories, Romance, Tragedy