The Kite Runner

Title: The Kite Runner
Author: Khaled Hosseini
Publisher: Riverhead
Copyright: 2003
ISBN: 9781573222457

Reading Level: Adult
Interest Age: Grade 10 and up

Genre: Historical--World Historical Fiction--Twentieth Century

Reader’s Annotation: Amir carries the guilt of having failed his friend with him his whole life. When he learns there may be a way to make things right, he returns to Afghanistan, now under Taliban rule.

Plot Summary
In the first part of this three-part novel, Amir and Hassan are growing up together in Kabul. Amir is the son of a wealthy businessman, and Hassan is his father’s servant’s son. Despite the differences in their lives—Hassan is Hazara and Amir is Pashtun, Hassan waits on Amir and has to work instead of going to school—the two boys are very close. Their world darkens when an older boy, Assef, begins threatening Amir. Hassan frightens him off with his slingshot, but Assef vows revenge. Some months later Amir wins a kite battle, and when Hassan runs the last kite down for him, Assef corners, attacks, and rapes him. Amir does nothing to stop the assault, and to get rid of the reminder of his guilt he treats Hassan so badly that he and his father leave Kabul.

The second part of the book brings even greater changes to Amir’s life. He and his father flee Kabul in the wake of the invasion by the Soviet Union. They go to Fremont, California, where they find a large Afghani immigrant community. Amir’s father works at a gas station and Amir finishes school. He falls in love with another Afghani immigrant, Soraya, and they marry just before Amir’s father dies of cancer.

In the third part, Amir answers a summons to return to Afghanistan to make things right with Hassan. Hassan and his wife have been murdered by the Taliban, and his son is in a Kabul orphanage. Amir sets out to rescue the boy from the hell Kabul has become.

Critical Evaluation
I found this book disappointing, primarily because I had heard so many good things about it. I didn’t think it lived up to the hype. I had also read several books in a row in which the reader is told that something horrible is going to happen long before it does, and I was sick of it. I find this technique is rarely effective; it’s better to just tell the story and use tone and subtle foreshadowing to induce foreboding in the reader. (The Book Thief is an exception in which giving away the ending early works well.)

I have a few more complaints, too. I found Hassan unrealistic and underdeveloped—too saintly and subservient. I also got tired of listening to Amir talk about how guilty he felt. The fact that he starts doing it long before the cause of his shame actually happens didn’t help. Furthermore, the final section stretched my suspension of disbelief a little too far. I found the plot twists involving Hassan’s son too dramatic for credibility.

On the positive side, the book is elegantly written, and Amir and his father are interesting, well-rounded characters. We see Amir’s father go from proud, intimidating business magnate to gas station clerk. He regains some of his old dignity when he’s among other Afghan immigrants, but it is further taxed when he is diagnosed with cancer. It’s touching to see how Amir comes to see his father as a person through these hardships. In Afghanistan, Amir longed for his father’s approval but regarded him with an awe that put him at an emotional remove.

Probably my favorite thing about the book is the amount of detail it gives about Afghanistan’s ethnic groups, languages, cultures, and history. I learned a great deal, for example, that Farsi is one of Afghanistan’s major languages.

Curriculum Ties: History/government--Afghanistan, Taliban, war in Afghanistan

Booktalking Ideas
Describe Amir and Hassan as boys.
Describe how Amir and Baba's lives changed when they fled to California.

Challenge Issues: Language, violence

In the defense file, I will include my library's selection policy, ALA's Library Bill of Rights, ALA's guidelines on free access to libraries for minors (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/freeaccesslibraries.cfm), and ALA's strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips/index.cfm). I will also include my library's reconsideration form, in case challenges to this book cannot be defused with "tea and sympathy." I'll include positive reviews from Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, and Booklist and mixed reviews from Amazon.com and the New York Times Book Review.

About the Author
Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1965. His father was a diplomat with the Afghan Foreign Ministry and his mother taught Farsi and History at a large high school in Kabul. In 1976, the Afghan Foreign Ministry relocated the Hosseini family to Paris. They were ready to return to Kabul in 1980, but by then Afghanistan had already witnessed a bloody communist coup and the invasion of the Soviet army. The Hosseinis sought and were granted political asylum in the United States. In September of 1980, Hosseini's family moved to San Jose, California. Hosseini graduated from high school in 1984 and enrolled at Santa Clara University where he earned a bachelor's degree in Biology in 1988. The following year, he entered the University of California-San Diego's School of Medicine, where he earned a Medical Degree in 1993. He completed his residency at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. Hosseini was a practicing internist between 1996 and 2004.

While in medical practice, Hosseini began writing his first novel, The Kite Runner, in March of 2001. In 2003, The Kite Runner was published and has since become an international bestseller, published in 70 countries. In 2006 he was named a goodwill envoy to UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency.  His second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, was published in May of 2007. Currently, A Thousand Splendid Suns is published in 60 countries. Khaled has been working to provide humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan through The Khaled Hosseini Foundation. The concept for The Khaled Hosseini Foundation was inspired by a trip to Afghanistan Khaled made in 2007 with the UNHCR. He lives in northern California.

http://www.khaledhosseini.com/hosseini-bio.html

Why is this title included?
Cart identifies The Kite Runner as an adult book that is a crossover hit with teens. It's also received great critical acclaim, including the Boeke Prize.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Title: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Author: Mark Haddon
Publisher: Doubleday
Copyright: 2003
ISBN: 9780385512107

Reading Level: Adult
Interest Age: Grade 9 and up

Genre: Issues--Disability

Reader’s Annotation: Christopher (who can't understand facial expressions but does math problems in his head for fun) investigates the murder of the dog across the street and uncovers secrets relating to his own life.

Plot Summary
Christopher Boone has a very literal, logical mind. So much so that he dislikes most fiction and considers metaphors to be lies. He is, however, a big fan of Sherlock Holmes, so when the dog across the street is murdered with a pitchfork he decides to solve the mystery (and write a book about it). This is complicated by his inability to navigate normal social interactions. When he talks to a neighbor about the mystery, he notes, "Mrs. Alexander was doing what is called chatting, where people say things to each other which aren't questions and answers and aren't connected. . . . I tried to do chatting by saying, 'My age is 15 years and 3 months and 3 days.' " Nevertheless, he learns from Mrs. Alexander that his mother had an affair with the man across the street. Christopher believes his mother died of a heart attack two years before. He goes home to look for clues and finds letters from his mother that his father never gave him. When his father comes home and discovers Christopher in great distress, he admits that it was he who killed the dog and that Christopher’s mother is alive. Appalled by his father’s actions and afraid that he will be his next victim, Christopher decides that he will go to London to find his mother, braving the overwhelming stimuli of the train and city.

Critical Evaluation
Christopher’s disability isn’t identified in the text, but it seems to be something on the autism spectrum. Haddon has made clear that he is not an expert on autism and makes no claims as to the accuracy of his portrayal. However, some autism associations, such as the National Autistic Society of the UK, list Curious Incident as recommended reading (see http://www.autism.org.uk/living-with-autism/parents-relatives-and-carers/siblings/useful-reading.aspx). Whether or not he portrays the experience of having autism accurately, Haddon brilliantly captures the mind of his character. Christopher is an engaging and memorable narrator. Haddon maintains his very unusual voice with wonderful consistency. The narrative is very funny and (sometimes simultaneously) distressing: "4 yellow cars in a row made it a Black Day, which is a day when I don't speak to anyone and sit on my own reading books and don't eat my lunch and Take No Risks." Haddon is also to be congratulated for eschewing both sentimentality and condescension. Christopher is the agent here. He knows what he wants, and he takes the logical steps required to get it.

The plot ticks along at a good pace, as Christopher doesn’t get bogged down in description. (Here’s what he thinks of metaphors, specifically "he’s the apple of my eye": "When I try and make a picture of the phrase in my head it just confuses me because imagining an apple in someone's eye doesn't have anything to do with liking someone a lot and it makes you forget what the person was talking about.") Though the book is quite short, Christopher is satisfied with his ending, and readers will be, too.

Curriculum Ties: Health--autism

Booktalking Ideas: Explain Christopher's likes (dogs, math, Sherlock Holmes) and dislikes (yellow, brown, metaphors) and read related passages.

Challenge Issues: Language

In the defense file, I will include my library's selection policy, ALA's Library Bill of Rights, ALA's guidelines on free access to libraries for minors (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/freeaccesslibraries.cfm), and ALA's strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips/index.cfm). I will also include my library's reconsideration form, in case challenges to this book cannot be defused with "tea and sympathy." I'll include positive reviews from Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, The New Yorker, and The New York Times Book Review.

About the Author
Mark Haddon was born in Northampton in 1962. He graduated from Oxford University in 1981, returning later to study for an M.Sc. in English Literature at Edinburgh University. He then undertook a variety of jobs, including work with children and adults with mental and physical disabilities. He also worked as an illustrator for magazines and a cartoonist for New Statesman, The Spectator, Private Eye, The Sunday Telegraph and The Guardian (for which he co-wrote a cartoon strip).

His first book for children, Gilbert's Gobstopper, appeared in 1987 and was followed by many other books and picture books for children, many of which he also illustrated. These include the 'Agent Z' series  and the 'Baby Dinosaurs' series. From 1996 he also worked on television projects, and created and wrote several episodes for Microsoap, winning two BAFTAs and a Royal Television Society Award for this work.

In 2003 his novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, was published and has been hugely successful. It has won a string of prestigious awards, including the 2003 Whitbread Book of the Year. His second novel, A Spot of Bother, was published in 2006 and shortlisted for the 2006 Costa Novel Award.

His first book of poetry, The Talking Horse and the Sad Girl and the Village Under the Sea, was published in 2005.

His latest books are a new novel, Boom! (2009) and a picture book, Walking on The Moon (2009).

Mark Haddon teaches creative writing for the Arvon Foundation and Oxford University.

http://literature.britishcouncil.org/mark-haddon

Why is this title included?
Cart identifies Curious Incident as an adult book that is a crossover hit with teens. It's also received great critical acclaim, including winning the Whitbread Award.

The Lovely Bones

Title: The Lovely Bones
Author: Alice Sebold
Publisher: Little, Brown
Copyright: 2002
ISBN: 9780316044400

Reading Level: Adult
Interest Age: Grade 10 and up

Genre: Issues--Death

Reader’s Annotation: At the beginning of the book, Susie is brutally raped and murdered. Afterward, she watches her family, friends and killer from heaven.

Plot Summary
Susie Salmon, 14 years old, is raped and murdered in the cornfield behind her house. On its way out of the world, her spirit passes through one of her classmates, Ruth. Once Susie is in her personal heaven (in which her teenage wishes, such as having school without teachers, are fulfilled), she observes the family she left behind. Her father becomes obsessed with proving the guilt of a neighbor, Mr. Harvey, whom we know is the real killer but the police won’t charge. Her mother has an affair with the investigator, then leaves the family and moves to California. Her sister Lindsey, just a couple of years younger than Susie, is devastated by her death. But she is resilient, and pretty soon has a serious boyfriend and is putting her athletic gifts to use as the only girl on the school soccer team. The baby of the family, Buckley, is only four when Susie is murdered. Her death casts a pall over his childhood. Susie sometimes tries to show herself to her family, and Buckley is the one who sees her most often. Ruth and Susie’s almost-boyfriend, Ray, are touched by her death, too. Ray is at first suspected of Susie’s murder, and Ruth’s supernatural experience leads her to search for other murdered girls. On the strength of this connection they become friends. Susie watches her murderer, too, as he moves on to other towns and other girls.

Critical Evaluation
A unique writing style and careful observation of character make this dark novel touching and ultimately hopeful. The plot is not the book’s strong point—it meanders through about ten years with highly variable pacing, and toward the end a couple of supernatural resolutions strain the suspension of disbelief. However, there are moments of great suspense, such as when Lindsey breaks into Mr. Harvey’s house looking for evidence of his crime.

Susie’s storytelling is by turns matter-of-fact (she says her last name is Salmon, “like the fish”) and poetic. Her voice is authentically teenagerish—sarcastic, funny, naïve, and sometimes whiny. It remains a constant through the novel, because though other characters change, Susie is stuck at 14. Lindsey is a particular focus, since Susie gets to see through her what her life might have been like had she lived. Susie is touchingly excited when Lindsey brings home a boy for the first time, and watches the development of their relationship avidly and jealously. The book’s greatest strength is in showing how the people Susie left behind gradually, painfully learn to live with her loss. Susie’s description of this growth gives the novel its title—“the lovely bones” are not hers, but the building blocks of the lives the characters fashion for themselves when she is gone.

Curriculum Ties: Health--rape, death

Booktalking Ideas
Describe Susie's heaven
Read the passage in which she shows herself to her father for the first time

Challenge Issues: Disturbing content, violence, sexual content

In the defense file, I will include my library's selection policy, ALA's Library Bill of Rights, ALA's guidelines on free access to libraries for minors (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/freeaccesslibraries.cfm), and ALA's strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips/index.cfm). I will also include my library's reconsideration form, in case challenges to this book cannot be defused with "tea and sympathy." I'll include positive reviews from School Library Journal, Booklist, and The New York Times Book Review.

About the Author
Rarely has an author had such an impact on international literature with her first novel, especially when it focuses on the dark subjects of rape, child murder, and the dissolution of families. Yet with The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold seemed to manage the impossible.

“My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was 14 when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.” So begins The Lovely Bones, one of the best-reviewed novels of the decade. The book quickly became an unprecedented international bestseller, with translations in over 45 languages and American sales alone of over five million copies. In 2009 it was chosen by the Young Adult Library Association as one of its recommended titles for all students (the list is revised every 5 years and used by educators and librarians across the country). Three months after the publication of The Lovely Bones, Sebold’s 1999 memoir Lucky, an account of her rape at the age of 18 and the trial that followed, also rose to number one on The New York Times Bestseller list.

2007 saw publication of The Almost Moon, Sebold's controversial second novel, which began with yet another gripping first sentence: "When all was said and done, killing my mother came easily." Another #1 bestseller, The Almost Moon generated more critical discord -- both laudatory and negative -- than any other novel in memory as Sebold plunged into taboo territories of matricide, mental illness and profound ambivalence about mother/daughter relationships.

Born in Madison, Wisconsin, Sebold grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and attended Syracuse University as well as the University of Houston and UC Irvine. She has contributed to numerous anthologies and has edited The Best American Short Stories 2009.
A film version of The Lovely Bones (Fall 2009) was adapted, written and directed by Peter Jackson, the Academy Award winning director of “The Lord of the Rings.”

http://www.barclayagency.com/sebold.html

Why is this title included?
Cart identifies The Lovely Bones as an adult book that is a crossover hit with teens.

Life of Pi

Title: Life of Pi
Author: Yann Martel
Publisher: Mariner Books
Copyright: 2001
ISBN: 9780156027328

Reading Level: Adult
Interest Age: Grade 9 and up

Genre: Adventure/Thrillers--Survival Stories

Reader’s Annotation: Pi Patel survives 227 days at sea with a tiger in his lifeboat.

Plot Summary
Pi Patel had a happy childhood except for the small matter of his name. He grew up in Pondicherry, India, helping his parents and brother run the family zoo. He began life a devout Hindu and later became a devout Muslim and Christian, too. But his full name, Piscine Molitor Patel (after a swimming pool in Paris) earned him the nickname “Pissing Patel,” making his school life difficult.

At 16 Pi and his family set out for Canada, taking a few of their animals on the boat with them. A storm comes up only a few days out and the boats sinks, drowning everyone but Pi, an orangutan, a zebra, a hyena, and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. They all share the lifeboat for a few tense days. First the hyena eats the zebra (bit by bit) and the orangutan, then Richard Parker eats the hyena. Once the boy and the tiger are alone in the lifeboat, Pi decides that he would rather have Richard Parker than no company at all. So instead of trying to kill him, Pi trains the tiger to believe that he, Pi, is the alpha animal. When the lifeboat’s supplies run out, Pi uses the water desalination kits and learns to fish with the limited equipment he has. He and Richard Parker survive for months amid sharks, rain, and blistering sun, ever hoping for a sight of land.

Critical Evaluation
Pi’s voice has a distinctive blend of melodrama, pedantry, and humor. His first words to the reader are, “My suffering left me sad and gloomy.” Describing his academic career in Canada, he says, “I got every possible student award from the Department of Zoology. If I got none from the Department of Religious Studies, it is simply because there are no student awards in this department (the rewards of religious study are not in mortal hands, we all know that).” He recommends his training program for Richard Parker as a good way to deal with "major lifeboat pests."

The book is divided into three sections, the middle one comprising the bulk of the story—the lifeboat journey. This is ingeniously told. The details of how Pi managed to survive render the outrage premise almost plausible. The first and third sections describe Pi’s childhood (his naming, teasing, zoo experience, and various religious conversions) and the aftermath of his arrival in Mexico, respectively. Both feel a bit superfluous and go on too long. There is also a frame for Pi’s story—the “author’s notes”—that seem rather self-indulgent to me and don’t add much.

Curriculum Ties: N/A

Booktalking Ideas: Describe how Pi trains Richard Parker.

Challenge Issues: Some gore

In the defense file, I will include my library's selection policy, ALA's Library Bill of Rights, ALA's guidelines on free access to libraries for minors (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/freeaccesslibraries.cfm), and ALA's strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips/index.cfm). I will also include my library's reconsideration form, in case challenges to this book cannot be defused with "tea and sympathy." I'll include glowing reviews from Booklist, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and The New Yorker.

About the Author
The award-winning author of four books, the most recent of which is What Is Stephen Harper Reading?, Yann Martel is one of this country's most interesting and surprising writers. Born in Spain in 1963, Yann grew up in various places as the son of diplomats. His parents now live in Montreal, where Yann visits regularly.

He won the Journey Prize for the title story in The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios. Life of Pi was shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. It was the winner of the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction as well as the Man Booker Prize. Yann lives with writer Alice Kuipers and their son, Theo, in Saskatoon.

http://www.randomhouse.ca/newface/martel.php#about

Why is this title included?
Cart identifies Life of Pi as an adult book that is a crossover hit with teens. It's also received great critical acclaim, including winning the Man Booker Prize.

The Lord of the Rings

Title: The Lord of the Rings
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Publisher: Mariner Books
Copyright: 2005 (original 1954-55)
ISBN: 9780618640157

Reading Level: Adult
Interest Age: Grade 9 and up

Genre: Fantasy--Epic Fantasy

Reader’s Annotation: The fate of Middle Earth is in the hands of a hobbit, Frodo Baggins. He must travel into the very heart of the Dark Lord's land to destroy the One Ring.

Plot Summary
When the hobbit Bilbo Baggins sets out to spend his last years having adventures, he leaves everything to his nephew, Frodo. This includes his magical ring, which Gandalf the wizard soon identifies as the One Ring—the Dark Lord Sauron’s greatest instrument of power, long lost. Now Sauron is rising again, preparing for war, and searching everywhere for his lost treasure. Frodo sets out with three other hobbits, Sam, Merry, and Pippin, to take the Ring to Rivendell, a stronghold of the Elves. Along the way they are pursued by Black Riders of Sauron and meet Aragorn, a man of kingly heritage. Once they make it to Rivendell, it is decided that the Ring must be taken into the land of Mordor and destroyed. The Fellowship of the Ring is formed to carry out this quest. In addition to the four young hobbits, Gandalf, and Aragorn, the Fellowship includes Boromir, a man; Gimli, a dwarf; and Legolas, an elf.

The members of the Fellowship travel through many strange lands and meet people of many races. Frodo and Sam leave the others to take the Ring to Mordor alone, but are soon joined by Gollum, a treacherous creature obsessed with the Ring. The others must fight both the traitorous wizard Saruman and the armies of Mordor. Aragorn is revealed as the heir to the throne of Gondor, the greatest kingdom of Men, and Boromir, Merry, Pippin, Legolas, Gimli, and Gandalf all commit acts of great heroism.

Critical Evaluation
One of the many joys of reading The Lord of the Rings is getting lost in the rich fantasy world Tolkien created. Middle Earth has its own history and mythology, geography, peoples, and even its own languages (complete with alphabets, grammar, everything). For some readers, though, the very level of detail may be a barrier to getting into the books. There are quite a few songs and poems that disrupt the flow of the story (though many of these are quite delightful—see Frodo’s expanded telling of the Man in the Moon and Sam’s poem about the troll). The story itself is incredibly intricate, spanning many months and countries and following several different groups of characters. It is also thrilling—full of clever plans (such as the trick Merry and Pippin use to escape from the orcs), terror (the hobbit’s flight from the Black Riders), acts of heroism (Eowyn and Merry’s defeat of the Lord of the Nazgul), and camaraderie and love (Sam’s pursuit of Frodo when he tries to leave his companions and face the danger alone). This is one of those books where in the end everything feels right—all the storylines are followed unhurriedly to their logical conclusions and poetic justice is achieved. For these and many other reasons, Middle Earth is a place readers will want to revisit time and again.

Curriculum Ties: N/A

Booktalking Ideas
Profile a few of the characters, perhaps Aragorn, Pippin, and Gandalf.
Bring a map of Middle Earth and describe trace the Fellowship's journey(s).

Challenge Issues: Violence, occult content

In the defense file, I will include my library's selection policy, ALA's Library Bill of Rights, ALA's guidelines on free access to libraries for minors (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/freeaccesslibraries.cfm), and ALA's strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips/index.cfm). I will also include my library's reconsideration form, in case challenges to this book cannot be defused with "tea and sympathy." I'll include the Amazon.com review, which notes the "universal" influence of Tolkien's work.

About the Author
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE (3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.

Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College, Oxford, from 1925 to 1945 and Merton Professor of English Language and Literature there from 1945 to 1959. He was a close friend of C. S. Lewis—they were both members of the informal literary discussion group known as the Inklings. Tolkien was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II on 28 March 1972.

After his death, Tolkien's son Christopher published a series of works based on his father's extensive notes and unpublished manuscripts, including The Silmarillion. These, together with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings form a connected body of tales, poems, fictional histories, invented languages, and literary essays about a fantasy world called Arda, and Middle-earth within it. Between 1951 and 1955, Tolkien applied the term legendarium to the larger part of these writings.

While many other authors had published works of fantasy before Tolkien,[5] the great success of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings led directly to a popular resurgence of the genre. This has caused Tolkien to be popularly identified as the "father" of modern fantasy literature—or, more precisely, of high fantasy. In 2008, The Times ranked him sixth on a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". Forbes ranked him the 5th top-earning dead celebrity in 2009.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien

Why is this title included?
This classic is one of my all-time favorite books and a must-read for any fantasy fan. Though published as an adult title, it has crossover appeal to older teens. I'm using this one-volume version because Tolkien intended it to be one book, not three.