Akron Public Library

Written by American author and dedicated abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe, "Uncle Toms Cabin" is a poignant novel which shows the harsh reality of a slaves life in the 1800s. Uncle Tom, an African-American slave who believes in the power of Christian faith. The book would be a major contributor to the Civil War because its compelling portrayal of slaves as fellow human beings left little room for compromise: if slaves were indeed...

Celie is a poor black woman whose letters tell the story of 20 years of her life, beginning at age 14 when she is being abused and raped by her father and attempting to protect her sister from the same fate, and continuing over the course of her marriage to "Mister," a brutal man who terrorizes her. Celie eventually learns that her abusive husband has been keeping her sister's letters from her and the rage she feels, combined with an example of love...

Set in the closing months of World War II in an American bomber squadron off the coast of Italy, Catch-22 is the story of a bombardier named Yossarian who is frantic and furious because thousands of people he has never even met keep trying to kill him.

A series of brutal murders darkens the Wrightsburg, Virginia countryside. The killer, replicating notorious murders of the past, seeks to improve them, while taunting the police by leaving watches on the victims set to the hour corresponding with their position on his hit list. When Sean King and Michelle Maxwell are called to join the case, they are already investigating a crime involving an aristocratic and dysfunctional Southern family. But, as...

"Mark Twain's classic The Adventures of Tom Sawyer has been enjoyed by generations of readers across the world since its publication in 1876. With its humorous glimpses into life in nineteenth-century, small-town America, this novel has provided unique social commentary that continues to be discussed in classrooms today. Tom Sawyer, a mischievous boy growing up in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, Missouri, is constantly getting in and out of...

"Laura and Almanzo have married and begun their new life together. They must face storms, sickness, and provide for their new baby, Rose. Their pioneer lives have trained them well, however, and they are determined to succeed"--P. [4] of cover.

Ben, the oldest son of Bull Meecham, a born athlete whose best never satifies the big man. Ben's got to stand up, even fight back, against a father who doesn't give in - not to his men, not to his wife, and certainly not to his son.

Washed ashore as a baby in tiny Tupelo Landing, North Carolina, Mo LoBeau, now age eleven, and her best friend Dale turn detective when the amnesiac, Colonel, owner of a cafe and co-parent of Mo with his cook Miss Lana, seems implicated in a murder.

"As the Revolutionary War rages on, Isabel and Curzon are reported as runaways, and the awful Bellingham is determined to track them down. With purpose and faith, Isabel and Curzon march on, fiercely determined to find Isabel's little sister Ruth, who is enslaved in a Southern state"--

Through the eyes of Ratliff, the novel's hero and teller of tall tales, readers witness the terrifying rise to prominence of the Snopeses, white trash who insinuate their way into the tiny hamlet of Frenchman's Bend like steady drips of poison.