"The Running Man" by Stephen King (written under the pen name, Richard Bachman) - "The Running Man" takes place in the year 2023 when America is nothing more than a series of large, corrupt corporations (even more so than today) and there is a boldline drawn through the wealthy and the poor (even more so than today). And the largest corporation of all is "The Games", run by the wealthy, but powered by the poor who put there lives on the line in morbid game shows to pull their families out of the slums. One man, Ben Richards, is selected to participate in the most dangerous of all the games, "The Running Man", where he is set loose on the world and hunted for thirty days. If he wins, his family gets one billion dollars, but if he loses, he dies.
"Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradberry- It is the future and firemen are no longer used to put out fires, but rather to create them. And what they primarily burn are books, in efforts to eliminate original thought that often times leads to a revolution. However, one fireman has trouble accepting this job simply as the thing to do and he begins to read and discover the corrupt society he lives in and works for.
"Airframe" by Michael Chricton- All the trouble began at Norton Aircrafts Manufacturer when one of there planes went down in an unexplained crash. Although Norton knows it was not a malfunction of the plane, Newsline, a primetime television show, in hopes to boost ratings, attempts to pass the crash off as a reoccurring problem at Norton. However, Casey Singleton is hired to handle the media and save the largest Airplane manufacturer in the world from crash landing.
"SPHERE" by Michael Chricton- A large spaceship is found on a Pacific Ocean sandbar by the United States Navy and a team of researchers from many various fields of science are assembled to live in an underwater habitat where they will investigate the strange aircraft. However, what they discover is that the ship is American from the year 2050 and that it underwent complications, killing the entire crew while picking up an alien "sphere" along the way.
"The Lord of the Flies" by William Golding- When a group of boys become stranded on a tropoical island during World War II, they are forced to cope with the resources found on the island and create a functioning society. However, when the two lead boys, Jack and Ralph, have conflicting ideas of how the island should be run, chaos emerges and all the boys' lives become endangered.A "Lord of the Flies" Website
"Carrie" by Stephen King- Carrie White has been born with a special, secret talent that even she doesn't discover until she is in high school... she posseses telekinesis. She has also been ostricized her entire life byher peers which has allowed her to develope this talent to the point in which it becomes lethal. And when this sleepy Maine town finally pushes Carrie over the edge, it becomes a lot less sleepy.
"Cujo" by Stephen King- A friendly saint bernard dog gets bitten by a bat and becomes rabid, and because he weighs nearly two-hundred pounds, he becomes deadly. Cujo (the dog), reeks havoc on a mother and her child who must fight their hardest to survive.
"Desperation"by Stephen King- Desperation, Nevada is seemingly a boring town located in themiddle of a baron desert, however, it has a secret. A hundred years ago there was a terrible mining accident in which nearly three hundred workers were killed...but their spirits never escaped. Now, a contractor seeks to reopen the mine and unknowingly allow the spirits tobe realeased, dooming an entire town, and perhaps the world if a spiritual young boy can not stop it.
"The Green Mile" by Stephen King- The "green mile" is the long stetch of green carpeting that leads from the prisoners of cell block E to "old sparky", the electric chair that will soon be the fate of all of the inmates lives. However, one man, Paul Coffee, convicted of rape and murder, does not belong therer and it is up to the head of cell block E (the narrator) to try to get released because he understands the unique talent that Coffee posseses.
"A Separate Peace" by John Knowles- Gene, the narrator, goes back to the school he grew up in where he met his best friend, Phineas, and ultimately underminded hm. The story occurred during World War II when all of the studenets at the private high school have a false, glorified image of life in the war which ultimately effects the outcome of the novel
"Cold Fire" by Dean Koontz- The main character has a special gift, the ability to know when some tradgedy is going to occur, and this talent leads him to a girl facinated by his story, and eventually bck to the farm he grew up in to discover how he obtained this talent. He knows that it has to do with the large windmill and the pond in front of it, but how and why are the questions he must find out in one terrifying night.
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee- This classic novel is told through the eyes of a now much older Scout who takes the reader along a wild adventure in a sleepy southern town, Maycomb County. However, the town awakes when the mystery of Boo Radley becomes uncovered and the controversial rape case involving Tom Robinson (a black man) and Mayella Ewell (a white woman) is taken by Atticus Finch who makes a profound statement about how blacks were once viewed in the South.
"The C.S. Lewis Series" by C.S. Lewis- When Lucy, Mary, Edmund, and Peter find a secret passageway to the world of Narnia through the back of a common (or uncommon more accurately) wardrobe, they begin a series of adventures with the many interesting characters they meet along the way. This series begins with "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" and ends with "The Last Battle".
"Cry, the Beloved Country" by Alan Paton- This novel examines how life was in South Africa during the times when racial predjudice (particularly between blacks and whites) was at a staggering high. This aspect of life is painfully seen through the troubles had between two families of differing race, and the murder that occurs.
"The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger- This first person narritive takes the reader along the rollercoaster of emotions that is Holden Caulfield's life. Salinger's writing style is like no other which perfectly illustrates how a seemingly well-adjusted young man goes insane when he can no longer handle society as well as himself the way they are.
"Of Mice and Men" by John Steinback- This classic novel shows the reader an up close view of the life of two men trying to work to stay alive on the western ranches. The two have a dream that one day they can live off the "fatta the land" and not have to answer to no one but themselves, however, their dream encounters many roadblocks when the large, strong, simple-minded Lenny Small inadvertantly leads the two into terrible trouble.
"Private Parts" by Howard Stern- Howard Stern's (a very well known radio personality noted for his show's contraversial and graphic content) autobiographical book shows the reader a private look at his life that many didn't think could get more public. Stern revisits his struggles and dreams as a youth and his climb to the top of radio which has ultimately earned him the title of "King of All Media".
"My Name is Asher Lev" by Chaim Potok- Asher Lev is a young artistic prodigy who is forced to balance his talent with his strict Hasadic Judaism religion. He finds this to be extremely difficult when many, including his own father, put him down for his talent because of traditional beliefs that art is more satanic than pure.
"The Promise" by Chaim Potok- Chaim Potok writes yet another novel that shows the turbulent life experienced by many young Hasidic Jews. It is the sequel to "The Chosen", and this time Reuven is studying to become an ordained Rabbi. however, he runs into a barrier when many of his teachers criticize him for his controversial Torah interpretations.
"Dawn" by Elie Weisel- The main character, Elisha, is a survivor of the German Nazi Holocaust who has lost his family and so has moved to Jerusalem to be a part of a hate war against the English. He is young and so he is given the job of executioner in order to prove himself. The man he must execute is an English man who has done nothing wrong. This causes great internal conflict in Elisha as he must decide to kill a man or not.
"Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles- Oedipus is the king of Thebes and has a troubled past that only he knows about. On his way to Thebes he killed a man and his traveling crew and then upon arriving at Thebes he defeated the sphinx and became the king. However, through a number of sages, Oedipus learns that the man he killed was the king of Thebes and his estranged father. He also comes to learn that his wife is his mother, something that drives him to the point of insanity.
"The Crucible" by Arthur Miller- This novel examines the theme of histeria. It is set in Salem, Mass. in a time where witchcraft is widely suspected. A few girls are seen dancing in the woods and are thus suspected of witchcraft. However, they deny it and claim that it is the townspeople who are affiliated with the devil and not them. In efforts to save themselves, the girls cause the hangings of numerous people and the degeneration of their paranoid town.