The Boys' and Girls' Readers


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Normal Instructor


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Red Sorrow


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At the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution, 13-year-old Nanchu watched Red Guards destroy her home and torture her parents, whom they jailed. She was left to fend for herself and her younger brother. When she grew older, she herself became a Red Guard and was sent to the largest work camp in China. There she faced primitive conditions, sexual harassment, and the pressure to conform. Eventually, she was admitted to Madam Mao's university, where politics were more important than learning. Her testimony is essential reading for anyone interested in China or human rights.




The Murder of Harriet Krohn


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Available for the first time in English, the seventh entry in the beloved Inspector Sejer series from Norway's Queen of Crime, Karin Fossum On a wet, gray night in early November, Charlo Torp, a former gambler who's only recently kicked the habit, makes his way through the slush to Harriet Krohn's apartment, flowers in hand. Certain that paying off his debt is the only path to starting a new life and winning his daughter's forgiveness, Charlo plans to rob the wealthy old woman's antique silver collection. What he doesn't expect is for her to put up a fight. The following morning Harriet is found dead, her antique silver missing, and the only clue Inspector Sejer and his team find in the apartment is an abandoned bouquet. Charlo should feel relieved, but he's heard of Sejer's amazing record -- the detective has solved every case he's ever been assigned to. Told through the eyes of a killer, The Murder of Harriet Krohn poses the question: how far would you go to turn your life around, and could you live with yourself afterward?




Top Girls


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Marlene hosts a dinner party in a London restaurant to celebrate her promotion to managing director of 'Top Girls' employment agency. Her guests are five women from the past: Isabella Bird (1831- 1904) - the adventurous traveller; Lady Nijo (b1258) - the mediaeval courtesan who became a Buddhist nun and travelled on foot through Japan; Dull Gret, who as Dulle Griet in a Bruegel painting, led a crowd of women on a charge through hell; Pope Joan - the transvestite early female pope and last but not least Patient Griselda, an obedient wife out of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. As the evening continues we are involved with the stories of all five women and the impending crisis in Marlene's own life. A classic of contemporary theatre, Churchill's play is seen as a landmark for a new generation of playwrights. It was premiered by the Royal Court in 1982. "Top Girls has a combination of directness and complexity which keeps you both emotionally and intellectually alert. You can smell life, and at the same time feel locked in an argument with an agile and passionate mind." (John Peter, Sunday Times)




The Country Girls: Three Novels and an Epilogue


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"This omnibus edition, with a new epilogue by the author, was originally published in 1986 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux as The country girls trilogy and epilogue."--Title page verso.




Victoria


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Welcome to the Arcade


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Living in South Beach, Staten Island, the “forgotten borough” of New York City, best friends Johnny Romano, Ralphie Molinaro and Giulia Stringer struggle to understand a world that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to them. They're searching for answers to questions that seem impossible to figure out: why are their parents so crazy? How do they live with the hole left in their hearts when someone dies? Why is the gravitational pull of their neighborhood, a beach town next to the Verrazano Bridge that still hasn't shaken off its past, so powerful? What peculiar shapes can love take? And why has a rundown arcade two blocks from the beach become the center of their universe? But the people they meet--from Joey C., the local mob enforcer, to Luke, a transfer student at Tompkins High School, to Dinino, the mysterious owner of the arcade—all have their own secrets to hide. Covering a decade of their lives, from ten to twenty years of age, WELCOME TO THE ARCADE follows Johnny, Ralphie and Giulia as they move through the kaleidoscope of childhood to the insanity of young adulthood, always keeping one burning question in their minds: How do we figure out the greatest mystery of them all—growing up?




Granger's Threat


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In a small town in northern New Mexico a father’s untimely death leads to mayhem and murder. Families find their lives threatened once the father’s will is read for unlike his wife, he did not believe in primogeniture. Truth reveals that the father did not believe in his son Granger at all and herein begins the conflict. The father’s death was to be Granger’s salvation but Granger must now find a way to gain wealth in order to maintain a family male heir. The father’s doctor and nurse know without a doubt that the father’s death was not a natural one, but can they get the daughter Sophia to see the obvious as she suffers in her grief? Soon Granger is shown not to be as clever as he believes himself to be when someone else—someone who wants Granger’s money and is equally as dangerous—comes on the scene and Granger soon becomes a victim. Sinister and clever machinations now outweigh truth and honesty. Sophia is not willing to let her home and her loved ones be separated from her without a fight as her relatives threaten to remove her from all she holds dear, including life itself. Can she survive and solve the mystery of her father’s death? The body count piles up as the story unfolds. What appears obvious may not be easy to prove as the prodigal son falls. Includes Readers Guide.