Townsend Library

"Anne Shirley is an eleven-year-old orphan who has hung on determinedly to an optimistic spirit and a wildly creative imagination through her early deprivations. She erupts into the lives of aging brother and sister Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, a girl instead of the boy they had sent for. Thus begins a story of transformation for all three; indeed the whole rural community of Avonlea comes under Anne's influence in some way. We see her grow from...

From the Publisher: As a colt, Black Beauty lives happily with his mother on a farm. Then he is sold to a country gentleman whose family uses him as a riding and carriage horse. He is then passed on to other owners, some of whom are kind while others are negligent and cruel. At times he is whipped, forced to haul heavy loads, or otherwise abused. Throughout, Black Beauty desires considerate treatment, close companionship, and a permanent home. Will...

In a gripping and sensational work of classic Gothic fiction we discover the infamous Count Dracula. When English lawyer Jonathan Harker travels to an obscure town called Transylvania, the goal of his visit was most certainly not to do business with a vampire. As he makes his way through the village square, Harker is overcome with an eerie sensation that the Count is not who he says he is. Strewn with various charms and trinkets thrown at him from...

These true stories describe three people's descent into addiction and their struggles to recover.

"Great Expectations is among the most masterful of Charles Dickens's novels. Displaying extraordinary tragicomic range, Dickens blends an atmosphere of brooding violence and guilt with sharp and often disturbing humor to create a drama charged with the thrilling intensity of a detective story and the poignancy of a spiritual autobiography. Much of the novel's power comes from Dickens's unequaled skill at making even the most wildly eccentric of characters...

In what has become a landmark of American history and literature, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl recounts the incredible but true story of Harriet Jacobs, born a slave in North Carolina in 1813. Her tale gains its importance from her descriptions, in great and painful detail, of the sexual exploitation that daily haunted her life-and the life of every other black female slave. As a child, Harriet Jacobs remained blissfully unaware that she...

A biography of Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play major league baseball.

From the Publisher: The characters are legendary: King Arthur, Lady Guinevere, the wizard Merlin, the sorceress Morgan le Fay, the Knights of the Round Table. Their stories are rich in magic and intrigue. In one adventure, Arthur will lose his life unless he can discover the answer to this riddle: What do women most desire? Arthur asks many people and receives many different answers. Some say that women chiefly desire wealth. Some say beauty. Some...

From the Publisher: In her first book, Foster Care Odyssey, Theresa Cameron unforgettably described the 18 years she spent as a self-described "ward of the state"-a black girl growing up under the control of a largely white charity in Buffalo, New York. In this sequel, Theresa tells of what happened after she left the foster care system. Without family or community support, Theresa struggles to find her way through the maze of adult life, from college...