As the battlefield on which so many adolescent wars are waged, high school can be hell. No one knows this better than Robby Meyers, who is forced to move to south Florida in the middle of his freshman year after his father’s dies in a motorcycle accident. His older brothers Pete and Gus have no trouble making new friends and carving out spots for themselves on various athletic teams. Robby, on the other hand, is small for his age and better known for picking fights than for finishing them. Not surprisingly, he quickly gets himself into trouble at his new school with teachers, bullies, and of course girls. But then Robby meets Danny Ramerez, and things begin to look up. Danny’s tough but fair, cool but loyal, and their friendship definitely improves Robby’s social status. He even garners the attention of several girls, including a bright, thoughtful young student named Lacy. But as time passes and the two boys become closer friends, Robby suspects that all is not as it seems with Danny. His parents, Danny tells him, are “not in the picture,” leaving him in the custody of his sinister uncle. When Danny hatches a plan to get out from under his uncle’s thumb, Robby must choose whether to risk his own neck to help him or to remain uninvolved. Robby Fights the World is a gripping coming-of-age novel about a boy who learns first-hand just how hard it can be to distinguish between right and wrong. As Robby struggles with friendship, honor, loss, and love, he is called on to make the hardest choice of his young life, the consequences of which will no doubt change him forever. Joel Christie’s young-adult novel offers a realistic (and surprisingly humorous) glimpse into the complex, gritty world of modern teens.

Robby Fights the World

Karz is a military leader who has never known defeat. The huge Mongol is now assembling and training a large and well-equipped army of mercenaries in a hidden valley in the Hindu Kush Mountains bordering on Afghanistan. His objective: The invasion and occupation of oil-rich Kuwait. Karz does have one problem though; he lacks a couple of top lieutenants to command two sections of his growing army. His choice falls on Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin, even though he knows they are not for hire. Meanwhile, Sir Gerald Tarrant, who runs a secret service organization under the British government, has noticed that many mercenaries are being recruited by some unknown employer and disappearing. This worries Sir Gerald, and he asks Modesty and Willie to investigate. So while Modesty and Willie are looking for Karz (without knowing who they''re looking for), Karz has Lucille (a child dear to Modesty and Willie) kidnapped, and commands Modesty and Willie to report for duty. There is no possible way that Modesty and Willie can both save Lucille and sabotage the invasion of Kuwait. Modesty plays a long shot and is forced to fight the fearsome Twins, two men joined at the shoulders, a four-legged four-armed fighting animal impossible to defeat. And even if she survives that fight, how will Modesty escape from the isolated valley so far from civilization?

Sabre-Tooth

Stoddard’s novel traces the education and development of a young female in American middle-class society. The protagonist, Cassandra Morgeson, is educated by a series of journeys she makes throughout her youth and early adulthood. Each new setting represents a different stage in her intellectual development. Cassandra is born in Surrey, a small New England town. Surrey is quiet and isolated, granting a young woman little intellectual stimulation. Cassandra escapes the boredom of domestic life through stories of adventure and exploration. Surrey instills in Cassandra a restlessness that drives her quest for knowledge and experience. At the age of thirteen, Cassandra’s parents send her to live with her grandfather in Barmouth. Excessively religious, Grandfather Warren takes it upon himself to put Cassandra in her place. She is both intellectually and emotionally starved in Barmouth. Her life becomes narrowed down to home, school and church. In school, all the students dress alike and wear their hair in the same fashion. She learns an important lesson in conformity (peer pressure). When Cassandra turns eighteen she is invited to stay with some cousins in Rosville. Rosville offers her a glimpse of city life. She attends numerous balls, whist parties and shopping sprees in Boston. She also falls in love with her cousin Charles. Charles’s dark sensuality and power awakens Cassandra’s sexuality, which is an integral part in her self-discovery. Cassandra quickly finds herself caught up in a passionate, adulterous love affair. Their affair is cut short in a tragic accident that costs Charles his life. Cassandra escapes with a scar across her face, which remains with her as a constant reminder of the affair. Cassandra then travels to Belem, a city of wealth and nobility. She stays in the home of her friend, Ben Somers. In Belem she is forced to confront the social injustice of class. Here she falls for Ben’s brother, Desmond. Desmond sees into Cassandra’s heart through the scar on her face. He finds in Cassandra a reason to reform himself and conquer his alcoholism. He promises himself to her and then goes off to Spain to cure his addiction. Upon her return to Surrey, Cassandra discovers that her mother has died. As the eldest and most capable daughter, the role of lady of the house is passed down to her. She becomes responsible for managing the household and taking care of her younger sister, Veronica. Cassandra resents her inherited role and envisions the rest of her days spent in monotony and misery. Her sister, Veronica, marries the wealthy but alcoholic Ben Somers. Two years after they are married, Ben dies of alcoholism, leaving Veronica to look after their child who “…never cries, never moves, except when it is moved” (252). Some critics see this child as a physical representation of how Veronica’s search for independence and autonomy has been stunted by her marriage. In the close of the novel “her eyes go no more in quest of something beyond” (252). Cassandra marries the newly-reformed Desmond. Her quest for self-definition does not end with marriage though. Cassandra narrates the closing pages of the novel from her desk. She is in the process of writing her life story. Writing allows Cassandra to take an active role in defining herself. Her novel helps her to assert her autonomy and achieve her goal of self-possession.

The Morgesons

The story begins with the childhood days of Barney Livingston and Laura Castellano and the incidents which motivated them to ultimately become doctors. The story then traces their days at medical school. The background of the students provide an insight into the many troubles faced by them. As the story progresses, the strength and weaknesses of their characters come to light. All are struggling with ethics, failed relationships and prejudices of those times. After a failed marriage and a string of failed relationships, Laura and Barney realize their love for each other. Erich Segal had extensively researched the lives of medical students and doctors in practice. Apart from that he acknowledges the inspirations from Gentle Vengeance by Charles LeBaron, Getting Better by Kenneth Klein and Becoming a Doctor by Melvin Konner. He has drawn some anecdotes from The Making of a Surgeon by William Nolen, The Making of a Psychiatrist by David Viscott, The End of Life: Euthanasia and Morality by James Rachels and Requiem pour la Vie by Leon Schwartzenberg. A similar (though much smaller book) is The Year of the Intern by Robin Cook. Doctors had reached the number one spot on the New York Times bestseller list.

Doctors

Bianca, Lucas and Raquel are now living in the New York Black Cross cell. Raquel and the rest of Lucas''s Black Cross cell are currently unaware Bianca is a vampire. Mrs. Bethany later stages a break in to the Black Cross cell wanting to take Bianca back to her parents. Several members of Black Cross are killed including Lucas''s stepfather Eduardo whose neck is broken by Mrs. Bethany. In the attack Balthazar is captured and tied up by Black Cross who begin to torture him to find out why Mrs. Bethany attacked Black Cross. Bianca and Lucas begin orchestrating Balthazar''s escape and succeed without getting caught. After the break in by Mrs. Bethany, Bianca needs to feed so they go to a hospital to get blood for Bianca from the blood bank. They are interrupted by Raquel and Dana who realise that Bianca is a vampire as she is feeding. They both promise not to tell anyone but Bianca is woken in the night after someone told the Black Cross cell about Bianca''s vampirism. She is tied up and burnt with holy water, and Lucas. who is also splashed, burns due to him feeding Bianca. Dana helps them escape and gives them some money but tells Black Cross they escaped. After Lucas realises there is a dangerous vampire in the city they are staying in he decides to hunt it. Lucas finds the rogue vampire but after following him to a hotel room realises that Charity, Balthazar''s sister, is staying close by with her clan who the rogue vampire belongs to. He escapes and later he and Bianca tell Balthazar that Charity is near by. Bianca and Lucas begin to run out of money and go to their friend Vic for help. He allows them to stay in the basement. On Bianca''s birthday Lucas takes her to the planetarium where they are attacked by wraiths. They both escape and later get jobs. While staying in Vic''s house Bianca becomes increasingly weak and ill. Bianca realises that she must kill a human and become a full vampire otherwise she will die. Lucas offers to allow Bianca to kill him but she refuses as he would not agree to rise with her. She later dies and becomes a wraith. She is met by a wraith named Maxine who tells her that she is powerful due to her born status as a wraith. She is told she can form a body by holding objects she has bonded to in her life including her broche and her coral bracelet which were both made of once living material. Bianca appears to Lucas telling him about her becoming a wraith. Lucas with Ranulf and Vic who have returned from holiday agree to assist Balthazar in killing Charity. Vic waits outside after they track her down to a rundown cinema where they fight and kill several members of her clan. While Bianca is solid she is injured by Charity who throws a shard of iron at her which is weakening to wraiths, causing her to loses her solidity. Charity, Bianca and Lucas are alone and as Bianca is powerless she pins down Lucas before draining his blood killing him. Charity leaves and Balthazar and Ranulf arrive who tell Bianca of Lucas''s fate. He will become a vampire.

Hourglass

Feyerabend discloses that he did not keep any careful records of his life and destroyed much of the documentation autobiographers usually preserve, including a family album discarded "to make room for what I then thought were more important books", and correspondences ("even from Nobel Prize winners"). The book relies on Feyerabends''s own memory as well as the various stray sources that he did manage to keep. His personal and intellectual experiences and his romantic and artistic adventures comprise roughly half the book. He recounts how he survived the depressions and suicide of his mother, his bare survival of World War II as an officer in the Wehrmacht, and his forgone apprenticeship as a tenor to Bertolt Brecht. His stormy relationships with philosophical luminaries such as mentor Karl Popper, friend and colleague Imre Lakatos and department chair of philosophy at University of California, Berkeley John Searle are described in lurid anecdotes. The book contains ruminations on the themes of evil, compassion and anti-Semitism.

Killing Time

At the beginning of the story, Jimmy''s mother and father are murdered by their best friend, who is also the youngster''s godfather and appointed guardian as well as the inventors'' trustee. It leaves the protagonist—who has had the plans of his parents'' invention eidetically and indelibly imprinted in his mind—to destroy the physical copies of these plans before his "uncle" can finish him off as well. Jimmy must survive his guardian''s efforts to squeeze the secret of the invention out of him (whereupon his death will most certainly be arranged, just as his parents'' were), and then escape into hiding until he can grow into a physical stature commensurate with his mental age. In the process, the character must make for himself a living and a safe place of residence, and Smith uses his protagonist''s situation and capabilities to examine the nature of childhood and the "protections" (including incapacitations) imposed upon legal infants in American civil society at the time of writing.

The Fourth "R"

Firebird is the third daughter of the Queen of Naetai and a military pilot. Because she is a wastling, an unwanted heir to the throne, she is considered expendable. Leading her tagwing fighter group of wastlings on a suicide mission as part of a venture to capture a Federate world outpost, she is captured by Federate colonel Brennen Caldwell, a telepathic intelligence officer seeking to capture an enemy fighter for interrogation. She attempts honorable suicide by poison for her failure, but Caldwell thwarts her medically. Under telepathic duress, her military and political knowledge is used by Caldwell to save the Federate outpost. Firebird begins to see the dishonorable tactics of her mother''s government for what they are. Caldwell, in addition to being the most powerful Ehretan telepath of his generation, is the most senior telepath in a government that mistrusts them for their abilities. In addition to the government''s mistrust of his people, Caldwell is questioned by his own people for his deep connection with Firebird. In her, he sensed a strong possibility of connaturality, a deep personality congruity that is essential for telepaths to have a successful relationship in marriage. Among his people there is a strong belief that, as the strongest telepath among them he should not marry outside his people, diluting the genes that allow their telepathy. Caldwell rejects his people''s attitudes towards non Ehretans and continues his growing friendship with his prisoner, offering life and a future to one who believed herself as good as dead. Following Netaia''s failure on Veroh, the queen is forced to honerable suicide and Firebird''s sister Carradee ascends the throne. Caldwell is assigned to Naetai as the Federate representative and brings Firebird with him. While Carradee favors a conciliatory posture with the Federacy, their other sister, Phoena, secretly plots the overthrow of Federate occupation along with members of the nobility, by secretly building an ecological weapon of great power. After several political and military dangers are overcome by Caldwell and Firebird, they ignore his orders and carry out a special ops mission to destroy Phoena''s research lab. Once all is settled, Firebird and Caldwell accept their relationship (over the continued objection) of his people and become engaged. Firebird is a military pilot assigned to a risky venture to capture a Federate world outpost. Because she is a wastling, she is considered expendable. Leading her tagwing fighter group, she is captured by Federate colonel Brennen Caldwell, a telepath who senses something special about her. She attempts honorable suicide by poison for her failure, but Caldwell thwarts her medically. Under duress, her military knowledge is used by Caldwell to save the Federate outpost. Firebird begins to see the dishonorable tactics of her people for what they are. Caldwell, in addition to being the most powerful Ehretan telepath of his generation, is also heir to religious prophecies among his people, and the most senior telepath in a government that mistrusts them for their abilities. Caldwell is promoted to general for his victory in the Veroh battle, as well as his diplomacy with the captured Firebird. In her, he sensed a strong possibility of connaturality, a deep personality congruity that is essential for telepaths to be married. As he has strong convictions against marrying outside his faith, and being barred from proselytizing, much of the book revolves around Caldwell trying to bridge the gap to Firebird by demonstrating the goodness of his spirit to her, offering life and hope to one who believed herself as good as dead. Following Netaia''s failure on Veroh, Firebird''s sister Carradee ascends the throne after their mother is forced to honorable suicide. She favors a conciliatory posture with the Federacy. Their other sister, Phoena, secretly plots the overthrow of Federate occupation along with members of the nobility, by secretly building an ecological weapon of great power. After several political and military dangers are overcome by Caldwell and Firebird, they ignore his orders and carry out a special ops mission to destroy Phoena''s research lab. During the climactic battle, when Caldwell has been incapacitated and his telepathic powers are not available, Firebird casts her faith to the Great Speaker who sung the universe into existence, and strengthened by this, overcomes great odds to successfully neutralize the weapon. The religious differences thus settled, the story ends with Caldwell proposing pair bonding (marriage) to Firebird.

Firebird

The novel begins with Keir arguing with Gigi about the events which occurred the night before. It continues with Keir''s first-person narration of his senior year in high school. Keir is crushed when he learns that Gigi has accused him of date rape. He goes on to tell Gigi that he loves her, and would never do such a thing. One of Keir''s main problems is his home life. His father treats him more like a friend than a son. The big question throughout the novel is this: "Could a self-proclaimed "good guy" be capable of such a heinous act?" Keir goes over the events of his senior year that led to this night, and how this could have happened. The novel never mentions Gigi''s point of view, so her feelings and thoughts are not taken into consideration through the use of dialogue. As the novel unfolds, Keir becomes more unpopular because of his substance abuse, school behavior, and his infamous tackle on the football field giving him the nickname "Killer." Keir''s self-image dissipates after he accidentally paralyzes an opponent, participates in bullying classmates, and then tries cocaine. First, he leans on Gigi because she listens to him and doesn''t judge him. Once he learns about Gigi and her new boyfriend, he is angry and leans on his two sisters, Fran and Mary. Keir''s older sisters have mixed feelings about his behavior. He leans on Fran the most because she sees the "good" in Keir despite his terrible actions. One night close to graduation, after a night of partying and substance abuse, Gigi decides to accompany Keir on a visit to Fran''s college and they end up in her dorm room alone. In addition to all of this, Gigi tells Keir that her boyfriend could not go to the dance and she needed him to come with her to the dance. When they were both in that cabin there were two beds and when Keir saw how beautiful Gigi looked he went to her bed and something inexcusable happened. Then, the setting reverts back to the opening with the two arguing about what happened while they were sleeping next to each other.

Inexcusable

Marcia, Letty, Norman and Edwin all work together in the same office, are all unmarried (Edwin being a widower) and have all reached retirement age. Letty, the "heroine" of the book, has plans to share a country retreat with her old friend, Marjorie, but her hopes are dashed when Marjorie suddenly announces that she is to marry a clergyman some years younger than herself. All four find retirement difficult to cope with, but the effects are most noticeable for the eccentric Marcia. She gradually withdraws from the outside world, gives up eating, and eventually dies in pathetic circumstances. She has unexpectedly left her estate to Norman, in whom she had indulged a brief and secret romantic interest. When Marjorie''s fiancé deserts her for a younger widow, Letty has the opportunity to take the country cottage after all. By now she has come to terms with retirement and does not move. At the end of the book, she is considering whether to introduce Edwin and Norman to Marjorie in the hope of matchmaking.

Quartet in Autumn

The basic plot concerns a school teacher named Ushimatsu Segawa (family name written last) who struggles with a commandment given to him by his late father. He is never to reveal his burakumin background, which his father had tried so hard to conceal as well. Ushimatsu idolizes Rentarou Inoko, a burakumin rights'' activist and successful writer (particularly considering the social position given to those considered burakumin). Ushimatsu wishes to reveal his background to Rentarou, as his need to hide away part of himself in order to be accepted by society in general leads to his feeling constricted by this superficial identity, and to his desiring to form a more meaningful connection with Rentarou through their common experience. This novel also touches on the dangerous, destructive nature of gossip, and questions society''s inability to accept what is not understood. It attempts to build understanding and empathy for this group of people at a time (the novel''s publication''s) when a great deal of prejudice still existed towards this group.

The Broken Commandment

John Lafcadio, who modestly described himself as "probably the greatest painter since Rembrandt", has left a bizarre legacy - a collection of twelve sealed paintings, to be unveiled one at a time at an annual event commencing ten years after his death. While the first seven ceremonies went smoothly, the eighth starts with family ructions, when John''s granddaughter Linda finds her boyfriend Tommy has returned from a painting trip to Rome with a model, whom he has married to get into the country. Albert Campion, a friend of Belle and the family, persuades her to attend the show, just in time to be there when Tommy is stabbed to death during a power outage. Campion calls in his old friend Stanislaus Oates to help avoid scandal, but Oates is convinced Linda must be guilty, as she has the only obvious motive. Max Fustian, a hanger-on to Lafcadio''s coat-tails and now a flourishing art dealer, confesses to the crime, but his confession is laughable and a clear attempt to clear Linda. No further proof can be found however, and thanks to pressure from some important dignitaries attending the show, the matter is hushed up. The mystery continues, however, as Tommy''s art and possessions slowly vanish, until no trace of him remains. Campion meets up with Max Fustian, and finds himself entertaining strange suspicions of the odd little man. Some weeks later, Belle visits Claire Potter in her studio in the garden and finds her dead, face down on the couch. Nicotine poisoning is diagnosed, and suspicion falls at first on her husband, who had skipped work that day and had returned home for a minute an hour before the body was discovered, only to leave again in a hurry. Potter reveals his wife suffered from alcoholism, and frequently drank herself unconscious; he had assumed she had done this once more, washed her glass and left her there. Seeking the source of the poisoned booze, Campion and Oates discover that Claire took in wood-blocks for cleaning from Max Fustian, and had returned a parcel that very day. Questioning the delivery boy, they find that he once dropped a similar package, and was surprised to find the wrapping wet. Convinced of Fustian''s guilt but lacking proof, Campion seeks a motive. He learns from the model Rosa-Rosa that Tommy had a cottage in the country, and from the cook Lisa that Lafcadio, despite his determination to defeat his rival and keep his fame alive, had only managed to complete eight of the twelve paintings of his legacy, filling the remaining packages with junk as a joke. Campion visits Tommy''s cottage and finds Max there, all traces of Tommy burnt. He returns to Little Venice later, and finds Max in a blazing row with Belle - he has insisted he must take the remaining Lafcadio works abroad and sell them, and she has refused to let him. Sure now that Max had Tommy fake the last four paintings for him, Campion gets further proof in the form of a drawing uncovered in Paris by Linda. He meets Max and they go out to dinner, where Max has him sample a strange and rare wine from Romania. Too late, Campion recalls the wine has a terribly intoxicating effect if taken after spirits - and Max had made sure Campion drank lots of gin before dinner. After a drunken tour of town, Max leads Campion to the edge of a Tube platform, and pushes hard - only to be stopped by the plain-clothes men Oates has had on their tail, after a meeting with Campion that morning. Visiting Fustian in prison, Campion finds him a gibbering lunatic, his mind pushed over the edge by the defeat of his schemes.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Robby Fights the World

No Author Listed

Sabre-Tooth

By Peter O''Donnell

The Morgesons

By Elizabeth Drew Stoddard

Doctors

By Erich Segal

Hourglass

By Claudia Gray

Killing Time

No Author Listed

The Fourth "R"

By George O. Smith

Firebird

No Author Listed

Inexcusable

By Chris Lynch

Quartet in Autumn

By Barbara Pym

The Broken Commandment

By Vincent McDonnell

Death of a Ghost

By Margery Allingham