The summer before her freshman year of high school, Melinda Sordino meets Andy Evans at a party. Outside in the woods, Andy rapes her. Melinda calls 911, but does not know what to say. The police come and break up the party. Melinda does not tell anyone what happened to her, and no one asks. She starts high school at Merryweather High School as an outcast, shunned by her peers for calling the police. She remains silent and sinks into depression. Melinda is befriended by Heather, a new girl, who clings to Melinda only to ditch her for "the Marthas". As Melinda''s depression deepens, she begins to skip school, withdrawing from her parents and other authority figures, who see her silence as means of getting "attention". Only in Mr. Freeman''s art class can Melinda express her inner struggle, as he shows interest in her artwork. She slowly befriends her lab partner, David Petrakis, who encourages her to speak up for herself. Throughout the school year, the past unfolds and Melinda gains the strength to confront what happened to her. Melinda learns that "IT", Andy Evans, goes to her school. Eventually, she allows memories of what happened the night she was raped to surface. But she remains silent. However, when her ex-best friend, Rachel, starts to date Andy, Melinda feels obligated to warn her. At first, Rachel ignores the warning. Melinda tries again, telling Rachel that Andy raped her at the party, but Rachel does not believe her. As the school year comes to a close, Melinda decides she does not want to hide anymore. While cleaning out her hideaway (an old janitor''s closet), Andy confronts her, accusing her of lying about the rape. When he tries to assault her again, she finds her voice and screams "no". She fights back. Using a mirror shard against Andy''s neck, she silences him. As word spreads about what happened in the closet, Melinda is suddenly removed from her role as "outcast". Melinda is able to acknowledge and accept that Andy raped her. Melinda finally finds the words to say what happened. She speaks to Mr. Freeman.

Speak

The story starts out on April 18, 1800, in Port Mahon, Minorca, a base of the Royal Navy at that time. A shipless lieutenant wasting away in port, Jack Aubrey, meets Stephen Maturin, a poor half-Irish and half-Catalan physician and natural philosopher, at an evening concert at the Governor’s Mansion. The two of them do not quite get along during this first encounter. A duel almost occurs when Jack Aubrey gets elbowed by Maturin to stop beating the time while the string quartet is playing. Later that evening, on his way back to his living quarters, Jack Aubrey finds out that he has been promoted to the rank of Commander and has been given command of the brig Sophie. His joy overcomes his animosity towards Stephen Maturin and they quickly become good friends in part due to their shared love of music. The ship''s surgeon having left with the previous captain, Maturin is asked by Aubrey to sign on in that post. Although Maturin is a physician, not just a mere surgeon, he agrees, since he is currently unemployed. Also introduced into the story are Master''s Mates Thomas Pullings, William Mowett, midshipman William Babbington, and James Dillon, the Sophies first lieutenant. Dillon and Stephen both have secret backgrounds as members of the United Irishmen. Aubrey improves Sophies sailing qualities by adding a longer yard which allows him to spread a larger mainsail. She then is sent to accompany a small convoy of merchant ships. During their journey east, the new captain, Aubrey, takes the opportunity to get to know his sailors and work them into a fighting unit. As he does this, he and the crew explain many naval matters to Maturin (and to the reader) since the doctor has never served aboard a man-of-war. After the convoy duties, Lord Keith allows Aubrey to cruise independently, looking for French merchants. After a number of prizes are taken, they meet and defeat the Cacafuego, a Spanish frigate, losing a number of crew, including Dillon, in the bloody action and gaining the respect of other naval officers. However, Captain Harte, the commandant at Mahon, has a grudge against Aubrey, who has been having an affair with his wife. Harte''s malevolence ensures that the victory brings Aubrey and his crew no official recognition, promotion, or significant prize money, although Aubrey gains a reputation among members of the British Navy as one of its great, young fighting captains. On her following escort duty, Sophie is captured by a squadron of four large French warships after a pursuit and a brave but hopeless resistance. The Battle of Algeciras begins, and after a short period as prisoners of war, they are exchanged, missing the fighting. Back at Gibraltar, Aubrey must undergo a court-martial over the loss of his ship, but he is cleared of the charges.

Master and Commander

Chloe realises that Nick loves her. She decides to be his girlfriend, but Sinéad is first. Ms. Sanderson tells her that Nick will get bored of her and break up. Chloe can''t make her change her mind, so she gives up, because she''s got other problems. Chloe''s mother is still a victim of house violence. When she gets an offer to interview a famous actress, she disagrees, because new film is about wives, who are beat by their own husbands. In the end she decides to live Edward and move to London with Chloe. Jasmin still goes out with Sanjay. Unfortunately, when she discovers that, he''s got a chance to move to Beckedon high school in London, she''s upset, because they won''t see each other for a long time. Even though, she tells him to go there and try to win the scholarship. When he makes it, she''s very happy. They engage after the exams. Meanwhile, Jasmin''s mother is meeting one man. The girl suspects that, it''s a romance. Luckily, this man is from gospel choir and he talks to Josephine about being in it. Next to Nick’s house a mysterious man, Mike Lovell appears. The boy tells him that Bowens don’t live in Leeds, because he thinks that Lovell wants his money back. Some weeks later, Jenny Bowen invites him for a tea and he tells that he was Greg’s friend. He didn’t know about his Heath and He wanted to find his family. Thanks to Mike, Jenny could buy Josephine’s shares at the cafe. Meanwhile, Nick discovers that, he likes Sinéad much more. Once he invites her for pizza and then he kisses her. They become a couple. Sanjay’s father isn’t happy of son’s choice. But when Sanjay show him a brochure of Beckedon school, he tells his son to try to win the scholarship. He doesn’t like Jasmin’s reaction, because he suspected that she’ll cry and tell him to stay. Sinéad at last is Nick’s girlfriend. She’s very happy, but her family’s got another problem – Shaun Flaherty bought a pony, which doesn’t win any race. He stops to spend the money, when his workshop is arsoned. The Flahertys move to a smaller house. Sinéad meets her friends in a club, where everybody swears to keep their friendship forever.

Best Friends in Love

The play opens with the recently deceased Morton in a state of limbo, looking back on his life. He is reluctantly guided by the mysterious ''Chimney Man'' who forces him to recall the more painful moments of his life when he attempts to ignore or embellish them. Born into an old and wealthy Creole family in New Orleans, the young Morton rebels against his upbringing going into the streets and absorbing the rhythms of the vendors and poor blacks, meeting blues musician Buddy Bolden. When his Creole grandmother discovers his new lifestyle she disowns him. Forced to go on the road, Morton becomes a prominent composer and musician, and the self-proclaimed creator of Jazz. However, his sadness over his family''s rejection causes him to stress his Creole ancestry and claim that there are ''no black notes in my song.'' Eventually his pride and racism cause him to betray his best friend and the woman he loves. In his later years, as the Jazz culture continues to grow, Morton is largely forgotten and reduced to dealing with crooked music publishers and gangsters, eventually dying of a knife wound in the colored wing of a Los Angeles hospital. At the moment of his death, Morton at last admits to his heritage - "Ain''t no black notes in my song/I was wrong/ I was wrong." At this moment, the shadows of the people in his life surround him to congratulate him, and Morton takes his place in history among the other Jazz legends.

Jelly''s Last Jam

In the drawing room at Trenchard Manor, the servants remark on their employer''s poor financial circumstances. Florence Trenchard, an aristocratic young beauty, loves Lieutenant Harry Vernon of the Royal Navy, but she is unable to marry him until he progresses to a higher rank. She receives a letter from her brother Ned, who is currently in the United States. Ned has met some rustic cousins from a branch of the family that had emigrated to Vermont in America two centuries earlier. They related to Ned that great uncle Mark Trenchard had, after angrily disinheriting his children and leaving England years ago, found these Vermont cousins. He had moved in with them and eventually made Asa, one of the sons, heir to his property in England. Asa is now sailing to England to claim the estate. Asa is noisy coarse and vulgar, but honestly forthright and colourful. The English Trenchards are alternately amused and appalled by this Vermont cousin. Richard Coyle, agent of the estate, meets with Sir Edward Trenchard (Florence''s father) and tells the baronet that the family faces bankruptcy unless they can repay a debt to Coyle. Coyle is concealing the evidence that the loan had been repaid long ago by Sir Edward''s late father. Coyle suggests that the loan would be satisfied if he may marry Florence, who detests him. Meanwhile, Asa and the butler, Binny, try to understand each others'' unfamiliar ways, as Asa tries to understand what the purpose of a shower might be, dousing himself while fully clothed. Mrs. Mountchessington is staying at Trenchard Manor. She advises Augusta, her daughter, to be attentive to the presumably wealthy Vermont "savage". Meanwhile, her other daughter, Georgina, is courting an imbecilic nobleman named Dundreary, by pretending to be ill. Florence''s old tutor, the unhappy alcoholic Abel Murcott, warns her that Coyle intends to marry her. Asa overhears this and offers Florence his help. Murcott is Coyle''s clerk and has found proof that Florence''s late grandfather paid off the loan to Coyle. Florence and Asa visit her cousin, Mary Meredith. Mary is the granddaughter of old Mark Trenchard, who left his estate to Asa. Mary is very poor and has been raised as a humble dairy maid. Asa doesn''t care about her social status and is attracted to her. Florence has not been able to bring herself to tell Mary that her grandfather''s fortune had been left to Asa. Florence tells Asa that she loves Harry, who needs a good assignment to a ship. Asa uses his country wile to persuade Dundreary to help Harry get a ship. Meanwhile, Coyle has been up to no good, and the bailiffs arrive at Trenchard Manor. At her dairy, Asa tells Mary about her grandfather in America, but he fibs about the end of the tale: He says that old Mark Trenchard changed his mind about disinheriting his English children and burned his Will. Asa promptly burns the Will himself. Florence discovers this and points it out to Mary, saying: "It means that he is a true hero, and he loves you, you little rogue." Meanwhile, Mrs. Mountchessington still hopes that Asa will propose to Augusta. When Asa tells them that Mark Trenchard had left Mary his fortune, Augusta and Mrs. Mountchessington are quite rude, but Asa stands up for himself. Asa proposes to Mary and is happily accepted. He then sneaks into Coyle''s office with Murcott and retrieves the paper that shows that the debt was paid. Asa confronts Coyle and insists that Coyle must pay off Sir Edward''s other debts, with his doubtless ill-gotten gains, and also apologize to Florence for trying to force her into marriage. Moreover, he demands Coyle''s resignation as the steward of Trenchard Manor, making Murcott steward instead. Murcott is so pleased that he vows to stop drinking. Coyle has no choice but to do all this. Florence marries Harry, Dundreary marries Georgina, and Augusta marries an old beau. Even the servants marry.

Our American Cousin

The story follows the lives of childhood friends who''ve been negatively affected in different ways from their years growing up in Las Vegas off the strip. When we meet the main characters – Chase, Michele and Bailey – they are now in their twenties and the story focuses on their lifestyle, illegal professions and their caustic influence on the generation right behind. The story is told from the perspective of Chase, an aspiring painter just out of college, who had left Las Vegas to study art in New York where he met Julia, an MBA student who represents the promise of a life outside of Las Vegas. After returning to Las Vegas to finish school and finding work as a high school art teacher, Chase struggles to break free of his old life and his old friends, who are entrenched in the Las Vegas life of excess. Plot summary from the Willamette Week in Portland, OR, "A sympathetic look at the life of drug-using, self-destructing hookers and hustlers sounds like an uphill battle, but the simple truth about these characters is that they aren’t hookers or hustlers. They are aspiring painters, film directors and grad students. Although they inevitably prostitute themselves, they seldom talk about it, because they are ashamed or because they don’t understand what’s happening in their lives. All they want is comfort, to live in the Sun King suite on the 22nd floor of the Palace and order room service. But before they know it, prostitution isn’t even paying the bills; one by one, they go into debt with their own bodies."

The Delivery Man

This is the fictional life story of a parish priest, a man of God “conscious of the indwelling of the Trinity,” living the life of grace in a drab industrial town, bringing the grace of God to weak human beings seduced by the devil’s ancient lures of the world and the flesh. It covers the activities of Father Thomas Edmund Smith in his urban Scottish parish from 1908 until his death in 1942. On this framework, the author hangs the glowing tapestry of Father Smith’s spiritual life, a life of sanctity, humility, and burning love of God. He interacts with a wide range of people, children, adults and other clerics. It also tracks the lives of two particular youths from their innocent childhood affections to their respectives lives as a priest and an actress. From the dust jacket: "This is the story of Father Smith, priest in a Scottish city - of his friends, the exiled French nuns, of the Bishop, of Monsignor O''Duffy who wages simple, violent war against simple sins, of Father Bonnyboat, the liturgical scholar, of all the people who come into the gentle orbit of Father Smith - from Lady Ippecacuanha, that tweedy convert, to the slut Annie who drives her husband to murder."

The World, the Flesh, and Father Smith

After the death of her aunt, the protagonist Charlotte and her cousin, her aunt’s stepson Arthur Prime, find a tin of imitation jewelry which includes a string of pearls. Charlotte is immediately fascinated with the pearls, and wonders if they could be a gift from when her aunt was an actress. Arthur disputes this and is insulted at the thought of some gentleman other than his father giving his stepmother such a gift. Charlotte quickly apologizes and agrees that the pearls could be nothing more than paste. With Arthur’s enthusiastic approval, she keeps the jewelry for the memory of her aunt. When Charlotte returns to her governess'' job, her friend, Mrs. Guy, asks her if she has anything to add color to her dress for an upcoming party. When Charlotte shows Mrs. Guy the jewelry, she too becomes fascinated with the string of pearls, insisting that they are genuine. Mrs. Guy wears the string to the party; and when Charlotte finds out that everyone believed that they were real, she insists that they must be returned to her cousin. Mrs. Guy claims that it was Arthur''s foolishness to have given away the necklace, and that Charlotte should have no guilt in keeping it. However, Charlotte decides to return the pearls to her cousin, who still refuses to consider that the pearls could be real. A month later Mrs. Guy shows her a wonderful string of pearls, telling Charlotte that they are the same ones that Charlotte had inherited from her aunt. Charlotte is surprised because Arthur claimed he had shattered them, when in fact he had sold them to the store where Mrs. Guy bought them.

Paste

Henri Troppmann goes from his sick-bed in Paris to Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War in time to witness the first General Strike of the Catalans against the Spanish. He is torn between three different women, all of whom arrive in the city at that time. One of them, Lazare, is a Marxist Jew and political activist, who is preparing herself for prospective torture and martyrdom at the hand of General Francisco Franco''s troops if she is captured. "Dirty" (or Dorothea) is an incontinent, unkempt alcoholic who repeatedly has sex with Troppmann. Xénie is a young woman who had previously nursed him to health during his violent fever in Paris. The novel is introduced by a scene of extreme degeneracy in a London hotel room, followed by the narrator''s description of a dreamlike encounter with ''the Commendatore'' (English: "the Commander"), who in the Don Juan myth is the father of one of Don Juan''s victims, and whose statue returns at the end of the story to drag Don Juan down to hell for his sins. Troppmann has to choose between the abject Dirty and her associations of sex, disease, excrement and decay, the politically engaged Lazare, and her ethical values of commitment, resistance and endurance, and Xénie, who has outlived her usefulness. While looking at Lazare beneath a tree, Troppmann realises that he respects her for her social conscience, but also sees her as a rat, and chooses Dirty instead, whilst sending Xénie off with a friend, who is subsequently killed in the street. He travels with Dirty to Treves, the home-town of Karl Marx, where the two copulate in the mud on a cliff overlooking a candle-lit graveyard. They see a Hitler Youth group, lending Dirty a vision of the war to come and their probable deaths. Troppmann leaves her to return to Paris.

Le Bleu du ciel

Set five years before the events described in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the novel takes place in an alternative universe version of Regency-era England where zombies are a well-known menace spawned by an event known as The Troubles. After attending a funeral in which a zombie rises from his coffin, Mr. Bennet decides that he must finally keep an old promise to train his five daughters in the art of zombie-killing. To this end, he turns the family''s greenhouse into a dojo and hires young martial-arts expert Master Hawksworth to teach the girls. Meanwhile, a scientist named Dr. Keckilpenny arrives in the area with the dream of domesticating the zombies. As the zombie plague continues to spread across England, Hawksworth and Keckilpenny vie for Elizabeth''s affections while Mrs. Bennet plots to find suitably wealthy suitors for both Elizabeth and her older sister Jane. In a bid to get reinforcements against the plague, Jane becomes the bodyguard of Lord Lumpley, a fat nobleman with low moral standards. Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Keckilpenny capture a zombie for further research. Eventually, Hawksworth''s incompetence as a warrior becomes obvious, as he never fights any zombies. When the zombies besiege Lord Lumpley''s estate, Hawksworth feigns an injured knee, leaving the fighting to everyone else present. Soon, Master Hawksworth escapes the zombies by himself (with his usual grace, and without even drawing his katana), even leaving a young officer to be ripped to shreds. Keckilpenny gets bitten by his research subject, "Mr. Smith", and Elizabeth is forced to behead him. In the end, Captain Cannon, Lieutenant Tindall, Dr. Keckilpenny, and Ensign Pratt are all dead, but the others are saved by the reinforcements that Hawksworth managed to summon, despite his cowardice.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls

Caitlin Morland wins an art scholarship to Mulberry Court school. There she meets Izzy Thorpe and Summer Tilney, whose parents are famous. She is a bit jealous of their fame and unlimited money. Caitlin cannot believe it when they say it is not fun having famous parents. Izzy Thorpe wants to visit Caitlin''s home. After a lesson, when Caitlin was talking about Rubens'' picture, Izzy visits her new friend. She is impressed with Caitlin''s house and family, especially with her brother, Jamie. A few weeks before Izzy''s birthday party, Izzy, Caitlin, Jamie and Tom go to a party in a club. Caitlin orders a juice. Summer talks to her, and then Bianca Joseph comes and takes Caitlin to chat with two boys. Caitlin tries to get there, but somebody hits her and the juice gets out of her glass. That''s how she meets Ludo. He offers her something to drink and they talk about Summer. Tom comes and say he wants to take her to another club, but Caitlin declines. She tells Ludo that, Summer is in the bathroom. In the evening Caitlin draws a portrait of Ludo. Caitlin dresses herself as a Rose from "Titanic” for Izzy’s party. She waters herself during the party. Suddenly somebody knocks the door. They are journalists, who want to talk to Izzy’s dad, so the girl tell them that her parent are in Royal Pavillon. A few days later, Izzy goes to Caitlin’s place. Caitlin tells her parents that, she has been invited to spend two weeks in Casa Vernazza with Summer. Her parents agree and Jamie also joins them. During the flight to Italy, Caitlin reads some tabloids and Ludo notices it. He pretends to be interested in stars’ private life. He then reads a book and Caitlin starts to think that, he does not like her. Gabriella and Luigi come to take them from the airport. Ludo and Caitlin go with Gabriella. When she visits her friend, they talk about Summer. Soon they arrive at Casa Vernazza, Summer shows Caitlin her room and her own mother’s pictures. They go into town. Caitlin walks next to the church and she hears Summer’s voice. Her friend is talking with a man. She meets Ludo and his father. Ludo invites Caitlin to ride his yacht with him later on. During supper they discuss this and as a result Freddie, Izzy, Jamie, Gabriella and Summer go with them too. During the trip everybody goes swimming except Jamie. Summer and Caitlin abruptly set off to the local gallery. They pretend to be students, who are working on an article about Elena Cumani-Tilney’s pictures. But when Lorenzo brings one of them, Summer cries and he knows that, she is Elena’s daughter. Ludo calls Caitlin and tells her to come back. Summer will not talk to her because she thinks that Caitlin was after her, when they went to town. Luckily this does not lead to an argument. Caitlin decides to help Summer discover how her mother died. After some time she says that Sir Magnus and Gabriella must have murdered her mother, but she will not talk about it to Summer. In Elena’s paintings, Caitlin finds a pretty one called Abbey, July 2004. She finds it in the Internet and discovers that, it is a mental hospital. All of a sudden Summer runs away from home. Whilst everybody is searching for her somebody calls from hospital to inform that Freddie and Izzy had had an accident. Alex di Matteo comes to the Tilneys’ house. He talks to her about his trip to Milan with his grandma, but she had thought that he had another girlfriend. Summer calls Caitlin and everything is explained. Ludo takes her for a walk and tells that, he in fact loves her. A few days later they open a gallery of Elena Cumani-Tilney’s paintings in a house next to the Tilneys’. In the evening, they go for a ride on Ludo’s yacht. First, Ludo wants to know if Caitlin is going to send an article about his mother’s death to tabloid. She says that she is not but, that she has some titles in her head. Ludo tells Caitlin that he fell in love with her when he saw how seriously she treats those articles. However, Caitlin doesn''t believe him in the beginning so he kisses her and all ends well.

Summer of Secrets

It''s summer time in Camden Falls and Flora, Ruby, Olivia and Nikki are planning what to do. But Flora, Ruby, Olivia, and Nikki don''t understand it. An element of mystery is instantly added when someone - they don''t know who - is leaving books on their doorstep. Each comes with a mysterious message, asking them to read the book and do something new. Before they know it, the four friends have a secret girls-only book club - and are finding out new things about themselves and one another. There are some very interesting ties between the books they''re reading and the things they''re facing over the summer. The girls don''t need to read Nancy Drew to track down the answer, because Flora and Ruby''s legal guardian and grandmother tell them and Olivia and Nikki when she and the literary benefactor think it''s time to. The girls find it annoying that their parents know who the ''mystery book sender'' is, but won''t tell them. But they have a wonderful time reading some pleasingly wonderful books like Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, etc. So Min, the girls, and the book sender travel to Sands Point as a reward.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Speak

By Laurie Halse Anderson

Master and Commander

By Patrick O''Brian

Best Friends in Love

No Author Listed

Jelly's Last Jam

By George C. Wolfe

Our American Cousin

By Tom Taylor

The Delivery Man

By Joe McGinniss Jr.

The World, the Flesh, and Father Smith

By Bruce Marshall

Paste

By Henry James

Le Bleu du ciel

By Georges Bataille

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls

By Steve Hockensmith

Summer of Secrets

No Author Listed

Secret Book Club

By Ann M. Martin