Best of
High-School

1991

The Redwall Trilogy: "Redwall", "Mossflower" and "Mattimeo"


Brian Jacques - 1991
    Mossflower Second thrilling REDWALL adventure This is the story of Martin the Warrior, the legendary founder of Redwall Abbey. When Verduaga Greeneyes, king of the wildcats, becomes tyrant truler over the creatures of Mossflower, the woodlanders begin a life of serfdom and cruelty. But then, one winter afternoon, a young mouse called Martin chances by the woods -bringing with him an indomitable spirit of adventure and will for freedom. . . . . Redwall Redwall Abbey, tranquil home to a community of peace-loving mice is threatened by Cluny the Scourge - the evil-one-eyed rat warlord - and his battle-hardened horde of predators. Cluny is certain that Redwall will fall easily to his fearsome army but he hasn't bargained for the courage and strength of the combined forces of the Redwall mice and their loyal woodland friends. . . . . Mattimeo Slagar the Fox is bent on revenge - and determined to bring death and destruction to Redwall Abbey. Gathering his evil band around him, Slagar plots to strike at the heart of the Abbey. His cunning and cowardly plan is to steal the Redwall children - and Mattimeo, Matthias's son, is to be the biggest prize of all . . .

Lazarus and the Hurricane: The Freeing of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter


Sam Chaiton - 1991
    They bring Lesra to Toronto to help with his education. While learning to read, Lesra finds a copy of Rubin Carter's The Sixteenth Round.Rubin Carter, the subject of Bob Dylan's song "Hurricane", was a #1 middleweight boxing contender who had been wrongfully imprisoned after a white jury found him guilty of the murder of three whites in 1966. A huge public outcry followed the publication of Carter's memoir The Sixteenth Round in 1974, culminating in a retrial, which was a virtual reenactment of the original travesty, with Carter receiving the same triple-life sentence.Inspired by Lesra's passion, his adopted Canadian family made contact with Carter and reinvigorated the legal battle. The Hurricane is the moving story of the eight year struggle Carter and his Canadian friends waged to win his exoneration and freedom.

The Maestro


T. Davis Bunn - 1991
    Dealing with his pain and his "magnificent gift," Gianni passes through a decade of darkness where he moves away from his classical background and develops into a renowned and versatile guitarist, dazzling the clubs of Milano with his late-night jazz set. Also playing as an acclaimed studio musician, his life nevertheless tumbles ever deeper into the despair of drink, drugs, and affairs.By invitation from an old friend, Gianni travels to Germany and is confronted with the radical faith of a contemporary Christian music group whose life stories read like his. In a highly realistic and dramatic style, Gianni must deal with his doubts about God, his fears, the unforgiveness of those who hurt him most, and ultimately find salvation. There is no holding back from the issues of real faith as he reorders his life under the miraculous touch of God's intervention.A moving story of grace and commitment in the lives of real people. Just what readers are looking for!

The Rain Catchers


Jean Thesman - 1991
    That's the way it is at grandmother's house where tea is served each day at four and tales of death and divorce, illness and abandonment are shared by grandmother's circle of friends. The women watch over one another and eveyone watches over Grayling -- whose own story has never been told her to hear.But in a summer of many changes, fourteen-year-old Grayling encounters love and romance, joy and saddness...and the need to know her own story -- from the very beginning.

The Princess and the Moon


Daisaku Ikeda - 1991
    Wildsmith has created a translucent nighttime landscape of astonishing beauty for this tale that is at once contemporary and satisfyingly traditional. Full-color illustrations.

A Heart for Europe: the lives of Emperor Charles and Empress Zita of Austria-Hungary


Joanna Bogle - 1991
    The Pope was himself formerly bishop in the once Habsburg-ruled city of Cracow and his baptismal name Karol (meaning Charles) was given in memory of the late Emperor under whom his father had served as an officer in the Imperial army. Married to Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Charles inherited the throne of Austria-Hungary in 1916 at the height of World War One upon the death of his uncle, the Emperor Franz Josef. His dedicated efforts to end the war earned him the popular name the Peace-Emperor but led him to an idealistic struggle in the face of impossible odds and an early death in exile on the island of Madeira, after two attempts to regain the Hungarian throne. This book tells of these events set in the context of the wider drama of the twentieth century showing how a great and historically peaceful empire was destroyed by nationalist intrigue leaving the way free for the totalitarian powers that came after until their fall in 1945 and 1989.