Best of
School

1953

Mara, Daughter of the Nile


Eloise Jarvis McGraw - 1953
    In order to gain it, she finds herself playing the dangerous role of double spy for two arch enemies—each of whom supports a contender for the throne of Egypt.Against her will, Mara finds herself falling in love with one of her masters, the noble Sheftu, and she starts to believe in his plans of restoring Thutmose III to the throne. But just when Mara is ready to offer Sheftu her help and her heart, her duplicity is discovered, and a battle ensues in which both Mara's life and the fate of Egypt are at stake.

Lamb to the Slaughter and Other Stories


Roald Dahl - 1953
    Parson's Pleasure is a country tale, A Piece of Cake, a wartime reminiscence, Lamb to the Slaughter a story of vengeful murder, and the remaining two, The Bookseller and The Butler, are on favorite themes of greed and snobbery.

Lamb to the Slaughter


Roald Dahl - 1953
    It was initially rejected, along with four other stories, by The New Yorker, but was ultimately published in Harper's Magazine in September 1953. It was adapted for an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and starred Barbara Bel Geddes. Originally broadcast on April 13, 1958, it was one of only 17 AHP episodes directed by Hitchcock himself. The story was subsequently adapted for Dahl's British TV series Tales of the Unexpected. Dahl included it in his short story compilation Someone Like You."Lamb to the Slaughter" demonstrates Dahl's fascination with horror (with elements of black comedy), a theme that would influence both his in adult fiction as well as his children stories.

Maud Martha


Gwendolyn Brooks - 1953
    Through pithy and poetic chapter-moments - "spring landscape: detail," "death of grandmother," "first beau," "low yellow," "everybody will be surprised" - Maud Martha grows up, gets married, and gives birth to a daughter. Maud Martha, a gentle woman with "scraps of baffled hate in her, hate with no eyes, no smile..." who knows "while people did live they would be grand, would be glorious and brave, would have nimble hearts that would beat and beat," is portrayed with exquisitely imaginative and tender detail by Gwendolyn Brooks, the first African-American to win a Pulitzer Prize

Angel Unaware: A Touching Story of Love and Loss


Dale Evans Rogers - 1953
    But their excitement turned to concern when they were informed that Robin was born with Down's Syndrome and advised to "put her away." The Rogers ignored such talk and instead kept Robin, and she graced their home for two and a half years. Though Robin's time on earth was short, she changed her parents' lives and even made life better for other children born with special needs in the years to come. Angel Unaware is Robin's account of her life as she looks down from heaven. As she speaks to God about the mission of love she just completed on earth, the reader sees how she brought her parents closer to God and encouraged them to help other children in need. This book, which changed the way America treated children with special needs, is now available to a new generation. It is the perfect gift for parents of special needs children, parents grieving the death of a child, or anyone whose life has been touched by a special child.

Three Tragedies: Blood Wedding, Yerma, Bernarda Alba


Federico García Lorca - 1953
    His images are beautiful and exact, but until now no translator had ever been able to make his characters speak unaffectedly on the American stage. Michael Dewell of the National Repertory Theatre and Carmen Zapata of the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts have created these versions expressly for the stage. The result, both performable and readable, has been thoroughly revised for this edition, which is introduced by Christopher Maurer, general editor of the Complete Poetical Works of García Lorca.

My Heart Lies South: The Story of My Mexican Marriage


Elizabeth Borton de Treviño - 1953
    It is like stepping back a hundred years. In this vivid autobiography, Newberry Award-winning author Elizabeth Borton de Treviño brings to life her experiences with the culture and the faith of a civilization so close to the United States, but rarely appreciated or understood. This special young people s edition presents the humor and the insights of a remarkable woman and her contact with an era which is now past, but not to be forgotten. Ages 14 and up.

Star of Light


Patricia St. John - 1953
    He was not dreaming; it was his stepfather!The man watched Kinza as a snake might watch a baby rabbit at play, waiting for the moment to strike. And for one breathless moment Hamid was sure that he would reach out and snatch her away. Hamid does not want his little blind sister, Kinza, to be sold to a beggar by their stepfather, so he decides to rescue her. Together they escape from their mountain village to a town where there may be a new home for Kinza. But this is only the start of their adventures.Will Kinza be safe' What will happen to Hamid, who dares not go back home' Set in North Africa, readers will be delighted by yet another of Patricia St. John's exciting, freshly edited novels.

Splendor of the Church


Henri de Lubac - 1953
    It is also a classic work in the theology of the Church. Indeed, de Lubac's profound insights significantly contributed to Vatican II's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, especially in its treatment on the Church as mystery and as the Sacrament of Christ.

The Murderer


Ray Bradbury - 1953
    One man's rebellion against the sensory overload brought on by ubiquitous electronics.

A Brighter Sun


Sam Selvon - 1953
    The Longman Caribbean Writers Series comprises of many classic novels, short stories and plays by the best known Caribbean authors, together with works of the highest quality from new writers.

The Enormous Radio


John Cheever - 1953
    He is the author of seven collections of stories and five novels. His first novel, The Wapshot Chronicle, won the 1958 National Book Award. In 1965 he received the Howells Medal for Fiction from the National Academy of Arts and Letters, and in 1978 The Stories of John Cheever won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Shortly before his death, in 1982, he was awarded the National Medal for Literature from the Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.

Queen of the Dark Chamber


Christiana Tsai - 1953
    Christiana Tsai becomes a follower of Christ. An autobiography, "Queen of the Dark Chamber" exposes Christiana's severe suffering because of her conversion. Through her, however, the light and life of the gospel and the glory of Christ is revealed. Step into her life and taste the bitterness of sin around her and the brilliant sweetness of Christ's light in the midst of trial.

Circle of the Seasons: The Journal of a Naturalist's Year


Edwin Way Teale - 1953
    

Drovers Road


Joyce West - 1953
    Besides her young, bachelor uncle there are her three orphaned cousins—Eve, Hugh and Merry—and their Great-Aunt Belle. Taken in by Dunsany years before, after her parents’ divorce, Gay now scarcely remembers any other life. There are lessons at the local school, taught by pretty, sensible Susan Leigh, regular chores, plenty of riding and jumping, pranks with Merry, unlikely pets—and abundant potential for unexpected adventures. Then, everything starts to change. With boarding school suddenly looming on the horizon, Gay and Merry—besides hating the idea—also begin to realize the expense they are to their uncle. Are they the burden standing in the way of Uncle Dunsany’s marriage? Additional unsettling possibilities are added when Gay learns that her father is returning to New Zealand after an absence of many years. Will this mean leaving Drovers Road forever? In a story filled with unforgettable characters (human and otherwise), horse shows and hunts, careless actions and scary consequences, happy (and not-so-happy) romances, young Gabrielle learns something about love and trust through the shared ups and downs of a very human, but also very caring family and extended community.

Slave Boy in Judea


Josephine Sanger Lau - 1953
    Though he is not a hard master, Madoc is determined to escape and find his mother. However, the story takes a turn when Madoc and his master meet followers of Jesus and hear about the new way of living he taught.

The Hills Were Joyful Together


Roger Mais - 1953
    This book precedes the Rasta story of Brother Man.

Down in the Holler: A Gallery of Ozark Folk Speech


Vance Randolph - 1953
    The University of Oklahoma Press is especially pleased to introduce such an invaluable and delightfully written book to a new generation of researchers and Americans entranced by the Ozarks and the folkways of the past.Until World War II the backwoodsmen living in the Ozark Mountains of southern Missouri, northern Arkansas, and eastern Oklahoma were the most deliberately "unprogressive" people in the United States. The descendants of pioneers from the southern Appalachians, they changed their way of life very little during the whole span of the nineteenth century and were able to preserve their customs and traditions in an age of industrialism.When the many attractions of the Ozarks were discovered by "outlanders," the tourists—and television—reached the hinterlands, and the old patterns of speech and life began to fade.In this perceptive book, Vance Randolph, who first visited the Ozarks country in 1899, and his collaborator, George P. Wilson, recapture the speech of the people who lived "down in the holler." Randolph, closely identified with the region for many years, hunted possums with its people and shared their table at the House of Lords (a "kind of tavern" in Joplin). Through the years his hobby became a profession, and he spent years recording the various aspects of Ozark folk speech.

Encyclopedia of American History


Richard B. Morris - 1953
    Unequaled in the amount of information contained within a single volume & designed as a narrative, it chronicles all the essential facts, from government & politics to science, thought & culture. The Encyclopedia is divided onto four parts: Part 1: "THE BASIC CHRONOLOGY" presents political & military events, beginning with the era of discovery. Part 2: "THE TOPICAL CHRONOLOGY" records the nonpolitical aspects of American life. A few of the topics covered in this section are the fine arts, religion, medicine, education, tv, radio, immigration, population, expansion & Supreme Court decisions. Part 3: "NOTABLE AMERICAN BIOGRAPHIES" contains profiles of influential Americans. Part 4: "THE STRUCTURE OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT" includes tables of Presidents & their cabinets, party strength in Congress from 1789, & Supreme Court justices, as well as complete texts of the Declaration of Independence & the Constitution.

The Love Suicide at Amijima (Shinju Ten No Amijima): A Study of a Japanese Domestic Tragedy


Donald Howard Shively - 1953
    

Bedtime Stories (Bright Light)


Enid Blyton - 1953
    With charming stories about animals, fairies, toys, pixies and children, the book is filled with magic and adventure to capture the imagination of all young children.

Powder Keg: A Story of the Bermuda Gunpowder Mystery


Donald E. Cooke - 1953