Title Recommendations based on Sheryl Hoover
It's 1996 in a town called Boring, Oregon, where high school misfits in the AV and drama clubs brave the ups and downs of teenage emotions in the VHS era.
Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions. Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously-and at great risk-documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives. Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart.
Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy through the horrific rule of the Taliban, The Kite Runner is the heartbreaking story of the unlikely and inseparable friendship between a wealthy Afghan boy and the son of his father's servant, both of whom are caught in the tragic sweep of history. Published in the aftermath of America's invasion of Afghanistan, Khaled Hosseini's haunting writing brought a part of the world to vivid life that was previously unknown.
A hard-partying high school senior's philosophy on life changes when he meets the not-so-typical "nice girl."
Spotlight is the true story of how The Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese—shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.
Dre Johnson grew up in Compton, a tough part of Los Angeles. When he achieved success, he moved a few miles away to a nicer—but much whiter—part of town. He's trying to teach his kids to take pride in their heritage in a mostly-white environment. But his son cares more about field hockey than basketball, and his daughter's new boyfriend is not only white—he's French too!
This time around Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, along with their pesky cousin Eustace Scrubb find themselves swallowed into a painting and on to a fantastic Narnian ship headed for the very edges of the world.
In 1926, Newt Scamander arrives at the Magical Congress of the United States of America with a magically expanded briefcase, which houses a number of dangerous creatures and their habitats. When the creatures escape from the briefcase, it sends the American wizarding authorities after Newt, and threatens to strain even further the state of magical and non-magical relations.
Slaking a thirst for dangerous games, Kathryn challenges her stepbrother, Sebastian, to deflower their headmaster's daughter before the summer ends. If he succeeds, the prize is the chance to bed Kathryn. But if he loses, Kathryn will claim his most prized possession.
Pride and Prejudice is a humorous story of love and life among English gentility during the Georgian era. Mr. Bennet is an english gentleman living in Hartfordshire with his overbearing wife and 5 daughters. If Mr. Bennet dies their house will be inherited by a distant cousin whom they have never met, so the family's future happiness and security is dependant on the daughters making good marriages.
Violet, Klaus and Sonny on her own after their parents' mysterious death. If that's not hard enough, they also face man-eating leeches, friendly vipers, and carnivorous circuses. And the biggest challenge of all is outsmarting the dastardly Count Olaf, who's determined to acquire their family's fortune.
Shaun of the Dead is a humorous homage to Zombie movies from director Edgar Wright; an outrageous romantic comedy with zombies.
Up until senior year, Greg has maintained total social invisibility. He only has one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time—when not playing video games and avoiding Earl's terrifying brothers— making movies, their own versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics. Greg would be the first one to tell you his movies are f***ing terrible, but he and Earl don't make them for other people. Until Rachel.Rachel has leukemia, and Greg's mom gets the genius idea that Greg should befriend her. Against his better judgment and despite his extreme awkwardness, he does. When Rachel decides to stop treatment, Greg and Earl must abandon invisibility and make a stand.
Charlie is not the biggest geek in high school, but he's by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie is attempting to navigate through the uncharted territory of high school. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and music—when all one requires to feel infinite is that perfect song on that perfect drive. Standing on the fringes of life Charlie has a unique perspective of the world around him, but there comes a time to stop being a wallflower and see what it looks like from the dance floor.
Nick Birch and Andrew Glouberman are middle school students who spend their days thinking about girls. Yet all they have experienced of it so far is anxiety and fear of their own inadequacies. Nick and Andrew are trying their best to make it through puberty with their sanity intact.
