Camden Joy tells the picaresque tale of an American rock 'n roll band as they travel below both the Mason-Dixon Line and the cultural radar in early 1991. As the Persian Gulf War escalates in the background, we follow the four members (including a drummer who, like the author, is named Camden Joy) on solo and group adventures amid the vacuous American landscape, of diners, clubs, colleges, and hotels. Boy Island is at once a eulogy for the formerly limitless possibilities of the American road and, ultimately, a meditation on the redemptive power of music and friendship.

Miguel is four years' old when he is suddenly taken away from his home in Cape Verde, and brought to Milan. Taken into custody by Maria, an affluent Romanian lady, he embarks on a turbulent journey, which leads him to question his identity and sense of belonging. He looks for ways to escape from the pressures of everyday life, which eventually have devastating consequences.

Camden Joy’s hero can’t wrap up the quickie biography of rock star Liz Phair he’s been commissioned to write. Instead, the shaky author finds himself recounting the troubled events of his own life. His ex-girlfriend (who just might be the illegitimate daughter of dead Rolling Stone Brian Jones), Liz Phair (whom he’s never met), and a mystery girl seen looting a shop in an old newspaper photo all start to blur together in his mind. If only he could get closer to his subject before the assignment spins out of control, maybe he’d have a shot at the distinction he feels he deserves . . . First published in 1998, The Last Rock Star Book has become an underground cult classic.

* 'The Loneliest Boy in the World – he has only seagulls as playmates.' 1949 newspaper article * Gearóid Cheaist Ó Catháin had a unique childhood – he was the last child brought up on the Blasket Islands of Ireland's southwest coast. The nearest in age was his uncle who was thirty years older. In this affectionate memoir, Gearóid recalls growing up on the island without a doctor, priest, school, church or electricity. Despite public perception of this small, vulnerable fishing community, he remembers a wonderful childhood, cherished by parents and neighbours. His memories are entwined with the beliefs and customs handed down through the generations and are an insight into life on the Blaskets. He speaks with authority of the difficulties and challenges facing the final generation on the island. The Blaskets, with their deserted, crumbling cottages, will live on, in part due to the invaluable memories of the last child of the Great Blasket Island. • Also available: From the Great Blasket to America by Michael Carney

A plane crashes on a desert island and the only survivors, a group of schoolboys, assemble on the beach and wait to be rescued. By day they inhabit a land of bright fantastic birds and dark blue seas, but at night their dreams are haunted by the image of a terrifying beast. As the boys' delicate sense of order fades, so their childish dreams are transformed into something more primitive, and their behaviour starts to take on a murderous, savage significance. First published in 1954, Lord of the Flies is one of the most celebrated and widely read of modern classics. Now fully revised and updated, this educational edition includes chapter summaries, comprehension questions, discussion points, classroom activities, a biographical profile of Golding, historical context relevant to the novel and an essay on Lord of the Flies by William Golding entitled 'Fable'. Aimed at Key Stage 3 and 4 students, it also includes a section on literary theory for advanced or A-level students. The educational edition encourages original and independent thinking while guiding the student through the text - ideal for use in the classroom and at home.

Black & White Edition -- In the 1670s, a Dutch settler named Claudius van Beverhoudt arrived on St. Thomas, Danish West Indies. He married a woman named Elizabeth deWindt and made St. Thomas his home. Arnold van Beverhoudt, Jr. is a direct 8th generation descendant of Claudius and Elizabeth. His paternal grandparents, Ernest and Elisa, were living on St. Thomas in 1917 when the Danish West Indies became the U.S. Virgin Islands. They eventually moved to Venezuela, but Arnold's father remained on St. Thomas, where he became an auto repairman and raised his family. This book presents - in words and photos - Arnold's memories of life growing up and eventually meeting his "Island Girl" Helena on the tiny Caribbean island that its residents affectionately call "the Rock." It's a story that's been over 340 years in the making.

A novel about the experiences of a Jewish boy and his father during the Holocaust in Poland.

Island boy is a heartwarming and tearjerking book about the journey of a thirteen year old boy form a little island in the south pacific to a city in Southern California. His life with a white American family in a city that did not allow non-whites. The book chronicles the hardships faced by the young boy in a strange place where people made fun of the way he spoke and his brown skin. For the first time in his life, he faced discrimination and humiliation. Everyday he cried and longed for his carefree life in the islands with his extended family. America was not the land of freedom that he had heard about as a boy. It was a harsh and cruel country that made him cry. However, he persevered through the hardships, fought the racism, and eventually realized the American dream. He entered the teaching profession and climbed through the ranks to become the deputy superintendent of the California Department of Education. But the road to success was difficult because he did not fit into any of the major racial categories. He was the island boy.

Far off the coast of California looms a harsh rock known as the island of San Nicholas. Dolphins flash in the blue waters around it, sea otter play in the vast kep beds, and sea elephants loll on the stony beaches. Here, in the early 1800s, according to history, an Indian girl spent eighteen years alone, and this beautifully written novel is her story. It is a romantic adventure filled with drama and heartache, for not only was mere subsistence on so desolate a spot a near miracle, but Karana had to contend with the ferocious pack of wild dogs that had killed her younger brother, constantly guard against the Aleutian sea otter hunters, and maintain a precarious food supply. More than this, it is an adventure of the spirit that will haunt the reader long after the book has been put down. Karana's quiet courage, her Indian self-reliance and acceptance of fate, transform what to many would have been a devastating ordeal into an uplifting experience. From loneliness and terror come strength and serenity in this Newbery Medal-winning classic.