Set in the Limberlost Swamp area of Indiana, “Freckles” is American writer and naturalist Gene Stratton-Porter's 1904 novel about the titular character, a one-handed adult orphan who takes a job guarding timber in the swamp. Freckles has lived all his life in a Chicago orphanage and has been missing his right hand as long as he can remember. Now an adult, he is hired on by the Grand Rapids lumber company to guard their valuable timber in the Limberlost...

Collection of four stories of strange and unexplainable circumstances. A headless horseman haunts Sleep Hollow. At least that's the legend in the tiny village of Tarrytown. But scary stories won't stop the town's new schoolmaster, Ichabod Crane, from crossing through the Hollow, especially when the beautiful Katrina lives on the other side. Will Ichabod win over his beloved or discover that the legend of Sleepy Hollow is actually true? Also, Rip Van...

Just when Nick thinks he's finally gotten a handle on how not to take over the world and destroy it, Death returns with an all-star cast that is determined to end the Malachai reign and lineage forever. Worse? Death and War have found the one, true enemy Nick can't find, and even if he did, it's one he could never bring himself to banish or kill. Now framed for murders he hasn't committed, and surrounded by new friends who might be turncoats, Nick...

A searing tale of fear and courage, set during the Civil War, but more powerful today than ever. A young man enlists in the Union Army, but nervously wonders how he will react to the blood, violence, and death of a real battle. When that terrible day arrives, he flees the fighting in terror. But his cowardly behavior gnaws at his conscience, and he searches for redemption for what he has done.

The Call of the Wild, by Jack London, is one of America's best-known novels. In his Reader's Companion to this new edition, Daniel Dyer provides a wealth of annotations explaining the book's many "sourdough" expressions and geographical references in order to help the modern reader see what London saw. Dyer also identifies characters in the novel - human and canine alike - whom London had known, and he spices his annotations with Northern lore and...

Elnora Comstock's first day at high school is a disaster. The other students laugh at her clothes, and then -- to make matters worse -- she learns she has to pay for her books and tuition. --- [Excerpt from back cover.]

"In this spirited novel by master storyteller Jules Verne, five Civil War prisoners escape their Confederate jail by hijacking a hot-air balloon. Blown halfway across the world and stranded on a remote island, the fugitives' survival depends upon their ability to build a sustainable environment while withstanding pirate attacks, volcanic eruptions, and other challenges. Engineer Cyrus Harding takes charge of the crew, consisting of his servant, Neb;...

Chronicles the joys and sorrows of the four March sisters as they grow into young ladies in mid-nineteenth-century New England.

Uncle Tom, Topsy, Sambo, Simon Legree, little Eva: their names are American bywords, and all of them are characters in Harriet Beecher Stowe's remarkable novel of the pre-Civil War South. Uncle Tom's Cabin was revolutionary in 1852 for its passionate indictment of slavery and for its presentation of Tom, "a man of humanity," as the first black hero in American fiction. Labeled racist and condescending by some contemporary critics, it remains a shocking,...

"Published in 1882, The Prince and the Pauper is a delightful piece of historical fiction set in 1547. The young British Prince Edward, son of Henry VIII, switches place with a young pauper boy, Tom Canty, who happens to look exactly like the Prince. Tom takes over royal duties when King Henry dies and enjoys life in the palace. The real Prince is tossed out on the streets of London and learns about the life and misery of the common people of England...