"The adventures of high-spirited Anne, which have inspired multiple TV and movie adaptations, is now available in an unabridged hardcover edition that's a perfect gift for today's young readers. When Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert ask the orphanage for a boy to help on the farm, they are surprised to receive Anne--a talkative, dreamy, red-haired, freckle-faced girl. Despite Anne's imaginative antics, her presence fills the small town of Avonlea with...

The adventures of the well-to-do hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, who lived happily in his comfortable home until a wandering wizard granted his wish. Bilbo Baggins was a hobbit who wanted to be left alone in quiet comfort. But the wizard Gandalf came along with a band of homeless dwarves. Soon Bilbo was drawn into their quest, facing evil orcs, savage wolves, giant spiders, and worse unknown dangers. Finally, it was Bilbo -- alone and unaided -- who had to...

When Irish born Bram Stoker s Dracula was published in 1897, vampires were creatures of myth and fantasy. It had taken seven years of research into European folklore and a nightmare (allegedly caused by eating too much crab) about a vampire king rising from the grave before the book was finished. There were many adventure writers at this time penning books about impending threat and invasion of the Empire and Dracula was well received. However, despite...

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...

Ebenezer Scrooge is a miserly old skinflint who hates everyone, especially children, but at Christmas three ghosts come to visit him, and scare him into mending his ways. He finds, as he celebrates with Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim and family, that geniality brings its own reward.

The classic boyhood adventure tale, updated with a new introduction by noted Mark Twain scholar R. Kent Rasmussen. A consummate prankster with a quick wit, Tom Sawyer dreams of a bigger fate than simply being a "rich boy." Yet through the novel's humorous escapades-from the famous episode of the whitewashed fence to the trial of Injun Joe-Mark Twain explores the deeper themes of the adult world, one of dishonesty and superstition, murder and revenge,...

Greg Heffley tells about his summer vacation and his attempts to steer clear of trouble when he returns to middle school and tries to keep his older brother Rodrick from telling everyone about Greg's most humiliating experience of the summer. Whatever you do, don't ask Greg about his summer vacation. As he enters the new school year, he's eager to put the events of the past three months behind him ... and one event in particular. Greg knows that his...

When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, she is determined to dislike him more than ever. In the sparkling comedy of manners that follows, Jane Austen shows the folly of judging by first...

Demi-god Percy Jackson and his friends must journey into the Sea of Monsters to save their camp. But first Percy will discover a secret that makes him wonder whether being claimed as Poseidon's son is an honor or a cruel joke.

The classic boyhood adventure tale, updated with a new introduction by noted Mark Twain scholar R. Kent Rasmussen In recent years, neither the persistent effort to "clean up" the racial epithets in Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn nor its consistent use in the classroom have diminished, highlighting the novel's wide-ranging influence and its continued importance in American society. An incomparable adventure story, it is a vignette of a...