Read for a Lifetime/Abraham Lincoln Award
Click on the title of the program to find out about these programs

Previous years:         Read for a Lifetime List 2005-2006      Read for a Lifetime List 2006-07          Read for a Lifetime List 2007-2008       

	READ FOR A LIFETIME 2008-2009 Booklist from Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White
	9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation by Sid Jacobsen 128 pgs    Graphic novel In December 2005, the 9/11 Commission issued a report card for the government’s performance on proposals issued in July 2004: one A, twelve Bs, nine Cs, twelve Ds, three Fs, and four incompletes. In graphic novel format, this often follows word for word the Commission’s original report, & captures its investigative detail and entire scope.
	The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie 229 pgs Growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation, Junior is the target for everyone’s abuse. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the reservation to attend an all-white farm town high school, where the only other Indian is the school mascot.
	Atonement by Ian McEwan 496 pgs                              In the summer of 1935, Briony Tallis misinterprets a moment's flirtation between her sister and the son of a servant. A crime occurs soon after, the repercussions of which are followed through the chaos and carnage of World War II and into the close of the 20th century. Soon, secrets emerge that change the lives of everyone present.
	Book Thief, The by Markus Zusak 552 pgs                               While Nazi Germany is overtaken by the powers steered by THE book, Mein Kampf, a foster girl, Liesel, fends for herself by stealing something she can’t resist–books. Her accordion-playing foster father helps her learn to read, and she shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.
	Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet 240 pgs               A unique window into the mind of a high functioning, 27-year-old British autistic savant with Asperger's syndrome. His ability to think abstractly, and empathize, interact and communicate with others is impaired, yet he's capable of incredible feats of memorization and mental calculation. His early and teen struggles lead to adult achievements, which include teaching in Lithuania, financial independence via an educational Web site, and a long-term romance.
	Cage of Stars by Jacquelyn Mitchard 289 pgs                               Twelve-year-old Veronica Swan's idyllic life in a close-knit Mormon community is shattered when her two younger sisters are brutally murdered. Although her parents find the strength to forgive the deranged killer, Veronica is unable to do the same. Years later, she sets out alone to avenge her sisters' deaths.
	Copper Sun by Sharon Draper 320 pgs Amari's life was joyful, engaged to the most handsome man in her tribe, adored by her family, and living in a beautiful village. In the time it takes to fire a gun, slave traders destroy her village, brutally murder her entire family, and chain Amari. In the Carolinas, Amari is bought as a birthday present for the plantation owner’s 16-year-old son.
	The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls 304 pgs Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. Rex was charming, brilliant and, when sober, captured his children's imagination. When the money runs out, Rex drank, stole the grocery money and disappeared for days, & Rosemary painted creatively. Jeannette, her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves in this true-life survival story. Recommended if you liked A Child Called It
	The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson 256 pgs c1959 A classic work of unnerving terror: four seekers arrive at notorious Hill House, including an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a "haunting," and a young woman familiar with poltergeists. After a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena, Hill House is gathering its powers-and will choose one of them to make its own.
	The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers 368 pgs c1940 John Singer, a deaf-mute in a Georgia mill town during the 1930s, affects the people who confide in him. When Singer’s mute Greek companion of 10 years goes insane, Singer is alone and isolated. He takes a room with the Kelly family. He is visited by the town's misfits, who turn to him for understanding but don’t know of his inner life.
	How To Ruin A Summer Vacation by Simone Elkeles 234 pgs                               For an American teen with an attitude to match her fashion Jimmy Choo slides, going to Israel with her estranged father is the LAST thing Amy wants to do this summer. He drags her to a war zone to meet a family she's never known. One hilarious humiliation after another tests Amy's spirit, but she also finds comfort in her grandmother she’s never known.
	Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer 224 pgs                               In 1992, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandoned his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska, where he went to live in the wilderness. Four months later, he is dead. His diary, letters and two notes found at a remote campsite tell his desperate struggle with injury and starvation.
	Just Listen by Sarah Dessen 371 pgs                               Annabel, the youngest of three beautiful sisters, has a bitter fight with her best friend, the popular, exciting Sophie, & she becomes isolated and friendless. Then she meets another loner, passionate about music and his weekly radio show, and always determined to tell the truth. Can Annabel tell the truth about the night her friendship with Sophie came to a screeching halt?
	Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power by Richard Carwardine 326 pgs                               Lincoln's campaign for president weathered the intense party politics of  the newly formed Republican Party, home to Americans with many different political agendas, which Lincoln had the ability to blend. In the White House, Lincoln’s religious beliefs were tested as war brought him into close contact with evangelicals, and his thoughts about slavery evolved—he embraced emancipation first because winning the war required it, yet edged toward black men's suffrage. Post bellum politics might have been different were it not for that fateful gunshot on April 14, 1865.
	A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah 240 pgs                               Sierra Leone's civil war between  unruly, sociopath rebels and army forces is fought by many child soldiers –  captured, traumatized, hopped up on drugs, and wielding AK47s. Beah tells how he was abducted as a boy of 12 into the horrors of war — a drug-filled life of casual mass slaughter lasting until he is 15, when he is taken to rehab.
	Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult 464 pgs                             Sterling —a small, ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens —is shattered in nineteen minutes by a shocking school shooting. Josie Cormier, the teen daughter of the judge sitting on the case, could be the state's best witness, but she can't remember what happened in front of her own eyes. As the trial progresses, friendships and families unravel.
	Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi 153 pgs Graphic novel The great-granddaughter of one of Iran's last emperors, Marjane tells  the heartbreaking memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution and overthrow of Shah’s regime. In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, she depicts life during the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq.
	Red Kayak by Pricilla Cummings 209 pgs                              Brady loves life on the Chesapeake Bay with his friends J.T. and Digger, but developers and rich families are moving in. Brady befriends some of them, like the DiAngelos, but his parents and friends are bitter about the changes. Tragedy strikes as the DiAngelos’ kayak overturns in the bay. The terrible truth behind the kayak’s sinking changes the lives of those he loves forever.
	Riding The Bus With My Sister: A True Life Journey by Rachel Simon 304 pgs               Rachel Simon's sister Beth is a spirited woman who lives intensely and joyfully. Beth, who has mental retardation, spends her days riding the city buses . The drivers, a lively group, are her mentors; her fellow passengers are her community. Beth asked Rachel to ride along for an entire year, and this wise, funny, book records the year: life lessons on living in the moment, noticing what really matters, how to love—and slowing down to enjoy the ride.
	A Separate Peace by John Knowles 208 pgs                               Set at a boys' boarding school in New England during the early years of World War II, where Gene is a lonely, introverted intellectual. Phineas is a handsome, taunting, daredevil athlete.. The harrowing, dark events that happen between the two friends one summer, like the war itself, banishes the innocence of these boys and their world.
	Sold by Patricia McCormick 288 pgs                               13-year-old Lakshmi lives an ordinary life in Nepal, going to school and thinking of the boy she is to marry. Then her gambling-addicted stepfather sells her into prostitution in India. Refusing to be with men, she is beaten and starved until she gives in. She is trapped there to pay off her family's debt,  a nightmare from which she cannot escape. A day when that she has to make a decision – will she risk everything to for a chance to reclaim her life? Author of Cut.
	The Wall: Growing Up Behind The Iron Curtain by Peter Sis 56 pgs Graphic novel Peter draws his youth in communist Prague -- wearing the red scarf proudly, guarding the statue of Stalin, and believing what he was told to believe. News from the West slowly filtered into the country-- rock ’n’ roll, blue jeans, and Coca-Cola. As a teen he questioned, grew his hair long, secretly read banned books, and joined a rock band. Then came the Prague Spring of 1968…
	A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini 384 pgs                               Mariam’s life as a submissive wife in Afghanistan is complicated when her husband takes Lailah as a second wife. The wives must cope with each other, an abusive husband, and with volatile events -- from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban – a story that puts the violence, fear, hope and faith of life in Afghanistan  in human terms.
	Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace by Greg Mortenson 368 pgs               An American mountaineer in the treacherous Himalayas, inspired by his chance rescue by impoverished mountain villagers, promises to build them a school. Despite the invasion of the Taliban, over the next decade he builds fifty-five schools - especially for girls - bringing skills to one of the most isolated and dangerous regions on earth.
	We Beat the Street: How a Friendship Pact Led to Success by Davis/Hunt/Jenkins 192 pages               The true story of three friends who grew up on the streets of Newark, facing city life's poverty, drugs, gangs, thieving, even jail. One day these young men made a pact. They promised each other they would all become doctors, and stick it out together through the long, difficult journey to attain that dream.

back to top