Siperstein Library: Book Recommendations!

A must read for any budding WWII historian, this twisty thriller is also a deeply felt portrait of friendship.

Book one in the popular series--meet James, a quietly brilliant teen who is recruited into a secret spy orgaization.

During the 50's and 60's, Le Carre worked for both MI5 and MI6--he left his first career to write full time when this book became a smash. His expertise is clear from these densely plotted, methodical books. The ending is explosive enough to make it worth the wait!

Mathieu is a leader in the French Resistance, a covert group hoping to bring down the Nazis occupying Paris. Can he help a downed English airman escape enemy territory?

Did you know Stephen King wrote high fantasy? Fans of It and The Shining should check out the Dark Tower series. The first book is named for the protagonist of the series, Roland of Gilead, a.k.a the Gunslinger. These books combine fantasy and western tropes to create a mood all their own. Librarian note: you might find that the first Dark Tower book is a little slow! Book 2 picks up a bit.

This series is an absolute classic of the genre, perfect for Lord of the Rings fans. The 14 book series follows hero Rand and allies, as they fight against dark forces and political machinations. This series has everything: prophecies, magic, good vs. evil, enchanted forests, battles, shape-shifting...read it before the Amazon TV adaptation is released!

The first book in the Kingkiller Chronicle is a high fantasy coming-of-age story, all about Kvothe a legendary wizard. He tells the story of his life, how he came into his magic power and later became an infamous fugitive. This series is still in progress, read the first one now and join the many Rothfuss fans waiting impatiently for a third book.

The Old Kingdom book series, eerie and unforgettable, is still wonderfully unique decades after it was written. In these books, Death is a place, and Neuromancers can raise the dead to do their bidding Sabriel's father is an Abhorsen, tasked with putting the dead to rest, until he disappears beyond the Seventh Gate. Sabriel must follow in her father's footsteps and continue the fight against the Neuromancer who would destroy the living world.

Fans of Six of Crows should check out the Shadow and Bone trilogy, set in Ravka, a kingdom what is unfortunately surrounded by the Shadow Fold, a terrible dark wilderness full of people eating monsters. The heroine, Alina, has magical ability that could save the kingdom, but only if she can survive the machinations of Ravka's other magicians.

In the same way the Harry Potter series morphed slowly from a children's book to a sprawling fantasy series, the Queen's Thief series develops a complicated, rich world. These books are set in fantasy-version Ancient Greece, and the hero is the clever Eugenides, who thinks he can steal anything. In these fantastic novels, nothing is what it seems. Librarian note: these are Ms. Friedlander's favorite books!

After nuclear war destroyed the Earth, humanity has lived in space. One hundred juvenile delinquents are sent back to Earth to see if it can be colonized. Their overlords don't care if they ever come back...will the 100 be able to live on a very inhospitable Earth?

There are only a few hundred people left after rampant depopulation. Griz has siblings but no neighbors, no friends. He's only met a handful of people in his whole life. When his beloved dog Jess is stolen, Griz must leave all he knows to get her back.

In Juliana Baggott's exciting book series, the apocalypse has come and gone. The Pure were rich enough to hide from the fallout in the exclusive Dome. The rest of the population live amid the radioactive rubble, barely scraping by. Many people were left permanently scarred by the blast. When a wretch from the outside named Pressia meets a Pure named Partridge, the world just might change for good.

In the first book of Michael Grant's long-running series, all the adults in the whole world disappear. The young are left to fend for themselves in a frightening new world, wondering if they too will disappear someday.

This book is a rip-roaring revenge adventure. Edmond Dantes is falsely accused of treason and thrown in prison--will he escape and wreak havoc on his enemies? Read to find out!

Charlotte Bronte's coming-of-age novel has everything: ghosts, arson, mistaken identity, and a surprise inheritance. Jane Eyre is one of the best written characters in all of English literature: her inner monologues have been quoted for hundreds of years.

At the end of the preface to Dorian Gray, Wilde wrote, "All art is quite useless". The rest of the book is equally devil-may-care and witty.