Quick Poll

This poll is for all students in all periods. Thanks for the help.

The GBS summer book committee would like some feedback. Read the following book summaries and indicate which you'd most like to read using the poll menu to the right of this page. Thanks for your time.


My Fair Godmother by Jeannette Rallison
Savannah Delano is NOT stupid. She just finds a lot of school subjects irrelevant to everyday life. So why did her boyfriend just break up with her to date her older sister? Enter Chrissy Everstar, her airheaded boy-elf chasing “fair godmother.” Now, Savannah spits toads when she lies, ends up stuck in two fairytales that are NOTHING like the movie versions, and accidentally wishes Tristan (her potential prom date) to the Middle Ages. When Savannah returns to the Middle Ages to save Tristan, she must team up with Chrissy to defeat a troll, a dragon, and the mysterious and undeniably sexy Black Knight.

Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
Ishmael Beah was a typical precocious 12-year-old growing up in Sierra Lone. But rebel forces destroyed his childhood innocence when they hit his village, driving him to leave his home and travel the arid deserts and jungles of Africa. After several months of struggle, he was recruited by the national army, made a full soldier and learned to shoot an AK-47, and hated everyone who came up against the rebels. This gripping story by a children's-rights advocate recounts his experiences as a boy growing up in Sierra Leone in the 1990s, during one of the most brutal and violent civil wars in recent history.

Aimee by Mary Beth Miller
This nameless teenager must not see her close friends again, she is forced to transfer to a new school, and she must attend psychiatric counseling sessions. Why? Because her best friend, Aimee, is dead. Although readers do not get the answers to their questions about how this tragic death occurred until the conclusion of the story, they will be consumed by the narrator's fixation with the end of everything. She wonders aloud what it must feel like to let all fall away and to end life's struggles.

Deadline by Chris Crutcher
Just before his senior year, Ben Wolf is diagnosed with a rare, incurable leukemia. At 18, he has the legal right to keep the news to himself until he's ready to reveal it. With only his doctor and therapist in on his secret, Ben sets out to live an entire lifetime in a year: There are insects that pack it all into a day, he reasons. His goals are to join his brother on the football team; learn everything he can; and ask out gorgeous Dallas Suzuki.

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
In medical school, Paul Farmer found his life’s calling: to cure infectious diseases and to bring the life saving tools of modern medicine to those who need them the most. While studying at Harvard, Paul cannot ignore the impoverished people of Haiti that have captivated his mind and his heart. With much sacrifice, Paul dedicates his time, medical talents and resources to Haiti. This book is the example of a life based on hope and on understanding of the truth in the Haitian proverb, “Mountains beyond mountains” – as you solve one problem, another problem presents itself, and so you go on to solve that one too.

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Miranda's disbelief turns to fear in a split second when an asteroid knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they fight to survive.