Thin Books in the M.C.S. Library

(These books are under 150 pages long or written in a format that makes them quick reads)

Listed by Author’s last name

Fic Avi, 1937-.

Avi Nothing but the truth : a documentary novel by Avi. -- New York :

Avon Books, 1993, c1991.

212 p.

"An Avon flare book.".

A ninth-grader's suspension for singing "The Star-Spangled Banner"

during homeroom becomes a national news story.

ISBN: 038071907X (pbk.)

Fic Avi, 1937-.

Avi Something upstairs : a tale of ghosts by Avi. -- New York : Avon

Books, c1988.

120 p. ; 19 cm.

"A Richard Jackson book"--Half title.

When he moves from Los Angeles to Providence, Rhode Island,

Kenny discovers that his new house is haunted by the spirit of a

black slave boy who asks Kenny to return with him to the early

nineteenth century and prevent his murder by slave traders.

Fic Bach, Richard.

Bac Jonathan Livingston Seagull photographs by Russell Munson. --

[New York ] : Macmillan, [1970].

93 p. : illus. ; 22 cm.

Because he spends so much time perfecting his flying form instead

of concentrating on getting food, a seagull is ostracized by the rest

of the flock.

Fic Bruchac, Joseph.

Bru Skeleton man Joseph Bruchac. -- New York : HarperCollins

Publishers, Scholastic, 2001.

114 p. ; 20 cm.

After her parents disappear and she is turned over to the care of a

strange "great-uncle," Molly must rely on her dreams about an old

Mohawk story for her safety and maybe even for her life.

Fic Bunting, Eve, 1928-.

Bun Doll baby by Eve Bunting ; illustrated by Catherine Stock. -- New

York : Clarion Books, c2000.

47 p. : col. ill. ; 21 cm.

A fifteen-year-old girl who is pregnant decides she wants to keep her

baby, not realizing how much harder it will be than caring for her

beloved Daisy Doll.

4.6.

Fic Cooney, Caroline B.

Coo The face on the milk carton. -- New York : Bantam Doubleday Dell

Books For Young Readers, 1994, c1990.

p. ; 18 cm.

A photograph of a missing girl on a milk carton leads Janie on a

search for her real identity.

Fic Cooney, Caroline B.

Coo The terrorist by Caroline B. Cooney. -- New York : Scholastic,

c1997.

198 p. ; 22 cm.

Sixteen-year-old Laura, an American living in London, tries to find

the person responsible for the death of her younger brother Billy,

who has been killed by a terrorist bomb.

Fic Cormier, Robert.

Cor Heroes : a novel by Robert Cormier. -- New York : Delacorte Press,

1998.

135 p. ; 22 cm.

After joining the army at fifteen and having his face blown away by a

grenade in a battle in France, Francis returns home to Frenchtown

hoping to find--and kill--the former childhood hero he feels betrayed

him.

Fic Crutcher, Chris.

Cru Running loose by Chris Crutcher. -- New York : Dell Pub. Co., 1986,

c1983.

190 p.

Louie, a high school senior in a small Idaho town, learns about

sportsmanship, love, and death as he matures into manhood.

Fic Duncan, Lois.

Dun I know what you did last summer. -- New York : Pocket Books, 1975,

c1973.

198 p. ; 19 cm.

Four teen-agers who have desperately tried to conceal their

responsibility for a hit-and-run accident are pursued by a mystery

figure seeking revenge.

Fic Ferris, Jean, 1939-.

Fer Invincible summer Jean Ferris. -- Aerial ed. -- [New York, N.Y.] :

Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1994.

167 p. ; 18 cm. (Aerial fiction)

Seventeen-year-old Robin, in treatment for leukemia, falls in love

with a boy who also has the disease, and together they attempt to

survive their ordeal.

Young Adult

904 Fulghum, Hunter S. (Hunter Samuel)

Ful Don't try this at home : how to win a sumo match, catch a great white

shark, and start an independent nation and other extraordinary feats

(for ordinary people) Hunter S. Fulghum. -- 1st ed. -- New York :

Broadway Books, 2002.

xvii, 264 p. : ill., maps ; 20 cm.

Presents step-by-step instructions for over thirty diverse

activities--many heroic and many questionable--including winning a

bullfight, breaking into Buckingham Palace, and defusing a human

bomb.

Fic Giles, Gail.

Gil Dead girls don't write letters Gail Giles. -- 1st ed. -- Brookfield,

Conn. : Roaring Brook Press, c2003.

136 p. ; 22 cm.

Fourteen-year-old Sunny is stunned when a total stranger shows up

at her house posing as her older sister Jazz, who supposedly died

in a fire months earlier.

Young Adult

081 Gregory, Leland.

Gre Hey idiot! : chronicles of human stupidity Leland Gregory. -- Kansas

City, Mo. : Andrews McMeel, c2003.

249 p. ; 18 cm.

A collection of more than two hundred true stories about incredible

acts of human stupidity.

Young Adult

Fic Hinton, S. E.

Hin The outsiders. -- New Laurel-Leaf ed. -- New York : Dell, n.d.

p. ; 18 cm.

The struggle of three brothers to stay together after their parent's

death and their quest for identity among the conflicting values of

their adolescent society.

Fic Holman, Felice.

Hol Slake's limbo Felice Holman. -- 1st Aladdin ed. -- New York : Aladdin

Books, 1986, c1974.

117 p. ; 19 cm.

Thirteen-year-old Aremis Slake, hounded by his fears and

misfortunes, flees them into New York City's subway tunnels, never

again--he believes--to emerge.

Fic Johnson, Angela, 1961-.

Joh The first part last Angela Johnson. -- 1st ed. -- New York : Simon &

Schuster Books for Young Readers, c2003.

131 p. ; 20 cm.

Bobby's carefree teenage life changes forever when he becomes a

father and must care for his adored baby daughter.

Young Adult

Fic Klause, Annette Curtis.

Kla The silver kiss. -- New York : Dell Pub., 1992, c1990.

p.

"Laurel-leaf books.".

A mysterious teenage boy harboring a dark secret helps Zoë come

to terms with her mother's terminal illness.

Fic Lipsyte, Robert.

Lip The contender. -- New York : Harper & Row, [1967]

167 p ; 18 cm.

A Harlem high school dropout escapes from a gang of punks into a

boxing gym, where he learns that being a contender is hard and

often discouraging work, but that you don't know anything until you

try.

Fic Matcheck, Diane.

Mat The sacrifice by Diane Matcheck. -- New York : Farrar Straus

Giroux, 1998.

197 p. ; 22 cm.

When her father's death leaves her orphaned and an outcast among

her Apsaalooka (Crow) people, a fifteen-year-old sets out to avenge

his death and prove that she, not her dead twin brother, is destined

to be the Great One.

9-12

Fic Myers, Walter Dean.

Mye Motown and Didi. -- 1st ed. -- New York : Viking Kestrel, 1984.

p. ; 22 cm.

Motown and Didi, two teenage loners in Harlem, become allies in a

fight against Touchy, the drug dealer whose dope is destroying

Didi's brother, and find themselves falling in love with each other.

Fic Myracle, Lauren.

Myr Ttyl Lauren Myracle. -- New York : Amulet Books, 2004.

p. cm.

Chronicles, in "instant message" format, the day-to-day

experiences, feelings, and plans of three friends, Zoe, Maddie, and

Angela, as they begin tenth grade.

J O'Dell, Scott, 1898-1989.

Fic The black pearl Scott O'Dell. -- New York : Bantam Doubleday Dell

ODe Books for Young Readers, 1977, c1967.

96 p. ; 18 cm.

"Laurel-leaf books.".

In claiming as his own the magnificent black pearl he finds, a

sixteen-year-old youth enrages the sea devil whom legend says is

its' owner.

Fic O'Dell, Scott,

O'D Sing down the moon Scott O'Dell. -- Laurel-Leaf edition. -- New York

: Dell, 1978, c1970.

137 p. ; 20 cm.

A young Navaho girl recounts the events of 1864 when her tribe was

forced to march to Fort Sumner as prisoners of the white soldiers.

ISBN: 0440979757

Fic Paulsen, Gary.

Pau Hatchet. -- New York, N.Y., U.S.A. : Viking Penguin, 1988, c1987.

p. ; 20 cm.

"Puffin books.".

After a plane crash, thirteen-year-old Brian spends fifty-four days in

the wilderness, learning to survive with only the aid of a hatchet

given him by his mother, and learning also to survive his parents'

divorce.

Fic Peck, Robert Newton.

Pec A day no pigs would die by Robert Newton Peck. -- [1st ed.]. -- New

York : Knopf, 1982, c1972.

150 p.

To a thirteen-year-old Vermont farm boy whose father slaughters

pigs for a living, maturity comes early as he learns "doing what's

got to be done," especially regarding his pet pig who cannot

produce a litter.

ISBN: 0394482352

Fathers and sons - Fiction.

Farm life - Vermont - Fiction.

Pigs - Fiction.

LCCN: 72000259AC r76

Fic Pec 6214 Available

Fic Peck, Richard,

Pec The last safe place on earth. -- New York : Bantam Doubleday Dell

Books for Young Readers, 1996, c1995.

161 p. ; 18 cm.

Fifteen-year-old Todd sees his perfect suburban world start to

unravel when his little sister has her mind poisoned by a member of

a fundamentalist sect and he begins to notice signs of censorship in

his community.

Fic Peck, Richard,

Pec A year down yonder Richard Peck. -- New York : Dial Books for

Young Readers, 2000.

130 p. ; 22 cm.

Sequel to: A long way from Chicago.

In 1937, during the Depression, fifteen-year-old Mary Alice, initially

apprehensive about leaving Chicago to spend a year with her

fearsome, larger-than-life grandmother in rural Illinois, gradually

begins to better understand and admire her grandmother's unusual

qualities.

Fic Peel, John.

Pee The zanti misfits. -- ed. -- New York : Tom Doherty Associates, Inc.,

1997.

p. ; cm. (The outer limits ; - 1)

Welcome to reform school...alien stlye The Zanti have landed. But

who- or what- are these creatures? The rulers of the planet Zanti

have found a solution to the problem of what to do with the

undesireable misfits and dangerous malcontents who threaten their

perfectly ordered society- exile them to earth! The leaders on Earth

are powerless to object. The Zanti are far superior to us. All our

scientific and military leaders can do is monitor the arrival of the

Zanti misfits and wait. And wonder...why Earth? Teenagers Ben

Garth and Lisa Lawrence are about to find out. They're outcasts,

too. Now they're on the run...and heades towards a terrifying

showdown with the Zanti Misfits.

Fic Philbrick, Rodman.

Phi Max the mighty. -- New York : Scholastic, c1998.

166 p ; cm.

Max defends a young girl named "worm" because she loves to read

and gets blamed for a horrific crime. They must flee across America

from the police and a mysterious man known as the Undertaker.

Fic Rylant, Cynthia.

Ryl God went to beauty school by Cynthia Rylant. -- 1st ed. -- New York

: HarperTempest, c2003.

56 p. ; 20 cm.

A novel in poems that reveal God's discovery of the wonders and

pains in the world he has created.

Young Adult

Fic Segal, Erich.

Seg Love story. -- [1st ed.]. -- New York : Harper & Row, [1970].

131 p. ; 22 cm.

A bittersweet contemporary love story chronicles the romance and

marriage of Oliver Barrett, IV, a wealthy Harvard ice hockey player

from a stuffy aristocratic family, and Jenny Cavilleri, a poor

Radcliffe music student from a working class background.

Fic Smelcer, John E., 1963-.

Sme The trap John Smelcer. -- 1st ed. -- New York : Henry Holt and Co.,

c2006.

170 p. ; 20 cm.

In alternating chapters, seventeen-year-old Johnny Least-Weasel,

who is better known for brains than brawn, worries about his

missing grandfather, and the grandfather, Albert Least-Weasel,

struggles to survive, caught in his own steel trap in the Alaskan

winter.

6-9.

Fic Sones, Sonya.

Son Stop pretending : what happened when my big sister went crazy by

Sonya Sones. -- New York : HarperCollins Publishers, 1999.

128 p.

A younger sister has a difficult time adjusting to life after her older

sister has a mental breakdown.

9-12

Fic Steiber, Ellen,

Ste Eve : The X-files novelization by Ellen Steiber. -- Columbus, OH :

Atlas Editions, 1997.

unpaged :

created by Chris Carter, based on the teleplay by Kenneth Biller and

Chris Brancato.

Two identical murders, one on the East coast and one on the West.

Two identical little girls may or may not be involved. Are the mirror

murders a coincidence?.

J Steiber, Ellen, 1955-.

Fic Empathy : the X-files. -- New York : HarperTrophy, c1997.

Ste p ; cm. (The X-files ; - #5.)

"Based on the television series The X-Files created by Chris Carter ;

based on the teleplay written by Charles Grant Craig.".

813 Steinbeck, John, 1902- 1968.

Ste Of mice and men. -- New York : Penguin, c1937.

105 p ; 21 cm.

Fic Stine, R. L.

Sti Fear games R.L. Stine. -- 1st Avon ed. -- New York : Avon, 2001.

145 p. : ill. ; 20 cm.

"Parachute Press.".

Twelve students play a deadly game of survival on an island

against an evil presence.

6.1.

J Taylor, Theodore, 1922-.

Fic The cay. -- New York : Avon, c1969.

Tay 144 p.

When the freighter on which they are traveling is torpedoed by a

German submarine during World War II, a twelve-year-old white

boy, blinded by a blow on the head, and an old Negro are stranded

on a small desert island in the Caribbean where the boy acquires a

new kind of vision, courage, and love from his old companion.

Fic Wallace, Rich.

Wal Wrestling Sturbridge Rich Wallace. -- 1st Knopf paperback ed. --

New York : Knopf : 1997.

133 p. ; 18 cm.

Stuck in a small town where no one ever leaves and relegated by

his wrestling coach to sit on the bench while his best friend

becomes state champion, Ben decides he can't let his last high

school wrestling season slip by without challenging his friend and

the future.

Young Adult

Fic Wisler, G. Clifton.

WIS Mustang Flats G. Clifton Wisler. -- 1st ed. -- New York : Lodestar

Books, c1997.

116 p. ; 22 cm.

When his father returns from the war in 1865, fourteen-year-old Alby

finds his beloved Pa a changed man and can only hope that they

will be friends again.

4.8.

Fic Zindel, Paul.

Zin The pigman. -- New York : Bantam, c1968.

158 p.

A teenage boy and girl, high school sophomores from unhappy

homes, tell of their bizarre relationship with an old man.

ISBN: 0881030414

SC

Rea Read if you dare : twelve twisted tales from the editors of Read

magazine -- Connecticut : The Millbrook Press Inc, c1997.

158 p : 19 cm.

Includes: Battleground-- Deadline-- Night Burial-- Reverse

insomnia-- The right kind of house-- The ruum-- Skater-- Snow

cancellations--.

Updated October 18, 2007