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Most Popular Books at Smith

These are the novels at Smith that have been checked out the most in the past five years. See what others are reading, and what you’ve been missing!

Airframe / Michael Crichton

Following a series of plane crashes and passenger deaths a frenzied high pressure investigation is ordered with some surprising results.

All-American Girl / Meg Cabot

Sophomore Samantha Madison stops a presidential assassination attempt, is appointed teen ambassador to the United Nations, and catches the eye of the very cute First Son.

The Amber Spyglass / Philip Pullman

Lyra and Will find themselves at the center of a battle between the forces of the Authority and those gathered by Lyra's father, Lord Asriel.

Angus, Thongs and Full-frontal Snogging / Louise Rennison

Presents the humorous journal of a year in the life of a fourteen-year-old British girl who tries to reduce the size of her nose, stop her mad cat from terrorizing the neighborhood animals, and win the love of handsome hunk Robbie.

The Awakening, and selected stories / Kate Chopin

A reprint of the 1899 novel about Edna Pontellier, a Victorian-era wife and mother who is awakened to the full force of her desire for love and freedom when she becomes enamored with Robert LeBrun, a young man she meets while on vacation.

Baby / Patricia MacLachlan

Taking care of a baby left with them at the end of the tourist season helps a family come to terms with the death of their own infant son.

Bad / Jean Ferris

In an attempt to please her boyfriend, sixteen-year-old Dallas goes along with a plan to rob a convenience store, and when her father refuses the judge's offer to let her come home on probation, she is sentenced to six months in the Girls' Rehabilitation Center.

Baseball in April and other stories / Gary Soto

A collection of eleven short stories focusing on the everyday adventures of Hispanic young people growing up in Fresno, California.

Be Still My Heart / Patricia Hermes

Despite the assurances of her best friend, Leslie, fifteen-year-old Allison is convinced that she is too ordinary and unattractive to be special to anyone, especially when the boy she likes most of all suddenly becomes involved with Leslie.

Begging for Change / Sharon G. Flake

African-American teenager Raspberry Hill, off the streets after years of homelessness with her mother, inexplicably steals money from one of her best friends and wonders if she is no different than her recently returned, drug-addicted, thieving father.

Beloved: a novel / Toni Morrison

Sethe, an escaped slave who now lives in post-Civil War Ohio, has borne the unthinkable and works hard at "beating back the past." She struggles to keep Beloved, an intruder, from gaining possession of her present while throwing off the legacy of her past.

Boys Lie: A Novel / John Neufeld

Eighth-grader Gina Smith is targeted as easy by some boys in her new school because of her physical development and because of an incident in her past in which she was assaulted in a public swimming pool.

Buried Onions / Gary Soto

When nineteen-year-old Eddie drops out of college, he struggles to find a place for himself as a Mexican American living in a violence-infested neighborhood of Fresno, California.

A Candidate for Murder / Joan Lowery Nixon

Cary finds her life in danger when she uncovers a plot to sabotage her father's political campaign for governor of Texas.

Carrie / King, Stephen

Presents the unnerving story of a terribly ostracized young girl with supernatural powers of telekinesis.

A Clockwork Orange / Anthony Burgess

A violent teen named Alex is "rehabilitated" by the government in this satirical view of the future of the industrialized world; also includes a glossary of the novel's Russian-based "nadsat" language.

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen / Dyan Sheldon

In her first year at a suburban New Jersey high school, Mary Elizabeth Cep, who now calls herself "Lola," sets her sights on the lead in the annual drama production, and finds herself in conflict with the most popular girl in school.

Crush / Ellen Conford

A series of nine romantic episodes in the lives of B.J. and other students at Cutter's Forge High as they plan for the Valentine's Day Sweetheart Stomp.

Cujo / Stephen King

Cujo, a two-hundred-pound Saint Bernard, becomes infected with rabies and kills four people in Maine.

Cut / Patricia McCormick

While confined to a mental hospital, thirteen-year-old Callie slowly comes to understand some of the reasons behind her self-mutilation, and gradually starts to get better.

Cycle of the Werewolf / Stephen King

Each time the full moon shines on the isolated Maine town of Tarker Mills, a scene of horror comes upon the people. No one knows who will be the next to die.

The Dark Half / Stephen King

With a bit of guilt, Thad retires George Stark, his pseudonym, only to have him appear as a killing machine that destroys everyone on the path that leads to the man who created him.

Dead Girls Don’t Write Letters / Gail Giles

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.

The Fellowship of the Ring / J.R.R. Tolkien

Frodo the hobbit and a band of warriors from the different kingdoms set out to destroy the Ring of Power before the evil Sauron grasps control.

The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon / Stephen King

Nine-year-old Trisha McFarland, lost in the woods after she wanders off to escape the bickering between her mom and her brother, boosts her courage by imagining that her hero, Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Tom Gordon, is with her, helping her survive an unknown enemy.

Girl with a Pearl Earring / Tracy Chevalier

Imagines the young woman in Johannes Vermeer's mysterious painting "The Girl With a Pearl Earring" as a sixteen-year-old Dutch girl named Griet who sparks the interest of the artist when she becomes a maid in his turbulent household.

Girls in Love / Jackqueline Wilson

Ellie, a normal, ordinary girl, starts ninth grade with high hopes of keeping her best friends, staying on a diet, becoming more glamorous, and getting a boyfriend.

The Giver / Lois Lowry

Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives.

Go Ask Alice / Anonymous

Based on the diary of a fifteen-year-old drug user chronicling her struggle to escape the pull of the drug world.

Go Tell It on the Mountain / James Baldwin

Describes a day in the life of several members of a Harlem fundamentalist church. The saga of three generations of people is related through flashbacks.

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch / Gaiman

According to Agnes Nutter, Armageddon will happen next Saturday. This presents a problem for Crowley, a demon, and his old friend, Aziraphale, an angel. They both like it here, so they have to stop it from happening.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets / J.K. Rowling

Sequel to: Harry Potter and the sorcerer's stone. When the Chamber of Secrets is opened again at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, second-year student Harry Potter finds himself in danger from a dark power that has once more been released on the school.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire / J.K. Rowling

Sequel to: Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban. Fourteen-year-old Harry Potter joins the Weasleys at the Quidditch World Cup, then enters his fourth year at Hogwarts Academy where he is mysteriously entered in an unusual contest that challenges his wizarding skills, friendships and character, amid signs that an old enemy is growing stronger.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix / J.K. Rowling

Sequel to: Harry Potter and the goblet of fire. Harry Potter, now a fifth-year student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, struggles with a threatening teacher, problematic house elf, the dread of upcoming final exams, and haunting dreams that hint toward his mysterious past.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban / J.K. Rowling

Sequel to: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. During his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry Potter must confront the devious and dangerous wizard responsible for his parents' deaths.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone / J.K. Rowling

Sequel: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Rescued from the outrageous neglect of his aunt and uncle, a young boy with a great destiny proves his worth while attending Hogwarts School for Wizards and Witches.

Hatchet / Gary Paulsen

After a plane crash, thirteen-year-old Brian spends fifty-four days in the wilderness, learning to survive initially with only the aid of a hatchet given him by his mother, and learning also to survive his parents' divorce. Presented in large-print format.

Haunted: A Tale of the Mediator / Meg Cabot

Sixteen-year-old Susannah Simon is a mediator, one who communicates with the dead, and she also happens to be in love with Jesse, a nineteenth-century ghost.

The Haunting / Joan Lowery Nixon

Lia seeks to rid the old plantation house in the Louisiana countryside of the evil that haunts it after her mother inherits it.

Hawksong / Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Sequel: Snakecharm. In a land that has been at war so long that no one remembers the reason for fighting, the shapeshifters who rule the two factions agree to marry in the hope of bringing peace, despite deep-seated fear and distrust of each other.

The Hobbit, or, There and Back Again / J.R.R. Tolkien

The adventures of the well-to-do hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, who lived happily in his comfortable home until a wandering wizard granted his wish.

Holes / Louis Sachar

As further evidence of his family's bad fortune which they attribute to a curse on a distant relative, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself.

The House on Mango Street / Sandra Cisneros

A young girl living in a Hispanic neighborhood in Chicago ponders the advantages and disadvantages of her environment and evaluates her relationships with family and friends.

The Hunt for Red October / Tom Clancy

The Soviets' new ballistic-missile submarine is attempting to defect to the United States, but the Soviet Atlantic fleet has been ordered to find and destroy her at all costs. Can Red October reach the U.S. safely?

Invisible Man / Ralph Ellison

In the course of his wanderings from a Southern college to New York's Harlem, an African-American man becomes involved in a series of adventures.

It / Stephen King

In 1985, six men and one woman are called back to Derry, Maine search for a creature of unspeakable evil that had stalked them as children.

The Land / Mildred D. Taylor

Prequel to: Roll of thunder, hear my cry. Paul-Edward, the son of a part-Indian, part-African slave mother and a White plantation owner father, finds himself caught between the two worlds of his parents as he pursues his dream of owning land in the aftermath of the Civil War.

Life in the Fat Lane / Cherie Bennett

Sixteen-year-old Lara, winner of beauty pageants and Homecoming Queen, is distressed and bewildered when she starts packing on pounds and becomes overweight.

Locked in Time / Lois Duncan

Nore arrives at her stepmother's Louisiana plantation to find her new family odd, and an aura of evil and mystery about the place.

Love and Other Four-Letter Words / Carolyn Mackler

When she and her mother move to an apartment in New York City after her parents decide on a trial separation, sixteen-year-old Sammie learns to deal with her mother's fragile mental state, her best friend's self-centeredness, several new friendships, and her own budding sexuality.

I Love You, Stupid! / Harry Mazer

High school senior Marcus Rosenbloom decides to cross the wall that divides childhood from adulthood, but finds it's not the simple matter he thought it would be.

The Luckiest Girl in the World / Steven Levenkron

Figure-skating star Katie Roskova, unable to express her feelings of panic and anger, develops a habit of cutting herself with scissors and hiding her scars beneath long-sleeve shirts, but as pressures mount her wounds become more serious and soon her secret is revealed.

Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror / Steve Alten

Terror surfaces from the deep after ocean explorers run afoul of a male and female Carcharodon megalodon--a gigantic ancestor of the great white shark long believed to be extinct--alive and well off the coast of Japan.

The Member of the Wedding / Carson McCullers

Frankie Addams, a motherless twelve-year-old raised by her father and the family's African-American cook, struggles with conflicting feelings about her brother's upcoming wedding.

Midnight Predator / Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Turquoise Draka's latest assignment, to assassinate Jeshikah, one of the cruelest vampires in history, proves to be the greatest challenge of her life when she is forced to enter the fabled Vampire realm as a human slave.

Misery / Stephen King

A bestselling author is held captive in a wheelchair, made drug-dependent, and locked in his room by an angry nurse who demands he bring her favorite character back to life.

My Life as a Girl / Elizabeth Mosier

During her last summer in Phoenix, Arizona, before going to an eastern college, eighteen-year-old Jaime works two waitress jobs and plans her escape from a life forever changed by her father's prison sentence.

On the Bright Side, I’m Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God / Louise Rennison

Sequel to: Angus, thongs, and full-frontal snogging. Fourteen-year-old Georgia continues her diary in which she records her misadventures trying to reclaim the attention of seventeen-year-old Robbie, while coping with her friends, family, and dog-like cat Angus at the same time.

One Hundred Years of Solitude / Gabriel Garc*ia M*arquez

The rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo as told through the history of the Buendia family.

The Outsiders / S.E. Hinton

Rivalry between rich and poor gangs in 1960s Oklahoma leads to the deaths of three teenagers and intense soul-searching for one of the youths involved, a sensitive fourteen-year-old writer named Ponyboy.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower / Stephen Chbosky

Charlie, a freshman in high school, explores the dilemmas of growing up through a collection of letters he sends to an unknown receiver.

Pet Sematary / Stephen King

A horror story of a children's pet cemetery and another graveyard behind it from which the dead return.

The Princess Diaries / Meg Cabot

Fourteen-year-old Mia, who is trying to lead a normal life as a teenage girl in New York City, is shocked to learn that her father is the Prince of Genovia, a small European principality, and that she is a princess and the heir to the throne.

Princess in the Spotlight / Meg Cabot

Mia, the fourteen-year-old New York City-raised heir to the throne of the tiny European country of Genovia, manages to alienate her best friend, her family, and her soon-to-be-subjects in the space of one national primetime interview.

Raptor Red / Robert T. Bakker

When a raptor in prehistoric Utah loses her mate, she struggles for survival with her sister's clan and searches for a new mate.

The Return of the King / J.R.R. Tolkien

As the Shadow of Mordor grows, the companions find their way through danger and mystery as they defeat the Dark Lord and celebrate Aragorn's ascent to become King of the West. Includes appendices containing genealogical and historical information that form the background of the story.

Salem’s Lot / Stephen King

A stranger with an evil secret harms the lives of many inhabitants of a small New England town.

Scorpions / Walter Dean Myers

After reluctantly taking on the leadership of the Harlem gang, the Scorpions, Jamal finds that his enemies treat him with respect when he acquires a gun--until a tragedy occurs.

The Second Summer of the Sisterhood / Ann Brashares

A sequel to "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" in which the four girls, now sixteen, embark on another summer of travels and life lessons charmed by a shared pair of seemingly magical thrift-store jeans.

Shattered Mirror / Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

As seventeen-year-old Sarah, daughter of a powerful line of vampire-hunting witches, continues to pursue the ancient bloodsucker Nikolas, she finds herself in a dangerous friendship with two vampire siblings in her high school.

The Shining / Stephen King

For the Torrance family, the Overlook Hotel is a place where horrors come to life and where those who have the shining battle evil.

The Silmarillion / J.R.R. Tolkien

Presents the history of the rebellion of Feanor, most gifted of the Elves, against the gods, his exile from Valinor, and return to Middle-earth.

The Silver Kiss / Annette Curtis Klause

A mysterious teenage boy harboring a dark secret helps Zoe come to terms with her mother's terminal illness.

Sole Survivor / Dean Koontz

A year after crime reporter Joe Carpenter's wife and two young daughters are killed in a plane crash in which there are reportedly no survivors, he meets a mysterious woman named Rose who claims to have walked away from the disaster and he embarks on a mission fueled by rage and hope.

Someone to Love / Francess Lantz

Although at odds with her parents over their decision to adopt a baby, fifteen-year-old Sarah finds herself drawn to the birth mother, who is having second thoughts about giving up her child.

Someone to Love Me / Jeannette Eyerly

Cindy Gibson, an African-American teenager struggling with her mother's neglect and her mother's boyfriend's emotional abuse, must find strength she did not know she had when the boy she thought would be her savior begins beating her.

Song of Solomon / Toni Morrison

Follows the life of Macon Dead, Jr., the son of the richest black family in a midwestern town, as he leaves home on a quest for personal freedom.

Speak / Laurie Halse Anderson

A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect on Melinda's freshman year in high school.

Sula / Toni Morrison

Sula Peace and Nel Wright share not only an intimate friendship, but an unspoken secret. Sula leaves Medallion for ten years and when she dies three years after her return, Nel is her only mourner.

The Toilet Paper Tigers / Gordon Korman

When his Little League team gets a coach who knows nothing about baseball, seventh grader Corey is dismayed to see the team taken over by the coach's pushy twelve-year-old granddaughter.

A Walk to Remember / Nicholas Sparks

When a twist of fate makes Jamie Sullivan his date at the homecoming dance, Landon Carter never dreamed they would fall in love, but as he comes to realize his true feelings for Jamie, he learns of a terrible secret that will take his love away from him forever.

The Watcher / James Howe

As she sits watching a seemingly perfect family and a handsome lifeguard on the beach, a lonely, troubled girl projects herself into the fantasy lives she has created for them.

The Weekend Was Murder! / Joan Lowery Nixon

Sixteen-year-old Liz's summer job with an expensive hotel involves her in a staged murder mystery weekend and a real murder.

What Girls Learn / Karin Cook

Tilden and her younger sister Elizabeth are uprooted again when their ever optimistic, romantic mother Frances moves them north to live with Nick, the owner of a limousine service, but everything seems to be going just fine until Frances discovers a lump in her breast.

Where Are the Children? / Mary Higgins Clark

Nancy had fled from the evil of her first marriage, the macabre deaths of her two little children, and the charges against her. Now she had a new family-until the morning she could not find her children.

Where the Heart Is / Billie Letts

Novalee Nation, seventeen, pregnant, and living in a Wal-Mart store discovers friendship, encouragement, direction and love with a group of caring people in Sequoyah, Oklahoma.

Who Killed Mr. Chippendale? / Mel Glenn

A murder mystery told in free verse poems, describing the reactions of students, colleagues, and others when high school teacher Mr. Chippendale, loved by some, hated by others, is shot as the school day begins.