Imagine...

Imagine that, in the middle of the night, word comes that the enemy army is a few miles down the road and you must flee in the night, after burning your crops and slaughtering your animals so the army will not benefit from destroying your home. Imagine that you are an army doctor who spends most of your time amputating the shattered limbs of the young soldiers. Imagine that you are a soldier without a real allegiance to either side of the war but with a huge drive to stay alive. Imagine that you are a freed slave with the snow white skin of your father. Imagine that, because of this civil war, you are now homeless and the only place you seem to belong is tagging along behind the marauding union army under the leadership of General Sherman. Imagine one of the darkest chapters of the American Civil War as seen through the eyes of characters trying to survive "the March" by E.L. Doctorow.

And you thought your high school was strange!

Cody Elliot managed to fail every course at his new high school...even study hall! His father is furious and decides to transfer Cory to one of two schools. His choices are (1) Our Lady of Perpetual Homework or (2) the ultra fancy looking Vlad Dracul High School. Now, granted, Vlad Dracul's mascot is a live wolf and all the students are pale and wear black. But if you were making the choice, you'd pick it too...who wants perpetual homework? See what happens when an ordinary boy enrolls at "Vampire High" (by Douglas Rees).

Have you ever made a big mistake?

Samantha Sweeting, type A personality and a lawyer on a fast track to being a partner, makes a gigantic, career-wrecking mistake. She is so horrified that she wanders around London for hours and then randomly hops on a bus "out of town." She ends up way out in the country and stops at a rather grand estate to ask for a phone. The next thing she knows, Samantha has a new job...as a housekeeper. Will this overstressed lawyer find happiness in the country? Will she ever learn how to cook or clean or make a bed? Because, you see, Samantha is truly "The Undomestic Goddess" (by Sophie Kinsella, author of "Shopaholic" series).