Miss Woolsey’s Annotated Guide

To Classic and Contemporary Literature

2018 –
Contents
Ahdieh, Renée ............................................................................................................................................... 4
“The Wrath and the Dawn” ...................................................................................................................... 4
Austen, Jane .................................................................................................................................................. 4
“Northanger Abbey” ................................................................................................................................. 4
Beowulf ......................................................................................................................................................... 4
Booth, Molly.................................................................................................................................................. 4
“Nothing Happened” ................................................................................................................................ 4
Brontё, Charlotte .......................................................................................................................................... 5
“Jane Eyre” ................................................................................................................................................ 5
Burton, Francis .............................................................................................................................................. 5
“One Thousand and One Nights” .............................................................................................................. 5
Cavallaro, Brittany......................................................................................................................................... 5
“A Study in Charlotte” ............................................................................................................................... 5
Collins, Suzanne ............................................................................................................................................ 6
“The Hunger Games” ................................................................................................................................ 6
Connell, Richard ............................................................................................................................................ 6
“The Most Dangerous Game” ................................................................................................................... 6
Donne, Alexa ................................................................................................................................................. 6
“Brightly Burning” ..................................................................................................................................... 7
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan ................................................................................................................................ 7
“The Hound of the Baskervilles” ............................................................................................................... 7
Gaiman, Neil.................................................................................................................................................. 7
“The Graveyard Book” .............................................................................................................................. 7
Green, John ................................................................................................................................................... 8
“The Fault in Our Stars” ............................................................................................................................ 8
Jackson, Shirley ............................................................................................................................................. 8
“The Lottery”............................................................................................................................................. 8
Kelley, Joe...................................................................................................................................................... 8
“I Kill Giants” ............................................................................................................................................. 8
Kipling, Rudyard ............................................................................................................................................ 8
“The Jungle Books” ................................................................................................................................... 8
Lee, Harper.................................................................................................................................................... 9
“To Kill A Mockingbird” ............................................................................................................................. 9
Marion, Isaac................................................................................................................................................. 9
“Warm Bodies” ......................................................................................................................................... 9
Ormsbee, Kathryn ......................................................................................................................................... 9
“Tash Hearts Tolstroy” .............................................................................................................................. 9
Rowell, Rainbow ......................................................................................................................................... 10
“Fangirl” .................................................................................................................................................. 10
Schmidt, Gary .............................................................................................................................................. 10
“The Wednesday Wars” .......................................................................................................................... 10
Shakespeare, William .................................................................................................................................. 11
“Much Ado About Nothing” .................................................................................................................... 11
“Romeo and Juliet” ................................................................................................................................. 11
“The Tempest” ........................................................................................................................................ 12
Thomas, Angie............................................................................................................................................. 12
“The Hate U Give” ................................................................................................................................... 12
Tolstoy, Leo ................................................................................................................................................. 12
“Anna Karenina” ..................................................................................................................................... 12
Ahdieh, Renée
“The Wrath and the Dawn”
Classic Pairing: “One Thousand and One Nights” – Francis Burton
“In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a
new family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each
night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come
morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad's dearest friend falls victim to Khalid,
Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad is
determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph's reign of terror once and
for all.” – Goodreads.com

Austen, Jane
“Northanger Abbey”
Contemporary Pairing: “Fangirl” – Rainbow Rowell
Catherine Morland is a young woman captivated by Gothic novels, who is
entering society at Bath. While there, she meets Henry Tilney, who invites her to
his family home of Northanger Abbey. Whilst there, Catherine’s love for the
Gothic runs wild as she explores locked doors and the mystery of the death of
Henry’s mother.

Beowulf
Contemporary Pairing: “I Kill Giants” – Joe Kelly
“The earliest extant poem in a modern European language, "Beowulf" is an epic
that reflects a feudal, newly Christian world of heroes and monsters, blood,
victory, and death.” – Goodreads.com

Booth, Molly
“Nothing Happened”
Classic Pairing: “Much Ado About Nothing” – William Shakespeare
“This modern-day retelling of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing
takes place at the idyllic Camp Dogberry, where sisters Bee and Hana Leonato
have grown up. Their parents own the place, and every summer they look forward
to leading little campers in crafts, swimming in the lake, playing games of capture
the flag and sproutball, and of course, the legendary counselor parties.
“This year, the camp drama isn’t just on the improv stage. Bee and longtime
counselor Ben have a will-they-or-won’t-they romance that’s complicated by
events that happened—or didn’t happen—last summer. Meanwhile, Hana is falling
hard for the kind but insecure Claudia, putting them both in the crosshairs of
resident troublemaker John, who spreads a vicious rumor that could tear them
apart.” – Goodreads.com

Brontё, Charlotte
“Jane Eyre”
Contemporary Pairing: “Brightly Burning” – Alexa Donne
“Orphaned as a child, Jane has felt an outcast her whole young life. Her
courage is tested once again when she arrives at Thornfield Hall, where she has
been hired by the brooding, proud Edward Rochester to care for his ward Adèle.
Jane finds herself drawn to his troubled yet kind spirit. She falls in love. But there
is a terrifying secret inside the gloomy, forbidding Thornfield Hall. Is Rochester
hiding from Jane? Will Jane be left heartbroken and exiled once again?” –
Goodreads.com

Burton, Francis
“One Thousand and One Nights”
Contemporary Pairing: “The Wrath and the Dawn” – Renée Ahdieh
“The tales of told by Shahrazad over a thousand and one nights to delay her
execution by the vengeful King Shahriyar have become among the most popular in
both Eastern and Western literature, as recounted by Sir Francis Burton. From the
epic adventures of "Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp" to the farcical "Young
Woman and her Five Lovers" and the social criticism of "The Tale of the
Hunchback", the stories depict a fabulous world of all-powerful sorcerers, jinns
imprisoned in bottles and enchanting princesses. But despite their imaginative
extravagance, the Tales are anchored to everyday life by their realism, providing a
full and intimate record of medieval Islam.” – Goodreads.com

Cavallaro, Brittany
“A Study in Charlotte”
Classic Pairing: “The Hound of the Baskervilles” – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
 “The last thing Jamie Watson wants is a rugby scholarship to Sherringford, a
Connecticut prep school just an hour away from his estranged father. But that’s not
the only complication: Sherringford is also home to Charlotte Holmes, the famous
detective’s great-great-great-granddaughter, who has inherited not only Sherlock’s
genius but also his volatile temperament. From everything Jamie has heard about
Charlotte, it seems safer to admire her from afar.

From the moment they meet, there’s a tense energy between them, and they seem
more destined to be rivals than anything else. But when a Sherringford student dies
under suspicious circumstances, ripped straight from the most terrifying of the
Sherlock Holmes stories, Jamie can no longer afford to keep his distance. Jamie
and Charlotte are being framed for murder, and only Charlotte can clear their
names. But danger is mounting and nowhere is safe—and the only people they can
trust are each other.” – Goodreads.com

Collins, Suzanne
“The Hunger Games”
Contemporary Pairing: “The Lottery” – Shirley Jackson “The Most
Dangerous Game” – Richard Connell

“The nation of Panem, formed from a post-apocalyptic North America, is a

country that consists of a wealthy Capitol region surrounded by 12 poorer districts.
Early in its history, a rebellion led by a 13th district against the Capitol resulted in
its destruction and the creation of an annual televised event known as the Hunger
Games. In punishment, and as a reminder of the power and grace of the Capitol,
each district must yield one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18
through a lottery system to participate in the games. The 'tributes' are chosen
during the annual Reaping and are forced to fight to the death, leaving only one
survivor to claim victory.” – Goodreads.com

Connell, Richard
“The Most Dangerous Game”
Contemporary Pairing: “The Hunger Games” – Suzanne Collins
“The Most Dangerous Game features a big-game hunter from New York
who becomes shipwrecked on an isolated island in the Caribbean and is hunted by
a Russian aristocrat.” – Goodreads.com
Donne, Alexa
“Brightly Burning”
Classic Pairing: “Jane Eyre” – Charlotte Brontё
“Seventeen-year-old Stella Ainsley wants just one thing: to go somewhere—
anywhere—else. Her home is a floundering spaceship that offers few prospects,
having been orbiting an ice-encased Earth for two hundred years. When a private
ship hires her as a governess, Stella jumps at the chance. The captain of
the Rochester, nineteen-year-old Hugo Fairfax, is notorious throughout the fleet for
being a moody recluse and a drunk. But with Stella he’s kind. But the Rochester
harbors secrets: Stella is certain someone is trying to kill Hugo, and the more she
discovers, the more questions she has about his role in a conspiracy threatening the
fleet.” – Goodreads.com

Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan

“The Hound of the Baskervilles”
Contemporary Pairing: “A Study in Charlotte” – Brittany Cavallaro
“The death, quite suddenly, of Sir Charles Baskerville in mysterious
circumstances is the trigger for one of the most extraordinary cases ever to
challenge the brilliant analytical mind of Sherlock Holmes. As rumours of a
legendary hound said to haunt the Baskerville family circulate, Holmes and
Watson are asked to ensure the protection of Sir Charles' only heir, Sir Henry -
who has travelled all the way from America to reside at Baskerville Hall in Devon.
And it is there, in an isolated mansion surrounded by mile after mile of wild moor,
that Holmes and Watson come face to face with a terrifying evil that reaches out
from centuries past.” – Goodreads.com

Gaiman, Neil
“The Graveyard Book”
Classic Pairing: “The Jungle Books” – Rudyard Kipling
“After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a
graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as
one of their own. Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He
would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised
and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world
of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for
a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the
man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family.” – Goodreads.com

Green, John
“The Fault in Our Stars”
Classic Pairing: “Romeo and Juliet” – William Shakespeare
“Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few
years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon
diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly
appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely
rewritten.” – Goodreads.com

Jackson, Shirley
“The Lottery”
Contemporary Pairing: “The Hunger Games” – Suzanne Collins
“Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" is a memorable and terrifying masterpiece,
fueled by a tension that creeps up on you slowly without any clear indication of
why. This is just a townful of people, after all, choosing their numbers for the
annual lottery. What's there to be scared of?” – Goodreads.com

Kelley, Joe
“I Kill Giants”
Classic Pairing: “Beowulf”
“Barbara Thorson, a girl battling monsters both real and imagined, kicks butt, takes
names, and faces her greatest fear in this bittersweet, coming-of-age story called
"Best Indy Book of 2008" by IGN.” – Goodreads.com

Kipling, Rudyard
“The Jungle Books”
Contemporary Pairing: “The Graveyard Book” – Neil Gaiman
“The Jungle Books can be regarded as classic stories told by an adult to
children. But they also constitute a complex literary work of art in which the whole
of Kipling's philosophy of life is expressed in miniature. They are best known for
the 'Mowgli' stories; the tale of a baby abandoned and brought up by wolves,
educated in the ways and secrets of the jungle by Kaa the python, Baloo the bear,
and Bagheera the black panther. The stories, a mixture of fantasy, myth, and
magic, are underpinned by Kipling's abiding preoccupation with the theme of self-
discovery, and the nature of the 'Law'.” – Goodreads.com

Lee, Harper
“To Kill A Mockingbird”
Contemporary Pairing: “The Hate U Give” – Angie Thomas
“Scout Finch lives with her brother, Jem, and their widowed father, Atticus,
in the sleepy Alabama town of Maycomb. Maycomb is suffering through the Great
Depression, but Atticus is a prominent lawyer and the Finch family is reasonably
well off in comparison to the rest of society. One summer, Jem and Scout befriend
a boy named Dill, who has come to live in their neighborhood for the summer, and
the trio acts out stories together. Eventually, Dill becomes fascinated with the
spooky house on their street called the Radley Place. The house is owned by Mr.
Nathan Radley, whose brother, Arthur (nicknamed Boo), has lived there for years
without venturing outside.” – Sparknotes.com

Marion, Isaac
“Warm Bodies”
Classic Pairing: “Romeo and Juliet” – William Shakespeare
“R is having a no-life crisis—he is a zombie. He has no memories, no
identity, and no pulse, but he is a little different from his fellow Dead. He may
occasionally eat people, but he’d rather be riding abandoned airport escalators,
listening to Sinatra in the cozy 747 he calls home, or collecting souvenirs from the
ruins of civilization. And then he meets a girl. First as his captive, then his
reluctant guest, Julie is a blast of living color in R’s gray landscape, and something
inside him begins to bloom. He doesn't want to eat this girl—although she looks
delicious—he wants to protect her. But their unlikely bond will cause ripples they
can’t imagine, and their hopeless world won’t change without a fight.” –
Goodreads.com

Ormsbee, Kathryn
“Tash Hearts Tolstroy”
Classic Pairing: “Anna Karenina” – Leo Tolstoy
“After a shout-out from one of the Internet’s superstar vloggers, Natasha “Tash”
Zelenka finds herself and her obscure, amateur web series, Unhappy Families,
thrust into the limelight: She’s gone viral.
“Her show is a modern adaptation of Anna Karenina—written by Tash’s literary
love Count Lev Nikolayevich “Leo” Tolstoy. Tash is a fan of the forty thousand
new subscribers, their gushing tweets, and flashy Tumblr GIFs. Not so much the
pressure to deliver the best web series ever.

“And when Unhappy Families is nominated for a Golden Tuba award, Tash’s
cyber-flirtation with Thom Causer, a fellow award nominee, suddenly has the
potential to become something IRL—if she can figure out how to tell said crush
that she’s romantic asexual.

“Tash wants to enjoy her newfound fame, but will she lose her friends in her rise to
the top? What would Tolstoy do?” – Goodreads.com

Rowell, Rainbow
“Fangirl”
Classic Pairing: “Northanger Abbey” – Jane Austen
“Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan.
But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin
sister, Wren, [have] ensconced themselves in […] writing Simon Snow fan fiction,
[.] [Now] Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go.
She doesn’t want to. Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she
doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her
comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around
boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the
civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And
she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never
really been alone. For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it
without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing
her own stories? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon
Snow behind?” – Goodreads.com [edits, mine]

Schmidt, Gary
“The Wednesday Wars”
Classic Pairing: “The Tempest” – William Shakespeare
 “Holling Hoodhood is really in for it. He’s just started seventh grade with
Mrs. Baker, a teacher he knows is out to get him. Why else would she make him
read Shakespeare…outside of class?
“The years is 1967, and everyone has bigger things to worry about. There’s
Vietnam for one thing, then there’s the family business. As far as Holling’s father
is concerned, nothing is more important than the family business. In fact, all the
Hoodhoods must be on their best behavior at all times. The success o f Hoodhood
and Associates depends on it. But how can Holling stay out of trouble when he has
Mrs. Baker to contend with?”

Shakespeare, William
“Much Ado About Nothing”
Contemporary Pairing: Nothing Happened – Molly Booth
“Soldiers return victorious from the wars, and we are welcomed by Leonato,
the governor of the city. Among the soldiers are a vengeful malcontent, the young
Count Claudio, and Benedict, an eternal bachelor. Claudio falls in love with
Leonato’s daughter Hero, and her cousin Beatrice (a confirmed spinster) is duped
by her waiting women into believing that Benedict is in love with her – and she
with him. Claudio is deceived by a malicious plot and denounces Hero as unchaste
before they marry. She faints and is believed dead, but recovers to be proved
innocent by a chance discovery. Benedict wins Beatrice’s love defending her
cousin’s honor, and to his surprise, Claudio is reunited with Hero, who he believed
dead.” – Shakespeare.org.uk
“Romeo and Juliet”
Contemporary Pairing: “Warm Bodies” – Isaac Marion, “The Fault in Our
Stars” – John Green

“An age-old vendetta between two powerful families erupts into bloodshed.
A group of masked Montagues risk further conflict by gatecrashing a Capulet
party. A young lovesick Romeo Montague falls instantly in love with Juliet
Capulet, who is due to marry her father’s choice, the County Paris. With the help
of Juliet’s nurse, the women arrange for the couple to marry the next day, but
Romeo’s attempt to halt a street fight leads to the death of Juliet’s own cousin,
Tybalt, for which Romeo is banished. In a desperate attempt to be reunited with
Romeo, Juliet follows the Friar’s plot and fakes her own death. The message fails
to reach Romeo, and believing Juliet dead, he takes his life in her tomb. Juliet
wakes to find Romeo’s corpse beside her and kills herself. The grieving family
agree to end their feud.” – Shakespeare.org.uk
“The Tempest”
Contemporary Pairing: “The Wednesday Wars” – Gary D. Schmidt
“Prospero uses magic to conjure a storm and torment the survivors of a
shipwreck, including the King of Naples and Prospero’s treacherous brother,
Antonio. Prospero’s slave, Caliban, plots to rid himself of his master, but is
thwarted by Prospero’s spirit-servant Ariel. The King’s young son Ferdinand,
thought to be dead, falls in love with Prospero’s daughter Miranda. Their
celebrations are cut short when Prospero confronts his brother and reveals his
identity as the usurped Duke of Milan. The families are reunited and all conflict is
resolved. Prospero grants Ariel his freedom and prepares to leave the island.” –
Shakespeare.org.uk

Thomas, Angie
“The Hate U Give”
Classic Pairing: “To Kill A Mockingbird” – Harper Lee
“Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor
neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The
uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal
shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil
was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling
him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to
the streets in Khalil's name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate
Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that
night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. But what Starr does
or does not say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.” –
Goodreads.com

Tolstoy, Leo
“Anna Karenina”
Contemporary Pairing: “Tash Hearts Tolstoy” – Kathryn Ormsbee
“Acclaimed by many as the world's greatest novel, Anna Kareninaprovides a vast
panorama of contemporary life in Russia and of humanity in general. In it Tolstoy
uses his intense imaginative insight to create some of the most memorable
characters in literature. Anna is a sophisticated woman who abandons her empty
existence as the wife of Karenin and turns to Count Vronsky to fulfil her
passionate nature - with tragic consequences. Levin is a reflection of Tolstoy
himself, often expressing the author's own views and convictions.” –
Goodreads.com