"Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life...But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep...They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon. Bilbo reluctantly joins their quest, unaware that...he will encounter both a magic ring and a frightening creature known as Gollum"--P. [4] of cover.

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell into the hands of Bilbo Baggins, as told in THE HOBBIT. In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with...

"The classic boyhood adventure tale, updated with a new introduction by noted Mark Twain scholar R. Kent Rasmussen. A consummate prankster with a quick wit, Tom Sawyer dreams of a bigger fate than simply being a "rich boy." Yet through the novel's humorous escapades-from the famous episode of the whitewashed fence to the trial of Injun Joe-Mark Twain explores the deeper themes of the adult world, one of dishonesty and superstition, murder and revenge,...

"Clay has lived his whole life under the mountain. The MudWing dragonet knows war is raging between the dragon tribes in the world outside--a war that he and four other dragonets are destined to end, according to the mysterious prophecy they have been taught. The five 'chosen' dragonets were stolen from their homes while they were still in their eggs--and hidden away for years--all to fulfill the prophecy. But not every dragonet wants a destiny. And...

The Two Towers is the second part of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic adventure, The Lord of the Rings. Frodo and the companions of the Ring have been beset by danger during their quest to prevent the Ruling Ring from falling into the hands of the Dark Lord, Sauron, by destroying it in the Cracks of Doom. They have lost the wizard Gandalf in a battle with an evil spirit int he Mines of Moria; and at the Falls of Rauros, Boromir, seduced by the power of the Ring...

"William Golding's unforgettable classic of boyhood adventure and the savagery of humanity comes to this Classics Deluxe Edition with a new foreword by Lois Lowry. As provocative today as when it was first published in 1954, Lord of the Flies continues to ignite passionate debate with its startling, brutal portrait of human nature. William Golding's compelling story about a group of very ordinary boys marooned on a coral island has been labeled a...

During one of his several adventurous voyages in the 1600's, an Englishman becomes the sole survivor of a shipwreck and lives for nearly thirty years on a deserted island.