The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) by Mark Twain is one of the truly great American novels, beloved by children, adults, and literary critics alike. The book tells the story of Huck Finn (first introduced as Tom Sawyer's sidekick in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer), his friend Jim, and their journey down the Mississippi River on a raft. Both are on the run, Huck from his drunk and abusive father, and Jim as a runaway slave.

This classic early science fiction novel was written by H.G. Wells in 1898. It describes the invasion of the earth by Martians using heat rays and fighting machines. It has been adapted many times for radio and movies.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (published 1876) is a very well-known and popular story concerning American youth. Mark Twain's lively tale of the scrapes and adventures of boyhood is set in St. Petersburg, Missouri, where Tom Sawyer and his friend Huckleberry Finn have the kinds of adventures many boys can imagine: racing bugs during class, impressing girls, with fights and stunts in the schoolyard, getting lost in a cave, and playing pirates on the Mississippi river.

White Fang (1906) was a sequel to the popular Call of the Wild (1903). It is the story of a dog born in the wild and brought to civilization. The story is viewed primarily through the eyes of its canine protagonist and deals with themes of morality and redemption.

Published in 1903, The Call of the Wild is London's most familiar book and considered one of his best. Because the protagonist is a dog, it is often mistakenly thought to be particularly suitable for children. The hero, Buck, is a domestic pet who is abducted by thieves and sold to a trainer of sled dogs. In a series of episodes, Buck is forced to survive and adapt to brutal and cruel conditions.

Set in a time of oppressive colonisation, when large areas of the world were still unknown to Europe, and Africa was literally on maps and minds as a mysterious shadow, Heart of Darkness famously explores the rituals of civilisation and barbarism, and the frighteningly fine line between them.  This work has been reinterpreted and adapted into many modern forms, the most well known being the film Apocalypse Now.    (Summary by Marlo Dianne)