Chapter Books
1. The Hunger Games
· Suzanne Collins
· September 14, 2008
· Chapter 2
· Adventure, Science Fiction
· Boys and Girls 12 and up
· 2008 Cybils Award
· The Hunger Games trilogy is an extremely popular series that focuses on a dangerous game that very similarly resembles the gladiator games held in the Colosseum of Rome in 70 A.D. The Hunger Games establishes a theme of sacrifice and self-sacrifice throughout the book, especially in chapter 2 where the main character Katniss volunteers to join the games in order to save her sister.
2. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
· C.S. Lewis
· October 16, 1950
· Chapter 14-15
· Fantasy, Children’s Literature
· Young Adults- Adults
· None
· The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe may not have won any awards, but it is still an extremely well known and well written book. This book deals with four young children who are escaping the threat of World War II and through many events wind up in the mythical realm known as Narnia. This book especially has many symbolic meanings behind it, including an underlying Christian theme. This book also is well noted for its example of self-sacrifice in chapter 14-15 through the death of Aslan(Jesus).
3. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone
· J.K. Rowling
· June 26, 1997
· Chapter 16
· Fantasy, Adventure
· Young Children- Adults
· Non-significant
· The Harry Potter series is another extremely popular series that focuses mainly on love and friendship in order to triumph over evil. The book involves three young wizards and their attempt to take down the dark lord Voldemort. In their attempt they encounter many different obstacles including a chess game where Ron must sacrifice himself in order for the other two, Harry, and Hermione, to move along through the quest.
4. Charlotte’s Web
· E.B. White
· 1952
· Chapter 21
· Children’s Literature, Fiction
· Young Adults, Coming of Age
· John Newbery Award
· Charlotte’s Web is an amazing book about a spider and a pig, Wilbur, who become best friends. The book is all about Wilbur’s fight to stay alive and keep from being killed for meat. Charlotte the spider creates these webs that say different things about Wilbur which makes the owner of the farm believe that Wilbur is special. In the end this is ultimately what saves Wilbur’s life. However, Charlotte is not so lucky, she is dying and unfortunately she has eggs to see hatch. In an act of love and sacrifice she gives up her eggs to Wilbur who holds them in his mouth until they hatch, meanwhile Charlotte passes away.
5. The Lord of The Rings(The Fellowship of The Ring)
· J.R.R Tolkien
· July 29, 1954
· Chapter 6
· Fantasy, fiction
· Published as Children’s books, Focuses on Adults
· International Fantasy Award for Fiction
· The Lord of The Rings is a very popular fantasy book. The main storyline involves Frodo Baggins, a Hobbit, who comes across one of the rings of power. He is tasked with the impossible test of venturing to Mordor to destroy the ring. He is accompanied by many different people in order to ensure his success on this quest. One of these is Frodo’s good friend Gandalf, who is one of the few wizards alive in the world. There comes a point where Gandalf is forced to defend the party against an ancient evil creature known as the Balrog. Upon doing so Gandalf is killed along with the creature (or so we believe) thus offering himself up as a sacrifice so that the group can proceed.
6. The Black Cauldron
· Lloyd Alexander
· June, 1965
· Chapter 18
· Fantasy, Fiction
· Young Adult-Adults
· John Newbery Award
· The Black Cauldron is a book written by Lloyd Alexander, and was created into a Disney film in 1985. This book is about a young group of boys who fight to find and destroy the black cauldron which gives the deathless army its power. They struggle to find it but once they do they can’t destroy it. The only way to destroy the cauldron is for someone to willingly climb into it to die. In the end Ellidyr climbs into the cauldron in order to sacrifice himself to win the favor of his friends.
7. My Sisters Keeper
· Jodi Picoult
· April 6, 2004
· Final Chapter
· Novel, Fiction, Tragedy
· Young adults-Adults
· Non-significant
· Aside from being possibly the most depressing book ever published, My Sister’s Keeper is still a fantastic book about sacrifice and love. The story involves a young girl named Kate who has a rare form of Leukemia. The only way for her to pull through is if she receive a kidney from her sister Anna. Anna sues her parents stating that they are forcing her to do this. In the end we realize that Kate wants to die and told Anna to sue her parents. In a way Anna is sacrificing Kate in order to prevent her from suffering. However, when Anna is killed in a car accident ironically her kidney is given to Kate who survives.
8. Breaking Dawn
· Stephanie Meyer
· August 2, 2008
· Chapter 18-19
· Romance, Fiction
· Young Adults
· Non-significant
· Breaking Dawn is the fourth book in the Twilight saga, it wraps up the main series with the birth of Bella and Edwards daughter, Renesmee. Although the entire book has an overarching theme of sacrifice, there is one particular sacrifice that is very different from the rest. That is the when Bella has to sacrifice herself to be reborn as a vampire. The reason she must do this is so that her baby will live. This is different because the person that is being sacrificed is also the person that is living and benefitting from the death.
9. A Thousand Splendid Suns
· Khaled Hosseini
· May 22, 2007
· Chapter 46
· Fiction, Adult fiction
· Adults
· Book Sense Book of The Year Award for Adult Fiction
· A Thousand Splendid Suns is a fantastic book about the hardships of Afghani life. It deals with the lives of 2 young women and their lives and the hardships they face in life. These two women marry an abusive man, and in the end one of the women kills the man. She turns herself in and sacrifices herself so that that the other woman has the opportunity to live.
10. Messenger
· Lois Lowry
· 2004
· Chapter 20-21
· Fiction, Children’s Literature
· Young Adults-Adults
· Non-significant
· The Messenger is an interesting story about a young boy named Matty and his life. Matty is given the gift of healing and as a result he can heal other creatures and people but it greatly tires him and drains him of strength. In the book Matty is forced to sacrifice himself in order to save a girl named Kira, and the Forest. He places his hands on the ground and heals it, however, this kills him, but restores everything to the proper state, thus establishing Matty as a hero.
1. The Hunger Games
· Suzanne Collins
· September 14, 2008
· Chapter 2
· Adventure, Science Fiction
· Boys and Girls 12 and up
· 2008 Cybils Award
· The Hunger Games trilogy is an extremely popular series that focuses on a dangerous game that very similarly resembles the gladiator games held in the Colosseum of Rome in 70 A.D. The Hunger Games establishes a theme of sacrifice and self-sacrifice throughout the book, especially in chapter 2 where the main character Katniss volunteers to join the games in order to save her sister.
2. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
· C.S. Lewis
· October 16, 1950
· Chapter 14-15
· Fantasy, Children’s Literature
· Young Adults- Adults
· None
· The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe may not have won any awards, but it is still an extremely well known and well written book. This book deals with four young children who are escaping the threat of World War II and through many events wind up in the mythical realm known as Narnia. This book especially has many symbolic meanings behind it, including an underlying Christian theme. This book also is well noted for its example of self-sacrifice in chapter 14-15 through the death of Aslan(Jesus).
3. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone
· J.K. Rowling
· June 26, 1997
· Chapter 16
· Fantasy, Adventure
· Young Children- Adults
· Non-significant
· The Harry Potter series is another extremely popular series that focuses mainly on love and friendship in order to triumph over evil. The book involves three young wizards and their attempt to take down the dark lord Voldemort. In their attempt they encounter many different obstacles including a chess game where Ron must sacrifice himself in order for the other two, Harry, and Hermione, to move along through the quest.
4. Charlotte’s Web
· E.B. White
· 1952
· Chapter 21
· Children’s Literature, Fiction
· Young Adults, Coming of Age
· John Newbery Award
· Charlotte’s Web is an amazing book about a spider and a pig, Wilbur, who become best friends. The book is all about Wilbur’s fight to stay alive and keep from being killed for meat. Charlotte the spider creates these webs that say different things about Wilbur which makes the owner of the farm believe that Wilbur is special. In the end this is ultimately what saves Wilbur’s life. However, Charlotte is not so lucky, she is dying and unfortunately she has eggs to see hatch. In an act of love and sacrifice she gives up her eggs to Wilbur who holds them in his mouth until they hatch, meanwhile Charlotte passes away.
5. The Lord of The Rings(The Fellowship of The Ring)
· J.R.R Tolkien
· July 29, 1954
· Chapter 6
· Fantasy, fiction
· Published as Children’s books, Focuses on Adults
· International Fantasy Award for Fiction
· The Lord of The Rings is a very popular fantasy book. The main storyline involves Frodo Baggins, a Hobbit, who comes across one of the rings of power. He is tasked with the impossible test of venturing to Mordor to destroy the ring. He is accompanied by many different people in order to ensure his success on this quest. One of these is Frodo’s good friend Gandalf, who is one of the few wizards alive in the world. There comes a point where Gandalf is forced to defend the party against an ancient evil creature known as the Balrog. Upon doing so Gandalf is killed along with the creature (or so we believe) thus offering himself up as a sacrifice so that the group can proceed.
6. The Black Cauldron
· Lloyd Alexander
· June, 1965
· Chapter 18
· Fantasy, Fiction
· Young Adult-Adults
· John Newbery Award
· The Black Cauldron is a book written by Lloyd Alexander, and was created into a Disney film in 1985. This book is about a young group of boys who fight to find and destroy the black cauldron which gives the deathless army its power. They struggle to find it but once they do they can’t destroy it. The only way to destroy the cauldron is for someone to willingly climb into it to die. In the end Ellidyr climbs into the cauldron in order to sacrifice himself to win the favor of his friends.
7. My Sisters Keeper
· Jodi Picoult
· April 6, 2004
· Final Chapter
· Novel, Fiction, Tragedy
· Young adults-Adults
· Non-significant
· Aside from being possibly the most depressing book ever published, My Sister’s Keeper is still a fantastic book about sacrifice and love. The story involves a young girl named Kate who has a rare form of Leukemia. The only way for her to pull through is if she receive a kidney from her sister Anna. Anna sues her parents stating that they are forcing her to do this. In the end we realize that Kate wants to die and told Anna to sue her parents. In a way Anna is sacrificing Kate in order to prevent her from suffering. However, when Anna is killed in a car accident ironically her kidney is given to Kate who survives.
8. Breaking Dawn
· Stephanie Meyer
· August 2, 2008
· Chapter 18-19
· Romance, Fiction
· Young Adults
· Non-significant
· Breaking Dawn is the fourth book in the Twilight saga, it wraps up the main series with the birth of Bella and Edwards daughter, Renesmee. Although the entire book has an overarching theme of sacrifice, there is one particular sacrifice that is very different from the rest. That is the when Bella has to sacrifice herself to be reborn as a vampire. The reason she must do this is so that her baby will live. This is different because the person that is being sacrificed is also the person that is living and benefitting from the death.
9. A Thousand Splendid Suns
· Khaled Hosseini
· May 22, 2007
· Chapter 46
· Fiction, Adult fiction
· Adults
· Book Sense Book of The Year Award for Adult Fiction
· A Thousand Splendid Suns is a fantastic book about the hardships of Afghani life. It deals with the lives of 2 young women and their lives and the hardships they face in life. These two women marry an abusive man, and in the end one of the women kills the man. She turns herself in and sacrifices herself so that that the other woman has the opportunity to live.
10. Messenger
· Lois Lowry
· 2004
· Chapter 20-21
· Fiction, Children’s Literature
· Young Adults-Adults
· Non-significant
· The Messenger is an interesting story about a young boy named Matty and his life. Matty is given the gift of healing and as a result he can heal other creatures and people but it greatly tires him and drains him of strength. In the book Matty is forced to sacrifice himself in order to save a girl named Kira, and the Forest. He places his hands on the ground and heals it, however, this kills him, but restores everything to the proper state, thus establishing Matty as a hero.