The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first book in Steig Larson's Millennium series, first published in 2005 in Sweden. The main character is a journalist named Mikael Blomkvist, who seeks the help of a hacker named Lisbeth Salander in hopes of solving the mystery of a young girl's disappearance 40 years ago. It explores themes of violence against women in a country of Sweden that is becoming more and more corrupt over the course of the novel.
Three Weeks with My Brother is a book by Nicholas Sparks and published in 2004. The book recounts the author's three-week journey with his brother Micah around the world. Nicholas and Micah are the only members left of their family and recount their childhood and adult memories as they travel to see landmarks in various countries. The narrative, which is short yet transformative for the brothers, examines themes of memory, love, life and death.
For Esme - With Love and Squalor is the story of Sergeant X, a soldier in the Allied Forces during World War II. While training in Devon the sergeant meets an English girl named Esme who has been orphaned by the war. He is deeply moved by her bravery and fortitude. Later, suffering from a nervous breakdown after the war's end, he is helped toward recovery by a letter from the same girl.
The Witches concerns a young boy who runs afoul of a group of witches while at a seaside resort. The boy's Norwegian grandmother has told him stories about these witches-they look like ordinary women but are actually bald, toeless, clawed fiends who hate children. When the boy stumbles into the annual convention of English witches and overhears a plan to murder all of the children in England by turning them into mice, he has to act fast. This book explores childhood fears and the reality of death.
There Are No Children Here is a biography by Alex Kotlowitz about two brothers, Lafeyette and Pharoah, living in a housing project in Chicago. The book follows the children of LaJoe and her absent drug-addicted husband, Paul, as they struggle to live in poverty amongst gangs, drugs and violence. From a young age, the children are denied their innocence as they experience the oppression of inner-city poverty. The book presents a stark view of urban America and suggests that without any opportunities, human potential is squandered in these situations.