Books with author Laurie Gray

The coming-of-age story of an ancient Greek woman who discovers the joy of being herself As a young woman in ancient Greece, Myrto is doubly cursed to have been born a mortal and a female. When her father dies leaving no dowry for her to marry, Myrto’s brother decides to give her to his former teacher, Socrates, as a second wife. Spending much of her time away from her new home in an attempt to avoid Socrates’ cruel, first wife, Myrto soon strikes up an intellectual friendship with Plato. Although she wants nothing more than a friend, he has designs on more. Now Myrto must discover where she belongs in this quickly changing world and decide if she will accept the lot she has been given by her family, succumb to romantic love, or pave the way for women of the future to live better and less subjugated lives.

Library Lost is the sequel to Maya and the Book of Everything and is the second book in the Great Library Series, where two forces, Time and Chaos, battle each other for control of the Great Library, that mysterious place at the center of the universe where all information flows. In the middle of this battle between Time and Chaos is one kid from Earth—Maya Hammond. In Library Lost, Maya is once again on the move, this time with an Apprentice Book named Ariel. Andy, Maya’s traveling companion from the 1970s, is now a grown man with a daughter named Viola. He is also in grave danger. Humphrey, a murderous duke from the planet Ilyria, has come to Earth and is after Andy. Maya warns Andy and befriends Viola. When Maya and Viola are threatened by Humphrey, Ariel takes the two girls to Ilyria, where Maya is reunited with Sir John, Simon, Evangeline, and Duke Owen. From there, the action spirals into chaos and destruction. However, Sydda, the Great Library’s director, has come up with a daring but dangerous plan—Maya must confront Cinnial, who is allied with Chaos and is the leader of a group of adversarial librarians who want to take over the Great Library. But Maya has grave doubts. How can she ever prevail against someone so powerful? How, indeed?

These are the notes to accompany Toni Morrison's "Beloved", a tale set in mid-19th century Kentucky, where slavery is finally coming close to abolition. It is the story of Beloved, killed by her mother as a baby to avoid enslavement, who returns as a woman seeking retribution. "Beloved" won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 and Toni Morrison was the recepient of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. York Notes are designed for GCSE and A Level students, but they also provide background information for first-year university students. The series covers major works from medieval to modern English literature, and classic and contemporary works from Europe, America, the Commonwealth and the Third World. Each book features a biography of the author; the literary and historical background to the work; a summary and glossary of the text; hints for study, to help students plan work and study effectively; a specimen essay; and suggestions for further reading.