Literature by Place - Exodus Books

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It's kind of crazy to what extent geography can inform an author's work. Jack London spent most of his life at sea, dog-sledding across Alaska, boxing and generally being an adventurous guy who would put today's REI crowd to shame. Would he have penned some of the greatest American novels otherwise? especially ones concerned primarily with man battling the elements for survival in both a mental and physical sense? Very probably not, which explains why Oscar Wilde didn't write about wolves and crazy ship captains.

No, Oscar Wilde wrote primarily about fops and society people parrying witticisms incessantly. That's not to say his work has no place in a serious consideration of literature—au contraire, The Picture of Dorian Grey is one of the finest novels written in English. It's just more evidence that if you're an author who lives in the Canadian mountains or the clubs of London, your writing will reflect that.

Physical terrain isn't the only consideration. Sartre wrote about people lolling about with no real sense of purpose except to drink wine and smoke cigarettes and look languorous because he lived in France in the 1940s. Friedrich Nietzsche had immense mustaches and espoused a form of nihilism because he was German. The Russians wrote impossibly long novels because they lived in Russia. And Chinua Achebe was almost entirely influenced by his African upbringing.

That's not to say no one can write well about a context they haven't experienced firsthand. I'm pretty sure Robert Heinlein never visited Mars, and even if he did it wasn't as his books describe; the same goes for Bradbury. And no, Roald Dahl was never lost in a delightfully (though at times, terrifyingly) absurd chocolate factory. Yet even with these examples, the authors conveyed essentially the attitudes of the countries they came from—Heinlein and Bradbury from the U.S., Dahl from the U.K.

Our Literature by Place subcategories are admittedly Anglo-centric. North American literature features, well, American literature, and you can be pretty sure British literature reflects the same system; everything else goes in world literature. We have plenty of non-American or -British literature, we just don't have much from any one place besides those two. At any rate, we hope these categories are helpful, and if they guide you toward one book you're looking for (or maybe one you didn't even know existed), they've done their job.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.

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Fantasy Fiction,

4th grade (Ages 9-10)

	Aesop's Fables Puffin Classics by Aesop Reprint from Puffin Books Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Kindergarten-4th grade in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF) $7.99
	Alice's Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Peter Weevers from Philomel Books for 4th-7th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Alice's Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Peter Weevers from Hutchinson of Australia for 4th-7th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass Rainbow Classics by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by John Tenniel from World Publishing Company for 4th-10th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
	Animal Stories Tales of the Old Plantation by Joel Chandler Harris, illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats from Junior Deluxe Editions for 2nd-8th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	At the Back of the North Wind Macmillan Classics by George MacDonald, illustrated by Harvey Dinnerstein from Macmillan for 4th-8th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	At the Back of the North Wind New Children's Classics by George MacDonald, illustrated by George & Doris Hauman from Macmillan for 4th-8th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald, illustrated by Charles Mozley for 4th-8th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald, illustrated by Maria Kirk for 4th-8th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald, illustrated by Frank C. Pape for 4th-8th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Children of the Soil A Story of Scandinavia by Nora Burglon, illustrations by Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire 1936 Printing from Doubleday, Doran & Company Inc. for 3rd-6th grade 1933 Newbery Honor Book in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Christmas Carol Little Unicorn by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Walt Sturrock from Unicorn Publishing House for 2nd-4th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Chronicles of Narnia - Quality Softcover Boxed Set by C. S. Lewis from HarperCollins Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX) $90.93
	Chronicles of Narnia - Quality Softcover Set by C. S. Lewis from HarperCollins Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
	Comet in Moominland Moomintrolls Book #1 by Tove Jansson from Farrar, Straus and Giroux for 1st-7th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $7.99
	D'Aulaires' Book of Trolls by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire from New York Review of Books for 3rd-6th grade in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER) $22.95
	Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Margaret Tarrant from Gallery Books for 4th-8th grade in Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Children (Location: FIC-MYT)
	Finn Family Moomintroll Moomintrolls Book #2 by Tove Jansson from Farrar, Straus and Giroux for 1st-7th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $8.99
	Hobbit & Lord of the Rings - Mass-Market Boxed Set by J. R. R. Tolkien Mti from Ballantine Books Fantasy for 4th-12th grade in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX) $35.96
	Hobbit & Lord of the Rings - Softbound Boxed Set by J. R. R. Tolkien from Houghton Mifflin Fantasy for 4th-12th grade in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX) $72.00
	Jungle Book Whole Story Series by Rudyard Kipling from Viking Press Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Eric Kincaid from Brimax Books Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling from Crescent Books for 1st-6th grade in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $7.00 (1 in stock)
	Letters to Children by C. S. Lewis from Charles Scribner's Sons Autobiographical Letters for 3rd-9th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $16.00
	Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery from Harvest House Fantasy for 3rd-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $11.99 $7.50 (2 in stock)
	Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery from Scholastic Inc. Fantasy for 3rd-8th grade in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
	Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery from Harvest House Fantasy for 3rd-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $6.00 (2 in stock)
	Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery, translated by Richard Howard from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Fantasy for 3rd-Adult in Everyman's Library Children's Classics (Location: FIC-ELC) $18.00
	Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery from Harcourt Fantasy for 3rd-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $7.50 (1 in stock)
	Mio My Son by Astrid Lindgren, translated by Marianne Turner and illustrated by Ilon Wikland from Puffin Books for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Mio, My Son by Astrid Lindgren, translated by Jill Morgan and illustrated by Ilon Wikland from Purple House Press for 4th-8th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Moominland Midwinter Moomintrolls Book #5 by Tove Jansson from Farrar, Straus and Giroux for 1st-7th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $8.99
	Moominpappa at Sea Moomintrolls Book #7 by Tove Jansson from Farrar, Straus and Giroux for 1st-7th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $8.99
	Moominpappa's Memoirs Moomintrolls Book #3 by Tove Jansson from Farrar, Straus and Giroux for 1st-7th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $5.56
	Moominpappa's Memoirs Moomintrolls Book #3 by Tove Jansson from Farrar, Straus and Giroux for 1st-7th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $9.99
	Moominsummer Madness Moomintrolls Book #4 by Tove Jansson from Farrar, Straus and Giroux for 1st-7th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $7.99
	Moominvalley in November Moomintrolls Book #8 by Tove Jansson from Farrar, Straus and Giroux for 1st-7th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $7.99
	Ola by Edgar Parin d'Aulaire, Ingri d'Aulaire Reprint from University of Minnesota for 3rd-6th grade in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER) $16.95
	Paddington Here and Now Paddington Bear #12 by Michael Bond from HarperCollins for 3rd-7th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $9.99
	Pippi Goes on Board Pippi Longstocking #2 by Astrid Lindgren from Puffin Books Humor for 2nd-6th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $7.99
	Pippi Goes on Board Pippi Longstocking #2 by Astrid Lindgren from Viking Press Humor for 2nd-6th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $10.00 (1 in stock)
	Pippi in the South Seas Pippi Longstocking #3 by Astrid Lindgren from Puffin Books Humor for 2nd-6th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $7.99
	Pippi Longstocking Pippi Longstocking #1 by Astrid Lindgren from Puffin Books Humor for 2nd-6th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $7.99
	Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren from Viking Press for 4th-6th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren from Puffin Books for 2nd-5th grade in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF) $7.99
	Pippi Longstocking Trilogy by Astrid Lindgren from Puffin Books Humor for 2nd-6th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Rip Van Winkle The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Tales by Washington Irving from Grosset & Dunlap for 4th-6th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Tales from Moominvalley Moomintrolls Book #6 by Tove Jansson Reprint from Farrar, Straus and Giroux for 1st-7th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $8.99
	The Moomins Set by Tove Jansson from Square Fish Publishing for 1st-7th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There Books of Wonder by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by John Tenniel from HarperCollins for 4th-6th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Wonderful Adventures of Nils by Selma Lagerlof from Skandisk Publications for 2nd-5th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)

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