Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowlings

I wasn't going to do it because I figured EVERYONE had read the Harry Potter series, but my cousin pointed out that he had only seen the movies and his brother hasn't done that even.  So rather than go about it by doing just one I will do all of them.

Harry Potter has no idea how famous he is. That's because he's being raised by his miserable aunt and uncle who are terrified Harry will learn that he's really a wizard, just as his parents were. But everything changes when Harry is summoned to attend an infamous school for wizards, and he begins to discover some clues about his illustrious birthright. From the surprising way he is greeted by a lovable giant, to the unique curriculum and colorful faculty at his unusual school, Harry finds himself drawn deep inside a mystical world he never knew existed and closer to his own noble destiny.

Instances of Swearing: 

• Damn: 1

The Dursleys were so mean that hideous that summer that all Harry Potter wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he's packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature named Dobby who says that if Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike.

And strike it does. For in Harry's second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor, Gilderoy Lockheart, a spirit named Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girls' bathroom, and the unwanted attentions of Ron Weasley's younger sister, Ginny.

But each of these seem minor annoyances when the real trouble begins, and someone--or something--starts turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects...Harry Potter himself?

Instances of Swearing:

• None we could detect

For twelve long years, the dread fortress of Azkaban held an infamous prisoner named Sirius Black. Convicted of killing thirteen people with a single curse, he was said to be the heir apparent to the Dark Lord, Voldemort.

Now he has escaped, leaving only two clues as to where he might be headed: Harry Potter's defeat of You-Know-Who was Black's downfall as well. And the Azkban guards heard Black muttering in his sleep, "He's at Hogwarts...he's at Hogwarts."

Harry Potter isn't safe, not even within the walls of his magical school, surrounded by his friends. Because on top of it all, there may well be a traitor in their midst.

Instances of Swearing:

• Damn: 2

Harry Potter is midway through his training as a wizard and his coming of age. Harry wants to get away from the pernicious Dursleys and go to the International Quidditch Cup. He wants to find out about the mysterious event that's supposed to take place at Hogwarts this year, an event involving two other rival schools of magic, and a competition that hasn't happened for a hundred years. He wants to be a normal, fourteen-year-old wizard. But unfortunately for Harry Potter, he's not normal - even by wizarding standards. And in his case, different can be deadly.

Instances of Swearing:

• Hell: 2

In his fifth year at Hogwart's, Harry faces challenges at every turn, from the dark threat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and the unreliability of the government of the magical world to the rise of Ron Weasley as the keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. Along the way he learns about the strength of his friends, the fierceness of his enemies, and the meaning of sacrifice.

Instances of Swearing:

• Damn: 3

The war against Voldemort is not going well; even the Muggles have been affected. Dumbledore is absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of time, and the Order of the Phoenix has already suffered losses. 

And yet . . . as with all wars, life goes on. Sixth-year students learn to Apparate. Teenagers flirt and fight and fall in love. Harry receives some extraordinary help in Potions from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince. And with Dumbledore's guidance, he seeks out the full, complex story of the boy who became Lord Voldemort -- and thus finds what may be his only vulnerability.

Instances of Swearing:

• Damn: 3

Readers beware. The brilliant, breathtaking conclusion to J.K. Rowling's spellbinding series is not for the faint of heart--such revelations, battles, and betrayals await in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that no fan will make it to the end unscathed. Luckily, Rowling has prepped loyal readers for the end of her series by doling out increasingly dark and dangerous tales of magic and mystery, shot through with lessons about honor and contempt, love and loss, and right and wrong. Fear not, you will find no spoilers in our review--to tell the plot would ruin the journey, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is an odyssey the likes of which Rowling's fans have not yet seen, and are not likely to forget. But we would be remiss if we did not offer one small suggestion before you embark on your final adventure with Harry--bring plenty of tissues.

The heart of Book 7 is a hero's mission--not just in Harry's quest for the Horcruxes, but in his journey from boy to man--and Harry faces more danger than that found in all six books combined, from the direct threat of the Death Eaters and you-know-who, to the subtle perils of losing faith in himself. Attentive readers would do well to remember Dumbledore's warning about making the choice between "what is right and what is easy," and know that Rowling applies the same difficult principle to the conclusion of her series. While fans will find the answers to hotly speculated questions about Dumbledore, Snape, and you-know-who, it is a testament to Rowling's skill as a storyteller that even the most astute and careful reader will be taken by surprise.

A spectacular finish to a phenomenal series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a bittersweet read for fans. The journey is hard, filled with events both tragic and triumphant, the battlefield littered with the bodies of the dearest and despised, but the final chapter is as brilliant and blinding as a phoenix's flame, and fans and skeptics alike will emerge from the confines of the story with full but heavy hearts, giddy and grateful for the experience. --Daphne Durham

Instances of Swearing:

• Damn: 5
• Hell: 11

Stichley's Rating:

Overall there really  is not much swearing in the Harry Potter Series.  It becomes darker and more suspenseful as you go through the series, and so we aren't going to give it a Movie rating tag.  The books have lots more information in them then the movies did, and much of the humor that exists in the books was completely cut out of the movies.  They are worth reading, but as some people hate the movies because of the books you may find yourself in the same crowd.  Myself I love them both but have to view them almost as separate stories that end the same.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

William Golding's classic tale about a group of English schoolboys who are plane-wrecked on a deserted island is just as chilling and relevant today as when it was first published in 1954. At first, the stranded boys cooperate, attempting to gather food, make shelters, and maintain signal fires. Overseeing their efforts are Ralph, "the boy with fair hair," and Piggy, Ralph's chubby, wisdom-dispensing sidekick whose thick spectacles come in handy for lighting fires. Although Ralph tries to impose order and delegate responsibility, there are many in their number who would rather swim, play, or hunt the island's wild pig population. Soon Ralph's rules are being ignored or challenged outright. His fiercest antagonist is Jack, the redheaded leader of the pig hunters, who manages to lure away many of the boys to join his band of painted savages. The situation deteriorates as the trappings of civilization continue to fall away, until Ralph discovers that instead of being hunters, he and Piggy have become the hunted: "He forgot his words, his hunger and thirst, and became fear; hopeless fear on flying feet." Golding's gripping novel explores the boundary between human reason and animal instinct, all on the brutal playing field of adolescent competition.

ALA Reason:

• Swearing:
• Hell: 3
• Ass: 7
• Damn: 1
• Racism
• Excessive Violence
• Discussions of Sex

The Lord of the Rings, Book One: The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell into the hands of Bilbo Baggins, as told in The Hobbit. In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.

Stichley's Rating:
My copy of the LOTR series are all extremely beat up, one even has lost it's cover.  They were my Dad's before I read them and I read them long before they became a movie series.  This is a great fantasy series for those who like fantasy.  If you have only seen the movies, and liked them, you are missing out.  I suggest you consider picking up the books because there is some details that can't be fit or must be slightly altered for movies, though they did better at keeping as much in as they could than most movie adaptions have done.  Also for the book we have gone with PG, vs the PG-13 of the movie, due to the fact that books aren't as intense as movies and that the violence is not 'shown.'

Instances of Swearing:

• Ass: 1
• Damn: 5

Beloved by Tony Morrison

Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby. Sethe, its protagonist, was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe’s new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved. Filled with bitter poetry and suspense as taut as a rope, Beloved is a towering achievement.

ALA Reason:

• Swearing:
• Shit: 2
• Ass: 1
• Damn: 10
• Hell: 11
• Bitch: 6
• Nigger/Negro: 41
• Genital related: 20
• Racism
• Sexual Scenes

Charlie's Monument by Blaine M. Yorgason

Adults scorned him, school children jeered him, yet Charlie was determined that his life would amount to something, that he would have not lived in vain. Born with only one arm, a twisted back, and badly deformed legs, and orphaned while still a boy, Charlie also carried with him the legacy of his resolute mother: 'You can do anything you want if you want it badly enough.'

Charlie's will to live--and to live largely--will eventually win him the respect of his peers, the gratitude of his town, and even the love of a very special woman who is able to look beyond his deformities into his noble heart.

Published originally in 1976, Charlie's Monument is a much-loved story that has endured to be embraced by succeeding generations of new readers.

Stichley's Rating:
I found this book again after years had passed from my original reading.  It is a book that inspires and touches the heart.  It doesn't have anything in it that would prevent children from reading it, but it is probably more the age group of teens and adults.  It isn't a very long book and you can easily read it in one day.  Well worth the read.

Instances of Swearing:

• God is used but it is always in a non-swearing context.

Ulysses by James Joyce

Ulysses takes place in a single day, 16 June 1904, also known as Bloomsday, it sets the characters and incidents of the Odyssey of Homer in modern Dublin and represents Odysseus (Ulysses), Penelope and Telemachus in the characters of Leopold Bloom, his wife Molly Bloom and Stephen Dedalus, and contrasts them with their lofty models. The book explores various areas of Dublin life, dwelling on its squalor and monotony. Nevertheless, the book is also an affectionately detailed study of the city. In Ulysses, Joyce employs stream of consciousness, parody, jokes, and virtually every other literary technique to present his characters. Many consider it the best novel of the twentieth century. It is powerfully written, a book for the ages.

ALA Reason:

• Swearing:
• Ass: 9
• Hell: 44
• Damn: 36
• Bitch: 10
• Bastard: 10
• Shit: 4
• FU: 2
• God: 147, though not all are used in the context of a swear word.
• Christ: 18
• Nigger/Negro: 7
• "dirty, blasphemous, and unreadable"

The Lost Years, Book One: The Lost Years of Merlin by T. A. Barron

Though the character Merlin is world famous as an ancient wizard, this story of his lost youth is original to the author.

Stichley's Rating:
Now this series of books has eleven in it, but when I first received my autographed ones that were in hardback there was only five.  This first book in the series is the beginning of Merlin discovering who he is and his past that he doesn't remember.  It is a great book for kids, teens, and adults.  

Instances of Swearing:

• Hell: 3
• Ass: 1
• God: 18
• Bastard: 2

Shades of Gray by Carolyn Reeder

The Civil War may be over, but for twelve-year-old Will Page, the pain and bitterness haven't ended. How could they have, when the Yankees were responsible for the deaths of everyone in his entire immediate family?
And now Will has to leave his comfortable home in the Shenandoah Valley and live with relatives he has never met, people struggling to eke out a living on their farm in the war-torn Virginia Piedmont. But the worst of it is that Will's uncle Jed had refused to fight for the Confederacy.
At first, Will regards his uncle as a traitor -- or at least a coward. But as they work side by side, Will begins to respect the man. And when he sees his uncle stand up for what he believes in, Will realizes that he must rethink his definition of honor and courage.

Stichley's Rating:
If your whole family was killed by the enemy you lost to would you be able to handle living with those who had refused to fight?  That is what this book is about.  Learning to forgive, and change the way that you see the world.

Instances of Swearing:

• None that we can remember

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Celie is a poor black woman whose letters tell the story of 20 years of her life, beginning at age 14 when she is being abused and raped by her father and attempting to protect her sister from the same fate, and continuing over the course of her marriage to "Mister," a brutal man who terrorizes her. Celie eventually learns that her abusive husband has been keeping her sister's letters from her and the rage she feels, combined with an example of love and independence provided by her close friend Shug, pushes her finally toward an awakening of her creative and loving self.

ALA Reason:

• Swearing:
• Hell: 7
• Ass: 4
• Damn: 3
• Bitch: 3
• FU: 6
• Nigger/Negro: 8
• Shit: 7
• Sexual Scenes
• Smoking/Alcohol/Drugs
• Racism

The Orphan Train Adventures, Book One: A Family Apart by Jean Lowery Nixon

When their mother can no longer support them, six siblings are sent by the Children's Aid Society of New York City to live with farm families in Missouri in 1860.

Stichley's Rating:
This first book tells the story of Francis and Petey in the family.  This was a book that my sister and I both enjoyed having read to us by are parents before bed every night.  As the children are forced to separate from their mother and each other they have to learn how to have new lives where not all are loved as they once were.

Instances of Swearing:

• None that we remembered