... group disappears, presumably having burned to death. At first, the boys enjoy their life without grown-ups and spend much of their time splashing in the water and playing games. Ralph, however, complains that they should be maintaining the signal fire and building huts for shelter. The hunters fail in their attempt ... mirrors the overarching thematic conflict of the novel. The conflict between the two boys brews as early as the election in Chapter 1 but remains hidden beneath the surface, masked by the camaraderie the boys feel as they work together to build a community. In this chapter...

• Word Count: 11237
• Approx Pages: 45
• Grade Level: High School

... shimmering with romance, this novel tests the boundary between history and myth. Patrick Lewis arrives in Toronto in the 1920s and earns his living searching for a vanished millionaire and tunneling beneath Lake Ontario. In the course of his adventures, Patrick's life intersects with those of characters who reappear in Ondaatje's Booker Prize-winning The English Patient. 256 pp. In the Skin ... the Bloor Street Viaduct, formally named the Prince Edward Bridge, over the Don River Valley just after World War I and the digging out under Lake Ontario of the municipal Toronto water intake tu...

• Word Count: 3985
• Approx Pages: 16
• Grade Level: High School