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Once in a while, one reads a story that proves the old adage that real life can prove far more unusual than fiction.

Greg Mortenson was an amateur American mountain climber, living out of a Volvo in Berkeley, barely getting by while working as a nurse in hospital emergency rooms. In 1993 he went to Pakistan as part of an expedition to climb K2, the world’s second highest mountain — 100 feet or so shorter than Mt. Everest, and many times as dangerous. He and two fellow mountaineers nearly made it to the top when disaster struck. One of the them fell, and had to be carried for two days across some of the most difficult rocky and icy terrain in the world, with little food or water, barely alive. On the way back to camp, Greg got lost and nearly died from the cold.

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So you’ve read the entire Harry Potter series, but did you know that author J.K. Rowling drew much of her inspiration from myths and stories that existed before?

In a recent interview, Rowling shared that her inspiration for part of the most recent book “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” came from a story “The Pardoner’s Tale” written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century as part of his collection, “The Canterbury Tales.” In The Pardoner’s Tale, three men set out to find and kill Death. Similarly, in the Deathly Hallows, there is a story of three brothers who succeeded in beating Death by crossing a river and as reward received gifts from him.

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Cecil’s Story by George Ella Lyon takes place during the Civil war. Cecil’s dad has gone off to fight. In Cecil’s world, this means that everything has changed. In fact, Cecil’s mom has left Cecil with the neighbors while she goes off to find his father.

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Do you want some recipes for trouble? You might find them in this book, Beware of Boys by Tony Blundell, where a tricky wolf is served up a taste of his own medicine by an even trickier boy. What happens is this: the boy gets lost in the woods. A wolf captures him and decides to eat him up. “Raw?” asks the boy with a look of surprise. The wolf ponders this, not knowing what the proper etiquette for cooking boy might be.

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There was once a man who loved rocks. He would collect them wherever he went, putting them in his pockets, keeping them on shelves in the gas station where he worked. Some folks said that he even had rocks in his head. “Maybe I have,” he said. “Maybe I have.”

But when hard times fell upon the country, the filling station couldn’t provide enough work for the young man anymore, and he roamed around town in search of another job. Regardless of where his job search led him, he always managed to visit the local science museum, where he could visit the rocks.

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Are you a tree hugger? If you love trees, then you will love The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. It is definitely one of the most touching books about a tree ever written. It tells a story of a very kind tree who loves a boy very much. As the boy grows, he asks the tree for various favors — a limb to swing on, a shady place to sit under, even a place to carve his girlfriend’s initials into.

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Cassidy Rain Berghoff wants very badly to “get a life.” You know, as in, having a social life that would make her teenage years worthwhile. Then, very suddenly, she loses her best friend, and decides to shut herself off entirely from the world. Six months pass, and Rain has succeeded in separating herself.

Then, something scandalous draws her quickly back into her Kansas community. You see, Rain’s Aunt Georgia lives on a nearby Native American camp, and Rain is asked to use her skills as a photographer to interact with the people. Her cultural roots are asking her to connect, while her teenage self is struggling with the fear that she will be hurt again. Check out Rain Is Not My Indian Name by Cynthia Leitich Smith to find out how Rain uses her past as well as her present to find her true self.

Once, when she was a child, Alice told her grandfather that she wanted to do as he had done. She too wanted to travel the world; she wanted to live in a house by the sea. Her grandfather encouraged her to also spread beauty wherever she may go.

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When Sarabeth loses her mother very suddenly to a heart attack, she has no where to go, and no other family to take care of her. Her mom’s friends, Cynthia and Billy decide to take her in. So, she moves into their tiny one bedroom apartment. They have a new baby, and Sarabeth finds herself feeling strange. It seems to her that she has become a burden to them, and has interrupted their lives. She wants to leave, but where on earth can she go?

Girlhearts, written by Norma Fox Mazer, a Newberry-Award Honoree, will take you into the life of a daring girl who has to learn to face life when everything has fallen apart.

This is the story of a teenager, Alice, and her mother, Christine, who move to New Zealand. Christine has dragged her daughter there in order to make a new start. Christine is to be employed, she thinks, as a sort of secretary by a rather eccentric old woman, Miss Fairchild. Christine is to write a history of the mansion where they now live. Her job turns out to be more of a housekeeper and nurse than secretary and it is very much in doubt that Alice’s step-father will show up. When he does, he is quite irresponsible, often leaving a mess for Alice and Christine to handle.

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Young Matt is on his own in the family cabin in Maine. He is there waiting for his father to return with his mother, hopefully before winter comes. But, this does not happen. Soon, his rifle disappears. Things get worse when he is attacked by a bear, then by a swarm of bees. Rescued by an old Indian, Saknis, and his grandson, Attean, Matt is asked to teach Attean the white people’s ways. As the boys come to know each other, Attean learns to speak English while Matt becomes a skilled hunter. Attean asks Matt to join the Beaver tribe and move north. Should Matt abandon his hopes of ever seeing his family again and move on to a new life? Find out the answers when you read The Sign of the Beaver, by Elizabeth George Speare.

Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood by Jim Harris and Mike Artell is a funny and very nicely illustrated story set in Louisiana.

When Grand-mFre comes down with the flu, Mama knows just what to do. She sends Petite Rouge, accompanied by her cat TeJean, off to Grand-mFre’s house with a basket of tasty food to help cheer her up.

On the way, Claude, an “ol’ hungry gator”, who wants a taste of Mama’s food, stops Petite Rouge and her cat. He soon discovers that snatching a bite will take more than a little threat!

Eager to sink his teeth into the goods, Claude dresses in a nightgown, duckbill, and flippers. After the feisty heroine and her cat teach Claude a hot lesson, he learns that gators should never try to eat dinner uninvited!