• Runaway Girl / Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan.
  Artist Louise Bourgeois followed her vision and led a remarkable life free to explore her own creativity.
• Theodore Roosevelt: Champion of the American Spirit / Betsy Harvey Kraft.
  A thoroughly enjoyable biography of the 26th President of the United Slates.
• Facing the Lion / Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton.
  Vivid, compelling story of one boy's courageous ability to straddle the conflicting worlds of the West and the Maasai's nomadic way of life in Kenya.
• Days of Jubilee: The End of Slavery in the United States / Patricia C. and Frederick L. McKissack.
  First-hand accounts of the power of emancipation from those who lived through the US. Civil War.
• An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 / Jim Murphy.
  W hen yellow fever broke out in Philadelphia, the new nation's capitol, no one knew how to stop or cure it, only that more and more people were dying every day.
• Left for Dead: A Young Man's Search for Justice for the U.S.S. Indianapolis / Pete Nelson.
  Middle schoo! student Hunter Scott rewrites history! He helps to dear the name of Charles McVay, captain of the U.S.S. Indianapolis. Hard to put down.

Short Takes

• Shattered: Stories of Children and War / Jennifer Armstrong.
  From Afghanistan, Vietnam, the Middle East and elsewhere, these stories give a moving perspective on the experience of war.
• Necessary Noise: Stories about our Families / Michael Cart, ed.
  A collection of ten stories about how families really are today: twisted, fractured, blended, and interconnected.
• Soul Searching: 13 Stories about Faith / Lisa Rowe Fraustino.
  From an unwed Amish teen mother, to a Palestinian boy defending an olive grove, to a girl waiting for a new heart, these are touching stories about faith and belief.
• Destination Unexpected / Donald Gallo, ed.
  Stories by acclaimed young adult authors share the theme of travel, long distance and short, to places that may surprise you.
• A Gift of Dragons / Anne McCaffrey.
  No one tells a dragon story better than McCaffrey.
• Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits / Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson.
  Water, magic, and creatures collide in these tales.

Poetry in Motion

• Poems from Homeroom / Kathi Appelt.
  A compact collection of original poems with ideas for aspiring poets.
• Who Will Tell My Brother? / Marlene Carvell.
  When a teenager fights to remove the Indian mascot at his school, he has no idea what his actions will unleash.
• Keesha’s House / Helen Frost.
  Joe's house is Keesha's safe haven and a magnet for six other kids in trouble.
• Swimming Upstream: Middle School Poems / Kristine O'Connell George.
  A collection of poems that convey the uncertainties, emotions, and experiences of middle school.
• Aleutian Sparrow / Karen Hesse.
  Just when Vera finds happiness living with an elderly couple who honors the old ways, she is shipped to an Alaskan internment camp after the Japanese invade the Aleutian Islands during WWII.
• Soul Moon Soup / Lindsay Lee Johnson
  Abandoned by her father, eleven-year-old Phoebe and her mother end up homeless. When Phoebe is sent to live with her grandmother, she learns a family secret.

Sherlock's Corner

• Year of the Hangman / Gary Blackwood.
  The British have won the American Revolution in this alternative version of history, which forces a British boy, who had been kidnapped to America, to decide where his loyalties lie.
• Skeleton Key / Anthony Horowitz.
  The third in a series about Alex Rider, a teenage "James Bond" for the British intelligence agency, MI6.
• Shades of Simon Gray / Joyce McDonald.
  Trapped in a coma after a car accident, Simon Gray learns about a man who was hanged for murder two hundred years ago, and realizes that their lives might be connected.
• Acceleration / Graham McNamee.
  Duncan accidentally discovers the diary of a stalker and potential killer.
• The Enemy Has a Face / Gloria Mikowitz.
  Even though Netta's family has moved from Israel to Los Angeles, she is forced to examine her fears and prejudices when her brother disappears, possibly at the hands of Palestinians.

Children of War

• Evvy’s Civil War / Miriam Brenaman.
  At fourteen, Evvy defies expectations and assumes the responsibility of keeping her family safe from the ravages of the Civil War.
• A Stone in My Hand / Cathryn Clinton.
  From her rooftop in Gaza City, Malaak watches the fighting between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian boys, and worries about her brother's increasingly extremist views.
• Amaryllis / Craig Crist-Evans.
  Jimmy learns about the harsh realities of the Vietnam War through a series of letters from his older brother Frank.
• Hear the Wind Blow / Mary Downing Hahn.
  Haswell's family suffers tragic consequences after he convinces his mother and younger sister to help a wounded Confederate soldier.
• Run, Boy, Run / Uri Orlev.
  Orphaned and on the run at age eight, Srulik struggles to survive the Holocaust in the Polish countryside. This is an extraordinary true story.
• The River Between Us / Richard Peck.
  With the Civil War approaching, two Southern ladies arrive in a small town in Illinois, and the entire town wonders why they are there.
• Milkweed / Jerry Spinelli.
  A boy with no name has nothing but a big heart and the will to survive the deprivation that has become everyday life in the Warsaw ghetto during WWII.

Heartfelt

• My Heartbeat / Garret Freymann-Weyr.
  Ellen is in love with James, her older brother Link's best friend. The problem is that Link and James might be more than best friends.
• Straydog / Kathe Koja.
  When spurred on by her teacher to write, Rachel finds that she has much in common with the wild dog she cares for at the animal shelter.
• Son of the Mob / Gordon Korman.
  Life is complicated enough for Vincent, what with keeping Dad's questionable business practices a secret. Thank goodness for his sense of humor when the FBI becomes involved.
• Boy Meets Boy / David Leviathan.
  When Paul loses the boy of his dreams, he is determined to win him back in this wacky, lighthearted romance.
• Kissing Kate / Lauren Myracle.
  After Lissa and Kate kiss at a party, many questions arise.
• Hard Love / Ellen Wittlinger.
  Through the 'zine world, John meets his best friend and love interest Marisol, who identifies herself as a "Puerto Rican Cuban Yankee lesbian." What's a boy to do?

Blast from the Past

• Gilbert and Sullivan Set Me Free / Kathleen Karr.
  Wrongfully imprisoned for a crime she was forced to commit, Libby Dodge humorously rises above prison life and helps start a production of The Pirates of Penzance.
• The Silent Boy / Lois Lowry, Lois.
  Katy befriends a mute neighborhood boy in her small town in pre-WWI America.
• Tulsa Burning / Anna Myers.
  Noble Chase knows what it's like to be a victim of hate and is determined to help his friend escape the racial violence in Tulsa, despite the consequences.
• Daughter of Venice / Donna Jo Napoli.
  Donata, fourteen-year-old daughter of a noble family in 15th century Venice, frustrated by the restrictions imposed on girls, sneaks into the city disguised as a boy for a series of adventures.
• Pirates / Celia Rees.
  Planning to escape their predestined lives of drudgery, Nancy and Minerva join the crew of the Deliverance and land in a hotbed of piracy and intrigue.

Question Reality

• A Matter of Profit / Hilari Bell.
  A reluctant soldier in a warrior culture, Avhren becomes an investigator, delving into the rumor of a rebellion against his emperor.
• Things Not Seen / Andrew Clements.
  Everyone feels invisible sometimes, but when Bobby wakes up to discover he really is invisible, life becomes very complicated.
• Sweetblood / Pete Hautman.
  Smart, funny Lucy is drawn into online goth/vampire culture when she draws disturbing comparisons between her diabetic condition and vampires.
• Warrior Angel / Robert Lipsyte.
  Champion fighter Sonny is saved from depression and failure by a mentally unstable fan who becomes an unlikely friend.

Flights of Fantasy

• The Angel Factory / Terence Blacker.
  Who can you trust when you discover that your 'perfect family' is anything but?
• House of the Scorpion / Nancy Farmer.
  Growing up on the estate of El Patron, the ruler of a country called Opium, Matt learns he has a special, but horrible, destiny.
• Inkheart / Cornelia Funke.
  Twelve-year-old Meggie has always wished that her father, a bookbinder, would read aloud to her but discovers the terrible consequences when he does.
• Messenger / Lois Lowry.
  The long awaited companion to The Giver and Gathering Blue.
• Eragon / Christopher Paolini.
  A must for fantasy lovers. This debut novel by fifteen-year-old Paolini has it all- elves, dwarfs, dragons, and a quest against evil.
• Dust / Arthur Slade.
  Robert is the only one to make the connection between disappearing children and the mysterious rainmaker who arrives in town promising to end the drought.

All in the Family

• Olive’s Ocean / Kevin Henkes.
  Martha, who dreams of becoming a writer, spends her summer sharing secrets with her grandmother and thinking about a classmate who died.
• Mountain Solo / Jeanette Ingold.
  Tess is a musical prodigy. Against her mother's wishes, she gives up playing the violin and moves to Montana to live with her father and stepmother.
• The First Part Last / Angela Johnson.
  Sixteen-year-old Bobby is thrown into the role of fatherhood.
• You Don’t Know Me / David Klass.
  John, a freshman in high school, copes with his problems—big and small—with humor and astute self-awareness.
• The Lightkeeper’s Daughter / Iain Lawrence.
  Seventeen-year-old Squid returns to her island home with her three-year-old daughter to face the memory of her brother's death.
• A Mango-Shaped Space / Wendy Mass.
  Mia hides the fact that she sees the world differently from those around her. Sounds, letters, and numbers transpose into colors, which makes her life very difficult.
• Thief of Dreams / Todd Strasser.
  Martin's parents are going to China on business for a month, and his mysterious Uncle Lawrence comes to stay—but where does Uncle Lawrence go at night, and why does he need a telescope and night-vision glasses?

Play Ball!

• Summerland / Michael Chabon.
  A classic good versus evil fantasy, this adventure story incorporates ingenuity, Native American folklore, and plenty of baseball.
• High Heat / Carl Deuker.
  Shane's fastball is his team's blistering ace-in-the-hole, but when his family life falls apart, it becomes a weapon.
• Out of Order / A.M. Jenkins.
  Colt Trammel, baseball ace and nasty boy, is failing in school. His mother's ultimatum: "Improve the grades, or baseball is history."
• Shakespeare Bats Cleanup / Ron Koertge.
  Embarrassed at first to be seen as a poet, Kevin finds that writing is a liberating way to express himself while bedridden with mono and unable to play the game he loves, baseball.
• Three Clams and An Oyster / Randy Powell.
  Can three guys, best friends since first grade, dump an old friend to sign up a better flag-football player—a girl?
• Extra Innings / Robert Newton Peck.
  An airplane disaster leaves former baseball star Tate an orphan and crippled. Through the stories of his older relatives he discovers other ways to nurture his body, soul, and mind.

Retellings

• The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest / Ellen Datlow, ed.
  Who is the Green Man, and why have so many people written about him?
• East / Edith Pattou.
  In exchange for health and prosperity for her family, Rose is carried off on a journey by an enormous white bear.
• Quiver / Stephanie Spinner.
  Favored by the gods and skilled enough to hunt with heroes, Atalanta wishes to remain single, but her father insists that she marry and produce an heir.
• Briar Rose / Jane Yolen.
  After her grandmother's death, Rebecca begins to understand that her childhood version of Sleeping Beauty contains clues to her grandmother's past during WWII.
• Sword of the Rightful King / Jane Yolen.
  Merlinnus the magician sets the sword in the stone to prove that Arthur is the rightful king—but who pulled the sword first, and is the boy Gawen all that he appears to be?

With Heavy Hearts

• Colibri / Ann Cameron.
  Rosa, a Guatemalan girl, quietly and courageously rebels against the man who claims he rescued her from abandonment when she was little.
• Wenny Has Wings / Janet Lee Carey.
  Will discovers there is life after death when a truck hits him but kills his little sister Wenny.
• Loose Threads / Laurie Ann Grover.
  Four generations of women in Kay's family work together with humor and courage to survive her grandmother's battle with cancer.
• The Stone Goddess / Mingfong Ho.
  Narkri and her family are forced to evacuate Phnom Penh when the Khmer Rouge takes over, spending years in labor camps before they are resettled in America.
• Green Angel / Alice Hoffman.
  Haunted by the loss of her family, fifteen-year-old Green transforms herself and her life as she learns to survive on her own.
• Keeper of the Night / Kimberly Willis Holt.
  Thirteen-year-old Isabel is so busy taking care of her family after her mother's suicide that she has forgotten both her mother and how to smile.
• Pool Boy / Michael Simmons.
  Wealthy Brett has it all—cars, a mansion, and an arrogant attitude to match—until his father is jailed for insider trading and his world spins out of control.

School's Rules

• Sahara Special / Esme Raji Codell.
  Grief stricken by the loss of her father, Sahara refuses to work at school and is placed in a special needs class until she meets an outrageous, gifted teacher.
• The Lottery / Beth Goobie.
  Every year the Shadow Council holds a lottery. Fifteen-year-old Sal is this year's winner and she must obey the council's every order without question, or does she?
• The Misfits / James Howe.
  A band of middle school students decides to form a political party in their school—their platform: "No more name calling."
• Buddha Boy / Kathe Koja.
  Artistic Jinsen, known as "Buddha Boy," is the target of the jocks' cruelty and bullying, making friendship with him a difficult challenge for Justin.
• After / Francine Prose.
  Tom's school goes into high security mode after a school shooting in the next town, and before long the students' privileges and personal freedoms start to disappear.

Dose of Humor

• King of the Mild Frontier / Chris Crutcher.
  Chris Crutcher shares outrageous, humorous tidbits about his childhood and teenage years.
• Remote Man / Elizabeth Honey.
  Using his computer skills, Ned, along with his Australian cousin and email friends, uncovers a band of smugglers trying to export exotic animals.
• Blue Avenger / Norma Howe.
  After the death of his father, David Schumacher decides to become his cartoon creation/alter-ego "Blue Avenger" and fight injustices in his world.
• Ruby Electric / Theresa Nelson.
  Twelve-year-old Ruby is an aspiring screenplay writer—but where will she find a happy ending when she's stuck doing community service for a crime she didn't commit?
• The Glass Café: Or, the Stripper and the State / Gary Paulsen.
  Tony is an artist, and when he sketches some of the dancers at the club where his mother works, Family Services gets involved. Family Services has not met Tony's mother!
• The Wee Free Men / Terry Pratchett.
  Tiffany, a young aspiring witch, matches wits with the evil Queen of the Elves, with the help of a raucous tribe of small, blue, drunken men.