Best Books

DON'T MISS THESE GREAT READS!

101 Ways to Bug Your Teacher	Lee Wardlaw	Steve "Sneeze" Wyatt attempts to thwart his parents' plan to have him skip eighth grade, but he has bigger problems when his friends disapprove of his new list and Mrs. "Fierce" Pierce threatens to keep him from the Invention Convention.
Airborn or Skybreaker	Kenneth Oppel	Matt, a young cabin boy aboard an airship, and Kate, a wealthy young girl traveling with her chaperone, team up to search for the existence of mysterious winged creatures reportedly living hundreds of feet above the Earth's surface.
Always Inventing	Tom L. Matthews	A biography, with photographs and quotes from Alexander Graham Bell himself, which follows this well known inventor from his childhood in Scotland through his life-long efforts to come up with ideas that would improve people's lives.
Betsy-Tacy	Maud Hart Lovelace	There are lots of children on Hill Street, but no little girls Betsy's age. So when a new family moves into the house across the street, Betsy hopes they will have a little girl she can play with. Sure enough, they do--a little girl named Tacy. And from the moment they meet at Betsy's fifth birthday party, Betsy and Tacy become such good friends that everyone starts to think of them as one person--Betsy-Tacy.
Bodies from the Bog	James M. Deem	In 1952, Danish workmen digging in a peat bog made an astonishing discovery. Their shovels struck the head of a dead man, his face flattened by the weight of the peat and his skin as brown as the earth in which he lay. Who was he and how had he come to be there?
The Book of Three	Lloyd Alexander	Taran, The Assistant Pig-Keeper, longs to be a hero. He begins his journey with a strange assortment of companions on a dangerous mission to save his beloved land, Prydain. Packed with action, humor, romance, and gallantry, Taran's adventures chronicle his beloved Prydain and his battle with the forces of evil.
Boston Jane	Jennifer L. Holm	Schooled in the lessons of etiquette for young ladies of 1854, Miss Jane Peck of Philadelphia finds little use for manners during her long sea voyage to the Pacific Northwest and while living among the American traders and Chinook Indians of Washington Territory.
A Boy at War: A Novel of Pearl Harbor	Harry Mazer	While fishing with his friends off Honolulu on December 7, 1941, teenaged Adam is caught in the midst of the Japanese attack and through the chaos of the subsequent days tries to find his father, a naval officer who was serving on the U.S.S. Arizona when the bombs fell.
Boy Who Saved Baseball	John H. Ritter	Tom Gallagher is in a tight spot. The fate of the Dillontown team rests on the outcome of one baseball game, winner take all. If Tom's team loses, they lose their field too. But how can they possibly win? Just when everything seems hopeless, a mysterious boy named Cruz de la Cruz rides into town and claims to know the secret of hitting.
The Breadwinner	Deborah Ellis	Because the Taliban rulers of Kabul, Afghanistan, impose strict limitations on women's freedom and behavior, eleven-year-old Parvana must disguise herself as a boy so that her family can survive after her father's arrest.
Bud, Not Buddy	Christopher Paul Curtis	Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father--the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids.
Buttermilk Hill	Ruth White	Piper Berry's hometown of Buttermilk Hill, NC, seems the perfect place to grow up in. Surrounded by family, including her young aunt Lindy who is more like a sister than an aunt, Piper fishes with her daddy and has sleepovers at her grandma's. But Piper's world is about to be turned upside down by her parents' divorce, an ugly word the young girl finds difficult to accept.
Cages	Peg Kehret	After losing an acting role and fighting with her alcoholic stepfather, Kit is arrested for shoplifting and ordered to work, as part of her sentence, at an animal shelter.
Chasing Vermeer	Blue Balliett	When a book of unexplainable occurrences brings Petra & Calder together, strange things start to happen: seemingly unrelated events connect, an eccentric old woman seeks their company, and an invaluable Vermeer painting disappears. Before they know it, the two find themselves at the center of an international art scandal.
The Chronicles of Narnia	C. S. Lewis	Listeners young and old will fall under the spell of the mystical land of Narnia, where good and evil battle, children are transformed into kings and queens, beasts and creatures can talk, and magic reigns.
Clay	Colby Rodowsky	Elsie McPhee and her younger, autistic brother, Tommy, live discreetly with their mother; they are home-schooled and constantly cautioned not to converse with strangers. It's a lonely existence for Elsie, and right when she's finally decided to skirt her mother's rules and make a friend, Mom whisks the kids out of state.
Coyote Autumn	Bill Wallace	Brad has always wanted a dog, so when he catches the little coyote, he decides to keep it. He couldn't have a dog when his family lived in a Chicago apartment, but now that they've moved to rural Oklahoma anything seems possible. Even rescuing an orphaned coyote pup...and keeping it a secret from his parents.
First Boy	Gary Schmidt	Cooper Jewett is 14 when his beloved grandfather dies, leaving him with a dairy farm to look after. Bizarre things happen--big men in black sedans follow him, the farmhouse is ransacked, the barn is set afire, and he even meets the president, who may be his long-lost mother.
Flying Solo	Ralph J. Fletcher	Rachel, having chosen to be mute following the sudden death of a classmate, shares responsibility with the other sixth-graders who decide not to report that the substitute teacher failed to show up.
Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule	Harriette Gillem Robinet	A 12-year-old orphaned slave leaves South Carolina in search of a Freedmen's Bureau during Reconstruction to claim the "40 acres and a mule" promised by General Sherman.
Galileo	Leonard Everett Fischer	Examines the life and discoveries of the noted mathematician, physicist, and astronomer, whose work changed the course of science.
Gentle's Holler	Kerry Madden	Livy Two, named for her deceased sister Olivia, is one of nine siblings living in the North Carolina mountains during the 60s. With her head-in-the-clouds, banjo-playing father and an overworked, perpetually pregnant mother, Livy Two assumes many of the child-care and household responsibilities. Still, she has time to dream of future travels, a home of her own, and her own country-music hits.
Great Gilly Hopkins	Katherine Patterson	Eleven-year-old Gilly has been stuck in more foster families than she can remember, and she's disliked them all intensely. She has a county-wide reputation for being brash, brilliant, and completely unmanageable. So when she's sent to live with the Trotters—by far the strangest family yet—Gilly decides to put her brilliant mind to work. Before long she's devised an elaborate scheme to get her real mother to come "rescue" her.
The Hideout	Peg Kehret	In a moment of madness, Jeremy Holland's parents were killed by a gunman in a Seattle mall. Now he faces a new life with his uncle Ed, a man with a vastly different lifestyle from the one Jeremy is used to. As he sits on the train hurtling toward Chicago, he can barely believe the terrible truth. He has no mother, no father, no home. Suddenly the impossible happens -- again -- as the train crashes in a blaze of fire, twisted metal, and screaming people. Jeremy staggers off, wandering aimlessly.
Homeless Bird	Gloria Whelan	When thirteen-year-old Koly enters into an ill-fated arranged marriage, she must either suffer a destiny dictated by India's tradition or find the courage to oppose it.
Hostage	Willo Davis Roberts	When eleven-year-old Kaci interrupts burglars in the process of robbing her house, she and her nosy elderly neighbor Mrs. Banducci are kidnapped and held hostage by the desperate and ruthless criminals.
House on the Gulf	Margaret P. Haddix	When Britt's older brother, Bran, lands a summer job house-sitting for an elderly couple, it seems like a great opportunity. Britt and Bran have moved to Florida so their mother can finish college, and the house-sitting income will allow their mom to quit her job and take classes full-time. Having never lived in a real house before, Britt is thrilled. There's only one problem: Britt starts to suspect her family isn't supposed to be there.
How Angel Peterson Got His Name	Gary Paulsen	Author Gary Paulsen relates tales from his youth in a small town in northwestern Minnesota in the late 1940s and early 1950s, such as skiing behind a souped-up car and imitating daredevil Evel Knievel.
Inkheart or Inkspell	Cornelia Funke	Meggie lives a quiet life alone with her father, a bookbinder. But her father has a deep secret -- he possesses an extraordinary magical power. One day a mysterious stranger arrives who seems linked to her father's past. Who is this sinister character and what does he want?
Island: Shipwreck	Gordon Korman	Six kids. One fate. Nick, J.J., Will, Lyssa, Charla, and Ian. They didn't want to be on the boat in the first place. They didn’t want to be stuck at sea with a bunch of strangers. But when you’re in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, there’s no easy way out. And when a terrifying storm hits, there’s no way to fully prepare. It’s all about survival.
Island: Survival	Gordon Korman	After their ship sinks, Luke, Ian, JJ, Sharla, Will, and Lyssa must find a way to survive. They have no food and very few supplies. They think they're all alone—but they're not. And that's even worse.
Island: Escape	Gordon Korman	Six kids have survived so far on a deserted island, but now their enemies are closing in. They have only one chance to escape. Will they make it?
The Jacket	Andrew Clements	When Phil sees another kid wearing his brother's jacket, he assumes the jacket was stolen. He turns out to be wrong, and has to ask himself the question: Would he have made the same assumption if the boy wearing the jacket hadn't been African American? That question leads to others that reveal some unsettling truths about Phil's neighborhood, his family, and even himself.
Jackie & Me	Dan Gutman	With his ability to travel through time by using baseball cards, Joe goes back to 1947 to meet Jackie Robinson, turning into a black boy in the process.
Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher	Bruce Coville	If Howard Morton and Freddie the Frog Killer were trying to hold you down so that Mary Lou Hutton could kiss you, you might run as fast as Jeremy Thatcher did the day he stumbled into Mr. Elives' Magic Shop. And if you stumbled into that strange shop, you, too, might be asked to make a choice. What would you buy? The Chinese rings? The Skull of Truth? Or the dragon's egg? And if you did buy the dragon's egg, what would you do when you found out you were supposed to hatch it?
Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key	Jack Gantos	Joey Pigza can't sit still. He can't pay attention, and he can't help it -- especially when his meds aren't working. Whether he's wreaking havoc on a class trip or swallowing his house key, Joey's problems are getting worse.
Little House on the Prairie	Laura Ingalls Wilder	A family travels from the big woods of Wisconsin to a new home on the prairie, where they build a house, meet neighboring Indians, dig a well, and fight a prairie fire.
Loser	Jerry Spinelli	Just like other kids, Zinkoff rides his bike and hopes for snow days. But Zinkoff also raises his hand with all the wrong answers, trips over his own feet, and falls down with laughter over a word like "Jabip." Other kids have their own word to describe him, but Zinkoff is too busy to hear it. And one winter night, Zinkoff's differences show that any name can someday become "hero."
The Man Who Made Time Travel	Kathryn Lasky	Describes the need for sailors to be able to determine their position at sea and the efforts of John Harrison, an eighteenth century man who spent his life refining instruments to enable them to do this.
Memory Boy	Will Weaver	Sixteen-year-old Miles and his family must flee their Minneapolis home and begin a new life in the wilderness after a chain of cataclysmic volcanic explosions creates dangerous conditions in their city.
Money Hungry	Sharon G. Flake	All thirteen-year-old Raspberry can think of is making money so that she and her mother never have to worry about living on the streets again.
The Music Thief	Peni R. Griffin	Living in San Antonio, Texas, eleven-year-old Alma tries to cope with the drive-by shooting death of her favorite Latina singer, as well as deal with the struggles of her various family members, and finds herself doing something she knows is wrong.
My Life in Dog Years	Gary Paulsen	The author describes some of the dogs that have had special places in his life, including his first dog, Snowball, in the Philippines; Dirk, who protected him from bullies; and Cookie, who saved his life.
My Louisiana Sky	Kimberly Willis Holt	Tiger Ann wants nothing more than to get out of her rural town --far away from her mentally disabled mother, her "slow" father who can't read an electric bill, and her classmates who taunt her. So when Aunt Dorie Kay asks Tiger to spend the summer with her in Baton Rouge, Tiger can't wait to go. But before she leaves, the sudden revelation of a dark family secret prompts Tiger to make a decision that will ultimately change her life.
My Side of the Mountain	Jean Craighead George	A young boy relates his adventures during the year he spends living alone in the Catskill Mountains including his struggle for survival, his dependence on nature, his animal friends, and his ultimate realization that he needs human companionship.
Number the Stars	Lois Lowry	Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think about life before the war. But it's now 1943 and their life in Copenhagen is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldiers marching in their town.
Petey	Ben Mikaelsen	In 1922 Petey, who has cerebral palsy, is misdiagnosed as an idiot and institutionalized; sixty years later, still in the institution, he befriends a boy and shares with him the joy of life.
Redwall Series	Brian Jacques	When the peaceful life of ancient Redwall Abbey is shattered by the arrival of the evil rat Cluny and his villainous hordes, Matthias, a young mouse, determines to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior which, he is convinced, will help Redwall's inhabitants destroy the enemy.
Rodzina	Karen Cushman	A twelve-year-old Polish American girl is boarded onto an orphan train in Chicago with fears about traveling to the West and a life of unpaid slavery.
The Root Cellar	Janet Lunn	Twelve-year-old orphan Rose, sent to live with unknown relatives on a farm in Canada, ventures into her aunt's root cellar and finds herself making friends with people who lived on the farm more than a century earlier.
Running Out of Time	Margaret Peterson Haddix	When a diphtheria epidemic hits her 1840 village, thirteen-year-old Jessie discovers it is actually a 1996 tourist site under unseen observation by heartless scientists, and it's up to Jessie to escape the village and save the lives of the dying children.
The Seventh Tower: The Fall	Garth Nix	Welcome to the Dark World. Tal lives high above, in a mountaintop castle where light is the ultimate commodity, the spirit world is the only escape and isolation from the outside world is complete. He does not think to question his world. He does not dare to dream of anything else. Then one day he tries to steal a sunstone, the only way of assuring his family's safety. The attempt fails, and Tal falls from the Castle... straight into the unknown.
Shakespeare's Secret	Elise Broach	Twelve-year-old Hero, the new kid in school again, discovers from her elderly neighbor and the police chief's son that a seventeen-carat diamond is hidden in her family's new house. The trio's search, leads them to Anne Boleyn, who probably passed the diamond to Elizabeth I, who gave it to her illegitimate son, Edward de Vere, possibly the real Shakespeare.
The Sign of the Beaver	Elizabeth George Speare	Until the day his father returns to their cabin in the Maine wilderness, twelve-year-old Matt must try to survive on his own. Although Matt is brave, he's not prepared for an attack by swarming bees, and he's astonished when he's rescued by an Indian chief and his grandson, Attean.
Skeleton Man	Joseph Bruchac	After her parents disappear and she is turned over to the care of a strange "great-uncle," Molly must rely on her dreams about an old Mohawk story for her safety and maybe even for her life.
Someone was Watching	David Patneaude	When his baby sister disappears from the river near their summer home, eighth grader Chris fights the assumption that she has drowned and uncovers evidence that something entirely different has happened to her.
Spellbinder: The Life of Harry Houdini	Tom Lalicki	This intriguing biography surveys the life of Elrich Weiss, better known as Harry Houdini. Born in 1874, Houdini rose to prominence as a magician and an escape artist whose feats amazed audiences, whose relentless drive for perfection propelled him to legendary status, and whose trade secrets are a matter for debate even today.
Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time	Lisa Yee	After flunking sixth-grade English, basketball prodigy Stanford Wong must struggle to pass his summer-school class, keep his failure a secret from his friends, and satisfy his academically demanding father.
A Step from Heaven	An Na	Young Ju immigrates from Korea to America with her parents. As they fly over, Young Ju is sure that they are flying to heaven. After they arrive, however, the family struggles in their new world.
Takedown	Joyce Sweeney	Joe is hosting a party in honor of his favorite weekly wrestling show when a college student-turned-murderer crashes the get-together and holds the 13-year-olds hostage.
The Tale of Despereaux	Kate DiCamillo	The adventures of Desperaux Tilling, a small mouse of unusual talents, the princess that he loves, the servant girl who longs to be a princess, and a devious rat determined to bring them all to ruin.
The Teacher's Funeral	Richard Peck	In rural Indiana in 1904, fifteen-year-old Russell's dreams of quitting school and joining a wheat threshing crew are disrupted when his older sister takes over the teaching at his one-room schoolhouse after mean, old Myrt Arbuckle "hauls off and dies."
Vacation	Polly Horvath	When his mother decides on a whim to be a missionary in Africa and drags his unwilling father with her, Henry is left in the care of his Aunts Magnolia and Pigg. Henry's sure they dislike him and he's trying to keep his distance, but that becomes more difficult when Mag decides they should take a destination-less road trip.
Walk Two Moons	Sharon Creech	The struggle of thirteen year old Salamance (Sal) to understand and deal with her mother's disappearance unfolds while on a cross-country trip with her eccentric grandparents. Sal tells them the story of her friend Phoebe whose mother has also left home, but in reality it is her own story.
The Wish	Gail Carson Levine	There is nothing wrong with Wilma Sturtz that a little popularity won't fix? And luckily for her, she meets a witch on the subway who makes her wish to be popular come true. But what will happen when the wish ends? How can Wilma make sure she is never unpopular again?
The Witch of Blackbird Pond	Elizabeth George Speare	Orphan Kit Tyler knows her new home in the bleak, cold Connecticut Colony will never be like the shimmering Caribbean islands she left behind. When she makes friends with an old Quaker woman she meets in the meadow, the association leads to an accusation of witchcraft against Kit.
A Wrinkle in Time	Madeleine L'Engle	Meg Murray, her little brother Charles Wallace, and their mother are having a midnight snack on a dark and stormy night when an unearthly stranger appears at their door. He claims to have been blown off course, and goes on to tell them that there is such a thing as a "tesseract," which, if you didn't know, is a wrinkle in time.

Best Books for 7th Graders

Abduction!	Peg Kehret	When Matt leaves his kindergarten class for a trip to the bathroom, he never imagines what will happen next. He suddenly finds himself in a stranger's car traveling to an unfamiliar place. But who is this man, and is he really a "stranger"? When the school bell rings and Matt is nowhere to be found, his sister, Bonnie, is frantic. She quickly realizes that her little brother is not lost, but missing!
Airborn or Skybreaker	Kenneth Oppel	Matt, a young cabin boy aboard an airship, and Kate, a wealthy young girl traveling with her chaperone, team up to search for the existence of mysterious winged creatures reportedly living hundreds of feet above the Earth's surface.
Alex Rider Series: Stormbreaker	Anthony Horowitz	They told him his uncle died in a car accident. Fourteen-year-old Alex knows that's a lie, and the bullet holes in his uncle's windshield confirm his suspicions. But nothing prepares him for the news that the uncle he always thought he knew was really a spy for MI6—Britain's top secret intelligence agency.
All American Girl	Meg Cabot	While waiting for her ride home from an after-school art class, Samantha Madison, a sophomore at John Adams Preparatory School in Washington, DC, inadvertently saves the President's life by jumping on the back of a would-be assassin. Suddenly, she is a celebrity, invited to the White House for dinner, named the teen ambassador to the U.N., and revered by her fellow classmates.
Anne of Green Gables	L. M. Montgomery	When the Cuthbert’s of Green Gables, send for a boy orphan to help them out at the farm, they are in no way prepared for the error that will change their lives. The mistake takes the shape of Anne Shirley, a redheaded 11-year-old girl who can talk anyone under the table. Not a day goes by without some melodramatic new episode in the tragicomedy of her life.
Artemis Fowl	Eoin Colfer	When a twelve-year-old evil genius tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold, the fairies fight back with magic, technology, and a particularly nasty troll.
Bloody Jack	L. A. Meyer	Life as a ship's boy aboard the HMS Dolphin is a dream come true for Jacky Faber. Gone are the days of scavenging for food and fighting for survival on the streets of eighteenth-century London. Instead, Jacky is becoming a skilled and respected sailor as the crew pursues pirates on the high seas. There's only one problem: Jacky is a girl.
Bound	Donna Jo Napoli	In a novel based on Chinese Cinderella tales, fourteen-year-old stepchild Xing-Xing endures a life of neglect and servitude, as her stepmother cruelly mutilates her own child's feet so that she alone might marry well.
Boy: Tales of Childhood	Roald Dahl	Roald Dahl recounts his days as a child growing up in England. From his years as a prankster at boarding school to his envious position as a chocolate tester for Cadbury's, Roald Dahl's boyhood was full of excitement. Packed with anecdotes— some funny, some painful, all interesting— this is a book that's sure to please.
Brian's Winter	Gary Paulsen	Instead of being rescued from a plane crash, as in the author's book Hatchet, this story portrays what would have happened to Brian had he been forced to survive a winter in the wilderness with only his survival pack and hatchet.
Broken Sky	Chris Wooding	It's been one year since Integration. Kia and Ryushi have banded together with the remaining members of Parakka to continue their struggle to return the world to what they once thought it was. Their fight is becoming increasingly difficult, especially now that they're in Kirin Taq, a land ruled by the cold and ruthless Princess Aurin.
Calling the Swan	Jean Thesman	Since an unspeakable thing happened to their family three years ago, Skylar's parents have hated to let her out of their sight. Now she's going to summer school, and it's a struggle to leave each morning. Skylar's older sister offers her support, but Skylar is the one who has to brave the bus, the school, the strangers . . . and the truth about what made the Deacon family outcasts.
Can't Get There From Here	Todd Strasser	She calls herself Maybe. Thrown out by her abusive mom, she struggles to survive on the streets of New York with homeless teens who become a family in the asphalt jungle. They try to care for one another, but it doesn't help much. They beg and forage for food. Maybe knows some of them work as prostitutes and deal drugs. One or two do find loving homes, but most will die--from AIDS, violence, exposure, suicide.
Code Orange	Caroline Cooney	Walking around New York City was what Mitty Blake did best. He loved the city, and even after 9/11, he always felt safe. Mitty was a carefree guy--he didn't worry about terrorists or blackouts or grades or anything, which is why he was late getting started on his Biology report. Mitty finds some old medical books in his family's weekend house and discovers an old envelope with two scabs in one of the books. The report is no longer about the grade--it's about life and death. His own.
Don't Look Behind You	Lois Duncan	How can April give up her name, her friends, her boyfriend Steve, and everything she's ever known? April Corrigan feels like her life is over when she learns that her father has been working undercover for the FBI and the family must relocate under the Federal Witness Security Program. No one can reach them now... or can they?
Dread Locks	Neal Shusterman	A spoiled-rotten 14-year-old named Parker Baer finds his life changed forever when a mysterious new neighbor shows up in his bed (even though he's not in it at the time). Tara has strange blond curls and always wears mirrored sunglasses, and Parker finds that he is irresistibly drawn to her, even when he realizes that she just toys with people—and worse.
Eyes of the Emperor	Graham Salisbury	Eddy Okubo lies about his age and joins the army in his hometown of Honolulu only weeks before the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. Suddenly Americans see him as the enemy—even the U.S. Army doubts the loyalty of Japanese American soldiers.
Fair Weather	Richard Peck	In 1893, thirteen-year-old Rosie and her family travel from their Illinois farm to Chicago to visit Aunt Euterpe and attend the World's Columbian Exposition which, along with an encounter with Buffalo Bill and Lillian Russell, turns out to be a life-changing experience for everyone.
Far North	Will Hobbs	Flying to the subarctic wilds of Canada to visit his father, who is working at a diamond mine, fifteen-year-old Gabe is accidentally stranded with his roommate in a remote area and must test his survival skills.
Fever 1793	Laurie Halse Anderson	In 1793 Philadelphia, sixteen-year-old Matilda Cook, separated from her sick mother, learns about perseverance and self-reliance when she is forced to cope with the horrors of a yellow fever epidemic.
Flush	Carl Hiassen	You know it's going to be a rough summer when you spend Father's Day visiting your dad in the local lockup. Noah's dad is sure that the owner of the Coral Queen casino boat is flushing raw sewage into the harbor -- which has made taking a dip at the beach like swimming in a toilet. He can't prove it, and decides that sinking the boat will make an effective statement. Right. The boat is pumped out and back in business within days and Noah's dad is stuck in the clink.
Full Service	Will Weaver	At his mother's suggestion, 15-year-old Wisconsin farm boy Paul Sutton takes a summer job "in town," pumping gas at the local Shell station. "You need to meet the public," his mother says, and for a boy from a conservative Christian background, what a revelation that public proves to be!
The Girls	Amy Goldman Koss	Maya has been part of the group ever since the day Candace asked her if she wanted to "do lunch" in the cafeteria. Yet when Candace suddenly deems her unworthy, Maya's so-called friends just blow her off. Maya isn't sure exactly where things went wrong for her, but she knows she has to find out who her real friends are, and who among the girls she can trust.
Gregor the Overlander	Suzanne Collins	When Gregor falls through a grate in the laundry room of his apartment building, he hurtles into the dark Underland, where spiders, rats, cockroaches coexist uneasily with humans. A prophecy foretells that Gregor has a role to play in the Underland's uncertain future. Gregor wants no part of it -- until he realizes it's the only way to solve the mystery of his father's disappearance.
George Washington: Spymaster	Thomas Allen	Codes and ciphers, invisible ink and secret messages, spies and counterspies! Covert operations win the Revolutionary War under mastermind Washington in this intriguing take on early American history.
Heir Apparent	Vivian Vande Velde	While playing a total immersion virtual reality game of kings and intrigue, fourteen-year-old Giannine learns that demonstrators have damaged the equipment to which she is connected, and she must win the game quickly or be damaged herself.
Hero	S. L. Rottman	After years of abuse from his mother and neglect from his father, ninth-grader Sean Parker is headed for trouble until he is sent to do community service at a farm owned by an old man who teaches Sean that he can take control of his own life.
The Hobbit	J. R. R. Tolkien	Bilbo Baggins, a respectable, well-to-do hobbit, lives comfortably in his hobbit-hole until the day the wandering wizard Gandalf chooses him to take part in an adventure from which he may never return.
Hope Was Here	Joan Bauer	When sixteen-year-old Hope and the aunt who has raised her move from Brooklyn to Mulhoney, Wisconsin, to work as waitress and cook in the Welcome Stairways diner, they become involved with the diner owner's political campaign to oust the town's corrupt mayor.
Hoot	Carl Hiassen	Unfortunately, Roy's first acquaintance in Florida is Dana Matherson, a well-known bully. Then again, if Dana hadn't been sinking his thumbs into Roy's temples and mashing his face against the school-bus window, Roy might never have spotted the running boy.
The House of Dies Drear	Virginia Hamilton	A hundred years ago, Dies Drear and two slaves he was hiding in his house, an Underground Railroad station in Ohio, had been murdered. The house, huge and isolated, was fascinating, Thomas thought, but he wasn't sure he was glad Papa had bought it.
Just Ella	Margaret Peterson Haddix	In this continuation of the Cinderella story, fifteen-year-old Ella finds that accepting Prince Charming's proposal ensnares her in a suffocating tangle of palace rules and royal etiquette, so she plots to escape.
Michelangelo	Diane Stanley	A biography of the Renaissance sculptor, painter, architect, and poet, well known for his work on the Sistine Chapel in Rome's St. Peter's Cathedral.
Minister's Daughter	Julie Hearn	In 1645 in England, the daughters of the town minister successfully accuse a local healer and her granddaughter of witchcraft to conceal an out-of-wedlock pregnancy, but years later during the 1692 Salem trials their lie has unexpected repercussions.
No More Dead Dogs	Gordon Korman	Eighth-grade football hero Wallace Wallace is sentenced to detention attending rehearsals of the school play where, in spite of himself, he becomes wrapped up in the production and begins to suggest changes that improve not only the play but his life as well.
Once Upon a Marigold	Jean Ferris	A young man with a mysterious past and a penchant for inventing things leaves the troll who raised him, meets an unhappy princess he has loved from afar, and discovers a plot against her and her father.
One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies	Sonya Sones	My name is Ruby. This book is about me. It tells the deeply hideous story of what happens when my mother dies and I'm dragged three thousand miles away from my gorgeous boyfriend, Ray, to live in L.A. with my father, who I've never even met because he's such a scumbag that he divorced my mom before I was born.
Overboard	Elizabeth Fama	Escaping from a sinking ferry in the waters off Sumatra, fourteen-year-old Emily fights for survival for herself and a young Indonesian boy, who draws courage from his quiet but firm Islamic faith.
Peter and the Starcatchers	Dave Barry	This prequel to Peter Pan is a pirate adventure, complete with talking porpoises, stinky rogues, possible cannibals, a flying crocodile, biting mermaids, and a much-sought-after trunk full of magical glowing green "starstuff."
Pirates!	Celia Rees	In 1722, after arriving with her brother at the family's Jamaican plantation where she is to be married off, sixteen-year-old Nancy Kington escapes with her slave friend, Minerva Sharpe, and together they become pirates traveling the world in search of treasure.
Princess Nevermore	Dian Curtis Regan	Princess Nevermore lives in the underground world that is below our own. When she is discovered and learns more about the world above her, she really is not sure what to do with her new information. Should she choose not to return underground, she will not be a princess. Should she return to her own world, she will lose the friends she has made in the world of light, and in all probability her world will be destroyed. She will never see the sun or the stars again. Is it worth it?
The Ransom of Mercy Carter	Caroline B. Cooney	In 1704, in the English settlement of Deerfield, Massachusetts, eleven-year-old Mercy and her family and neighbors are captured by Mohawk Indians and their French allies, and forced to march through bitter cold to French Canada. Some adapt to new lives and some still hope to be ransomed.
Satch and Me	Dan Gutman	"You wanna know who threw the fastest pitch ever?" Many claim that Satchel Paige was the fastest pitcher in the history of the game. Stosh and his coach, Flip Valentini, are on a mission to find out. With radar gun in tow, they travel back to 1942 and watch Satch pitch to power hitter Josh Gibson in the Negro League World Series. They soon learn that everything about Satch is fast -- whether it's his talking, driving, or getaways. But is he really the fastest pitcher who ever lived?
The Secret Hour	Scott Westerfeld	Nobody is safe in the secret hour. Strange things happen at midnight in the town of Bixby, Oklahoma. Time freezes. Nobody moves. For one secret hour each night, the town belongs to the dark creatures that haunt the shadows. Only a small group of people know about the secret hour -- only they are free to move about the midnight time.
Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World	Jennifer Armstrong	Describes the events of the 1914 Shackleton Antarctic expedition when, after being trapped in a frozen sea for nine months, their ship, Endurance, was finally crushed, forcing Shackleton and his men to make a very long and perilous journey across ice and stormy seas to reach inhabited land.
The Skin I'm In	Sharon G. Flake	Miss Saunders, who's skin is blotched with a rare skin condition, serves as a mirror to Maleeka Madison's struggle against the burden of low self-esteem that many black girls face when they're darker skinned. Miss Saunder's is tough and through this, Maleeka learns to stand up to tough-talking Charlese.
Slake's Limbo	Felice Holman	Desperate, driven, harassed to the breaking point, Slake decides to go underground—into the sheltering depths of the New York City Subway where he ends up staying for one hundred and twenty-one days. This is the story about survival, and about a 13-year-old misfit's attempts to find footing in a hostile and threatening world.
Sleeping Freshman Never Lie	David Lubar	Starting high school is never easy. Seniors take your lunch money. Girls you've known forever are suddenly beautiful and unattainable. The guys you grew up with are drifting away. And you can never get enough sleep. Could there be a worse time for Scott's mother to announce she's pregnant? Scott decides high school would be a lot less overwhelming if it came with a survival manual, so he begins to write down tips for his new sibling.
Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio	Peg Kehret	In a riveting story of courage and hope, Peg Kehret tells of months spent in a hospital when she was 12, first struggling to survive a severe case of polio, then slowly learning to walk again. Her powerful account is also full of the humor that she and four spunky roommates found in daily hospital life.
Storm Warriors	Elisa L. Carbone	Twelve-year-old Nathan Williams lives with his fisherman father and grandfather on Pea Island, off the shore of North Carolina. They share the island with the storm warriors, a heroic crew of the United States Lifesaving Service. Nathan watches the only African American crew in the service with admiration and even gets a chance to help in some of the rescues. He dreams of becoming one of them, although Nathan's father expects him to follow in his fisherman footsteps.
Surviving the Applewhites	Stephanie S. Tolan	Jake Semple is notorious. Rumor has it he burned down his old school and got kicked out of every school in his home state. Only one place will take him now, and that's a home school run by the Applewhites, a chaotic and hilarious family of artists. Jake thinks surviving this one will be a breeze ... but is he really as tough or as bad as he seems?
Talkin' About Bessie	Nikki Grimes	Elizabeth "Bessie" Coleman was always being told what she could and couldn't do. In an era when Jim Crow laws and segregation were a way of life, it was not easy to survive, but Bessie didn't let that stop her. Although she was only eleven when the Wright brothers took their first historic flight, she vowed to become the first African-American female pilot.
Telling Christina Goodbye	Lurlene McDaniel	Trisha Thompson and her best friend, Christina, are as close as sisters. Their senior year of high school is spent preparing for college and hanging out with their boyfriends. But as the four teens are en route to a game one night, Tucker, Christina's boyfriend, hits a patch of black ice and crashes the car. Overnight, Trisha's life has changed.
Through My Eyes	Ruby Bridges	In November 1960, all of America watched as a tiny six-year-old black girl, surrounded by federal Marshall's, walked through a mob of screaming segregationists and into her school. An icon of the civil rights movement, Ruby Bridges chronicles each dramatic step of this pivotal event in history.
Travel Team	Mike Lupica	Twelve-year-old Danny Walker may be the smallest kid on the basketball court -- but don't tell him that. Because no one plays with more heart or court sense. But none of that matters when he is cut from his local travel team, the very same team his father led to national prominence as a boy.
True Colors of Caitlynne Jackson	Carol Lynch Williams	Twelve-year-old Caity and her younger sister Cara must fend for themselves when their abusive mother storms out of the house with a suitcase and doesn't come back.
Truth About Forever	Sarah Dessen	Sixteen-year-old Macy Queen is looking forward to a long, boring summer. Her boyfriend is going away. She's stuck with a dull job at the library. And she'll spend all of her free time studying for the SATs or grieving silently with her mother over her father's recent unexpected death. But everything changes when Macy is corralled into helping out at one of her mother's open house events, and she meets the chaotic Wish Catering crew.
Uglies	Scott Westerfeld	Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.
Walking to the Bus-Rider Blues	Harriette Gillem Robinet	Twelve-year-old Alfa Merryfield, his older sister, and their grandmother struggle for rent money, food, and their dignity as they participate in the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott in the summer of 1956.
When My Name Was Keoko	Linda Sue Park	Sun-hee and her older brother, Tae-yul, live in Korea with their parents. Because Korea is under Japanese occupation, the children study Japanese and speak it at school. Their own language, their flag, the folktales Uncle tells them—even their names—are all part of the Korean culture that is now forbidden.
When Zachary Beaver Came to Town	Kimberly Willis Holt	It's tough for Toby when his mother leaves home to become a country singer. And Toby takes it hard when his best friend Cal's older brother goes off to fight in Vietnam. But now their sleepy Texas town is about to get an even bigger jolt with the arrival of Zachary Beaver, billed as the fattest boy in the world. Toby is in for a summer unlike any other.
Wild Man Island	Will Hobbs	After fourteen-year-old Andy slips away from his kayaking group to visit the wilderness site of his archaeologist father's death, a storm strands him on Admiralty Island, Alaska, where he manages to survive, encounters unexpected animal and human inhabitants, and looks for traces of the earliest prehistoric immigrants to America.
Williwaw!	Tom Bodett	In their father's absence, thirteen-year-old September and her younger brother Ivan disobey his orders by taking the boat out on their Alaska bay, where they are caught in a terrifying storm called a williwaw.
Z for Zachariah	Robert O'Brien	A nuclear holocaust has destroyed civilization. Ann Burden believes she is the last person alive-until she finds another survivor. She discovers there are worse things than being alone.

Best Books for 8th Graders

Alex Rider Series: Stormbreaker	Anthony Horowitz	They told him his uncle died in a car accident. Fourteen-year-old Alex knows that's a lie, and the bullet holes in his uncle's windshield confirm his suspicions. But nothing prepares him for the news that the uncle he always thought he knew was really a spy for MI6—Britain's top secret intelligence agency.
Battle Dress	Amy Efaw	As a newly arrived freshman at West Point, seventeen-year-old Andi finds herself gaining both confidence and self esteem as she struggles to get through the grueling six weeks of new cadet training known as the Beast.
Beyond the Western Sea	Avi	On January 21, 1851, Maura and Patrick O'Connell are driven by a cruel English landlord from their impoverished village in Ireland. Their hope is to join their father in America, "The Promised Land". In the seething streets of Liverpool, the children share a fate played out against a cast of detectives, scalawags, and scoundrels worthy of any Victorian novel.
Big Mouth and Ugly Girl	Joyce Carol Oates	Matt Donaghy has always been a BIG MOUTH but it's never gotten him in trouble - until one day when two detectives escort him out of class for questioning. Matt has been accused of threatening to blow up Rocky River High School.
Breathing Underwater	Alex Flinn	Sent to counseling for hitting his girlfriend, Caitlin, and ordered to keep a journal, sixteen-year-old Nick recounts his relationship with Caitlin, examines his controlling behavior and anger, and describes living with his abusive father.
Bronx Masquerade	Nikki Grimes	While studying the Harlem Renaissance, students at a Bronx high school read aloud poems they've written, revealing their innermost thoughts and fears to their formerly clueless classmates.
Bull's-Eye	Sue H. Macy	Sharpshooter Annie Oakley, a beloved icon of American history, comes to life for a new generation. Born in the backwoods of Ohio, this remarkable woman overcame poverty and abuse to achieve worldwide fame as a daring performer and markswoman.
Catalyst	Laurie Halse Anderson	Eighteen-year-old Kate, who sometimes chafes at being a preacher's daughter, finds herself losing control in her senior year as she faces difficult neighbors, the possibility that she may not be accepted by the college of her choice, and an unexpected death.
Chinese Cinderella	Adeline Yen Mah	A riveting memoir of a girl's painful coming-of-age in a wealthy Chinese family during the 1940s. A Chinese proverb says, "Falling leaves return to their roots." In Chinese Cinderella, Adeline Yen Mah returns to her roots to tell the story of her painful childhood and her ultimate triumph and courage in the face of despair.
Counterfeit Son	Elaine Marie Alphin	When serial killer Hank Miller is killed in a shoot-out with police, his abused son Cameron adopts the identity of one of his father's victims in order to find a better life.
Crooked	Laura McNeal	Clara Wilson has a lot on her mind. Her best friend, Gerri, has started moving in circles that will never in a million years include Clara and her crooked nose. Clara's parents are fighting again, and her mom keeps talking about teaching in France. At least Clara still has Hambone, her loyal dog. And her crush on Amos McKenzie, of course.
Cut	Patricia McCormick	While confined to a mental hospital, thirteen-year-old Callie slowly comes to understand some of the reasons behind her self-mutilation, and gradually starts to get better.
Dealing With Dragons	Patricia Wrede	Cimorene is everything a princess is not supposed to be: headstrong, tomboyish, smart. And bored. So bored that she runs away to live with a dragon . . . and finds the family and excitement she's been looking for.
Define Normal	Julie Anne Peters	When she agrees to meet with Jasmine as a peer counselor at their middle school, Antonia never dreams that this girl with the black lipstick and pierced eyebrow will end up helping her deal with the serious problems she faces at home and become a good friend.
A Diamond in the Dust	Carla Joinson	Despite her mother's objections and the love of an older classmate, sixteen-year-old Katy is determined to find a better life for herself beyond her family's poverty and sorrow in the Illinois coal mining town where they live.
Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey!	Margaret Peterson Haddix	In the journal she is keeping for English class, sixteen-year-old Tish chronicles the changes in her life when her abusive father returns home after a two-year absence.
Dunk	David Lubar	While hoping to work as the clown in an amusement park dunk tank on the New Jersey shore the summer before his junior year in high school, Chad faces his best friend's serious illness, hassles with police, and the girl that got away.
Everest Series: The Contest	Gordon Korman	Four kids. One mountain. They come from all across America to be the youngest kid ever to climb Everest. But only one will reach the top first. The competition is fierce. The preparation is intense. The challenge is breathtaking. When the final four reach the higher peaks, disaster strikes -- and all that separates the living from the dead is chance, bravery, and action.
Finding Lubchenko	Michael Simmons	Evan MacAlister always has a scheme. Since his millionaire father never gives him any money, Evan "liberates" equipment from Dad’s business and sells it on eBay. But when a man is murdered and Mr. McAlister is accused, Evan is fresh out of plans. He alone can clear his father’s name— but only by revealing his own theft operation. And then he’ll be grounded forever.
Flipped	Wendelin Van Draanen	Neighbors Bryce Loski and Juli Baker have flipped for each other. Well, not exactly. In second grade, Juli was dazzled by his blue eyes, but Bryce ran whenever he saw her. Six years later, Juli is enamored still and Bryce still runs in the opposite direction. Now, however, their feelings for each other have flip-flopped. Now Bryce finds Juli strangely different somehow, but Juli thinks Bryce is a coward and a sneak.
Forged by Fire	Sharon Draper	This prequel to Draper's Tears of a Tiger is a stark portrayal of a young man struggling to protect his little sister from a drug-addicted mother and an abusive father.
Freak the Mighty	Rodman Philbrick	At the beginning of eighth grade, learning disabled Max and his new friend Freak, whose birth defect has affected his body but not his brilliant mind, find that when they combine forces they make a powerful team.
The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn	Dorothy Hoobler	Teenaged Seikei dreams of being one of Japan's legendary warriors, a samurai-but samurai are born, not made, and Seikei is a tea merchant's son. Then a ruby intended for the shogun is stolen. Seikei is the only witness, and the famous samurai magistrate, Judge Ooka, needs his help. Soon they are hot on the trail of the ruby-and an unforgettable adventure.
Girl in a Cage	Jane Yolen	As English armies invade Scotland in 1306, eleven-year-old Princess Marjorie, daughter of the newly crowned Scottish king, Robert the Bruce, is captured by England's King Edward Longshanks and held in a cage on public display.
Girl with the Pearl Earring	Tracy Chevalier	Girl with a Pearl Earring centers on Vermeer's prosperous Delft household during the 1660s. When Griet, the novel's quietly perceptive heroine, is hired as a servant, turmoil follows. First, the 16-year-old narrator becomes increasingly intimate with her master. Then Vermeer employs her as his assistant--and ultimately has Griet sit for him as a model.
Girlhearts	Norma Fox Mazer	Thirteen-year-old Sarabeth Silver's life is turned upside-down when her mother dies suddenly, leaving her orphaned, confused, and at the mercy of everyone who seems to know what is best for her.
Head Above Water	S. L. Rottman	Skye, a high school junior, tries to find the time for both family obligations and personal interests, which include caring for her brother who has Down's Syndrome, dating her first boyfriend, and swimming competitively.
Home of the Braves	David Klass	At the start of his senior year, Joe Brickman expects to be the star of his high school soccer team and finally work up the courage to ask out his neighbor, Kristine. Things don't turn out as expected, however, when Antonio Silva, a transfer student from Brazil, turns up and takes over.
Horse Sense	Jan Schultz	When his beloved mare is stolen by the James gang after an attempted bank robbery in the nearby town of Northfield, Will joins the posse looking for the outlaws.
The House of the Scorpion	Nancy Farmer	In a future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as the young clone of El Patron, the 142-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between Mexico and the United States.
I Have Lived a Thousand Years	Livia Bitton-Jackson	The author describes her experiences during World War II when she and her family were sent to the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz.
If You Come Softly	Jacqueline Woodson	After meeting at their private school in New York, fifteen-year-old Jeremiah, who is black and whose parents are separated, and Ellie, who is white and whose mother has twice abandoned her, fall in love and then try to cope with people's reactions.
In my Father's House	Ann Rinaldi	Oscie Mason, a proud daughter of the Old South, is infuriated by her stepfather's opinions about slavery, the Confederacy, and Oscie's childhood world, and when he moves the family, Oscie learns about battles fought inside the home.
Into Thin Air	Jon Krakauer	In March 1996, Outside magazine sent veteran journalist and seasoned climber Jon Krakauer on an expedition led by celebrated Everest guide Rob Hall. Despite the expertise of Hall and the other leaders, by the end of summit day eight people were dead. Krakauer's book is at once the story of the ill-fated adventure and an analysis of the factors leading up to its tragic end.
Island Boyz	Graham Salisbury	Share the rush a boy feels when he leaps off a cliff into a ravine or feasts his eyes on a beautiful woman. Stories that show what it takes to survive prep school, or a hurricane, or the night shift at Taco Bell, or first love.
Jade Green	Phyllis Reynolds Naylor	While living with her uncle in a house haunted by the ghost of a young woman, recently orphaned Judith Sparrow wonders if her one small transgression causes mysterious happenings.
Just Listen	Sarah Dessen	Last year, Annabel was "the girl who has everything"—at least that’s the part she played in the television commercial for Kopf ’s Department Store. This year, she’s the girl who has nothing: no best friend because mean-but-exciting Sophie dropped her, no peace at home since her older sister became anorexic, and no one to sit with at lunch. Until she meets Owen Armstrong.
Key to the Golden Firebird	Maureen Johnson	When Mike Gold has a heart attack and dies in his 1967 Firebird, the car sits in the family garage untouched for a year. May, Brooks, and Palmer Gold--all teenage girls in what May calls the "Tall, Blond, and Wonderful Family"--suffer from neglect as well when their mother goes to work overtime at the hospital to pay the bills. The three girls deal with their father's death in different ways.
The Land	Mildred D. Taylor	At 14, Paul-Edward leaves his family and vows to succeed on his own. From horse racing to lumber camps to outwitting double-crossing businessmen, Paul-Edward will do whatever it takes to make his dream of owning his own land a reality. Along the way he discovers his own strength, the value of friendship and a love that lasts a lifetime.
Letting Go of Bobby James	Valerie Hobbs	Sally Jo Walker, known as Jody, is a 16-year-old runaway bride of 13 weeks who finds herself on her own with $20 in her pocket and nowhere to go.
Little Women	Louisa May Alcott	Meet the March sisters: the talented and tomboyish Jo, the beautiful Meg, the frail Beth, and the spoiled Amy, as they pass through the years between girlhood and womanhood. A lively portrait of growing up in the 19th century with lasting vitality and enduring charm.
Lord of the Deep	Graham Salisbury	Working for his stepfather on a charter fishing boat in Hawaii teaches thirteen-year-old Mikey about fishing, and about taking risks, making sacrifices, and facing some of life's difficult choices.
Manny	Sarah L. Thomson	Justin Blakewell has the perfect summer job: he’s a manny—a male nanny— in the Hamptons. You say girls are nannies? That’s right. What better way to meet and impress them? Justin’s mission: to date rich, bikini-clad beauties all summer long. Taking care of four- year-old Aspen causes some hilarious mishaps, but all goes as planned—until Justin falls for the wrong girl.
Maximum Ride	James Patterson	Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel are kids who are pretty normal-except that they're 98% human, 2% bird. They grew up in cages, living like rats, and now they're free-but being chased by the wicked, wolf-like Erasers, who've kidnapped Angel. Led by Max, the "Flock" embarks on a quest to find Angel, infiltrate a secret facility to track down their parents, get revenge on an evil traitor, and try to save the world-if there's time.
Midnighters Series	Scott Westerfeld	Nobody is safe in the secret hour. Strange things happen at midnight in the town of Bixby, Oklahoma. Time freezes. Nobody moves. For one secret hour each night, the town belongs to the dark creatures that haunt the shadows. Only a small group of people know about the secret hour — only they are free to move about the midnight time.
Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentlemen	Eleanor Updale	When a petty thief falls through a glass roof while fleeing from the police, it should have been the death of him. Instead, it marks the beginning of a whole new life. Soon he has become the most successful -- and elusive -- burglar in Victorian London, plotting daring raids and using London's new sewer system to escape. He adopts a dual existence to fit his new lifestyle, taking on the roles of a respectable, wealthy gentleman named Montmorency and his corrupt servant, Scarper.
Night Hoops	Carl Deuker	While trying to prove that he is good enough to be on his high school's varsity basketball team, Nick must also deal with his parents' divorce and the erratic behavior of a troubled classmate who lives across the street.
The Other Side of Truth	Beverly Naidoo	When Nigeria's corrupt military government kills their mother, twelve-year-old Sade and her brother Femi think their lives are over. Their father decides to smuggle the children out of Nigeria and into London, where their uncle lives. When they get to the cold and massive city, they find themselves lost and alone, with no one to trust and no idea when -- or if -- they will ever see their father again.
Players	Joyce Sweeney	Eighteen-year-old Corey sees a threat to his dream of winning the basketball championship when he discovers that the new player on his team is a girl-stealing, friend-framing, team-destroying force of evil.
Queen's Own Fool	Jane Yolen	Nicola was a most unlikely person to end up "fool" and friend to Mary, Queen of Scots. Nicola isn't an ordinary comedian tumbling and clowning before the court; her quick wit and sharp tongue are rare amongst the fawning nobles. As fate takes Mary from France to Scotland, and into confrontations with rebellious lords and advisors, Nicola remains deep in the queen's inner circle. But when the Scots start to turn on Queen Mary, Nicola struggles to find something that she, just a fool, can do to save her friend.
Rimshots	Charles R. Smith Jr.	A book of stories and poems about playing basketball.
Robinson Crusoe	Daniel Defoe	Caught in the howling turmoil of hurricane and tidal wave, a young gentleman merchant named Robinson Crusoe was flung onto the shore of a deserted tropical island. His ship--destroyed. His crew--dead. His location--unknown. The only human across the ocean--were savage cannibal tribes.
Safe at Second	Scott Johnson	Paulie Lockwood's best friend Todd Bannister is destined for the major leagues until a line drive to the head causes him to lose an eye and they both must find a new future for themselves.
Savion: My Life in Tap	Savion Glover	Examines the life and career of the young tap dancer who speaks with his feet and who choreographed the Tony Award-winning Broadway show "Bring in da Noise, Bring in da Funk."
Secrets of a Civil War Submarine	Sally M. Walker	When the Union blockade of all ports in the South stopped supplies from reaching the Confederate Army, Horace L. Hunley decided to create a submarine that would be able to sneak up on enemy ships and blow them up. After many years of trial and error, the H. L. Hunley actually succeeded in sinking the USS Housatonic in February of 1864. But the submarine never returned to port, and her crew perished in the Charleston Harbor.
Shadow of a Doubt	S. L. Rottman	As his sophomore year in high school begins, fifteen-year-old Shadow joins the forensics team, makes new friends, and struggles to cope with the return of his older brother, who ran away seven years earlier and now faces a murder trial.
Silent to the Bone	E. L. Konigsburg	When he is wrongly accused of gravely injuring his baby half-sister, thirteen-year-old Branwell loses his power of speech and only his friend Connor is able to reach him and uncover the truth about what really happened.
Sleeping Freshman Never Lie	David Lubar	Scott Hudson is the quintessential freshman. He's small, he's lost, and seniors yoke him for spare change. His honors homework keeps him up all night and his gym teacher is trying to kill him. He joins the paper, runs for student council, and tries out for the play, just to be near a girl he likes. This all backfires.
Soldier X	Don Wulffson	Sixteen-year-old Erik Brandt barely knows what Germany is fighting for when he is drafted into Hitler's army in 1944. Sent to the killing fields of the Eastern Front, he is surrounded by unimaginable sights, more horrific than he ever thought possible.
Speak	Laurie Halse Anderson	When Melinda Sordino's friends discover she called the police to quiet a party, they ostracize her, turning her into an outcast -- even among kids she barely knows. But even worse than the harsh conformity of high-school cliques is a secret that you have to hide.
Spy High Series	A. J. Butcher	The six members of Bond team are on a mission that may mean life or death for them or for thousands of innocent people. They are students at Spy High, an elite school that not only teaches them academics, but also instructs them on hand-to-hand combat, infiltrating evil-doer computer systems, and proper use of their shock suits.
Stargirl	Jerry Spinelli	Leo Borlock follows the unspoken rule at Mica Area High School: don't stand out--under any circumstances! Then Stargirl arrives at Mica High and everything changes--for Leo and for the entire school.
Stetson	S. L. Rottman	Stetson has been rebuilding an old Honda Civic working at a salvage yard, and designing T-shirts to help pay for food and parts. As long as Stet avoids his abusive, alcoholic father, he considers himself lucky. Then his father brings home Kayla-a younger sister Stet never knew he had. Can these two wary siblings find anything in common, and try to build a future together?
Swallowing Stones	Joyce McDonald	When 17-year-old Michael discovers that he has accidentally killed the father of a schoolmate, he wrestles with his own guilt until he can no longer keep his terrible secret.
Uglies Pretties or Specials	Scott Westerfeld	Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.
Who Killed Mr. Chippendale?	Mel Glenn	Free verse poems describe the reactions of students, colleagues, and others when a high school teacher is shot to death as the school day begins.

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Last Updated: 08/11/06