GRADE SEVEN Tuck Everlasting Of Mice and Men The Prince and the Pauper Fahrenheit 451 Call of the Wild GRADE EIGHT Little Women To Sir With Love The Hound of the Baskervilles Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Lord of the Flies The Old Man and the Sea All Creatures Great and Small Flowers for Algernon Billy Budd Never Cry Wolf Motown & Didi Journey to the Center of the Earth Night Swiss Family Robinson Delsea Middle School Suggested Reading List Acampora, Paul. DEFINING DULCIE. Dulcie works along with her father and grandfather as janitors at her high-school. When her father dies as a result of a cleaning chemical accident Dulcie’s mother decides she is picking up and moving to California. Dulcie doesn’t want to leave everything she knows, but travels across country with her mom in her father’s pick-up truck. When her mother decides to sell her father’s truck, Dulcie can’t bear to lose the only thing left of her father’s. She takes the truck and drives back to her grandfather’s home in Connecticut, sending postcards to her mother along the way. When she gets there her punishment is to work for free as a janitor with her grandfather and Roxanne, a girl with an abusive mother. A humorous and witty adventure. (FICTION) Anderson, Laurie Halse. FEVER, 1793. 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. (Fiction) Auch, Mary Jane. ASHES OF ROSES. Margaret Rose Nolan comes to New York with her family to begin a new life in America. When her baby brother is denied entry when he is examined on Ellis Island, her father returns to Ireland with him, with plans to return to America as soon as possible. Her mother and one sister return a few days later when inhospitable relatives make life in America too difficult to bear. Margaret Rose and her sister Maureen stay behind. This historical novel chronicles their struggles and triumphs as immigrants in America including a description of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in which 146 lives were lost. (Fiction) Ayres, Katherine. STEALING SOUTH: A STORY OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD. Sixteen-year-old, Will Spencer is leaving home to become a peddler. He has been a driver on the Underground Railroad and on his final trip promises a runaway slave that he will try to bring the rest of his family to freedom in Canada. He risks life, limb and his fortunes to keep his promise. (Fiction) Barrett, Tracy. COLD IN SUMMER. Ariadne’s family moves from her home in Florida to a small college town in Tennessee during her seventh grade year. She misses her old home and friends. One day when she is especially down she meets an odd-looking girl, May Butler, who has a long braid and wears a faded blue dress and brown boots. It turns out that May is a ghost from the 1850’s who wants to return to where she belongs, a place where it is “cold in summer and warm in winter”. This is great ghost story with some twists and turns that make it an exciting read. Barron, T. A.. THE LOST YEARS OF MERLIN. A young boy who has no identity nor memory of his past washes ashore on the coast of Wales and finds his true name after a series of fantastic adventures. [Includes a series of books] (Fiction) Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. KIDS ON STRIKE! Describes the conditions and treatment that drove workers, including many children, to various strikes, from the mill workers strikes in 1828 and 1836 and the coal strikes at the turn of the century, to the work of Mother Jones on behalf of child workers. (Non-Fiction) Bauer, Joan. HOPE WAS HERE. Sixteen-year-old Hope and the aunt who has raised her move from place to place working as a waitress and cook in diners around the United States. Their next stop is Mulhoney, Wisconsin, where they will find excitement, friendship, and even romance. (Fiction) Beattie, Owen. BURIED IN ICE. Probes the tragic and mysterious fate of Sir John Franklin’s failed expedition to find the Northwest Passage in 1845. (Non-Fiction) Blackwood, Gary L. THE YEAR OF THE HANGMAN. A historical novel that explores what would happen if events of the Revolutionary War did not turn out the way they did. When a Creighton, a spoiled fifteen-year-old British aristocrat, is banished to the colonies to be taught discipline by his uncle, a colonel in the British army, many adventures ensue. From encounters with pirates, work with Ben Franklin, and a mission with Benedict Arnold to release a captured George Washington, Creighton comes to terms with his personal loyalties and does a bit of growing up in the process. (Fiction) Bunting, Eve. THE PRESENCE. Seventeen-year-old Catherine's parents are away over the Christmas holiday and she is sent to her grandmother's in Passadena, CA for the holiday. While visiting her grandmother's church she meets Noah, who tells her he can communicate with her dead pen pal. The only problem is Noah is a ghost who has lured girls who look like Catherine into the basement of the church for years. Will Catherine become his next victim? (Fiction) Cappo, Nan Willard. CHEATING LESSONS: A NOVEL. Bernadette Ternell, an academically gifted student, is challenged with conflicted feelings when she discovers that answers and test results have been changed by a favorite teacher. The stakes are high in a state-wide Jeopardy-like tournament that promises a $10,000 college scholarship to each member of the winning team. Should she play along, throw her answers, or expose the cheating? (Fiction) Carbone, Elisa Lynn. STEALING FREEDOM. A novel based on the events in the life of a young slave girl from Maryland who endures all kinds of mistreatment and cruelty, including being separated from her family, but who eventually escapes to freedom in Canada. (Fiction) Choldenko, Gennifer. NOTES FROM A LIAR AND HER DOG. Ant, is so misunderstood. She is stuck in a family she does not like and copes by pretending that her “real” parents are coming to rescue her. She loves her dog Pistachio, and tries to do what she believes to be right, but always seems to mess up. Of course, her habit of bending the truth doesn’t always help her situation either. (Fiction) Clements, Andrew. THINGS NOT SEEN. Fifteen-year-old Bobby wakes up one day and he is invisible. His father (a physicist) worries that if his son is discovered by authorities he will be lost to his family for ever and swears him to secrecy as he tries to find a scientific reason for his invisibility. This book explores Bobby’s adventures as he goes out to explore the world and makes friends with a blind girl. (Fiction) Coleman, Penny. ROSIE THE RIVETER. Describes the extraordinary job opportunities for women brought about by World War II. (Non-Fiction) Cooley, Beth. OSTRICH EYE. Fifteen-year-old Ginger lives with her mother and step-father Tony, and her young step-sister Vivian. Ginger helps out alot around the house, and is even recruited to help out with Vivian's Sunbeam Scout group. Ginger notices a stranger around town and suspects it is her long lost father, someone she wishes to get to know better. She allows this stranger into her family only to learn that he isn't who she thinks he is when he kidnaps her younger step-sister. (Fiction) Cooney, Caroline. HIT THE ROAD. Brittany has just passed her driver’s test, her mother and father are off on a trip to Alaska, and she is sent to stay with her 86-year-old grandmother, Nannie. Her grandmother wants to attend a 65th reunion with her college roommates but all of the roommates children have placed roadblocks in their way. The grandmothers are not going to let that stop them. Brittany is elected to be the driver of a rented van and she and her grandmother pick up friends in this sometimes sad, sometimes funny adventure. (Fiction) Croutier, Alev Lytle. LEYLA: THE BLACK TULIP. An historical novel set in Istanbul in the 1720's finds twelve-year-old Laleena unknowingly selling herself into slavery to help her poor family. She winds up in the Sultan's harem where she works in the garden and makes friends with some powerful people. The customs and events described do much to make this period of history come alive. (Fiction) Curtis, Christopher Paul. BUD, NOT BUDDY. 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. (Fiction) Deuker, Carl. HIGH HEAT. Shane Hunter, star baseball pitcher for his private school team, finds his perfect world shattered when his father commits suicide after being arrested for money laundering. His family is forced to move into public housing and he attends a public school. His anger at his situation causes him to lose interest baseball and he gets into trouble. As part of his probation, he must repair a local baseball field and in doing so he is drawn back into the game. Great baseball action is found throughout the book with realistic play-by-play descriptions. (Fiction) Elliott, Laura. UNDER A WAR-TORN SKY. This historical novel is based on some of the author’s own father’s experiences during WWII. Nineteen-year-old Henry Forester is a pilot who is shot down and must work his way back to freedom through Nazi-occupied Europe. The book chronicles his adventures with the individuals who helped him on his journey. (Fiction) Fama, Elizabeth. OVERBOARD. Based on an actual ferry accident off the coast of Sumatra; Emily,is a fourteen year old girl forced to leave Boston when her parents volunteer to serve as doctors in a foreign land. Emily feels neglected and when her uncle invites her to visit him on a nearby island she “runs away” to see him without her parent's permission. She boards an overcrowded ferry that sinks. The book involves her survival in this life-threatening situation. (Fiction) Feinstein, John. LAST SHOT: A FINAL FOUR MYSTERY. Stevie Thomas and Susan Carol are the winners of a U.S. Basketball Writer's Association writing contest. Their prize is a trip to the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament in New Orleans. As they explore the arena looking for story leads they overhear a star player being blackmailed into throwing the championship game. Will he do it or not? This is a great story for college basketball lovers. (Fiction) Fisher, Leonard Everett. TRACKS ACROSS AMERICA: THE STORY OF THE AMERICAN RAILROAD, 1825 - 1900 : WITH PHOTOGRAPHS, MAPS AND DRAWINGS. Examines the development of the railroad in the United States from its nineteenth-century beginnings to the end of this century. (Non-Fiction) Fletcher, Susan. SHADOW SPINNER. When Marjan, a thirteen-year-old crippled girl, joins the Sultan’s harem in ancient Persia, she gathers for Shahrazad the stories which will save the queen’s life. (Fiction) Fogelin, Adrian. CROSSING JORDAN. Twelve-year-old Cass meets her new African-American neighbor, Jemmie, and despite their families’ prejudices become friends. They build their friendship around their talent for running, forming the racing team called “Chocolate Milk” and reading Jane Eyre. (Fiction) Freedman, Russell. THE WRIGHT BROTHERS: HOW THEY INVENTED THE AIRPLANE. Follows the lives of the Wright brothers and describes how they developed the first airplane. (Non-Fiction) Fridell, Ron. AMPHIBIANS IN DANGER: A WORLDWIDE WARNING. Describes the alarming worldwide disappearance of amphibians and its possible link to such conditions as erosion of the ozone layer, greenhouse effect and global warming, and environmental pollution. (Non-Fiction) Friedlander, Mark P. OUTBREAK: DISEASE DETECTIVES AT WORK. Describes the field of epidemiology and its history, presenting historical and modern case studies and biological explanations of some diseases. (Non-Fiction) Friend, Natasha. PERFECT. Isabelle Lee’s family is suffering from the sudden death of her father. Her mother has withdrawn and refuses to talk about the death and her younger sister doesn’t know what to do. Isabelle begins binging and purging as a way to cope. She is discovered and is enrolled in an eating disorder class. There she discovers that a girl she considers to be “perfect” suffers from Bulimia as well. Isabelle learns that all is not fine and by the end of the book she and her family find ways to face their sadness and move forward with their lives. (FICTION) Giff, Patricia Reilly. PICTURES OF HOLLIS WOODS. Abandoned at birth Hollis Woods has lived in about half a dozen homes and has always wished for a family. When she runs away from the Regans, a family who wants to adopt her,she is placed with Josie Cahill, a retired art teacher. The two bond and when Hollis’ social worker plans to remove her to another home when she discovers Josie’s failing memory, they both run away to stay at the Regan’s summer home. In the end they both get the help that they need. (Fiction) Gilmore, Kate. THE EXCHANGE STUDENT. In 2094, when her mother arranges to host one of the nine young people coming to Earth from the planet Chela, Daria is both pleased and intrigued by the keen interest shown by the Chelan in her work breeding endangered species. (Fiction) Haddix, Margaret Peterson. AMONG THE HIDDEN. In the future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on his family’s farm, until another “third” convinces him that the government is wrong. (Fiction) Haddix, Margaret Perterson. JUST ELLA. 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. (Fiction) Hahn, Mary Downing. THE OLD WILLIS PLACE. Diana and her little brother Georgie live on the grounds of the old Willis place. They don't go to school and are free to do whatever they want every day. The Willis house is dilapadated and supposedly haunted. Diana And Georgie watch as a new caretaker moves into the trailer on the grounds with his daughter, Lissa. Lissa and Diana become friendly and venture into the Willis house. When they do they discover more than they hoped to and solve a mystery that has surrounded the old Willis place for many years. (Fiction) Han, Jenny. SHUG. Annamarie Wilcox is a seventh grader whose family calls Shug (short for Sugar). She has a beautiful older sister, a father who is always away working, and an alcoholic mother who feels confined in the southern town they live in. The life she has known is changing as her feelings toward others change as well. She is hurt by rejections from her best neighborhood friend Mark and the changing attitudes of the people she goes to school with. Shug endures the trials of middle school and gains a better sense of her self worth along the way. (FICTION) Hesse, Karen. WITNESS. A series of poems is used to express the views and happenings in a small Vermont town in the early 1920’s when the Ku Klux Klan tries to infiltrate the town. (Fiction) Hobbs, Valerie. TENDER. Fifteen-year-old Liv has lived with her grandmother in New York City since she was a baby. Her mother died in complications from her birth and her father left her with her grandmother when he moved to California. When her grandmother dies suddenly she goes to live with her gruff, fisherman father. She struggles to fit in the small-town world she enters and through a series of events, city-slicker Liv becomes tender on her father’s boat. (The person who makes sure the air-compressor is working properly while her father is diving for abalone). (Fiction) Horowitz, Anthony. STORMBREAKER. When 14-year-old Alex Rider’s uncle and legal guardian is mysteriously killed in a car crash Alex learns that his uncle was actually a spy, working for Britain’s intelligence agency, MI6. Alex is recruited to continue his uncle’s work. He undergoes a training session and learns to use all types of James Bond-like gadgets and his wit in order to save Britain’s school children from a murderous plan using computers for biological warfare. A mystery filled with cliff-hangers and non-stop adventure. For more adventure also try the other titles in the Alex Rider series. (Fiction) Jones, Charlotte Foltz. FINGERPRINTS AND TALKING BONES: HOW REAL-LIFE CRIMES ARE SOLVED. Describes the different methods used to solve crimes, including skeletal and facial reconstruction, botanical or geological information, voiceprints, and hypnosis. (Non-Fiction) Kaaberbol. Lene. THE SHAMER’S DAUGHTER. When wrong doers look into a Shamer’s eyes they are forced to tell the truth and share all of their secrets. In this fantasy, Dina has inherited her mother’s gift and when her mother refuses to use her powers to convict an innocent man a very powerful and evil man has her sentenced to death. Dina’s efforts to save her mother take her through castles and dragons and dungeons. This is a book you won’t want to put down. The series continues with THE SHAMER’S SIGNET and THE SERPENT’S GIFT. (Fiction) Karr, Kathleen. SKULLDUGGERY. It’s 1839 and 12 year-old Matthew has been orphaned by a cholera epidemic. He finds room and board with Dr. Asa B. Cornwall, an expert in phrenology, “the scientific study of the mind through the surface of the skull”. Things are looking up for Matthew, he has a roof over his head and food in his stomach and he gets along with the doctor well enough. Then he learns that his job will be to dig up the graves of famous people and remove their skulls. (Fiction) Koja, Kathe. BUDDHA BOY. There's a new boy in school. He is a very talented artist, he has a shaved head, and his quiet non-conformist ways get him singled out by bullies. But he doesn't fight back. He continues leading his life in the way a Buddist artist has taught him, even after they beat him up and destroy his art work. How can he not care what others think or do? How will he survive in school? (Fiction) Lasky, Kathryn. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL ROOF IN THE WORLD: EXPLORING THE RAINFOREST CANOPY. Describes the work of Meg Lowman in the rainforest canopy, an area unexplored until the last ten years and home to previously unknown species of plants and animals. (Non-Fiction) Levitin, Sonia. THE CURE. Gemm 16884 is a boy living in the future in a society without individuality, freedom, or emotions, where everyone lives behind a mask. When he dreams of music and thinks and talks of emotions the Leaders try a last resort to make him conform to the society. He is given “the cure” and transported back in time where he will be able to experience the past and learn to appreciate the society in which he lives. (Fiction) Limb, Sue. GIRL 15, CHARMING BUT INSANE. Follows the trials and triumphs of fifteen-year-old Jess Jordan's life. She uses her wit, good humor and friends to get through some pretty embarassing situations. As you read this bookthere will be times you will groan with sympathy or laugh right out loud. (Fiction) Lubar, David. DUNK. Chad, hoping to work out his frustrations and his anger by taking a summer job as a dunk tank Bozo on the boardwalk at the Jersey shore, comes to a better understanding of himself and the uses of humor as he undergoes training in the fine art of insults. (Fiction) Lubar, David. SLEEPING FRESHMEN NEVER LIE. Scott Hudson begins his first year of high school unsure of how he will fit in. This is a funny book with various situations and events that will ring true with many readers. From the "adventures" of riding the school bus, going to dances, joining various school activities, and keeping an advise journal for his soon to be born sibling, Scott keeps readers laughing and pulling for him. (Fiction) Lupica, Mike. TRAVEL TEAM. Danny Walker is a very talented basketball player but when the coaches of the seventh grade travel team decide they want a "big" team Danny doesn't make the cut because he is short. It is especially hardfor Danny because his father, a former NBA player, once led his town's seventh grade travel team to a national championship. When his dad returns to town he decides to form his own travel team and include his son and any other kid who wanted to play on the team. (Fiction) (If you like baseball, try HIGH HEAT by the same author.) Lynch, Chris. GOLD DUST. It is 1975, and twelve-year-old Richard loves baseball. He lives, breathes, and dreams of the game every waking hour of every day. He befriends and new boy from an island in the Caribbean and tries to teach him the game. They both end up learning a lot. (Fiction) Mah, Adeline Yen, CHINESE CINDERELLA: THE TRUE STORY OF AN UNWANTED DAUGHTER. The author tells the story of her painful childhood in China where she lived until the age of fourteen with her father, stepmother, and siblings, all of whom considered her bad luck because her mother died shortly after giving birth to her. (Non-Fiction) Manns, Nick OPERATING CODES. A ghost story with a twist. Graham and his five-year-old sister Matty are uncomfortable in their new home. Their father,a computer-software expert for the government, is too busy designing a state of the art weapons system to pay attention to their tales of ghosts. When he is arrested for espionage when his weapon design plans are posted on the internet Graham investigates the history of their new house and uncovers some interesting facts. The action of the ensuing trial and descriptions of the history of the house make for an intriguing read. (Fiction) Mass, Wendy. LEAP DAY: A NOVEL. Josie Taylor was born on February 28, "leap day" so even though she is sixteen she is actually celebrating her fourth birthday. The book's chapters outline events such as taking a driver's test,trying out for the school play, and going on a scavenger hunt. A fun trip through the trials and tribulations of turning sixteen. (Fiction) McCaughrean, Geraldine. THE KITE RIDER. In thirteenth century China, after trying to save his widowed mother from a horrendous second marriage, twelve-year-old Haoyou has life changing adventures when he takes to the sky as a circus kite rider and ends up meeting the great Mongol ruler, Kublai Khan. (Fiction) Meyer, L. A.. BLOODY JACK: BEING AN ACCOUNT OF THE CURIOUS ADVENTURES OF MARY “JACKY” FABER, SHIP’S BOY. A thirteen year old girl, orphaned by the plague, escapes a life on the streets of London begging and stealing for survival by pretending that she is a boy. She is able to sign on to a British warship, sails the high seas, battles pirates, and becomes shipwrecked. A wonderful high-sea historic adventure. [If you like this one check out the sequels too.] (Fiction) Mikaelsen, Ben. TOUCHING SPIRIT BEAR. After his anger erupts into violence, fifteen–year-old Cole, in order to avoid going to prison, agrees to participate in a sentencing alternative based on the Native American Circle Justice. He is sent to a remote Alaskan Island where an encounter with a huge Spirit Bear changes his life. (Fiction) Miler, Brandon Marie. JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED: THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MEDICINE. Traces the history of medicine in North America, from the remedies use by native peoples to the medical advances and health trends of the twentieth century. (Non-Fiction) Morpurgo, Michael. KENSUKE’S KINGDOM. When Michael’s parents are laid off from work, the family embarks on a around the world sailing trip on a yacht. On a dark night before his twelfth birthday, Michael and his dog Stella are swept overboard. They are rescued by Kensuke, a Japanese doctor, marooned on the island since the end of World War II, forty years before. Kensuke keeps his distance at first, providing food and assistance from afar. Will Michael survive on this island? Will he be rescued? This is a compelling read that explores the depths of love, friendship and trust. (Fiction) Murphy, Claire Rudolf. FREE RADICAL. In Fairbanks, Alaska, in the middle of the summer Little League baseball season, fifteen-year-old Luke is stunned when his mother confesses that she is wanted by the FBI for her role in the death of a student during an anti-Vietnam War protest thirty years ago. By hiding in Alaska she has avoided one prison and created another. Now she wants to confess. How will that affect Luke and his life? (Fiction) Myers, Walter Dean. THE GREATEST: MUHAMMAD ALI. An illustrated biography of boxing great Muhammad Ali that addresses his politics, his fight against Parkinson’s disease, and boxing’s dangers. (Biography) Namioka, Lensey. TIES THAT BIND, TIES THAT BREAK: A NOVEL. Ailin’s life takes a different turn when she defies the traditions of upper class Chinese society by refusing to have her feet bound. (Fiction) Napoli, Donna Jo. BOUND. This novel is based on Chinese Cinderella tales. Xing-Xing is a fourteen-year-old stepchild who is left to serve her step-mother and stepsister when her father passes away. Much of the work of the household falls upon Xing-Xing since her stepsister suffers terribly from the binding of her feet. She is sent on a quest to find medicine for her step-sister’s rotting feet and on her journey learns much. Xing-Xing is bound by the traditions of her time, but has an independent spirit that is to be admired. (FICTION) Nixon, Joan Lowery. NIGHTMARE. Sixteen-year-old Emily Wood has a recurring nightmare in which she sees a dead woman near a water’s edge. She is petrified of this dream and it is greatly affecting her life. Her parents, in an effort to help her, send her away to camp. It turns out that her nightmare is actually the memory of a murder she observed years ago and she is in great danger because the murderer wants to eliminate the only witness. A book for people who like great suspense. (FICTION) Oates, Joyce Carol. BIG MOUTH & UGLY GIRL. Junior, Matt Donaghy is overheard threatening to blow up the school if he isn't accepted for the Spring Arts Festival. He was just joking, but the authorities aren't and his friends don't seem to want to have anything to do with him. But, "Ugly Girl", Ursula Rigg knows the truth. Will anyone believe her? (Fiction) Paterson, Katherine. THE SAME STUFF AS STARS. Whatever comes Angel Morgan’s way she can handle it. In nearly twelve years she has been in eight different schools, has been in foster care twice, has an alcoholic, irresponsible mother, and a father in jail for theft and murder. But she always seems to survive. When her mother abandons her with her brother at her great-grandmother's farm in Vermont, responsible Angel finds a way to keep things together. With the help and attention of the town librarian, Miss Lisa, and the mysterious “star man” who lives in the trailer out back, Angel learns that she is made of star stuff. (Fiction) Paulsen, Gary. MY LIFE IN DOG YEARS. The author describes how dogs have impacted his life from childhood through the present day. The books recounts the stories of his first dog, Snowball, in the Phillippines; Dirk, who protected him from bullies; and Cookie, the dog who saved his life. (Non- Fiction) Peters, Julie Anne. DEFINE “NORMAL”: A NOVEL. When Antonia agrees to meet with Jasmine as a peer counselor at their middle school, she never dreams that this girl with black lipstick and pierced eyebrow will help her deal with the serious problems she faces at home and become a good friend. (Fiction) Philbrick, W.R. THE LAST BOOK IN THE UNIVERSE. After an earthquake has destroyed much of the planet, an epileptic teenage named Spaz begins the heroic fight to bring human intelligence back to the Earth of a distant future. (Fiction) Roberts, Willo Davis. UNDERCURRENTS. Eight months after Nikki’s mother dies of cancer, her father remarries Crystal, a young illustrator at the publishing company where he is an editor. Soon after the marriage Crystal inherits a house on the California coast. Nikki’s father insists that they vacation at the house even though Crystal is reluctant. When her father is called back to work Nikki is left to deal with Crystal’s nightmares and bizarre behavior. Something has happened in this house that haunts Crystal. The undercurrent of suspense is held throughout this mystery. (Fiction) Salisbury, Graham. LORD OF THE DEEP. Thirteen-year-old, Mikey, works with his step-father on a charter fishing boat. He greatly admires and respects his step-father and works hard to please him. The boat is chartered by two competitive brothers, who want to win at all costs. When they lie about what happens when they bring in a prize-winning catch Mikey learns some of life’s lessons. (Fiction) Shinn, Sharon. THE TRUTH-TELLER’S TALE. Adele and Eleda are innkeeper’s daughters and are identical mirror twins who are reflections of each other. Each has a special gift. Adele is a “Safe-Keeper” a person who is able to keep everyone’s secrets, and Eleda is a “Truth Teller” who cannot tell a lie. Their gifts bring them happiness and heartache and they grow up in the town of Merendon. [Sequel to THE SAFE-KEEPERS SECRET] (Fiction) Shusterman, Neal. DOWNSIDERS: A NOVEL. Fourteen-year-old Lindsay is sent to live with her father in New York. While there she meets Talon, a boy that lives with others in the world which has evolved under the streets of Manhattan. A fantasy that poses some interesting questions about truth and how people can literally overlook others by not wanting to see them. (Fiction) Simmons, Michael. FINDING LUBCHENKO. Evan Macalister is fifteen years old and comes from a very well-to-do family. He goes to a private school, lost his mother to liver cancer when he was eleven, has no brothers or sisters, and a father that owns a big company and spends very little time with his son. Evan is left up to his own devices and rebells in unique ways. In order to get money, his uses his job in his dad's company to steal equipment like laptops and printers that he then sells for money. One day his dad gets arrested for murder and his world is turned upside down. He knows his dad didn't do it and as he and his friends Ruben and Erika explore clues left on one of the stolen laptops they find suspense and danger. (Fiction) Smith, Roland. ZACH’S LIE. Jack Osbourne and his mother and sister are placed in the Witness Security Program when his pilot father is arrested for drug trafficking. The family is hiding in a new location with new identities from the drug cartel that has threatened them if his father testifies. (Fiction) Springer, Nancy. BLOOD TRAIL. Jeremy “Booger” Davis has his world turned upside down when his best friend Aaron is murdered. Aaron’s last words to Jeremy were that he was scared to go home. Could the murderer be someone he knows? (Fiction) Taylor, Mildred D. THE LAND. Paul-Edward the son of a part-Indian, part-African slave mother and a white plantation owner father, finds himself caught between the two worlds of his parents as he pursues his dream of owning land in the aftermath of the Civil War. (Fiction) Thompson, Kate. SWITCHERS. When freakish weather grips the Arctic regions and moves southward, an Irish girl and her strange companion save the world from disaster through the ability to switch into animal forms. (Fiction) Tolan, Stephanie S. SURVIVING THE APPLEWHITES. Juvenile delinquent, Jake, gets his last chance with the Applewhite family and their “home-schooled” children on their farm “Wit’s End”. He has been tossed out of so many schools there are no other places willing to take him. The eccentric, creative family gives him a chance and leaves Jake to his own devices, allowing him to choose when and what to study. The book is filled with quirky characters and laugh-out loud situations. (Fiction) Trueman, Terry. STUCK IN NEUTRAL.. Shawn McDaniel is 14 years-old and suffers from severe cerebral palsy. He can’t speak, or control his body in any way, but he can remember everything that he hears and is able to read. His father has difficulty dealing with Shawn’s condition. He feels he suffers greatly and Shawn fears that his father is planning to kill him. (Fiction) Tucker, Tom. BRAINSTORM! : THE STORIES OF TWENTY AMERICAN KID INVENTORS. Reveals some of the amazing inventions of the past and present that have come from young Americans, ages eight to nineteen. (Non-Fiction) Van Velde, Vivian. HEIR APPARENT. Fourteen-year-old, Giannine receives as a present the gift of playing a total immersion reality game. While she is playing, the equipment becomes damaged and the creators worry that she may not survive. With each failure she is placed back at the beginning of the game. She uses what she learns as she works her way through the game each time, but will her wits be enough to allow her to actually survive the game? (Fiction) Vega, Denise. CLICK HERE (TO FIND OUT HOW I SURVIVED SEVENTH GRADE). Erin Swift is beginning seventh grade. She is upset to learn that she won't be in the same classes as her best friend. She is good at sports and computers and keeps her sanity by writing in a private journal on her web site. The only problem occurs when her private journal get posted on the schools intranet. How will she survive the embarassment? (Fiction) Weaver, Will. MEMORY BOY: A NOVEL. An enormous volcanic eruption has caused global warming and the continual spread of ash. Two years after the eruption, the Newell family, a jazz drummer father, feisty mother and two teens must escape their suburban Minneapolis home as the shortages and conditions following the eruption cause a breakdown in law and order. Miles, the teenaged son uses the family’s boat and bikes to make a pedal and wind-powered vehicle that will transport them to their cabin in the woods. The family faces squatters, and people unwilling to have “outsiders” become a part of their community as they try to survive. Great characters, nonstop action, and an intriguing plot make for a great read. (Fiction) Whelan, Gloria. HOMELESS BIRD. When thirteen-year-old Koly enters into a il-fatted arranged marriage, she must either suffer a destiny dictated by India’s tradition or find the courage to oppose it. (Fiction) WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE: ORIGINAL STORIES ABOUT GROWING UP. Collection of stories written by authors of books for children and young adults, set in the time and space of their own childhoods and providing true and fictionalized accounts of the places, relationships, and emotions of children. (Non- Fiction) Wilhelm, Doug. THE REVEALERS. What would happen if kids wrote about incidents of bullying going on in their school and then posted the information on their school's Kid-Net system for all to read? Would things get better or worse? This novel explores the possibilities of what can happen if those being bullied share their stories. (Fiction) Winston, Keith. LETTERS FROM A WORLD WAR II G.I. A collection of letters from Keith Wilson to his wife describing what it was like to serve in the U.S.Army during World War II. (Non-Fiction) Woods, Michael and Mary B. Woods. ANCIENT MACHINES: FROM WEDGES TO WATERWHEELS. Discusses the invention of six simple machines in various ancient civilizations from the Stone Age to the fall of the Roman Empire. (Non-Fiction)