Award Books @ MTHS

The Washington Library Media Association brings you many award winning book lists at http://www.wlma.org/Instruction/reading.htm. Check our catalog for titles you are interested in. 

Fantasy Books @ MTHS

Atwater-Rhodes, Amelia.  In the Forests of the Night Risika, a teenage vampire, wanders back in time to the year 1684 when, as a human, she died and was transformed against her will. 

Babbitt, Lucy Cullyford  The Oval Amulet Rebellious Paragrin discovers the significance of an iron oval amulet she possesses and uses it to restore the world to a better and older way of life in which women and men live and rule as equals.   

Babbitt, Natalie  Tuck Everlasting The Tuck family is confronted with an agonizing situation when they discover that a ten-year-old girl and a malicious stranger now share their secret about a spring whose water prevents one from ever growing any older.   

Barron, T.A.  The Mirror of Merlin Through adventures involving a haunted marsh, talking trees, and the creature called the ballymag, the young wizard Merlin continues to experience both his growing powers and his essential humanity.    Lost Years of Merlin: Book 4   

Barron, T.A.  The Seven Songs of Merlin Having stumbled upon his hidden powers, the young wizard Merlin voyages to the Otherworld in his quest to find himself and the way to the realm of the spirit.  Lost Years of Merlin: Book 2   

Brooks, Terry  and Sweet, Darrell  The Elfstones of Shannara Ancient evil threatens the Elves now that the Ellcrys, a magic tree, is dying. A perilous quest by Wil Ohmsford and Amberle may save them.  Sequel to: The Sword of Shannara 

Brooks, Terry  First King of Shannara Bremen, cast out by the Druids because of his study of magic, discovers a plot by evil archmage Brona to conquer the Four Lands, but he must work fast to unite the people of the lands and find a weapon that will stop Brona's power.   

Brooks, Terry  The Sword of Shannara In spite of his protests that he is only an ordinary man and not a hero, Shea Ohmsford eventually accepts his role as the leader of his people in the struggle against the Lord of Evil.   

Brooks, Terry  The Tangle Box A fantasy tale set in the Magic Kingdom of Landover, ruled by Ben Holiday. Horris Kew, a conjurer is sent by the Gorse, an evil sorcerer, to enslave the fairy folk and take over Landover.     Magic Kingdom of Landover:  Book 4    

Calhoun, Dia  Firegold Thirteen-year-old Jonathon, feared and hated by the brown-eyed Valley people because of his blue eyes, tries to find answers to his true identity in the Red Mountains, home of the Dalriada, a mountain people with magnificent horses, mystical powers, and blue eyes like his.   

Colfer, Eoin  Artemis Fowl Twelve-year-old millionaire, genius, and criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl finds himself in over his head after he kidnaps a dangerous fairy.    

Dickinson, Peter and Andrew, Ian  The Ropemaker When the magic that protects their Valley starts to fail, Tilja and her companions journey into the evil Empire to find the ancient magician Faheel, who originally cast those spells.

Gurney, James  Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time In 1862, after being shipwrecked in uncharted seas, Professor Arthur Denison and his twelve-year-old son Will find themselves washed up on a strange island where people and dinosaurs live together peacefully.   

Hilton, James  Lost Horizon On the northwestern frontier of India, Conway was a passenger on a plane taken over by a native pilot and never heard of again. What Conway found in ShangriLa makes the story.   

Ibbotson, Eva and Porter, Sue  The Secret of Platform 13 Odge Gribble, a young hag, accompanies an old wizard, a gentle fey, and a giant ogre on their mission through a magical tunnel from their Island to London to rescue their King and Queen's son who had been stolen as an infant.   

Jacques, Brian and Chalk, Gary  Mattimeo Mattimeo, the son of the warrior mouse Matthias, learns to take up the sword and joins the other animal inhabitants of Redwall Abbey in resisting Slagar the fox and his band of marauders.  Sequel to: Redwall.   

Jacques, Brian and Chalk, Gary  Mossflower Martin the warrior mouse and Gonff the mousethief set out to find the missing ruler of Mossflower, while the other animal inhabitants of the woodland prepare to rebel against the evil wildcat who has seized power.  Prequel to: Redwall    

Jacques, Brian  Redwall 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.   

Jones, Diana Wynne  Dark Lord of Derkholm Derk, an unconventional wizard, and his magical family become involved in a plan to put a stop to the devastating tours of their world arranged by the tyrannical Mr. Chesney. 

Jones, Diana Wynne  Fire and Hemlock At nineteen, Polly has two sets of sometimes overlapping, sometimes conflicting memories, the real-life ones of school days and her parents' divorce, and the heroic adventure ones that began the day she accidentally gate-crashed a funeral and met the cellist Thomas Lynn.   

Jones, Diana Wynne  Year of the Griffin Elda, the griffin daughter of the great Wizard Derk, arrives for schooling at the Wizards' University where she encounters new friends, pirates, assassins, worry, sabotage, bloodshed, and magic misused.  Sequel to: Dark Lord of Derkholm   

Jacques, Brian  Marlfox When three young residents of Redwall Abbey go on a quest to recover a tapestry stolen by the Marlfoxes, their bravery removes the curse of these evil animals on a lost island.

Le Guin, Ursula K. and Garraty, Gail  The tombs of Atuan Arha's isolated existence as high priestess in the tombs of Atuan is jarred by a thief who seeks a special treasure.    

Levitin, Sonia  The Cure A young boy living in 2407 collides with the past when he finds himself in Strasbourg in 1348 confronting the antisemitism that sweeps through Europe during the Black Plague.

Lewis, C.S. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Four English school children find their way through the back of a wardrobe into the magic land of Narnia and assist Aslan, the golden lion, to triumph over the White Witch who has cursed the land with eternal winter.  Chronicles of Narnia:  Book 2    

Lewis, C.S. and Baynes, Pauline  The Magician’s Nephew When Digory and Polly try to return the wicked witch Jadis to her own world, the magic gets mixed up and they all land in Narnia where they witness Aslan blessing the animals with human speech.  Chronicles of Narnia:  Book 1    

McCaffrey, Anne  Dragonquest On a small beleaguered planet patrolled by giant dragons, a tiny golden fire-lizard brings a searing threat greater than any Pern has ever met.  Dragonriders of Pern:  Book 2

Nix, Garth  Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr When a dangerous necromancer threatens to unleash a long-buried evil, Lirael and Prince Sameth are drawn into a battle to save the Old Kingdom and reveal their true destinies.  Sequel to: Sabriel    

Nix, Garth  Shade’s Children In a savage future world, four young fugitives attempt to overthrow the bloodthirsty rule of the Overlords with the help of Shade, their mysterious mentor.   

Orwell, George, Animal Farm A political satire in which the animals take over running the farm, but find their utopian state turning into a dictatorship.

Pattison, Darcy The Wayfinder Eleven-year-old Win, an apprentice Finder, must go into the mysterious Great Rift to find the Well of Life, the only hope of healing the Heartland of plague.   

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings. SERIES Follows the Companions of the Ring as they set out to destroy the Ring of Power and check the power of the evil Sauron.  Part 1: The Fellowship of the Ring,  Part 2: The Two Towers,  Part 3: The Return of the King 

Turener, Megan Whalen  The Queen of Attolia Forsaken by the gods and left to his own devices, Eugenides, Royal Thief of Eddis, summons all his wit and wiles in an attempt to conquer the rival Queen of Attolia.   

White, T. H.  The Once and Future King Tells the story of the youth and reign of King Arthur, the establishment of the Round Table, and the search for the Holy Grail.   

Wrede, Patricia C.  Mairelon the Magician Kim, a London guttersnipe disguised as a boy, finds her life changed forever as she becomes entangled with the mysterious traveling magician, Mairelon.   

Yep, Lawrence  Dragon War The dragon princess Shimmer and her companions fight a war against the evil Boneless King in order to rescue their friend Thorn and restore the dragons' underwater home.  

Historical Fiction @ MTHS
Abelove, Joan - Go and Come Back. Alicia, a young tribeswoman living in a village in the Amazonian jungle of Peru, tells about the two American women anthropologists who arrive to study her people's way of life.

Joan Aiken - Black Hearts in Battersea. An orphan arrives in London and becomes embroiled in a plot against the king.

Joan Aiken - The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. Surrounded by villains of the first order, brave Bonnie and gentle cousin Sylvia conquer all obstacles in this Victorian melodrama.

Isabel Allende - Daughter of Fortune : a novel. Eliza Sommers, left alone and pregnant in Chile when her lover Joaquin runs off to California during the Gold Rush, decides to follow him only to become entranced with her new life of freedom and independence.

  Mary Jane Auch - Ashes of Roses. Sixteen-year-old Rose Nolan arrives on Ellis Island in 1911 in the hopes of starting a new life, but after most of her family is sent back to Ireland, she must find her own way in a new country and fend for herself and her younger sister.

  Adam Bagdasarian - Forgotten Fire. "A Melanie Kroupa book"--T.p. verso. The story of how Vahan Kenderian survived the Turkish massacre of the Armenians in 1915.

  Michael Cadnum - The Book of the Lion. In twelfth-century England, after his master, a maker of coins for the king, is brutally punished for alleged cheating, seventeen-year-old Edmund finds himself traveling to the Holy Land as squire to a knight crusader on his way to join the forces of Richard Lionheart.

  Aidan Chambers - Postcards From No Man's Land. Originally published: London : Random House Children's Books, 1999. Alternates between two stories--comtemporarily, seventeen-year-old Jacob visits a daunting Amsterdam at the request of his English grandmother--and historically, nineteen-year-old Geertrui relates her experience of British soldiers's attempts to liberate Holland from its German occupation.

  James and Christopher Collier - The Bloody Country. In the mid-eighteenth century a family moves from Connecticut to Pennsylvania and becomes involved in the property conflict between the two states.

Christopher Paul Curtis - 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.

Cynthia DeFelice - The Apprenticeship Of Lucas Whitaker. After his family dies of consumption in 1849, twelve-year-old Lucas becomes a doctor's apprentice.

Walter D. Edmonds - Drums Along the Mohawk. Gilbert Martin and his young wife, Lana, struggle to survive along the Mohawk Valley during the Revolutionary War.

Rachel Field - All This And Heaven Too. Includes bibliographical references (p. 532-533). The fictionalized life story of a French governess who in 1847 became involved in a famous murder trial, in which she was known as Mademoiselle D. Although she was acquitted, life became so difficult for her in France that she came to America, where she married an American minister and presided over a Gramercy Park salon.

Paul Fleischman - The Borning Room. "A Charlotte Zolotow book." Lying at the end of her life in the room where she was born in 1851, Georgina remembers what it was like to grow up on the Ohio frontier.

Esther Forbes - Johnny Tremain. An illustrated edition of the award-winning novel "Johnny Tremain" about a young boy who encounters many historical figures as he works as a horse boy for the local newspaper.

Paula Fox - The Slave Dancer. "Laurel-leaf Newbery"--Cover. Kidnapped by the crew of an Africa bound ship, a thirteen-year-old boy discovers to his horror that he is on a slaver and his job is to play music for the exercise periods of the human cargo.

Adele Geras - Troy. "First published in the UK by Scholastic Ltd, 2000"--T.p. verso. The last weeks of the Trojan War find the women sick of tending the wounded, men tired of fighting, and bored gods and goddesses trying to find ways to stir things up.

Kristiana Gregory - Earthquake at Dawn. "Gulliver Books.";Includes excerpts of a letter by Mary Exa Atkins Campbell.;Includes bibliographical references (p. 191-194). A novelization of twenty-two-year-old photographer Edith Irvine's experiences in the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, as seen through the eyes of fifteen-year-old Daisy, a fictitious traveling companion. Includes reader's guide and author interview.

Christie Harris - Raven's Cry. Originally published: New York : Atheneum, 1966. Fictionalized retelling of the near destruction of the Haida nation of the Northwest coast after their meeting with the white man.

John Hersey - A Bell for Adano. During World War II an American Major is placed in charge of the Italian village of Adano.

Pamela Smith Hill - A Voice From The Border. Includes bibliographical references (p. 241-244). Living in the border state of Missouri during the Civil War, fifteen-year-old Reeves tries to understand her father's decision regarding their slaves.

Anne Holm - North to Freedom. "An Odyssey classic.";Translation of: David. After escaping from an Eastern European concentration camp where he has spent most of his life, a twelve-year-old boy struggles to cope with an entirely strange world as he flees northward to freedom in Denmark.

James A. Houston - The White Dawn : An Eskimo Saga. When three whalers are shipwrecked in the eastern Arctic, they are nursed back to health by Eskimo villagers who teach them about their traditions, beliefs, and culture.

James A. Houston - Ghost Fox. Kidnapped by raiding Abnaki Indians during the French and Indian War, seventeen-year-old Sarah must make a choice between life in slavery or death by torture.

Dean Hughes - Soldier Boys. Two boys, one German and one American, are eager to join their respective armies during World War II, and their paths cross at the Battle of the Bulge.

Irene Hunt - Across Five Aprils. "Jam." Young Jethro Creighton grows from a boy to a man when he is left to take care of the family farm in Illinois during the difficult years of the Civil War.

Irene Hunt - No Promises in the Wind. A young man struggles to find a life for himself in the turbulent depression of the 1930s.

Irene Hunt - Up a Road Slowly. "Jam." After her mother's death, Julie goes to live with Aunt Cordelia, a spinster schoolteacher, where she experiences many emotions and changes as she grows from seven to eighteen.

M.E. Kerr - Slap Your Sides:  A Novel. Life in their Pennsylvania hometown changes for Jubal Shoemaker and his family when his older brother witnesses to his Quaker beliefs by becoming a conscientious objector during World War II.

Kathryn Lasky - Beyond the Divide. In 1849, a fourteen-year-old Amish girl defies convention by leaving her secure home in Pennsylvania to accompany her father across the continent by wagon train.

Julius Lester - Pharaoh's Daughter : A Novel of Ancient Egypt. Includes bibliographical references (p. 180-182). A fictionalized account of a Biblical story in which an Egyptian princess rescues a Hebrew infant who becomes a prophet of his people while his sister finds her true self as a priestess to the Egyptian gods.

Elizabeth Foreman Lewis - Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze. The adventures of a young coppersmith's apprentice in China.

Michelle Magorian - Good Night, Mr. Tom. A battered child learns to embrace life when he is adopted by an old man in the English countryside during World War II.

Bernard Malamud - The Fixer. Jewish handyman Yakov Bok, is arrested, imprisoned, and accused for a murder he did not commit.

Carol Matas - Daniel's Story. Daniel, whose family suffers as the Nazis rise to power in Germany, describes his imprisonment in a concentration camp and his eventual liberation.

Carol Matas - In My Enemy's House. When German soldiers arrive in Zloczow during World War II, a young Jewish girl must decide whether or not to conceal her identity and work for a Nazi in Germany in order to survive.

Carol Matas - The War Within : A Novel of the Civil War. In 1862, after Union forces expel Hannah's family from Holly Springs, Mississippi, because they are Jews, Hannah reexamines her views regarding slavery and the war.

Ruthanne Lum McCunn - The Moon Pearl. Rooster, Shadow, and Mei Ju refuse to become wives or nuns as their culture expects of them, instead choosing to support themselves through their skills in embroidery and silk production.

Carolyn Meyer - Mary, Bloody Mary. "Gulliver books." Mary Tudor, who would reign briefly as Queen of England during the mid-sixteenth century, tells the story of her troubled childhood as daughter of King Henry VIII.

N. Scott Momaday - House Made of Dawn. A young American Indian, Abel, lived in two worlds. One was that of his fathers and a drug called peyote and the other was the twentieth century. Home from a foreign war he was being torn apart, unable to find his place either in the white man's world or on the reservation.

Beverley Naidoo - The Other Side Of Truth. "Originally published in 2000 by Puffin Books ... London, England"--T.p. verso.;"Ages 10 up"--Cover p. 4. Smuggled out of Nigeria after their mother's murder, Sade and her younger brother are abandoned in London when their uncle fails to meet them at the airport and they are fearful of their new surroundings and of what may have happened to their journalist father back in Nigeria.

Lensey Namioka - 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.

Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall - Mutiny on the Bounty. "Back Bay books." Fictionalizes the mutiny of the British war vessel "Bounty" in 1789.

Naomi Shihab Nye - Habibi. When fourteen-year-old Liyanne Abboud, her younger brother, and her parents move from St. Louis to a new home between Jerusalem and the Palestinian village where her father was born, they face many changes and must deal with the tensions between Jews and Palestinians.

Scott O'Dell - Island of the Blue Dolphins. Left alone on a beautiful but isolated island off the coast of California, a young Indian girl spends eighteen years, not only merely surviving through her enormous courage and self-reliance, but also finding a measure of happiness in her solitary life.

Scott O'Dell - Sing Down The Moon. A young Navajo girl recounts the events of 1864 when her tribe was forced to march to Fort Sumner as prisoners of the white soldiers.

Scott O'Dell - Streams To The River, River To The Sea : A Novel Of Sacagawea. A young Indian woman, accompanied by her infant and cruel husband, experiences joy and heartbreak when she joins the Lewis and Clark Expedition seeking a way to the Pacific.

Scott O'Dell and Elizabeth Hall - Thunder Rolling In The Mountains. In the late nineteenth century, a young Nez Perce girl relates how her people were driven off their land by the U.S. Army and forced to retreat north until their eventual surrender.

Scott O'Dell - Zia. A young Indian girl, Zia, caught between the traditional world of her mother and the present world of the Mission, is helped by her aunt Karana, whose story was told in the Island of the Blue Dolphins.

Michael Ondaatje - The English Patient : A Novel. The stories of four people reveal themselves during the final moments of World War II in a deserted Indian villa.

Baroness Orczy - The Scarlet Pimpernel. The rulers of the French Revolution cannot discover who this maddeningly elusive figure is that threatens their total power with his disguises, endless ruses and infinite daring.

Uri Orlev - The Island On Bird Street. Translation of: ha-I bi-Rehov ha-tsiporim. During World War II a Jewish boy is left on his own for months in a ruined house in the Warsaw Ghetto, where he must learn all the tricks of survival under constantly life-threatening conditions.

Uri Orlev - The Man From The Other Side. "First published in Israel as Ish min ha-tsad ha-aher by the Domino Press"--T.p. verso. Living on the outskirts of the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II, fourteen-year-old Marek and his grandparents shelter a Jewish man in the days before the Jewish uprising.

Mary Pope Osborne - Adaline Falling Star. Feeling abandoned by her deceased Arapaho mother and her explorer father, Adaline Falling Star runs away from the prejudiced cousins with whom she is staying and comes close to death in the wilderness, with only a mongrel dog for company.

Gary Paulsen - The Beet Fields : Memories Of A Sixteenth Summer. A boy runs away from home and his drunken parents and spends his sixteenth summer learning about life as a migrant laborer, and carnival worker.

Gary Paulsen - Nightjohn. Twelve-year-old Sarny's brutal life as a slave becomes even more dangerous when a newly arrived slave offers to teach her how to read.

Randall Beth Platt - The Likes Of Me. In 1918, having run away from the Washington State lumber camp she calls home, a fourteen-year-old half-Chinese albino named Cordy makes her way to Seattle and finds work in a carnival.

Johanna Reiss - The Upstairs Room. A Dutch Jewish girl describes the two-and-one-half years she spent in hiding in the upstairs bedroom of a farmer's house during World War II.

Erich Maria Remarque - All Quiet On The Western Front. Depicts the experiences of a group of young German soldiers fighting and suffering during the last days of World War I.

Ann Rinaldi - The Last Silk Dress. Includes bibliographical references (p. 326-328). During the Civil War, Susan finds a way to help the Confederate Army and uncovers a series of mysterious family secrets.

Ann Rinaldi - A Stitch In Time. Includes bibliographical references (p. 303-305). Shortly after the War of Independence, Hannah sees her family being torn apart by old secrets and new developments as her sister resolves to marry a sea captain and other siblings prepare to help start a new town in the Northwest Territory. 

Virginia Frances Schwartz - Send One Angel Down. A young slave tries to hide the horrors of slavery from his younger cousin, a light-skinned slave who is the daughter of the plantation owner.

Ouida Sebestyen - Words By Heart. "A Yearling book." A young black girl struggles to fulfill her papa's dream of a better future for their family in the southwestern town where, in 1910, they are the only blacks.

Ian Serraillier - Escape From Warsaw. Original title: The silver sword. During 1942 in Warsaw, Edek shoots a Nazi Storm Trooper. Edek and his two sisters must escape from the secret police.

Elizabeth George Speare - The Witch Of Blackbird Pond. In 1687 in Connecticut, Kit Tyler, feeling out of place in the Puritan household of her aunt, befriends an old woman considered a witch by the community and suddenly finds herself standing trial for witchcraft.

Nancy Springer - I Am Morgan Le Fay : A Tale From Camelot. In a war-torn England where her half-brother Arthur will eventually become king, the young Morgan le Fay comes to realize that she has magic powers and links to the faerie world.

Rosemary Sutcliff (retold by) - Beowulf. Reprint, originally published: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1962. The epic of a dragon-slaying hero.

Rosemary Sutcliff - The Eagle Of The Ninth. "A Sunburst book.";"First American edition published by Henry Z. Walck, 1954"--T.p. verso.;"First published in Great Britain by Oxford University Press, 1954"--T.p. verso. A young centurion ventures among the hostile tribes beyond the Roman Wall to recover the eagle standard of the Ninth, a legion which mysteriously disappeared under his father's command.

Mildred D. Taylor - The Land. Prequel to: Roll of thunder, hear my cry. 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. 

Mildred D. Taylor - Roll Of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Sequel: Let the circle be unbroken.;Newbery Medal, 1977. An African-American family living in Mississippi during the Depression of the 1930s is faced with prejudice and discrimination which its children do not understand. 

Theodore Taylor - Walking Up A Rainbow. In 1852, a fourteen-year-old orphan and her elderly guardian, accompanied by a tough drover and his crew, take several thousand sheep from Iowa to California, returning by ship through the Panama Canal, to raise money to save the girl's home from a villainous debt collector.

Yoshiko Uchida - Journey To Topaz : A Story Of The Japanese-American Evacuation. Eleven-year-old Yuki and her Japanese-American family are uprooted from their home and put in a concentration camp called Topaz.

Vivian Vande Velde - Never Trust A Dead Man. In the medieval village of Penryth, seventeen-year-old Selwyn sets out to find the real killer of Farold, a young man he has been wrongfully convicted of murdering, with Farold himself as his only companion, brought back to life in the form of a bat by a cave-dwelling witch.

Cynthia Voigt - Jackaroo. When hard times among the people revive old stories of the hero Jackaroo, an innkeeper's daughter follows her own quest to unlock the secret reality behind the legend.

Eric Walters - Caged Eagles. Sequel to: War of the eagles. Fourteen-year-old Tadashi Fukushima, forced to move with his family from their fishing village on the Northwest coast of British Columbia to an internment center in Vancouver during World War II, struggles to make sense of the racism and injustice to which Japanese immigrants are being subjected.

Robert Westall - The Machine Gunners. After an air raid, a group of English children find a German machine gun and hide it from adults who are looking for it.

Laura Ingalls Wilder - Little House In The Big Woods. "The Laura years"--Cover. Depicts the life of Laura Ingalls and her family when they lived in a little log house in Wisconsin in 1872.

Laura Ingalls Wilder - Little House On The Prairie. 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.

Laura Ingalls Wilder - On The Banks Of Plum Creek. Laura and her family move to Minnesota where they live in a dugout until a new house is built and face misfortunes caused by flood, blizzard, and grasshoppers.

Laura Ingalls Wilder - By The Shores Of Silver Lake. Ma and the girls follow Pa west by train where they make their home at a rough railroad camp and plan for their own homestead.

Laura Ingalls Wilder - Farmer Boy. Nine-year-old Almanzo lives with his family on a big farm in New York State at the end of the nineteenth century. He raises his own two calves, helps cut ice and shear sheep, and longs for the day he can have his own colt.

Laura Ingalls Wilder - Little Town On The Prairie. First published: 1941. In 1880s Dakota Territory, teenager Laura Ingalls struggles to earn her teaching certificate, says good-bye to her sister Mary when she leaves home to attend a school for the blind, and shyly begins a romance with Almanzo Wilder.

Laura Ingalls Wilder - These Happy Golden Years. Fifteen-year-old Laura becomes a school teacher and becomes engaged, and starts a new life as the wife of Almanzo Wilder.

Laurence Yep - The Star Fisher. Fifteen-year-old Joan Lee and her family find the adjustment hard when they move from Ohio to West Virginia in the 1920s.

Horror
(this list is in the process of being created)

Mystery and Suspense

Aiken, Joan  Night Fall Megan lived a glamorous life in Hollywood with her mother until her mother died in a car crash when Meg was only nine years old.  She then went to live with an aloof father in London, England until she began a successful career and married a handsome young stockbroker.  She is about to begin her new and exciting life when she is drawn to the rugged coast of Cornwall to trace a mysterious memory and finds herself at the center of a murder which had never been solved.

Barr, Nevada  Deep South Park Ranger Anna Pigeon moves to Mississippi to accept a promotion, but she begins to think she has made a big mistake when the body of a young girl is found near an overgrown country cemetery, and her attempts to find answers are met with silence, hostility, and violence.

Bell, Hilari  A Matter of Profit Sick of the horrors of conquering beings on other planets, Ahvrem will end his service as a soldier and save his sister from an unhappy marriage if he can discover who is behind a rumored plot to assassinate the Emperor.

Bennett, Jay  Coverup Teenage Brad is tormented by confused memories of a drunken ride with his best friend Alden, during which they may have hit and killed a man.

Benchley, Peter  The Island Maynard, star of Jaws, and his son pursue a story to a remote archipelago southeast of the Bahamas.  There, on the deceptively inviting waters of the tropics, Maynard and his son sail into as sinister a drama as has ever been played out on the sea.  For the islands harbor a violent and shocking secret-and by discovering it, Maynard and his son are plunged into a nightmare struggle to survive.  

Christie, Agatha  By the Pricking of My Thumbs "A Tommy and Tuppence mystery"--Cover. When a sweet old lady disappears, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford come out of retirement to find out what happened to her.

Clark, Mary Higgins  The Lottery Winner This collection of six mystery stories featuring Alvirah Meehan and her husband, Willy, spent 12 weeks on PW's bestseller list. The body in the closet -- Death on the Cape -- Plumbing for Willy -- A clean sweep -- The lottery winner -- Bye, baby bunting. 

Clark, Mary Higgins  Pretend You Don’t See Her A dying murder victim entrusts real estate agent Lacey Farrell with her journal, which contains information so damaging that even the government's witness protection program cannot keep Lacey safe.

Clark, Mary Higgins  Remember Me After the death of their two-year-old son, Menley and her husband, a high profile criminal defense attorney, are determined to rebuild a life around their new infant daughter--unaware that someone has a different agenda for them.

Clark, Mary Higgins  Weep No More, My Lady Elizabeth Lange is haunted by the tragic death of her sister Leila, who plunged from the balcony of her New York penthouse under mysterious circumstances. While visiting the Cypress Point Spa, Elizabeth decides to find out exactly what happened. 

Clark, Mary Higgins  While My Pretty One Sleeps A famous New York gossip writer, whose forthcoming book threatens to expose the secrets of some powerful figures in the world of fashion, is murdered.

Collins, Wilkie  The Moonstone "First published in 1868"--T.p. verso.;Includes bibliographical references (p. xxxv-xxxvii). English police Sergeant Cuff tries to locate a fabulous diamond that might have been stolen by a group of Hindus who regard it as a sacred stone.

Connelly, Michael  Angles Flight The last coyote -- Trunk music -- Angels flight. A collection of three crime novels by Michael Connelly featuring LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch

Connelly, Michael  Blood Work Forced into early retirement, former FBI investigator for Los Angeles Terrell McCaleb spends his time restoring his fishing boat. When an intriguing murder is committed, McCaleb agrees to take up the case and finds himself on the trail of a grisly kill

Connelly, Michael  The Last Coyote The last coyote -- Trunk music -- Angels flight. A collection of three crime novels by Michael Connelly featuring LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch

Cormier, Robert  The Rag and Bone Shop Trent, an ace interrogator from Vermont, works to procure a confession from an introverted twelve-year-old accused of murdering his seven-year-old friend in Monument, Massachusetts.

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor  Crime and Punishment  Describes the resultant physical and mental depletion after a student in St. Petersburg murders an old woman, a money lender, and her sister.

Duncan, Lois  Don’t Look Behind You Seventeen-year-old April finds her comfortable life changed forever when death threats to her father, a witness in a federal case, force her family to go into hiding under assumed names and flee the pursuit of a hired killer. 

Duncan, Lois  Locked in Time Nore arrives at her stepmother's Louisiana plantation to find her new family odd and an aura of evil and mystery about the place.

Duncan, Lois  Ransom This work has been published under the title, Five were missing"--T.p. verso. Five high school students from a wealthy neighborhood are kidnapped while on their way home in the school bus and try to find a way to escape their captors while their parents scrape to meet the ransom demands.

Duncan, Lois  They Never Came Home When two teenage boys vanish on a camping trip, a stranger claims that one owes him $2,000. The boys' sister volunteers to repay the money while continually looking for clues that he is alive. 

Evanovich, Janet  Seven Up Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum's seemingly simple new assignment to bring in a senior citizen charged with smuggling cigarettes is complicated by a murder and two proposals.

Evanovich, Janet  High Five & Hot Six  Presents books five and six in the continuing adventures Stephanie Plum, an inept New Jersey bounty hunter whose attempts to round up bad guys are complicated by her involvement with Trenton vice cop Joe Morelli, and her mysterious colleague Ranger.

Francis, Dick  Come to Grief Sid Halley, jockey turned investigator, is despised after he uncovers evidence that puts a beloved sports hero on trial.

George, Elizabeth  In The Presence of The Enemy Dennis Luxford's past catches up with him when he receives an anonymous note demanding that he admit to fathering the daughter of an up-and-coming politician who refuses to allow the information to be made public. 

Hayes, Daniel  The Trouble with Lemons Tyler and Lymie, eighth grade misfits, discover a dead body in a quarry and work to uncover the mystery behind it.

Hillerman, Tony  The Blessing Way Lt. Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police and anthropologist Bergen McKee follow the horrifying trail of murder left by the Wolf-Witch.

Jance, Judith  Devil’s Claw Sheriff Joanna Brady's attention is pulled from the turmoil of her personal life when she receives a report that an Indian woman, recently released from prison, has been found murdered at Cochise Stronghold and that the victim's daughter, fifteen-year-old Lucy Ridder, is on the run.

Jance, Judith  Hour of The Hunter Diana Ladd’s life stopped six years ago when her husband killed himself after being accused of the brutal rape and murder of a young Indian woman. Diana has just begun to put her life back together when a ruthless, phychotic killer blames Diana for his time spent in prison!

Kellerman, Faye  False Prophet "A Fawcett Crest Book."--T.p. verso. LAPD detective Peter Decker, awaiting the birth of his first child with new wife Rina Lazarus, takes on the case of Lilah Brecht, the beautiful owner of a popular health club who has been beaten, raped, and robbed, but when a family member of Lilah's turns up dead, Peter begins to suspect his client is keeping deadly secrets.

Klause, Annette Curtis  Alien Secrets "A Yearling book." On her journey to the distant planet where her parents are working, twelve-year-old Puck befriends a troubled alien and becomes involved in a dangerous mystery involving a precious artifact.

L’Engle, Madeleine  Dragons in the WatersmLaurel-Leaf books." A thirteen-year-old boy's trip to Venezuela with his cousin culminates in murder and the discovery of an unexpected bond with an Indian tribe, dating from the days of Simon Bolivar.

 L’Engle, Madeleine  Troubling a Star As she tries to stay alive after being left on an iceberg in the Antarctic, sixteen-year-old Vicky recalls theseries of events that brought her to the bottom of the world and involved her in a dangerous mystery.

Martin, Ann M.  Missing Since Monday When their little sister doesn't come home from school, fifteen-year-old Maggie and her brother must face up to some deep, dark secrets about their natural mother, whom they must consider as a kidnapping suspect. 

Nixon, Joan Lowery  The Name of the Game Was Murder When she visits her great-uncle, a successful and self-centered author, at his fortress-like home on Catalina Island, fifteen-year-old Samantha becomes involved in his manipulative game that leads to murder.

Nixon, Joan Lowery  The Séance The seance started as a game, but it led to murder and terror for the people of a small east Texas community.

Nixon, Joan Lowery  Spirit Seeker To prove that her friend did not kill his parents, Holly enlists the help of a clairvoyant.

Nixon, Joan Lowery  Nobody’s There Following an act of vandalism against her father's girlfriend, a seventeen-year-old girl is paired by the court with an eccentric senior citizen whose hobby as a sleuth turns deadly. 

Qualey, Marsha  Close to a Killer Originally published: New York : Delacorte Press, c1999. Seventeen-year-old Barrie finds herself involved in a string of murders that are somehow connected to her mother's hair salon.

Roberts, Willo Davis  Nightmare When a falling body strikes Nick's car as he drives under an overpass, the police call the man's death a suicide, but Nick suspects murder and finds his life in danger when he tries to investigate. 

McCall Smith, Alexander  Tears of the Giraffe "More from The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency." Precious Ramotswe, owner and operator of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency in contemporary Botswana, accepts a job searching for a missing American man, while also dealing with her impending marriage, and her fiance's resentful maid.

Truman, Margaret  Murder at the National Gallery The senior curator at the National Gallery of Art plans a brilliant exhibition around a long-lost Caravaggio painting while secretly scheming to steal the priceless work of art for himself.

Van Draanen, Wendelin  Sammy Keyes and the Skelton Man On Halloween night, seventh grader Sammy stumbles onto a mystery involving a twenty-year-old family feud and some heirlooms stolen by a man in a skeleton costume. 

Van Draanen, Wendelin  Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief Thirteen-year-old Sammy's penchant for speaking her mind gets her in trouble when she involves herself in the investigation of a robbery at the "seedy" hotel across the street from the seniors' building where she is living with her grandmother.

Werlin, Nancy  Black Mirror : A Novel Convinced her brother's death was murder rather than suicide, sixteen-year-old Frances begins her own investigation into suspicious student activities at her boarding school.

Wynne-Jones, Tim  The Boy in the Burning House "A Sunburst book.";First published: Canada : Groundwood Books/Douglas & McIntyre. Trying to solve the mystery of his father's disappearance from their rural Canadian community, fourteen-year-old Jim gets help from the disturbed Ruth Rose, who suspects her stepfather, a local pastor.

New Non-fiction @ MTHS
(This list is in the process of being created)

 Poetry @ MTHS

Angelou, Maya  The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou
Complete collection of Mary Angelou's published poems, including her inaugural poem "On the Pulse of Morning."

Burt, John  The Collected Poems of Robert Penn Warren
Includes index. Presents every poem every published by Robert Penn Warren, the first Poet Laureate of the United States, with the exception of "Brother to Dragons."

Collins, Billy  Nine Horses : Poems
A collection of poems by 2002-2003 Poet Laureate of the United States, Billy Collins.

Collins, Billy  Sailing Alone Around The Room
A collection of poems by Billy Collins.

Cruz, Victor Hernandez  Paper Dance : 55 Latino Poets
An anthology of poetry by Latin American poets living and writing in the United States.

Dove, Rita  Mother Love : Poems
A collection of poems derived from the ancient Greek myth of Demeter and Persephone that explores the love between mother and daughter.

Dove, Rita  The Best American Poetry 2000
Presents seventy-five poems chosen by "The Best American Poetry" series Guest Editor Rita Dove as the best of 1999, plus twelve top-fifteen lists of the best poems of the twentieth century, compiled by fellow series editors.

Dove, Rita  Thomas and Beulah
A collection of poems, written by this winner of the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for poetry, tells two sides of a story and meant to be read in sequence. 

Fleischman, Paul  Joyful Noise : Poems For Two Voices
"A Charlotte Zolotow book." This book has a collection of poems describing the characteristics and activities of a variety of insects.

Glenn, Mel  Split Image : A Story In Poems
A series of poems reflect the thoughts and feelings of various people-- students, the librarian, parents, the principal, and others-- about the seemingly perfect Laura Li and her life inside and out of Tower High School.

Hass, Robert  Sun Under Wood : New Poems
This is the fourth collection of poems by the 1995 United States Poet Laureate.

Harjo, Joy  How We Became Human : New and Selected Poems
Includes bibliographical references and index. This is a collection of poems written by Joy Harjo between 1975 and 2001.

Merrill, James  Collected Poems
Includes bibliographical references (p. 871-872) and indexes. An anthology of poems by twentieth-century American poet James Merrill, including all the poems in ten trade volumes published between 1946 and 1995, a selection of poems from his first book, poems excluded from earlier volumes, translations of twenty-one poems from several languages, and forty-four previously uncollected works.

Mora, Pat  My Own True Name : New and Slected Poems For Young Adults
The text in these poems is mainly in English with some Spanish. More than sixty poems, some with Spanish translations, include such titles as "The Young Sor Juana," "Graduation Morning," "Border Town 1938," "Legal Alien," "Abuelita Magic," and "In the Blood."

Olds, Sharon The Father
This is a sequence of poems chronicling the events of a father's illness and death as seen through his daughters' eyes.

Parisi, Joseph The Poetry Anthology, 1912-2002: 90 Years of America’s Most Distinguished Verse Magazine
Includes index. Presents poems drawn from throughout the ninety-year history of "Poetry" magazine, featuring selections from William Butler Yeats, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Langston Hughes, Ezra Pound, and many others.

Stafford, Wallace  Even In Quite Places
"A James R. Hepworth book." Compiled from four of the author's previously published works: Who are you really, wanderer?, Holding onto the grass, History is loose again, and The Methow River poems.; Includes index. Collection of over ninety poems previously published by small presses and written by William Stafford, the winner of the National Book Award, the Shelley Memorial Award, and the Award in Literature of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.

Stafford, Wallace   Learning To Live In The World : Earth Poems
This book includes indexes and a collection of fifty poems, which reflect the ways in which we relate to the world around us.

Swenson, May American Poetry. 20th Century Vol 2 E.E. Cummings to May Swenson
Includes bibliographical references and index. Presents a selection of poems from eighty-five American poets written between the beginning of the twentieth century and the end of World War II; arranged chronologically by the birth date of the author, from 1838 to 1893.

Updike, John  American and Other Poems
A collection of sixty-two poems by American author John Updike, covering America, its cities and airplanes; aspects of Updike's life; foreign travel; and daily life.

  Van Duyn, Mona   Selected Poems
A collection of poems which span four decades of the award-winning poet Mona Van Duyn's career.

Walker, Alice   Absolute Trust In The Goodness Of The Earth : New Poems
Presents more than eighty poems by African-American writer Alice Walker, covering such themes as grief, love, aging, acceptance, and the hectic pace of daily life.

Science Fiction @ MTHS

Anderson, M.T.  Feed
In a future where most people have computer implants in their heads to control their environment, a boy meets an unusual girl who is in serious trouble.

Aronson, Billy  Journey to the Center of the Earth
An abridged version of the classic story about Professor Lidenbrock's adventures inside the crater of a volcano, narrated by Wishbone the television dog, with information about the author and setting of the story, and a list of characters.

Asimov, Isaac  I, Robot
Dr. Susan Calvin, the first great practitioner of the new science of robopsychology in 2008, looks back on her career with U.S. Robotics on the occasion of her retirement fifty years later, telling stories of how the mechanical race developed.

Bell, Hilari  A Matter of Profit
Sick of the horrors of conquering beings on other planets, Ahvrem will end his service as a soldier and save his sister from an unhappy marriage if he can discover who is behind a rumored plot to assassinate the Emperor.

Card, Orson Scott  Children of the Mind
"The conclusion to Ender's saga"--Cover.;"A Tom Doherty Associates book." Ender Wiggin's adopted world of Lusitania, with its three sentient species and his oldest friend Jane, a computer intelligence, are threatened by a fleet of ships sent by the Starways Congress, but with the help of two new beings created by Ender's mind, the planet may still be saved.

Card, Orson Scott  Ender’s Game
Sequel: Speaker for the Dead.;"Author's definitive edition"--Cover.;"A Tom Doherty Associates book." Ender, who is the result of genetic experimentation, may be the military genius Earth needs in its war against an alien enemy.

Card, Orson Scott  Ender’s Shadow
"A Tor Book." Bean must overcome his past and prove to the recruiters at the Battle School that he can help save the planet from an alien invasion.

Card, Orson Scott  Speaker for the Dead
"A Tom Doherty Associates book.";Sequel to: Ender's game. Andrew Wiggin, itinerant speaker for the dead, is called to aid in the investigation of two deaths when a race of sapient beings is discovered on the planet Lusitania.

Card, Orson Scott  Shadow Puppets
Peter Wiggin, leader of the worldwide government in the aftermath of the victory over the alien Formics, makes a tactical error when he arranges for the rescue of his archenemy Achilles who is being held by the Chinese, only to learn Achilles is insane and determined to kill Bean, the genetic anomaly who served as second-in-command during the conflict.

Card, Orson Scott  Shadow of the Hegemon
A Tom Doherty Associates book." A sequel to "Ender's Shadow," in which the child-warriors, heroes of the Formic War, have returned to their families on Earth only to become the pawns of nations who want to use them as weapons in their quest for sovereignty.

Card, Orson Scott   Xenocide
"Volume three of the Ender quartet"--Cover.;Sequel to: Ender's game.;"A Tom Doherty Associates book." Lusitania seems to be a planet on which three intelligent species--humans, the pequininos, and the Hive Queen--can finally live together, until a virus dangerous to humans but vital to the pequininos is found, and the Starways Congress orders Lusitania and its inhabitants to be destroyed.

Christopher, John   When the Tripods Came
"This edition ... is by arrangement with the publisher, Dutton Children's Books"--T.p. verso. Fourteen-year-old Laurie and his family attempt to flee England when the Tripods descend from outer space and begin brainwashing everyone with their hypnotic Caps.

Datnow, Claire L.  American Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers
Profiles the lives and careers of ten influential science fiction and fantasy writers.

Farmer, Nancy  The Ear, the Eye and the Arm
"Includes a new preface from Nancy Farmer and a discussion guide"--Cover p. 4. In 2194 in Zimbabwe, General Matsika's three children are kidnapped and put to work in a plastic mine, while three mutant detectives use their special powers to search for them. 

Foster, Alan Dean  Splinter of the Minds Eye
"A Del Rey book." The further adventures of Luke Skywalker as he fights for right and justice against the evil Imperial forces on the planet Mimbran.

Haddix, Margaret Peterson  Turnabout
Melly and Anny Beth agree to participate in Project Turnabout, a scientific experiment in which they are given a shot that will make them grow younger, until they receive a second injection that will stop the aging process, but when other participants die after receiving the second shot, Melly and Anny Beth refuse to have the shot and set out to find someone to care for them when they are too young to do it themselves.

Hautman, Pete  Hole in the Sky
In a future world ravaged by a mutant virus, sixteen-year-old Ceej and three other teenagers seek to save the Grand Canyon from being flooded, while trying to avoid capture by a band of renegade Survivors.

Hughes, Monica  Invitation to the Game
Unemployed after high school in the highly robotic society of 2154, Lisse and seven friends resign themselves to a boring existence in their "Designated Area" until the government invites them to play The Game.

Lowry, Lois  Gathering Blue
"Walter Lorraine Books." Lame and suddenly orphaned, Kira is mysteriously removed from her squalid village to live in the palatial Council Edifice, where she is expected to use her gifts as a weaver to do the bidding of the all-powerful Guardians.

Lowry, Lois  The Giver
Newberry Medal, 1994 Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives.

McCaffrey, Anne  Dragonsdawn
"A Del Rey book." Colonists from Earth set out to protect their new home, Pern, from the deadly spores that fall from the sky and devour everything in their path.

Sagan, Carl  Contact
Scientist Eleanor Arroway risks her life and reputation in an attempt to respond when radio telescopes on Earth receive a signal indicating the existence of life twenty-six light-years away in the vicinity of the star Vega.

Sleator, William  Intersteller Pig
Barney's boring seaside vacation suddenly becomes more interesting when the cottage next door is occupied by three exotic neighbors who are addicted to a game they call "Interstellar Pig."

Verne, Jules  Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Adaptation of: Vingt mille lieues sous les mers. An adaptation of the nineteenth-century science fiction tale of an electric submarine, its eccentric captain, and the undersea world, which anticipated many of the scientific achievements of the twentieth century.

Wells, H. G.  The Time Machine
"First published in 1895"--T.p. verso. A scientist invents a machine that transports him far into the future where he discovers a changed world inhabited by two unusual races, the Eloi and the Morlocks.

Wells, H. G.  The War of the Worlds
An intellectually-superior race from Mars invades the Earth with plans to enslave human beings.

Teens Solving Problems

24 Hours - Mahy, Margaret, c2000 During his first twenty-four hours after finishing high school, seventeen-year-old Ellis unexpectedly becomes part of an inner-city world far different from his comfortable life, which helps deal with his best friend's recent suicide.

America : A Novel - Frank, E. R., c2002., 242p,  America, a runaway boy who is being treated at Ridgeway, a New York hospital, finds himself opening up to one of the doctors on staff and revealing things about himself that he had always vowed to keep secret.

Being with Henry - Brooks, Martha, 1944, 216p,
Forced out of his home by a disagreeable and bullying stepfather, sixteen-year-old Laker moves to another town and strikes up an unexpected friendship with a frail but determined old man.

Big Mouth & Ugly Girl - Oates, Joyce Carol, 1938, 266p, AR: 5.1
When sixteen-year-old Matt is falsely accused of threatening to blow up his high school and his friends turn against him, an unlikely classmate comes to his aid.

Black Mirror : A Novel - Werlin, Nancy c2001., 249p, AR: 4.7
Convinced her brother's death was murder rather than suicide, sixteen-year-old Frances begins her own investigation into suspicious student activities at her boarding school.

Born Blue - Nolan, Han., c2001., 277p, AR: 4.9
Janie was four years old when she nearly drowned due to her mother's neglect. Through an unhappy foster home experience, and years of feeling that she is unwanted, she keeps alive her dream of someday being a famous singer.

Breathing Underwater - Flinn, Alexandra., c2001., 263p, AR: 3.9
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.

Catalyst - Anderson, Laurie Halse., 2002., 232p, AR: 4.0
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.

The Color of Absence : 12 stories about loss and hope - c2001., 238p, AR: 4.5
Presents twelve short stories that examine how young people deal with different types of loss.

Cut - McCormick, Patricia, 1956, 168p, AR: 4.6
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.

A Dance For Three - Plummer, Louise., c2000., 230p, AR: 4.1
Fifteen-year-old Hannah is forced to face some hard facts about her life when she becomes pregnant and her rich, popular boyfriend claims he is not responsible.

Dunk - Lubar, David, c2002., 249p, AR: 3.8
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 New Jersey shore, comes to a better understanding of himself and the uses of humor as he undergoes training in the fine art of insults.

Eight Seconds - Ferris, Jean, 1939, 186p, AR: 4.6
Eighteen-year-old John must confront his own sexuality when he goes to rodeo school and finds himself strangely attracted to an older boy who is smart, tough, complicated, gorgeous, and gay.

Fresh Girl - Placide, Jaira., c2002., 216p, AR: 3.9
After having been sent, at a very young age, from New York to live with her grandmother in Haiti, fourteen-year-old Mardi returns to join her parents and try to shape a new life in Brooklyn.

Ghost Boy - Lawrence, Iain, 1955, 326p, AR: 4.4
Unhappy in a home seemingly devoid of love, a fourteen-year-old albino boy who thinks of himself as Harold the Ghost runs away to join the circus, where he works with the elephants and searches for a sense of who he is.

Gingerbread - Cohn, Rachel., c2002., 172p, AR: 6.1
After being expelled from a fancy boarding school, Cyd Charisse's problems with her mother escalate after Cyd falls in love with a sensitive surfer and is subsequently sent from San Francisco to New York City to spend time with her biological father.

Habibi - Nye, Naomi Shihab., c1997., 271p, AR: 5.2
When fourteen-year-old Liyanne Abboud, her younger brother, and her parents move from St. Louis to a new home between Jerusalem and the Palestinian village where her father was born, they face many changes and must deal with the tensions between Jews and Palestinians.

Hanging on to Max - Bechard, Margaret., c2002., 142p, AR: 3.3
When his girlfriend decides to give their baby away, seventeen-year-old Sam is determined to keep him and raise him alone.

Myrtle of Willendorf - O'Connell, Rebecca, 1968, 116p, AR: 5.6
Myrtle has trouble adjusting to college life, until she discovers a new sense of self and a different kind of beauty through her painting.

Night Hoops - Deuker, Carl., 2000., 212p, AR: 4.5
While trying to prove that he is good enough to play on his high school's varsity basketball team, Nick must also deal with his parents' divorce and erratic behavior of a troubled classmate who lives across the street.

Of Sound Mind - Ferris, Jean, 1939, 215p, AR: 5.1
Tired of interpreting for his deaf family and resentful of their reliance on him, high school senior Theo finds support and understanding from Ivy, a new student who also has a deaf parent.

The Other Side of Truth - Naidoo, Beverley., 2003., 252p, RL 5.8, AR: 5.3
Smuggled out of Nigeria after their mother's murder, Sade and her younger brother are abandoned in London when their uncle fails to meet them at the airport and they are fearful of their new surroundings and of what may have happened to their journalist father back in Nigeria.

Peeling the Onion - Orr, Wendy., 1997., 166p, AR: 5.3
Following an automobile accident in which her neck is broken, a teenage karate champion begins a long and painful recovery with the help of her family.

Playing Without The Ball : A Novel In Four Quarters - Wallace, Rich., c2000., 213p, RL 5.2, AR: 4.1
Feeling abandoned by his parents, who have gone their separate ways and left him behind in a small Pennsylvania town, seventeen-year-old Jay finds hope for the future in a church-sponsored basketball team and a female friend.

Rainbow Boys - Sanchez, Alex, 1957, 233p, AR: 3.7
Three high school seniors, a jock with a girlfriend and an alcoholic father, a closeted gay, and a flamboyant gay rights advocate, struggle with family issues, gay bashers, first sex, and conflicting feelings about each other.

Secret Sacrament - Jordan, Sherryl., 2000., 338p, AR: 6.6
A disturbing incident when he is only seven years old foreshadows the role Gabriel will play in the relations between his Navoran people and the Shinali, a role which is solidified when he becomes an Elected One and trains to be a Healer.

Seek - Fleischman, Paul., 2001., 167p, AR: 4.7
Rob becomes obsessed with searching the airwaves for his long-gone father, a radio announcer.

Shabanu : Daughter Of The Wind - Staples, Suzanne Fisher., 1997., RL 7.0, 240p, AR: 5.9
When eleven-year-old Shabanu, the daughter of a nomad in the Cholistan Desert of present-day Pakistan, is pledged in marriage to an older man whose money will bring prestige to the family, she must either accept the decision, as is the custom, or risk the consequences of defying her father's wishes.

Stoner & Spaz - Koertge, Ronald., 2002., 169p, AR: 3.5
A troubled youth with cerebral palsy struggles toward self-acceptance with the help of a drug-addicted young woman.

Tangerine - Bloor, Edward, 1950, 294p, AR: 4.3
Paul Fisher, a stellar soccer player despite being legally blind, finally comes into his own when his family moves to the strange town of Tangerine, Florida.

Tears Of A Tiger - Draper, Sharon M. (Sharon Mills), c1994., RL 6.5, 180p, AR: 4.3
The death of high school basketball star Rob Washington in an automobile accident affects the lives of his close friend Andy, who was driving the car, and many others in the school.

Ten Miles From Winnemucca - Wyss, Thelma Hatch., c2002., 129p, AR: 4.5
When his mother and her new husband take off on a long honeymoon and his new stepbrother throws his belongings out the window, sixteen-year-old Martin J. Miller takes off in his Jeep and settles in Red Rock, Idaho, where he finds a job, enrolls in school, and suffers from loneliness.

Tender - Hobbs, Valerie., 2001., 245p, AR: 4.0
After her beloved Gran dies, fifteen-year-old Liv goes to California to live with the father she has never known and must adjust to his gruff ways and his life as an abalone diver, so different from her life in New York City.

Touching Spirit Bear - Mikaelsen, Ben, 1952, 241p, RL 6.7, AR: 5.3
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, and he is sent to a remote Alaskan Island where an encounter with a huge Spirit Bear changes his life.

What Janie Found - Cooney, Caroline B., c2000., 181p, AR: 4.8
While still adjusting to the reality of having two families, her birth family and the family into which she was kidnapped as a small child, seventeen-year-old Janie makes a shocking discovery about her long-gone kidnapper.

When Dad Killed Mom - Lester, Julius., c2001., 183p, AR: 4.8
After their college psychologist father kills their artist mother, young Jenna and Jeremy struggle with the secret each of them keeps.