Jefferson High School – Hero
Running Out of Time /by Margaret Haddix
FIC HAD
When a diphtheria epidemic hits her 1840 village, thirteen-year-old Jessie discovers it is actually a 1995 tourist site
under unseen observation by heartless scientists, and it's up to Jessie to escape the village and save the lives of the
dying children.
Freak the Mighty /by Rodman Philbrick
FIC PHI
At the beginning of eighth grade, learning disabled Max and his new friend Freak, whose birth defect has affected
his body but not his brilliant mind, find that when they combine forces they make a powerful team.
Wringer /by Jerry Spinelli
FIC SPI
As Palmer comes of age, he must either accept the violence of being a wringer at his town's annual Pigeon Day or
find the courage to oppose it.
Voices From the Streets; Young Former Gang Members Tell Their Stories /by S. Beth Atkin
364.1 VOI
Photographs, poems, and interviews with former gang members from different regions of the United States depict
their experiences.
Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the Endurance /by
Jennifer Armstrong
919.8 ARM
Describes the events of the 1914 Shackleton Antarctic expedition when, after being trapped in a frozen sea for nine
months, their ship, Endurance, was finally crushed, forcing Shackleton and his men to make a very long and perilous
journey across ice and stormy seas to reach inhabited land.
Through My Eyes: The Autobiography of Ruby Bridges /by Ruby Bridges
B Bridges
At six years old, Ruby Bridges gained national attention in the integration of the New Orleans public schools.
American Chica: Two Worlds, One Childhood /by Maria Arana
B Arana
In her father's Peruvian family, Marie Arana was taught to be a proper young lady.
The Bean Trees /by Barbara Kingsolver
FIC KIN
Taylor Greer leaves Kentucky and heads west to find a new life. When a baby is abandoned in her car, she learns
that responsibilities and independence are not mutually exclusive in this story of family and community.
Breath, Eyes, Memory /by Edwidge Danticat
FIC DAN
Twelve-year-old Sophie Caco is removed from her impoverished village and sent to live in New York with her
mother, a woman she barely knows. There she learns about a terrible truth that shadows her family.
Chanda's Wars /by Allan Stratton
FIC STR
Chandra Kabelo, a teenaged African girl, must save her younger siblings after they are kidnapped and forced to
serve as child soldiers in General Mandiki's rebel army.
Forgotten Fire /by Adam Bagdasarian
FIC BAG
Twelve-year-old Vahan Kenderian, the son of an influential Armenian family in Turkey, struggles to survive alone
after witnessing the deaths of many of his family and friends during the Armenian massacres of the early twentieth
century.
Green Angel /by Alice Hoffman
FIC HOF
Haunted by grief and by her past after losing her family, fifteen-year-old Green retreats into her ruined garden as she
struggles to survive emotionally and physically on her own.
In the Time of the Butterflies /by Julia Alvarez
FIC ALV
A fictional account of the young lives of Mirabal sisters Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa, otherwise known in the
Dominican Republic as Las Mariposas, describes their suffering and martyrdom in the last days of the Trujillo
dictatorship.
Pirates! /by Celia Rees
FIC REE
In 1722, after arriving with her brother at the family's Jamaican plantation where she is to be married off, sixteenyear-old Nancy Kington escapes with her slave friend, Minerva Sharpe, and together they become pirates traveling
the world in search of treasure.
Postcards From No Man's Land /by Aidan Chambers
FIC CHA
Alternates between two stories--contemporarily, 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.
Under the Persimmon Tree /by Suzanne Fisher Staples
FIC STA
A young Afghan girl, Najmah, befriends an American woman, Nusrat in Peshawar, Pakistan, after Najmah flees her
native Afghanistan during the 2001 war; and together they begin a long journey to locate their missing loved ones
after the war ends.
Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind /by Suzanne Fisher Staples
FIC STA
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.
Shizuko’s Daughter /by Kyoko Mori
FIC MOR
After her mother's suicide when she is twelve years old, Yuki spends years living with her distant father and his
resentful new wife, cut off from her mother's family, and relying on her own inner strength to cope with the tragedy.
Speak /by Laurie Halse Anderson
FIC AND
A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect on Melinda's freshman year in high school.
A Step from Heaven /by An Na
FIC NA
A young Korean girl and her family find it difficult to learn English and adjust to life in America.
Ties That Bind, Ties That Break /by Lensey Namioka
FIC NAM
Ailin's life takes a different turn when she defies the traditions of upper class Chinese society by refusing to have her
feet bound.
Toning the Sweep /by Angela Johnson
FIC JOH
Three generations of African-American women. Each holding on to a separate truth. A truth about life, about death,
and about themselves.
Zlata's Diary /by Zlata Filipovic
B FILIPOVIC
A chronicle of the war in Sarajevo from a child's perspective details Zlata's struggle for survival and a normal life in
a chaotic nation.