Avi. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle.
Not every thirteen-year-old girl is accused of murder, brought to trail and found
guilty...Charlotte Doyle is just such a girl and she swears to tell the truth in all its detail. It
happened during the summer of 1832 aboard a ship called the Seahawk.
Blue Balliett. Chasing Vermeer; The Wright Three
When seemingly unrelated and strange events start to happen and a precious
Vermeer painting disappears, eleven-year-olds Petra and Calder combine their talents to
solve an international art scandal.
Dave Barry. Peter and the Starcatchers
Soon after Peter, an orphan, sets sail from England on the ship Never Land, he
befriends and assists Molly, a young Starcatcher, whose mission is to guard a trunk of
magical stardust from a greedy pirate and the native inhabitants of a remote island
Ann Cameron. Colibri.
She was little and quick and pretty. Her mother nicknamed her Colibrí, Spanish for
'Hummingbird.' At age four she was kidnapped, torn from her parents on a crowded bus
in Guatemala City. Since then she's traveled with 'Uncle,' the ex-soldier and wandering
beggar who has renamed her Rosa. Uncle has always told Rosa that he searched for her
parents but had no success. There’s almost no chance Rosa will ever find them – but
Rosa still remembers and longs for them.
Kevin Crossley-Holland. The Seeing Stone, At the Crossing-Places. (only one from this
series can count)
In late twelfth-century England, thirteen-year-old Arthur recounts how Merlin
gives him a magical seeing stone, which shows him images of the legendary King Arthur,
the events of whose life seem to have
many parallels to his own.
Kate DiCamillo. The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some
Soup, and a Spool of Thread
The adventures of Desperaux Tilling, a small mouse of unusual talents, the princess that
he loves, the servant girl who longs to be a princess and a devious rat determined to bring
them all to ruin.
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. The Conch Bearer; The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming.
In a dingy shack in the less-than-desirable Indian neighborhood he calls home,
twelve-year-old Anand is entrusted with a conch shell that possesses mystical powers.
His task is to return the shell to its rightful home many hundreds of miles away.
Accompanying him are Nisha, a headstrong but resourceful child of the streets, and a
mysterious man of indeterminate age and surprising resources named Abadhyatta. His
quest will take him farther from home than he's ever been and will teach him more than
he ever imagined -- and it will force him to make a poignant decision that will change
him forever.
Michael Dorris. Morning Girl.
This novel alternates between the first-person voices of twelve-year-old Morning
Girl and her younger brother, Star Boy, who are Taino Indians living on a Bahamian
island in 1492.
Jeanne DuPrau. City of Ember. The People of Sparks. The Prophet of Yonwood.
The city of Ember was built as a last refuge for the human race. Two hundred years
later, the great lamps that light the city are beginning to flicker. When Lina finds part of
an ancient message, she?s sure it holds a secret that will save the city. She and her friend
Doon must decipher the message before the lights go out on Ember forever!
Paula Fox. Monkey Island.
Forced to live on the streets of New York after his mother disappears from their
hotel room, eleven-year-old Clay is befriended by two men who help him survive.
John Feinstein. Last Shot: a Final Four Mystery; Vanishing Act.
As winners of a writing contest, eighth-graders Steven Thomas and Susan Carol
Anderson travel to the NCAA Final Four as journalists. In addition to meeting college
basketball celebrities, the two also uncover a plot to fix the championship game. This is a
fast-moving mystery takes the reader to a behind-the-scenes look at the Final Four.
Sid Fleischman. Bo & Mzzz Mad.
When his father dies, Bo Gamage warily moves to the Mojave Desert home of his
distant and estranged relatives, the Martinkas, and finds that “Mad” lives up to her name,
Paw Paw despises him, and Aunt Juna hopes he’ll help search for the gold mine that
started a family feud.
Cornelia Funke. The Thief Lord; Dragon Rider
Prosper and Bo are orphans on the run from their cruel aunt and uncle. The brothers
decide to hide out in Venice, where they meet a mysterious thirteen-year-old boy who
calls himself the 'Thief Lord.' Brilliant and charismatic, the Thief Lord leads a ring of
street children who dabble in petty crimes. Prosper and Bo delight in being part of this
colorful new family. But the Thief Lord has secrets of his own. And soon the boys are
thrust into circumstances that will lead them to a fantastic, spellbinding conclusion.
Cornelia Funke. Dragon Rider.
After learning that humans are headed toward his hidden home, Firedrake, a silver
dragon, is joined by a brownie and an orphan boy in a quest to find the legendary valley
known as the Rim of Heaven, encountering friendly and unfriendly creatures along the
way, and struggling to evade the relentless pursuit of an old enemy.
Jack Gantos. Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key; Joey Pigza Loses Control; What Would
Joey Do?
To the constant disappointment of his mother and his teachers, Joey has trouble
paying attention or controlling his mood swings when his prescription medications wear
off and he starts getting worked up and acting wired.
Patricia Reilly Giff. Nory Ryan’s Song
When a terrible blight attacks Ireland's potato crop in 1845, twelve-year-old Nory Ryan's
courage and ingenuity help her family and neighbors survive.
Margaret Peterson Haddix. Among the Hidden; Among the Betrayed; The Imposters;
Among the Barons; Among the Brave; Among the Enemy; Among the Free.
In a society that allows only two children per family, the third child is a 'shadow
child', illegal and forbidden. Luke is 'among the hidden' in this chilling novel.
Ann Halam. Dr. Franklin’s Island.
When their plane crashes over the Pacific Ocean, three science students are left
stranded on a tropical island and then imprisoned by a doctor who is performing
horrifying experiments on humans involving the transfer of animal genes.
Karen Hesse. The Music of the Dolphins.
After rescuing an adolescent girl from the sea, researchers learn she has been raised
by dolphins and attempt to rehabilitate her to the human world.
Carl Hiassen. Flush; Hoot
With their father jailed for sinking a river boat, Noah Underwood and his younger
sister, Abbey, must gather evidence that the owner of this floating casino is emptying his
bilge tanks into the protected waters around their Florida Keys home.
Roy, who is new to his small Florida community, becomes involved in another
boy's attempt to save a colony of burrowing owls from a proposed construction site.
Will Hobbs. Crossing the Wire.
Fifteen-year-old Victor Flores journeys north in a desperate attempt to cross the
Arizona border and find work in the United States to support his family in central
Mexico.
Kimberly Willis Holt. Dancing in Cadillac Light.
In 1968, eleven-year-old Jaynell's life in the town of Moon, Texas, is enlivened
when her eccentric Grandpap comes to live with her family.
Anthony Horowitz. Stormbreaker; Point Blank; Eagle Strike; Scorpia; Skeleton Key;
Ark Angel
When his uncle is mysteriously killed in a car crash, fourteen-year old Alex sees his
prep-school world overturned in an instant. Police explain in funeral voices that Ian
Rider’s death was the result of not wearing his seat belt, but that doesn’t explain the fresh
spray of bullet holes across the car’s battered windshield. Finding out what realled killed
his uncle and “saving England” become young Alex’s new life mission.
Diana Wynne Jones. The Merlin Conspiracy.
Roddy and Nick, two teenagers with magical powers they are just learning to use,
find that they must work together to save Roddy's home world of Blest from destruction
by power-hungry wizards.
Diana Wynne Jones. Dogsbody.
The Dog Star, Sirius, is tried for murder by his heavenly peers and found guilty.
His sentence: to be reborn on Earth as a dog until such time as he carries out the
seemingly impossible mission imposed on him.Cynthia Kadohata. Kira-Kira.
Chronicles the close friendship between two Japanese-American sisters growing up
in rural Georgia during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and the despair when one sister
becomes terminally ill. Newbery Medal winner
E. L. Konigsburg. The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place.
Upon leaving an oppressive summer camp, twelve-year-old Margaret Rose Kane
spearheads a campaign to preserve three unique towers her grand uncles have been
building in their back yard for over forty years.
Gordon Korman. No More Dead Dogs.
Eighth-grade football hero Wallace Wallace is sentenced to detention attending
rehearsals of the school play where, in spite of himself, he becomes wrapped up in the
production and begins to suggest changes that improve not only the play but his life as
well.
Amy Goldman Koss. The Girls.
Realistic portrayal of a popular middle school clique's devolution unfolds though six
narrators think twice before sacrificing their individuality for the sake of popularity.
Iain Lawrence. The Wreckers, The Buccaneers, The Smugglers.
Shipwrecked after a vicious storm, fourteen-year-old John Spencer attempts to save
his father and himself while also dealing with an evil secret about the English coastal
town where they are stranded. The Buccaneers and The Smugglers are further adventures.
Madeleine L'Engle. A Wind in the Door; Many Waters; A Swiftly Tilting Planet.
Companion books to A Wrinkle in Time.
Janet Taylor Lisle. The Art of Keeping Cool.
Narrated by thirteen-year-old Robert, this multi-layered novel explores tensions
against a backdrop of the conflicts of World War II.
Mike Lupica. Travel Team.
After he is cut from his travel basketball team--the very same team that his father
once led to national prominence--twelve-year-old Danny Walker forms his own team of
cast-offs that might have a shot at victory.
Chris Lynch. Gold Dust.
In 1975, twelve-year-old Richard befriends Napoleon, a Caribbean newcomer to
his Catholic school, hoping that Napoleon will learn to love baseball and the Red Sox.
Carolyn Meyer. White Lilacs.
In 1921 in Dillon, Texas, twelve-year-old Rose Lee sees trouble threatening her
black community when the whites decide to take the land there for a park and forcibly
relocate the black families to an ugly stretch of territory outside the town.
Linda Sue Park. When My Name Was Keoko.
With national pride and occasional fear, a brother and sister face the increasingly
oppressive occupation of Korea by Japan during World War II, which threatens to
suppress Korean culture entirely.With national pride and occasional fear, a brother and
sister face the increasingly oppressive occupation of Korea by Japan during World War
II, which threatens to suppress Korean culture entirely.
Gary Paulsen. Harris and Me: a Summer Remembered.
Sent to live with relatives on their farm because of his unhappy home life, an elevenyear-old city boy meets his distant cousin, Harris, and is given an introduction to a whole
new world.
Gary Paulsen. Mr. Tucket; Call Me Francis Tucket; Tucket's Ride; Tucket's Gold;
Tucket's Ride.
In 1848, while on a wagon train headed for Oregon, fourteen-year-old Francis
Tucket is kidnapped by Pawnee Indians and then falls in with a one-armed trapper who
teaches him how to live in the wild.
Gary Paulsen. How Angel Peterson Got His Name: and other outrageous tales about
extreme sports
Author Gary Paulsen relates tales from his youth in a small town in northwestern
Minnesota in the late 1940s and early 1950s, such as skiing behind a souped-up car and
imitating daredevil Evel Knievel.
Richard Peck. The Teacher’s Funeral: a Comedy in Three Parts.
In rural Indiana in 1904, fifteen-year-old Russell's dreams of quitting school and
joining a wheat threshing crew are disrupted when his older sister takes over the teaching
at his one-room schoolhouse after mean old Myrt Arbuckle 'hauls off and dies.'
Rodman Philbrick. Freak the Mighty.
Max, a large eighth-grader with a learning disability, becomes friends with Freak, an
intelligent boy who is physically impaired.
Tamora Pierce. Alanna: the First Adventure; In the Hand of the Goddess; The Woman
Who Rides Like a Man; Lioness Rampant. Song of the Lioness series.
Eleven-year-old Alanna, who aspires to be a knight even though she is a girl,
disguises herself as a boy to become a royal page, a learning many hard lessons along her
path to high adventure.
Terry Pratchett. The Wee Free Men
A young witch-to-be named Tiffany teams up with the Wee Free Men, a clan of six-inchhigh blue men, to rescue her baby brother and ward off a sinister invasion from
Fairyland.
Philip Pullman. I Was a Rat.
A little boy turns life in London upside down when he appears at the house of a
lonely old couple and insists he was a rat.
Rick Riordan. The Lightning Thief; The Sea of Monsters; Titan's Curse. Percy Jackson
& the Olympians series
There is no such twelve-year-old boy as Perseus 'Percy' Jackson. The Greek gods are
nothing more than old myths. They certainly never have children with mortals in the 21st
century, nor is there any such place as Half Blood Hill, a summer camp for demigods on
eastern Long Island. Percy never met a satyr or a daughter of Athena. They most
emphatically did not take a quest together across the United States to reach the gates of
the Underworld and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.
John Ritter. Choosing Up Sides; Over the Wall; The Boy Who Saved Baseball, Under
the Baseball Moon
(The Boy Who Saved Baseball) An elderly doctor planning to sell his land for future
development decides to hinge the deal on whether Tom's baseball team can beat a rival in
a big game. Tom and his teammates, fighting to keep the town the way it is, recruit a
reclusive former all-star for their coach and attempt to learn the secrets of hitting. Book
Fair 2007 Kyle Likover Memorial Visiting Author
William Sleator. Interstellar Pig. Parasite 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.
Jerry Spinelli. Loser.
Donald Zinkoff is one of the greatest kids you could ever hope to meet. He laughs
easily, he likes people, he loves school, he tries to rescue lost girls in blizzards, and he
talks to old ladies. The only problem is, he's a "loser."
Nancy Springer. Rowan Hood: Outlaw Girl of Sherwood Forest. Outlaw Princess of
Sherwood, a Tale of Rowan Hood. Lionclaw: A Tale of Rowan Hood. Outlaw princess of
Sherwood, a tale of Rowan Hood. Rowan Hood returns --the Final Chapter.
She has never met her father-the outlaw folks call Robin Hood. But with her
mother murdered and no one to care for her, thirteen-year-old Rowan has no choice but to
track him down. Disguised as a boy, she picks up a band of followers, including Lionel,
the gentle giant, and Ettarde, the runaway princess.
Stephanie Tolan. Surviving the Applewhites.
Jake, a budding juvenile delinquent, is sent for home schooling to the arty and
eccentric Applewhite family's Creative Academy, where he discovers talents and interests
he never knew he had.
Rod Townley. The Great Good Thing
Twelve-year-old Princess Sylvie's storybook kingdom really is a storybook, where
nothing ever changes, even the character's mad scramble to reach their places whenever
the book is opened, until Sylvie discovers she can enter new worlds with the Reader, and
find new adventures.
Sarah Weeks. So B. It: a Novel.
After spending her life with her mentally retarded mother and agoraphobic neighbor,
twelve-year-old Heidi sets out from Reno, Nevada, to New York to find out who she is.
Patricia C. Wrede. Talking to Dragons; Sending for Dragons; Calling on Dragons;
Talking to Dragons,
Bored with traditional palace life, a princess goes off to live with a group of
dragons and soon becomes involved with fighting against some disreputable wizards who
want to steal away the dragons' kingdom.
Rick Yancy. The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp.
Through a series of dangerous and violent misadventures, teenage "loser" Alfred
Kropp rescues King Arthur's legendary sword Excalibur from the forces of evil.
Lisa Yee. Millicent Min Girl Genius; Stanford Wong Flunks Big Time; So Totally Emily
Ebers.
In a series of journal entries, eleven-year-old child prodigy Millicent Min records
her struggles to learn to play volleyball, tutor her enemy, deal with her grandmother's
departure, and make friends over the course of a tumultuous summer.
Zindel, Paul. The Gadget; The Pigman and Me; Loch; Reef of Death; any book by
Zindel
The Gadget In 1945, having joined his father at Los Alamos, where he and other
scientists are working on a secret project to end World War II, thirteen-year-old Stephen
becomes caught in a web of secrecy and intrigue.