Fiction by Continent and Country
North America
Canada
J & YA FIC BAN
Banerjee, Aniali
Maya Running
Maya Mukherjee doesn't fit in. She was born in India and her parents moved to Canada when she
was a baby. Now it's the 1970s, and she's a middle schooler in Manitoba, land of moose and
snow. She wants to run on the tundra beneath the Northern Lights, make igloos or snow-angels,
see John Travolta, and ride elephants through the Bengal jungle the way her great-grandfather
did. Then her gorgeous cousin Pinky comes from India for a visit, bringing a statue of the god
Ganesh, the Remover of Obstacles. Maya asks Ganesh to remove all obstacles to her dreams.
Like most wishes, it backfires in hilarious and painful ways. Maya must journey across continents
to restore the truth and find out who she is.
YA FIC BEA
Beam, Matt
Last December
This coming-of-age story is in the form of a diary written by fifteen-year-old Steven to his unborn
sister Sam. Plagued with the all-too-common situations of a teenager—being new to a school,
girls, trying out for a sports team, drinking, and family issues—Steven chooses to write to the one
person who cannot judge him, at least not yet.
YA FIC BUF
Buffie, Margaret
Winter Shadows
Cass feels the long winter shadows on her heart. Her mother died of cancer and her father has
remarried a woman who has moved into their old Manitoba house with her nasty, babyish
daughter and an attitude that's very hard to take. Christmas promises to be a miserable time.
More than a century earlier, Christmas is proving to be difficult for Beatrice, too, for she has
shadows of her own. Some are cast by her circumstances. She sees the growing prejudice
against people like her who are of mixed Cree and Scottish backgrounds. And like Cass, she has
a stepmother. Her father's new wife is threatened by Beatrice and is driving a wedge into the
family. Beatrice can only be sure of her beloved Cree grandmother, relegated to a room upstairs.
When a way of escape presents itself to Beatrice by way of an eligible bachelor, she is torn by the
choice it offers her. Should she settle for a man she doesn't love or address the problems at
home? Through her journal, she explores the answer and, at the same time, inspires Cass to find
the strength she needs to face her own situation.
1
YA FIC FRI Friesen, Gayle The Isabel Factor
The sunny expectations of a counselor-in-training at her childhood camp on a Canadian island
become overcast when teen Anna's best buddy, Zoe, can't make the trip. In years past, Anna had
traveled the path of least resistance, the one right behind Zoe; but now her experiences give her
new strength and insight. Venturing forth on her own, she meets Isabel, an enigma with rainbowcolored hair, whose blunt approach to life doesn't fit in with perfectionist Jennifer's ambitions for
their cabin to be the best at all costs. She befriends Isabel, assists the cute but infuriating swim
coach, and helps a struggling young camper. Then Zoe shows up, throwing Anna's world out of
balance, as she faces a test of character, and friendship.
YA FIC HEN
Heneghan, James
Payback
Thirteen-year-old Charley Callaghan is coping with some difficult changes in his life. His family
has recently moved to Vancouver from Ireland, and his mother has died of cancer. Now he is
desperately trying to fit in --in a new school, a new city, a new country--while holding a part-time
job and keeping an eye on his little sister, Annie. Charley's red hair and Irish accent at first make
him a target of the class bullies, but he is tough enough--just--to keep them at bay. So it is almost
a relief to him when the bullies find a new target, Benny Mason. As the bullying intensifies,
Charley keeps hoping that Benny will defend himself, but he fails to intervene. When the situation
turns tragic, Charley must face some difficult questions about his own part in the events. His
search for atonement leads to an unusual friendship, and an unexpected opportunity to pay back.
YA FIC HUG
Hughes, Gregory
Unhooking the Moon
Meet the Rat: A dancing, football-playing gangster-baiting ten-year-old. When she foresaw her
father’s death, she picked up her football and decided to head for New York. Meet her older
brother Bob: Protector of the Rat, but more often her follower, he is determined to find their uncle
in America and discover a new life for them both. On their adventures across the flatlands of
Winnipeg and through the exciting streets of New York, Bob and the Rat make friends with a
hilarious con man and a famous rap star, and escape numerous dangers. But is their Uncle a rich
business man, or is the word on the street, that he something more sinister, true? And will they
ever find him?
FIC & YA FIC KOG
Kogawa, Joy
Obasan
Based on the author's own experiences, this award-winning novel was the first to tell the story of
the evacuation, relocation, and dispersal of Canadian citizens of Japanese ancestry during the
Second World War.
YA MYS KYI
Kyi, Tanya Lloyd
Truth
There’s been a murder. The murder happened at a party with tons of people there. No one saw
anything, or did they?
YA FIC MAR
Martinez, Jessica Space Between Us
Amelia is used to being upstaged by her charismatic younger sister, Charly. She doesn’t mind,
mostly, that it always falls to her to cover for Charly’s crazy, impulsive antics. But one night,
Charly’s thoughtlessness goes way too far, and she lands both sisters in serious trouble.
Amelia’s not sure she can forgive Charly this time, and not sure she wants to . . . but forgiveness
is beside the point. Because Charly is also hiding a terrible secret, and the truth just might tear
them apart forever.
2
YA FIC MCD
Boots
McDonald, Abby
Boys, Bears and a Serious Pair of Hiking
Seventeen-year-old Jenna may hail from the ’burbs of New Jersey, but environmental activism is
her life. So when the opportunity arises to spend the summer in the wilds of Canada with her
hippie godmother, Susie, this Green Teen jumps at the chance to explore this nature she’s heard
so much about — and the cute, plaid-wearing boys she’s certain roam wild and free. But after a
few unpleasant run-ins with local wildlife (from a larger-than-life moose to Susie’s sullen Goth
stepdaughter to a hot but hostile boy named Reeve), Jenna realizes that her long-held ideals, like
vegetarianism and conservation, don’t play so well with this population of real outdoorsmen. With
the help of a dusty survival guide, Jenna begins to navigate the wilderness, and those who call it
home — but can she learn to navigate the surprising turns of her heart?
YA FIC MCP
McPhee, Peter
New Blood
McPhee writes a gritty and realistic tale of bullying and what it can do to a boy and his family,
including moving from Scotland to Canada and sharing tight living quarters with a brother and
sister-in-law. This novel shows the victim's pain in dealing with his family. It shows his guilt at
being the cause of his mother's worry and unhappiness, and his anger and resentment at being
the cause of the family's turmoil. His fear spurs the desire to hide what is really happening, to
avoid the family's anger and frustration, not necessarily at him personally but about him which is
almost as bad. Callum seems to go out of the frying pan and into the fire when he starts his new
school. Fortunately, he and the bully come to an uneasy alliance about a situation that is
important to both of them, the safety of a girl who interests them both
YA FIC PET
Peters, Kimberly Joy
Maybe Never, Maybe Now
Eleventh-grader Caitlyn is still recovering from an abusive relationship when she reluctantly
embarks on a semester in French-speaking Quebec. Life there takes some getting used to, as
she goes from sixteen years as an only child to being plunged into a large and chaotic host
family. Also, her close friend Connor has joined the trip, and while Caitlyn feels their mutual
attraction growing, she is unsure that she is ready to trust another boy—or herself. Then, just as
Caitlyn relaxes into the love of her host family and her new boyfriend, she gets a letter from the
father who abandoned her as a child. He wants contact. Caitlyn has begun re-learning to trust her
own decisions, but has she healed enough to decide about this?
YA FIC RYA
Ryan, Tom
Way to Go
Danny thinks he must be the only seventeen-year-old guy in Cape Breton—in Nova Scotia,
maybe—who doesn't have his life figured out. His buddy Kierce has a rule for every occasion,
and his best friend Jay has bad grades, no plans and no worries. Danny's dad nags him about his
post-high-school plans, his friends bug him about girls and a run-in with the cops means he has
to get a summer job. Worst of all, he's keeping a secret that could ruin everything.
YA FIC SCH Schabas, Martha
Various Positions
Trapped between the hormone-driven world of her friends and the discontent of her dysfunctional
family, fourteen-year-old Georgia is only completely at ease when she's dancing. When she is
accepted into Canada's preeminent ballet school, Georgia thinks it is the perfect escape. Artistic
Director Roderick Allen singles her out as a star, subjecting her to increasingly intensive training,
and Georgia obsesses about becoming the perfect, disciplined student. But as she spends more
and more time with Roderick, it's not so clear exactly what their relationship means. Is he her
teacher and mentor, or is there something more? These blurred lines will threaten both
Roderick's future at the academy and Georgia's ambitions as a ballerina.
3
YA FIC SUT
Sutherland, Suzanne
When We Were Good
The year 2000 isn't starting out too well for Toronto high school senior Katherine Boatman. Not
only has her oldest friend ditched her for yet another boyfriend, her beloved grandmother died on
New Year's Eve, leaving a void of goodness in her life that Katherine's not sure how to fill. While
overwhelmed with sadness and self-doubt, Katherine unexpectedly finds new love, both for
Toronto's underground music scene and for her would-be savior: a straight-edge, loudmouthed
misfit named Marie. As Katherine seeks comfort in jagged guitars, mind-reading poets and honest
conversations, she struggles to figure out not only what she and Marie might mean to each other,
but also what it truly means to be good.
YA FIC WAL
Waldorf, Heather
Tripping
Rainey has a congenital amputation and wears a prosthesis on her left leg. Happily, the selfsufficient 17-year-old has no problem with that; what she's most concerned about is her sketchy
future. She wants to be an artist, but her father thinks she should settle for a more realistic career.
Hoping eight weeks in the woods will help her resolve this dilemma, Rainey signs up for a
study/camping trip, but things quickly grow complicated when she breaks up with troubled Carlos,
meets hunky Alain, and learns that her birth mother, whom she's never seen, wants to meet her.
YA FIC WAL
Walter, Gregory
Fouling Out
Craig's mom thinks his friend Tom is trouble and doesn't like her son hanging out with him. But
Craig and Tom have been friends since second grade, and although Tom's behavior is a little out
there, he is a lot of fun and Craig finds himself constantly pulled into his schemes. When Tom
takes his dad's gun and tries to get Craig to go squirrel hunting in the park with him, Craig's better
judgment tells him not to, but still he gives in. The squirrel-hunting incident goes awry and instead
of a squirrel, Tom ends up shooting a bullet through a neighbor's back window. The whole town is
immediately thrown into an uproar, thinking the shooting is a racially motivated hate crime. Upset
with the shooting incident and fearful of what Tom is capable of doing the next time, Craig tries to
distance himself from his long-time friend. Their friendship is put to the ultimate test when Tom
runs away and the details of his abusive home life are revealed. Will Craig try to find Tom, and
how far will he go to help his friend?
YA FIC WYN Wynne-Jones, Tim
The Maestro
With a brutal, despicable father who beats him and an ineffectual mother incapacitated by drugs,
Burl, 14, has learned not to expect anything good from life. After a crisis, he runs away into the
wilderness near his small Canadian town, eventually stumbling upon an isolated house that is the
secret refuge of a famous musician. Burt ingratiates himself, making himself useful while
harboring the hope of staying on. But the boy's relationship with his reluctant savior is only the
first in a series of encounters with those who want to use him, assist him, control him, or threaten
him. Wynne-Jones skillfully presents a complex character who, in order to survive, uses all his
resources: knowledge of the woods; an instinctive understanding of the manipulations of adults;
strategy; brutality, the legacy of his father; and compassion.
4
Caribbean Islands
YA FIC MAC
Mackler, Carolyn
Tangled
Paradise wasn't supposed to suck. Not the state of being, but a resort in the Caribbean. Jena,
Dakota, Skye, and Owen are all there for different reasons, but at Paradise their lives become
tangled together in ways none of them can predict. Paradise will change them all. It will change
Jena, whose first brush with romance takes her that much closer to having a life, and not just
reading about those infinitely cooler and more exciting. It will change Dakota, who needs the
devastating truth about his past to make him realize that he doesn't have to be a jerk just
because people think he's one. It will change Skye, a heartbreakingly beautiful actress, who
must come to terms with the fact that for once she has to stop playing a role or face the
consequences. And it will change Owen, who has never risked anything before and who will take
the leap from his online life to a real one all because of a girl he met at Paradise. From confused
to confident and back again, one thing's certain: Four months after it all begins, none of them will
ever be the same.
Cuba
YA FIC GON
Gonzalez, Christina Diaz
The Red Umbrella
In 1961, two years after the Communist revolution, Lucía Álvarez still leads a carefree life,
dreaming of parties and her first crush. But when the soldiers come to her sleepy Cuban town,
everything begins to change. Freedoms are stripped away. Neighbors disappear. Her friends feel
like strangers. And her family is being watched. As the revolution's impact becomes more
oppressive, Lucía's parents make the heart-wrenching decision to send her and her little brother
to the United States—on their own. Suddenly plunked down in Nebraska with well-meaning
strangers, Lucía struggles to adapt to a new country, a new language, a new way of life. But what
of her old life? Will she ever see her home or her parents again? And if she does, will she still be
the same girl?
5
Dominican Republic (Santo Domingo)
YA FIC ALV
Alvarez, Julia
Before We Were Free
Anita de la Torre never questioned her freedom living in the Dominican Republic. But by her 12th
birthday in 1960, most of her relatives have emigrated to the United States, her Tío Toni has
disappeared without a trace, and the government’s secret police terrorize her remaining family
because of their suspected opposition of el Trujillo’s dictatorship. Using the strength and courage
of her family, Anita must overcome her fears and fly to freedom, leaving all that she once knew
behind.
YA FIC JOS Joseph, Lynn
Flowers in the Sky
Fifteen-year-old Nina Perez is faced with a future she never expected. She must leave her
Garden of Eden, her lush home in the Dominican Republic, when she's sent by her mother to
seek out a better life with her brother in New York. As Nina searches for some glimpse of
familiarity amid the jarring world of Washington Heights, she must uncover her own strength. She
learns to uncover roots within foreign soil and finds a way to grow, just like the orchids that
blossom on her fire escape. And when she is confronted by ugly secrets about her brother's
business, she comes to understand the realities of life in this new place. But then she meets himthat green-eyed boy- who she can't erase from her thoughts, the one who just might help her
learn to see beauty in spite of tragedy.
Haiti
YA FIC LAK
Lake, Nick
In Darkness
This is the story of "Shorty"-a 15-year-old boy trapped in a collapsed hospital during the
earthquake in Haiti. Surrounded by the bodies of the dead, increasingly weak from lack of food
and water, Shorty begins to hallucinate. As he waits in darkness for a rescue that may never
come, a mystical bridge seems to emerge between him and Haitian leader Toussaint
L'Ouverture, uniting the two in their darkest suffering-and their hope. A modern teen and a black
slave, separated by hundreds of years. Yet in some strange way, the boy in the ruins of Port au
Prince and the man who led the struggle for Haiti's independence might well be one and the
same . . .
FIC & YA FIC TEM
Haiti
Temple, Frances
Taste of Salt: A Story of Modern
In the hospital after being beaten by Macoutes, seventeen-year-old Djo tells the story of his
impoverished life to a young woman who, like him, has been working with the social reformer
Father Aristide to fight the repression in Haiti.
6
Puerto Rico
YA FIC OST
Ostow, Micol
Emily Goldberg Learns to Salsa
Emily is a Jewish girl from the suburbs of New York, end of story. Her mother has family in Puerto
Rico, but Emily has never had any contact with them--not until she's forced to go to the
Caribbean for her grandmother's funeral. Pampered Emily wants nothing to do with her Puerto
Rican heritage-- until a very special person shows her that that uncovering her roots is like
discovering a secret part of her own heart.
Central & South America
SR Section & YA FIC ALL
Allende, Isabel
City of the Beasts
When fifteen-year-old Alexander Cold accompanies his individualistic grandmother on an
expedition to find a humanoid Beast in the Amazon, he experiences ancient wonders and a
supernatural world as he tries to avert disaster for the Indians.
Bolivia
Tween & YA FIC ELL
Ellis, Deborah
I am a Taxi
For twelve-year-old Diego and his family, home is the San Sebastian Women's Prison in
Cochabamba, Bolivia. His parents farmed coca, a traditional Bolivian medicinal plant, until they
got caught in the middle of the government's war on drugs. Diego's adjusted to his new life. His
parents are locked up, but he can come and go: to school, to the market to sell his mother's
hand-knitted goods, and to work as a "taxi", running errands for other prisoners. But then his little
sister runs away, earning his mother a heavy fine. The debt and dawning realization of his
hopeless situation make him vulnerable to his friend Mando's plan to make big money, fast.
Soon, Diego is deep in the jungle, working as a virtual slave in an illegal cocaine operation. As his
situation becomes more and more dangerous, he knows he must take a terrible risk if he ever
wants to see his family again.
7
Ecuador
YA FIC RES
Water
Resau, Laura & Maria Virginia Farinango
The Queen of
Born in an Andean village in Ecuador, Virginia lives with her large family in a small, earthenwalled dwelling. In her village of indígenas, it is not uncommon to work in the fields all day, even
as a child, or to be called a longa tonta—stupid Indian—by members of the ruling class of
mestizos, or Spanish descendants. When seven-year-old Virginia is taken from her village to be a
servant to a mestizo couple, she has no idea what the future holds.
Guatemala
YA FIC RES
Resau, Laura
Red Glass
ONE NIGHT SOPHIE and her parents are called to a hospital where Pedro, 6-year-old Mexican
boy, is recovering from dehydration. Crossing the border into Arizona with a group of Mexicans
and a coyote, or guide, Pedro and his parents faced such harsh conditions that the boy is the only
survivor. Pedro comes to live with Sophie, her parents, and Sophie's Aunt Dika, a refugee of the
war in Bosnia. Sophie loves Pedro—her Principito, or Little Prince. But after a year, Pedro's
surviving family in Mexico makes contact, and Sophie, Dika, Dika's new boyfriend, and his son
must travel with Pedro to his hometown so that he can make a heartwrenching decision.
Mexico
YA FIC HOB
Hobbs, Will
Crossing the Wire
Victor Flores is fifteen and faced with tremendous problems. His family's small farm in rural
Mexico is failing. The death of his father while working in America has left the Flores family
desperate. All that Victor can do is leave his family behind and head out to try to find work in "El
Norte," the United States. Victor's journey will not be an easy one as he encounters gangs,
greedy drug runners, coyotes bent upon sucking profit from the poor migrants, the dangers
inherent in crossing the deserts and mountains, and the migra, or border patrol. Along the way
Victor makes short-term acquaintances and discovers just how important friendship can be. Victor
also finds the strength within himself to sacrifice nearly everything so that he can earn enough
money to support his family back in Mexico.
YA FIC KEP
Kephart, Beth
The Heart is Not a Size
Georgia knows what it means to keep secrets. She knows how to ignore things. She knows that
some things are better left unsaid. . . . Or are they? When Georgia and her best friend, Riley,
travel along with nine other suburban Pennsylvania kids to Anapra, a squatters' village in the
heat-flattened border city of Juarez, Mexico, secrets seem to percolate and threaten both a
friendship and a life. Certainties unravel. Reality changes. And Georgia is left to figure out who
she is outside the world she's always known.
8
YA FIC MYE
Myers, Edward
Far from Gringo Land
Rick Dresner is spending the summer with the Romero family, who live in a barrio in the hills of
Santo Domingo, Mexico. He'll help them build a house on their land, and in return, they'll provide
room and board and help Rick improve his Spanish. But the construction project turns out to be a
lot tougher than Rick had imagined. Language and cultural differences lead to awkwardness and
misunderstanding, especially when he falls for a rich American girl from a very different part of
town. In this new twist on the classic fish-out-of-water story, it's a middle-class white boy who's
out of his element and must change and grow to adapt to his surroundings.
Tween & YA FIC RYA
Ryan, Pam Munoz
Esperanza Rising
Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave their life of wealth and privilege in Mexico to go
work in the labor camps of Southern California, where they must adapt to the harsh
circumstances facing Mexican farm workers on the eve of the Great Depression.
Africa
YA FIC STR
Stratton, Allan
Chanda’s Secrets
When Chandra's little sister Sara dies, it prompts Chandra to discover a horrible truth that must
be kept secret: members of her family have AIDS. In the town where she lives in Africa, no one
talks about AIDS. All the deaths in the community are instead attributed to cancer, tuberculosis,
even hunting accidents. Everyone is affected by this epidemic, however: from Chandra's friend
Esther, who has turned to prostitution to support herself and her siblings after her parents die, to
Chandra herself, who was molested by one of her stepfathers years ago. When Chandra's
mother disappears, leaving Chandra to care for her siblings with the help of a nosy neighbor,
Chandra forces the community to confront the reality of the disease.
Burkina Faso
YA FIC DAV
Davies, Stephen
Outlaw
Jake and his sister, Kas, whose father is the British ambassador to Burkina Faso, are abducted,
bundled into a van, and driven into the unknown. In smartphone contact with his father, Jake
learns that the kidnapper with the spider web tattoo is the remorseless outlaw Yakuuba Sor, who
is connected to an international terrorist organization. But is he the real Yakuuba Sor? And is Sor
really a dangerous criminal? In this fast-paced tale laced with trickery and murder, Jake and Kas
discover that with the corrupt local government and British Intelligence arrayed against them,
survival in the African desert may be the least of their problems.
9
Egypt
YA FIC DRA
Dray, Stephanie
Lily of the Nile
Heiress of one empire and prisoner of another, it is up to the daughter of Cleopatra to save
her brothers and reclaim what is rightfully hers...
To Isis worshippers, Princess Selene and her twin brother Helios embody the divine celestial pair
who will bring about a Golden Age. But when Selene's parents are vanquished by Rome, her
auspicious birth becomes a curse. Trapped in an empire that reviles her heritage and suspects
her faith, the young messianic princess struggles for survival in a Roman court of intrigue. She
can't hide the hieroglyphics that carve themselves into her hands, nor can she stop the emperor
from using her powers for his own ends. But faced with a new and ruthless Caesar who is
obsessed with having a Cleopatra of his very own, Selene is determined to resurrect her mother's
dreams. Can she succeed where her mother failed? And what will it cost her in a political game
where the only rule is win-or die?
YA FIC FRI
Friesner, Esther
Sphinx’s Princess
Nefertiti may be the dutiful daughter of a commoner, but her inquisitive mind often gets her into
situations that are far from ordinary, like receiving secret lessons from a scribe. And she’s the
kind of girl who acts first, and apologizes later whenever she witnesses injustice or cruelty. But
she is also extraordinarily beautiful. And news of her striking beauty and impulsive behavior
attracts the attention of her aunt, the manipulative Queen Tiye, who sees Nefertiti as an ideal
pawn in her desire for power. Even though Nefertiti is taken from her beloved family and forced
into a life filled with courtly intrigue and danger, her spirit and mind will not rest. She continues to
challenge herself and the boundaries of ancient Egyptian society.
Ethiopia
YA FIC ORO
Oron, Judie
Cry of the Giraffe
A growing number of Ethiopian Jews, known as Beta Israel, relocate to Israel for a better life. To
do so, they must travel more than 600 miles by foot across the desert, fighting thirst, scorpions,
disease, and violent soldiers. This novel is based on the true story of 13-year-old Wuditu, one of
the thousands who attempted this journey. Separated from her family after her father and sister
take ill, this courageous girl (nicknamed "Giraffe" because of her long neck and stately
composure) must fend for herself. Before she makes it to Israel, she is enslaved for two years.
Oron's novel exposes the injustice and degradation girls face around the world.
10
Ghana
YA FIC MUS
Mussi, Sarah
The Door of No Return
Zac Baxter's grandfather has always told him that he's the descendant of African kings, whose
treasure was stolen when his ancestors were sold into slavery. Of course, Zac brushes this off as
a tall tale — until his grandfather is murdered and their apartment is completely ransacked.
Clearly somebody is after something. Heeding his grandfather's dying words, Zac is off to Ghana
to track down his family's history. But what did his grandfather mean when he said that Zac had
the map to the treasure? Following every clue he can find, Zac begins to suspect that the
treasure is real, and hidden in one of Ghana's old slave forts. Too bad the killers always seem to
be one step ahead of him. With no one he can trust and with everything to lose, Zac races
against time as he tries to uncover the truth about the past — and a fortune in gold.
Lesotho
YA FIC SUN
Sunga, Paul
Red Dust, Red Sky
This novel is set in Lesotho during the 1980s, when it was surrounded by a hostile South Africa.
Kokoanyana is of Asian-Indian ethnic origin, and has lived her life in an isolated community,
surrounded by secrets, especially regarding her father. Neglected by her mother, she is closest to
a local woman employed by the family, and has grown up imbued with a traditional Basotho
sense of the ancestors and the powerful spirits that inhabit the landscape. It is this sensibility,
shot through with Hindu religious imagery and the threatening violence of apartheid, that infuses
the heart of the narrative. Koko's half brother Sohrab is arrested by the police as the story opens,
an event as mysterious to readers as it is to Koko. As she tries to unravel the mystery of her
father's identity, it becomes clear that her family's history and fate are intimately connected to
South Africa, and the situation becomes increasingly dangerous. The ghost of her stepfather
comes back to help the family escape the soldiers. The story unfolds in magical realist fashion,
with imagery alternately luscious and terse.
Malawi
Tween & YA FIC MIC
Michael, Jan
City Boy
Sam's widowed mother has died from "the Disease," and Sam is claimed by his aunt Mercy, who
lives in the small African village where Sam's mother was born and raised. The gap between
Sam's life in the city, where he had his own room, attended private school, and used a computer,
and his new life in the dirt-floored one-room hut, which he is to share with his aunt and cousins, is
vast beyond imagining. Grief, loneliness, and the absence of everything familiar make for a rocky
transition to a traditional culture where possessions count for little and everyone is expected to do
his or her share.
11
Mali
YA FIC DIC
Dickinson, Peter
AK
When a military coup occurs in the constantly war-torn African country of Nagala, teenage Paul is
forced to flee into the open countryside to avoid enemy soldiers who seek his life.
Nigeria
FIC & YA FIC ADI
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi
Purple Hibiscus
From the outside, fifteen-year-old Kambili has the perfect life. She lives in a beautiful house, has
a caring family, and attends an exclusive missionary school. She's completely shielded from the
troubles of the world. Yet, as Kambili reveals in her tender-voiced account, things are less than
perfect in her wealthy Nigerian home. Although her papa is generous and well respected, he is
fanatically religious and tyrannical at home. He looms over his family's every move, severely
punishes Kambili and her older brother, Jaja, if they're not the best in their classes, and hits their
mama if she disagrees with him. Home is silent and suffocating. But everything changes once
Kambili and Jaja visit Aunty Ifeoma outside the city. For the first time they experience freedom
from their papa. Jaja learns to garden and work with his hands, and Kambili secretly falls in love
with a young, charismatic priest. As the country begins to fall apart under a military coup, tension
within the family escalates. And shy Kambili must find the strength to keep her family together
after her mother commits a desperate act.
Tween & YA FIC NAI
Naidoo, Beverly
The Other Side of Truth
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.
YA FIC NAI Naidoo, Beverly
Web of Lies
This sequel to The Other Side of Truth (HarperCollins, 2001) continues the story of Sade and
Femi, now back with their father, as they struggle to fit in at their London school. Femi faces
pressure to join a gang, and as he becomes increasingly enmeshed in its activities, his lies to his
family become more serious. Eventually he is arrested when a gang member is stabbed and he is
caught running away from the scene. This is a gritty and credible story of how a young teen can
be unintentionally pulled into a gang, as well as a cautionary tale with a touch of didacticism,
African-style. However, it is also a heart-warming story of a family struggling through difficult
circumstances, including grief over their mother's murder, economic difficulties, and the culture
shock of being refugees in a foreign country.
12
Mozambique
Tween & YA FIC MAN
Mankell, Henning
Secrets in the Fire
A hard-hitting, eye-opening novel that brings readers face-to-face with the horrors of war.
Although a work of fiction, it is based on the real-life experiences of Sofia Alface, a friend of the
author. The story takes place in Mozambique, which is in the midst of a civil war (1975-1992).
One night, most of the village population, including Sofia's father, are murdered by ax-wielding
bandits. Sofia, her sister Maria, her mother, and her brother survive the attack and travel by foot
to a faraway village. Just as they seem to be recovering from the trauma, disaster strikes again.
Maria and Sofia are playing on a path when Sofia steps on a landmine. In that second, life is
altered permanently. Maria dies, and Sofia loses both legs. This is one child's story of survival,
strength, determination, and triumph.
YA FIC MAN Mankell, Henning Shadow of the Leopard
Readers met Sofia previously in Secrets in the Fire, when, at the age of 9, she lost her legs in a
land mine explosion in Mozambique. Now Sofia is almost 20 and pregnant with her third child.
Armando, the father of her children, travels to the city for work, coming home on weekends.
One Saturday Armando is very late, and as he stands in the shadows beyond the firelight, Sofia
knows he is hiding something from her. She makes her way to town to find out what he is doing...
and is devastated to discover that he is involved with another woman. Sofia ends their
relationship but suffers terribly in the face of Armando's rage. In a heart-rending conclusion
Armando's life unravels, and Sofia must return to her village to raise her children without him.
Rwanda
YA FIC COM
Combres, Elisabeth
Broken Memory
Hiding behind a chair, five-year-old Emma can’t see her mother being murdered, but she hears
everything. When the assassins finally leave, the terrified girl stumbles away from the scene,
motivated only by the memory of her mother’s last words: "You must not die, Emma!" Eventually,
Emma is taken in by an old Hutu woman who risks her own life to hide the child. A quiet bond
grows between the two, but long after the war ends, Emma is still haunted by nightmares. When
the country establishes gacaca courts to allow victims to face their tormentors, Emma is uneasy
and afraid. But through her growing friendship with a young torture victim and the encouragement
of an old man charged with helping child survivors, Emma finds the courage to begin the long
journey to healing.
YA FIC JAN
Jansen, Hanna
Over a Thousand Hills I Walk With You
Before one fateful April day, Jeanne lived the life of a typical Rwandan girl. She fought with her
little sister, went to school, and teased her brother. Then, in one horrifying night, everything
changed. Political troubles unleashed a torrent of violence upon the Tutsi ethnic group. Jeanne’s
family, all Tutsis, fled their home and tried desperately to reach safety. They -- along with nearly 1
million others -- did not survive. The only survivor of her family’s massacre, Jeanne witnessed
unspeakable acts. But through courage, wits, and sheer force of will, she survived. Based on a
true story, this haunting novel by Jeanne’s adoptive mother makes unforgettably real the events
of the 1994 Rwandan genocide as one family experienced it.
13
Somalia
YA FIC CRO
Cross, Gillian
Where I Belong
Master storyteller Gillian Cross s exciting new novel, set in London and Somalia, grapples with
issues of identity, trust, and family. In the hot desert of Somalia, Mahmoud is kidnapped and held
for a ten thousand-dollar ransom. His older sister, Khadija, is in London, thousands of miles
away; and yet Mahmoud s life is in her hands. Someone has discovered her identity, that she is
Qarsoon the Hidden One the face of famous fashion designer Sandy Dexter s newest collection.
Who can Khadija trust to help her? She now must appear as planned on the Fashion Week
runway. Only then can she possibly earn the money to save Mahmoud s life. Also involved is
Abdi, a fourteen-year-old boy coming to terms with the mysterious disappearance of his father,
and Freya, the totally unfashionable daughter of Sandy Dexter, trying to find her place in her
mother's world of haute couture.
South Africa
YA FIC COU
Courtenay, Bryce
The Power of One
Set in a world torn apart, where man enslaves his fellow man and freedom remains elusive, THE
POWER OF ONE is the moving story of one young man's search for the love that binds friends,
the passion that binds lovers, and the realization that it takes only one to change the world. A
weak and friendless boy growing up in South Africa during World War II, Peekay turns to two
older men, one black and one white, to show him how to find the courage to dream, to succeed,
to triumph over a world when all seems lost, and to inspire him to summon up the most
irrersistible force of all: the Power of One.
YA FIC GLA
Glass, Linzi
The Year the Gypsies Came
A spring visit from a vagabond family ends in disaster for two white girls and their family in
apartheid South Africa in 1966. Twelve-year-old tomboy Emily lives in Johannesburg with her
older sister Sarah and their self-absorbed, sparring parents. Emily compares her family to
Johannesburg-an illusion held together with dust. Ignored by her selfish mother and detached
father, Emily turns to the old Zulu night watchman Buza, who comforts her with his stories of
courage and strength. Out of nowhere, the rootless Mallorys arrive in their bedraggled camping
trailer, bringing danger and discontent. Emily and Sarah are soon distracted with ragamuffin
Streak and retarded Otis Mallory. But Emily feels "cracked . . . in too many pieces" when she
discovers her mother is having an affair and suspects Mr. Mallory is abusing Otis.
14
YA FIC MOO Moodley, Ermila Path to My African Eyes
Newly arrived in California where her father will be teaching at a university, 14-year-old Thandi is
embarrassed by her South African background and her black features. The Africa her classmates
know and sometimes put down is not her modern Cape Town world. She resents her mother's
insistence on natural hair and her teacher's assignment of a report on ancestral roots. She is torn
between new "cool" friends and a geeky boy who'd like to be a boyfriend and who shares her
interest in scientific invention. Uncomfortable with parts of black American culture, she doesn't
know where she fits.
YA FIC POW
Powers, J.L. This Thing Called the Future
Khosi lives with her beloved grandmother Gogo, her little sister Zi, and her weekend mother in a
matchbox house on the outskirts of Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. In that shantytown, it seems
like somebody is dying all the time. Billboards everywhere warn of the disease of the day. Her
Gogo goes to a traditional healer when there is trouble, but her mother, who works in another city
and is wasting away before their eyes, refuses even to go to the doctor. She is afraid and Khosi
doesn't know what it is that makes the blood come up from her choking lungs. Witchcraft? A
curse? AIDS? Can Khosi take her to the doctor? Gogo asks. No, says Mama, Khosi must stay in
school. Only education will save Khosi and Zi from the poverty and ignorance of the old Zulu
ways. School, though, is not bad. There is a boy her own age there, Little Man Ncobo, and she
loves the color of his skin, so much darker than her own, and his blue-black lips, but he mocks
her when a witch's curse, her mother's wasting sorrow, and a neighbor's accusations send her
and Gogo scrambling off to the sangoma's hut in search of a healing potion.
Sudan
Tween & YA FIC APP Applegate, Katherine Home of the Brave
Kek’s life in Sudan is destroyed when his family is attacked. His father and brother are killed, and
he becomes separated from his mother. He is sent to join his aunt’s family in Minnesota, where
he is encouraged to be grateful for his new home, but Kek does not feel at home. His loss
overwhelms him, as does his new, strange environment. He now shares a home with the cousin
he so admired back in Sudan, but his cousin’s life has been shifted so dramatically he now seems
as lost as Kek. The new country offers beauties and harshness, as do the people who surround
Kek. He recognizes hope in an elderly widow’s cow that reminds him of his father’s herds and
strives to make meaning in his life as he cares for the cow and its owner, but when her farm must
be sold, how can Kek save the cow and himself?
YA FIC FAR Farish, Terry The Good Braider
In spare free verse laced with unforgettable images, Viola's strikingly original voice sings out the
story of her family's journey from war-torn Sudan, to Cairo, and finally to Portland, Maine. Here, in
the sometimes too close embrace of the local Southern Sudanese Community, she dreams of
South Sudan while she tries to navigate the strange world of America - a world where a girl can
wear a short skirt, get a tattoo or even date a boy; a world that puts her into sharp conflict with her
traditional mother who, like Viola, is struggling to braid together the strands of a displaced life.
Terry Farish's haunting novel is not only a riveting story of escape and survival, but the universal
tale of a young immigrant's struggle to build a life on the cusp of two cultures.
15
Tanzania
YA FIC QUI
Quirk, Katie
A Girl Called Problem
Thirteen-year-old Shida, whose name means "problem" in Swahili, certainly has a lot of problems
in her life — her father is dead, her depressed mother is rumored to be a witch, and everyone in
her rural Tanzanian village expects her to marry rather than pursue her dream of becoming a
healer. So when the village's elders make a controversial decision to move their people to a
nearby village, Shida welcomes the change. Surely the opportunity to go to school and learn from
a nurse can only mean good things. However, after a series of puzzling misfortunes plague the
new village, Shida must prove to her people that moving was the right decision, and that they can
have a better life in their new home.
West Africa
YA FIC ABA
Abani, Chris
Song For Night
Part Inferno, part Paradise Lost, and part Sunjiata epic, Song for Night is the story of a West
African boy soldier's lyrical, terrifying, yet beautiful journey through the nightmare landscape of a
brutal war in search of his lost platoon. The reader is led by the voiceless protagonist who, as part
of a land mine-clearing platoon, had his vocal chords cut, a move to keep these children from
screaming when blown up, and thereby distracting the other minesweepers. The book is written in
a ghostly voice, with each chapter headed by a line of the unique sign language these children
invented. This book is unlike anything else ever written about an African war.
Uganda
YA FIC NAN Nanji, Shenaaz
Child of Dandelions
Fifteen-year-old Sabine lives a life of luxury with her wealthy Indian family in Kampala, Uganda.
Then Idi Amin comes to power and things change quickly. All British Indians are expelled from the
country. Sabine's father thinks they will be safe because they are Ugandan citizens, but they
soon discover that they are in serious danger. Sabine's beloved uncle disappears, and her friend
Zena, who is African, turns against her because Zena's military uncle has convinced her that the
Ugandan Indians have exploited the African populace. The book effectively portrays the rising
terror and violence in 1972 as Sabine struggles to deal with a world falling apart. Prejudices are
clearly delineated, and the thin veneer of civilization crumbles as the chilling background beat of
the radio relentlessly counts down the days left before all British Indians must leave the country.
16
Zimbabwe
YA FIC ROB
Robert, Naima
Far From Home
Will I ever see my home again? I do not know.
Will I ever see my father again? I do not know.
Will life ever be the same again? I do not know.
Katie and Tariro are worlds apart but their lives are linked by a terrible secret, gradually revealed
in this compelling and dramatic story of two girls grappling with the complexities of adolescence,
family and a painful colonial legacy.
14-year-old Tariro loves her ancestral home, the baobab tree she was born beneath, her loving
family - and brave, handsome Nhamo. She couldn't be happier. But then the white settlers arrive,
and everything changes - suddenly, violently, and tragically.
Thirty-five years later, 14-year-old Katie loves her doting father, her exclusive boarding school,
and her farm with its baobab tree in rural Zimbabwe. Life is great. Until disaster strikes, and the
family are forced to leave everything and escape to cold, rainy London.
Atmospheric, gripping and epic in scope, Far from Home brings the turbulent history of Zimbabwe
to vivid, tangible life.
Europe
Austria
YA FIC DOG
Dogar, Sharon
Annexed
Everyone knows about Anne Frank and her life hidden in the secret annex - but what about the
boy who was also trapped there with her? In this powerful and gripping novel, Sharon Dogar
explores what this might have been like from Peter's point of view. What was it like to be forced
into hiding with Anne Frank, first to hate her and then to find yourself falling in love with her?
Especially with your parents and her parents all watching almost everything you do together. To
know you're being written about in Anne's diary, day after day? What's it like to start questioning
your religion, wondering why simply being Jewish inspires such hatred and persecution? Or to
just sit and wait and watch while others die, and wish you were fighting. As Peter and Anne
become closer and closer in their confined quarters, how can they make sense of what they see
happening around them?
YA MYS DUN
Dunlap, Susanne
The Musician’s Daughter
Amid the glamour of Prince Nicholas Esterhazy’s court in 18th-century Vienna, murder is afoot.
Or so fifteen-year-old Theresa Maria is convinced when her musician father turns up dead on
Christmas Eve, his valuable violin missing, and the only clue to his death a strange gold pendant
around his neck. Then her father’s mentor, the acclaimed composer Franz Joseph Haydn, helps
her through a difficult time by making her his copyist and giving her insight in to her father’s secret
life. It’s there that Theresa begins to uncover a trail of blackmail and extortion, even as she
discovers honor—and the possibility of a first, tentative love.
17
Czechoslovakia
YA FIC HEU
Heuston, Kimberly
Book of Jude
Jude is a teenager whose parents are moving to Prague for one year in order to teach and
conduct research. For Jude, this move is traumatic as it uproots her from nearly everything she is
familiar with. Although Jude will be with her two sisters and her parents, she leaves behind her
school, friends and a way of life that was predictable. While such a series of changes would be
difficult for most teenagers, it is particularly taxing for Jude because she is not a stable person.
Dogged by nightmares, a lack of focus and deep fears, Jude discovers almost too late that she
suffers from a mental illness. In Prague, a city controlled by the forces of dictatorship, Jude
suffers a breakdown. In her attempts to recover she discovers what her deepest secrets are and
begins the process of healing.
YA FIC POL
Polak, Monique
What World is Left
1943. Anneke is 14 when she and her family are deported from Holland to Theresienstadt, which
is a "model" Nazi concentration camp located in Czechoslovakia. The Nazis display the camp to
foreign visitors and use slave labor to produce propagandist art. Some of these courageous
artists sneak realistic impressions of camp life out of the camp so that others can see what is
happening. Behind the murals, new trees and forced smiles is misery. Meager food. Bed bugs,
lice, fleas. Horrible smells. Disease. Unpredictable deportations to death camps and
unpredictable cruelty.
Denmark
YA FIC KLE
Klein, Lisa
Ophelia
He is Hamlet, Prince of Denmark; she is simply Ophelia. If you think you know their story, think
again. In this reimagining of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, it is Ophelia who takes center stage.
A rowdy, motherless girl, she grows up at Elsinore Castle to become the queen’s most trusted
lady-in-waiting. Ambitious for knowledge and witty as well as beautiful, Ophelia learns the ways
of power in a court where nothing is as it seems. When she catches the attention of the
captivating, dark-haired Prince Hamlet, their love blossoms in secret. But bloody deeds soon turn
Denmark into a place of madness, and Ophelia’s happiness is shattered. Ultimately, she must
choose between her love for Hamlet and her own life. In desperation, Ophelia devises a
treacherous plan to escape from Elsinore forever . . . with one very dangerous secret.
YA FIC ROB Roberts, Judson Viking Warrior (Strongbow Saga v. 1)
On his deathbed, the Viking chieftain Hrorik makes two unexpected requests. He asks his
concubine Derdriu to accompany him on the death ship voyage to Valhalla, and he agrees to
acknowledge their fourteen-year-old son. Suddenly Halfdan is no longer a thrall but a free man
and part of the most powerful family in the settlement. He is also now an orphan. Although skilled
in woodworking, archery, and forest lore, Halfdan must train as a warrior and adjust to his new
position. His good-natured and generous half-brother, Harald, makes the transition easier for
Halfdan, but their stepbrother, Toke, resents both of them. Toke's treacherous behavior brings
death and tragedy, and Halfdan draws on all his resources-the wit of a thrall and the valor of a
warrior-to survive.
18
YA FIC ROB
Saga v 2)
Roberts, Judson
Dragons from the Sea (The Strongbow
Halfdan Hroriksson has a longbow that he made himself, an axe he took from a man he killed,
and a vow to fulfill. He's sworn to slay the man who murdered his brother. But first Halfdan must
find a ship's captain who will take him i-viking, where he can master the skills and make the allies
his vengeance will demand. Once a slave, now a free man and a warrior, Halfdan leaves home to
find what the fates have in store for him: a taste of war, a dangerous mission in a foreign land,
and an unexpected prisoner whose ransom may make Halfdan rich—or who may get him killed.
England
YA FIC ALL
Allen, M.E.
Gotta Get Some Bish Bash Bosh
Another hilarious offering from Britain will keep readers laughing from first page to last. Our
unnamed 14-year-old hero begins by losing his girlfriend to an older boy, because she says he
doesn't have enough "bish bash bosh," British slang for "self confidence and swagger," according
to the glossary at the back. First he tries an expensive, radical new haircut, then sports, then an
attempt to join the in crowd by going to a Halloween party that turns deadly dull. Throughout, he
suffers from "PPFS," Premature Parental Fatigue Syndrome, coping with parents who want him
to actually wash his own socks. The results of his efforts are unexpected, to say the least. The
focus and entire intent of the first-person story is comedy, with excellent results.
Tween & YA MYS AVI
Avi
Traitor’s Gate
John Huffam (the middle names of Charles J.H. Dickens) is 14, reluctantly attending Muldspoon's
Militantly Motivated Academy, when his father (like Dickens') is sent to debtor's prison. His
mother is a layabout who does nothing but complain of her husband's fecklessness, and his
sister's sole concern is how this family crisis impacts her marital prospects. It's left to John to
unravel a mystery involving a military invention that his father, a naval clerk, has information
about and a web of foreign spies willing to pay for specifics.
YA FIC BEN Bennett, Sophia Sequins, Secrets & Silver Linings
When they meet a Ugandan refugee girl who's an amazing designer, three trendy London teens
combine their talents to create some kind of wonderful. A hip, cute, multiculti fashion fairy tale!
Nonie's a freak for fashion. Eco-conscious Edie blogs to save the world--and get into Harvard.
Starter-starlet Jenny just landed a small part in a big Hollywood blockbuster. But when these
trendy London besties meet a Ugandan refugee girl named Crow, sketching a dress at the V&A
Museum, their worldview gets an extreme makeover. As they learn about the serious situation in
Crow's homeland, they decide to pool their talents to call attention to the crisis of the Night
Walking children. A catwalk show featuring Crow's designs--quelle chic way to raise awareness!
Now...how to "make it work"?!
19
YA FIC BLA Blacker, Terence
Boy2Girl
Matthew, a British 13-year-old, is all set for a quiet summer of knocking about with his friends
when his mother is called away to America to attend the funeral of her wild sister, Galaxy. Matt's
quiet summer is shattered further when his mother returns with Sam Lopez, his 13-year-old
cousin. Sam's a typical lower-middle-class American teen, and he immediately alienates Matt's
friends with his self-important swaggering. As school approaches, Sam wants to be friends with
Matt's gang and he suggests an initiation stunt. Matt comes up with the idea of Sam pretending to
be Samantha for the first week of school, and Sam surprisingly says yes. Even more surprisingly,
Sam becomes every girl's best friend and every boy's lust crush. When Sam's dad, fresh out of
prison, arrives sniffing around for money Sam inherited from his mother, everything gets even
further out of hand.
YA FIC BOW
Bowler, Tim
Blade: Playing Dead
From the beginning of this novel, fear and suspense are palpable as 14-year-old Blade is chased
and savagely beaten by a gang of ruthless teenage girls. He is a gritty, British street kid
constantly on the run for his life, but readers don't find out why until the end. He has amazingly
keen instincts and startling skill with a switchblade, and he knows how to seem invisible, to go
unnoticed and stay alive. Blade watches silently from the shadows to learn whether homeowners
are in or not, and then uses unoccupied houses as snugs, safe havens where he sleeps, eats,
and reads. Books are Blade's one solace, and his love of books softens the character of this
streetwise thief. This is a solid choice for reluctant readers who are willing to accept the British
slang, which is easy enough to interpret in context. "Quite a few nebs here too but they're all
muffins" translates to, there's lots of people out in the neighborhood, but they're harmless.
Bowler's use of short, clipped sentences creates a breathless tone that keeps readers on edge
and turning pages at breakneck speed as Blade eludes murderers, drug users, and thugs.
YA FIC BOW
Bowler, Tim
Out of the Shadows (Blade v 2)
Bleeding and dizzy, Blade wakes up to find himself in the hospital. But how did he get there? With
enemies coming at him from all sides, it's hard to know who attacked him. But he knows that
whoever it was will be back to finish him off. And quick. So he's gotta go. He's gotta break outta
there. Not only to save his own life, but there's kindly old Mary and little Jaz to think about. Who's
looking out for them? On the run, with grinks hot on his tail and gravely injured, Blade will have to
gather all his strength just to survive. And with nowhere to hide, he needs to run. Because this
time, if he plays dead, that's exactly how he'll end up.
YA MYS BRO
Brooks, Kevin
Candy
When Joe meets Candy, it seems like a regular boy-meets-girl scenario. They chat over coffee,
she gives him her number, and he writes her a song. But then Joe is drawn into Candy's world --a world of drugs, violence, and desperation. As the dark truth about Candy's life emerges, Joe
finds himself facing real danger at every twist and turn. Soon Joe's conflicting emotions begin to
mirror Candy's, and he understands that falling in love just might be worth the struggle. This
intoxicating tale of heartache, danger, and hope will enthrall teen readers.
YA MYS BRO
Brooks, Kevin
Black Rabbit Summer
Thoughtful Pete, tough Pauly, twins Eric and Nicole, strange Raymond: As kids they were tight;
now they've grown up--and apart. They agree to get together one last time, but, twisted by
personal histories and fueled by pharmaceuticals, old jealousies surface. The party's soon over,
and the group splinters off into the night. Into the noise and heat and chaos of the carnival. Days
later, a girl goes missing. The prime suspect in her disappearance? One of their own, one of the
old gang. Pete doesn't know what to believe: Could one of his childhood friends really be a coldblooded killer?
20
YA FIC BUR
Burgess, Melvin
Doing It
Three teenaged boys enjoy talking about, thinking about, and joking about sex. Dino finally
establishes a relationship with Jackie, the prettiest girl in school, who will allow all sorts of sexual
liberties, but draws the line at intercourse. He finds another girl whom he mistakenly thinks he can
use for sex while keeping his relationship with Jackie viable. In the meantime, he witnesses his
mother passionately involved with a man who is not his father, and must deal with the results of
his own treacherous behavior as he watches his parents' marriage fall apart. Ben finds himself
steeped in a dilemma of a different sort. His 20-something drama teacher chooses him to be her
secret sexual playmate, which he first enjoys but then desperately tries to escape. Jonathon's
predicament involves his budding romance with Deborah, an overweight girl whom everyone likes
as a friend, but not a girlfriend. He has to decide whether to follow his heart, despite taunting from
his peers.
YA FIC CAB
Cabot, Meg
Victoria and the Rogue
The magnificent Meg Cabot charms teen romance lovers with this royally awesome read about
an aristocratic heiress and artfully dodging English earl.
YA FIC CAN
Cann, Kate
Hard Cash
Rich is sick of being broke. He can never afford new clothes and has to scrounge off his mates in
the pub. The girl he fancies won't look at him twice, and he's pretty sure that life is passing him
by. But soon fortune decides to smile on Richard Steele, and before long, he has more money
than he can count -- it's just burning a hole in his pocket. And with the money comes everything
he's dreamed of: trendy clothing, independence, and, yes, sex. But Rich is about to learn that
with hard cash comes difficult choices -- some that he might not be ready for....
YA MYS CAS
Cassidy, Anne
Looking for J.J.
Can you escape your past? Jenifer Jones (currently known as Alice) is desperately trying to do
just that. Six years ago, when they were both ten years old, she murdered her best friend. After
serving time in prison for her crime, J.J. is freed and begins a new life with a new identity. She
makes plans to attend college while working at the local coffee shop, dating a boy and leading a
seemingly normal life. However, her normalcy ends when she is discovered by a reporter who
threatens to expose her identity. Cassidy weaves past and present together to reveal what led
this little girl to murder and how she has worked to heal her life. The matter-of-fact style in which
events unfold keeps the story from being over-sensationalized or brutal. You find yourself caring
for Jennifer deeply and hoping that she can overcome the horrible circumstances of her youth.
YA FIC CAS
Castor, H.M. VIII
Destined for greatness; tormented by demons… VIII is the story of Hal: a young, handsome,
gifted warrior, who believes he has been chosen to lead his people. But he is tormented by the
ghosts of his family's violent past and, once he rises to power, he turns to murder and rapacious
cruelty. He is Henry VIII.
YA FIC CHE
Cheshire, Simon
Prince and the Snowgirl
Everyone thinks Tom Miller is lucky. For starters, Tom looks so much like England's Prince
George that he makes money impersonating him. Unfortunately, that usually involves signing
autographs at the latest supermarket opening. Still, Tom is one of the most popular guys at
Emerson High, the finest school in the area. And best of all, nearly every girl falls for his princely
good looks-every girl, that is, except Louise. Tom wishes he could find the way to Louise's heart,
and the school skiing trip seems like the perfect opportunity to impress her with his royal charm.
But when the real Prince George arrives at their hotel, it's time for Tom to shed his public persona
and start living up to his own potential.
21
YA FIC CLA
Clark, Clare
The Nature of Monsters
1666: The Great Fire of London sweeps through the streets and a heavily pregnant woman flees
the flames. A few months later she gives birth to a child disfigured by a red birthmark--and no
wonder, since everyone knows that mothers who do not protect themselves from shocking sights
could turn their unborn children into monsters.
1718: Sixteen-year-old Eliza Tally sees the gleaming dome of St. Paul's Cathedral rising above a
rebuilt city. She arrives as an apothecary's maid, a position hastily arranged to shield the father of
her unborn child--a wealthy merchant's son--from scandal. But why is the apothecary so eager to
welcome her when he already has a maid, a half-wit named Mary? Why is she never allowed to
look her veiled master in the face or go into the study where he pursues his experiments? And
why is she having vivid dreams of ferocious dogs? On one of her visits to the friendly Huguenot
bookseller who keeps the apothecary supplied with scientific tomes, she finally realizes the nature
of her master's obsession. And when she learns that Mary, too, is pregnant, she knows she has
to act to save not just the child but Mary and herself.
YA FIC COL Coleman, Michael
On the Run
Fifteen-year-old Luke is a skilled thief with a perfect record until the day he is caught running from
a robbery gone wrong. He chooses to save the life of a blind girl, Jodi, rather than escape cleanly.
As a result, Luke is given a shot at freedom if he will train to be Jodi's guide in the London
Marathon. The friendship that develops between the two offers Luke one last chance to discover
just how far-and in what direction-he is willing to run. A taut, unpredictable read, this novel will
appeal to anyone who has changed course in life . . . or is trying to figure out how.
YA FIC COL
Coleman, Michael
Snog Log
It is the beginning of Year Nine for class clown Robbie Brookes at his school in England, and he
is already busy eyeing the girls, especially the unapproachable Melanie Bradshaw. But Robbie
takes nothing seriously, and if he feels sad or worried, he never lets on. His parents fight
constantly, and he wishes they were more like his employers, Mr. and Mrs. Zyg, who are
obviously crazy about each other. When the new English teacher, Mr. Carmichael, gives the
students logs in which to write their private thoughts, Robbie enters an elaborate kissing contest
with three of his classmates. Participants in the "snogathon" score more points for kissing some
girls than others, and they are to keep track of all snogging adventures in their new journals. But
the contest is jeopardized when Melanie discovers it and enlists some of the other girls to plot
revenge.
YA FIC CRO
Cross, Gillian
Where I Belong
Master storyteller Gillian Cross s exciting new novel, set in London and Somalia, grapples with
issues of identity, trust, and family. In the hot desert of Somalia, Mahmoud is kidnapped and held
for a ten thousand-dollar ransom. His older sister, Khadija, is in London, thousands of miles
away; and yet Mahmoud s life is in her hands. Someone has discovered her identity, that she is
Qarsoon the Hidden One the face of famous fashion designer Sandy Dexter s newest collection.
Who can Khadija trust to help her? She now must appear as planned on the Fashion Week
runway. Only then can she possibly earn the money to save Mahmoud s life. Also involved is
Abdi, a fourteen-year-old boy coming to terms with the mysterious disappearance of his father,
and Freya, the totally unfashionable daughter of Sandy Dexter, trying to find her place in her
mother's world of haute couture.
22
YA FIC CRO
Crowley, Suzanne
The Stolen One
Kat's true identity is a secret, even from her. All she has ever known are Grace and Anna and
their small village. Kat wants more—more than hours spent embroidering finery for wealthy ladies
and more than Christian, the gentle young farmer courting her. But there are wolves outside,
Grace warns. Waiting, with their eyes glowing in the dark . . . and Grace has given Kat safety and
a home when no one else would. Then a stranger appears in their cottage, bringing the mystery
of Kat's birth with her. In one night, Kat's destiny finds her: She will leave. She will journey to
London, and her skill with the needle will attract the notice of the magnificent Queen Elizabeth—
and of the wolves of the court. She will discover what Grace would never tell her.
Everything will unravel.
YA FIC DAL
Dale, Katie
Someone Else’s Life
When 17-year-old Rosie's mother, Trudie, dies from Huntington's Disease, her pain is intensified
by the knowledge that she has a fifty percent chance of inheriting the crippling disease herself.
Only when Rosie tells her mother's best friend, "Aunt Sarah," that she is going to test for the
disease does Sarah, a midwife, reveal that Trudie wasn't her real mother after all. Rosie was
swapped at birth with a sickly baby who was destined to die. Devastated, Rosie decides to trace
her real mother, joining her ex-boyfriend on his gap year travels, to find her birth mother in
California. But all does not go as planned. As Rosie discovers yet more of her family's deeply
buried secrets and lies, she is left with an agonizing decision of her own, one which will be the
most heart breaking and far-reaching of all.
YA FIC DEN
Dent, Grace
LBD: It’s a Girl Thing
Move over Georgia and Angus, the LBD is taking over! Meet Fleur, Claude, and Ronnie, the
sassy and sophisticated fourteen-year-old Brits who comprise the Les Bambinos Dangereuses,
otherwise known as the LBD. Banned from attending the ultra-cool Astlebury Music Festival by
their parents, the LBD decides to host Blackwell Live, a musical festival to showcase their
school's talent, the proceeds going to charity. After winning over their skeptical headmaster and
securing financial backing from Fleur's James Bond-obsessed father, the LBD is on their way to
planning the party of the year. The road to success is never easy and the LBD encounters many
obstacles along the way, namely Blackwell's own diva-in-training, Panama Goodyear, whose
group Catwalk is not afraid to commit extortion to get top billing. Nevertheless, in typical LBD
style, the girls keep their cool and pull off an unforgettable event.
YA FIC DEN
Dent, Grace
LBD: Live and Fabulous
It's been a year since the LBD (a.k.a Les Bambinos Dangereuses) saved Blackwell school with
their brilliant music festival featuring rock-god Spike Saunders. Now Ronnie, Fleur, and Claude
have zero plans for their summer break. Plus, Ronnie and her skater-punk boyfriend Jimi Steele
are on the rocks. But just when things look bleakest, salvation comes in the form of four tickets
from Spike to Astlebury-the biggest rock festival ever. Soon enough, the LBD are on their way for
a weekend of crowd surfing, festival chic, awesome music, and about a million totally lush festival
lads. In other words, the natural environment for the LBD!
YA FIC DEN Dent, Grace LBD: Friends Forever
Three friends, Les Bambinos Dangereuses, are on the outs-but not for long. Once Ronnie, Fleur,
and Claude realize that their rift is all because of evil Cressida Sleeth and Panama Goodyear,
they patch things up and carry out their plans to spend the summer in Destiny Bay. To earn their
stay, the British teens hire on as waitstaff at an exclusive hotel. After adjusting to a grueling
schedule and hard work, they begin looking forward to the Big Beach Booty Quake Party, which
is the ultimate motivation for going to Destiny Bay. But then Claude learns that she will have to
move unless her mom can come up with a sizable amount of money. A possible solution presents
itself in a modeling contest, where the winner will earn 10,000 pounds.
23
Tween & YA FIC DHA
Dhami, Narinder
Bindi Babes
Amber, Geena, and Jazz have it all. The three tremendously popular Indian-British sisters are
beautiful, brainy, and blessed with a closet full of cool designer labels, thanks to an indulgent,
workaholic dad. Privately, the girls grieve their recently deceased mother and refuse to talk about
her, instead diving into shopping and their envied reputation as the school's best and brightest.
Until, that is, an interfering aunt from India comes to take over the household. Auntie sticks her
nose into every part of the girl's lives, so they conspire to get rid of her the Indian way: by
marrying her off. But how far are the polite girls willing to go, and will Auntie beat them at every
turn?
Tween & YA FIC DHA
Dhami, Narinder
Bollywood Babes
Those fiesty Bindi Babes are back – and someone tougher than their auntie has moved in too!
Geena, Amber and Jazz throw a Bollywood party to raise funds for their school. They plan to
deliver a real Bollywood actress for a live performance but their star turns out to more of a handful
than they ever expected!
Tween & YA FIC DHA
Dhami, Narinder
Bhangra Babes
Amber, Jazz and Geena have finally secured auntie's engagement to the gorgeous Mr Arora.
Now the girls are now vying for the attention of the gorgeous new guy at school, Rocky, who has
his own recording studio. Amber thinks she's bound to capture his heart when she invites him to
DJ at Auntie's wedding, but when the girls go to hear Rocky sing, Amber realizes she's made a
big mistake. It's going to be a huge headache to work this one out, but if they don't, every guest at
the wedding will have a worse one! Fortunately, a great idea comes from an unexpected source,
and the girls bounce back again.
YA FIC EAG
Eagland, Jane
Wildthorn
They strip her naked, of everything. Undo her whalebone corset, hook by hook. Locked away in
Wildthorn Hall—a madhouse—they take her identity. She is now called Lucy Childs. She has no
one; she has nothing. But, she is still seventeen—still Louisa Cosgrove, isn't she? Who has done
this unthinkable deed? Louisa must free herself, in more ways than one, and muster up the
courage to be her true self, all the while solving her own twisted mystery and falling into an
unconventional love . . .
J & YA FIC FOR
Forsyth, Kate
The Gypsy Crown
Emilia Finch and her cousin Luka are gypsies. They live a strongly traditional life, rich
with story, music, dance, and magic, governed by the laws of the clan and the ways of the
road. To the repressive Puritanical government of 17th century England, however, the gypsies
are thieving, fortune-telling vagrants who are most likely allies of the devil. Soon, a series of
terrible events lands the family in jail, charged with murder. Emilia and Luka manage to escape,
promising to bring back help and free them. But how? Emilia believes in the legend of the
charms: it is said that the luck of the Rom soured after a long-ago gypsy matriarch broke her
chain of charms, giving one charm to each of her five children. If they can gather the charms
from the families, Emilia thinks, the strong magic of the Rom will somehow bring her family
freedom. Luka, on the other hand, is more practical - he wants to enlist the help of the other clans
to help the Finches escape. Emilia and Luka must race through the countryside, navigating a
hornets' nest of Rom-hating Puritans, Royalist spies, and traitors, if they are to complete their
quest before the magistrate delivers a death sentence.
24
YA FIC GRA
Gray, Keith Ostrich Boys
Ross is dead, and Blake, Sim, and Kenny are furious. To make it right, they steal Ross's ashes
and set out from their home on the English coast for the tiny village of Ross in southern Scotland,
a place their friend had always wanted to go. What follows is an unforgettable journey with illegal
train rides, bungee jumping, girls, and high-speed police chases--all with Ross's ashes along for
the ride. As events spin wildly out of control, the three friends must take their heads out of the
sand long enough to answer the question: What really happened to Ross?
FIC & YA MYS HAD
the Night-Time
Haddon, Mark
The Curious Incident of the Dog in
Christopher Boone is a fifteen and has Asperger's, a form of autism. He knows a great deal about
math and very little about human beings. When he finds his neighbors's dog murdered he sets
out on a terrifying journey which will turn his world upside down.
YA MYS HAR
Harvey, Alyxandra
Haunting Violet
Violet Willoughby doesn't believe in ghosts. But they believe in her. After spending years
participating in her mother's elaborate ruse as a fraudulent medium, Violet is about as skeptical
as they come in all matters supernatural. Now that she is being visited by a very persistent ghost,
one who suffered a violent death, Violet can no longer ignore her unique ability. She must figure
out what this ghost is trying to communicate, and quickly because the killer is still on the loose.
Afraid of ruining her chance to escape her mother's scheming through an advantageous
marriage, Violet must keep her ability secret. The only person who can help her is Colin, a friend
she's known since childhood, and whom she has grown to love. He understands the true Violet,
but helping her on this path means they might never be together. Can Violet find a way to help
this ghost without ruining her own chance at a future free of lies?
YA FIC HOO
Rose
Hooper, Mary
The Remarkable Life and Times of Eliza
Ousted from her family by her new stepmother, Eliza Rose makes her way to London - only to be
thrown straight into prison for stealing a mouthful of bread. Her life takes some remarkable twists
as she is rescued and befriended by the infamous actress Nelly Gwyn. Nelly introduces her to the
courtly intrigue, politics, and glamour of the court of King Charles II, as well as a handsome young
man known as Valentine Howard. Eliza is smitten with him, yet their love cannot be, as she is
only a lowly maid from the country and he is an aristocrat. But a twist of fate just may unravel a
long-hidden secret that could bring them together after all.
Tween & YA FIC HOR
Horowitz, Anthony
The Devil and His Boy
Murder, mystery, espionage, and drama combine in a plot that includes walk-on parts for
Elizabeth I and William Shakespeare. Tom is a poor and ignorant servant when he arrives in
London on an errand that he doesn’t understand. He joins an actors’ troupe that seems more
interested in politics than stagecraft. Only Moll Cutpurse seems at all reliable—and she’s a very
clever thief.
Tween & YA FIC HOR Horowitz, Anthony Stormbreaker
series v 1)
(Alex Rider
After his guardian uncle is mysteriously murdered, fourteen-year-old Alex is recruited by Britain’s
MI-6 Intelligence Agency to complete his mission and find his uncle’s killer.
Tween & YA FIC HOR
v 2)
Horowitz, Anthony Point Blank (Alex Rider series
Fourteen-year-old Alex continues his work as a spy for the British MI-6, investigating an exclusive
school for boys in the French Alps.
25
Tween & YA FIC HOR
v 3)
Horowitz, Anthony Skeleton Key (Alex Rider series
Reluctant teenage-spy Alex Rider, on a routine mission at the Wimbledon tennis championships,
gets caught up in Chinese gangs, illegal nuclear weapons, and the suspect plans of his Russian
host, General Sarov.
Tween & YA FIC HOR Horowitz, Anthony
v 4)
Eagle Strike (Alex Rider series
After a chance encounter with assassin Yassen Gregorovich in the South of France, teenage spy
Alex Rider investigates international pop star and philanthropist Damian Cray whose new video
game venture hides sinister motives involving Air Force One, nuclear missiles, and the
international drug trade.
Tween & YA FIC HOR
5)
Horowitz, Anthony
Scorpia (Alex Rider series v
Alex Rider, the spitting image of his father in so many ways, is about to find out just how closely
he is his father's son. When Alex learns that his father was an assassin for Scorpia, the most
powerful terrorist organization going, his world shatters. Now Scorpia wants Alex on their side,
and Alex wages a war of conscience he no longer has the will to win. Until, that is, he learns of
Scorpia's latest plot: an operation known only as "Invisible Sword" that will result in the death of
thousands of people. Unless he can stop it first . . .
Tween & YA FIC HOR
v 6)
Horowitz, Anthony
Ark Angel (Alex Rider series
Alex Rider is giving it up. Being a teenage secret agent is just too dangerous. He wants his old
life back. As he lies in the hospital bed recovering from a gunshot wound, he contemplates the
end of his career with MI6, the British secret service. But then he saves the life of Paul Drevin,
son of multibillionaire Nikolei Drevin, and once again he is pulled into service. This time his
mission involves eco-terrorists, rockets to space, maniacal killers, and a less-than-idyllic tropical
island. Is it all in a day's work, or will this truly be Alex Rider's last mission?
Tween & YA FIC HOR
v 7)
Horowitz, Anthony
Snakehead (Alex Rider series
What goes up must come down, and when we last saw Alex Rider, he was as up as can be—in
outer space. When he crash lands off the coast of Australia, the Australian Secret Service recruits
him to infiltrate one of the ruthless gangs operating across South East Asia. Known as
snakeheads, the gangs smuggle drugs, weapons, and worst of all, people. Alex accepts the
assignment, in part for the chance to work with his godfather and learn more about his parents.
What he uncovers, however, is a secret that will make this his darkest and most dangerous
mission yet . . . and that his old nemesis, Scorpia, is anything but out of his life.
Tween & YA FIC HOR
Rider series v 8)
Horowitz, Anthony
Crocodile Tears (Alex
Alex Rider is only 14, but that hasn't stopped MI6, the British espionage organization, from
recruiting him for dangerous missions. Here, Alex is enlisted in a seemingly quick and easy
mission of downloading computer data while on a school trip to a lab immersed in the genetic
engineering of plants. While there, he discovers a sinister plot involving a criminal turned
preacher and philanthropist. As in the earlier installments, the book is chock-full of excitement
and suspense from the first page to the last. It starts with a bomb at a nuclear plant in India, and
along the way there is a charity black-tie card game, poison needles, car crashes, bullets, and
exploding gel pens.
26
YA FIC KUI
Kuipers, Alice
Lost for Words
My New Year's resolution: I'm moving on from everything that's happened. I'm not going to talk
about it, think about it, let the memory pounce upon me like a waiting tiger, nothing. All Sophie
wants to do is forget. But it's not easy now that everything's changed. The house feels too big,
school drags on for too long, lights are too bright, the room spins, and her hands get sweaty for
no reason. And she can't remember why she was ever best friends with Abigail, who is obsessed
with parties and boys. Only the new girl, Rosa-Leigh, with her prose poems and utter confidence,
might understand. But talking to her seems impossible. Lost in memories of the life she once
had, Sophie retreats into herself. But there's only so long she can keep everything bottled up
inside before she explodes. Maybe by confronting the tragedy of her past she'll figure out how to
fix her future.
YA FIC LAW
Lawrence, Sara
Those Girls
THOSE GIRLS are Jinx Slater and Liberty Latiffe— lovely, rich, and wild seventeen-year-olds at
the exclusive Stagmount School for Girls. They have the glittery seaside town of Brighton and an
endless flow of cash at their fingertips. Nothing—not even their vile ex-housemistress—can slow
them down in their pursuit of fun. Then snobby new girl Stella Fox shows up and naïve Liberty
falls under her spell. Jinx is determined to win back her best friend, even if it means waging war
on power-hungry Stella. But when Jinx delves into Stella's past, she discovers there's a lot more
than schoolgirl jealousy on the line . . . This time, Jinx could lose Liberty forever.
YA MYS LEE Lee, Y.S.
A Spy in the House (The Agency v 1)
Rescued from the gallows in 1850s London, young orphan (and thief) Mary Quinn is surprised to
be offered a singular education, instruction in fine manners — and an unusual vocation. Miss
Scrimshaw’s Academy for Girls is a cover for an all-female investigative unit called The Agency,
and at seventeen, Mary is about to put her training to the test. Assuming the guise of a lady’s
companion, she must infiltrate a rich merchant’s home in hopes of tracing his missing cargo
ships. But the household is full of dangerous deceptions, and there is no one to trust — or is
there? Packed with action and suspense, banter and romance, and evoking the gritty backstreets
of Victorian London, this breezy mystery debuts a daring young detective who lives by her wits
while uncovering secrets — including those of her own past.
YA MYS LEE
Lee, Y.S. The Body at the Tower (The Agency v 2)
Mary’s second adventure as an undercover agent forces her to relive some harrowing childhood
experiences as she seeks the identity of a murderer. Mary Quinn is back, now a trusted member
of the Agency, the all-female detective unit operating out of Miss Scrimshaw’s Academy for Girls.
Her new assignment sends her into the grimy underbelly of Victorian London dressed as a poor
boy, evoking her own childhood memories of fear, hunger, and constant want. As she insinuates
herself into the confidence of several persons of interest, she encounters others in desperate
situations and struggles to make a difference without exposing —or losing —her identity. Mary’s
adventure, which takes place on the building site of the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament,
offers a fictional window into a fascinating historical time and place.
YA MYS LEE
Lee, Y.S. The Traitor in the Tunnel (The Agency v 3)
Quick-witted Mary Quinn is undercover at Buckingham Palace, hunting a petty thief, when the
Prince of Wales witnesses a murder. Even more alarming is the fact that the accused killer
shares a name with Mary’s long-lost father. Meanwhile, engineer James Easton, Mary’s onetime
paramour, is at work shoring up the sewers beneath the palace, where an unexpected tunnel
seems to be very much in use. Can Mary and James trust each other long enough to solve the
mystery and protect the royal family?
27
YA FIC LIM
Limb, Sue
Girl, 15, Charming but Insane
Plucky and mouthy, Jess Jordan manages to get herself in a variety of messes, mostly having to
do with boys. Convinced that she is hopeless compared to her best friend, Flora, she relies on
her humor and dry wit to stay afloat. She soon finds that while her mouth can get her in trouble, it
can also get her the kind of attention she wants. Romance blooms in improbable places as Jess
makes it through a long spring full of funny adventures and lucky mishaps.
YA FIC LIM
Limb, Sue
Girl Nearly 16, Absolute Torture
Just when things were going so well. Jess had the perfect summer planned: She and Fred,
lounging in the park, gazing into one another's eyes and engaging in witty repartee. It was going
to be so romantic. And then her maddening mum stepped in: She suddenly announced a twoweek "road trip" to Cornwall to visit Jess's dad, something Jess might have enjoyed, actually,
were it not for the monstrously bad timing. Not only will this force Jess and Fred apart for two
whole weeks, it will also leave the darling and handsome Fred in the clutches of Jess's blindingly
beautiful best friend, Flora—who, you might recall, expressed an interest in Fred not too long ago.
As if all this weren't enough, Jess's mum seems to expect her to weep at the grave of every
departed literary hero in Britain's long history. It's absolute torture. And little does Jess know, a
huge surprise awaits her when she visits her dad at his home for the first time in years.
YA FIC LIM
Limb, Sue
Girl, Going on 17, Pants on Fire
It's never fun when a great summer comes to an end. Particularly when one argues with one's
adorable, but grossly insensitive, boyfriend the night before school starts. It's such a terrible fight,
Jess doesn't know--are they broken up? Should she apologize? Too bad Jess is spending all her
time in detention and can't talk to Fred to figure it out. A sadistic new English teacher has decided
Jess needs an attitude adjustment, and Jess can't seem to stop making terrible mistakes. When
she ends up pantless in her own backyard, Jess is left to ask herself: Where did she go wrong?
And what can be done to make it up to Fred and salvage this horrible, horrible year?
Tween & YA FIC LOV
Love, Anne
Puppeteer’s Apprentice
A medieval orphan girl called Mouse gains the courage she needs to follow her dreams of
becoming a puppeteer's apprentice.
YA FIC MCG McGowan, Anthony
The Knife That Killed Me
Paul Vanderman could be at any normal high school where bullies, girls, and annoying teachers
are just part of life. But “normal” doesn’t apply when it comes to the school’s biggest bully, Roth—
a twisted and threatening thug with an evil agenda. When Paul ends up delivering a message
from Roth to the leader of a gang at a nearby school, it fuels a rivalry with immediate
consequences. Paul attempts to distance himself from the feud, but somehow Roth keeps finding
reasons for him to stick around. Then one day Roth hands him a knife. And even though Paul is
scared, he has never felt so powerful.
Tween & YA FIC MCK
McKinley, Robin
Outlaws of Sherwood
The author retells the adventures of Robin Hood and his band of outlaws who live in Sherwood
Forest in twelfth-century England.
YA MYS MCN
McNab, Andy & Robert Rigby Traitor
Danny Watts' grandfather, Fergus, was a Deniable Operator in the SAS before he was betrayed,
imprisoned, and falsely denounced as a traitor. Now Fergus has escaped, but the real traitor is
determined to silence Fergus and Danny for good. Together Danny and Fergus are forced to go
on the run in an against-the-odds battle for survival. As they try to clear Fergus' name, Danny
learns all the military field craft, trade skills, and covert operations techniques that are second
nature to his grandfather. When Fergus is recaptured, Danny must put those skills to the test and
rescue Fergus before it's too late.
28
YA MYS MCN
McNab, Andy & Rigby, Robert
Payback
In this sequel to Traitor (Putnam, 2005), Danny and his ex-SAS grandfather, Fergus Watts,
survive an attempt on their lives while hiding out in Spain. They stop running and return to the UK
with the hope of clearing their names and resuming a normal life, and are recruited to help
uncover a corrupt MI5 agent who, at the same time, is trying to have them killed. Danny enlists
the help of his friend Elena so that he and Fergus can accomplish the impossible: breaking into
the heavily secured British Ministry of Defense in order to get official proof of Fergus's
background and save their lives. The police are on high alert because of a series of suicide
bombings carried out by teenagers, and MI5 tries to frame Danny as a terrorist.
YA FIC MOR
Morpurgo, Michael
Private Peaceful
It's the longest night of young Thomas's life, as he stands watch over the battlefields of France in
WW I, and he spends it thinking back on his life and trying not to think about the terrible event
scheduled to take place at dawn. Thomas is only 17; he lied about his age in order to follow his
beloved older brother Charlie to war. He reminisces about their childhood, the death of their
father, the despotic colonel who controls their family's fate, and his first love, Molly. He also
relates the misery of training to be a soldier, and the horror of shelling, gas attacks, life in the
trenches, and seeing friends killed.
Tween & YA FIC MOR
Morris, Gerald
Parsifal’s Page
In medieval England, eleven-year-old Piers' dream comes true when he becomes page to
Parsifal, a peasant whose quest for knighthood reveals important secrets about both of their
families.
YA FIC MOR
Morris, Gerald
The Ballad of Sir Dinadan
Young Dinadan has no wish to joust or quest or save damsels in distress or do any of the knightly
things expected of him. He'd rather be a minstrel, playing his rebec and writing ballads. But he
was born to be a knight, and knights, of course, have adventures. So after his father forces his
knighthood upon him, he wanders toward King Arthur's court, in the company of a misguided
young Welsh lad named Culloch. There Dinadan meets Sir Kai and Bedivere, and the three find
themselves accompanying Culloch on the worst sort of quest. Along the way, Dinadan writes his
own ballads, singing of honor, bravery, loyalty, and courtly love -- and becomes a player in the
pathetic love story of Tristram and Iseult. He meets the Moorish knight Palomides, the clever but
often exasperating Lady Brangienne, and an elvin musician named Sylvanus, along with the
usual collection of recreant knights and dimwitted defenders of chivalry. He learns that while
minstrels sing of spectacular heroic deeds, honor is often found in simpler, quieter ways.
Tween & YA FIC MOR
Lady
Morris, Gerald
The Squire, His Knight, & His
Love, honor, battle and magic all have their place and purpose as Squire Terence and his knight,
Sir Gawain, the greatest knight of the Round Table, prepare to meet the faery Knight of the Green
Chapel.
YA FIC MOR Morris, Gerald
The Lioness and her Knight
Luneta is tired of living in dull Orkney with her mother and father (who happens to be the most
boring knight of King Arthur's Round Table). She prides herself on always getting what she
wants, so when the opportunity presents itself, she jumps at the chance to stay at a family friend's
castle near Camelot. Her handsome cousin, Sir Ywain - a young knight seeking adventurearrives just in time to escort her to King Arthur's court. Along the way they pick up a knightturned-fool named Rhience, whose wit and audacity set many a puffed-up personality in its place.
Before arriving at Lady Laudine's castle, the trio stops at Camelot, where they hear the story of
the Storm Stone, a magical object deep in the forest that soon sweeps everyone into a web of
29
love, betrayal, and more than a bit of magic. Filled with broken promises, powerful
enchantresses, unconventional sword fights, fierce and friendly lionesses, mysterious knights,
and damsels in and out of distress, The Lioness and Her Knight proves itself as witty and
adventuresome as the rest of Gerald Morris's tales from King Arthur's court.
Tween & YA FIC MOR Morris, Gerald
Quest of the Fair Unknown
On her deathbed, Beaufils's mother leaves him with a quest and a clue: find your father, a knight
of King Arthur's court. So Beaufils leaves the isolated forest of his youth and quickly discovers
that he has much to learn about the world beyond his experience. Beaufils's innocence never fails
to make his companions grin, but his fresh outlook on the world's peculiarities turns out to be
more of a gift than a curse as they encounter unexpected friends and foes.
Tween & YA FIC MOR
Dwarf
Morris, Gerald
The Savage Damsel and the
Sixteen-year-old Lady Lynet, younger sister of the beautiful, shallow Lyonesse, is tired of
watching the Red Knight slaughter Lyonesse's suitors and stealthily rides to Camelot to ask King
Arthur to send a knight to defeat Red. She's worried, though, because her father died opposing
Arthur. She's aided by a dwarf she meets along the way, a polite, knowledgeable fellow, who
helps her navigate the paths to Camelot, joining her and the kitchen knave Beaumains--or is
Beaumains really someone else? As they travel, Lynet sees a lot of knights fighting, learns that
appearances can be deceiving, and finds true love.
Tween & YA FIC MOR
Morris, Gerald
The Squire’s Tale
In medieval England, fourteen-year-old Terence finds his tranquil existence suddenly changed
when he becomes the squire of the young Gawain of Orkney and accompanies him on a long
quest, proving Gawain's worth as a knight and revealing an important secret about his own true
identity.
YA FIC MOR
Morris, Gerald
Dung-Cart Knight
The Princess, The Crone and the
Ever since that tragic night when her mother and guardian were murdered, thirteen-year-old
Sarah has been living on her own and searching for the knight who was responsible. Her quest
for revenge leads to an even greater adventure when she witnesses Queen Guinevere being
kidnapped. Soon Sarah finds herself accompanying Sir Gawain and Squire Terence on a
remarkable journey to rescue the Queen. In their travels they meet, among others, a mystery
knight traveling incognito in a dung cart, a faery who becomes Sarah's first friend in a long time, a
reclusive monk who plans to spend the rest of his life building a tomb for Sir Lancelot, and a
princess who might have a little more gumption than she appears to. As the plot thickens, Sarah
finds out more about the people she's met and befriended, as well as about herself. She begins
to learn the true consequences of vengeance and what it really means to be a princess.
Tween & YA FIC MOR
Morris, Gerald The Legend of the King
In this final installment of the Squire's Tale series, Terence and his fellow Knights of the Round
Table must come together in a last stand to save Camelot. The characters Gerald Morris has
brought to life throughout his series—“Terence and Gawain, Lynet and Gaheris, Luneta and
Rhience, Dinadan and Palomides"—each have an important role to play in this climactic final
conflict. Maintaining their faith, selflessness, and honor, Arthur's court bands together to try to
defeat Morgause and Mordred and banish the dark magic from England forever.
Tween & YA FIC NAI
Naidoo, Beverly
The Other Side of Truth
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.
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YA FIC NAI Naidoo, Beverly
Web of Lies
This sequel to The Other Side of Truth (HarperCollins, 2001) continues the story of Sade and
Femi, now back with their father, as they struggle to fit in at their London school. Femi faces
pressure to join a gang, and as he becomes increasingly enmeshed in its activities, his lies to his
family become more serious. Eventually he is arrested when a gang member is stabbed and he is
caught running away from the scene. This is a gritty and credible story of how a young teen can
be unintentionally pulled into a gang, as well as a cautionary tale with a touch of didacticism,
African-style. However, it is also a heart-warming story of a family struggling through difficult
circumstances, including grief over their mother's murder, economic difficulties, and the culture
shock of being refugees in a foreign country.
YA FIC NAP
Napoli, Donna Jo
Breath
This fascinating Pied Piper bypasses the villain rehabilitation or feminist perspective common to
most modern retellings; instead, it solidly grounds the tale in the 13th-century town of Hameln.
Chronically ill, Salz can't help on the farm, so he studies with the priest as if preparing for the
church. With his beloved Granmutter, he's also a member of the town's coven of Christian, Godfearing witches. Though no one expects him to live to adulthood, Salz dreams of a cure, perhaps
brought from distant lands by a traveling piper. In spring, a devastating stock blight is followed by
strangely selective plague, as the townsfolk fall ill with a terrifying, diseased madness. Is it
caused by rats, or sin, or witchcraft? Salz, searching for logical answers and moral consistency,
wants to help, but without drawing attention to his own suspicious (relative) health. A compelling
mystery (explained scientifically in the author's postscript) and fully realized characters bring life
to the legend.
YA FIC PEE Peet, Mal
Tamar
With surgical precision, Peet explores universal themes of fear and suspicion, trust and
compassion in this multilayered and complex story of the twisted relationship between two
comrades in arms and their love for the same woman. As members of the resistance fighting in
Nazi-occupied Holland during World War II, Tamar and Dart share days and nights of gutwrenching fear and mind-numbing boredom, made endurable only by the seeming safety of
Sanctuary Farm and the simple creature comforts it offers. In an alternate story line years later, a
young girl named Tamar inherits a small box filled with clues and codes from her grandfather,
who has fallen to his death from a balcony window. As she struggles to decipher the messages it
contains, she unravels a dark tale of passion, evil, and tragedy that has the capacity to destroy or
to reunite her own family. Skillfully interweaving the secrecy of the past with the uncertainty of
modern day and moving fluidly across time, the author creates a lyrical tale of integrity and
betrayal that takes place in both the past and the present.
YA FIC PIT
Pitcher, Annabel
My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece
My sister Rose lives on the mantelpiece. Well, some of her does. A collarbone, two ribs, a bit of
skull, and a little toe. To ten-year-old Jamie, his family has fallen apart because of the loss of
someone he barely remembers: his sister Rose, who died five years ago in a terrorist bombing.
To his father, life is impossible to make sense of when he lives in a world that could so cruelly
take away a ten-year-old girl. To Rose's surviving fifteen year old twin, Jas, everyday she lives in
Rose's ever present shadow, forever feeling the loss like a limb, but unable to be seen for herself
alone. Told with warmth and humor, this powerful novel is a sophisticated take on one family's
struggle to make sense of the loss that's torn them apart... and their discovery of what it means to
stay together.
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YA MYS REI
Reiss, Kathryn
Blackthorn Winter
The last place fifteen-year-old Juliana wants to be is halfway around the world in Blackthorn,
England, an idyllic seaside artists' colony her mother has dragged her off to while her parents
weather a trial separation. Juliana misses her father terribly and doesn't understand why her
mother needs to travel so far to resurrect her artistic self, which she claims to have lost in the
marriage. Soon after they arrive in the tiny village of Blackthorn, the artists' colony is set on its
heels by the murder of one of its own. Juliana feels compelled to solve the crime, but she is
shocked and frightened when it seems that clues in the matter are hitting a little too close to
home. Can she figure out who the murderer is before anyone else--herself included--gets hurt?
YA FIC REN
Rennison, Louise Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging
There are six things very wrong with my life:
1. I have one of those under-the-skin spots that will never come to a head but lurk in a red way for
the next two years.
2. It is on my nose
3. I have a three-year-old sister who may have peed somewhere in my room.
4. In fourteen days the summer hols will be over and then it will be back to Stalag 14 and
Oberfuhrer Frau Simpson and her bunch of sadistic teachers.
5. I am very ugly and need to go into an ugly home.
6. I went to a party dressed as a stuffed olive.
In this wildly funny journal of a year in the life of Georgia Nicolson, British author Louise Rennison
has perfectly captured the soaring joys and bottomless angst of being a teenager. In the spirit of
Bridget Jones's Diary, this fresh, irreverent, and simply hilarious book will leave you laughing out
loud. As Georgia would say, it's "Fabbity fab fab!"
YA FIC REN Rennison, Louise
of a Sex God
On the Bright Side, I’m Now the Girlfriend
Disaster strikes again in this fabbity-fab-fab sequel to Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging.
Georgia's little sister, Libby, has been leaving sticky surprises in her bed. Her faithful Scottish
wildcat, Angus, is suddenly spending all his time with a good-looking feline next door. Then
there's her nose. Will it ever stop growing?
But there's always a bright side, and this time it's ultra bright since Georgia is dating the Sex God
(aka Robbie). Eveything should be just perfect...until her pathetically unhip parents announce that
the family is moving to New Zealand. New Zealand? Life is officially over, but Georgia's response
to adolescence is so hilarious that readers will be laughing out loud through this uproarious
sequel.
YA FIC REN
Rennison, Louise
Knocked Out By My Nunga-Nungas
The irrepressible heroine of the Michael L. Printz Honor Book Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal
Snogging is back, and funnier than ever! Georgia has finally landed Robbie the Sex God, but he's
never around, and Georgia's ex, Dave the Laugh, is starting to look quite dreamy. Strangely, so
does just about every other guy Georgia meets, even the new French teacher. In this third
installment of Georgia's hilarious confessions, Georgia's "red bottomosity" is out of control!
Whatever will happen next?
YA FIC REN
Rennison, Louise
Dancing In My Nuddy Pants
Georgia thought she had finally put her "red-bottomosity" to rest when she chose Robbie the Sex
God over Dave the Laugh, but now she's not so sure. Is she doomed to be a pop-star widow, or
will she take her own bottom firmly in hand? As always, in this fourth book about Georgia's angstfilled confessions, nothing ever turns out as planned!
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YA FIC REN Rennison, Louise
Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers
Georgia can't wait to visit Hamburger-a-gogo land with Jas in tow so she can finally track down
Masimo, the Italian-American dreamboat. But after a long week in America, Georgia only
succeeds in learning importantish things -- like how to ride a bucking bronco -- before she's
dragged back to England by Mutti and Vati. Will Georgia be able to reel in the Italian dreamboat,
or is she destined to live forever all aloney on her owney?
YA FIC REN
Rennison, Louise
Startled by His Furry Shorts
On the rack of romance. And also in the oven of luuurve. And possibly on my way to the bakery of
pain. And maybe even going to stop along the way to get a little cake at the cakeshop of agony.
Shut up, brain, shut up. Georgia is in quite a predicament. Dave the Laugh has declared his love
for her (at least she thinks he was talking about her), leaving her in a state of confusiosity. And
then when she finally decides to give Masimo an ultimatum -- to be her one and only -- he tells
her he needs to think about it. To distract herself from her romantic woes, Georgia throws herself
into Mac-Useless play rehearsals and planning a Viking wedding, and tries to avoid all thoughts
of boy decoys, Italian-American dreamboats . . . and let's not forget guitar-plucking Sex Gods!
YA FIC REN
Rennison, Larise
Love is a Many Trousered Thing
Georgia thought her heartbreak-osity troubles were over when Masimo announced that he
wanted to be her one and only. But just as she hits Swoon City, Robbie, the original Sex God,
shows up. How in the world has Georgia accidentally acquired two Sex Gods?
YA FIC REN
Rennison, Louise
Stop in the Name of Pants
Time to gird the loins and pucker up.
Blimey O'Reilly's trousers! Three maybe-boyfriends is a lot for any girl to handle—red-bottomed
or not. What with Robbie the Sex God back from Kiwi-a-gogo land wanting to "get coffee" and
whatsit, Masimo the Luuurve God saying things like "Ciao, Georgia, see you later" (the good seeyou-later or the bad see-you-later??), and her mate Dave the Laugh snogging her in a pond, it's
enough to make any girl mad. Good thing she has the ace gang to keep her sane. Ish.
But now that she has tearfully eschewed Robbie the Sex God with a firm hand, Georgia is left
with two potential snoggees to choose from, and it's high time she left the cakeshop of love for
good. This time with a gorgey Italian cakey. Or a nip-libbling Dave the Tart. But certainly not both.
Maybe.
YA FIC REN
Before Me?
Rennison, Louise
Are These My Basoomas I See
A bit early to get swoony knickers but I have got them on.
For Georgia, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Just when she thought she
was the official one-and-only girlfriend of Masimo, he's walked off into the night with the full hump,
leaving Georgia all aloney on her owney—again. All because Dave the Laugh tried to do fisticuffs
at dawn with him! Two boys fighting over Georgia? It's almost as romantic as Romeo and Juliet . .
. though perhaps a touch less tragic. It's time for Georgia to get to the bottom (oo-er) of this Dave
the Laugh spontaneous puckering business once and for all. It's like they always say: If you snog
a mate in the forest of red bottomosity and no one is around to see it, is he still a mate? Or is he
something more?
YA FIC REN
Rennison, Louise
Withering Tights
Rennison introduces Georgia Nicholson's cousin, Tallulah Casey, a girl just as funny and
introspective as Georgia herself, if not more so. Tallulah is on her way to a performing-arts school
on the Yorkshire Moors—this fact alone has her beside herself thinking about Cathy and
Heathcliff. This will be her first time away from home—she'll be on her own with no parents, no
little brother—and plans to discover her inner artistic talents and keep her knobby knees tightly
under wraps. Tallulah soon meets a fun group of girls as well as Cain, the local cad; Alex, the
local swoon-worthy boy; an owl; and Charlie, a boy with potential—and a secret. Readers will be
33
laughing at the teen's adventures and her journey toward artistic greatness during her summer at
Dother Hall. Will she end up with Charlie? Does she really hate Cain—or does she secretly "feel
funny" around him? Will Alex ever see her as anything but a 14-year-old? Tallulah is a vivacious
and hilarious character who will speak to every girl—she's not the most popular or the most
beautiful, but she has her own wonderful talents that others start to recognize.
YA FIC RET
Rettig, Liz
My Desperate Love Diary
Kelly Ann is desperately in love with G-hopelessly, recklessly in love. The only problem? G is the
biggest loser in school, and not the dorky kind, but the slimeball, cheating, self-obsessed variety.
Her best friends can see how awful G is, and also that Kelly Ann's quietly gorgeous friend Chris is
madly in love with her. But Kelly Ann stumbles along blindly, unable to see what is right in front of
her eyes.
YA MYS ROS
Rose, Malcolm
Final Lap
In the not-too-distant future, England has fallen on hard times. The country is ruled by the
Authorities, and the older parts of London have collapsed into chaos. In an attempt to recover
past glories and bring hope to the young, the country is soon to host the International Youth
Games and is building a megalithic sports complex in Hounslow to the west of London. After a
series of what are at first thought to be accidents-a plane crash, a fire, the collapse of some
scaffolding, and the disappearance of the manager in charge of the construction-a young woman
is badly injured when insecticide is poured into the newly completed swimming pool. It is clear
that someone is attempting to disrupt the construction of the sports complex, and talented young
Forensic Investigator Luke Harding is called in to get to the bottom of the mystery. Only sixteen
years old but possessing a perfect track record as a detective, Harding is ably assisted by his
girlfriend Jade and by Malc, his "mobile aid to law and crime," a sentient AI with an apparently
unlimited ability to search the Web and analyze crime scene data of all sorts.
YA FIC SAN
Sandell, Lisa Ann
Song of the Sparrow
The year is 490 AD. Fiery 16-year-old Elaine of Ascolat, the daughter of one of King Arthur's
supporters, lives with her father on Arthur's base camp, the sole girl in a militaristic world of
men. Elaine's only girl companion is the mysterious Morgan, Arthur's older sister, but Elaine
cannot tell Morgan her deepest secret: She is in love with Lancelot, Arthur's second-in-command.
However, when yet another girl -- the lovely Gwynivere-- joins their world, Elaine is confronted
with startling emotions of jealousy and rivalry. But can her love for Lancelot survive the birth of an
empire?
YA FIC SAL
Salter, Helen Does Snogging Count as Exercise?
As one of the only girls in Year Nine without a boyfriend, fourteen-year-old Holly Stockwell has
some catching up to do. Forget dating boys -- Holly can barely think about boys without being
embarrassed. And her exercise-obsessed family can't seem to understand that her only
obsession is Luke -- her best friend Poppy's very cute older brother.
YA FIC SHI Shields, Gillian
The Actual Real Reality of Jennifer James
This is the diary of Jennifer James. It contains:
One Heroine: Jennifer James, burdened by brains, struggling to release her Inner Babe
One High School: London Road Comprehensive, a no-hope English school in a no-hope English
town
One Prize: A scholarship to the elite St. Willibald's College [Jennifer's idea of Paradise] offered to
the winner of a tacky reality TV show, Down The Bog and . . .
A Thousand Complications: Like Jocasta, the crazy feminist mother; Tallulah, the blond rival from
hell; Marcus, the guy with green eyes; and above all, the actual real reality that Jennifer's
chances of winning are less than Mega-Zero. . . .
34
YA FIC SPI
Kipling’s Choice
Spillebeen, Geert
The year is 1915, and Great Britain has entered the war against Germany. John Kipling, son of
the writer Rudyard Kipling, is wild to join the fray, but nearsightedness prevents him from passing
the physical. His father, however, has friends in high places, and a slot with the Irish Guards is
arranged for the 18-year-old. The novel shifts points of view from John's pampered upbringing to
the horrors of war. In spite of his wealth, inexperience, and youth, he rises to the occasion and
makes a decent and selfless officer. At Loos, however, he is seriously wounded and left for dead.
Graphic descriptions of chlorine gas, artillery fire, and injuries are plentiful; combat scenes shift
back and forth with scenes of John tearing around the countryside on his motorcycle or in "Caruso," the new automobile from his proud father. As his lifeblood drains into the chalky French soil,
the teen remembers friends, family, and events from his past. Unable to speak or to move, he is
aware of soldiers, both British and German, robbing him of his identity papers, map, and
valuables. This well-written novel combines facts with speculation about John Kipling's short life
and gruesome death.
YA FIC STR
Strong, Jeremy
Stuff: the Life of a Cool, Demented Dude
Simon, a British thirteen-year-old, has problems-typical teenager problems. His parents
separated, and his mother has moved to Scotland to live with her new boyfriend. Simon also has
issues with his devoted girlfriend Delfine and her overprotective brother. Furthermore Simon's
father has a new girlfriend who has just moved in, and she has brought her lovely daughter,
Natasha. Natasha adds to Simon's hectic life as she seems to take pleasure in making him even
more miserable. Nicknamed Stuff because he is full of random information, Simon does have
some bright spots in his life-his good pal Pete and the successful comic strip that he
anonymously writes for the school magazine. Simon's life improves when beautiful new student
Sky arrives. He struggles to manage his new family life, his school life, a school bully, and his
comic strip, all while trying to figure out how to win over Sky, the girl of his dreams.
YA FIC STU Sturtevant, Katherine
True & Faithful Narrative
In Restoration London, sixteen-year-old Meg Moore is something of an anomaly. Unlike other
girls her age, Meg pores over books. She spends long hours conversing with the famous authors
and poets who visit her father’s bookstore, and even writes her own stories, laboring over every
word until her hand is black with ink. Without warning, however, Meg comes to learn exactly how
powerful words can be. The day her best friend’s brother Edward sets sail for Italy, Meg scoffs at
his attempts at romance by answering him with a thoughtless jest. Soon news travels to London
that Edward’s ship has been captured and he has been sold as a slave in North Africa – and Meg
cannot shake the thought that her cruel words are the cause. Now Meg must use her fiery
language to bring Edward home, imploring her fellow Londoners to give all that they can to buy
Edward’s freedom. But once Meg learns to direct the power behind her words, will she be able to
undo the damage she has caused, and write freely the stories that she longs to put to paper?
YA FIC TUR
Turnbull, Ann
No Shame, No Fear
In 1662, shortly after England's civil war, Susanna and William are irresistibly drawn to each other
even though they come from two different, quite incompatible, worlds. Susanna runs into William
as she goes in to town to seek a job as servant. Even though she is just a young girl she must
work to help her family. Her father has been jailed for his Quaker beliefs and his failure to pay
tithes to the approved church. After three years at Oxford, William is going home to his
prosperous family. William is drawn not only to Susanna but to her deep, quiet faith and he flouts
the law to attend Sunday meetings with her. His father, a staunch member of the Church of
England—the only legal religion—is appalled and does his best to change William's mind.
Susanna's employer and friends are jailed for their beliefs and are kept in appalling, filthy and
crowded conditions. Susanna struggles admirably to keep things going as the adults are held in
prison. She and William grow ever closer despite the religious persecution that pervades their
lives.
35
YA FIC TUR
Turnbull, Ann
Forged in the Fire
London, 1665. Cast out by his father for becoming a Quaker, the newly independent Will travels
from the countryside to London to earn a living. He and his beloved Susanna wait patiently to be
reunited and, at last, married. But when Will is thrown into jail for his beliefs, the pair’s future
becomes uncertain. With the plague spreading closer and the scent of smoke on the wind, can
their love still bring them together despite the most terrifying twists of fate? Will and Susanna’s
timeless romance continues in this powerful sequel to NO SHAME, NO FEAR.
YA MYS UPD
Gentleman?
Updale, Eleanor
Montmorency: Thief, Liar,
When a petty thief falls through a glass roof while fleeing from the police, it should have been the
death of him. Instead, it marks the beginning of a whole new life. Soon he has become the most
successful -- and elusive -- burglar in Victorian London, plotting daring raids and using London's
new sewer system to escape. He adopts a dual existence to fit his new lifestyle, taking on the
roles of a respectable, wealthy gentleman named Montmorency and his corrupt servant, Scarper.
YA MYS UPD
Updale, Eleanor
Doctor Aristocrat, Murderer?
Montmorency on the Rocks:
Five years after giving up his life of crime in the sewers, Montmorency is back in London. But his
evil alter ego, Scarper has returned too, pulling him back into a dark world of crime.
Montmorency's old friend and fellow government agent, Lord George Fox-Selwyn, fights to
rescue him from disaster and risks calling in Montmorency's prison doctor, Robert Farcett, to
help. However, when Montmorency turns up on a Scottish Island, he finds himself caught in
another web of mystery.
YA MYS UPD
Criminal/Spy
Updale, Eleanor
Montmorency & the Assassins: Master
As the nineteenth century draws to a close, war is in the air, and influenza is sweeping the globe.
After twenty years as a gentleman, Montmorency is glad to be free of Scarper, his wretched alterego. However, when Montmorency's young friend Frank finds himself caught in the middle of a
murderous political plot, Montmorency may have no choice but to call upon none other than
Scarper for help. Follow Montmorency, Fox-Selwyn, Dr. Farcett, and a whole new generation of
characters on their travels from London to Scotland, Italy and America.
YA MYS UPD
Updale, Eleanor
Montmorency’s Revenge
As Queen Victoria lays dying, Montmorency and his friends are already in mourning and
determined to track down the killers who have destroyed their lives. It's become a personal
obsession, but Montmorency has public duties, too, and when the two collide, he must decide
which comes first. Can he stop Doctor Farcett's slide into insanity? And how can Montmorency
teach a new generation to forgive when the lust for revenge is eating away at his own soul?
YA FIC WAT
Watts, Irene
Remember Me
Young Marianne is one of the lucky ones. She has escaped on one of the first kindertransporte
organized to take Jewish children out of Germany to safety in Britain. At first Marianne is
desperate. She does not speak English, she is not welcome in her sponsors’ home, and, most of
all, she misses her mother terribly. As the months pass, she realizes that she cannot control the
circumstances around her. She must rely on herself if she is to survive.
36
Finland
YA FIC DUR
Durbin, William
The Winter War
When the Soviet Union invades its tiny neighbor Finland in November 1939, Marko volunteers to
help the war effort. Even though his leg was weakened by polio, he can ski well, and he becomes
a messenger on the front line, skiing in white camouflage through the forests at night. The dark
forest is terrifying, and so are the odds against the Finns: the Russians have 4 times as many
soldiers and 30 times as many planes. They have 3000 tanks, while the Finns have 30. But a
tank is no help in the snowy forest–a boy on skis is. And the Russians don’t know winter the way
the Finns do, or what tough guerrilla warriors the Finns are. Marko teams up with another
messenger, Karl. Gradually Marko learns that Karl’s whole family was killed by the Russians. And
Karl has a secret–he’s really Kaari, a girl who joined up to get revenge for her family’s deaths.
France
YA FIC BON
Bondoux, Anne-Laure A Time of Miracles
Blaise Fortune, also known as Koumaïl, loves hearing the story of how he came to live with Gloria
in the Republic of Georgia: Gloria was picking peaches in her father’s orchard when she heard a
train derail. After running to the site of the accident, she found an injured woman who asked
Gloria to take her baby. The woman, Gloria claims, was French, and the baby was Blaise.
When Blaise turns seven years old, the Soviet Union collapses and Gloria decides that she and
Blaise must flee the political troubles and civil unrest in Georgia. The two make their way
westward on foot, heading toward France, where Gloria says they will find safe haven. But what
exactly is the truth about Blaise’s past? Bits and pieces are revealed as he and Gloria endure a
five-year journey across the Caucasus and Europe, weathering hardships and welcoming
unforgettable encounters with other refugees searching for a better life. During this time Blaise
grows from a boy into an adolescent; but only later, as a young man, can he finally attempt to
untangle his identity.
YA FIC BRE
Brenna, Beverley
The White Bicycle
Taylor Jane's travels to the south of France where she spends a summer babysitting for the
Phoenix family. Including flashbacks into Taylor's earliest memories, along with immediate
scenes in Lourmarin, a picturesque village in the Luberon Valley, The White Bicycle results in a
journey for independence both personal and universal, told in Taylor's honest first-person prose.
YA FIC DON
Donnelly, Jennifer
Revolution
Two girls, two centuries apart. One never knowing the other. But when Andi finds Alexandrine’s
diary, she recognizes something in her words and is moved to the point of obsession. There’s
comfort and distraction for Andi in the journal’s antique pages—until, on a midnight journey
through the catacombs of Paris, Alexandrine’s words transcend paper and time, and the past
becomes suddenly, terrifyingly present.
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YA FIC ELL Ellis, Deborah
No Safe Place
Orphaned and plagued with the grief of losing everyone he loves, 15-year-old Abdul has made a
long, fraught journey from his war-torn home in Baghdad, only to end up in The Jungle — a
squalid, makeshift migrant community in Calais. Desperate to escape, he takes a spot in a small,
overloaded England-bound boat that’s full of other illegal migrants — and a secret stash of
heroin. A sudden skirmish leaves the boat stalled in the middle of the Channel, the pilot dead,
and four young people remaining — Abdul; Rosalia, a Romani girl who has escaped from the
white slave trade; Cheslav, gone AWOL from a Russian military school; and Jonah, the boat
pilot’s ten-year-old nephew. As they attempt to complete the frantic and hazardous Channel
crossing their individual stories are revealed and their futures become increasingly uncertain.
Tween & YA FIC ELL
Elliott, L.M.
Under a War-Torn Sky
After his plane is shot down by Hitler's Luftwaffe, nineteen-year-old Henry Forester of Richmond,
Virginia, strives to walk across occupied France, with the help of the French Resistance, in hopes
of rejoining his unit.
YA FIC FRE Frechette, Carole
Carmen
While the cover looks like a trendy romance novel, this is a story of an insecure, almost 15-yearold Canadian girl named Carmen (after the opera heroine). It is Valentine's Day and she feels
invisible, so, on impulse, she sticks a note in her crush's locker. Thinking about the
consequences, she panics, runs away, and is stopped by a reporter who asks what she wants for
the holiday. Her face and confession, "I want to be loved," are plastered all over the news. More
confused than ever, she wonders what caused her to make such a pronouncement. The story
follows her for the rest of this eventful day….how much worse could this day possibly get?
YA FIC FRI
Friedman, Aimee
French Kiss
Two beautiful girls. One sexy city. Endless opportunities for l'amour.When Alexa St. Laurent falls
in love, she falls hard. Can she keep her cool after meeting a French guy who's too good to be
true and too hard to resist? For Holly Jacobson, being in love with her boyfriend Tyler is as
natural as breathing. But there's no denying that Alexa's Parisian cousin, Pierre, takes Holly's
breath away...On a whirlwind rendezvous in Paris, the City of Love, Alexa and Holly are about to
discover that everything sounds sexier in French.
YA FIC GAR
Gardner, Sally
The Red Necklace
Clever and head-turningly attractive, fourteen-yearold Yann is an orphan who has been raised in
Paris by Têtu, a dwarf with secrets he has yet to reveal to the gypsy boy. It's the winter of 1789,
and the duo have been working for a vain magician named Topolain. On the night when
Topolain's vanity brings his own death, Yann's life truly begins. That's the night he meets shy
Sido, an heiress with an ice-cold father, a young girl who has only known loneliness until now.
Though they have the shortest of conversations, an attachment is born that will influence both
their paths. And what paths those will be! Revolution is afoot in France, and Sido is being used
as a pawn. Only Yann will dare to rescue her, and he'll be up against a fearful villain who goes by
the name Count Kalliovski, but who has often been called the devil. It'll take all of Yann's newly
discovered talent to unravel the mysteries of his past and Sido's and to fight the devilish count.
YA FIC GRE Greif, Jean-Jacques
Fighter
Fighting is a way of life for Moshe Wisniak. As a boy from a very poor neighborhood in Warsaw,
he can't run away when Polish kids attack the Jews, because his legs are weak. So he learns to
use his fists, his head and other weapons to defend himself and his brothers. When the family
moves to Paris in 1929, everyone finds work and life improves slowly. Moshe, now Maurice, is a
leather worker and a young husband. At a Jewish sports club, he takes up boxing, and becomes
an amateur flyweight. But the war comes to Paris, and by 1942, the French police round up
38
foreign Jews and the Germans deport them by the hundreds every day. They send Maurice to the
death camp at Auschwitz. In the camp, SS officers sense Maurice's strength. They command him
to box against a dying prisoner. Now Maurice is faced with an impossible moral dilemma: kill the
prisoner or be killed by the SS for refusing to obey them. Or will he find a way out?
YA FIC HAR
Hart, Carolyn
Escape from Paris
The year is 1940. As England braces for invasion and the German army overruns Europe, two
American sisters in Paris risk their lives to save a downed British airman from Nazi arrest. Linda
Rossiter and Eleanor Masson soon realize the price they may pay when they read this ominous
public notice: "All persons harbouring English soldiers must deliver same to the nearest
Kommandantur not later than 20 October 1940. Those persons who continue to harbour
Englishmen after this date without having notified the authorities will be shot." On Christmas Eve,
the Gestapo sets a trap, and death is only a step behind the two American women.
YA FIC MCC
McCaughrean, Geraldine
Cyrano
A gallant solider, a sharp wit, and a man of letters, Cyrano de Bergerac seems like the obvious
romantic hero. He has just one noteworthy flaw: an improbably large nose. And after a lifetime of
loving the beautiful Roxane from afar, Cyrano must find a way--any way at all--to express his
feelings for her.
Tween & YA FIC MCC
Pepper Roux
McCaughrean, Geraldine
The Death-Defying
A charming tale about Pepper Roux, whose jealous and cruel Aunt Mireille foretells, at his birth,
his death at age 14. A devout Catholic, she insists that he learn Last Rites rather than nursery
rhymes. When his 14th birthday arrives, Pepper runs away to sea in an attempt to stay a step
ahead of death. He steps into many different lives, largely because, as the author repeatedly
points out, people see what they expect to see. Pepper becomes the captain of a coffin ship, has
a brief career as a journalist who will only write good news, and joins the Foreign Legion (until he
realizes that he'll have to kill people). Each role is an adventure that leaves chaos in its wake and
good-hearted Pepper one step ahead of getting caught.
YA FIC MYE
Myers, Walter Dean
Invasion
Josiah Wedgewood and Marcus Perry are on their way to an uncertain future. Their whole lives
are ahead of them, yet at the same time, death's whisper is everywhere. One white, one black,
these young men have nothing in common and everything in common as they approach an
experience that will change them forever. It's May 1944. World War II is ramping up, and so are
these young recruits, ready and eager. In small towns and big cities all over the globe, people are
filled with fear. When Josiah and Marcus come together in what will be the greatest test of their
lives, they learn hard lessons about race, friendship, and what it really means to fight. Set on the
front lines of the Normandy invasion, this novel, rendered with heart-in-the-throat precision, is a
cinematic masterpiece. Here we see the bold terror of war, and also the nuanced havoc that
affects a young person's psyche while living in a barrack, not knowing if today he will end up dead
or alive.
YA FIC ROB
Saga # 2)
Roberts, Judson
Dragons from the Sea (The Strongbow
Halfdan Hroriksson has a longbow that he made himself, an axe he took from a man he killed,
and a vow to fulfill. He's sworn to slay the man who murdered his brother. But first Halfdan must
find a ship's captain who will take him i-viking, where he can master the skills and make the allies
his vengeance will demand. Once a slave, now a free man and a warrior, Halfdan leaves home to
find what the fates have in store for him: a taste of war, a dangerous mission in a foreign land,
and an unexpected prisoner whose ransom may make Halfdan rich—or who may get him killed.
39
YA FIC WAT
Watson, Sasha
Vidalia in Paris
When Vidalia wins a scholarship to study art abroad for the summer, she can't believe her good
fortune. Paris is filled with surprises, including Julien, the nice bookstore clerk Vidalia should like
as more than a friend, and Marco, the mysterious art dealer she can't stay away from. By the time
she finds out the truth about the paintings Marco sells, she's fallen for him too hard to really care.
But when his crimes threaten to involve her directly, Vidalia has to separate reason from passion.
YA FIC WEI
Wein, Elizabeth Code Name Verity
Oct. 11th, 1943—A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger
are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's
barely begun. When “Verity” is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn’t stand a chance.
As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she’s living a spy’s worst nightmare. Her Nazi
interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution. As she
intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the
pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap
of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage and failure and her
desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the
enemy?
Georgia
YA FIC BON
Bondoux, Anne-Laure A Time of Miracles
Blaise Fortune, also known as Koumaïl, loves hearing the story of how he came to live with Gloria
in the Republic of Georgia: Gloria was picking peaches in her father’s orchard when she heard a
train derail. After running to the site of the accident, she found an injured woman who asked
Gloria to take her baby. The woman, Gloria claims, was French, and the baby was Blaise.
When Blaise turns seven years old, the Soviet Union collapses and Gloria decides that she and
Blaise must flee the political troubles and civil unrest in Georgia. The two make their way
westward on foot, heading toward France, where Gloria says they will find safe haven. But what
exactly is the truth about Blaise’s past? Bits and pieces are revealed as he and Gloria endure a
five-year journey across the Caucasus and Europe, weathering hardships and welcoming
unforgettable encounters with other refugees searching for a better life. During this time Blaise
grows from a boy into an adolescent; but only later, as a young man, can he finally attempt to
untangle his identity.
40
Germany
YA FIC BAR
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell
The Boy Who Dared
When 16-year-old Helmuth Hubner listens to the BBC news on an illegal short-wave radio, he
quickly discovers Germany is lying to the people. But when he tries to expose the truth with
leaflets, he's tried for treason. Sentenced to death and waiting in a jail cell, Helmuth's story
emerges in a series of flashbacks that show his growth from a naive child caught up in the
patriotism of the times, to a sensitive and mature young man who thinks for himself.
YA FIC DIJ
Dijk, Lutz Van
Damned Strong Love
Novel based on the true story of love between a Polish teenager and a young German soldier
during World War II.
YA MYS FET
Feth, Monika
The Strawberry Picker
Eighteen-year-old Jenna is sharing an apartment in Bröhl, Germany, with her friends Caro and
Merle when a girl is killed nearby. The murder seems to have parallels with two other frightening
crimes. Then one day Caro is found murdered—stabbed seven times and with her necklace
missing, just like the other girls. At the funeral Jenna swears revenge in front of everybody, and in
turn attracts the attention of Nat, a handsome and mysterious strawberry picker. With Jenna
sidetracked by love, Merle sets about solving Caro’s murder herself. But as the answer dawns on
her, another horrifying reality emerges.
YA FIC HUG
Hughes, Dean
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.
YA FIC JUN
Jung, Reinhardt
Dreaming in Black and White
This haunting short novel explores the Holocaust from a rarely told perspective. Following a
school history assignment, Hannes, a German boy, is disturbed by dreams that transport him
back to the 1930s. There, he is persecuted by fellow students and teachers because Hannes is
disabled, and like the Jews and "social misfits," the Nazi regime has labeled him "not worth
living." Although his mother rushes to protect him, his father seems intimidated-even swayed-by
the Nazi propaganda. Meanwhile, the dreams themselves are becoming all too real and Hannes
begins to fear: Will he escape this nightmarish world in time to save himself?
YA FIC LEZ
LeZotte, Ann Clare
T4
It is 1939. Paula Becker, thirteen years old and deaf, lives with her family in a rural German town.
As rumors swirl of disabled children quietly disappearing,a priest comes to her family's door with
an offer to shield Paula from an uncertain fate. When the sanctuary he offers is fleeting, Paula
needs to call upon all her strength to stay one step ahead of the Nazis.
YA FIC MOR
Morpurgo, Michael
An Elephant in the Garden
Lizzie and Karl’s mother is a zoo keeper; the family has become attached to an orphaned
elephant named Marlene, who will be destroyed as a precautionary measure so she and the
other animals don’t run wild should the zoo be hit by bombs. The family persuades the zoo
director to let Marlene stay in their garden instead. When the city is bombed, the family flees with
thousands of others, but how can they walk the same route when they have an elephant in tow,
and keep themselves safe? Along the way, they meet Peter, a Canadian navigator who risks his
own capture to save the family.
41
Tween & YA FIC NAP
Napoli, Donna Jo
Stones In Water
Taken by Germans from a movie house in Vienna, Roberto finds himself a slave laborer in
German work camps until he escapes in the Ukraine and struggles to return to Italy.
YA FIC PAU
Pausewang, Gudrun
Traitor
Pausewang presents an exciting and thought-provoking novel from the perspective of a teen who
secretly questions the validity of Nazi ideals. In the last year of World War II, 16-year-old Anna
discovers an escaped Russian POW in her village barn and makes a conscious choice to provide
shelter, food, and safety, risking certain death if discovered. With her older brother, Seff, at the
front and her younger brother, Felix, completely indoctrinated into the Hitler Youth Movement,
Anna represents a voice of reason and humanity as she struggles to make sense of her country's
political aspirations. Like Markus Zusak's The Book Thief (Knopf, 2006), this novel portrays good,
caring German citizens caught in the cruel domination of a mad dictator.
YA FIC PRE
Pressler, Mirjam
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
This young adult novel poses complex questions about right and wrong, living with guilt, and
coming to terms with family members who have not been ethical in their dealings with others.
Johanna, named for her grandmother, and her family live in modern Germany where the dealings
of the post-war government of the 50s and the Nazi regime surface in unexpected ways. A school
assignment puts Johanna on a quest and throughout the novel she seeks to find the truth about
her grandfather and his dealings with the Jewish people who owned the department store he
bought from them after Kristallnacht. Traveling to Israel, Johanna sees a different side of the
questions she wants answered: Can we love those who are guilty of taking advantage of a
situation? How can we justify them to ourselves? Can we still love them? And perhaps more
importantly, why did both her grandparents commit suicide?
YA FIC RAY
Ray, Karen
To Cross a Line
In 1938, as the Nazi party steps up its persecution of Jews, Egon Katz (17) must decide whom he
can trust when he finds that he must flee his native Germany after a traffic accident.
FIC REM & YA FIC REM Remarque, Erich M.
Front
All Quiet on the Western
Paul Baumer, a young German soldier in World War I, experiences pounding shellfire, hunger,
sickness and death.
YA FIC SHA
Sharenow, Robert
The Berlin Boxing Club
Fourteen-year-old Karl Stern has never thought of himself as a Jew. But to the bullies at his
school in Naziera Berlin, it doesn't matter that Karl has never set foot in a synagogue or that his
family doesn't practice religion. Demoralized by relentless attacks on a heritage he doesn't accept
as his own, Karl longs to prove his worth to everyone around him. So when Max Schmeling,
champion boxer and German national hero, makes a deal with Karl's father to give Karl boxing
lessons, Karl sees it as the perfect chance to reinvent himself. A skilled cartoonist, Karl has never
had an interest in boxing, but as Max becomes the mentor Karl never had, Karl soon finds both
his boxing skills and his art flourishing. But when Nazi violence against Jews escalates, Karl
must take on a new role: protector of his family. Karl longs to ask his new mentor for help, but
with Max's fame growing, he is forced to associate with Hitler and other Nazi elites, leaving Karl
to wonder where his hero's sympathies truly lie. Can Karl balance his dream of boxing greatness
with his obligation to keep his family out of harm's way?
42
Holland
YA FIC PEE Peet, Mal
Tamar
With surgical precision, Peet explores universal themes of fear and suspicion, trust and
compassion in this multilayered and complex story of the twisted relationship between two
comrades in arms and their love for the same woman. As members of the resistance fighting in
Nazi-occupied Holland during World War II, Tamar and Dart share days and nights of gutwrenching fear and mind-numbing boredom, made endurable only by the seeming safety of
Sanctuary Farm and the simple creature comforts it offers. In an alternate story line years later, a
young girl named Tamar inherits a small box filled with clues and codes from her grandfather,
who has fallen to his death from a balcony window. As she struggles to decipher the messages it
contains, she unravels a dark tale of passion, evil, and tragedy that has the capacity to destroy or
to reunite her own family. Skillfully interweaving the secrecy of the past with the uncertainty of
modern day and moving fluidly across time, the author creates a lyrical tale of integrity and
betrayal that takes place in both the past and the present.
Ireland
YA MYS HEN
Heneghan, James
Safe House
Liam Fogarty's father worked for peace in his community in Northern Ireland, but that doesn't
prevent his being murdered in his bed, along with his wife, one cold July night in 1999. Liam
wakes when the masked men break down their front door, charge up the stairs and start
shooting. He peers out of his room just as one of the men removes his mask and so Liam begins
running for his life. Even though the police try to help at one point, no place is really safe until the
killers are caught. Set in Belfast, a year after the Good Friday Agreement had restored rights to
the Catholics, this story offers a young boy's perspective of the continuing violence.
YA FIC HEN
Heneghan, James
Torn Away
Forcibly deported to Canada because of his terrorist activities in Northern Ireland, thirteen-yearold Declan must choose between his revolutionary past and a new life with his Canadian
relatives.
YA FIC MCP
MacPhail, Catherine
Dark Waters
Col McCann becomes a local hero when he saves a boy from drowning, but when his older
brother is suspected of a serious crime, Col must decide if he should be loyal to his family or tell
the truth about what he saw while under the water.
YA FIC MOR
Morpurgo, Michael
Twist of Gold
With only the mythical luck of a golden torc, the necklace of their ancestors, to protect them, Sean
and Annie O'Brien leave famine-stricken Ireland to search for their father in a strange land called
America.
43
YA FIC NAP Napoli, Donna Jo
Hush: An Irish Princess Tale
Melkorka is a princess, the first daughter of a magnificent kingdom in mediæval Ireland -- but all
of this is lost the day she is kidnapped and taken aboard a marauding slave ship. Thrown into a
world that she has never known, alongside people that her former country's laws regarded as
less than human, Melkorka is forced to learn quickly how to survive. Taking a vow of silence,
however, she finds herself an object of fascination to her captors and masters, and soon realizes
that any power, no matter how little, can make a difference. Based on an ancient Icelandic saga,
award-winning author Donna Jo Napoli has crafted a heartbreaking story of a young girl who
must learn to forget all that she knows and carve out a place for herself in a new world -- all
without speaking a word.
YA FIC WEB
Webb, Sarah
Ask Amy Green: Boy Trouble
Thirteen-year-old Amy Green has a lot to juggle: handling her divorced parents, minding her
messy baby siblings, and navigating the snobby popular cliques at school. So when her cool but
crazy seventeen-year old aunt, Clover lands a job giving advice for the teen mag The Goss, Amy
jumps at the chance to help out as her sidekick. Of course Clover, being Clover, doesn’t just want
to answer readers’ letters, she wants to solve their problems . . . personally. From stamping out
malicious rumors to giving a cad his comeuppance to creating the perfect web page, the two
come up with some clever hands-on schemes that bring happiness to many unhappy girls. But
when Amy falls for the cute but aloof boy in her art class — and her own friends start snubbing
her big-time — can she find a way out of her own dilemma?
Italy
Tween & YA MYS AVI
Avi
Midnight Magic
Just after the Tarot cards forecast death in this ghostly fantasy adventure, conniving Count
Scarazoni summons Fabrizio and his magician master to the castello to spirit away the specter
that haunts Princess Teresina.
YA FIC CUL
Culbertson, Kim
Instructions for a Broken Heart
When Jessa catches her boyfriend, Sean, making out with Natalie "the Boob Job" Stone three
days before their drama club's departure to Italy, she completely freaks. Stuck with a front-row
view of Sean and Natalie making out against the backdrop of a country that oozes romance,
Jessa promises to follow all of the outrageous instructions in her best friend's care package and
open her heart to new experiences. Enter cute Italian boy stage left. Jessa had prepared to play
the role of humiliated ex-girlfriend, but with Carissa directing her life from afar, it's finally time to
take a shot at being a star.
44
YA FIC DIN
Dines, Carol
Queen’s Soprano
Seventeen-year-old Angelica Voglia has the voice of an angel. But in seventeenth-century Rome,
the pope has forbidden women to sing in public. To make matters worse, her controlling mother is
determined to marry her off to a wealthy nobleman, even though Angelica is in love with a poor
French artist. Angelica's only hope to sing before an audience—and escape a forced marriage—
is to flee to Queen Christina's court, where she will become the queen's soprano. But she soon
discovers that the palace walls are not completely secure . . . and her freedom will require even
greater sacrifice than she imagined.
YA FIC HOG
Hogan, Mary
Pretty Face
Hayley wishes she could love living in Santa Monica, blocks from the beach, where every day—
and everybody—is beautiful and sunny. But she just doesn't fit in with all the blond, superskinny
Southern California girls who have their plastic surgeons on speed dial. Hayley is smart and witty
and has such a pretty . . . face. Translation: Don't even think about putting on a bikini, much less
dating superhot Drew Wyler. A bikini will never be flattering, and Drew will never think of her as
more than a friend. Just when Hayley feels doomed to live her life in the fat lane, her parents
decide to send her to Italy for the summer—not for school, not for fat camp, just for fun. It's there,
under the Italian sun, that Hayley's vision of herself starts to change. She's curvy, not fat. Pizza
isn't evil. And life is so much more than one-size-fits-all. Who knows? Once Hayley sees herself
in a new light, maybe the girl with the pretty face will finally find true amore.
YA FIC JOH
Johnson, Maureen
Girl at Sea
Sometimes you have to get lost.
The Girl: Clio, seventeen, wants to spend the summer smooching her art-store crush, not stuck
on a boat in the Mediterranean. At least she'll get a killer tan.
The Mission: Survive her father's annoying antics. Oh, also find some underwater treasure that
could be the missing link to a long-lost civilization.
The Crew: Dad's absentminded best friend Martin, his scary girlfriend Julia, her voluptuous
daughter Elsa . . . and then there's Aidan, Julia's incredibly attractive, incredibly arrogant research
assistant. What's going on behind Aidan's intellectual, intensely green eyes, anyway? As Clio
sails into uncharted territory she unveils secrets that have the power to change history. But her
most surprising discovery is that there's something deeper and more mysterious than the sea—
her own heart.
YA FIC NAP
Napoli, Donna Jo
The Wager
Don Giovanni was once the wealthiest and handsomest young man in Messina. Then a tidal
wave changed everything. When a well-dressed stranger offers him a magical purse, he knows
he shouldn’t take it. Only the devil would offer a deal like this, and only a fool would accept. Don
Giovanni is no fool, but he is desperate. He takes the bet: he will not bathe for 3 years, 3 months,
and 3 days. Beauty is a small price to pay for worldly wealth, isn’t it? Unless he loses the wager—
and with it his soul.
45
Kosovo
Tween & YA FIC PAT
Paterson, Katherine
The Day of the Pelican
Meli Lleshi is positive that her drawing of her teacher with his pelican nose is what started it all.
The Lleshis are Albanians living in Kosovo, a country trying to fight off Serbian oppressors.
Suddenly, they are homeless refugees. As they travel the dangerous roads at night and leave
burning farms and houses behind, young and old alike find their courage and resilience
constantly tested. It is humiliating to have to live in crowded tent cities with hundreds of other
displaced persons. If it weren’t for Mama and Baba’s efforts to keep the family together, who
knows what would happen to them? Then one day Baba makes a surprise announcement: they
will all soon be going to a country far away. It will be a great adventure, he assures the family.
There will be no more running from an enemy, and no turning back to their old way of life. But will
they really find freedom at last? Meli wonders.
Lithuania
YA FIC SEP
Sepetys, Ruta
Between Shades of Gray
Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets
crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from
the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty
train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic
Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's
orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.
Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously - and at great risk - documenting events by drawing,
hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are
still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is
through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives.
Netherlands
YA FIC CHA
Chambers, Aidan
Postcards from No Man's Land
Jacob’s visit to the seductive city of Amsterdam reveals family secrets and new ideas about
sexuality and death, as he learns of a passionate love story from his family’s past and perhaps
begins to create one of his own.
46
Poland
YA FIC GLE Gleitzman, Morris
Once
Felix, a Jewish boy in Poland in 1942, is hiding from the Nazis in a Catholic orphanage. The only
problem is that he doesn't know anything about the war, and thinks he's only in the orphanage
while his parents travel and try to salvage their bookselling business. And when he thinks his
parents are in danger, Felix sets off to warn them--straight into the heart of Nazi-occupied Poland.
To Felix, everything is a story: Why did he get a whole carrot in his soup? It must be sign that his
parents are coming to get him. Why are the Nazis burning books? They must be foreign librarians
sent to clean out the orphanage's outdated library. But as Felix's journey gets increasingly
dangerous, he begins to see horrors that not even stories can explain. Despite his grim
suroundings, Felix never loses hope. Morris Gleitzman takes a painful subject and expertly turns
it into a story filled with love, friendship, and even humor.
YA FIC GLE
Gleitzman, Morris
Then
Felix and Zelda have escaped the train to the death camp, but where do they go now? They're
two runaway kids in Nazi-occupied Poland. Danger lies at every turn of the road. With the help of
a woman named Genia and their active imaginations, Felix and Zelda find a new home and begin
to heal, forming a new family together. But can it last?
YA FIC GLE Gleitzman, Morris
Now
Set in the current day, this is the final book in the series that began with Once, continued
withThen and is . . . Now. Felix is a grandfather. He has achieved much in his life and is widely
admired in the community. He has mostly buried the painful memories of his childhood, but they
resurface when his granddaughter Zelda comes to stay with him. Together they face a
cataclysmic event armed only with their with gusto and love—an event that helps them achieve
salvation from the past, but also brings the possibility of destruction.
YA FIC GRE Greif, Jean-Jacques
Fighter
Fighting is a way of life for Moshe Wisniak. As a boy from a very poor neighborhood in Warsaw,
he can't run away when Polish kids attack the Jews, because his legs are weak. So he learns to
use his fists, his head and other weapons to defend himself and his brothers. When the family
moves to Paris in 1929, everyone finds work and life improves slowly. Moshe, now Maurice, is a
leather worker and a young husband. At a Jewish sports club, he takes up boxing, and becomes
an amateur flyweight. But the war comes to Paris, and by 1942, the French police round up
foreign Jews and the Germans deport them by the hundreds every day. They send Maurice to the
death camp at Auschwitz. In the camp, SS officers sense Maurice's strength. They command him
to box against a dying prisoner. Now Maurice is faced with an impossible moral dilemma: kill the
prisoner or be killed by the SS for refusing to obey them. Or will he find a way out?
YA FIC SPI
Spinelli, Jerry
Milkweed
He’s a boy called Jew. Gypsy. Stopthief. Runt. Happy. Fast. Filthy son of Abraham.
He’s a boy who lives in the streets of Warsaw. He’s a boy who steals food for himself and the
other orphans. He’s a boy who believes in bread, and mothers, and angels. He’s a boy who
wants to be a Nazi some day, with tall shiny jackboots and a gleaming Eagle hat of his own. Until
the day that suddenly makes him change his mind. And when the trains come to empty the Jews
from the ghetto of the damned, he’s a boy who realizes it’s safest of all to be nobody.
47
Russia
YA FIC RIO
Riordan, James The Sniper
Stalingrad snipers were legends in their time. Their patience, keen eyes, and ruthlessness helped
win the Battle of Stalingrad and turn the tide of the Second World War. James Riordan visited
Stalingrad in 1959 and several times later. In 2006 he met Tania Chernova, whose story was so
fascinating that Riordan made her the heroine of this compelling novel. The year is 1942.
Legendary sniper Vasily Zaitsev, who killed a record 242 Nazis, recruits Tania to seek out and
shoot German officers. At first, she finds it almost impossible to kill. But when she discovers that
her beloved grandparents, along with many of her friends, have been brutally murdered by
invading Nazis, she vows to “break them like sticks.” Following her capture and daredevil escape,
she leads a handpicked unit on what seems like a suicide mission — to seize Field Marshall
Paulus, the Commander-in-Chief of the invading army. But Tania is no ordinary marksman.
YA FIC SEP
Sepetys, Ruta
Between Shades of Gray
Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets
crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from
the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty
train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic
Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's
orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.
Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously - and at great risk - documenting events by drawing,
hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are
still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is
through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives.
YA FIC WIL Wilson, John
Four Steps to Death
Vasily, a seventeen-year-old Russian soldier and scout for his squad, is determined to stop the
hated Nazis from invading his homeland. He eventually faces eighteen-year-old Conrad, an
equally patriotic German tank officer, devoted to his mother and family and also resolved to carry
out his country's goals. Into this confrontation steps Sergei, a street-wise Russian boy who
scavenges food for his family in the ravaged city and has an admiration for snipers. His daring
takes him all over the city until he is wounded by a bomb blast and trapped under masonry before
being rescued by nearby German officers. After stealing a turnip from a half-crazed neighbor for
his mother's stew, he is caught by the man who fiercely demands a dead Fascist for every stolen
turnip, a quandary that Sergie must resolve to avoid the old man's vengeful wrath. In this vivid
narrative, the awful cacophony of war comes to life with sharp outbursts of artillery, the acrid
smell of cordite, the ominous rumble of tanks, the menacing drone of low-flying bombers, and
above all, the sights and sounds of human suffering.
48
Scotland
YA FIC EHR
Ehrenhaft, Daniel
Drawing a Blank
I don't know how this happened. One day I'm snug in my loner existence at Carnegie Mansion
School, and the next I'm tramping through the Scottish wilderness looking for my dad. Who's
been kidnapped. Because of a feud that started in medieval times. Or something. Suffice it to say,
I never paid too much attention because I thought the whole thing was some twisted figment of
my dad's imagination. Now my only company is a wannabe cop who just might be my superhero
dream girl. And if I don't deliver some piece of mysterious "proof" to the kidnappers, my dad is
toast. I've got my fair share of issues with my dad, but I don't really want to see him burned to a
crisp. Anyway, you in? This is not the first time I've been wrong about something.
Sweden
YA MYS WAH
Wahl, Mats
The Invisible
One ordinary Monday morning in May, Hilmer Eriksson walks into his high school classroom and
discovers that he has become invisible. No one can see him, no one can hear him. In fact, a
police detective named Harald Fors arrives at school that very morning to investigate Hilmer’s
disappearance. The boy has no idea what’s going on, but he’s frightened, and he’s starting to
forget things – including what happened to him a few nights earlier. Detective Fors suspects foul
play, and those suspicions lead him – trailed by the ghostlike presence of Hilmer – to a group of
skinheads. These unpopular, disaffected kids are very vocal about their Nazi sympathies. But
how does Hilmer’s life intersect with theirs? As Fors scours the village and interviews area
residents for clues, he begins to piece together the puzzle of Hilmer’s disappearance. Meanwhile
Hilmer waits, silently, to discover what has happened to him.
Turkey
A FIC BAG
Bagdasarian, Adam
The Forgotten Fire
In 1915, Vahan Kenderian is living a life of privilege as the youngest son of a wealthy Armenian
family in Turkey. This secure world is shattered when some family members are whisked away
while others are murdered before his eyes. Vahan loses his home and family and is forced to live
a life he would never have dreamed of in order to survive. Somehow Vahan’s incredible strength
and spirit help him endure, even knowing that each day could be his last.
49
YA FIC FRI
Friesner, Esther
Nobody’s Princess
She is beautiful, she is a princess, and Aphrodite is her favorite goddess, but something in Helen
of Sparta just itches for more out of life. Not one to count on the gods—or her looks—to take care
of her, Helen sets out to get what she wants with steely determination and a sassy attitude. That
same attitude makes Helen a few enemies—such as the self-proclaimed "son of Zeus"
Theseus—but it also intrigues, charms, and amuses those who become her friends, from the
famed huntress Atalanta to the young priestess who is the Oracle of Delphi.
YA FIC GER
Geras, Adele
Troy
The passion of Helen and Paris, Hector's farewell to his ill-fated infant son, and other familiar
domestic scenes are seen from a closer perspective, through the eyes of the four teenage
protagonists. Marpessa is Helen's young servant, and her sister Xanthe is nursemaid to Hector's
baby son, while Iason, who is secretly beloved by their friend Polyxena, tends the horses and
yearns for Xanthe, who has a crush on Alastor, who has impregnated Marpessa. These
complicated, interlocking infatuations and love affairs work themselves out against a background
of siege and bloodshed watched over by the gods. Artemis, Mars, Poseidon, and Pallas Athene
appear in visions to reveal their plans to the characters (and to us), but their words blow away like
mist as soon as they are gone. Meanwhile, the bawdy gossip of three old serving maids in the
kitchen emulates a Greek chorus. The story winds to its inevitable destination with the emergence
of the Greeks from the wooden horse and the bloody sack of the city--a suitably violent end to an
ancient and violent tale.
YA FIC GER
Geras, Adele
Ithaka
Many years have passed since the end of the Trojan War, and Penelope is still waiting for her
husband, Odysseus, to return home. The city of Ithaka is overrun with uncouth suitors from the
surrounding islands who are vying to win Penelope's hand in marriage, thereby gaining control of
the land. When a naked, half-drowned man washes up on the beach, everything changes. . . .
Told through the eyes of Klymene, a young girl who is like a daughter to Penelope--and who
longs for more than friendship from the young prince Telemachus--Ithaka captures the quiet
strength and patience of a woman's enduring love for her husband and the ensuing chaos that
threatens all as Penelope is pressured to remarry.
Wales
YA FIC COA Coats, J. Anderson The Wicked and the Just
Cecily’s father has ruined her life. He’s moving them to occupied Wales, where the king needs
good strong Englishmen to keep down the vicious Welshmen. At least Cecily will finally be the
lady of the house. Gwenhwyfar knows all about that house. Once she dreamed of being the lady
there herself, until the English destroyed the lives of everyone she knows. Now she must wait
hand and foot on this bratty English girl. While Cecily struggles to find her place amongst the
snobby English landowners, Gwenhwyfar struggles just to survive. And outside the city walls,
tensions are rising ever higher—until finally they must reach the breaking point.
50
Middle East
Ancient Persia
Tween & YA FIC FLE
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.
Afghanistan
Tween & YA FIC ELL
Ellis, Deborah
Parvana’s Journey
In Parvana's Journey, the Taliban still control Afghanistan, but Kabul is in ruins. Parvana's father
has just died, and her mother, sister, and brother could be anywhere in the country. Parvana
knows she must find them. Despite her youth, Parvana sets out alone, masquerading as a boy.
She soon meets other children who are victims of war — an infant boy in a bombed-out village, a
nine-year-old girl who thinks she has magic powers over landmines, and a boy with one leg. The
children travel together, forging a kind of family out of sheer need. The strength of their bond
makes it possible to survive the most desperate conditions.
YA FIC ELL Ellis, Deborah
My Name is Parvana
On a military base in post-Taliban Afghanistan, American authorities have just imprisoned a
teenaged girl found in a bombed-out school. The army major thinks she may be a terrorist
working with the Taliban. The girl does not respond to questions in any language and remains
silent, even when she is threatened, harassed and mistreated over several days. The only clue to
her identity is a tattered shoulder bag containing papers that refer to people named Shauzia,
Nooria, Leila, Asif, Hassan — and Parvana. In this long-awaited sequel to The Breadwinner
Trilogy, Parvana is now fifteen years old. As she waits for foreign military forces to determine her
fate, she remembers the past four years of her life. Reunited with her mother and sisters, she has
been living in a village where her mother has finally managed to open a school for girls. But even
though the Taliban has been driven from the government, the country is still at war, and many
continue to view the education and freedom of girls and women with suspicion and fear.
As her family settles into the routine of running the school, Parvana, a bit to her surprise, finds
herself restless and bored. She even thinks of running away. But when local men threaten the
school and her family, she must draw on every ounce of bravery and resilience she possesses to
survive the disaster that kills her mother, destroys the school, and puts her own life in jeopardy.
51
YA FIC MAS
Massey, David
Torn
Afghanistan. In the heat and dust, young British army medic Elinor Nielson watches an Afghan
girl walk into a hail of bullets. But when she runs to help, Ellie finds her gone. Who is she? And
what's happened to her? What Ellie discovers makes her question everything she believes in,
even her feelings for the American lieutenant who takes her side.
Iran
YA FIC FAR
Farizan, Sara
If You Could Be Mine
Seventeen-year-old Sahar has been in love with her best friend, Nasrin, since they were six.
They’ve shared stolen kisses and romantic promises. But Iran is a dangerous place for two girls
in love—Sahar and Nasrin could be beaten, imprisoned, even executed if their relationship came
to light. So they carry on in secret—until Nasrin’s parents announce that they’ve arranged for
her marriage. Nasrin tries to persuade Sahar that they can go on as they have been, only now
with new comforts provided by the decent, well-to-do doctor Nasrin will marry. But Sahar dreams
of loving Nasrin exclusively—and openly. Then Sahar discovers what seems like the perfect
solution. In Iran, homosexuality may be a crime, but to be a man trapped in a woman’s body is
seen as nature’s mistake, and sex reassignment is legal and accessible. As a man, Sahar could
be the one to marry Nasrin. Sahar will never be able to love the one she wants, in the body she
wants to be loved in, without risking her life. Is saving her love worth sacrificing her true self?
YA FIC FLE
Fletcher, Susan
Alphabet of Dreams
After their father orchestrated a failed plot against a tyrant, Mitra and her little brother Babak take
to streets of Rhagae. Mitra disguises herself as a boy, hoping to survive long enough to reunite
with her family. When her brother begins to have strange dreams, he attracts the attention of a
Magus. Babak's gift enables him to know a person's dreams if he sleeps with an object belonging
to the person. Mitra wants Babak to use this gift to find their family, but the Magus has other
ideas. He has read portents of a great king to come soon and wants Babak to dream more
details. Mitra and Babak find themselves on a long journey to find this king, a journey that will
eventually lead them to Bethlehem.
YA FIC MOS
Moshiri, Farnoosh
The Bathhouse
The story begins with the arrest of a seventeen-year-old girl in the early days of the
fundamentalist revolution in Iran. Imprisoned because of her brother's involvement with leftist
politics, she is placed in a makeshift jail, a former bathhouse, in which other women are held
captive. With a gripping narrative, Moshiri gives voice to these prisoners, exploring their torment
and struggle, but also their courage and humanity, in the face of tyrants.
YA FIC SAY
Sayres, Meghan Nuttall
Anahita’s Woven Riddle
Anahita, a nomad, learns that her father has promised her hand in marriage to a man she
dislikes. Determined to have a say in her own fate, Anahita convinces her father to let her hold a
contest, in which potential suitors must correctly answer the riddle she has woven into her
wedding carpet. A diplomat, a schoolteacher, a shepherd, and a prince compete in Anahita's
battle of wits, for the heart of this extraordinary girl.
52
Iraq
YA FIC MYE
Myers, Walter Dean
Sunrise Over Fallujah
Operation Iraqi Freedom, that's the code name. But the young men and women in the military's
Civil Affairs Battalion have a simpler name for it: WAR. In this new novel, Walter Dean Myers
looks at a contemporary war with the same power and searing insight he brought to the Vietnam
war of his classic, FALLEN ANGELS. He creates memorable characters like the book's narrator,
Birdy, a young recruit from Harlem who's questioning why he even enlisted; Marla, a blond,
tough-talking, wisecracking gunner; Jonesy, a guitar-playing bluesman who just wants to make it
back to Georgia and open a club; and a whole unit of other young men and women and drops
them incountry in Iraq, where they are supposed to help secure and stabilize Iraq and
successfully interact with the Iraqi people. The young civil affairs soldiers soon find their definition
of "winning" ever more elusive and their good intentions being replaced by terms like "survival"
and "despair."
Israel
Tween & YA FIC ABD
Name
Abdel-Fattah, Randa
Where the Streets Had a
Thirteen year old Hayaat is on a mission. She believes a handful of soil from her grandmother's
ancestral home in Jerusalem will save her beloved Sitti Zeynab's life. The only problem is that
Hayaat and her family live behind the impenetrable wall that divides the West Bank, and they're
on the wrong side of check points, curfews, and the travel permit system. Plus, Hayaat's best
friend Samy always manages to attract trouble. But luck is on the pair's side as they undertake
the journey to Jerusalem from the Palestinian Territories when Hayaat and Samy have a curfewfree day to travel. But while their journey may only be a few kilometers long, it could take a
lifetime to complete. . . .
YA FIC ELK
Elkeles, Simone
How to Ruin a Summer Vacation
Going to Israel with her estranged father is the last thing Amy wants to do this summer. A spoiled
American teenager with an attitude that matches her killer Jimmy Choo slides, she's got a serious
grudge against her dad, a.k.a Sperm Donor, for showing up so rarely in her life. Now he's
dragging her to a war zone to meet a family she's never known, including her ill grandmother
who's the only source of comfort in this strange land. Sharing a room with her unfriendly cousin,
igniting a brawl at the local disco, and having her Ferragamo sandal stolen by a mutt . . . one
hilarious humiliation after another tests Amy's Perce spirit. Finding her place in a foreign culture
isn't easy, but as Amy learns to shed her tough-girl persona, she discovers that making friends,
falling in love, and connecting with her family and heritage isn't impossible after all.
53
How to Ruin Your Boyfriend’s Reputation
YA FIC ELK Elkeles, Simone
Amy Nelson-Barak, 17, is back in this third installment about a Jewish-American teen learning
how to live and love in peace. She signs up for 10 days of training with the Israel Defense Force
as soon as she finds out that her long-distance boyfriend, Avi, will be on base as well. But things
turn out to be different from what she'd hoped for. She sleeps in a bunk bed underneath coils that
look ready to give way, she's being worked to the bone, and the bathrooms are hardly up to her
standards. Worst of all, Avi doesn't seem remotely thrilled that she's there. Is something going on
between him and a fellow soldier? Strong, beautiful, and able to be with Avi all the time, Liron is
everything Amy wants to be.
YA FIC KAS
Kass, Pnina Moed
Real Time
A tense and heartbreaking day unfolds in contemporary Israel as readers view a suicide bombing
through a complex kaleidoscope of perspectives. Sixteen-year-old Thomas travels from Berlin to
volunteer on a kibbutz and to research his grandfather, a Nazi officer. Baruch, the kibbutz's
gardener, is a Holocaust survivor. Vera's been living on the Kibbutz for three years, since she left
her native Odessa and the shock of a boyfriend who killed himself. Sameh, a 16-year-old
Palestinian, works illegally for a Jewish boss and has no tolerable prospects. His friend Omar
thinks he knows the answer: martyrdom. The taut, immediate story plays out in chronological
order, each bit labeled with exact time and place.
YA FIC ORO
Oron, Judie
Cry of the Giraffe
A growing number of Ethiopian Jews, known as Beta Israel, relocate to Israel for a better life. To
do so, they must travel more than 600 miles by foot across the desert, fighting thirst, scorpions,
disease, and violent soldiers. This novel is based on the true story of 13-year-old Wuditu, one of
the thousands who attempted this journey. Separated from her family after her father and sister
take ill, this courageous girl (nicknamed "Giraffe" because of her long neck and stately
composure) must fend for herself. Before she makes it to Israel, she is enslaved for two years.
Oron's novel exposes the injustice and degradation girls face around the world.
YA FIC PRE
Pressler, Mirjam
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
This young adult novel poses complex questions about right and wrong, living with guilt, and
coming to terms with family members who have not been ethical in their dealings with others.
Johanna, named for her grandmother, and her family live in modern Germany where the dealings
of the post-war government of the 50s and the Nazi regime surface in unexpected ways. A school
assignment puts Johanna on a quest and throughout the novel she seeks to find the truth about
her grandfather and his dealings with the Jewish people who owned the department store he
bought from them after Kristallnacht. Traveling to Israel, Johanna sees a different side of the
questions she wants answered: Can we love those who are guilty of taking advantage of a
situation? How can we justify them to ourselves? Can we still love them? And perhaps more
importantly, why did both her grandparents commit suicide?
54
Pakistan
Tween & YA FIC DAD
D’Adamo, Francesco
Iqbal
When young Iqbal is sold into slavery at a carpet factory, his arrival changes everything for the
other overworked and abused chidren there. It is Iqbal who explains to them that despite their
master's promises, he plans on keeping them as his slaves indefinetely. But it is also Iqbal who
inspires the other children to look to a future free from toil...and is brave enough to show them
how to get there.
YA FIC LAI Laidlaw, S.J. An Infidel in Paradise
Set in Pakistan, this is the story of a teen girl living with her mother and siblings in a diplomatic
compound. As if getting used to another new country and set of customs and friends isn't enough,
she must cope with an increasingly tense political situation that becomes dangerous with
alarming speed. Her life and those of her sister and brother depend on her resourcefulness and
the unexpected help of an enigmatic Muslim classmate.
YA FIC PER
Perera, Anna
Guantanamo Boy
Originally published in the U.K., this harrowing first novel, in which a 15-year-old British boy is
apprehended as an enemy combatant while visiting family in Pakistan, focuses on the darker
practices of the war on terror. "Six months after 9/11 and the world is getting madder by the day,"
observes Khalid's father, which foreshadows the insanity to come. Perera quickly establishes
Khalid as a typical teenager who quarrels with his parents and likes to play soccer and
roughhouse with friends, heightening the tragedy of what follows. After Khalid's father disappears
in Karachi, Khalid's chance appearance at a protest and innocent computer gaming leads to his
imprisonment for two years, first in Pakistan, then at a CIA camp in Afghanistan, and finally in
Guantanamo Bay. Perera unflinchingly portrays the beating, sleep deprivation, isolation, and
waterboarding that Khalid undergoes; in one section, she skillfully employs white space to
demonstrate the confusion and madness caused by sleep deprivation. Readers will feel every
ounce of Khalid's terror, frustration, and helplessness in this disturbing look at a sad, ongoing
chapter in contemporary history.
YA FIC QAM
Qamar, Amjed
Beneath My Mother’s Feet
Nazia doesn't mind when her friends tease and call her a good beti, a dutiful daughter. Growing
up in a working-class family in Karachi, Pakistan, Nazia knows that obedience is the least she
can give to her mother, who has spent years saving and preparing for her dowry. But every
daughter must grow up, and for fourteen-year-old Nazia that day arrives suddenly when her
father gets into an accident at work, and her family finds themselves without money for rent or
food. Being the beti that she is, Nazia drops out of school to help her mother clean houses, all
the while wondering when she managed to lose control of her life that had been full of friends and
school. Working as a maid is a shameful obligation that could be detrimental to her future -- after
all, no one wants a housekeeper for a daughter-in-law. As Nazia finds herself growing up much
too quickly, the lessons of hardship that seem unbearable turn out to be a lot more liberating than
she ever imagined.
SR Collection & YA FIC STA
Daughter of the Wind
Staples, Suzanne Fisher
Shabanu:
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.
55
YA FIC STA
Staples, Suzanne Fisher
Haveli
Having relented to the ways of her people in Pakistan and married the rich older man to whom
she was pledged against her will, Shabanu is now the victim of his family's blood feud and the
malice of his other wives.
YA FIC STA
Staples, Suzanne Fisher
The House of Djinn
It has been ten years since Shabanu staged her death to secure the safety of her daughter,
Mumtaz, from her husband's murderous brother. Mumtaz has been raised by her father's family
with the education and security her mother desired for her, but with little understanding and love.
Only her American cousin Jameel, her closest confidant and friend, and the beloved family
patriarch, Baba, understand the pain of her loneliness. When Baba unexpectedly dies, Jameel's
succession as the Amirzai tribal leader and the arrangement of his marriage to Mumtaz are
revealed, causing both to question whether fulfilling their duty to the family is worth giving up their
dreams for the future.
Palestine
YA FIC ABD
Abdel-Fattah, Randa
Where the Streets Had a Name
Thirteen year old Hayaat is on a mission. She believes a handful of soil from her grandmother's
ancestral home in Jerusalem will save her beloved Sitti Zeynab's life. The only problem is that
Hayaat and her family live behind the impenetrable wall that divides the West Bank, and they're
on the wrong side of check points, curfews, and the travel permit system. Plus, Hayaat's best
friend Samy always manages to attract trouble. But luck is on the pair's side as they undertake
the journey to Jerusalem from the Palestinian Territories when Hayaat and Samy have a curfewfree day to travel. But while their journey may only be a few kilometers long, it could take a
lifetime to complete. . . .
Tween & YA FIC NYE
Nye, Naomi Shihab
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.
Syria
YA FIC JOL
Jolin, Paula
In the Name of God
Nadia is a seventeen-year-old Muslim girl living in Syria. She is a conscientious student who
believes strongly in her religion. She dislikes the influence that the West has had on her cousins
and the people in Syria. When she witnesses her cousin beaten by the police in their home and
he disappears after being arrested, she becomes even more agitated. She feels that God has put
her on the path to do something for her people. She joins a group that makes bombs and
becomes more fanatical about religion and people from the West. For anyone who has wondered
how a suicide bomber can believe in suicide, this book will show the inner thoughts of a Syrian
teen. It is told in the first person from Nadia's viewpoint and gives a good sense of what it is like
56
to grow up in Syria. Nadia is a sympathetic character, a regular teen with strong beliefs about her
religion, her culture, and her own contributions to both. Like teens anywhere, she is passionate
and righteous about her views. It is eye opening to realize how people in other countries view the
United States and its involvement in the war in Iraq. Many conversations between Nadia and
other characters deal with September 11, the treatment of war prisoners, and George Bush. The
well-written prose and short chapters give stories in the news a face and a character. Readers of
this book will not be able to read or watch the news in the same way.
Asia
Cambodia
YA FIC HO
Ho, Minfong
The Stone Goddess
When Sophy and her older siblings are ripped away from their family by the cruel Khmer Rouge
and sent to work in a children's labor camp, Sophy bears witness to innumerable tragedies,
paying too dear a price. After the Vietnamese army liberates Cambodia, Sophy returns to her
mother's village, where they decide to seek refuge in America. Upon arriving in America, Sophy
struggles to adjust to life in a completely new and different society, but she is caught up in the
memories of all that she left behind.
YA FIC MCC
McCormick, Patricia Never Fall Down
When soldiers arrive at his hometown in Cambodia, Arn is just a kid, dancing to rock 'n' roll,
hustling for spare change, and selling ice cream with his brother. But after the soldiers march the
entire population into the countryside, his life is changed forever. Arn is separated from his family
and assigned to a labor camp: working in the rice paddies under a blazing sun, he sees the other
children, weak from hunger, malaria, or sheer exhaustion, dying before his eyes. He sees
prisoners marched to a nearby mango grove, never to return. And he learns to be invisible to the
sadistic Khmer Rouge, who can give or take away life on a whim. One day, the soldiers ask if any
of the kids can play an instrument. Arn's never played a note in his life, but he volunteers. In order
to survive, he must quickly master the strange revolutionary songs the soldiers demand—and
steal food to keep the other kids alive. This decision will save his life, but it will pull him into the
very center of what we know today as the Killing Fields. And just as the country is about to be
liberated from the Khmer Rouge, Arn is handed a gun and forced to become a soldier. He lives by
the simple credo: Over and over I tell myself one thing: never fall down.
57
China
J & YA FIC CHE
Chen, Da
Sword
On the morning of Miu Miu's fifteenth birthday, her mother makes a startling revelation: Miu Miu's
fate is to travel to the faraway city of Chang'an, avenge her father's death, and find her true love.
But the evil emperor has other plans for her. Defeating him will take all of Miu Miu's courage, wit,
and martial arts experience.
Tween & YA FIC COM Compestine, Ying Chang Revolution is Not a
Dinner Party
Nine-year-old Ling is very comfortable in her life; her parents are both dedicated surgeons in the
best hospital in Wuhan. But when Comrade Li, one of Mao’s political officers, moves into a room
in their apartment, Ling begins to witness the gradual disintegration of her world. In an
atmosphere of increasing mistrust, Ling fears for the safety of her neighbors and, soon, for herself
and family. Over the course of four years, Ling manages to grow and blossom, even as she
suffers more horrors than many people face in a lifetime. Drawing from her childhood
experience, Ying Chang Compestine brings hope and humor to this compelling story for all ages
about a girl fighting to survive during the Cultural Revolution in China.
YA FIC DOK
Ballad of Mulan
Dokey, Cameron
Wild Orchid: a Retelling of the
Wielding a sword as deftly as an embroidery needle, Mulan is unlike any other girl in China.
When the emperor summons a great army, each family must send a male to fight. Tomboyish
Mulan is determined to spare her aging father and bring her family honor, so she disguises
herself and answers the call. But Mulan never expects to find a friend, let alone a soul mate, in
the commander of her division, Prince Jian. For all of Mulan's courage with a bow and arrow, is
she brave enough to share her true identity and feelings with Prince Jian?
YA FIC MAH Mah, Adeline Yen
Dragon Society
Chinese Cinderella & the Secret
After enduring abuse at the hands of her cruel stepmother, Chinese Cinderella (CC) seeks refuge
at a martial-arts school and joins a secret dragon society. Under the guidance of Grandma Wu,
CC is introduced to the exciting world of espionage as a part of the Chinese Resistance
movement. And when CC and her new comrades take on a daring mission to rescue a crew of
WWII American airmen, they prove that true bravery knows no age barrier.
Tween & YA FIC MCC
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.
58
YA FIC NAP
Napoli, Donna Jo
Bound
After Xing Xing's beloved father dies, she is left in the care of his second wife, her cruel
stepmother. Stepmother's one goal is to help her only daughter, Wei Ping, marry well. Although
Wei Ping is already of marriageable age, Stepmother decides to bind her feet, a process that was
usually begun in early childhood, to make the girl more attractive to potential suitors. Instead, the
girl develops only debilitating pain and a life-threatening infection. While her stepsister heals, Xing
Xing becomes the family servant, dressed in rags and secretly practicing the "three perfections"—
painting, poetry, and calligraphy—which her father had valued and helped cultivate in her. As
Xing Xing attempts to practice her art and evade her evil Stepmother, she finds solace from an
unexpected source—a giant fish who may be the spirit of her late mother. Napoli's story bears a
general resemblance both to traditional Western Cinderella stories and to the much older Chinese
Cinderella tales.
YA FIC WIL
Wilkinson, Carole
Garden of the Purple Dragon
In the time of the Han Dynasty in ancient China, a young orphan struggles to fulfill her destiny.
Ping has survived her days as a slave at Huangling Palace, but new challenges await her in the
desolate mountains of Tai Shan. The aged dragon Danzi is gone, and now it is up to Ping to take
care of the baby dragon, Kai. She does her best, but food is scarce, and she must be constantly
on the lookout for her enemies. Things seem to get better when fate leads her back to the
Imperial Palace, to the Garden of the Purple Dragon. Yet even within these hallowed walls, Ping
and Kai are not as safe as they believe.
YA FIC YAN
Yang, Dor Jones
Daughter of Xanadu
Athletic and strong willed, Princess Emmajin's determined to do what no woman has done before:
become a warrior in the army of her grandfather, the Great Khan Khubilai. In the Mongol world
the only way to achieve respect is to show bravery and win glory on the battlefield. The last thing
she wants is the distraction of the foreigner Marco Polo, who challenges her beliefs in the
gardens of Xanadu. Marco has no skills in the "manly arts" of the Mongols: horse racing, archery,
and wrestling. Still, he charms the Khan with his wit and story-telling. Emmajin sees a different
Marco as they travel across 13th-century China, hunting 'dragons' and fighting elephant-back
warriors. Now she faces a different battle as she struggles with her attraction towards Marco and
her incredible goal of winning fame as a soldier.
YA FIC YEP
Yep, Laurence
Mountain Light
Swept up in one of the local rebellions against the Manchus in China, nineteen-year-old Squeaky
travels to America to seek his fortune among the gold fields of California.
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India
YA FIC BRA Bradbury, Jennifer
A Moment Comes
As the partition of India nears in 1947 bringing violence even to Jalandhar, Tariq, a Muslim, finds
himself caught between his forbidden interest in Anupreet, a Sikh girl, and Margaret, a British girl
whose affection for him might help with his dream of studying at Oxford.
FIC & YA FIC GHO
Ghosh, Amitav
The Glass Palace
Ghosh's epic novel of Burma and Malaya over a span of 115 years is the kind of "sweep of
history" that readers can appreciate--even love--despite its demands. There is almost too much
here for one book, as over the years the lives and deaths of principal characters go flying by. Yet
Ghosh (The Calcutta Chromosome; Shadow Lines) is a beguiling and endlessly resourceful
storyteller, and he boasts one of the most arresting openings in recent fiction: in the marketplace
of Mandalay, only the 11-year-old Indian boy Rajkumar recognizes the booming sounds beyond
the curve of the river as English cannon fire. The year is 1885, and the British have used a trade
dispute to justify the invasion and seizure of Burma's capital. As a crowd of looters pours into the
fabled Glass Palace, the dazzling throne room of the nine-roofed golden spire that was the great
hti of Burma's kings, Rajkumar catches sight of Dolly, then only 10, nursemaid to the Second
Princess. Rajkumar carries the memory of their brief meeting through the years to come, while he
rises to fame and riches in the teak trade and Dolly travels into exile to India with King Thebaw,
Burma's last king; Queen Supayalat; and their three daughters. The story of the exiled king and
his family in Ratnagiri, a sleepy port town south of Bombay, is worth a novel in itself, and the first
two of the story's seven parts, which relate that history and Rajkumar's rise to wealth in Burma's
teak forests, are marvelously told. Inspired by tales handed down to him by his father and uncle,
Ghosh vividly brings to life the history of Burma and Malaya over a century of momentous change
in this teeming, multigenerational saga.
Tween & YA FIC KRI
Krishnaswami, Uma
Naming Maya
In this sensitively wrought novel, Maya, the daughter of divorced Indian parents, leaves her home
in New Jersey to accompany her mother to Chennai, where they must sell Maya's late
grandfather's house. After their arrival in India, Maya's mother stays busy making arrangements
with a realtor, and Maya mulls over the upheavals in her life. She misses her best friend and she
longs for her father, who has moved to Texas. On the other hand, she enjoys the company of her
sympathetic cousin Sumati and "Mami," the old family cook and housekeeper. However, when
Mami's memory starts to fail and she begins acting strangely, Maya feels another sharp pang of
loss. Out shopping one day, Maya witnesses how "pandemonium erupts" when the hem of a
woman's sari gets caught in an escalator. The image of the panicked woman becomes a
metaphor for Maya, who also feels pulled in different directions. Maya is torn between two
cultures, two parents who have drifted apart and even two names (her mother's side of the family
chose the name Maya, but her father's relatives always called her Preeta).
YA FIC MAL
Malladi, Amulya
The Mango Season
"Every young Indian leaving the homeland for the United States is given the following orders by
their parents. Don't eat any cow (It's still sacred!); don't go out too much; save (and save, and
save) your money; and, most important, do not marry a foreigner. Priya Rao left India when she
was twenty to study in the U.S., and she's never been back. Now, seven years later, she's out of
excuses. She has to return and give her family the news. She's engaged to Nick Collins, a kind,
loving American man. It's going to break their hearts.
60
YA FIC MAS
Master, Irfan
A Beautiful Lie
"Everybody lies. We all do it. Many years ago I told one lie that has taken on a life of its own." In
India in 1947 the country is coming apart--and so is thirteen-year-old Bilal's life. He is determined
to protect his dying father from the news of Partition, news that he knows will break his father's
heart. With spirit and determination, and with the help of his good friends, Bilal builds an
elaborate deception, even printing false pages of the local newspaper to hide the signs of national
unrest. All Bilal wants is for his father to die in peace. But that means Bilal has a very complicated
relationship with the truth. This extraordinarily rich debut novel brings to life a key moment in
history and touches on the importance of tolerance, love and family.
YA FIC OST Ostlere, Cathy
Karma
It is 1984, and fifteen-year-old Maya is on her way to India with her father. She carries with her
the ashes of her mother, who recently committed suicide, and arrives in Delhi on the eve of Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination. Maya is separated from her father and must rely upon the
mysterious, kindhearted Sandeep to safely reunite them. As her love for Sandeep begins to
blossom, Maya must face the truth about her painful adolescence...if she's ever to imagine her
future.
YA FIC PER Perkins, Mitali Monsoon Summer
Jasmine “Jazz” Gardner heads off to India during the monsoon season. The family trip is her
mother’s doing: Mrs. Gardner wants to volunteer at the orphanage that cared for her when she
was young. But going to India isn’t Jazz’s idea of a great summer vacation. She wants no part of
her mother’s do-gooder endeavors. What’s more, Jazz is heartsick. She’s leaving the business
she and her best friend, Steve Morales, started—as well as Steve himself. Jazz is crazy in love
with the guy. If only he knew! Only when Jazz reluctantly befriends Danita, a girl who cooks for
her family, and who faces a tough dilemma, does Jazz begin to see how she can make a
difference—to her own family, to Danita, to the children at the orphanage, even to Steve. As India
claims Jazz, the monsoon works its madness and its magic.
YA FIC PER
Perkins, Mitali
Secret Keeper
Asha would rather be burning bras, studying psychology and playing tennis like Chris Evert (she's
that good). Instead, the 16-year-old, her older sister and her mother are leaving Delhi and
heading to her uncle's house in Calcutta, where they will stay while her engineer father searches
for work in New York. Only Asha's diary, S.K. (Secret Keeper) 1974, and Jay, a young painter
next door, know her true feelings when an unexpected tragedy strikes, leaving her at the mercy of
a strapped uncle, her mother's depression and rigid gender expectations. Perkins weaves
descriptions of Indian food, clothing, government and customs into Asha's quest for freedom.
YA FIC SHE
Sheth, Kashmira
Blue Jasmine
The comfortable and confident life 12-year-old Seema Trivedi enjoys in her upper-class
neighborhood in India is altered by the family's move to an American middle-class suburban
community. Everything is new and different for this tween who must adjust to American English,
food, dress, culture, and school politics. Seema's classmates in both countries present parallel
situations that illustrate the complexities of middle schoolers and their maturation. Mukta, the very
poor Indian girl who lives in one room behind the family's snack shop, is constantly teased and
misunderstood by both Seema and her cousin Raju. Seema's mistreatment in her American
school by the new class bully, Carrie, is an awakening for her as she grows to understand and
develop emotionally. Exposed to life in two worlds and from two positions in her peer groups,
Seema acquires the ability to appreciate differences as she struggles to belong in both countries.
61
Tween & YA FIC SHE
Sheth, Kashmira
Boys Without Names
Eager to find work after his hungry family arrives in Mumbai, 11-year-old Gopal ends up locked in
a one-room "factory" making beaded frames with five other boys so beaten down they don't even
talk to one another. Gopal's story is not uncommon: a bumper crop year drove prices down,
money was borrowed to pay for medicine, the farm was lost but the debt remained, and the family
was forced to flee to the city to find work. Gopal stores up his memories of his rural Indian village,
with its pond, fruit trees, and bird songs, contrasting them with the noisy stink of their new home
at the end of a sewage-laden lane in an overcrowded shantytown.
YA FIC SHE
Sheth, Kashmira
Keeping Corner
Pretty as a peacock, twelve-year-old Leela has been spoiled all her life by everyone in her
Gujarat village. She's never been interested in school and barely takes notice of the growing
unrest between the British colonists and her own countrymen. Why should she? Her future has
been planned since her engagement at two and marriage at nine. And now, as the day she
moves in with her husband's family draws near, she's too busy collecting bangles and ribbons to
care about much else. But when Leela's husband dies, her life changes forever. Instead of being
showered with gifts and affection, she is forced to shave her head and give away her be loved
saris and bangles. Leela is considered unlucky now, and will have to stay confined to her house
for a year" keep corner" in preparation for a life of mourning for a boy she barely knew. When her
schoolteacher hears of her fate, she offers to give Leela lessons at home. For the first time,
despite her confinement, Leela begins to open her eyes to the changing world around her. India
is suffering from a severe drought, and farmers are unable to pay taxes to the British. She learns
about a new leader of the people, a man named Gandhi, who starts a political movement and
practices satyagraha"non-violent protest against the colonists aswell as the caste system. The
quiet strength of satyagrahamay liberate her country. Could it be that she can use the same path
to liberate herself?
YA FIC VEN
Venkatraman, Padma
Climbing the Stairs
During World War II and the last days of British occupation in India, fifteen-year-old Vidya dreams
of attending college. But when her forward-thinking father is beaten senseless by the British
police, she is forced to live with her grandfather's large traditional family, where the women live
apart from the men and are meant to be married off as soon as possible. Vidya's only refuge
becomes her grandfather's upstairs library, which is forbidden to women. There she meets
Raman, a young man also living in the house who relishes her intellectual curiosity. But when
Vidya's brother makes a choice the family cannot condone, and when Raman seems to want
more than friendship, Vidkya must question all she has believed in.
Tween & YA FIC WHE
Whelan, Gloria
Homeless Bird
When thirteen-year-old Koly enters into an ill-fated arranged marriage, she must either suffer a
destiny dictated by India's tradition or find the courage to oppose it.
62
Japan
YA FIC GRA Gratz, Alan
Samurai Shortstop
Tokyo, 1890. High school can be brutal, even in turn-of-the-century Japan.
From his first day at boarding school, Toyo Shimada sees how upperclassmen make a sport out
of terrorizing the first-years. Still, he's taken aback when the seniors keep him from trying out for
the baseball team-especially after he sees their current shortstop. Toyo isn't afraid to prove
himself; He's more troubled by his uncle's recent suicide. Although Uncle Koji's defiant death was
supposedly heroic, it has made Toyo question many things about his family's samurai
background. And worse, Toyo fears that his father may be next. It all has something to do with the way of the warrior-but Toyo doesn't understand even after his father agrees to teach it to him.
As the gulf between them grows wider, Toyo searches desperately for a way to prove there is a
place for his family's samurai values in modern Japan. Baseball might just be the answer, but will
his father ever accept a "Western" game that stands for everything he despises?
YA FIC HAU
Haugaard, Erik Christian
The Samurai’s Tale
In turbulent sixteenth-century Japan, orphaned Taro is taken in by a general serving the great
warlord Takeda Shingen and grows up to become a samurai fighting for the enemies of his dead
family.
YA FIC HAU
Haugaard, Erik Christian
The Boy and the Samurai
Having grown up as an orphan of the streets while sixteenth-century Japan is being ravaged by
civil war, Saru seeks to help a samurai rescue his wife from imprisonment by a warlord so they
can all flee to a more peaceful life.
YA FIC HAU
Samurai
Haugaard, Erik Christian
The Revenge of the Forty Seven
In the time when the Shogun ruled Japan, two hundred samurai suffered a grave insult—their
master met an unjust death. Forty-seven of them are courageous enough to avenge him. Jiro is a
lowly servant to one of the brave samurai. Chosen as his master's unlikely spy during the
planning of the great revenge, Jiro must learn when to talk and when to listen, or at any moment
he could lose his head to a samurai's razor-sharp sword. And even as Jiro plays his small part in
the unfolding plot, he searches for the truth about his own identity.
YA FIC MOR
Mori, Kyoko
Shizuko’s Daughter
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.
YA FIC RAN
Randall, Thomas
Dreams of the Dead
Sixteen-year-old Kara Foster is an outsider in Japan, but is doing her best to fit at the private
school where her father is teaching English for the year. Fortunately she’s befriended by Sakura,
a fellow outsider struggling to make sense of her sister’s unsolved murder some months ago. No
one seems to care about the beautiful girl who was so brutally murdered, and the other students
go on as if nothing has happened. Unfortunately, the calm doesn’t last for long. Kara begins to
have nightmares, and soon other students in the school turn up dead, viciously attacked by
someone . . . or something. Is Sakura getting back at those she thinks are responsible for her
sister’s death? Or has her dead sister come back to take revenge for herself?
63
Tween & YA FIC SNO
Snow, Maya
Sisters of the Sword
Kimi dreams of being a great samurai warrior, but she and her sister, Hana, are young ladies of
feudal Japan, daughters of the Jito of the province. Her future seems clear: Girls do not become
samurai. Then, betrayal shatters the sisters' world. Their power-hungry uncle murders their
father, and their mother and little brother mysteriously disappear. Determined to seek revenge
and restore their honor, they disguise themselves as boys to train at a school for samurai. Kimi
and Hana are thrown headlong into a life of warrior codes, sharp swords, and shadowy figures—
as they work with fierce determination to avenge the brutal wrongs done to their family. In a flash,
life has swept them into a terrible adventure, more heart-pounding than Kimi and Hana ever could
have imagined . . . and once it has been set in motion, nothing will ever be the same.
YA FIC SNO
Snow, Maya
Chasing the Secret (Sisters of the Sword v 2)
Kimi and her sister, Hana, disguised themselves as boys to learn the ways of the samurai—and
to prepare themselves to take revenge on the uncle who murdered their father and older brothers.
After receiving word that their mother and younger brother are alive and in hiding, the sisters set
off on a treacherous journey to find them. But giving up is not an option—if they fail, they will lose
the last of their family forever.
YA FIC SNO
Sword v 3)
Snow, Maya
Journey Through Fire
(Sisters of the
Sometimes a samurai's most dangerous opponent is herself.
Ever since their father's murder, Kimi and Hana have honed their fighting skills and prepared for
vengeance against their vicious uncle Hidehira. They have become true warriors with the hearts
of samurai. Now their fight has become more than just a personal vendetta. As Hidehira's quest
for power continues, he is destroying the province and is poised to invade the rest of the
kingdom. After both girls are nearly killed in a fire while fighting their uncle's soldiers, their mother
insists on attempting to enlist the support of the Shogun. But at the Shogun's court, the sisters
are torn apart by their differences, especially when they rediscover an old friend with a shrouded
past. Danger lurks in the most elegant circumstances behind the smiling face of an aristocrat as
well as behind the mask of a ninja and true peril awaits the sisters where they least expect it. . .
YA FIC SUN
Sun, Amanda
Ink
On the heels of a family tragedy, Katie Greene must move halfway across the world. Stuck with
her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan, Katie feels lost. Alone. She doesn't know the language, she can
barely hold a pair of chopsticks and she can't seem to get the hang of taking her shoes off
whenever she enters a building. When Katie meets aloof but gorgeous Tomohiro, the star of the
school's kendo team, she is intrigued by him…and a little scared. His tough attitude seems meant
to keep her at a distance, and when they're near each other, strange things happen. Pens
explode. Ink drips from nowhere. And unless Katie is seeing things, drawings come to life.
Somehow Tomo is connected to the kami, powerful ancient beings who once ruled Japan—and
as feelings develop between Katie and Tomo, things begin to spiral out of control. The wrong
people are starting to ask questions, and if they discover the truth, no one will be safe.
YA FIC TAN
Tanaka, Shelley
Nobody Knows
It’s autumn in Tokyo, and twelve-year-old Akira and his younger siblings, Kyoko, Shige and little
Yuki, have just moved into a new apartment with their mother. Akira hopes it’s a new start for all
of them, even though the little ones are not allowed to leave the apartment or make any noise,
since the landlord doesn’t permit young children in the building. But their mother soon begins to
spend more and more time away from the apartment, and then one morning Akira finds an
envelope of money and a note. She has gone away with her new boyfriend for a while.
Akira bravely shoulders the responsibility for the family. He shops and cooks and pays the bills,
while Kyoko does the laundry. The children spend their time watching TV, drawing and playing
games, wishing they could go to school and have friends like everyone else. Then one morning
their mother breezes in with gifts for everyone, but she is soon gone again. Months pass, until
64
one spring day Akira decides they have been prisoners in the apartment long enough. For a brief
time the children bask in their freedom. They shop, explore, plant a little balcony garden, have the
playground to themselves. Even when the bank account is empty and the utilities are turned off
and the children become increasingly ill-kempt, it seems that they have been hiding for nothing. In
the bustling big city, nobody notices them. It’s as if nobody knows. But by August the city is
sweltering, and the children are too malnourished and exhausted even to go out. Akira is afraid to
contact child welfare, remembering the last time the authorities intervened, and the family was
split up. Eventually even he can’t hold it together any more, and then one day tragedy strikes…
YA FIC THO
Thompson, Holly
Orchards
After a classmate commits suicide, Kana Goldberg—a half-Japanese, half-Jewish American—
wonders who is responsible. She and her cliquey friends said some thoughtless things to the girl.
Hoping that Kana will reflect on her behavior, her parents pack her off to her mother's ancestral
home in Japan for the summer. There Kana spends hours under the hot sun tending to her
family's mikan orange groves. Kana's mixed heritage makes it hard to fit in at first, especially
under the critical eye of her traditional grandmother, who has never accepted Kana's father. But
as the summer unfolds, Kana gets to know her relatives, Japan, and village culture, and she
begins to process the pain and guilt she feels about the tragedy back home. Then news about a
friend sends her world spinning out of orbit all over again.
Korea
YA FIC KIM
Kim, Helen
Long Season of Rain
Growing up in Korea during the '60s, four sisters are all devoted to their dutiful mother and
resentful of their often absent father, but it is 11-year-old Junehee, the second oldest daughter,
who is most affected by the friction between her parents and her mother's deep despair. Like her
mother, Junehee feels sympathy for the boy who is brought to their house after being orphaned in
a flood. Others, including Junehee's strict paternal grandmother, scorn Pyungsoo because he is
from a lower class. Junehee's mother silently endures demeaning treatment and tries to ignore
ridicule aimed at the child, until the day she is forbidden to adopt him. Shortly thereafter, both she
and Junehee rebel against restrictions of their household and their society as their longsuppressed anger rises to the surface
Saipan
YA FIC FLO
Flood, Nancy Bo
Warriors in the Crossfire
Flood’s first novel recounts a story of a forbidden friendship on the Japanese island of Saipan
during WWII. Thirteen-year-old cousins Kento and Joseph have been friends forever, but are
divided by class when the war intensifies. Kento is half Japanese, while Joseph is one of the
natives, who are suspected of being spies for the Americans. Restrictions and curfews multiply
for the islanders, but the boys figure out a way to remain friends in secret, as Joseph shares
survival skills with Kento, who teaches him kanji in return. “The Japanese may have taken our
stores, our schools, even our lands, but they could not take this,” Joseph affirms. When the
Americans invade, Joseph’s father tasks him with keeping his mother, sister, and nephew safe,
and Joseph wonders if he has risked his family’s safety by trusting Kento.
65
Sumatra
YA FIC FAM
Fama, Elizabeth
Overboard
Escaping from a sinking ferry in the waters off Sumatra, fourteen-year-old Emily fights for survival
for herself and a young Indonesian boy, who draws courage from his quiet but firm Islamic faith.
Thailand
YA FIC CHR
Christopher, Lucy
Stolen
Gemma, 16, is on layover at Bangkok Airport, en route with her parents to a vacation in Vietnam.
She steps away for just a second, to get a cup of coffee. Ty—rugged, tan, too old, oddly
familiar—pays for Gemma's drink. And drugs it. They talk. Their hands touch. And before Gemma
knows what's happening, Ty takes her. Steals her away. The unknowing object of a long
obsession, Gemma has been kidnapped by her stalker and brought to the desolate Australian
Outback. STOLEN is her gripping story of survival, of how she has to come to terms with her
living nightmare—or die trying to fight it.
YA FIC PAQ
Paquette, A.J.
Nowhere Girl
Luchi Ann only knows a few things about herself: she was born in a prison in Thailand. Her
American mother was an inmate there. And now that her mother has died, Luchi must leave the
only place she's ever known and set out into the world. Neither at home as a Thai, because of her
fair skin and blond hair, nor as a foreigner, because of her knowledge of Thai life and traditions,
Luchi feels as though she belongs nowhere. But as she embarks on an amazing adventure-a
journey spanning continents and customs, harrowing danger and exhilarating experiences-she
will find the family, and the home, she's always dreamed of. Weaving intricate elements of
traditional Thailand into a modern-day fairy tale unique unto itself, Nowhere Girl is a beautifully
rendered story of courage, resilience, and finding the one place where you truly belong.
YA FIC PER
Perkins, Mitali
Bamboo People
Two teens on opposing sides of ethnic conflict in modern-day Burma (Myanmar) tell an
intertwined story that poignantly reveals the fear, violence, prejudice, and hardships they both
experience. Chiko, a quiet, studious student whose medical doctor father has been arrested as a
traitor, is seized by the government and forced into military training. Chiko is groomed for guerrilla
warfare against the Karenni, a Burmese minority group living in villages and refugee camps along
the Thai-Burma border. After he and his patrol stumble into land mines, Tu Reh, an angry Karenni
and rebel fighter, must decide whether or not to save him. Tu Reh's home was destroyed by
Burmese soldiers, and he struggles with his conscience and his desire for revenge and
independence. Both Chiko and Tu Reh are caught in a conflict that neither fully understands.
Family, friendships, and loyalty have shaped their lives. But as young soldiers, they face
harrowing situations, profound suffering, and life-and-death decisions. Both boys learn the
meaning of courage.
66
Union of Myanmar (Burma)
Tween & YA FIC SMI
Smith, Roland
Elephant Run
Fourteen-year-old Nick Freestone is sent from London in 1941 by his mother to protect him from
the German air raids. As he arrives in Burma to live with his father on the family teak plantation,
he is thrust from one theatre of war directly into another. Though Nick had been eagerly
anticipating the opportunity to reconnect with his father and learn about the management of the
family plantation, particularly the elephants used to harvest the teak, this is not to be. Now safe
from the German army, he and his father are taken prisoner by the Japanese army. Nick is kept
on as slave labor at the plantation while his father is sent to a POW camp nearby. Maya, the
beautiful sister of one the plantation elephant handlers, is imprisoned at the plantation as well.
Her beauty draws her unwanted attention and puts her in danger. As one of her captors escalates
his advances towards her; Nick’s father is becoming sicker and sicker in the POW camp. Nick
and Maya decide they must escape. With the help of a local monk and one of the plantation
elephants, Nick and Maya attempt to escape, taking Nicks father with them.
Vietnam
YA FIC MYE
Myers, Walter Dean
Fallen Angels
Seventeen year old Richie Perry discovers that life in Harlem is no preparation for the harsh
realities of Vietnam.
FIC & YA FIC OBR
O’Brien, Tim
The Things They Carried
The Things They Carried depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat
Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and of course, the character Tim O'Brien who
has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three. They
battle the enemy (or maybe more the idea of the enemy), and occasionally each other. In their
relationships we see their isolation and loneliness, their rage and fear. They miss their families,
their girlfriends and buddies; they miss the lives they left back home. Yet they find sympathy and
kindness for strangers (the old man who leads them unscathed through the mine field, the girl
who grieves while she dances), and love for each other, because in Vietnam they are the only
family they have. We hear the voices of the men and build images upon their dialogue. The way
they tell stories about others, we hear them telling stories about themselves.
67
Oceania
Australia
YA FIC ABD
Abdel-Fattah, Randa
Does My Head Look Big in This?
Headstrong and witty, 16-year-old Amal, an Australian-Muslim-Palestinian decides during winter
break from her posh private school that she's ready to wear the hijab, the Muslim head scarf,
fulltime, as a testament to her faith. Amal knows she will face discrimination by classmates and
misinformed people but she is committed to her decision; her parents are initially concerned, but
ultimately rally behind her. Their worries, in fact, are well-founded: Amal attracts her share of
stares and taunts both at school and around town, but she finds strength, not only from her
convictions, but from her close-knit group of friends, who for various reasons-being Japanese,
Jewish, nerdy or body-conscious-are perceived as being outside "the norm." As Amal struggles
with her identity in a post-9/11, her faith-and an array of ever-ready quips-help her navigate an
often-unforgiving world.
YA FIC ABD
Abdel-Fattah, Randa
Ten Things I Hate About Me
Jamie just wants to fit in. She doesn't want to be seen as a stereotypical Muslim girl, so she does
everything possible to hide that part of herself. Even if it means pushing her friends away
because she's afraid to let them know her dad forbids her from hanging out with boys or that she
secretly loves to play the darabuka (Arabic drums). But when the cutest boy in school asks her
out and her friends start to wonder about Jamie's life outside of school, her secrets threaten to
explode. Can Jamie figure out how to be both Jamie and Jamilah before she loses everything?
YA FIC BOY
Boyd, Maria
Will
THE CRIME It all started when Will mooned the girls' school bus. It wasn't his finest moment. And
it's the last time William Armstrong will sully the St. Andrew's community, says Principal
Waddlehead-er, Waverton.
THE PUNISHMENT That's when a teacher worried about Will's home situation comes up with an
idea. Why not let Will, a talented guitarist, give back to the school in a progressive manner? Why
not have him play in . . . THE SCHOOL MUSICAL?
THE MUSICAL Now Will is stuck in the school production of The Boy Friend. He's a
laughingstock, and he has to give up his weekends for a show set at a girls' finishing school.
THE PLAYERS There's the trombone-playing seventh grader who proclaims himself Will's best
friend and refuses to leave his side. Then there's the undeniably attractive leading lady. Although
she might be in love with her costar, the new football hero (and dazzling singer!).
Sharp-witted, funny, and poignant all at once, this is the story of a boy going through a difficult
time who, in a most unlikely way, discovers the person he truly wants to be.
YA FIC BRU
Brugman, Alyssa
Walking Naked
Megan Tuw, a not-very-likable teen, is self-absorbed and ruled by peer pressure. She bullies
people in her group-her Australian high school's in-crowd-and ignores others who are "different"
or not useful. Assigned detention for rudeness to a teacher, Megan gets to know Perdita
Wiguiggan, an eccentric classmate, dubbed by her fellow students as "The Freak." As detention
progresses, Megan reluctantly recognizes Perdita's brilliance and love of poetry while Perdita
attempts to lure Megan into an unwanted intimacy that jeopardizes her standing in the group. The
conflict between Megan's loyalty to her group and her budding admiration for Perdita's.
68
YA FIC BRU
Brugman, Alyssa
Finding Grace
Rachel has just graduated from high school and thinks she knows everything. Well, maybe not
quite everything. Then she meets the mysterious Mr. Preston, who offers her a live-in job looking
after Grace--a brain injured woman with a lovely house, grasping sisters, feral neighbors, and a
box full of unfinished business. As Rachel tries to cope with the demands of her employment and
the start of college, she's also determined to fit together the pieces that were Grace's former life.
The more she finds out about the woman in her care, the more Rachel finds herself.
YA FIC BUZ Buzo, Laura Love and Other Perishable Items
From the moment Amelia sets eyes on Chris, she is a goner. Lost. Sunk. Head over heels
infatuated with him. It's problematic, since Chris, 21, is a sophisticated university student, while
Amelia, 15, is 15. Amelia isn't stupid. She knows it's not gonna happen. So she plays it cool
around Chris—at least, as cool as she can. Working checkout together at the local supermarket,
they strike up a friendship: swapping life stories, bantering about everything from classic books to
B movies, and cataloging the many injustices of growing up. As time goes on, Amelia's crush
doesn't seem so one-sided anymore. But if Chris likes her back, what then? Can two people in
such different places in life really be together? Through a year of befuddling firsts—first love, first
job, first party, and first hangover—debut author Laura Buzo shows how the things that break
your heart can still crack you up.
YA FIC CHR
Christopher, Lucy
Stolen
Gemma, 16, is on layover at Bangkok Airport, en route with her parents to a vacation in Vietnam.
She steps away for just a second, to get a cup of coffee. Ty—rugged, tan, too old, oddly
familiar—pays for Gemma's drink. And drugs it. They talk. Their hands touch. And before Gemma
knows what's happening, Ty takes her. Steals her away. The unknowing object of a long
obsession, Gemma has been kidnapped by her stalker and brought to the desolate Australian
Outback. STOLEN is her gripping story of survival, of how she has to come to terms with her
living nightmare—or die trying to fight it.
YA FIC CRO
Crowley, Cath
A Little Wanting Song
CHARLIE DUSKIN loves music, and she knows she's good at it. But she only sings when she's
alone, on the moonlit porch or in the back room at Old Gus's Secondhand Record and CD Store.
Charlie's mom and grandmother have both died, and this summer she's visiting her grandpa in
the country, surrounded by ghosts and grieving family, and serving burgers to the local kids at the
milk bar. She's got her iPod, her guitar, and all her recording equipment, but she wants more: A
friend. A dad who notices her. The chance to show Dave Robbie that she's not entirely
unspectacular. ROSE BUTLER lives next door to Charlie's grandfather and spends her days
watching cars pass on the freeway and hanging out with her troublemaker boyfriend. She loves
Luke but can't wait to leave their small country town. And she's figured out a way: she's won a
scholarship to a science school in the city, and now she has to convince her parents to let her go.
This is where Charlie comes in. Charlie, who lives in the city, and whom Rose has ignored for
years. Charlie, who just might be Rose's ticket out.
YA FIC MAR
Marchetta, Melina
Jellicoe Road
Taylor Markham has been living at the Jellicoe School since her mother abandoned her at a gas
station when she was eleven. Taylor's whole life is a mystery to her-from what happened to her
mother and who her father was to why certain people in town are so interested in her well-being.
As the Jellicoe School students begin their annual territory wars with the Townies and military
school cadets, Taylor is thrown together with Jonah Griggs, the leader of the Cadets. Although
they are sworn enemies, Taylor and Jonah have a history and find themselves drawn to one
another. Together they begin to unravel the tragic story of the five teenagers who started the
territory wars a generation before and how their lives are tightly linked with Taylor's own.
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YA FIC MCC McCarthy, Maureen Rose By Any Other Name
Don'tcha just hate the way you get caught up in stuff without really wanting to? Then it goes a bit
further, and suddenly you're one of those jerks you hate because . . . you can't be trusted.
Rose wants nothing more than to get away. Last year she'd had it all: pre-law in the fall, a
budding romance, and her best friend, Zoe. Now Zoe will never forgive her, her family is
crumbling, and the secret that's been boiling up inside her is bubbling a little too close to the
surface. All Rose needs to escape are an old van, her surfboard, the road, the ocean, and . . .
mom? When Rose's mother jumps in the passenger seat right as Rose is about to set off, her trip
takes an unexpected turn, filled with nagging memories of last year, and the looming scandal that
refuses to be ignored. A twisting plot that keeps you guessing, told from the viewpoint of a
realistically flawed yet snarky main character, makes this a book that just can't be put down.
YA MYS MOR
Moriarty, Jaclyn
The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie
Bindy Mackenzie is a brilliant, Australian high school student-maybe too smart for her own good.
As the top student in her class, Bindy is already intimidating, but her annoying know-it-all attitude
only helps to distance her from fellow students at Ashbury High. This situation is further
complicated by a new required class, Friendship and Development ("FAD"), where Bindy is
forced to interact with a group of peers and build relationships with people whom she knows are
not fond of her. What Bindy's classmates do not realize is that she has greater problems with
which to contend: Her parents have moved to the city and have left Bindy to live with her aunt and
uncle. She feels constant pressure to stay on top of her studies, and lately she has been feeling
extremely ill. As Bindy and her FAD group begin coming to terms with each other, the mystery of
what is really going on with Bindy starts to unravel. Could it be that someone would really want to
kill Bindy Mackenzie? Could someone really be poisoning her?
YA FIC RAN Ranulfo
Joker
It spits, snarls, screams, curses, and laughs at the world. It mocks leaders and followers.
Restores our faith in love and security or drives us mad. Australian author Ranulfo has cracked
open the story of Hamlet. This is what he's glued back together.
YA FIC SHA Shanahan, Lisa
Completely Lost It
The Sweet Terrible Glorious Year I Truly,
IN MY FAMILY, when anyone rides the wave of their emotions, we say they're chucking a birkett.
When the emotion drives out all common sense, we say they're chucking a big one. The telltale
signs are: flaming cheeks, shortness of breath, bulging eyes, and a prolonged illogical outburst.
Gemma Stone is convinced that it's always unseemly to chuck a birkett and that it's actually
insane to chuck one in front of a complete stranger. But that was before she fell for a boy who
barely knows she exists, before she auditioned for the school play, before she met the family of
freaks her sister Debbie is marrying into, before the unpredictable Raven De Head took an
interest in her, and before she realized that at the right time and for the right reason, a birkett
could be a beautiful thing.
YA FIC SOU Southall, Ivan
Ash Road
A devastating fire affects everyone on Ash Road, physically, emotionally, and mentally.
YA FIC WHE
Wheat, Chris
Screw Loose
As a motley group of teenagers try to navigate the school year, it becomes clear that everyone
has problems and no one knows quite how to solve them. Chelsea talks to Barbies and
fantasizes about ruling the world. Angelo can’t choose between his control-freak soccer club and
his clean-freak girlfriend. Zeynep gets sent to live with the goats, Craig likes Matilda but Matilda
prefers his dog, Joshua learns to love guinea pigs—and on it goes. This quirky, chaotic, laughout-loud novel is about first love and new love, and dolls and dogs and soccer and baklava, and a
fantastic big, fun, crazy party at the end. It's the perfect book for people who never quite go about
things the right way.
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YA FIC WIL
Wilkinson, Lili
Pink
Ava has a secret. She is tired of her ultracool attitude, ultra-radical politics, and ultrablack
clothing. She's ready to try something new—she's even ready to besomeone new. Someone who
fits in, someone with a gorgeous boyfriend, someone who wears pink. Transferring to Billy
Hughes School for Academic Excellence is the perfect chance to try on a new identity. But just in
case things don't work out, Ava is hiding her new interests from her parents, and especially from
her old girlfriend. Secrets have a way of being hard to keep, though, and Ava finds that changing
herself is more complicated than changing her wardrobe. Even getting involved in the school
musical raises issues she never imagined. As she faces surprising choices and unforeseen
consequences, Ava wonders if she will ever figure out who she really wants to be.
YA FIC ZUS
Zusak, Markus
Fighting Ruben Wolfe
Partly because of their family's poor finances and partly to prove themselves, brothers Ruben and
Cameron take jobs as fighters and find themselves reacting very differently in the boxing ring.
YA FIC ZUS
Zusak, Markus
Getting the Girl
Tired of being the underdog, Cameron Wolfe hungers to become something worthwhile and
finally finds a girl with whom he can share his words and feelings - his popular brother Rube's exgirlfriend.
YA MYS ZUS
Zusak, Markus
I Am the Messenger
Meet Ed Kennedy—underage cabdriver, pathetic cardplayer, and useless at romance. He lives in
a shack with his coffee-addicted dog, the Doorman, and he's hopelessly in love with his best
friend, Audrey. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence, until he inadvertently stops a
bank robbery. That's when the first Ace arrives. That's when Ed becomes the messenger. . . .
Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary), until only
one question remains: Who's behind Ed's mission?
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