Heart of a Champion by Carl Deuker
"I wondered if it was better to have a father like that (one who screams at his son), or not to have a father at all." Seth's father had died. Jimmy's father was very much alive, pushing Jimmy to be the best baseball player by screaming at him. Seth and Jimmy have been friends since a chance meeting on a baseball field in sixth grade. Now they are in high school on the varsity baseball team and learning how decisions they make off the field impact their lives.
Perfect by Natasha Friend
Driver's Ed by Caroline Cooney
Three teenagers agonize over what they should do after they steal a stop sign. A woman is killed by driving through the intersection. Can they keep the secret and live with the guilt?
Code Talkers by Joseph Bruchac
Navajo Indians joined the Marine Corp during World War II to become Code Talkers, sending and receiving military communications using their Navajo language. The story follows starts on the Navajo reservation and takes you onto the battlefields of World War II. If you like historical fiction about World War II, be sure to read Code Talkers. Historical Fiction
Mississippi Trial, 1955 by Chris Crowe
A historical fiction based on the true story of the murder of 15-year-old African American Emmett Till in Mississippi in the summer of 1955. The author's extensive research adds rich details to this event that helped spark the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. Historical Fiction
Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick
Steven is a normal 8th grader: a drummer in an honor band who has a crush on the hottest girl in school (who doesn't know he exists) and whose little brother annoys him constantly. His world is turned upside down when his brother gets sick and he has to cope with that as well as the other pressures of his life. Realistic Fiction
City of Ember
People of Sparks
Yonwood Prophet by Jeanne DuPrau
The lights in the City of Ember start to flicker and Lena and Doon, two teens who have just finished their education and entered the world of work, join forces to figure out what is going on. City of Ember has a cliff-hanger ending that makes you want to read People of Sparks to see what happens next!
Sizzling Series:
Found (#1 in Missing series) by Margaret Peterson Haddix (recommended by Mrs. Christiancy)
Thirteen-year-old Jonah has always known that he was adopted, and he's never thought it was any big deal. Then he and a new friend, Chip, who's also adoped, begin receiving mysterious letters. The first one says, "You are one of the missing." The second one says, "Beware! They're coming back to get you."
Jonah, Chip, and Jonah's sister, Katherine, are plunged into a mystery that involves the FBI, a vast smuggling operation, an airplane that appeared out of nowhere -- and people who seem to appear and disappear at will. The kids discover they are caught in a battle between two opposing forces that want very different things for Jonah and Chip's lives.
Do Jonah and Chip have any choice in the matter? And what should they choose when both alternatives are horrifying? (Barnes & Noble synopsis)
Award-winners:
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
(National Book Award Finalist, Michael L. Printz Award)
Winner Intermediate Golden Sower for 2007-2008: The World According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney
Honor books: The Stupendous Dodgeball Fiasco by Janice Repka, illus. Glin Dibley
The SOS File by Betsy Byars, Betsy Duffey, and Laurie Myers
Winner Young Adult Golden Sower for 2007-2008: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Honor books: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
The Perfect Shot by Elaine Marie Alphin
