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Young Realistic Fiction Book List

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while the severity of her older 's injuries Abuse and the urging of her sister, their , and a friend tempt her to testify against Anderson, Laurie Halse him, her and other well- Speak persuade her to claim responsibility. A traumatic event in the (Mature) (2007) summer has a devastating effect on Melinda's freshman Flinn, Alexandra year of high school. (2002) Breathing Underwater Sent to for hitting his Avasthi, Swati girlfriend, Caitlin, and ordered to Split keep a journal, A teenaged thrown out of his 16-year-old Nick examines his controlling by his abusive goes behavior and anger and describes living with to live with his older , his abusive father. (2001) who ran away from years earlier under similar circumstances. (Summary McCormick, Patricia from Follett , November 2010). Sold -year-old Lakshmi Draper, Sharon leaves her poor mountain Forged by Fire home in Nepal thinking that Teenaged Gerald, who has is to work in the city as a spent years protecting his maid only to find that she has fragile half-sister from their been sold into the sex slave trade in and abusive father, faces the that there is no hope of escape. (2006) prospect of one final confrontation before the problem can be solved. McMurchy-Barber, Gina Free as a Bird Erskine, Kathryn Eight-year-old Ruby Jean Sharp, Quaking born with Down syndrome, is In a Pennsylvania town where anti- placed in Woodlands School in war sentiments are treated with New Westminster, British contempt and violence, Matt, a Columbia, after the of her grandmother fourteen-year-old living with a Quaker who took care of her, and she learns to , deals with the demons of her past as survive every kind of abuse before she is she battles of the present, eventually placed in a program designed to help her live learning to trust in others as well as her. outside the institution. (Summary from Follett (2007) Destiny, November 2010).

Felin, M. Purcell, Kim Touching Snow Trafficked After her is A seventeen-year-old arrested for abuse, Moldovan girl whose thirteen-year-old Karina's have been home life improves but killed is brought to Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 1 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

the to work as a slave for a her neglectful grandmother's home day care family in . (Summary from Follett center and befriend a paralyzed boy. (2005) Destiny, December 2012). Strasser, Todd Sáenz, Benjamin Alire Boot Camp Last Night I Sang to the After ignoring several warnings to stop dating his teacher, Eighteen-year-old Zach does not Garrett is sent to Lake remember how he came to be in Harmony, a boot camp that uses a treatment center for alcoholics, unorthodox and brutal methods but through therapy and caring friends, his to train students to obey their parents.. amnesia fades and he learns to face his past (Summary from Hennepin County Library, while working toward a better future. February 2008.) (Summary from Follett Destiny, November 2010). Tashjian, Janet Fault Line Schmidt, Gary When seventeen-year-old Becky Okay For Now Martin, an aspiring comic, meets Fourteen-year-old Doug Kip Costello, she is caught in a Swieteck faces many challenges, mentally and physically abusive including an abusive father, a relationship. (2003) brother traumatized by Vietnam, suspicious teachers and police officers, and Watkins, Steve isolation, but when he meets a girl known as What Come After Lil Spicer, he develops a close relationship When her veterinarian father with her and finds a safe place at the local dies, sixteen-year-old Iris Wight library. (Summary from Follett Destiny, must move from Maine to North October 2011). Carolina where her Sue spends Iris's small while abusing

Staples, Suzanne her physically and emotionally, but the hardest Dangerous Skies to take is her mistreatment of Hypocrisy and prejudice twist animals. (Summary from Follett Destiny May events in such a way as to 2012).

implicate two , one from a prominent family and Body Image the other an African-American, in a murder. (1996) Anderson, Laurie Halse Wintergirls Stauffer, Sue When Cassie dies because of her Harry Sue anorexic addiction, Lia struggles Although tough-talking Harry with her own problem, but comes Sue would like to start a life of to the conclusion that she is just crime in order to be "sent up" too fat. Lia begins seeing Cassie's and find her incarcerated mother, she must first protect the children at Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 2 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

ghost all around her, but she can't seem to see as her own. (2004) the decomposition of her own body. (Mackin, 2009) Froese, Deborah Out of Bennett, Cherie Waking up in the intensive care Life in the Fat Lane unit after being badly burned at a When pageant queen Lara begins party she can’t remember, 16- gaining weight, no amount of year-old Dayle struggles to come dieting and exercise seems to to terms with the in her help. Turns out she has a rare life as well as the physical and emotional pain —so rare only exists in this novel. caused by her injuries. (2001) (1999) Holt, Kimberly Willis Crutcher, Chris When Zachary Beaver Came to Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes Town Eighteen-year-old Eric’s success During the summer of 1971 in a on the swimming team and his small town, 13-year-old subsequent are so Toby and his best friend Cal meet threatening to his longstanding the star of a sideshow act, 600-pound friendship with Sarah Byrnes—who at the age Zachary, the fattest boy in the world. (1999) of was severely burned when her father pushed her into a wood stove—that he forces Juby, Susan himself into gluttony so as not to jeopardize Alice, I Think it. (1993) Fifteen-year-old Alice keeps a diary as she struggles to cope Flake, Sharon with the embarrassments and The I’m In trials of family, dating, school, Seventh-grader Maleeka is work, small town life, and a serious case of miserable when a new teacher "outcastitis." (2005) comes to her depressed inner- city school. Evidently rich and Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds self-assured in spite of the white birthmark The Grooming of Alice across her skin, Ms. Saunders gets into Determined to get rid of kids’ faces about their behavior and their saddlebag thighs before high academic potential. Black and bright, Maleeka school, Alice and her two best is so swamped by her immediate problems friends embark on a serious that Ms. Saunders’ attentions nearly capsize diet and exercise program. her stability. (1998) Hearing the girl-power message from Alice, at this point an old friend, carries more weight Friend, Natasha than the advice of experts and strangers. Perfect (2000) Following the death of her father, a thirteen-year-old uses bulimia as a way to avoid her mother's and ten-year-old sister's grief, as well

Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 3 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

Wilson, Jacqueline (Summary from Follett Destiny, November Under Pressure 2010). When her thin best friend is picked for modeling tryouts, Bloor, Edward British teen Ellie goes on an Tangerine extreme diet, even forcing herself Legally blind, Paul Fisher to throw up. Surviving her sort- has lived most of his life in of boyfriend’s brush-off and supporting her the shadow of his football friends through their own troubles helps Ellie star brother. But things find her feet again in this sequel to Girls in change when they move to Tangerine County, . (2002) where bizarre natural disasters are everyday occurrences. Paul finally confronts his parents Bullying Butler, Dori Hillestad

Truth About Truman School Amateau, Gigi A Certain Strain of Peculiar Tired of being told what to write Tired of the miserable life she by the school newspaper's lives, Mary Harold leaves her advisor, Zibby and her friend mother behind and moves back to Amr start an underground Alabama and her grandmother, newspaper online where everyone is free to where she receives support and love and starts post anything, but things spiral out of to gain confidence in herself and her abilities. when a cyber bully starts using the site to (2009) harass one popular girl. (Follett, 2009)

Cormier, Robert Anderson, Laurie, Halse The Chocolate War Twisted After finally getting noticed by A high school freshman discovers someone other than school the devastating consequences of bullies and his ever-angry father, refusing to join in the school's seventeen-year-old Tyler enjoys annual fund raising drive and his tough new reputation and the attentions of arousing the of the school bullies. a popular girl, but when life starts to go bad (1988) again, he must choose between transforming Draper, Sharon M. himself or giving in to his destructive The Battle of Jericho thoughts. (Mature) (2007) A high school junior and his suffer the ramifications Anhalt, Ariela of joining what seems to be a Freefall "reputable" school club. Briar Academy senior Luke

prefers avoiding conflict and Ellis, Ann Dee letting others make his decisions, This is What I Did but he is compelled to choose Bullied because of an incident in whether or not to stand by the best friend his past, eighth-grader Logan is whose reckless behavior has endangered Luke unhappy at his new school and and may have caused another student's death. Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 4 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

has difficulty relating to others until he meets Kraus, Daniels a quirky girl and a counselor who believe in Rotters him. (Follett, 2009) Sixteen-year-old Joey's life takes a very strange turn when his Emerson, Kevin mother's tragic death forces him Carlos is Going To Get It to move from to rural Recounts the events that Iowa with the father he has never known, and occur at the end of seventh who is the town pariah. (Summary from grade, when a group of Follett Destiny, 2012). friends plan to trick Carlos, an annoying "problem" student who says he is MacLean, Jill visited by aliens, while they are on a field trip The Present Tense of Prinny in the mountains of New Hampshire. Murphy (Summary from Follett Destiny, November Prinny, struggling to deal with 2010). her alcoholic mother, distracted father, a best friend with a new Hautman, Pete girlfriend, schoolyard bullies, and remedial Invisible reading lessons with the dour Mrs. Dooks, Doug and Andy are unlikely best gets a reprieve when a substitute teacher friends--one a loner by introduces her to poetry. (Summary from his model trains, the other a Follett Destiny, November 2010). popular student involved in football and theater--who grew up together and share a Myracle, Lauren bond that nothing can sever. (2005) Shine When her best friend falls victim Howe, James to a vicious hate crime, sixteen- The Misfits year-old Cat sets out to discover Four students who do not fit the culprits in her small North in at their small-town middle Carolina town. (Summary from Follett school decide to create a third Destiny, October 2011). party for student council elections to represent all students who have Plum-Ucci, Carol ever been called names. (2001) The Body of Christopher Creed Totally Joe Torey Adams, a high school As a school assignment, a junior with a seemingly perfect thirteen-year-old boy writes an life, struggles with doubts and alphabiography--life from A to questions surrounding the mysterious Z--and explores issues of disappearance of the class outcast. (2000) friendship, family, school, and the difficulties of being a gay teenager. (2005) Schraff, Anne Lost & Found Darcey Willis does not know where to turn for help when a series of frightening incidents Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 5 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

culminate with the disappearance of her sister image. (Summary from Follett Destiny, Jamee. (Summary from Follett Destiny, November 2010). October 2009) Zarr, Sara Spinelli, Jerry Sweethearts Wringer Jennifer Harris, years after being As Palmer comes of age he must the tormented on the either accept the violence of being playground, has reinvented a wringer at his Pennsylvania herself into Jenna Vaughn, a town’s annual Pigeon Day or find popular girl with what seems to be the perfect the courage to oppose it. (1997) life, but when a childhood friend re-enters her life, she is forced to confront the most Stahler Jr., David traumatic event of her past and who Truesight she really is. (Summary from Follett Destiny, In his debut novel, Stahler vividly April 2012). imagines a future where genetic engineering has taken a startling Siobhan, Vivian turn. In a utopian community of The List the blind, one remarkable young will Emily and seven discover just how much there is to see--if only other high school he is willing to look. (2004) girls struggle with the way they see themselves Strasser, Todd and the way others see them after a list Give a Boy a Gun ranking the prettiest and ugliest girls is posted. Events leading up to a night of terror at a high school dance are told from the point of view Dating of various people involved.

(2000) Asher, Jay & Mackler, Carolyn Weeks, Sarah The Future of Us Jumping the Scratch Emma gets her first computer After moving with his mother to and an America Online CD- a trailer park to care for an ROM in 1996, and when her best injured aunt, eleven-year-old friend Josh visits and they log on, they Jamie Reardon struggles to cope discover themselves on fifteen with a deeply buried secret. (2006) years in the future. (Summary from Follett

Destiny, March 2012). Wiseman, Rosalind

Boys, Girls, and Other Behrens, Andy Hazardous Materials All the Way Transferring to a new high Hoping to have sex for the school, freshman Charlotte first time with a girl he has "Charlie" Healey faces tough met on the Internet, choices as she tries to her "mean girl" seventeen-year-old Ian drives Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 6 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

with his two best friends from to just friends. (Summary from Hennepin South Carolina. (2002) County, Sept. 2008)

Bradley, Alex Green, John 24 Girls in 7 Days An Abundance of Katherines Jack Grammar, average Having been recently dumped American high school senior, for the nineteenth time by a girl has no date to the prom. Or named Katherine, recent high so he thinks. Percy and school graduate and former child prodigy Natalie, Jack's so-called best Colin sets off on a road trip with his best friends, post an ad in the friend to try to find some new direction in life classified section of the online version of the while also trying to create a mathematical school newspaper. They figure it couldn't formula to explain his relationships. (Follett, hurt. After all, there's not much in this world 2009) sadder than Jack's love life. (2005) Fitzpatrick. Huntley Dessen, Sarah My Life Door This : A Novel When Samantha, the Remy’s cynical attitude toward seventeen-year-old relationships has been shaped by of a her mom’s three failed . wealthy, perfectionistic, Yet from the moment disheveled Republican state senator, falls in love with the Dexter talks to this self-described ice-queen, boy next door, whose family is large, it’s obvious he will be the one to defrost her. boisterous, and just making ends meet, she (Summary from Horn Book Guide online, April discovers a different way to live, but when her 2003.) mother is involved in a hit-and-run Sam must make some difficult choices. Eulberg, Elizabeth (Summary from Follett Destiny, January The Lonely Hearts Club 2013) Mature Penny swears off boys after one too many bad dates and creates The Lonely Hearts Club. Then, Na, An as the club unexpectedly Wait For Me becomes popular, Penny falls for a boy. As her senior year in high school (Summary from Follett Destiny, November approaches, Mina yearns to find 2010) her own path in life but working at the family business, taking care Gallagher, Liz of her little sister, and dealing with her of Invisible mother's expectations are as Artistic high school stifling as the southern , until sophomore Alice decides to she falls in love with a man who offers a way emerge from her cocoon and out. (2006) date a football player, which causes a rift between her and her best friend, a boy who wants to be more than Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 7 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds Van Draanen, Wendelin Alice Alone Flipped The 13th book in this series Ever since second grade, Juli and tackles a universally painful rite of Bryce have had one thing in passage: the romantic breakup. : Juli’s affections for Yes, it’s true—Alice and Patrick Bryce are as unyielding as Bryce’s end their relationship. Alice doesn’t know efforts to evade them. Then in eighth grade, how she’s going to face high school on her the roles are reversed, as Bryce begins to open own. (2001) his eyes to about those around him.

Ockler, Sarah Westerfield, Scott Bittersweet So Yesterday Hudson Avery gave Hunter Braque, a City up a promising teenager who is paid by competitive ice corporations to spot what is skating career after her "cool," combines his analytical parents divorced when she was fourteen years skills with girlfriend Jen's creative talents to old and now spends her time baking cupcakes find a missing person and thwart a conspiracy and helping out in her mother's upstate New directed at the heart of consumer culture. York diner, but when she gets a chance at a (2004) scholarship and starts coaching the boys' , Jacqueline hockey team, she realizes that she is not Girls Out Late through with ice skating after all. Thirteen-year-old Ellie misses

curfew by going to a park with a Perkins, Stephanie Lola and the Boy Next Door boy she just met, gets caught Budding costume designer Lola lying to her father and Nolan has big plans for the , and is put in a dangerous future but is pretty content with situation in by her two best friends. her life right now, until the Bell twins move back in next door and Lola must Death and Dying deal with a lifetime of feelings for and her longtime rivalry with his twin sister. Albom, Mitch The Five People You Meet in Rennison, Louise Heaven Angus, Thongs and Full- Eddie, a maintenance worker with Frontal Snogging low self-esteem, spent his time Presents the humorous journal of maintaining the rides at seaside a year in the life of a fourteen- amusement park, Ruby Pier. On Eddie's 83rd year-old British girl who tries to , Eddie dies as he tries to save a little reduce the size of her nose, stop her mad cat girl. Eddie awakens to find himself in heaven, from terrorizing the neighborhood animals, where five people guide and show him the and win the love of handsome hunk Robbie. value of his life. (2000)

Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 8 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

Almond, David life's purpose and legacy, and converses Kit’s Wilderness through dreams with a spiritual guide known Thirteen-year-old Kit goes to as "Hey-Soos." (2007) live with his grandfather in the decaying coal mining Donnelly, Jennifer town of Stoneygate, England, Revolution and finds both and the town An angry, grieving seventeen- haunted by ghosts of the past. (1999) year-old facing expulsion from her prestigious Asher, Jay Brooklyn private school travels Thirteen Reasons Why to Paris to complete a school assignment and High school student Clay Jenkins uncovers a diary written during the French receives a box in the mail revolution by a young actress attempting to containing seven cassette tapes help a tortured, imprisoned little boy--Louis recorded by his crush, Hannah Charles, the lost of . (Summary Baker, who committed , and spends a from Follett Destiny, November 2010). bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah's Downham, Jenny voice recounting the events leading up to her Before I Die death. (Follett, 2009) A terminally ill teenaged girl makes and carries out a list of Carey, Janet Lee things to do before she dies. Wenny Has Wings (Summary from Hennepin Having had a near-death County Library, February 2008.) (Mature) experience in the accident that killed his younger sister, 11-year- Easton, Kelly old Will tries to cope by writing her letters. Aftershock (2002) In and unable to speak after being in a car accident in Oregon Cassidy, Anne which has killed his parents, Looking For JJ seventeen-year-old journeys Seventeen-year-old Alice, released across the country to his home in Rhode from prison with a new identity Island. (2006) after serving six years for murdering a child, tries to keep her Erskine, Kathryn anonymity from the British tabloids, while Mockingbird haunted by memories of her past trauma. Ten-year-old Caitlin, who has (Follett, 2009) Asperger's Syndrome, struggles to understand emotions, show Crutcher, Chris empathy, and make friends at Deadline school, while at home she seeks closure by Given the medical diagnosis of working on a project with her father. one year to live, high school (Summary from Follett Destiny, September senior Ben Wolf decides to fulfill 2011). his greatest fantasies, ponders his Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 9 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

Forman, Gayle Henkes, Kevin If I Stay Olive’s Ocean While in a coma following an On a summer visit to her automobile accident that killed grandmother’s cottage by the her parents and younger ocean, twelve-year-old Martha brother, seventeen-year-old gains perspective on the death Mia, a gifted cellist, weights whether to live of a classmate, on her relationship with her with her grief or join her family in death. grandmother, on her feelings for an older boy, (Summary from Follett Destiny, October and on her plans to be a writer. 2009) Huntley, Amy Forman, Gayle The Everafter Where She Went After her death, seventeen-year- Adam, now a rising rock star, old Maddy finds a way to revisit and Mia, a successful cellist moments in her life by using studying at Juilliard, are reunited objects that she lost while she in and reconnect was alive, and she thereby attempts to figure for the first time since Mia's near-fatal car out the complicated emotions, events, and accident three years earlier drove them apart. meaning of her existence. (Summary from (Summary from Follett Destiny, October Follett Destiny, November 2010) 2011) Jocelyn, Marthe Green, John Would You The Fault in Our Stars Nat's summer of work and Sixteen year old Hazel, who hanging out with friends is has , meets Augustus at a suddenly changed when her kids-with-cancer support group sister, Claire, is hit by a car and ends up in a and as they in love they coma. (Follett, 2009) both wonder how they will be remembered. (Summary form Follett Destiny, March 2012) Johnson, Maureen 13 Little Blue Envelopes Haddix, Margaret Peterson When seventeen-year-old Ginny Takeoffs and Landings receives a packet of mysterious In the eight years since their envelopes from her favorite aunt, father died and their mother’s she leaves New to criss- motivational-speaking career took cross Europe on a sort of scavenger hunt that flight, Lori has grown increasingly transforms her life. (2005) resentful and Chuck, insecure. In an attempt to reconnect, their mother brings the two Lawrence, Iain along on a two-week speaking tour. (Summary Gemini Summer from Horn Book Guide online, April 2003.) In the quiet of Hog's Hollow, each member of the River family pursues a dream. Old Man River sets out to build a fallout shelter in case the war in Vietnam "brings the end of Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 10 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

everything;" his Flo, who collects Gone discovers the strength to follow her dream of with the Wind , attempts to pen her own becoming a musician. (Summary from Follett Southern saga; Beau, their older , suffers Destiny, November 2010). Mature. from "space " and aspires to be an astronaut. As for Danny, the younger River Nuzum, K.A. boy, well, he just dreams of having a dog. The Leanin Dog Then in the spring of 1965 tragedy befalls the Eleven-year-old Dessa Dean, Rivers. (2006) mourning the death of her mother, finds an injured dog MacLachlan, Patricia on her porch, which allows Edward’s Eyes both Dessa and the dog to heal Edward is one of a large and together with a friendship that shapes both of close family that , their lives. (Summary from Follett Destiny, music, books, and each other, October 2009). and when he unexpectedly dies and his parents donate his organs, his wonderful eyes Porter, Tracey go to a perfect recipient. (2008) Lark When sixteen-year-old Lark is Marchetta, Melina murdered, she, her childhood The Pipers Son best friend Eva, and a girl she After his favorite uncle's used to babysit, Nyetta, find violent death, Tom Mackee themselves facing hard truths about their lives watches implode, and seeking a way to move on. (Summary quits school, and turns his Follett Destiny, November 2011). back on music and everyone who matters, and while he is in no shape to mend what is Preller, James , he fears that no one else is, either. Before you Go (Summary from Follett Destiny, November Sixteen-year-old Jude 2011). Mature Fox gets his first job, falls in love, and starts Michaels, Jan breaking away from his parents, City Boy but an accident that happened seven years In the southern African country earlier haunts him and his family. (Summary of Malawi, after the AIDS-related Follett Destiny, January, 2013). of both of his parents, a boy leaves his affluent life in the Oates, Joyce Carol city to live in a rural village, After the Wreck, I Picked sharing a one-roomed hut with his aunt, his Myself Up, Spread my Wings , and other orphans. (2009) and Flew Away Blaming herself for the car Nelson, Jandy accident on the Tappan Zee The Sky is Everywhere Bridge that killed her mother, fifteen-year-old In the months after her sister Jenna undergoes a difficult physical and dies, seventeen-year-old Lennie emotional recovery. (2006) falls into a love triangle and Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 11 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

Oliver, Lauren Before I Fall Schmidt, Gary After she dies in a car crash, Trouble teenage Samantha relives the Trouble comes to day of her death over and Smith's family when a young over again until, on the Cambodian immigrant hits seventh day, she finally Henry's brother, Franklin, with discovers a way to save herself. (Summary his truck and kills him. Boiling with anger and from Follett Destiny, November 2010). resentment, Henry -- accompanied by his best Mature friend and dog -- embarks on a mission to climb Mt. Katahdin in Maine, which Franklin Qualey, Marsha said he could never do. On his journey, Henry Just Like That learns some questionable tidbits about his A tragic accident, ending with the brother and is forced to reassess the damages death of two people her own age, done to his family. (Summary from changes life forever for an Mackin.com, Sept. 2008) eighteen-year-old . (2005) Scott, Elizabeth Rabb, Margo Love You Hate You Miss you Cures for Heartbreak After of alcohol As she navigates , rehabilitation, sixteen-year-old ninth-grader Mia must deal with Amy sorts out conflicting her mother’s recent death and emotions about her best friend her father's illness while she Julia's death in a car accident for which she searches for friendship and love feels responsible. (Summary from Follett in the world around her. (Follett, 2009) Destiny, November 2010).

Rothenberg, Jess Sebold, Alice The Catastrophic History of The Lovely Bones You and Me Looking down from heaven, 14- Just before her year-old Susie Salmon recounts sixteenth birthday, her rape and murder and watches Brie Eagan literally dies of her family as they cope with their grief and a broken heart when her boyfriend tells her he “the lovely bones” growing around her does not love her, and she then must go absence. (2004) through the five stages of grief, while watching her friends and family try to cope Soto, Gary with her death, before her faith in love is The restored and she can move on to the afterlife. A senior at East Fresno High (2013) School lives on as a ghost after his brutal murder in the restroom of a club where he had gone to dance. (2003)

Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 12 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

Warman, Jessica Stork, Francisco Between Irises By through her Teenage Kate and Mary memories and watching the are forced to make adult family and friends she left decisions regarding the direction behind, eighteen-year-old Liz of their lives after their loving Valchar solves the mystery of how her life but old-fashioned father dies suddenly and ended in the Long Island Sound. (Summary leaves them alone with their mother, who has from Follett Destiny, November 2011). been in a persistent vegetative state since an accident four years earlier. (Summary from Williams-Garcia, Rita Follett Destiny, April 2012). Every Time a Rainbow Dies After seeing a girl raped and Stork, Francisco becoming obsessed with her, The Last Summer of the 16-year-old Thulani finds Death Warriors motivation to move beyond his Seventeen-year-old Pancho is interest in his pigeons and his bent on avenging the senseless grief over his mother’s death. (2001) death of his sister, but after he meets D.Q, who is dying of cancer, and Zevin, Gabrielle Marisol, one of D.Q.'s caregivers, both boys Elsewhere find their lives changed by their interactions. After fifteen-year-old Liz Hall is (Summary from Follett Destiny, November hit by a taxi and killed, she finds 2010). herself in a place that is both like and unlike Earth, where she must Turner, Ann adjust to her new status and figure out how to Hard Hit "live." (2005) A rising high school baseball star faces his most difficult challenge Drugs when his father is diagnosed with

pancreatic cancer. (2006) Acros, Out of Reach Ward, Rachel Accompanied by her Num8ers brother's friend, Fifteen-year-old Jem knows Tyler, sixteen-year-old when she looks at someone the Rachel ventures through exact date they will die, so she and nearby areas seeking her avoids relationships and tries to brother, eighteen-year-old Micah, a keep out of the way, but when she meets a methamphetamine addict who ran away from boy named Spider and they plan a day out home. (Summary from Follett Destiny, together, they become more involved than January 2013). either of them had planned. (Summary from

Follett Destiny, November 2010).

Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 13 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

Elkeles, Sumone McCormick, Patricia Perfect Chemistry My Brother’s Keeper When wealthy, seemingly perfect Thirteen-year-old Toby, a Brittany and Alex Fuentes, a gang prematurely gray-haired member from the other side of fan and town, develop a relationship after baseball card collector, tries Alex discovers that Brittany is not exactly who to cope with his brother's she seems to be, they must face the drug use, his father's disapproval of their schoolmates--and others. absence, and his mother dating Stanley the (Summary from Follett Destiny, November Food King. (2005) 2011). Mature Myers, Walter Dean Ellis, Deborah Dope Sick Sacred Leaf Seeing no way out of his difficult Twelve year old Diego escapes life in , seventeen-year-old from at an illegal cocaine Jeremy "Lil J" Dance flees into a operation and is taken in by after a drug deal goes awry Ricardos, coca farmers. (2007) and meets a strange man who reveals different turning points in Lil J's life when he could Going, K.L. have made better choices. (Summary from Iggy Follett Destiny, October 2009) Iggy Corso, who lives in city public housing, is caught Walters, Eric physically and spiritually between Juice good and bad when he is kicked When a division one coach out of high school, goes comes to their smaller school to searching for his missing mother, bring the football program up to and causes his friend to get involved with the contender status, Moose and the same dangerous drug dealer who deals to his rest of the on the team parents. (2006) are pumped. Coach Barnes has new ideas and a vision for the future--nothing James, Brian is too good for his players. With a new Pure Sunshine training regimen, everything seems to be on a The story covers 48 hours in winning track. But when Moose and others the lives of friends as they are offered steroids, tempers start to fray and wander the streets of the teammates have to decide whose side they Philadelphia, after scoring are on. (2005) some tabs of “pure sunshine”—a sheet of California acid [with] little yellow suns Woodson, Jacqueline illustrated on each tab. As the others revel in Beneath a Meth Moon excess, Brendon begins to feel alienated from A young girl uses crystal his clique and disillusioned with the path he’s meth to escape the pain of been taking. (2002) losing her mother and grandmother in Hurricane Katrina, and then struggles to get over her Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 14 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

addiction. (Summary from Follett Destiny, a boy and armed with knowledge of the April 2012). powerful storytelling of the legendary Scheherazade, is determined to find and Environmental Protection rescue him. (Summary from Follett Destiny, November 2010). Greenwald, Lisa Dessen, Sarah My Life in Pink & Green Along For the Ride When the family's drugstore is Auden gets a chance to failing, seventh-grader Lucy recapture the carefree teen life uses her problem-solving she missed while her parents talents to come up with a were going through a solution that might resuscitate when she goes to spend the the business, along with helping the summer with her dad and his new family in a environment. (Summary from Follett Destiny, charming beach town and meets fellow November 2009) insomniac Eli, an intriguing loner fighting

Hiassen, Carl demons of his own. (Summary from Destiny Flush Follett, November 2009). With their father jailed for sinking a river boat, Noah Lynch, Janet Nichols Underwood and his younger Messed Up sister, Abbey, must gather Fifteen-year-old RD is repeating evidence that the owner of this floating casino the eighth grade, planning to is emptying his bilge tanks into the protected have an easy year, but after his waters around their Florida Keys home. grandmother walks out her boyfriend is no longer able to Hiassen, Carl care for him, which leaves RD to fend for Hoot himself while avoiding being caught. Roy, who is new to his small (Summary from Follett Destiny, November Florida community, becomes 2009) involved in another boy's attempt to save of Marsden, Carolyn burrowing owls from a proposed construction Umbrellas site. Eleven-year-old Noi worries that she will have to stop painting the Family silk umbrellas her family sells at the market near their Thai village

Antieau, Kim and be forced to join her older sister in Broken Moon difficult work at a local factory instead. (2004) When her little brother is Martin, Ann and taken from Everything for a Dog Pakistan to race camels in the In parallel stories, Bone, an desert, eighteen-year-old Nadira orphaned dog, finds and loses a overcomes her own past abuse and, dressed as series of homes, Molly, a family Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 15 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

pet, helps Charlie through the grief and other from her will unless whoever it is that has after-effects of his brother's death, and lonely offended her confesses in writing by New Henry pleads for a dog of his own. (Summary Year's Day, everybody begins to consider from Follett Destiny, November 2009). what they may have done. (Summary from Follett Destiny, September 2011). Patrick, Cat Forgotten Whelan, Sixteen-year-old London Lane Homeless Bird forgets everything each night Married and immediately and must use notes to struggle widowed, 13-year-old Koly through the day, even to recall grapples with traditional her wonderful boyfriend, but expectations and societal she "remembers" future events and as her neglect of widows in modern-day India. "flashforwards" become more disturbing she (2000) realizes she must learn more about the past lest it destroy her future. (Summary from Family Dynamics Follett Destiny, November 2011). Ayarbe, Heidi Schumacher, Julie Compromised The Book of One Hundred With her con-man father in Truths prison, fifteen-year-old Maya While visiting her sets out from Reno, Nevada, in Port Harbor, New Jersey, for Boise, Idaho, hoping to stay thirteen-year-old Theodora lists out of by finding an aunt she never one hundred truths that she discovers while knew existed, but a fellow babysitting her younger cousins. (2011) complicates all of her scientifically-devised plans. (Summary from Follett Destiny, Smith, Jennifer November 2010) The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight Baskins, Nora Raleigh Seventeen-year-old Hadley and What Every Girl (Except Me) Oliver fall in love on the flight Knows from New York to London, Twelve-year-old Gabby feels she but after a passionate , they lose track of needs a mother to help her grow each other at until fate brings them into a woman, so when things back together on a very momentous day. between her father and his latest girlfriend (Summary from Follett Destiny, April 2012). ’t work out, Gabby sets off for the last place she remembers seeing her own mother. Standiford, Natalie (2002) Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters Bauer, Cat When the Sullivan Sisters’ Harley Like a Person grandmother gathers the Fourteen-year-old Harley, an artistic teenager entire family on Christmas living with her alcoholic father and angry to announce that she is removing them all Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 16 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

mother, suspects that she is adopted and begins a search for her biological parents. Giff, Patricia Reilly Pictures of Hollis Woods Brooks, Martha A troublesome twelve-year- Being with Henry old orphan, staying with an Sixteen-year-old Laker, a elderly artist who needs her, Tennessee Williams fan, comes remembers the only other to know firsthand the kindness of time she was happy in a foster home, with a strangers. Kicked out by his family that truly seemed to care about her. mother, Laker lives on the street until an elderly man takes him in. (Summary from Horn Goobie, Beth Book Guide online, April 2003.) Kicked Out Fifteen-year-old Dime is Brooks, Martha always angry. Her parents Mistik Lake don’t like the way she dresses, After Odella's mother leaves her, her boyfriend or her attitude. her sisters and their father in Dime walked away from an Manitoba and moves to Iceland accident that paralyzed her with another man, she then dies brother, and she feels her parents resent her. there, and the family finally learns some of the many secrets that have haunted them for two Harrar, George generations. Parents Wanted After living in several foster Brown, Susan M. homes, Andy is placed for You’re Dead, David Borelli with Jeff and Laurie After his mother dies and his Sizeracy. The 12-year-old father disappears with company narrator, who has attention-deficit funds, David moves from wealth hyperactivity disorder, immediately begins and comfort to a foster home and testing limits. (Summary from Horn Book Guide an inner-city school with online, April 2003.) uncaring teachers. Horvath, Polly Galante, Cecilia My One Hundred Adventures The Sweetness of Salt Twelve-year-old Jane, who lives After graduating from high at the beach in a run-down old school, class valedictorian Julia house with her mother, two travels to Poultney, Vermont, , and sister, has an eventful summer to visit her older sister, and accompanying her pastor on deliveries, while she is there she learns about long-held meeting former boyfriends of her mother's, family secrets that have shaped her into the and being coerced into babysitting for a family person she has become. (Summary from of ill-mannered children. (Follett, 2009) Follett Destiny, 2011).

Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 17 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

Hrdlitschka, Shelley stretched almost to the breaking point. Sister Wife (Summary from Follett Destiny, January 2013) Celeste, a member of The Movement, where polygamy is Lachtman, Ofelia Dumas and women are often The Summer of El Pintor married off to much older men, Sixteen-year-old Monica, forced to is repulsed by her community's practices and move to the Los Angeles barrio, struggles to find a way to break free of their where her late mother grew up, rigid rules and expectations without bringing becomes intrigued by the disappearance of shame to her family. (Summary from Follett “the painter”—who has lived -free on Destiny, Oct 2009) property owned by her mother’s family. (Summary from Amazon.com, April 2003.) Kallos, Stephanie Broken For You Lawrence, Ian When we meet septuagenarian The Lightkeeper’s Daughter Margaret Hughes, she is living Elizabeth, nicknamed Squid, alone in a mansion in Seattle with has brought a load of bitter only a massive collection of anger with her on this first visit valuable antiques for company. Enter Wanda back to Lizzie Island since she Schultz, a young woman with a broken heart left two years ago. who has come west to search for her wayward boyfriend. Both women are guarding dark Matson, Morgan secrets and have spent many years building up Second Chance Summer protective armor against the outside world. After Taylor Edwards' But as the two begin their tentative dance of family gets devastating news, they friendship, the armor begins to fall away and decide to spend one Margaret opens her house to Wanda. Along last summer all together at their lake house in the way, a famous mosaic artist is born, a the Pocono Mountains, they get to know each Holocaust survivor is reunited with her long- other again and bond, and Taylor remembers lost tea set, and a sad-eyed drifter finds his her past friends and crush. . (Summary from long-lost daughter. Follett Destiny, January 2013) Knowles, Jo See You at Harry’s Nolan, Han Twelve-year-old Fern A Face in Every Window feels invisible in her When J.P.’s grandmother dies, family, where grumpy his mom moves him, his eighteen-year-old Sarah mentally disabled father, a is working at the family restaurant, fourteen- couple neighborhood outcasts year-old Holden is struggling with school and herself into a farmhouse bullies and his emerging homosexuality, and she wins in a contest. She opens adorable, three-year-old Charlie is always the up their home to a hodgepodge center of attention, and when tragedy strikes, of young artist types. the fragile bond holding the family together is

Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 18 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

Paterson, Katherine Sachar, Louis The Same as Stars The Cardturner: a novel about When Angel's self-absorbed a king, a queen, and a mother leaves her and her When his wealthy uncle, a younger brother with their champion bridge player who has poor great-grandmother, the lost his vision, asks seventeen- eleven-year-old girl worries not only about her year-old Alton to be a cardturner for him, mother and brother, her imprisoned father, Alton has no idea how much he will ultimately the frail old woman, but also about a learn from his eccentric relative. Includes mysterious man who begins sharing with her appendix by Syd Fox with information about the wonder of the stars. bridge. (Summary from Follett Destiny, November 2010). Patron, Susan The Higher Power of Lucky Walters, Eric Fearing that her legal guardian Overdrive When two kids get into a plans to abandon her to return to France, ten-year-old aspiring horrible traffic accident, they scientist Lucky Trimble determines to run realize that serious events, such as high speed collisions, change away while also continuing to seek the Higher life forever. Power that will bring stability to her life.

Weaver, Will Quick, Matthew Claws: a novel Sorta Like a Rock Star Jed and Laura, two popular Although seventeen-year-old Minnesota high school students, Amber Appleton is homeless, find their seemingly perfect lives living in a school bus with her suddenly in chaos when they unfit mother, she is a relentless discover that each has a who is having optimist who visits the elderly at a nursing an affair with the other. home, teaches English to Korean Catholic women with the use of rhythm and blues Whelan, Gloria music, and befriends a solitary Vietnam Homeless Bird veteran and his dog, but eventually she Married and immediately experiences one burden more than she can widowed, 13-year-old Koly bear and slips into a deep depression. grapples with traditional (Summary from Follett Destiny, March 2012). expectations and societal neglect of widows in modern-day India. Ryan, Pam Munoz Becoming Naomi Leon Zarr, Sara When Naomi's absent mother How to Save a Life resurfaces to claim her, Naomi Told from their own viewpoints, runs away to with her seventeen-year-old Jill, in grief great-grandmother and younger over the loss of her father, and brother in search of her father. Mandy, nearly nineteen, are Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 19 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

thrown together when Jill's mother agrees to adopt Mandy's unborn child but nothing turns Ferris, Jean out as they had anticipated. (Summary from Of Sound Mind Follett Destiny, April 2012). The only hearing member of his family, high-school senior Friendship Theo has been burdened with of interpreter for most

of his life. Most demanding is his mother, a Brashares, Ann Second Summer of Sisterhood famous sculptor. (Summary from Horn Book When teenager Carmen and her Guide online, April 2003.) three friends discover that a pair Haworth, Danette of worn jeans from a thrift shop Violet Raines Almost Got provides an uncanny fit for all Struck By Lightning four of them, they decide to In 1970's Florida, eleven-year-old form a sisterhood, with the Violet’s world is turned upside pants as the symbolic bond of down by the arrival of a girl from friendship among them, and embark on a who seems bent on stealing Violet’s sweet-sixteen summer. best friends. (Summary from Destiny Follett, October 2009) Eulberg, Elizabeth

Prom & Prejudice Mikaelsen, Ben For Lizzie Bennett, a music Petey scholarship student at The first half of the novel Connecticut's exclusive, girls- details the and only Longbourn Academy, the adulthood of Petey, born in furor over prom is senseless, but even more 1922 with and puzzling is her attraction to the pompous Will growing up in poorly run institutions. The Darcy, best friend of her roommate's second half concerns Trevor, a teenager who boyfriend. (Summary from Follett Destiny, befriends Petey and helps the now-elderly October 2011). man discover a world outside the nursing home. (Summary from Horn Book Guide online, Eulberg, Elizabeth April 2003.) Take A Bow

With the Senior Showcase recital Mlynowski, Sarah approaching, Sophie is grateful Gimme a Call for the support of her friends and After accidentally dropping her boyfriend, Emme and Ethan phone into a fountain at the wonder whether they could be more than mall, fourteen-year-old Devi friends and bandmates, and Carter does not Banks starts to get phone calls-- know how to admit that he would rather be a and an earful of advice on how to live her life painter than a performer. to avoid making disastrous choices--from her seventeen-year-old self. (Summary from Follett Destiny, November 2010).

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Perkins, Stephanie Weaver, Will Anna & the French Kiss Saturday Night Dirt When Anna’s romance-novelist In a small town in northern father sends her to an elite Minnesota, the much- American boarding school in anticipated Saturday night Paris for her senior year of high dirt-track race at the old- school, she reluctantly goes, and meets an fashioned, barely viable, Headwaters amazing boy who becomes her best friend, in Speedway becomes, in many ways, an spite of the fact that they both want important life-changing event for all the something more. (Summary from Follett participants on and off the track. (Summary Destiny, October 2011). from Hennepin County Library, Sept. 2008)

Reinhardt, Dana Gangs & Crime Harmless

When Anna, Emma, and Ewing, Lynne Mariah concoct a story about Drive-By why they are late getting home When his older brother is killed one Friday night, their lie has in a drive-by shooting, sixth- unimaginable consequences for the girls, their grader Tito discovers that fellow , and the community. gang members murdered Jimmy

because he had skimmed drug- Reinhardt, Dana running profits. Now the gang expects Tito to The Summer I Learned to Fly reveal where Jimmy hid the . (Summary Thirteen-year-old Drew starts the from Horn Book Guide online, April 2003.) summer of 1986 helping in her

mother's cheese shop and Korman, Gordon dreaming about co-worker Nick, The Juvie Three but when her widowed mother begins dating, Gecko, Arjay, and Terence, all Drew's father's book of lists, her pet rat, and in trouble with the law, must Emmett--a boy who is on a quest of his own-- find a way to keep their halfway help her cope. (Summary from Follett house open in order to stay out Destiny, November 2011). of juvenile detention. (Summary from Follett Destiny, 2009) Stead, Liar & Spy Levy, Marilyn Seventh-grader Run for Your Life Georges adjusts to A girls track team, formed at an moving from a house Oakland housing project, achieves to an apartment, his father's success—both on the efforts to start a new business, his mother's track and in their personal lives. extra shifts as a , being picked on at school, and Safer, a boy who wants his help spying on another resident of their building. (Summary from Follett Destiny, January 2013). Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 21 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

Sitomer, Alan Hale, Shannon Homeboyz Austenland Seventeen-year-old Teddy Thirty-something New Yorker, Anderson, who is known on the Jane Hayes, who is obsessed streets as T-Bear, decides to seek with Mr. Darcy from Jane revenge on the person Austen's novel "Pride and responsible for his little sister's death, which Prejudice," is gifted a vacation to an estate was caused by a stray bullet from a where fans are transported back in time and semiautomatic handgun. actors pretend to be characters from Austen novels; and things get confusing when she Humor blurs the line between fiction and reality by becoming attracted to two of the actors Clements, Andrew Korman, Gordon Lunch Money Schooled Twelve-year-old Greg, who has Homeschooled by his hippie always been good at grandmother, Capricorn (Cap) moneymaking projects, is Anderson has never watched surprised to find himself teaming up with his television, tasted a pizza, or even lifelong rival, Maura, to create a series of heard of a wedgie. But when his grandmother comic books to sell at school. lands in the hospital, Cap is forced to move in with a guidance counselor and attend the local , Christopher Paul middle school. While Cap knows a lot about Bucking the Sarge tie- and Zen Buddhism, no education Deeply involved in his cold and could prepare him for the politics of public manipulative mother's shady school. (Summary from Hennepin County, business dealings in Flint, Sept. 2008) Michigan, fourteen-year-old Luther keeps a sense of humor Korman, Gordon while running the Happy Neighbor Group Son of the Mob Home For Men, all the while dreaming of High-schooler Vincent Luca going to college and becoming a philosopher. wants no part of his father’s “vending machine business,” Greenwald, —a front for Dad’s mob Charlie Joe Jackson’s activities. The story addresses Guide to Not Reading being an honest in a family of outlaws— Middle schooler Charlie Joe is and loving them anyway. (Summary from Horn proud of his success at Book Guide online, April 2003.) avoiding reading, but eventually his schemes go too far. (Summary Nielsen, Susin from Follett Destiny, November 2011) Dear George Clooney, please marry my mom Violet, dealing with her father's new wife and her mother's bad dating decisions, decides to take

Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 22 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

control of the situation and sets in motion a sensitive gay classmate, helps Susan, an plan to get movie star George Clooney to overweight tenth grader, develop a better marry her mom. (Summary from Follett sense of herself. Destiny, November 2010). Beam, Cris Tolan, Stephanie I am J Surviving the Applewhites J, who feels that he is a boy who Twelve-year-old E.D. was mistakenly born a girl, hides Applewhite is the sensible, who he is from his family and the organized sister in a free- world, but after he loses his best wheeling family of artists and friend, J decides to stop hiding, whatever the writers. Juvenile delinquent Jake cost. Summary from Follett Destiny, 2011) comes to stay with—and be home schooled by—the Applewhites after he’s kicked out of Blundell, Judy yet another school. What I Saw and How I Lied In 1947, with her jovial stepfather Identity Joe back from the war and family life returning to normal, teenage Evie, smitten by the handsome Alexie, Sherman young ex-GI who seems to have a secret hold The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian on Joe, finds herself caught in a complicated Budding cartoonist Junior leaves web of lies whose devastating outcome his troubled school on the change her life and that of her family forever. Spokane Indian Reservation to (Follett, 2009) attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. Budhos, Marina Ask Me No Questions (Summary from Hennepin County Library, Fourteen-year-old Nadira, her Sept. 2008) sister, and their parents leave

Alvarez, Julia Bangladesh for New York City, Return to Sender but the expiration of their visas After his family hires migrant and the events of September 11, 2001, bring Mexican workers to help save their frustration, sorrow, and terror for the whole Vermont farm from foreclosure, family. eleven-year-old Tyler befriends the oldest daughter, but when he discovers they may not Castellucci, Cecil Boy be in the country legally, he realizes that real Feeling alienated from everyone friendship knows no borders. (Summary from around her, Los Angeles high Follett Destiny, November 2010). school senior and cinephile Atkins, Catherine Victoria Denton hides behind Alt Ed the identity of a favorite movie character until Participating in a special after- an interesting new boy arrives at school and school counseling class with other helps her realize that there is more to life than troubled students, including a just . Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 23 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

believed. (Summary from Follett Destiny, Chbosky, Steven 2011). The Perks of Being a Wallflower Codell, Esme Raji Charlie, a freshman in Sahara Special high school, explores Miss Pointy, the new fifth-grade the dilemmas of teacher, has her work cut out for growing up through a her, with shy Rachel, outspoken collection of letters he sends to an unknown Sakiah, angry Darrell, and Sahara receiver. (Summary from Follett Destiny, Jones, fifth grader for the second time. January, 2013). Mature Though Miss Pointy perhaps too often has the perfect response, she is a real teacher, Choldenko,Gennifer plagued by worries and ego and a sharp If a Tree Falls at Lunch tongue. (Summary from Horn Book Guide online, Period October 2003.) Kirsten and Walk, seventh- Cooney, Caroline graders at an elite private Diamonds in the Shadow school, take turns discussing The Finches, a Connecticut family, issues that affect their lives sponsor an African refugee family such as race, wealth, weight, and bullies. Then of four, all of whom have been Kirsten and Walk discover a long-kept secret scarred by the horrors of civil war, about themselves that changes their lives and who inadvertently put their benefactors in forever. harm's way. Chow, Cara Bitter Melon Crawford, Brent Frances, a Chinese-American Carter Finally Gets It student in a competitive school in Awkward freshman Will Carter in the 1980s, endures many painful moments begins to question her mother's during his first year of high insistence that she becomes a doctor when school before realizing that she accidentally enrolls in a speech class and nothing good comes easily, discovers a hidden talent. (Summary from focus is everything, and the payoff is usually Follett Destiny, 2011). incredible. (Summary from Follett Destiny, November 2010). Mature Situations Christopher, Lucy Stolen Creech, Sharon The Wanderer Sixteen-year-old Gemma, a British Sophie is determined to join her city-dweller, is abducted while on three and two boy vacation with her parents and cousins on their transatlantic sail taken to the Australian outback, to England, home of her where she soon realizes that escape attempts grandfather. The are futile, and in time she learns that her captor is not as despicable as she first

Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 24 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

protean nature of Sophie’s relationships with Going, K.L. her uncles and cousins lead all to self- King of the Screwups discoveries. Liam Geller is one of the most popular boys in school but can't De la Pena, Matt seem to do anything right in the Mexican Whiteboy eyes of his father; so he goes to Danny, who is tall and skinny but live with his homosexual, rocker uncle who has a talent for pitching a fastball, helps him to understand that there is much cannot seem to fit in at school in more to him than his father will ever see. San Diego, where his Mexican and white heritage causes people to judge him Goobie, Beth before he even speaks. (Follett, 2009) Sticks and Stones After developing an unearned Dessen, Sarah reputation as a girl with sexually What Happened to Goodbye loose morals, Jujube finds a novel Following her parents' bitter way to take on her tormentors and divorce as she and her father help a group of girls win back their self- move from town to town, esteem. seventeen-year-old Mclean reinvents herself at each school she attends Green, John until she is no longer sure she knows who she Paper Towns is or where she belongs. (Summary from One month before Follett Destiny, October 2011). graduating from his Central Florida high school, Fogelin, Adrian Quentin "Q" Jacobsen The Big Nothing basks in the predictable A middle-schooler struggles boringness of his life until the beautiful and to cope with major family exciting Margo Roth Spiegelman, Q’s problems, including a brother neighbor and classmate, takes him on a who might be heading for midnight adventure and then mysteriously the Persian Gulf, but finds an escape in piano disappears. (Summary from loc.gov, Sept. lessons and the dream of a romance with a 2008) popular girl. Han, Jenny We’ll Always Have Summer Gavalda, Anna 95 Pounds of Hope The summer after her first year From the first day, school had of college, Isobel "Belly" Conklin always been torture for is faced with a choice between Gregory, but his expulsion Jeremiah and Conrad Fisher, from school in sixth grade brothers she has always loved, when Jeremiah allows him to find his own path and deal with proposes and Conrad confesses that his parents' fights and his beloved he still loves her. (Summary from Hennepin grandfather's illness. (Summary from Library of County Library, November 2011). Congress, April 2004.)

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Hartinger, Brent Kephart, Beth Last Chance Texaco Troubled teen Lucy Pitt, High school sophomore Elisa orphaned after her parents death, is used to observing while struggles to fit in as a new tenant going unnoticed except when at a last-chance foster home. classmates ask her to write love notes for them, but a teacher's recognition of Hosseini, Khaled her talent, a "client's" desire for her A Thousand Splendid Suns friendship, a love of ice skating, and her Mariam and her mother live an parent's marital problems draw her out of isolated existence on the herself. (Summary from Hennepin County, outskirts of a small town in Sept. 2008) Afghanistan because Mariam is the illegitimate daughter of the town's richest Kessler, Cristina man. When her mother dies, fifteen-year-old Our Secret Siri Aang Namelok, a Masai girl, tries to Mariam is betrothed to a cobbler in the persuade her traditionalist father faraway Kabul. After several years of a childless marriage, Mariam's marries to delay her and a second wife, a girl whose boyfriend has fled marriage because they will restrict her freedom and keep her from the to the refugee camps in Pakistan black rhino mother and baby she is protecting from poachers. Johnson, Harriet McBryde Accidents of Nature Klise, James Having always prided herself on Love Drugged blending in with "normal" people Fifteen-year-old Jamie is despite her cerebral palsy, dismayed by his attraction to seventeen-year-old Jean begins to boys, and when a beautiful girl question her role in the world while attending shows an interest in him, he is all a summer camp for children with disabilities. the more intrigued by her father's work developing a drug called Rehomoline. Jones, V.M. (Summary from Follett Destiny, 2011). Out of Reach Pip McLeod is pressured by his Knowles, Jo aggressively competitive father to Lessons from a Dead Girl play soccer, but finds fulfillment After her former friend Leah dies and success by secretly pursuing in an automobile accident, Laine indoor rock climbing, a sport he remembers their troubled actually enjoys. (Follett, 2009) relationship, dating back to elementary school when Leah convinced Laine to "practice" in the closet with her, and Leah controlled her every thought. (Summary from Hennepin County, Sept. 2008)

Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 26 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

Koss, Amy Golden Lyga, Barry The Girls I Hunt Killers One Saturday morning a girl Seventeen-year-old finds out her friends—for Jazz learned all about reasons unknown—have being a serial killer decided to exclude her. As the from his notorious "Dear Old short novel moves over the course of the Dad." Believing he can fight his own urges weekend, five girls narrate in turns, each and right some of his father's wrongs, Jazz moving the story forward and providing helps the police catch the town's newest sometimes unwitting commentary on her murderer, "The Impressionist," but, in doing friends’ versions of events. so, he discovers he may have more in common with his father than he thought. Larochelle, David (Summary from Destiny Follett, January Absolutely Positively Not 2013). Chronicles a teenage boy's humorous attempts to fit in at Mazer, Harry his Minnesota high school by Somebody Please Tell Me becoming a macho, girl-loving, Who I Am "Playboy" pinup-displaying Wounded in Iraq while heterosexual. his Army unit is on convoy and treated for many Leviathan, David months for traumatic injury, the first Everyday person Ben remembers from his earlier life is Every morning A his brother who has autism. wakes in a different person's body, in a different Myers, Walter Dean person's life, learning over the Sunrise Over Fallujah years to never get too attached, until he wakes Perry, from Harlem, is up in the body of Justin and falls in love with sent to Iraq in 2003 as a member Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon. (Summary from of the Civilian Affairs Battalion, Follett Destiny, January 2013). and his time there profoundly changes him. (Summary from Hennepin Lockhart, E County, Sept. 2008) The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks Myracle, Lauren Frankie Landau-Banks attempts Twelve to take over a secret, all-male Winnie relates the events of her society at her exclusive prep twelfth year and the many changes school, and her antics with the group soon in her relationships and in her draw some unlikely attention and have attitude toward growing up. unexpected consequences that could change (Follett, 2009) her life forever. (Follett, 2009)

Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 27 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

Na, An for Amal when she decides to wear the hijab, The Fold the Muslim head scarf, full-time as a badge of Korean American high school her faith--without losing her identity or sense student Joyce Kim feels like a of style. (Summary from Destiny Follett, Oct nonentity compared to her 2009) beautiful older sister, and when her aunt offers to pay for Reinhardt, Dana plastic surgery on her eyes, she A Brief Chapter in My jumps at the chance, thinking it will change Impossible Life her life for the better. (Summary from Sixteen-year-old atheist Simone Hennepin County, Sept. 2008) Turner-Bloom's life changes in unexpected ways when her Oates, Joyce Carol parents convince her to make contact with her Big Mouth & Girl biological mother, an agnostic from a Jewish Matt didn't threaten to blow up family who is losing her battle with cancer. the school, but his reputation as a wise-ass makes his protests of Reinhardt, Dana innocence unconvincing. Ursula knows she How to Build a House didn't blow the game-losing foul Seventeen-year-old Harper shot on purpose, but she thinks the team Evans hopes to escape the blames her for the loss. These misunderstood effects of her father's divorce high school juniors discover themselves on her family and friendships through their friendship in this you-and-me- by volunteering her summer against-the-world romance. (Summary from to build a house in a small Tennessee town Horn Book Guide online, October 2003). devastated by a tornado. (Summary from Hennepin County, Sept. 2008) Parker, Linda Sue Project Mulberry Rosoff, Meg While working on a project for an after-school club, Julia, a To get away from her pregnant Korean American girl, and her stepmother in New York City, friend Patrick learn not just fifteen-year-old Daisy goes to about silkworms, but also about tolerance, England to stay with her aunt prejudice, friendship, patience, and more. and cousins, with whom she Between the chapters are short dialogues instantly bonds, but soon war breaks out and between the author and main character about rips apart the family while devastating the the writing of the book. land. (Summary from Hennepin Co. Library Feb. 2005). Abdel-Fattah, Randa Does My Head Look Big In Ryan, Pam Munoz This? Esperanza Rising Year Eleven at an exclusive prep Thirteen-year-old Esperanza, school in the suburbs of daughter of an affluent Melbourne, , would be Mexican rancher, is forced to tough enough, but it is further complicated trade fancy dolls and dresses Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 28 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

for hard work and ill-fitting hand-me-downs Spinelli, Jerry after her beloved father dies. Love, Stargirl Still moping months after being Sachar, Louis dumped by her Arizona Small Steps boyfriend Leo, fifteen-year-old Three years after being released Stargirl, a home-schooled free from Camp Green Lake, Armpit is spirit, writes "the world's longest letter" to trying hard to keep his life on Leo, describing her new life in Pennsylvania. track, but when his old pal X-Ray shows up with a tempting plan to make some Springer, Nancy easy money scalping concert tickets, Armpit Somebody reluctantly goes along. At the age of fifteen, a girl who has spent most of her life moving Sanchez, Alex around the country with her The Rainbow Boys father and brother, filling the Three high school seniors, a jock emptiness inside her with chocolate, with a girlfriend and an alcoholic remembers her real name, Sherica, and father, a closeted gay, and a searches the Internet to learn the truth about flamboyant gay rights advocate, her mother and her own past. (Summary from struggle with family issues, gay bashers, first Follett Destiny, Oct 2009). sex, and conflicting feelings about each other. St. Anthony, Jane Schmidt, Gary Grace Above All The Wednesday Wars When thirteen-year-old Grace, During the 1967 school year, her mother, and four go on Wednesday afternoons to her mother's childhood cabin when all his classmates go to by a lake over the summer, as usual Grace is either Catechism or Hebrew in charge of all the kids while her mother does school, seventh-grader Holling Hoodhood nothing, but after meeting some relatives stays in Mrs. Baker's classroom where they Grace becomes a bit more understanding, and read the plays of and learns to stand up for herself. Holling learns much of value about the world he lives in. Stork, Francisco Marcelo in the Real World Sonneblick, Jordan, Marcelo Sandoval, a seventeen- Drums Girls and Dangerous year-old boy on the high- Pie functioning end of the autistic When his younger brother is spectrum, faces new challenges, diagnosed with leukemia, including romance and injustice, when he thirteen-year-old Steven tries to goes to work for his father in the mailroom of deal with his complicated a corporate law firm. (Summary from Follett emotions, his school life, and his desire to Destiny, October 2009) support his family.

Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 29 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

Weeks, Sarah money, and after facing prejudice, , So B. It and tragedy, it is in soccer that Deo finds After spending her life with her renewed hope. (Summary from Follett mentally retarded mother and Destiny, November 2011). agoraphobic neighbor, twelve- year-old Heidi sets out from Reno, Nevada, to Zevin, Gabrielle New York to find out who she is. Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac Weeks, Sarah After a fall, Naomi Regular Guy realizes that she has no Because he is so different from memory of the last four years his eccentric parents, twelve-year- and finds herself reassessing every aspect of old Guy is convinced he has been her life. switched at with a classmate whose parents seem more normal. Mental Illness

Weaver, Will Dessen, Sarah Defect Just Listen After spending most of his life in Isolated from friends who believe Minnesota foster homes hiding a the worst because she has not bizarre physical abnormality, been truthful with them, sixteen- fifteen-year-old David is offered a chance at year-old Annabel finds an ally in normalcy, but must decide if giving up what classmate Owen, whose honesty and passion makes him special is the right thing to do. for music help her to face and share what really happened at the end-of-the-year party Williams, Carol Lynch that changed her life. The In a polygamous cult in the Jenkins, A.M. desert, Kyra, not yet fourteen, sees being chosen to be the An intense character study charts seventh wife of her uncle as just high school senior Austin’s punishment for having read books and kissed worsening depression as he pulls away from a boy in violation of Childs' friends, misses passes during football , teachings, and is torn between facing her fate and becomes involved in a complicated—and and running away from all that she knows and sexual—relationship with Heather, who’s got loves. (Summary form Follett Destiny, Oct her own set of emotional issues. 2009) Williams, Carol Lynch Williams, Michael Miles from Ordinary Now is the Time For Running Thirteen-year-old Lacey must When soldiers attack a small face the reality of what life with village in Zimbabwe, Deo goes on her mother means for both of the run with Innocent, his older, them as her mother's mental mentally disabled brother, carrying little but a leather soccer ball filled with Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 30 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

illness spins terrifyingly out of control. School Stories (Summary from Follett Destiny, November 2011). Anderson, Jessica Lee Martin, Ann Twelve-year-old Trudy's life is A Corner of the Universe filled with changes, mainly Twelve-year-old Hattie’s centered around starting middle ordinary summer is upset when school, and as she struggles to take them two strangers come to town: stride she is hit with the biggest change of all-- her hitherto unrevealed uncle her elderly father's diagnosis of dementia. Adam, who suffers from an unspecified mental illness, and Leila, a girl traveling with Barnes, Derrick an itinerant carnival. (Summary from Horn Book We Could Be Brothers Guide online, April 2003.) Two eighth-graders from very different backgrounds, Robeson McCormick, Patricia "Crease" Battlefield and Pacino Cut Clapton, discover in afterschool While confined to a mental detention that they have a great deal in hospital, thirteen-year-old Callie common. (Summary from Follett Destiny, slowly comes to understand some 2011) of the reasons behind her self-

mutilation, and gradually starts to Bauer, Joan get better. Peeled In an upstate New York Schumacher, Julie farming community, high Black Box school reporter Hildy Biddle When her sixteen-year-old sister investigates a series of strange occurrences at is hospitalized for depression and a house rumored to be haunted. (Summary her parents want to keep it a from Hennepin County, Sept. 2008) secret, fourteen-year-old Elena tries to cope with her own anxiety and feelings of guilt that she is determined to Flake, Sharon The Broken Bike Boy & the conceal from . (Summary from rd Follett Destiny, Oct 2009) Queen on 33 Street Ten-year-old Queen, a spoiled Trueman, Terry and conceited African American girl who is disliked by most of A sixteen-year-old with her classmates, learns a lesson schizophrenia is caught up in about friendship from an unlikely " in the events surrounding an shining armor." (Summary from Hennepin attempted robbery by two County Library, January 2008) other teens that eventually hold him hostage.

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Myers, Walter Dean in the city's government. The Cruisers Friends Zander, Kambui, LaShonda, and Short Stories Bobbi, caught in the middle of a mock Civil War at DaVinci Academy, learn the true cost Myers, Walter Dean of freedom of speech when they use their What They Found: Love on alternative newspaper, The Cruisers, to try to 145th Street make peace. (Summary from Follett Destiny, Fifteen interrelated stories November 2010). explore different aspects of love, such as a dying father's Na, An determination to help start a family business-- a beauty salon--and the relationship of two A Korean girl and her family teens who plan to remain celibate until they find it difficult to learn marry. English and adjust to life in America. Sports

Rottman, S.L. Shadow of a Doubt Coy, John As his sophomore year in high Crackback school begins, fifteen-year-old Miles barely recalls when football Shadow joins the forensics team, was fun after being sidelined by a makes new friends, and struggles to cope with new coach, constantly criticized by of his older brother, who ran away his father, and pressured by his best friend to seven years earlier and now faces a murder take performance-enhancing drugs. trial. Lupica, Mike

Travel Team Saldin, Erin The Girls of No Return After he is cut from his travel Lida Wallace, a troubled basketball team--the very same sixteen-year-old girl, attends a team that his father once led to school in the Idaho mountains national prominence--twelve-year- where she befriends glamorous old Danny Walker forms his own team of Gia Longchamps, but the consequences of cast-offs that might have a shot at victory. their friendship get revealed during the , John school's planned wilderness hike. Summary The Boy Who Saved from Follett Destiny, April 2012). Baseball The fate of a small California Winerip, Michael town rests on the outcome of Adam Canfield of the Slash one baseball game, and Tom While serving as co-editors of Gallagher hopes to lead his their school newspaper, team to victory with the secrets of the now middle-schoolers Adam and disgraced player, Dante Del Gato. Jennifer uncover fraud and corruption in their school and Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 32 Denotes new titles recently added to the list

Scaletta, Kurtis Johnson, Angela Mudville For twenty-two years, since a Sixteen-year-old Bobby and his fateful baseball game against girlfriend, Nia, had planned to their rival town, it has rained in put their baby, Feather, up for Moundville, so when the rain adoption, but Feather becomes finally stops, twelve-year-old Roy, his friends, impossible to relinquish after, as and foster brother Sturgis dare to face the the reader learns at book's end, - curse and form a team. (Summary from related eclampsia leaves Nia in an irreversible Follett Destiny, Oct 2009) coma. What resonate in this prequel to the -winning Heaven Zusak, Mark are the sacrifices Bobby makes for Feather's Fighting Ruben Wolfe sake. (Summary from Horn Book Guide online, In this fast-paced Australian October 2003.) import, teenage tough guys Cameron and Ruben Wolfe are Levine, Ellen offered a chance to fight on the In Trouble underground boxing circuit. Cam’s brawny In 1950s New York, sixteen- first-person narrative captures the physical year-old Jamie's life is unsettled rigors of the boxing ring as well as the since her father returned from emotional turmoil of the troubled Wolfe serving time in prison for family. refusing to name people as Communists, when her best friend turns to Jamie for help Teen Pregnancy with an unplanned pregnancy. (Summary from Follett Destiny, April 2012). Bechard, Margaret Hanging on to Max When his girlfriend decides to give their baby away, 17-year- old Sam is determined to raise him alone.

Efaw, Amy After Devon Davenport is a straight-A student and prominent player on her school's soccer team, but when she is linked to an abandoned baby found in the trash she is accused of attempted murder. Mature Theme. (Summary form Destiny Follett, November 2009).

Unless otherwise noted, summaries are from Hennepin County Library @ hclib.org 33