 Keeper
by Kathi Appelt, August Hall
Ages 8–12
Since her mother swam away and never
returned seven years ago, 10-year-old Keeper, convinced that
her mother is a mermaid, has lived on the Texas coast with
her guardian Signe. Keeper has waited all summer for the blue
moon, when Signe will make a special gumbo, but she accidentally
spoils everything. So Keeper sets out in a small boat into
the sea to find her mother and set everything right. Mermaid
lore, local legends, Cajun superstitions, and natural history
enliven this magical tale. |
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 The
Secret Life of Prince Charming
by Deb Caletti
Ages 12–up
Quinn is surrounded by women
who have been disappointed by love. When her own romance
also disintegrates, Quinn wonders if there are any
good men out there. Then she discovers that her womanizing
father, Prince Charming, may have stolen more than
the hearts of the women he charmed. With her step-sisters,
Quinn sets out to right her father’s wrongs by returning
the stolen treasures. |
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 Jump
by Elisa Carbone
Ages 12–up
P.K. (16) runs away from home to
avoid being sent off to boarding school. Critter, who has
the ability to see colors that reveal emotions, escapes
from a psychiatric hospital. Bonded by a shared love of
rock-climbing, the two hitchhike to Las Vegas to attempt
the first-ever climb up a steep rock face. Pursued by the
police, who believe that P.K.’s life is in danger, the
pair share their hopes and fears of the past and present.
Told from the perspectives of both teens, this exciting
book explores themes of independence, belonging, love,
and endurance.
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 Because
I am Furniture
by Thalia Chaltas
Ages 12–up
Anke’s father is abusive to
her older brother and sister, but not to her. She is
invisible and helpless. Then Anke makes the volleyball
team at school and her confidence builds until she
begins to hope that her voice will soon be loud enough
to rescue everyone at home, including herself. This
powerful novel in poems is devastating yet offers empowerment
and hope. |
|
 Waiting
for Normal
by Leslie Connor
Ages 10–up
Sixth-grader Addie’s mother disappears
for days at a time, leaving the resilient Addie to struggle
to maintain a normal life. Addie’s optimism in the face
of child neglect makes for a powerful story. |
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 Walk
Two Moons
by Sharon Creech
Newbery Medal 1995
Ages 10–14
Salamanca Tree Hiddle’s mother leaves
home on a spiritual quests, but promises to return. She doesn’t,
and Sal and her father move from Kentucky to Idaho. Her new friend
Phoebe is also 13 and also has a mother who vanished. Sal convinces
her grandparents to drive to Idaho in search of her mother while
telling the story of Phoebe. Sal’s journey through the grieving
process of denial, anger, and acceptance is presented realistically
and with compassion. |
|
 Happyface
by Stephen Emond
Ages 12–up
Our narrator, an introverted and artistically
talented high school sophomore, decides to try out a new happy-go-lucky
persona at his new school, and quickly earns the nickname Happyface.
The plan works, and Happyface soon has a new collection of
friends who accept him at face value. But his sketchbook reveals
the truth: his parents’ failing marriage, his own broken heart,
and the real reason he had to switch schools. Happyface is
able to illustrate the feelings he can’t write about, and the
reader is gradually able to get to know the real person behind
the facade. |
|
 Suicide
Notes
by Michael Thomas Ford
Ages 14–up
Jeff, the 15-year-old narrator, is
in a psychiatric ward after a suicide attempt. At first convinced
he is the only sane one surrounded by crazy kids, Jeff slowly
begins to form relationships and to understand his own problems
and confusions. This darkly humorous novel presents issues
of identity in a compelling and witty manner. |
|
 King
of the Screwups
by K.L. Going
Ages 12–up
Liam Geller (17) has everything,
a super-model mother, CEO father, popularity, and good
looks. But somehow he always manages to do exactly
the wrong thing and infuriate his father. When he is
kicked out of the house he is sent to stay with his
gay uncle who lives in a trailer in the middle of nowhere.
To regain his father’s approval, Liam tries to reinvent
himself as a nerd, but eventually the likeable Liam
learns to just be himself. |
|
 Out
of the Dust
by Karen Hesse
Newbery Medal 1998
Ages 11–up
Billie Jo (14) records the grim realities
of living in the Oklahoma dust bowl during the Depression. In
her free verse journal, she reveals her mother’s death and her
own burns in a fire and her father’s grief. Billie Jo’s hope
for a better future shines through all the pain and struggle
to survive. |
|
 Identical
by Ellen Hopkins
Ages 14–up
Kaeleigh and Reanne are identical 16-year-old
twins. From the outside their family seems perfect, but since
an accident their mother is emotionally unreachable and the
girls are self destructive in different ways. Narrated in free
verse, this disturbing novel is both beautiful and shocking. |
|
 The
Snowball Effect
by Holly Nicole Hoxter
Ages 12–up
Lainey (18) has a lot to deal
with—her mother commits suicide, leaving Lainey
in charge of her challenging 5-year-old adopted brother
Collin. Then her estranged older step-sister Vallery
arrives to take charge. Lainey’s long-time boyfriend
tries to help out, but she takes her anger out on him
and breaks up. Lainey’s efforts to deal with her grief
as she and Vallery try to work together to raise Collin
are honestly and effectively portrayed. |
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 Outside
Beauty
by Cynthia Kadohata
Ages 12–up
When 12-year old Shelby’s beautiful
mother is critically injured in a car crash, Shelby and
her three sisters are parceled out to their four different
fathers. As Shelby plans to reunite the sisters, she
begins to appreciate her father’s kindness and begins
to understand the difference between beauty and perfection. |
|
 Jumping
Off Swings
by Jo Knowles
Ages 14–up
Ellie craves a boyfriend, but
instead she gets pregnant by Josh, who avoids her after
their one time together. Afraid to tell her parents,
she confides in her best friend Corinne, and the compassionate
mother of her childhood friend Caleb. Josh confides
in Caleb, who begins spending time with Corinne because
of their shared concern for Ellie. This sensitive and
absorbing novel shows how a crisis can change a person’s
life as well as the lives of others around her. |
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 I
Know It’s Over
by C.K. Kelly Martin
Ages 14–up
Still coping with his parents’
divorce, 16-year-old Nick is stunned when his ex-girlfriend
Sasha tells him she is pregnant. Nick struggles to do
the right thing by Sasha. His pain and uncertainty are
portrayed with frankness in this emotionally complex
coming-of-age story. |
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 Ways
To Live Forever
by Sally Nicholls
Ages 9–12
Eleven-year old Sam is in the final
stages of leukemia. In his journal he keeps facts, questions,
and lists. As the book progresses, Sam’s friend Felix dies
and Sam begins to decline. Sam and his family face death with
humor and grace in this moving novel. |
|
 Jacob
Have I Loved
by Katherine Paterson
Newbery Medal 1981
Ages 12–up
Growing up on Chesapeake Bay island in
the early 1940s, Louise knows that like Esau from the Bible she
is hated while her twin sister Caroline, like Jacob, is the one
everyone loves. While the family pampers the beautiful and gifted
Caroline, lonely and miserable Louise learns the way of the watermen
from old Captain Wallace. Eventually Louise learns that she has
her own strengths. |
|
 Last
Night I Sang to the Monster
by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Ages 14–up
Zach (18) is bright, articulate,
and in a rehab center for drugs and alcohol. But Zach
doesn’t remember how he got there, he only knows it was
something really bad. Written as a homework assignment
for his therapist, this beautifully written first-person
narrative offers insight into addiction, dysfunction,
and mental illness. |
|
 Stitches
by David Small
Ages 12–up
In this memoir, David Small tells the
story of his boyhood in the 1950s. Believing that science can
fix everything, his radiologist father subjected David to numerous
x-rays for various childhood ailments, resulting in cancer
that was untreated for years. At age 14, unaware that he had
throat cancer and was expected to die, David awoke from an
operation left him nearly mute. Beautifully told from a child’s
perspective, this pen and ink graphic novel is both dark and
delightful. |
|
 Maniac
Magee
by Jerry Spinelli
Newbery Medal 1991
Ages 8–12
After being orphaned as a baby, Jerry
Magee is brought up by his aunt and uncle, who fight all the
time. He runs away at age eight to Two Mills, Pennsylvania and
becomes a folk hero—Maniac Magee, the boy who can outrun
any dog, hit any pitch, untie any knot. He is taken in by a black
family but that causes problems in the racially divided town.
Maniac keeps searching for the perfect family and eventually
helps the town bridge the gap between racial and cultural differences. |
|
 The
Last Summer of the Death Warriors
by Francisco Stork
Ages 14–up
Pancho Sanchez (17) is sent
to a Catholic orphanage after his father and sister
die within a few months. Pancho is determined to avenge
the death of his sister by killing the man he believes
is responsible. D.Q., a fellow orphan, asks Pancho
to come with him to Albuquerque as support during his
brain cancer treatment. Pancho agrees since that's
where the man he is stalking lives. But D.Q.’s
“Death Warrior Manifesto,” a document
he has composed to help him live out his last days
with purpose, gradually influences Pancho to consider
choosing life over murder. This powerful novel deals
with themes of responsibility, racial and family
tension, and the purpose of life. |
|
 Marcelo
In The Real World
by Francisco Stork
Ages 14–up
Marcelo Sandoval hears music
no one else can hear and attends a special school specializing
in autism and Asperger’s. The summer before his senior
year, he arranges a job caring for ponies, but his father
wants him to work in the mail room in his law firm in
order to experience the real world. and then attend a
regular school in the fall. Readers enter Marcelo’s private
world as he navigates the unfamiliar world outside his
school in this powerful novel celebrating the difference
in all of us. |
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 Glimpse
by Carol Lynch Williams
Ages 12–up
Hope (12) is horrified when her sister
Lizzie (14) tries to shoot herself. Lizzie becomes an elective
mute and is institutionalized and Hope desperately tries to
understand what has happened. Ever since their father died,
Hope and Lizzie relied on each other. Their mother is a reluctant
parent at best, turning tricks to support the family and her
dependence on alcohol. Narrated in blank verse from Hope’s
perspective, flashbacks fill in the girls’ past. The appalling
truth is finally revealed when Hope reads Lizzie’s diary in
this lyrical yet heartbreaking novel. |
|
 Dicey’s
Song
by Cynthia Voigt
Newbery Medal
1983
Ages 12–up
Dicey (13) and her three siblings are
living on a farm with her grandmother. Their father deserted
the family, and their mother is in a mental institution. Used
to being the main support for her siblings, Dicey must get used
to the fact that they don’t need her in the same way. All of
the children must adjust to a new school and a new life with
Gram, who is fiercely independent. (sequel to Homecoming) |
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