Escape Under the Forever Sky by Eve Yohalem

"Dust is everywhere."

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Abstract: As a future conservation zoologist whose mother is the United States Ambassador to Ethiopia, thirteen-year-old Lucy uses her knowledge for survival when she is kidnapped and subsequently escapes.

Publisher: Chronicle Books; 220 pages

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

"I clasp the flask between my hands even though the warmth from the tea has long since leached into the frozen air."

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Summary: By winning the annual Hunger Games, District 12 tributes Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark have secured a life of safety and plenty for themselves and their families, but because they won by defying the rules, they unwittingly become the faces of an impending rebellion.

Publisher: Scholastic; 391 pages

Messed Up by Janet Nichols Lynch

"Cat fight -- about the only good thing that can happen the first day of school."

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Abstract: Fifteen-year-old RD is repeating the eighth grade, planning to have an easy year, but after his grandmother walks out her boyfriend is no longer able to care for him, which leaves RD to fend for himself while avoiding being caught.

Publisher: Holiday House; 250 pages

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

"By 1899, we had learned to tame the darkness but not the Texas heat."

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Abstract: In central Texas in 1899, eleven-year-old Callie Vee Tate is instructed to be a lady by her mother, learns about love from the older three of her six brothers, and studies the natural world with her grandfather, the latter of which leads to an important discovery.

Publisher: Henry Holt and Company, 340 pages

Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez

"Tyler looks out the window of his bedroom and can't believe what he is seeing."

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Abstract: After his family hires migrant Mexican workers to help save their Vermont farm from foreclosure, eleven-year-old Tyler befriends the oldest daughter, but when he discovers they may not be in the country legally, he realizes that real friendship knows no borders.

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf; 324 pages

Traveling the Freedom Road: From Slavery & the Civil War Through Reconstruction by Linda Barrett Osborne

"Countries have stories to tell, just as people do."

Summary: In association with the Library of Congress. "From the perspective of those who lived through a time of pain, strife, and hope comes a powerful message for Black History Month and all year long." Told through unforgettable first-person accounts from slave narratives, journals, diaries, and other sources--much of it never before published for young people--this book is an overview of the antebellum South, the Civil War, and Reconstruction, 1800 to 1877. The perspectives of children and adults who lived through this time and witnessed its significant events are provided alongside photographs, engravings, news clippings, and other archival material held in the collections of the Library of Congress, and offer a poignant message for readers. A bibliography and an index round out the many offerings of this important addition to black history books for young readers.

Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 128 pages

The Problem with the Puddles by Kate Feiffer

"A cloud hovers over the Puddles."

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Abstract: The Puddle parents cannot seem to agree about anything, but when their dogs go missing the whole family embarks on an unlikely quest that eventually answers many unasked questions.

Publisher: Simon and Schuster, 197 pages

Wild Things by Clay Carmichael

"Humans were diggers and buriers, the cat thought, like dogs."

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Abstract: Stubborn, self-reliant, eleven-year-old Zoe, recently orphaned, moves to the country to live with her prickly half-uncle, a famous doctor and sculptor, and together they learn about trust and the strength of family.

Publisher: Front Street; 240 pages