Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri

"We drivin' into the sunset, the car burning up from the heat."

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Summary: Twelve-year-old Cole's behavior causes his mother to drive him from Detroit to Philadelphia to live with a father he has never known, but who soon has Cole involved with a group of African-American "cowboys" who rescue horses and use them to steer youths away from drugs and gangs.

Publisher: Candlewick Press; 218 pages

The Crepe Makers' Bond by Julie Crabtree

"The earthquake started like they always do."

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Summary: Fourteen-year-old Ariel uses cooking to work through problems, but none of her recipes are likely to help when she and Nicki learn that M may be moving away from Alameda soon after they begin eighth grade. Includes recipes and cooking tips.

Milkweed Editions; 231 pages

How Lamar's Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy by Crystal Allen

"Since Saturday, I've fried Sergio like catfish, mashed him like potatoes, and creamed his corn in ten straight games of bowling."



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Summary: When thirteen-year-old, bowling-obsessed Lamar Washington finds out that his idol is coming to town, he finds himself involved in some unsavory activities as he tries to change his image to impress people.

Balzer + Bray, 283 pages

If I Could Fly by Judith Ortiz Cofer

"When I come out of my room ready to go to church, I find Papi in the kitchen drinking yesterday's coffee."

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Summary:  When fifteen-year-old Doris's mother, a professional singer, returns to Puerto Rico and her father finds a girlfriend, Doris cares for a neighbor's pigeons and relies on friends as she begins to find her own voice and wings.

Farrar Straus Giroux; 195 pages

Camo Girl by Kekla Magoon

"I call him Zachariah."

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Summary: A poignant novel about a biracial girl living in the suburbs of Las Vegas examines the friendships that grow out of, and despite, her race.

 Publisher: Aladdin; 218 pages

Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt

"Joe Pepitone once gave me his New York Yankees baseball cap."

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Summary: As a fourteen-year-old who just moved to a new town, with no friends, an abusive father, and a louse for an older brother, Doug Swieteck has all the stats stacked against him until he finds an ally in Lil Spicer--a fiery young lady. Together, they find a safe haven in the local library, inspiration in learning about the plates of John James Audubon's birds, and a hilarious adventure on a Broadway stage. Companion to The Wednesday Wars.

Clarion Books, 360 pages

Reinvention of Bessica Lefter by Kristen Tracy

"I stared into the dark, cavernous hole with my best friend, Sylvie."

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Summary: Eleven-year-old Bessica's plans to begin North Teton Middle School as a new person begin to fall apart even before school begins.

Delacorte Press; 305 pages

The Danger Box by Blue Balliett

"Twelve words were painted in gold ink on the wall of an office in Dearborn, Michigan:

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST IS A DEADLY GAME. WHO CAN WIN FOREVER?"

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Summary: In small-town Michigan, twelve-year-old Zoomy and his new friend Lorrol investigate the journal found inside a mysterious box and find family secrets and a more valuable treasure, while a dangerous stranger watches and waits.

Scholastic Press; 306 pages

Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord

"The ferry's coming!"

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Summary: When the state of Maine threatens to shut down their island's one-room schoolhouse because of dwindling enrollment, eleven-year-old Tess, a strong believer in luck, and her family take in a trumpet-playing foster child, to increase the school's population.

Publisher: Scholastic; 186 pages

Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson

"Can you walk?" someone asked me.

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Summary: Separated from his friend Isabel after their daring escape from slavery, fifteen-year-old Curzon serves as a free man in the Continental Army at Valley Forge until he and Isabel are thrown together again, as slaves once more.

Publisher: Atheneum; 297 pages

Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes

"They say I was born with a caul, a skin netting covering my face like a glove."

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Summary: In New Orleans' Ninth Ward, twelve-year-old Lanesha, who can see spirits, and her adopted grandmother have no choice but to stay and weather the storm as Hurricane Katrina bears down upon them.

Publisher: Little Brown; 217 pages

A Whole Nother Story by Dr. Cuthbert Soup

"If I could give you all one piece of advice, it would be...well, an incomplete sentence."

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Ethan Cheeseman and his children, ages eight, twelve, and fourteen, hope to settle in a nice small town, at least long enough to complete work on a time machine, but spies and government agents have been pursuing them for two years and are about to catch up.

Bloomsbury, 264 pages

Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins

"Teachers wanted."

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Two Burmese boys, one a Karenni refugee and the other the son of an imprisoned Burmese doctor, meet in the jungle and in order to survive they must learn to trust each other.

Charlesbridge, 272 pages

The Cardturner: A Novel about a King, a Queen, and a Joker by Louis Sachar

"Ever since I was a little kid, I've had it drilled into me that my uncle Lester was my favorite uncle."

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When his wealthy uncle, a champion bridge player who has lost his vision, asks seventeen-year-old Alton to be a cardturner for him, Alton has no idea how much he will ultimately learn from his eccentric relative.

Delacorte Press, 336 pages

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

"The big question: Is Origami Yoda real?"

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Sixth-grader Tommy and his friends describe their interactions with a paper finger puppet of Yoda, worn by their weird classmate Dwight, as they try to figure out whether or not the puppet can really predict the future.

Amulet Books, 141 pages

Missing in Action by Dean Hughes

"Jay Thacker was standing by the backstop."

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While his father is missing in action in the Pacific during World War II, twelve-year-old Jay moves with his mother to small-town Utah, where he sees prejudice from both sides, as a part-Navajo himself and through an unlikely friendship with Japanese American Ken from the nearby internment camp.

Antheneum Books, 228 pages

As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth by Lynne Rae Perkins

"Wait a minute.

Was the --had the train just moved?"

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Summary: A teenaged boy encounters one comedic calamity after another when his train strands him in the middle of nowhere, and everything comes down to luck.


Greenwillow Books; 352 pages

Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers

"I hope you mess this up! I hope you blow it bigtime! You're supposed to be smart. You think you're smart, right?"

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Summary: Teenage Reese, serving time at a juvenile detention facility, gets a lesson in making it through hard times from an unlikely friend with a harrowing past.


Amistad; 247 pages

The Fast and the Furriest by Andy Behrens

"Twelve-year-old Kevin Pugh stood on the pitcher's mound."

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Summary: The overweight and unathletic son of a famous former football star discovers that his equally fat and lazy dog is unexpectedly--and obsessively--interested in competing in dog agility contests.

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf; 247 pages

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm

"Everyone thinks children are sweet as Necco Wafers, but I've lived long enough to know the truth: kids are rotten."

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Summary: In 1935, when her mother gets a job housekeeping for a woman who does not like children, eleven-year-old Turtle is sent to stay with relatives she has never met in far away Key West, Florida.

Random House; 177 pages