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Annotated Reading List
Almond, David. Skellig. Delacorte, 1998. Michael and Mina care for a strange creature that seems to be part bird and part angel.
Avi. Crispin: The Cross of Lead. Hyperion, 2002. Falsely accused of theft and murder, an orphaned peasant boy in fourteenth-century England flees his village and meets a larger-than-life juggler who holds a dangerous secret. Sequel: Crispin: At the Edge of the World.
Bauer, Joan. Hope Was Here. Putnam, 2000. When 16 year-old Hope and her aunt take new jobs as waitress and cook at the Welcome Stairways diner, they become involved with a political campaign to oust the town’s corrupt mayor. Also see Best Foot Forward.
Bitton-Jackson, Livia. I Have Lived a Thousand Years: Growing Up in the Holocaust Simon & Schuster, 1997. The author, who was thirteen when the Nazis invaded Hungary, describes in excruciating detail what it was like to be one of the few teenage inmates of Auschwitz and the miraculous twists of fate that helped her survive.
Blackwood, Gary. The Shakespeare Stealer. Dutton, 1998. A young orphan boy is ordered by his master to infiltrate Shakespeare’s acting troupe in order to steal the script of Hamlet. Sequels: Shakespeare’s Scribe, Shakespeare’s Spy. Also see The Year of the Hangman, Second Sight.
Bloor, Edward. Tangerine. Harcourt, 1997. Twelve-year-old Paul’s family revolves around his football hero brother, failing to notice as Paul fights for the right to play soccer when disqualified by his bad eyesight.
Cholenko, Gennifer. Al Capone does my shirts. Putnam, 2004. A twelve-year-old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 when guards’ families were housed there, and has to contend with his extraordinary new environment in addition to life with his autistic sister.
Colfer, Eoin. Artemis Fowl. Hyperion, 2001. An evil young genius tries to restore his family’s fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding ransom. Sequels: Eternity Code, Arctic Incident, The Opal Deception, The Lost Colony.
Corbett, Sue. 12 Again. Dutton, 2002. On the eve of her fortieth birthday, Bernadette wishes to be young again, and wakes up as a twelve-year old.
Creech, Sharon. Bloomability. HarperCollins, 1998. When her aunt and uncle take her from New Mexico to Switzerland to attend an international school, thirteen-year-old Dinnie discovers an expanding world and her place in it. Also see Walk Two Moons, Ruby Holler, Chasing Redbird, Granny Torrelli Makes Soup
Deuker, Carl. Night Hoops. Houghton Mifflin, 2000. While trying to prove that he should play on the varsity basketball team, freshman Nick Abbott must also deal with his parents’ divorce and erratic behavior of a troubled classmate who lives across the street.
Funke, Cornelia. The Dragon rider trilogy: Dragon rider. Firedrake, a silver dragon, is joined by an orphan boy in his quest to find the legendary valley known as the Rim of Heaven. Sequels: Inkheart, Inkspell
Haddix, Margaret Peterson. The Shadow Children sequence. Among the Hidden. In a future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on his family's farm, until another "third" convinces him that the government is wrong. Sequels: Among the Imposters, Among the Betrayed, Among the Barons, Among the Brave, Among the Enemy, Among the Free. Also see The House on the Gulf, Double Identity.
Hiaasen, Carl. Hoot. Roy, who is new to his small Florida community, becomes involved in another boy’s attempt to save a colony of burrowing owls from a proposed construction site. Flush. With their father jailed for sinking a river boat, Noah Underwood and his younger sister, Abbey, must gather evidence that the owner of this floating casino is emptying his bilge tanks into the protected waters around their Florida Keys home.
Hesse, Karen. Witness. Scholastic, 2001. Residents of a small Vermont town give various points of view and opinions, after the Ku Klux Klan tries to infiltrate. Based on true events, the book takes place in 1924.
Horowitz, Anthony. The Alex Rider series. Stormbreaker. 14-year-old Alex continues his uncle’s work for Britian’s Intelligence Agency M16. Sequels: Point Blank, Skeleton Key, Eagle Strike, Scorpia, Ark Also see The Gatekeeper’s series. Raven’s Gate, Evil Star, Nightrise.
Jacques, Brian. The Redwall series based on animal, fantasy fiction. Redwall, Mossflower, Mattimeo, Mariel of Redwall, Salamandastron, Martin the Warrior, The Bellmaker, Outcast of Redwall, Pearls of Lutra, The Long Patrol, Marlfox, The Legend of Luke, Lord Brocktree, Taggerung, Triss, Loamhedge, High Rhulain, Rakkety Tam.
Konigsburg, E. L. Silent to the Bone. Atheneum, 2000. When he is wrongly accused of gravely injuring is baby half-sister, thirteen-year-old Branwell loses his power of speech and only his friend Connor is able to reach him and uncover the truth about what really happened.
MacHale, D.J. Pendragon Chronicles: "Journal of an adventure through time and space." Fourteen-year-old Bobby Pendragon, has learned he is a Traveler--someone who can ride "flumes" through time and space. Sequels: Merchant of Death, Lost City of Faar, Never War, Reality Bug, Black Water, Rivers of Zadaa The Quillan Games.
Mazer, Norma Fox. Good Night, Maman. Harcourt Brace, 1999. After spending years fleeing from the Nazis in war-torn Europe, twelve-year-old Karin Levi and her older brother, Marc, find a new home in a refugee camp in Oswego, New York.
McKay, Hilary. Saffy’s Angel. After learning that she was adopted, thirteen-year-old Saffron's relationship with her eccentric, artistic family changes, until they help her go back to Italy where she was born to find a special memento of her past. Sequel: Indigo’s Star
Morris, Gerald. The Squire’s Tale. In medieval England, fourteen-year-old Terence finds his tranquil existence suddenly changed when he becomes the squire of the young Gawain of Orkney. Sequels: The squire, his knight & his lady. The Save Damsel and the Dwarf. Parsifal’s Page. The Princess, The Crone and The Dung-Cart Knight.
Namioka, Lensey. Ties That Bind, Ties That Break. Delacorte Press, 1999. Ailin, rebelling against the ancient Chinese tradition of binding girls’ feet, loses her family’s support and makes a new life in the United States. Also see Half and Half.
Paolini, Christopher. Inheritance series. Eragon. Fifteen year-old Eragon’s life changes forever when he finds a dragon’s egg. With the dragon, Saphira, Eragon seeks to fulfill his destiny as a member of an ancient clan of dragon riders. Sequel: Eldest.
Park, Linda Sue. A Single Shard. Clarion, 2001. Tree-ear is homeless, living under a bridge in twelfth-century Korea. Tree-ear loves to hide behind one of the master potters’ houses in the village and watch Master Min use the potter’s wheel to make delicate and beautiful celadon pottery. Also see When my Name was Keoko.
Rinaldi, Ann. Numbering all the Bones. Hyperion, 2002. Thirteen-year-old Eulinda, a house slave on a Georgia plantation in 1864, turns to Clara Barton, the eventual founder of the American Red Cross, for help in finding her brother Neddy who ran away to join the Northern war effort and is rumored to be at Andersonville Prison. Also see Wolf by the Ears. Scholastic, 1991. Harriet Hemmings, rumored to be the daughter of Thomas Jefferson, struggles to decide whether to escape or remain a slave at Monticello.
Roberts, Willo Davis. Twisted Summer. Atheneum, 1996. Fourteen-year-old Cici looks forward to summer at Crystal Lake, until she learns of the murder of another young girl the previous summer.
Ryan, Pam Munoz. Becoming Naomi Leon. When Naomi's absent mother resurfaces to claim her, Naomi runs away to Mexico with her great-grandmother and younger brother in search of her father.
Sachar, Louis. Small Steps Sequel to: Holes. Three years after being released from Camp Green Lake, Armpit is trying hard to keep his life on track, but when his old pal X-Ray shows up with a tempting plan to make some easy money scalping concert tickets, Armpit reluctantly goes along.
Sayres, Meghan Nuttall. Anahita’s Woven Riddle. Amulet, 2006. In Iran, more than 100 years ago, a young girl with three suitors gets permission from her father and a holy man to weave into her wedding rug a riddle to be solved by her future husband, which will ensure that he has a wit to match hers.
Shan, Darren. Cirque de Freak. Two boys who are best friends visit an illegal freak show, where an encounter with a vampire and a deadly spider forces them to make life-changing choices. Sequels: Vampire’s Assistant, Tunnels of Blood, Vampire Mountain, Trials by Death, The Vampire Prince, Hunters of the Dusk, Allies of the Night, Killers of the Dawn, Lake of Souls, Lord of the Shadows, Sons of Destiny.
Snicket, Lemony. A series of unfortunate events. Bad Beginning, After the sudden death of their parents, the three Baudelaire children must depend on each other and their wits when it turns out that the distant relative who is appointed their guardian is determined to use any means necessary to get their fortune. Sequels: The Reptile Room. The Wide Window. The Miserable Mill. The Austere Academy. The Ersatz Elevator. The Vile Village. The Hostile Hospital. The Carnivorous Carnival. The Slippery Slope. The Grim Grotto. The Penultimate Peril. The End.
Spinelli, Jerry. Stargirl. Knopf, 2000. Stargirl, a teen who animates quiet Mica High with her colorful personality, suddenly finds herself shunned for her refusal to conform.
Stroud, Jonathan. The Bartimaeus Trilogy. The Amulet of Samarkand, Bk. 1. Nathaniel, a magician’s apprentice, summons up the djinni Bartimaeus and instructs him to steal the Amulet of Samarkand from the powerful magaician Simon Lovelace. Sequels: The Golem’s Eye, Ptolemy’s Gate.
Taylor, Mildred. The Land. Fogelman, 2001. Paul-Edward, the son of a part-Indian, part-African slave mother and a white plantation owner father, finds himself caught between the two worlds of his parents as he pursues his dream of owning land in the aftermath of the Civil War. Prequel to: Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit. or There and Back Again. Bilbo Baggins, a respectable, well-to-do hobbit, lives comfortably in his hobbit-hole until the day the wandering wizard Gandalf chooses him to take part in an adventure from which he may never return. Prequel to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
Van Draanen, Wendelin. Flipped. Knopf, 2001. In alternating chapters, two teenagers describe how heir feelings about themselves, each other, and their families have changed over the years. Also see Sammy Keyes Series and Runaway.
Wolff, Virginia. True Believer. Atheneum, 2001. At fifteen, LaVaughn finds herself facing new emotions when her childhood friend returns to their dismal inner-city neighborhood. Sequel to: Make Lemonade.
Woodson., Jacqueline. I Hadn’t Meant to Tell You This. Bantam, 1994. Marie, an upper-class African American, befriends Lena, a poor, white girl, and learns her secret. Now, Marie must decide if she should tell. Hush. Thirteen-year-old Toswiah finds her life changed when her family enters the witness protection program.
Wrede, Patricia. Dealing with Dragons. Bored with traditional palace life, a princess goes off to live with a group of dragons and soon becomes involved with fighting against some disreputable wizards who want to steal away the dragons' kingdom. Sequels: Searching for Dragons, Calling on Dragons. Talking to Dragons.
Yep, Lawrence. The Tiger’s Apprentice. A tiger, a monkey, a dragon, and a twelve-year-old Chinese American boy fight to keep a magic talisman out of the hands of an enemy who would use its power to destroy the world. Sequel: Tiger’s Blood.
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