Adams, Doug
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The insanely funny, satiric best-seller about the end of the world and the days that follow it.

Anderson, M.T.
The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen
Looking forward to a vacation, Katie, Lily, and Jasper attach their flying Gyroscopic Sky Suite to the Moose Tongue Lodge and Resort, where they mingle with other child heroes found in books, and where they become embroiled in a mystery involving lederhosen-clothed quintuplets and a screaming ventriloquist.

Blume, Judy
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
Peter finds his demanding two-year-old brother an ever increasing problem.
Sequels: Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great, Superfudge, Fudge-a-Mania, Double Fudge

Cabot, Meg
The Princess Diaries
Fourteen-year-old Mia, who is trying to lead a normal life as a teenage girl in New York City, is shocked to learn that her father is the Prince of Genovia, a small European principality, and that she is a princess and the heir to the throne.
Sequels: Princess in the Spotlight, Princess in Love, Princess in Waiting, Princess in Pink, Princess in Training, Party Princess

Carter, Ally
I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You
As a sophomore at a secret spy school and the daughter of a former CIA operative, Cammie is sheltered from "normal teenage life" until she meets a local boy while on a class surveillance mission.

Choldenko, Gennifer
Al Capone Does My Shirts
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 enviroment in addition to life with his autistic sister.

Couloumbis, Audrey
The Misadventures of Maude March, or, Trouble Rides a Fast Horse
After the death of the stern aunt who raised them since they were orphaned, eleven-year-old Sallie and her fifteen-year-old sister escape their self-serving guardians and begin an adventure resembling those in the dime novels Sallie loves to read.

Curtis, Christopher Paul
The Watsons Go To Birmingham
The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African-American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.

Dahl, Roald
Matilda
Matilda applies her untapped mental powers to rid the school of the evil, child-hating headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, and restore her nice teacher, Miss Honey, to financial security.
Other: Check out other humorous books by Roald Dahl including The Twits and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Danzinger, Paula
There's a Bat in Bunk Five
On her own for the first time, fourteen-year-old Marcy tries to cope with the new people and situations she encounters while working as a counselor at an arts camp.

Ferris, Jean
Once Upon a Mariogold
A young man with a mysterious past and a penchant for inventing things leaves the troll who raised him, meets an unhappy princess he has loved from afar, and discovers a plot against her and her father.

Fine, Ann
Flour Babies
When his class of underachievers is assigned to spend three torturous weeks taking care of their own "babies" in the form of bags of flour, Simon makes amazing discoveries about himself while coming to terms with his long-absent father.

Fleischman, Paul
A Fate Totally Worse Than Death
In this horror novel parody, 3 self-centered members of Cliffside High School's ruling clique, who are aging rapidly, become convinced the new exchange student is the ghost of a girl who died.

Haddix, Margaret Peterson
Just Ella
It's a familiar story; despite obstacles and her wicked stepmother, Ella goes to the ball, sweeps Prince Charming off his feet, and is chosen to be his bride. Now she's comfortably ensconced in the palace, awaiting marriage to the man of her dreams. It's happily ever after time, right? Wrong!

Horvath, Polly
Everything on a Waffle
Eleven-year-old Primrose living in a small fishing village in British Columbia recounts her experiences and all that she learns about human nature and the unpredicatability of life in the months after her parents are lost at sea.

Ibbotsen, Eva
Not Just A Witch
Determined to be more than just an ordinary witch, heckie, whose speciality is changing people into animals, settles in a small town determined to use her powers for good purposes.

Kinney, Jeff
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Greg records his sixth grade experiences in a middle school where he and his best friend, Rowley, undersized weaklings amid boys who need to shave twice daily, hope just to survive, but when Rowley grows more popular, Greg must take drastic measures to save their friendship.

Korman, Gordon
No More Dead Dogs
Wallace does not understand it -- why do dogs die at the end of every classic story? When Wallace gives his book report, he can't bring himself to lie about his feelings - the book stank! The teacher feels the opposite and forces Wallace to attend and participate in the town's play based on the book. Find out what happens when Wallace's creativity gets out of hand. A hilarious read!

Levine, Gail Carson
Cinderellis and the Glass Hill
In this humorous retelling of a fairy tale, a lonely young farm lad uses his unusual inventive ability to pass a nearly impossible test and win the hand of the neighboring princess.
Other: Check out other books by Gail Carson Levine.

Osa, Nancy
Cuba 15
Violet’s zany family provides plenty of material for her speech team performances, and leads her to an understanding of her Cuban American heritage as she prepares for her quinceañera. A 2004 Belpré Author Honor Book.

Paulsen, Gary
Harris and Me : A Summer Remembered
Sent to live with relatives on their farm because of his unhappy home life, an eleven-year-old city boy meets his distant cousin Harris and is given an introduction to a whole new world.

Peck, Richard
The Teacher's Funeral : A Comedy in Three Parts
In rural Indiana in 1904, fifteen-year-old Russell's dreams of quitting school and joining a wheat threshing crew are disrupted when his older sister takes over the teaching at his one-room schoolhouse after mean, old Myrt Arbuckle "hauls off and dies."

Rees, Douglas
Vampire High
When his family moves from California to New Sodom, Massachusetts, and Cody enters Vlad Dracul Magnet School, many things seem strange, from the dark-haired, pale-skinned, supernaturally strong students to Charon, the wolf who guides him around campus on the first day.

Sachar, Louis
Sideways Stories from Wayside School
Humorous episodes from the classroom on the thirtieth floor of Wayside School, which was accidentally built sideways with one classroom on each story.

Smith, Greg Leitich
Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo
A trio of best friends faces the trials of peers, parents, and science fair projects as they learn things about the Land of the Rising Sun, "Pygocentrus nattereri," and Galileo in this hilarious read.

Shusterman, Neil
The Schwa Was Here
A Brooklyn eighth-grader nicknamed Antsy befriends the Schwa, an "invisible-ish" boy who is tired of blending into his surroundings and going unnoticed by nearly everyone.

Stroud, Jonathan
The Amulet of Samarkand
Nathaniel is eleven years old and a magician's apprentice, learning the traditional arts of magic. All is well until he has a life-changing encounter with Simon Lovelace, a magician of unrivaled ruthlessness and ambition.
Sequels: The Golem's Eye, Ptolemy's Gate

Tolan, Stephanie S.
Surviving the Applewhites
In this laugh out loud story, Jake, a budding juvenile delinquent, is sent for home schooling to the arty and eccentric Applewhite family's Creative Academy, where he discovers talents and interests he never knew he had. A 2003 Newbery Honor Book.

Van Draanen, Wendelin
Flipped
The chapters of this clever novel alternate between two narrators—Julianna and Bryce—who meet after first grade when they become neighbors. Julianna takes to Bryce immediately, but he dislikes her eagerness to become friends and avoids her for years. Then in middle school, he sees her with new eyes as smart, entrepreneurial and committed to what she believes in. Telling incidents and perfectly pitched middle-school voices reveal how these characters' positions flip.