Bloor, Edward
Tangerine
Twelve-year-old Paul, who lives in the shadow of his football hero brother Erik, fights for the right to play soccer despite his near blindness and slowly begins to remember the incident that damaged his eyesight.

Creech, Sharon
Walk Two Moons
After 13-year-old Sal's mother disappears, she travels to Idaho with her eccentric grandparents telling them the story of Phoebe Winterbottom who's mother also disappeared. A Newbery Medal Winner.

DiCamillo, Kate
Because of Winn-Dixie
The summer Opal and her father, the preacher, move to Naomi, Florida, Opal goes into the Winn-Dixie supermarket -- and comes out with a dog. With the help of her new pal, whom she names Winn-Dixie, Opal makes a variety of new, interesting friends and spends the summer collecting stories about them and thinking about her absent mother. This is a funny, poignant, and unforgettable novel. A Newbery Honor Book.

Ellis, Deborah
Breadwinner
Because the Taliban rulers of Kabul, Afghanistan, impose strict limitations on women's freedom and behavior, eleven-year-old Parvana must disguise herself as a boy so that her family can survive after her father's arrest.
Sequels: Parvana's Journey, Mud City

Giff, Patricia Reilly
Pictures of Hollis Woods
Artistic foster child Hollis Woods, who seeks a real home, recalls the tragegy of the previous summer while hiding out and caring for an elderly woman who has Alzheimer's disease. A 2003 Newbery Honor book.

Henkes, Kevin.
Olive’s Ocean
On summer vacation at grandmother’s cottage at the ocean, Martha comes to grips with the death of a classmate and her odd request, her ailing grandmother, her first serious crush and betrayal and her desire to become a writer. A 2004 Newbery Honor Book.

Hiaasen, Carl
Hoot
A strange, unschooled kid leads middle-schooler Roy Eberhardt into a crusade against a new pancake shop that will displace a colony of burrowing owls. A 2003 Newbery Honor Book.

Howe, James
Misfits
Four students who do not fit in at their small-town middle school decide to create a third party for the student council elections to represent all students who have ever been called names. An upbeat, reassuring novel that encourages everyone to celebrate their individuality.

Jimenez, Francisco.
Breaking Through
The fictionalized telling of Francisco’s transition from deported illegal alien to high school student body president while, unbeknownst to his classmates, he worked several jobs, lived in a labor camp and bathed in a galvanized tub. A Belpré Honor Book.

Kadohata, Cynthia
Kira-Kira
Two sisters lie on their backs, watching the stars and repeating the Japanese word for "glittering" - "kira-kira." Like this quiet opening scene, Kadohata's tenderly nuanced novel glitters with plain and poignant words that describe the strong love within a Japanese American family from the point of view of younger sister Katie. The 2005 Newbery Medal Winner.

Konigsburg, E. L.
The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place.
Twelve-year-old Margaret Rose is rescued from summer camp bullies by her beloved grand-uncles and spends a transforming month spearheading the campaign to save their three unique towers.

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!

Lupica, Mike
Travel Team
After he is cut from his travel basketball team--the very same team that his father once led to national prominence--twelve-year-old Danny Walker forms his own team of cast-offs that might have a shot at victory.

Martin, Ann M.
A Corner of the Universe
The summer that Hattie turns twelve, she meets the childlike uncle she never knew and becomes friends with a girl who works at the carnival that comes to Hattie's small town. A 2003 Newbery Honor Book.

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 momento of her past. A book characterized by a spirit of warmth and humor. Whitbread Book Award Winner.

Myers, Walter Dean.
Monster
16 year-old Steve finds himself on trial for murder. Reality blurs as he views his own trial as if he were the filmmaker he dreams of becoming, transcribing it scene by scene into a script. Printz Award Winner. Coretta Scott King Honor Book.

Naidoo, Beverly
Out of Bounds: Seven Stories of Conflict and Hope
Seven stories, spanning the time period from 1948 to 2000, chronicle the experiences of young people from different races and ethnic groups as they try to cope with the restrictions placed on their lives by South Africa's apartheid laws. Great book!

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.

Park, Linda Sue
When My Name Was Keoko: A Novel of Korea in World War II
In 1940, when the Japanese rulers of Korea decreed that all Koreans must take Japanese names, Kim Sun-hee's official name changed, but she did not lose her Korean identity or her patriotism which grew as the war came far too close to home, food and clothing became difficult to get, her uncle who had been working for the underground fled, and her brother joined the Japanese army to become a kamikaze pilot.

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.

Spinelli, Jerry
Stargirl
In this story about the perils of popularity, the courage of nonconformity, and the thrill of first love, an eccentric student named Stargirl changes Mica High School forever.

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.

White, Ellen Emerson.
The Journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty, United States Marine Corps
An eighteen-year old Marine keeps a journal while fighting in Vietnam.