| After
Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline
Woodson
NEW!
Two best friends meet D Foster
wandering on their block in Queens. D is in foster
care, so she can roam unfettered. The three
girls are heavily influenced by the music of Tupac
Shakur and his complicated life. This is a poignant
look at how young people try to figure out their place
in the world, as the ones they love shift in and out
of it.
Heaven Looks a
Lot Like the Mall by
Wendy Maas
NEW!
When 16-year-old Tessa gets knocked
out during a dodgeball game, she remains in a
coma. While in that state, Tessa's mind wonders
if she has gone to heaven, since it looks like she is
at the mall she grew up in. In a series of flashbacks,
Tessa recalls pivotal moments in her life, helping her
answer the fundamental question, who am I? For mature
readers.
Gym Candy
by Carl Deuker
Mick Johnson stares at the wall of
news clippings celebrating his father's triumph in
football. Then he sees the blank wall waiting
for his honors in the sport. Mick loves the game
and is fiercely competitive. He wants to be the
best. When the competition to win the starter
position heats up, Mick resorts to using steroids to
beef up his performance, power, and endurance. The
effects of steroid use on a player is straightforward
in this compelling sports story.
Two Steps
Forward by Rachel Cohn
Two girls and two boys form the core
of this book as they describe a crazy summer in Los
Angeles involving their blended families. The
author attempts to knock over some of the stereotypes
regarding stepfamilies with humorous results.
Dairy Queen: A
Novel by Catherine
Gilbert Murdock
D. J. Schwenk
comes from a long line of farmers and football
players. Her brothers received college football
scholarships and her dad was a well-known coach.
One summer, she ends up helping a boy from a rival
high school team improve his game. An unlikely
friendship evolves only to be crushed by a
competition. The author succeeds in bringing the
story right into the reader's heart.
Head
Games by Mariah Fredericks.
Judith retreats to the online gaming
world when her best friend stops talking to her.
In the Game, she can create new identities, test
herself, and interact with characters rather than
people. When the real and online worlds collide
suddenly, Judith must face her demons. This taut and
engaging story will attract those who like an edgy
read.
Just Listen
by Sarah Dessen
Annabel Greene has an image that
makes ten-year-olds cut her picture out of magazine
ads and post on their walls. But Annabel doesn't feel
special. She is growing to hate modeling but
doesn't want to disappoint her mother. Her
sister's eating disorder is getting out of control but
no one seems to talk about it. And then there
was the night at a party where her best friend Sophie
stopped talking to her and started the hating. Annabel
tells no one about her feelings until Owen Armstrong
stumbles into her life. Owen has been in trouble
with the law and is also ostracized at school.
He deals by listening to music on his iPod all day.
His anger management classes have taught him how to
always be truthful. Annabel thinks she can learn
a lot from this unlikely ally. And maybe have
the courage to tell someone what really happened at
that party.
Search and
Destroy by Dean
Hughes.
Rick isn't sure what to do after
high school. He doesn't really have money for
college, but he is anxious to get away from his
abusive father. He enlists in the military
during the Vietnam War, hoping to experience life and
become a man. What follows is a gripping and
graphic account of an unpopular war and its impact on
all involved.
An Innocent Soldier by
Josef Holub.
A young farmhand named Adam is
tricked into joining Napolean's army, replacing his
master's son. Napoleon is forcing troops to
march across Europe and into Russia in a hard and
ill-fated assault. Survival
is dependent upon instincts and luck. A sobering
story by an excellent German author.
Criss
Cross by Lynne Ray Perkins.
A group of childhood friends meet in Lenny's dad's
pickup truck every Saturday night to listen to a radio
show called Criss Cross. Their lives also
criss cross as they try to connect with each other and
the people of their town. Newbery winner.
Finding
Lubchenko by Michael Simmons
Evan McCallister is an arrogant risk
taker with a stingy millionaire father who owns a
smallpox research facility. His mother is dead
and relations with Dad are strained. Whenever
Evan visits his father at work, he comes home with a
laptop or two that he sells on Ebay. Hey, a boy
has to earn money somehow! When his father gets
framed for the murder of an employee, Evan and his
friends must uncover the real killer by finding a man
named Lubchenko in Paris. They need to hurry
before the authorities convict his father or discover
Evan's thieving ways. For mature readers.
One of
Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies
by Sonya Sones
The book opens with teen Ruby
Milliken being blasted from Boston to LA in the coach
section of a "monstrous steel
pterodactyl." Her mother has died recently
but Ruby still e-mails her defunct AOL account.
Now she is being sent to live with her long absent
father, a famous movie star. The clever free
verse dialogue grabs the reader from the first entry,
and doesn't let go, as Ruby vents about her new world.
Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson.
Ashley Hannigan's boyfriend is a
loser, her part-time job is awful, and she could care
less about the prom. She only joins the prom
planning committee to get out of her many detentions
and to help her friend, Natalia. But when the
prom money gets stolen, everyone gets into the act to
help, including her eccentric family. For mature
readers.
Real Time by Pnina Moed Kass.
This powerful novel, told in many voices within a
week's time, focuses on a suicide bombing in Israel
and the impact it has on many people's lives.
Readers close the book with a new understanding of the
uncertainty of life in the Middle East and the bonds
of hatred and love. For mature readers.
Jason and Kyra by Dana Davidson.
Jason Vincent, star basketball player
and member of the "in" group, meets Kyra
Evans, science brain, through a class project.
The unlikely duo connect, fall in love, and have that
love challenged by others in school.
The Truth about Forever by
Sarah Dessen.
Sarah Dessen's newest novel
introduces us to Macy Queen whose Dad has recently
died. By trying to appear normal, Macy has not
let herself grieve. One night she is thrust into
helping a chaotic crew of caterers at her mother's
business party. Soon Macy decides to work for the
company run by an unconventional family. This
honest and forthright family shows Macy how to feel
again. The characters are fully realized and
endearing. A real winner.
The Year
of Secret Assignments
by Jaclyn Moriarty.
Fast paced story of a pen pal
assignment gone out of control. Include
car-jacking, threats, identity theft, love and revenge.
The Beast
by Walter Dean Myers.
Arthur "Spoon" Witherspoon
was plucked out of his Harlem neighborhood to attend a
Connecticut prep school as one of a handful of African
American students. But adjusting to life at
school seems easier than his first trip back
home. Friends have dropped out of school, his
girlfriend has met the Beast (drugs) and Spoon
struggles to keep people whole. A sensitive and
soulful look at a slice of Harlem.
Acceleration
by Graham McNamee.
One summer, seventeen-year-old
Duncan works deep in the belly of the Toronto subway
system in the Lost and Found. He stumbles across a
stalker's diary there and reads in detail of his sick
plans. What should he do? The novel's pace
accelerates with each chapter as Duncan faces the mind
of a potential killer.
Rat by
Jan Cheripko
Fifteen-year-old Jeremy loves
basketball and plays very well for a boy with a
withered right arm. Jeremy is manager of the
high school basketball team, but when he testifies
about an act that gets his coach fired and sent to
prison, he becomes "Rat" to many on the
team. The new coach has strong expectations for
his team whose potential will be tested on and off the
court. Some will win, some will quit. All
will change forever.
Pool Boy
by Michael Simmons
Brett Gerson had a rich kid's
life. Nice home, cars, pool. Then one day,
eight armed cops surround his house and haul his
father off for insider trading. Brett's
mad. Mad at his Dad whom he calls a crook and a
loser. His family loses nearly everything too
and Brett is forced to get a job as a pool boy,
working for old Alfie Moore, a man who teaches him
more than just how to clean filters.
Seek
by Paul Fleischman
High school senior Rob searches for
the voice of his DJ father while scanning radio
stations. His father left when he was an infant and
his only gift to Rob was a sound effects record and a
tape of his call-in show. The book is a complicated
tapestry of voices relating to Rob’s life as he
learns to move forward without his father.
Miracle Boys
by Jacqueline Woodson
Three brothers affected by three tragic deaths.
Each trying to overcome guilt and sadness. The eldest,
Tyr’ee, gives up a scholarship to MIT to care for
his younger siblings. Middle brother, Charlie,
foolishly robs a store to help the family and ends up
with a prison stint. And the youngest,
thirteen-year-old Lafayette, is full of questions and
grief. This is a heart-warming story of three
brothers helping each other understand how to live
again after tragedy.
Bronx Masquerade
by Nikki Grimes
Mr. Ward begins "open mike" Fridays at an
inner city high school where students reveal
themselves to each other through their poetry.
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