Staying Alive: Real Poems for Unreal Times edited by Neil Astley

This is one of the best collections of poetry ever. If you purchase only one collection of poetry ever, consider this anthology. Ranging from the lyrical to the edgy, from the thoughtful to the political, British poet Astley's montage of modern poetry never fails to delight both the intellect and the senses. The 500 poems are arranged in thematic sections (i.e. In and Out of Love; Roads; Dead or Alive; Bittersweet; Growing Up; Man and Beast; My People; Disappearing Acts; Me, Earth and the Universe; etc.), allowing for some telling juxtapositions. This collection will inspire you to read, write, and live.

[Poetry Collection; from easy, to average, to challenging levels]

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Don't leave Earth without this hilarious international bestseller about the end of the world and the happy-go-lucky days that follow...about the worst Thursday that ever happened and why the Universe is a lot safer if you bring a towel. This is the story of Arthur Dent, who, secnds before Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, is plucked off the planet by his friend, Ford Prefect, who has been posing as an out-of-work actor for the last fifteen years but is really a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Together they begin a journey through the galaxy aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, with the words don't panic written on the front.

[sci-fi/humor; average difficulty; if you like Monty Python you'll like this]

Reality Check by Peter Abrahams

QB of the varsity football team. Passing grades in all his classes. Dating the hottest—and smartest—girl at school. Summer job paying more than minimum wage. Things in Cody's world seem to be going pretty well. Until, that is, his girlfriend, Clea, is sent off to boarding school across the country, and a torn ACL ends his high school football career. But bad things come in threes—or in Cody's case, sixes and twelves—and the worst is yet to come. While limping through town one day, Cody sees a newspaper heading: "Local Girl Missing." Clea, now his ex, has disappeared from her boarding school in Vermont, and the only clue is a letter she sent to Cody the morning of her disappearance. Cody sets out to find out what happened. Once in Vermont, he unearths the town's secrets—and finds out that football isn't the only thing he's good at.

[mystery / drama; average difficulty]

Watership Down by Richard Adams

Fleeing the intrusion of man and the certain destruction of their ancestral home, a band of rabbits encounters harrowing trials posed by predators and hostile warrens, driven only by their vision to create a perfect society in a mysterious promised land known to them as Watership Down. First published in 1972 to world-wide rave reviews and now a modern classic, this is a powerful tale about the destructive impact of our society on nature, written in the same vein as Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit.

[fantasy adventure; average difficulty;]

Jimi and Me by Jaime Adoff

An electrifying novel about love, loss, and the power of music After his father is murdered, Keith and his mother try desperately to pick up the pieces of their lives. But his father’s death has left them devastated-both emotionally and financially. Forced to leave Brooklyn and move in with his aunt, Keith urgently clings to every last reminder of his dad, discovering comfort in his own music and that of the late legend-and his father’s idol-Jimi Hendrix. In Jimi’s music, Keith finds solace, and brief moments of reprieve from his chaotic new life. But just as he begins to get a handle on his father’s death, he discovers the secrets of his father’s life--secrets that threaten to tear apart what’s left of his fragile family.

[drama; average difficulty;]

This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women

by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman

This I Believe prompted Americans to briefly explain their most cherished beliefs, be they religious or purely pragmatic. Since the program's 2005 renaissance as a weekly NPR segment, Allison (the host) and Gediman (the executive producer) have collected some of the best essays from This I Believe then and now. "Your personal credo" is what Allison calls it in the book's introduction, noting that today's program is distinguished from the 1950s version in soliciting submissions from ordinary Americans from all walks of life. These make up some of the book's most powerful and memorable moments, from the surgeon whose illiterate mother changed his early life with faith and a library card to the English professor whose poetry helped him process a traumatic childhood event. And in one of the book's most unusual essays, a Burmese immigrant confides that he believes in feeding monkeys on his birthday because a Buddhist monk once prophesied that if he followed this ritual, his family would prosper.

[nonfiction / philosophy; average to challenging]

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Laurie Halse Anderson's first novel is a stunning and sympathetic tribute to the teenage outcast. Since the beginning of the school year, high school freshman Melinda has found that it's been getting harder and harder for her to speak out loud. What could have caused Melinda to suddenly fall mute? Could it be due to the fact that no one at school is speaking to her because she called the cops and got everyone busted at the seniors' big end-of-summer party? Or maybe it's because her parents' only form of communication is Post-It notes written on their way out the door to their nine-to-whenever jobs. While Melinda is bothered by these things, deep down she knows the real reason why she can't speak.

[drama; average difficulty;]

Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson

Kate Malone has only one focus -- getting into MIT. She's a chemistry whiz at school, and her heart is set on being accepted into the college of her dreams, but unfortunately, it's the only school she's applied for. When her minister dad comes to school to deliver "the letter," however, MIT's rejection is the spark that throws Kate's world into a tailspin. For starters, Teri Litch -- the school's senior tough-girl -- her mom, and her brother all wind up living at Kate's house after their house burns down. These two oppositely charged girls must come together to find a common understanding and taking stock of what's truly important.

[drama; average difficulty;]

Prom by Laurie Halse Andreson

The prom is pretty much the only good thing that happens there, and everyone plans to make the most of it—especially Ash’s best friend, Natalia, who’s the head of the committee and has prom stars in her eyes. Then the faculty advisor is busted for taking the prom money and Ash finds herself roped into putting together a gala dance. But she has plenty of help—from her large and loving (if exasperating!) family, from Nat’s eccentric grandmother, from the principal, from her fellow classmates. And in making the prom happen, Ash learns some surprising things about making her life happen, too.

[drama ; average difficulty]

Twisted by Laurie Halse Andreson

High school senior Tyler Miller used to be the kind of guy who faded into the background—average student, average looks, average dysfunctionalfamily. But since he got busted for doing graffiti on the school, and spent the summer doing outdoor work to pay for it, he stands out like you wouldn’t believe. His new physique attracts the attention of queen bee Bethany Milbury, who just so happens to be his father’s boss’s daughter, the sister of his biggest enemy—and Tyler’s secret crush. And that sets off a string of events and changes that have Tyler questioning his place in the school, in his family, and in the world.

[drama; average difficulty]

Feed by M.T. Anderson

Brave New World takes a romantic teen twist in this disarming, engrossing novel set in a hyper-computerized future. Spending time partying on the moon and riding around in his "upcar," Titus is an average teen of the future, complete with a computer chip implant -- the "Feed" -- that lets corporate marketers and government agencies broadcast directly into his brain. Then Titus meets Violet, and an anti-Feed hacker shuts down their Feeds for a short time; but when Violet's Feed is seriously damaged, she begins spouting some radical ideas. M. T. Anderson has predicted the future, and it's startling indeed. Although Titus is a good, well-meaning kid, his blissful ignorance of the control over him leaves readers thinking twice about the destiny of earth's citizens. Beneath the book's techno-veneer, however, lies a romantic tale between a boy who gives into the system and a girl who sees beyond it. All told, Feed is a "meg" remarkable work of science fiction, and once readers begin, they'll be caught up in its powerful grip.

[sci-fi; average difficulty;]

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

In her works of poetry, drama, and memoir, she describes the imperfections and perversions of humanity_men, women, black, white_with an unrelenting and sometimes jarring candor. But that candor is leavened by an unusually strong desire to comprehend the worst acts of the people around her and find a way for hope and love to survive in spite of it all. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the beautifully written and brutally honest chronicle of Angelou's life from her arrival in Stamp, Arkansas, at age three to the birth of her only child in San Francisco, at age sixteen. In between those two events, Angelou provides an unfbrgettable memoir of growing up black in the 1930s and 1940s in a tiny southern town in Arkansas.

[Autobiography; a challenging read;]

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

When Clay Jenson plays the casette tapes he received in a mysterious package, he's surprised to hear the voice of dead classmate Hannah Baker. He's one of 13 people who receive Hannah's story, which details the circumstances that led to her suicide. Clay spends the rest of the day and long into the night listening to Hannah's voice and going to the locations she wants him to visit trying to discover why she killed herself and what part he played.

[drama; average difficulty]

Nothing but the Truth by Avi

Phillip Malloy is in ninth grade, and he dreams of being a track star. However, there is one thing in his way: Miss Narwin, his English teacher and homeroom teacher. The poor grade he has earned in her English class is keeping him from joining the track team. As a result, Phillip begins to lash out against Miss Narwin by humming The National Anthem during homeroom, and pretty soon, the whole situation spins out of control, as school bureaucracy, parental issues, the media, and teenage angst all enter into the mix. Phillip and Miss Narwin soon find themselves at the center of a much larger controversy of a completely unrelated issue: the right of a student to express patriotism. This award-winning novel by Avi shows how easily a simple act of defiance by a teenager can soon become the center of the political correctness debate waging in the United States. This is an interesting, and yet disturbing, story that captures the unfortunate reality of today's school system and the media frenzy around it.

[drama; average difficulty;]

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

This is definitely not a book for children, but for teens about to enter adulthood. It is filled with violence, death, and the story of a boy who in refusing to grow up misses out on life."All children, except one, grow up." Thus begins a great classic of children's literature that we all remember as magical. What we tend to forget, because the tale of Peter Pan and Neverland has been so relentlessly boiled down, hashed up, and coated in sugar, is that J.M. Barrie's original version is also witty, sophisticated, delightfully odd, and scary.

[classic literature/fantasy; a challenging read;]

Peter Pan in Scarlet by Geraldine McCaughrean

In the year's most hyped title for young readers, the much-honored McCaughrean delivers an "authorized" sequel that stays true to the original's style and spirit but speaks to modern sensibilities as well. Disturbed by a tide of entirely too-real dreams flowing out of Neverland, the now-grown Wendy and Lost Boys contrive a way to fly back as children. They find their old haunt a poisoned place, with trees turned autumnal, skeletons of mermaids on the beach and Peter himself particularly sullen and unlikable. Getting to the cause takes them on a harrowing quest for treasure buried atop wintry Neverpeak. The new tale smoothes out a few wrinkles in the old, adding another girl to the cast with the temporary transformation of Tootles and redefining the "redskins" as the diverse Tribes of the Eight Nations. McCaughrean also tucks in a band of humorously disaffected adolescents dubbed "Roarers," deft literary allusions from Barrie and other writers, reunions that range from tearful to shocking and (inevitably) a sequel-ready conclusion. Worthy homage, all in all, as well as a strong, poignant tale in its own right.

[fantasy; average difficulty;]

The Action Hero's Handbook by David Borgenicht and Joe Borgenicht

For entertainment purposes only! The Ultimate Guide to Keeping Up with the Indiana Joneses! For everyone who's ever wanted to be as smooth as James Bond, as clever as Captain Kirk, or as tough as Charlie's Angels, The Action Hero's Handbook is the ultimate guide to the essential skills every action hero needs to survive and thrive in this dangerous but exciting world. This book features dozens of real-life action hero techniques, directly from experts in the subjects at hand: FBI agents stuntmen, hypnotists, karate masters, criminologists, detectives, and many others. And dozens of other Good Guy Skills, Love Skills, Paranormal Skills, Fighting Skills, and Escape Skills. With meticulously researched step-by-step instructions and easy-to-follow illustrations, The Action Hero's Handbook will get you ready for anything. Good luck—we're all counting on you.

[humor; average difficulty;]

Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Two brothers get their hands on a case full of cash -- and are out to spend it before it becomes worthless -- in this thrilling novel from author Frank Cottrell Boyce. Filled with English-set action and cool suspense, Boyce's debut novel for younger audiences follows Anthony and religious saints obsessed Damian Cunningham, who come upon a hoard of cash that mysteriously lands at their feet.

[dramatic, but humourous; average difficulty;]

Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce

When the entire contents of the National Gallery are brought to the dead-end town of Manod, Wales, for safekeeping in a hollowed-out slate quarry, life changes forever for the Hughes family. Business at the Snowdonia Oasis Auto Marvel has been drying up as more and more people move out of town, leaving the family without any viable source of income and narrator Dylan without a single boy to play soccer with. When the chief caretaker of the artworks mistakes Dylan's fondness for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for an appreciation of Renaissance artists, a line of communication opens up between Manod and the quarry that gently transforms both, as the response of the citizens of Manod to the art brings life back to the nearly moribund town, and humanity to the Gallery personnel. While the art does its quiet work, however, Dylan's little sister Minnie, a criminal genius in the making, determines that the only way to rescue the Snowdonia Oasis is to pull off a heist, threatening everything. Boyce's signature daffiness plays hilarity and pathos off each other with not one wrong note.

[dramatic, but humourous; average difficulty;]

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Books are illegal in Bradbury's world, but books are not what his fictional -- yet extremely plausible -- government fears: They fear the knowledge one pulls from books. Through the government's incessant preaching, the inhabitants of this place have come to loathe books and fear those who keep and attempt to read them. They see such people as eccentric, dangerous, and threatening to the tranquility of their state. But one day a fireman named Montag meets a young girl who demonstrates to him the beauty of books, of knowledge, of conceiving and sharing ideas; she wakes him up, changing his life forever. When Montag's previously held ideology comes crashing down around him, he is forced to reconsider the meaning of his existence and the part he plays. After Montag discovers that "all isn't well with the world," he sets out to make things right. A brilliant and frightening novel, Fahrenheit 451 is the classic narrative about censorship; utterly chilling in its implications, Ray Bradbury's masterwork captivates thousands of new readers each year.

[sci-fi; a challenging read;]

24 Girls in 7 Days by Alex Bradley

Jack Grammar, average American senior, has no date to the prom. Or so he thinks. Percy and Natalie, Jack's so-called best friends, posted an ad in the classified section of the online version of the school newspaper. They figured it couldn't hurt-after all, there's not much in this world sadder than Jack's love life. Soon Percy and Natalie have assembled a list of girls eager to go to the prom with Jack, including one mysterious girl known only as FancyPants. He has just seven days to meet and date them before he will ask one special girl to the prom. Newcomer Alex Bradley shares a fresh and funny boy perspective in a genre dominated by girls. With snappy dialogue and hip, smart writing, this is a hilarious take on the trauma and pageantry that is prom.

[humor; average difficulty]

The Travelling Pants series by Ann Brashares:

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants

Second Summer of the Sisterhood

Girls in Pants

Forever in Blue

Carmen got the jeans at a thrift shop. They didn't look all that great: they were worn, dirty, and speckled with bleach. On the night before she and her friends part for the summer, Carmen decides to toss them. But Tibby says they're great. She'd love to have them. Lena and Bridget also think they're fabulous. Lena decides that they should all try them on. Whoever they fit best will get them. Nobody knows why, but the pants fit everyone perfectly. Even Carmen (who never thinks she looks good in anything) thinks she looks good in the pants. Over a few bags of cheese puffs, they decide to form a sisterhood and take the vow of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants . . .the next morning, they say good-bye. And then the journey of the pants, and the most memorable summer of their lives begins.

[drama; average difficulty;]

World War Z: an oral history of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.

Brooks, the author of the determinedly straight-faced parody The Zombie Survival Guide (2003), returns in all seriousness to the zombie theme for his second outing, a future history in the style of Theodore Judson's Fitzpatrick's War. Brooks tells the story of the world's desperate battle against the zombie threat with a series of first-person accounts "as told to the author" by various characters around the world. A Chinese doctor encounters one of the earliest zombie cases at a time when the Chinese government is ruthlessly suppressing any information about the outbreak that will soon spread across the globe. The tale then follows the outbreak via testimony of smugglers, intelligence officials, military personnel and many others who struggle to defeat the zombie menace.

[horror / action; a challenging read]

The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks

In this outrageous parody of a survival guide, Saturday Night Live staff writer Brooks prepares humanity for its eventual battle with zombies. One would expect the son of Mel Brooks to have a genetic predisposition to humor, and indeed, he does, and he exhibits it relentlessly here: he outlines virtually every possible zombie-human encounter, drafts detailed plans for defense and attack and outlines past recorded attacks dating from 60,000 B.C. to 2002. In planning for that catastrophic day when "the dead rise," Brooks urges readers to get to know themselves, their bodies, their weaponry, their surroundings and, just in case, their escape routes. Some of the book's more amusing aspects are the laughable analyses Brooks proposes on all aspects of zombiehood, and the specificity with which he enumerates the necessary actions for survival-i.e., a member of an anti-zombie team must be sure to have with him at all times two emergency flares, a signaling mirror, daily rations, a personal mess kit and two pairs of socks.

[horror / humor; average difficulty]

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalacian Trail by Bill Bryson

Leisurely walks in the Cotswolds during a 20-year sojourn in England hardly prepared Bryson for the rigors of the Appalachian Trail. Nevertheless, he and his friend Katz, both 40-something couch potatoes, set out on a cold March morning to walk the 2000-mile trail from Georgia to Maine. Overweight and out of shape, Katz jettisoned many of his provisions on the first day out. They got separated and Bryson spent a day and night searching for his friend. When they finally were reunited, "...we decided to leave the endless trail and stop pretending we were mountain men because we weren't." This often hilarious account of the foibles of two inept adventurers is sprinkled with fascinating details of the history of the AT, its wildlife, and tales of famous and not-so-famous hikers. In his more serious moments, Bryson argues for the protection of this fragile strip of wilderness. Young Adults who enjoy the outdoors, and especially those familiar with the AT, will find this travelogue both entertaining and insightful.

[non-fiction/ nature/ humor; a challenging read;]

If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B movie actor by Bruce Campbell

This entertaining and witty Hollywood memoir combines his life story with how-to guidance on making independent films and becoming a pop culture cult hero. Campbell began working in show business as a teenager, and in high school became friends with future director Sam Raimi, with whom he eventually co-produced the 1982 cult horror hit Evil Dead, in which Campbell starred. Despite his wry, modest sense of humor Campbell recognizes the peculiar place that Evil Dead holds in contemporary culture he sincerely conveys the enormous commitment and work that went into making and marketing the movie. By the time he describes the film's premiere, Campbell's sense of triumph is palpable: we share his excitement when the film makes back its money and by 2000 becomes number three on the all-time video charts after Lady and the Tramp and Titanic.

[memoir about movie making; average difficulty;]

Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card

Card's novel Ender's Game introduced Ender Wiggin, a young genius who used his military prowess to all but exterminate the ``buggers,'' the first alien race mankind had ever encountered. Wiggin then transformed himself into the ``Speaker for the Dead,'' who claimed it had been a mistake to destroy the alien civilization. Many years later, when a new breed of intelligent life forms called the ``piggies'' is discovered, Wiggin takes the opportunity to atone for his earlier actions. This long, rich and ambitious novel views the interplay between the races from the differing perspectives of the colonists, ethnologists, biologists, clergy, politicians, a computer artificial intelligence, the lone surviving bugger and the piggies themselves. Card is very good at portraying his characters in these larger, social, religious and cultural contexts. It's unfortunate, then, that many of the book's mysteries and dilemmas seem created just to display Ender's supposedly godlike understanding. A fine, if overlong, novel nonetheless.

[sci-fi; a challenging read;]

The Speed of Light by Ron Carlson

Although they come from different backgrounds, Witt, Rafferty, and Larry (the narrator) are close friends who enjoy playing ball, conducting scientific experiments, and getting into mischief. Witt is a daring, tormented statistician of sorts, pushing himself to figure out the universe as an escape from his father's beatings, while nearsighted Rafferty thinks mainly about his appetite and, as it turns out, getting his family's attention by playing in the Little League all-star game. Through ups and downs, the boys take in all that comes their way, with growing awareness that things are slowly becoming different.

[drama/ humorous; average difficulty; If you like the movies: The Sandlot, and Stand By Me, or the television show Freaks and Geeks.]

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol

Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carrol

When Alice tumbles down, down, down a rabbit-hole one hot summer's afternoon in pursuit of a White Rabbit she finds herself in Wonderland. And there begin the fantastical adventures that will see her experiencing extraordinary changes in size, swimming in a pool of her own tears and attending the very maddest of tea parties. For Wonderland is no ordinary place and the characters that populate it are quite unlike anybody young Alice has ever met before. In this imaginary land she encounters the savagely violent Queen, the Lachrymose Mock Turtle, the laconic Cheshire Cat and the hookah-smoking Caterpillar, each as surprising and outlandish as the next.

[classic literature/ fantasy; a challenging read; The metaphors and themes in this book are definitely not for children, and are interesting to try and uncover; a must read for Beatles fans]

Boy Proof by Cecil Castellucci

With her shaved head, ring-covered ears, and a swirling cloak, brilliant Victoria insists her name is Egg, after the hero in her favorite sf movie, Terminal Earth, which she has seen 42 times. Who cares that she has no friends in her high-school senior class in Hollywood? She will never be normal. She is "post-apocalyptic." What she loves is working with her dad in movie special effects, tinkering with "eyeballs or aliens or ears." But when brilliant, gorgeous Max arrives, she cannot help loving him, especially because he is also in tune with the sf/fantasy world, and he shows her that she can be her own person, and fight real apocalyptic conservation issues right on earth.

[drama / humor / romance; average difficulty]

I am Jackie Chan by Jackie Chan

If you're a fan of action-adventure movies - with the accent on action - then you no doubt love watching Jackie Chan risk his life to create sensational cinema. As one of the biggest stars to burst into U.S. theaters, Jackie has put America's hottest heroes to shame, wowing audiences with the breathless, death-defying stunts. A full half of this book (co-written with A. magazine publisher Jeff Yang) focuses on his childhood education at the China Drama Academy, where he learned the fighting skills and catlike movements that would serve him so well later. The story is a fast read, but an ultimately simple one; Chan enters into a harsh regimen of training, finds himself on the bottom of a pecking order that's ruled by older "Big Brothers" and gets into minor scrapes that result in abusive punishments at the hands of his master. The long descriptions of childhood episodes do pay off as they help to explain his committed and death-defying personality.

[autobiography; average difficulty;]

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

The House on Mango Street has entered the canon of coming-of-age classics even as it depicts a new American landscape. Sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous, The House on Mango Street tells the story of Esperanza Cordero, whose neighborhood is one of harsh realities and harsh beauty. Esperanza doesn't want to belong - not to her run-down neighborhood, and not to the low expectations the world has for her.

[short stories; drama; average difficulty;]

The Artemis Fowl Series by Eoin Colfer:

Artemis Fowl

The Arctic Incident

The Eternity Code

The Opal Deception

The Lost Colony

Artemis Fowl is a one of the greatest criminal minds the world has ever seen. He is heir to the Fowl family empire—a centuries old clan of international underworld figures and con artists. He is arguably the most cunning Fowl of all. He is also twelve years old. Artemis' interest in mythology and an obsession with the Internet leads him to discover proof of the existence of "The People"- otherwise known as fairies, sprites, leprechauns and trolls. He learns every fairy has a magical Book. If he can find the Book, it will lead him to "The People's" vast treasure of gold.With his brutish sidekick, Butler (deadly hand-to-hand fighter, weapons expert, driver, medic, cook, and Artemis's constant and only companion) , he sets his plans in motion. For fans of J.R.R.Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, and Philip Pullman, Artemis Fowl is a high-tech fantasy, mixing faries, leprechauns, and computers, in a brilliant, thrilling story that is destined to become a cult favorite.

[fantasy; an easy read;]

The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer

Some years into the future unwanted children like Cosmo Hill are sent to a special institute. Reminiscent of the workhouses and asylums of the past, the boys are guinea pigs for new drugs and other products. It is a dangerous and unhappy existence in this place called the Clarissa Frayne Institute for Parentally Challenged Boys. Cosmo is different, he is not willing to let his life just slip away and when he gets a chance he makes an escape along with a few other kids who can see what are called the supernatural parasites. They believe that these creatures are causing death and unhappiness among humans. Under the leadership of Stefan, they become a group of vigilantes and spend their time tracking and destroying the parasites. If these battles aren't enough they also must keep and eye out for the guards from Clarissa Frayne who would like nothing better than to capture these escapees and shrink-wrap them for good.

[fantasy; an easy read;]

The Wish List by Eoin Colfer

Eoin Colfer tells the spirited tale of young Meg Finn, a girl who is accidentally killed by her partner-in-crime during a burglary. Fortunately for Meg's soul, one last-minute act of kindness rescues her from being sent through the tunnel directly to hell; after winding up in limbo instead, the girl's spirit returns to earth in the hope of eventually going through "the Pearlies." To make the heavenly cut, Meg goes to the aid of the elderly Lowrie McCall, a down-and-out bloke who has four wishes on his list before he dies. Sound simple? It would be, but the trouble is, the bad boy downstairs has an eye out for Meg's soul, too, and he's sent a "Soul Man" -- a vicious dog-boy creature, who happens to be Meg's deceased murderer -- to retrieve it.

[fantasy; an easy read;]

The Hunger Games Trilogy (part 1, 2,3) by Suzanne Collins

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival.

[action adventure/ death and blood; average difficulty]

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

Thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle's mother has disappeared. While tracing her steps on a car trip from Ohio to Idaho with her grandparents, Salamanca tells a story to pass the time about a friend named Phoebe Winterbottom whose mother vanished and who received secret messages after her disappearance. One of them read, "Don't judge a man until you have walked two moons in his moccasins." Despite her father's warning that she is "fishing in the air," Salamanca hopes to bring her home. By drawing strength from her Native American ancestry, she is able to face the truth about her mother. Walk Two Moons won the 1995 Newbery Medal.

[drama / humor; average difficulty]

Dull Boy by Sarah Cross

How do you hide super strength and the ability to fly? Fifteen-year-old Avery suddenly finds himself endowed with these amazing powers, but he can’t figure out how to control them or keep himself out of trouble. When Avery befriends other kids who are also superbly gifted, the small group bands together to try to use their powers for good.

[drama / humor / superheroes; average difficulty]

The Sledding Hill by Chris Crutcher

Eddie Proffit is the very definition of a sympathetic character, losing his Dad and best friend to violent accidents in the opening pages. His story is narrated in Lovely Bones-esque fashion by the dead friend, Billy, who, if not in Heaven, is in a very good place-free of pain and full of neat tricks to employ during his ghostly mission to help Eddie overcome sadness so deep he has stopped speaking. Eddie and Billy were inseparable. Still are. Billy isn't going to let a little thing like death stop him from hanging in there with his friend. And when Eddie faces an epic struggle with the powers that be, Billy will remain right there beside him.

[supernatural drama; average difficulty]

The Teenage Guy's Survival Guide by Jeremy Daldry

This self-proclaimed "real deal on girls, growing up, and other guy stuff" is a concise, practical guide to love, sex, puberty, and the teenage social scene. It answers the questions--How do you ask out a girl? What do you do if she says no? How do you make a relationship work? And, what do you do when it ends? Daldry talks his readers through a good night kiss and their first shave. He reminds boys that during puberty their hormones are "on full party mode," and he explores the impact of this "hormone riot" on their developing bodies. He talks about "being stinky" ("Aftershave is not a substitute for washing."), getting pimples, and the appearance of body hair (you won't become "...a walking carpet in a matter of days."). Broad in scope, this guide also addresses tough issues--drugs, homosexuality, STDs, and contraception with intelligence and empathy. Daldry's irreverence, sarcasm, and humor appeals to teenage readers. The use of cartoons, ballooned quips, and a variety of informal typefaces yields the printed equivalent of a brotherly chat.

[a serious but humourous how-to book; an easy read;]

The Pirates! series by Gideon Defoe

The Pirates! In an adventure with Scientists

The Pirates! In an adventure with Ahab

The Pirates! In an adventure with Communists

Silly and very droll debut by a London paleontologist who likes pirates and has obviously grown up on old Monty Python reruns.Not since Moby-Dick...No, not since Treasure Island...Actually, not since Jonah and the Whale has there been a sea saga to rival The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, featuring the greatest sea-faring hero of all time, the immortal Pirate Captain, who, although he lives for months at a time at sea, somehow manages to keep his beard silky and in good condition. Worried that his pirates are growing bored with a life of winking at pretty native ladies and trying to stick enough jellyfish together to make a bouncy castle, the Pirate Captain decides it's high time to spearhead an adventure. While searching for some major pirate booty, he mistakenly attacks the young Charles Darwin's Beagle and then leads his ragtag crew from the exotic Galapagos Islands to the fog-filled streets of Victorian London. There they encounter grisly murder, vanishing ladies, radioactive elephants, and the Holy Ghost himself. And that's not even the half of it. And the other books in the sries makes this plot look normal.

[adventurous pirate comedy;if you like Monty Python it's for you; average difficulty]

How to Hold a Crocodile: practical instructions for off-beat objectives.

How to Hold a Crocodile is an illustrated and fun-to-read guide to the practical information that is not taught in school. This book is jammed full of simple instructions for many situations in life. Need to roast an ox? Repel cavalry? Tie a bow tie? All instructions are here, clear, concise, and fully illustrated. This remarkable reference book explains how to: Build a log cabin / Catch a cockroach / Magnetize a walnut / Play the castanets / Ride a dolphin / Drill for oil / Meet the Pope / Find a blind spot / Become a saint.

[How-To; an easy interesting funny read;]

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

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. But because of Winn-Dixie, or perhaps because she has grown, Opal learns to let go, just a little, and that friendship -- and forgiveness -- can sneak up on you like a sudden summer storm.

[dramatic comedy; average difficulty;]

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

“A wonderful, important book…I’d recommend Little Brother over pretty much any book I’ve read this year, and I’d want to get it into the hands of as many smart thirteen-year-olds, male and female, as I can. Because I think it’ll change lives. Because some kids, maybe just a few, won’t be the same after they’ve read it. Maybe they’ll change politically, maybe technologically. Maybe it’ll just be the first book they loved or that spoke to their inner geek. Maybe they’ll want to argue about it and disagree with it. Maybe they’ll want to open their computer and see what’s in there. I don’t know. It made me want to be thirteen again right now, and reading it for the first time.” —Neil Gaiman, author of Sandman and American Gods on Little Brother

[action / adventure / terrorism; average difficulty]

Sees Behind Trees by Michael Dorris

Walnut, a fifteenth century Powhatan Indian, dreads the warrior's test to prove his manhood because of his limited vision. It is his other, extremely acute senses of hearing, smelling and intuition that earn him the name Sees Behind Trees. Once he receives this great name and acknowledgement, he wonders how his name fits him. This leads him, finally, on a grand adventure where discovers a miraculous land of water, and goes through losses that transform him from boy to man. Dorris' portrayal of the humor, warmth, and wisdom through experience of Native American life vividly shows a different era and way of being.

[historical fiction, adventure; an easy read;]

The London Eye Mystery  by Siobhan Dowd

When Ted and Kat watched their cousin Salim get on board the London Eye, he turned and waved before getting on. But after half an hour it landed and everyone trooped off - but no Salim. Where could he have gone? Haws he spontaneously combusted? (Ted's theory.) Has he been kidnapped? (Aunt Gloria's theory.) Is he even still alive? (The family's unspoken fear.) Even the police are baffled. Ted and Kat follow a trail of clues across London in a desperate bid to find their cousin, while time ticks dangerously by.

[mystery; average difficulty]

Dovey Coe by Francis O'Roarke Dowell

"My name is Dovey Coe, and I reckon it don't matter if you like me or not. I'm here to lay the record straight, to let you know them folks saying I done a terrible thing are liars.... I hated Parnell Caraway as much as the next person, but I didn't kill him." Twelve-year-old Dovey has never had the slightest problem speaking her mind. But now, faced with a murder trial, she may just have to keep her mouth shut while the slick city lawyer takes care of things. It all started when the wealthy, vain, greedy Parnell takes a notion to win Dovey's older sister, trying to convince her she's too pretty to go off to college. But behind her back, he treats Dovey and her deaf brother Amos like dirt all summer long. Dovey gets in her jabs whenever she can--until the day she finds herself trapped in a back room with an irate, vengeful Parnell. Things don't look too good for Dovey when she comes to and finds her enemy dead on the floor next to her.

[mystery-drama; average difficulty]

Chicken Boy by Francis O'Roarke Dowell

Tobin McCauley has let life pass him by since his mother died five years earlier, but when a new student at school befriends him, he begins to look at the world with fresh eyes. Tobin has been the odd kid out for so long that when Henry Otis engages him in conversation and invites him over, the boy wonders what to make of it all. While Tobin's father is working or out on weekends, he and his older siblings scrounge for cereal to eat while watching television and long for the mother they vaguely remember. "When you learn about chickens, you will learn about life" is good advice from Henry and the basis for this story. Tobin learns just where he fits in as a school project to raise chickens develops into more than just a way to get extra credit. He describes his emotions, saying, "I'd been feeling kind of funny in general, like a snake shedding its skin and finding out it was a whole different animal underneath."

[drama / humor; an easy read;]

Shooting the Moon by Frances O’Rourke Dowell

When twelve-year-old Jamie Dexter's brother joins the Army and is sent to Vietnam, Jamie is plum thrilled. She can't wait to get letters from the front lines describing the excitement of real-life combat: the sound of helicopters, the smell of gunpowder, the exhilaration of being right in the thick of it. After all, they've both dreamed of following in the footsteps of their father, the Colonel. But TJ's first letter isn't a letter at all. It's a roll of undeveloped film, the first of many. What Jamie sees when she develops TJ's photographs reveal a whole new side of the war. Slowly the shine begins to fade off of Army life - and the Colonel. How can someone she's worshipped her entire life be just as helpless to save her brother as she is?

[teen drama / vietnam war era; average difficulty]

Kick Me: Adventures in Adolescence by Paul Feig (creator of 'Freaks and Geeks')

Written in side-splitting and often cringe-inducing detail, Paul Feig takes you in a time machine to a world of bombardment by dodge balls, ill-fated prom dates, hellish school bus rides, and other aspects of public school life that will keep you laughing in recognition and occasionally sighing in relief that you aren't him. Kick Me is a nostalgic trip for the inner geek in all of us. Author Biography: Paul Feig is a movie and television writer, director, and producer. He is a two-time Emmy nominee and lives in Los Angeles.

[memoir, humor; average difficulty]

Freaks and Geeks: the complete scripts vol I and vol II by Paul Feig

The first volume of Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Scripts collects the first nine shooting scripts (episodes 1-9), including deleted scenes and dialogue, of the Emmy Award-winning series. Created by Paul Feig and executive produced by Judd Apatow, the show followed the Weir siblings-former math whiz Lindsay and her younger brother Sam-as they navigated the perils and pleasures of a Michigan high school circa 1980. Praised for its brutal honesty and human characters, Freaks and Geeks combined smart dialogue and winning performances with plotlines that rarely offered pat solutions to the characters' conflicts.

[dramatic comedy; average difficulty; reading scripts is like reading a play, it's something you have to get used to, but it's definitely cool to see how a television show is put down on paper before being filmed]

The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox

Jessie Bollier often played his fife to earn a few pennies down by the New Orleans docks. One afternoon a sailor asked him to pipe a tune, and that evening Jessie was kidnapped and dumped aboard The Moonlight, a slave ship, where a hateful duty awaited him. He was to play music so the slaves could "dance" to keep their muscles strong, their bodies profitable. Jessie was sickened by the thought of taking part in the business of trading rum and tobacco for blacks and then selling the ones who survived the frightful sea voyage from Africa. But to the men of the ship a "slave dancer" was necessary to ensure their share of the profit. They did not heed the horrors that every day grew more vivid, more inescapable to Jessie. Yet , even after four months of fear, calculated torture, and hazardous sailing with a degraded crew, Jessie was to face a final horror that would stay with him for the rest of his life.

[historical fiction; average difficulty;]

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family . . . Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel for the audience that embraced his New York Times bestselling modern classic Coraline. Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, The Graveyard Book is sure to enthrall readers of all ages. 2009 Newbery and Hugo award winner.

[horror adventure; average difficulty]

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Young Tristran Thorn has grown up in the isolated village of Wall, on the edge of the realm of Faerie. When Tristran and the lovely Victoria see a falling star during the special market fair, Victoria impulsively offers him his heart's desire if he will retrieve the star for her. Tristran crosses the border into Faerie and encounters witches, unicorns, and other strange creatures. What he does not know is that he is not the only one searching for the fallen star. This is a refreshingly creative story with appealing characters that manages to put a new twist on traditional fairy-tale themes.

[fantasy; average difficulty;]

M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman

The popular and acclaimed science fiction author (Coraline, Wolves in the Walls) here assembles a collection of reprinted short stories written and published over the past two decades. Each story has some engagement with the fantastic. Fairy tale characters are both suspects and villains in Gaiman's parody of a hard-boiled detective story, "The Case of the Four and Twenty Blackbirds" (was Humpty Dumpty's death an accident, or was he pushed?); rogues in a parallel universe trade stories of their legendary cons in "How to Sell the Ponti Bridge." Gaiman is at his best when the ordinary and the extraordinary bump up against each other in unexpected ways. In "How to Talk to Girls at Parties," what begins by seeming like a light teen story of an awkward boy's attempt to equal his best friend's gift for attracting girls turns macabre: while all girls may seem to boys like aliens recently landed from outer space, the girls at this particular party really are. The standout in the collection is the deadpan "Chivalry," in which staid, elderly Mrs. Whittaker purchases the Holy Grail at a thrift store only to find herself besieged with ardent attentions from Sir Galahad. Science fiction and fantasy fans will find much to delight them in this wealth of finely crafted stories.

[fantasy short stories; average difficulty]

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

In Neil Gaiman's bestselling adult fantasies, telling the difference between reality and illusion can sometimes mean your soul. With Coraline, the author of American Gods develops this favorite theme for a younger audience, taking us through a deliciously frightening door to an "other," harrowing world. Coraline's often wondered what's behind the locked door in the drawing room. It reveals only a brick wall when she finally opens it, but when she tries again later, a passageway mysteriously appears. Coraline is surprised to find a flat decorated exactly like her own, but strangely different. And when she finds her "other" parents in this alternate world, they are much more interesting despite their creepy black button eyes. When they make it clear, however, that they want to make her theirs forever, Coraline begins a nightmarish game to rescue her real parents and three children imprisoned in a mirror. With only a bored-through stone and an aloof cat to help, Coraline confronts this harrowing task of escaping these monstrous creatures.

[fantasy; an easy read; the same feel as the Narnia books, but darker and scarier]

InterWorld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves

Joey Harker isn't a hero. In fact, he's the kind of guy who gets lost in his own house. But then one day, Joey gets really lost. He walks straight out of his world and into another dimension. Joey's walk between the worlds makes him prey to two terrible forces—armies of magic and science who will do anything to harness his power to travel between dimensions.When he sees the evil those forces are capable of, Joey makes the only possible choice: to join an army of his own, an army of versions of himself from different dimensions who all share his amazing power and who are all determined to fight to save the worlds.

Master storyteller Neil Gaiman and Emmy Award-winning science-fiction writer Michael Reaves team up to create a dazzling tale of magic, science, honor, and the destiny of one very special boy—and all the others like him.

[Science Fiction / Fantasy; average difficulty]

I Wanna Be Your Shoebox by Christina Garcia

Because Yumi Ruíz-Hirsch has grandparents from Japan, Cuba, and Brooklyn, her mother calls her a poster child for the twenty-first century. Yumi would laugh if only her life wasn’t getting as complicated as her heritage. All of a sudden she’s starting eighth grade with a girl who collects tinfoil and a boy who dresses like a squid. Her mom's found a new boyfriend, and her punk-rock father still can't sell a song. She's losing her house; she’s losing her school orchestra. And worst of all she's losing her grandfather Saul.

Yumi wishes everything could stay the same. But as she listens to Saul tell his story, she learns that nobody ever asks you if you're ready for life to happen. It just happens. The choice is either to sit and watch or to join the dance.

[teen and family drama; average difficulty]

The Julie of the Wolves series by Jean Craighead George

Julie of the Wolves

Julie

Julie's Wolf Pack

Faced with the prospect of a disagreeable arranged marriage or a journey across the barren Alaskan tundra, 13-year-old Miyax chooses the tundra. She finds herself caught between the traditional Eskimo ways and the modern ways of the whites. Miyax, or Julie as her pen pal Amy calls her, sets out alone to visit Amy in San Francisco, a world far away from Eskimo culture and the frozen land of Alaska. During her long and arduous journey, Miyax comes to appreciate the value of her Eskimo heritage, learns about herself, and wins the friendship of a pack of wolves. After learning the language of the wolves and slowly earning their trust, Julie becomes a member of the pack.

[drama/ survival; average difficulty;]

Looks by Madeleine George

An unforgettable debut novel about the way we look at others, and the way we see ourselves. Meghan Ball is both the most visible and the most invisible person in school. Her massive size is impossible to ignore, yet people freely spill their secrets in front of her, perhaps because they think she isn't listening. But she is. Now her attention has turned to a new girl: Aimee Zorn, with her stick-figure body and defiant attitude. Meghan is determined to befriend Aimee, and when she ultimately succeeds, the two join forces to take down their shared enemy.

[high school drama; average difficulty]

King of the Screwups by K. L. Going

Liam Geller is Mr. Popularity. Everybody loves him. He excels at sports; he knows exactly what clothes to wear; he always ends up with the most beautiful girls in school. But he's got an uncanny ability to screw up in the very ways that tick off his father the most. When Liam finally kicked out of the house, his father's brother takes him in. What could a teenage chick magnet possibly have in common with his gay, glam rocker, DJ uncle who lives in a trailer in upstate New York? A lot more than you'd think. And when Liam attempts to make himself over as a nerd in a desperate attempt to impress his father, it's his "aunt" Pete and the guys in his band who convince Liam there's much more to him than his father will ever see. [high-school drama; humor; average difficulty]

Saint Iggy by K. L. Going
               
Iggy Corso, 16, doesn’t do drugs, even though he was born addicted to crack. He lives in a city housing project, in an apartment filled with furniture that his stoned and drunken father collects from the street. Iggy’s mother is an addict who has been AWOL for a month. The cool thing about the teen is that, despite his parents and his environment, he doesn’t feel sorry for himself. A freshman who has failed two grades and been suspended eight times, he takes things for what they are, until he gets suspended again, pending a hearing. His principal says to him, You’ve had a lot to overcome...but....We can all...do something that contributes.... After listening to this, Iggy realizes that his only chance for the future is to get back into school. The principal’s statement haunts him throughout the book. He enlists help from his so-called mentor/friend, Mo (who was suspended from pre-law school after being caught smoking pot), but his association with this disaffected youth from a wealthy family creates a whole new set of problems. [teen drama; average difficulty]

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

A plane crashes on an uninhabited tropical island during wartime. A group of schoolboys,the sole survivors, form their own society, an experiment that quickly descends into chaos and death in Golding's classic allegory. As CNN keeps viewers on edge with the latest military overtures in the real world and the reality TV show "Survivor" offers escape in the form of backstabbing, bug-eating "tribal" rituals, Lord Of The Flies gives the reader a lucid and chillingly objective mirror to our modern society.

[drama/ survival; a challenging read;]

Two Parties, One Tux, and a very short film about The Grapes of Wrath by Steven Goldman

Mitchell Wells may not survive eleventh grade. He really only has one friend, his best friend, David. His normally decent grade point average is in limbo due to a slightly violent, somewhat inappropriate claymation film. And girls . . . well, does hanging out with his sister count? When David tells Mitchell he’s gay, Mitchell’s okay with it—but it still seems to change things. Since David’s not out to anyone else, the guys agree to be set up with prom dates. Then, one of the most popular girls in school decides she must date Mitchell, and he’s gone from zero to two girlfriends in sixty seconds. From his pending English grade, to his floundering friendship, to his love life—the one thing that’s taken a bizarre turn for the better—Mitchell is so confused, he’ll be lucky if he lasts another week in high school! And then there’s the prom . . .

[hilarious, laugh out loud high school drama; average difficulty]

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Westley . . . handsome farm boy who risks death and much, much worse for the woman he loves; Inigo . . . the Spanish swordsman who lives only to avenge his father's death; Fezzik . . . the Turk, the gentlest giant ever to have uprooted a tree with his bare hands; Vizzini . . . the evil Sicilian, with a mind so keen he's foiled by his own perfect logic; Prince Humperdinck . . . the eviler ruler of Guilder, who has an equally insatiable thirst for war and the beauteous Buttercup; Count Rugen . . . the evilest man of all, who thrives on the excruciating pain of others; Miracle Max. . . the King's ex-Miracle Man, who can raise the dead (kind of); The Dread Pirate Roberts . . . supreme looter and plunderer of the high seas; and, of course, Buttercup . . . the princess bride, the most perfect, beautiful woman in the history of the world.

[fantasy / adventure; a challenging read;]

Jumper by Steven Gould

Deciding he's finally had enough abuse from his drunken father and determined to get away-any way he can-Davy discovers he has the ability to teleport anywhere he wants. Fleeing to New York but desperately short of cash he "jumps" into a bank vault. While living the high life in the Big City on the stolen money and testing the limits of his power, Davey makes another startling discovery: the mother he thought had abandoned him. But a new tragedy and a pledge to avenge the loss will plunge Davy into a dangerous and mysterious world of terrorists and government espionage. This time there may be no safe place for the Jumper.

[drama/ sci-fi; average difficulty;]

Singing the Dogstar Blues by Alison Goodman

Daughter of a sperm donor and a mother who is a famous newscaster, Joss is a wild, fun-loving girl who plays the harmonica. She's also a student of time travel at the Centre for Neo-Historical Studies. Her life turns upside down when Mavkel, the first Chorian to visit Earth, comes to study time travel and selects Joss to be his roommate and study partner. The partnership puts a crimp in Joss' usual freewheeling lifestyle, but she finds plenty of excitement and danger with Mavkel, including meeting an assassin and a confrontation with an anti-alien lobby group. In addition, she's fascinated with Mavkel's heritage, especially with the fact that the Chorians are a harmonizing species of twins who communicate through song. When Mavkel becomes ill and ends up on the brink of death, Joss has to break the center's strictest rule and go back in time to save her alien friend. This wildly entertaining novel successfully mixes adventure, humor, mystery, and sf into a fast-paced, thrilling story that will appeal to a wide audience.

[sci-fi; a challenging read]

Samurai Shortstop by Alan Gratz

Tokyo, 1890. High school can be brutal, even in turn-of-the-century Japan. From his first day at boarding school, Toyo Shimada sees how upperclassmen make a sport out of terrorizing the first-years. Still, he's taken aback when the seniors keep him from trying out for the baseball team-especially after he sees their current shortstop. Toyo isn't afraid to prove himself; He's more troubled by his uncle's recent suicide. Although Uncle Koji's defiant death was supposedly heroic, it has made Toyo question many things about his family's samurai background. And worse, Toyo fears that his father may be next. It all has something to do with -the way of the warrior-but Toyo doesn't understand even after his father agrees to teach it to him. As the gulf between them grows wider, Toyo searches desperately for a way to prove there is a place for his family's samurai values in modern Japan. Baseball might just be the answer, but will his father ever accept a "Western" game that stands for everything he despises?

[historical fiction; average difficulty]

Made You Look by Shari Grayden

An exploration of advertising including its history, how it works and why, written with the intent of empowering young consumers and helping them decode the messages. Made You Look: How Advertising Works and Why You Should Know by Shari Graydon, illus. by Warren Clark, is a thought-provoking resource for children who daily face a sea of marketing. The book details the history of promoting products, controversial methods of advertising and ways that children are exposed to and affected by ads targeted directly at them.

[nonfiction / an easy read]

Soon I will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman

Doctor Impossible—evil genius, diabolical scientist, wannabe world dominator—languishes in a federal detention facility. He's lost his freedom, his girlfriend, and his hidden island fortress. Over the years he's tried to take over the world in every way imaginable: doomsday devices of all varieties (nuclear, thermonuclear, nanotechnological) and mass mind control. He's traveled backwards in time to change history, forward in time to escape it. He's commanded robot armies, insect armies, and dinosaur armies. Fungus army. Army of fish. Of rodents. Alien invasions. All failures. But not this time. This time it’s going to be different... Fatale is a rookie superhero on her first day with the Champions, the world's most famous superteam. She's a patchwork woman of skin and chrome, a gleaming technological marvel built to be the next generation of warfare. Filling the void left by a slain former member, we watch as Fatale joins a team struggling with a damaged past, having to come together in the face of unthinkable evil.

[Superhero / Supervillain Fun; average difficulty]

How to Rule the World by Andre de Guillaume

Everyone wants to rule the world, but only a precious few have the skills to create an ironclad plan of attack. Simple, direct, and delightfully unprincipled, this guide to ruling the world contains tales of global power mongering from every age and eavors to show dilettante dictators and tyrants-to-be just how it's done. Tips are provided on creating a personal flag, what type of puppet government to establish, how to squelch free speech, and, most important, how to handle enemies. Also included are humorous full-color illustrations, sidebars on admirable despots, and self-quizzes that allow readers to see if they have what it takes to conquer the world. This fun college graduation or father's day gift is perfect for those who have their hearts set on world domination.

[humor/history; an easy read;]

The curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon

Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, Christopher is autistic. Everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning for him. Routine, order and predictability shelter him from the messy, wider world. Then, at fifteen, Christopher’s carefully constructed world falls apart when he finds his neighbor’s dog, Wellington, impaled on a garden fork, and he is initially blamed for the killing. Christopher decides that he will track down the real killer and turns to his favorite fictional character, the impeccably logical Sherlock Holmes, for inspiration. But the investigation leads him down some unexpected paths. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is one of the freshest debuts in years: a comedy, a heartbreaker, a mystery story, a novel of exceptional literary merit that is great fun to read.

[drama/ mystery/ humor; average difficulty;]

Closed for the Season by Mary Downing Hahn

This book starts off as Logan Forbes learns that a murder had been committed in his family's new house three years earlier. Myrtle Donaldson, a bookkeeper accused of embezzling from the local amusement park, was found dead in her ransacked house and her killer is still at large. Logan's next-door neighbor, Arthur Jenkins, a sixth grader with a bottomless stomach and a quirky personality, is convinced that Mrs. Donaldson was falsely accused, and he wants Logan to help him find the real murderer.

[drama/ mystery/ humor; average difficulty;]

Project Sweet Life by Brent Hartinger

Fifteen-year-old Dave and his buddies Victor and Curtis are shocked when their fathers demand they get summer jobs. As the boys glumly contemplate actual work, they decide to deceive their families, avoid employment, and live the sweet life for one last summer. Still, they need to figure out a way to make money, which they can pass off to their parents as hard-earned wages. In a series of ill-fated schemes that range from bank stakeouts to scuba diving, the boys weave a complicated and uncomfortable web of lies.

[drama/ mystery/ humor; average difficulty;]

How To Steal A Car by Pete Hautman

Some girls act out by drinking or doing drugs. Some girls act out by sleeping with guys. Some girls act out by starving themselves or cutting themselves. Some girls act out by being a bitch to other girls. Not Kelleigh. Kelleigh steals cars.

[drama/ humor; average difficulty;]

Halo: The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund

Back in the year 2517, Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey began an experiment she hoped could improve the military's ability to keep the peace. She scoured the human colonies for genetically perfect soldiers... all aged six. Her Spartans spent their youth training to become an elite fighting force. Once graduated, their bones are strengthened mechanically and their minds biochemically sharpened. Now as humanity faces a new enemy, the adult Spartans are ready. The Covenant, a consortium of alien races, begins attacking outlying human colonies. Their god has ordered the destruction of humankind, and the Covenant is gunning for the military stronghold of Planet Reach and Earth itself. The Spartan soldiers are further augmented by computerized armor, and the real battle begins. This military science fiction novel, billed as a prequel to the Microsoft Xbox game Halo, is an excellent genre read. The central figures in the novel, Dr. Halsey, Captain Keyes, and Spartan Master Chief John (the last two of which appear in the game), are all well-constructed, thinking characters. The pace is snappy. The bad guys are way bad (and not all of them are alien), and the good guys are not flawless. Even those teens who do not have the game, which indeed takes up where the book leaves off, will enjoy the shoot-'em-up heroics and the twisting plot line.

[action - adventure - science fiction; average difficulty;]

Tales of the Otori Series by Lian Hearn

Across the Nightengale Floor

Grass for His Pillow

Brilliance of the Moon

The Harsh Cry of the Heron

Reading like a cross between Frank Herbert's Dune and the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, this intrigue-soaked, magic-realist tale is likely to appeal to readers who enjoy experiencing an original world unfold with each new chapter. Those who have read and reread Tolkien will blissfully turn these pages and find themselves missing appointments. Set in a long-ago world resembling medieval Japan, where warring clans brutally battle it out while the nobility plots political marriages, the action starts almost immediately. Bodies are piling up by the third page, as teenage Takeo witnesses a massacre in his previously peaceful village. He seems to be writing his own ticket to the grave when he knocks an evil warlord from his horse. The boy is saved, though, by Lord Otori, who introduces Takeo to his clan -- hence the subtitle, Tales of the Otori. Across the Nightingale Floor seems straightforward enough at first, but in Hearn's world, there are plots within plots, schemes within schemes, and skillfully interwoven elements of fantasy.

[historical fantasy; average difficulty;]

Olives Ocean by Kevin Henkes

"Olive Barstow was dead. She'd been hit by a car on Monroe Street while riding her bicycle weeks ago. That was about all Martha knew."Martha Boyle and Olive Barstow could have been friends. But they weren't -- and now all that is left are eerie connections between two girls who were in the same grade at school and who both kept the same secret without knowing it.Now Martha can't stop thinking about Olive. A family summer on Cape Cod should help banish those thoughts; instead, they seep in everywhere.And this year Martha's routine at her beloved grandmother's beachside house is complicated by the Manning boys. Jimmy, Tate, Todd, Luke, and Leo. But especially Jimmy. What if, what if, what if, what if? The world can change in a minute.

[drama; average difficulty]

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Ponyboy can count on his brothers. And on his friends. But no on much else besides trouble with the Socs, a vicious gang of rich kids whose idea of a good time is beating up "greasers" like Ponyboy. At least heknows what to expect--until the night someone takes things too far.

[drama; average difficulty;]

Aquamarine by Alice Hoffman

Twelve year-old best friend Hailey and Claire are spending their last summer together when they discover something at the bottom of the murky pool at the Capri Beach Club. There, among the seaweed and jellyfish that the summer storm has blown in from the ocean, there is a mysterious and beautiful creature with a sharp tongue and a broken heart, a mermaid named Aquamarine.

[magical realism; an easy read;]

The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff

Author/narrator Hoff calls Winnie the Pooh a Western Taoist and uses the unassuming bear to introduce Eastern philosophical principles. Pooh epitomizes the uncarved block, as he is well in tune with his natural inner self. Pooh enjoys simple pleasures and the daily progress of life. Hoff contrasts this unpretentiousness to other characters created by Winnie - the - Pooh author A.A. Milne, including Owl, whom he describes as a mind that tries too hard, and Eeyore, the eternal pessimist.

[philosophy; average difficulty;]

I am David by Anne Holm (originally published as 'North to Freedom')

David's entire twelve-year life has been spent in a grisly prison camp in Eastern Europe. He knows nothing of the outside world. But when he is given the chance to escape, he seizes it. With his vengeful enemies hot on his heels, David struggles to cope in this strange new world, where his only resources are a compass, a few crusts of bread, his two aching feet, and some vague advice to seek refuge in Denmark. Is that enough to survive? David's extraordinary odyssey is dramatically chronicled in Anne Holm's classic about the meaning of freedom and the power of hope.

[historical fiction/ survival; average difficulty;]

Slam! by Nick Hornby

Just when everything is coming together for Sam, his girlfriend Alicia drops a bombshell. Make that ex-girlfriend- because by the time she tells him she's pregnant, they've already called it quits. Sam does not want to be a teenage dad. His mom had him at sixteen and has made it very clear how having a baby so young interrupted her life. There's only one person Sam can turn to-his hero, skating legend Tony Hawk. Sam believes the answers to life's hurdles can be found in Hawk's autobiography. But even Tony Hawk isn't offering answers this time-or is he? Inexplicably, Sam finds himself whizzed into the future, for a quick glimpse of what will be . . . or what could be. In this wonderfully witty, poignant story about a teenage boy unexpectedly thrust into fatherhood, it's up to Sam to make the right decisions so the bad things that could happen, well, don't

[teen drama / skate boarding; average difficulty;]

The Misfits by James Howe

James Howe's book finds humor in a difficult subject. The subject is bullying and the comedy comes from its narrator, Bobby. Bobby is one of the Gang of Five. The Gang of Five is made of four members, the number five is just to keep people guessing. All four have been teased since early grade school; Bobby is fat, Addie is tall and smart, Skeezie is a troublemaker and Joe Bunch is effeminate early on and comes out by the book's end. Bobby describes how all five learn to stand up for themselves in middle school when they form a third party during elections. Their party, the No-Name party, protests unfairness in general, name calling more specifically. The idea begins when their nemesis teacher, Mrs. Wyman gives Addie the "evil occulus" as Addie protests the Pledge. She stands there, Bobby tells us, as "silent as dandruff and every bit as annoying while Mrs. Wyman is doing everything she can to keep from hurling herself across the room...and tearing Addie's liver out with her bare teeth." Humor is how Bobby has weathered his mother's death, his father's drinking, a difficult boss, and years of teasing. Bobby sees the world with good nature and lack of judgment, and the way he sees helps us find humor while he expresses more serious truths. Bobby shocks himself when he invents the No-Name campaign slogan: "Sticks and stones may break our bones, but names will break our spirit."

[dramatic comedy; an easy read;]

Totally Joe by James Howe

Joe's teacher asks his seventh-grade class to write an "alphabiography" throughout the year, presenting themselves and their lives in entries from A to Z. Joe's essays begin and end with friends, from Addie, a long-time pal and confidant, to Zachary, a new student who, like Joe, has a unique approach to life. Throughout, Joe demonstrates that he truly is a one-of-a-kind kid, mostly comfortable with himself but still struggling with common adolescent issues. It's difficult for him to relate to his athletic brother, and he misses his much-loved Aunt Pam, who moves to New York City. He also comes to grips with his sexuality, questioning gender expectations and traditional roles as he realizes he is gay. Because he is different, he is tormented by Kevin, who calls him a "girl" and "faggot" and falsely accuses him of kissing his friend Colin (a jock not yet ready to come out).

[dramatic comedy; average difficulty;]

The Adventures of Blue Avenger by Norma Howe

On the morning of David Bruce Schumacher's sixeteenth birthday he decides to offically change his name to "Blue Avenger" and become a secret chamion of the underdog, modest seeker of truth, and fearless inovator of the unkown. And things start to happen. Within twenty-four hours, David becomes a national hero, starts dating an extraordinary girl named Omaha Nebraska Brown, and bakes a perfect pie. And that's not all. A tiny sow bug is injured by a lawn mower, some killer bees make their home at San Pablo High School, and there is some activity in the earth's crust.

[dramatic comedy; average difficulty;]

Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata

Katie Takeshima knows her sister Lynn taught her to say Kira-Kira, the Japanese word for glittering or shining. The word is a sharp contrast to the hardships Katie's parents face working in the poultry industry in 1950's Georgia and coping with Lynn's terminal illness. What does shine in Cynthia Kadohata's Newbery-winning novel are the loving relationships between parents, sisters, and younger brother Sam, and the support the Takeshimas find in their small Japanese-American community. Katie recalls difficult times such as the family's move from Iowa and the traumatic day when Sam got caught in an animal trap. She also remembers with great affection Lynn's exceptional abilities and the kooky kindness of her paternal uncle.  Katie finds many of these memories recorded in Lynn's diary, and she also recognizes that one of Lynn's legacies is her own ability to see the kira-kira all around her.

[drama; average difficulty]

Undercover by Beth Kephart

Like a modern-day Cyrano de Bergerac, Elisa ghostwrites love notes for the boys in her school. But when Elisa falls for Theo Moses, things change fast. Theo asks for verses to court the lovely Lila—a girl known for her beauty, her popularity, and a cutting ability to remind Elisa that she has none of these. At home, Elisa's father, the one person she feels understands her, has left on an extended business trip. As the days grow shorter, Elisa worries that the increasingly urgent letters she sends her father won't bring him home. Like the undercover agent she feels she has become, Elisa retreats to a pond in the woods, where her talent for ice-skating gives her the confidence to come out from under cover and take center stage. But when Lila becomes jealous of Theo's friendship with Elisa, her revenge nearly destroys Elisa's ice-skating dreams and her plan to reunite her family.

[drama / romance; average difficulty]

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Living on a peach farm in South Carolina with her harsh, unyielding father, Lily Owens has shaped her entire life around one devastating, blurred memory - the afternoon her mother was killed, when Lily was four. Since then, her only real companion has been the fierce-hearted, and sometimes just fierce, black woman Rosaleen, who acts as her "stand-in mother." When Rosaleen insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily knows it's time to spring them both free. They take off in the only direction Lily can think of, toward a town called Tiburon, South Carolina - a name she found on the back of a picture amid the few possessions left by her mother. There they are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters named May, June, and August. Lily thinks of them as the calendar sisters and enters their mesmerizing secret world of bees and honey, and of the Black Madonna who presides over this household of strong, wise women. Maternal loss and betrayal, guilt and forgiveness entwine in a story that leads Lily to the single thing her heart longs for most.

[drama; average difficulty]

The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling

This is not the Disney movie. It's dark and dangerous. The Jungle Books can be regarded as classic stories told by an adult to children. But they also constitute a complex literary work of art in which the whole of Kipling's philosophy of life is expressed in miniature. They are best known for the 'Mowgli' stories; the tale of a baby abandoned and brought up by wolves, educated in the ways and secrets of the jungle by Kaa the python, Baloo the bear, and Bagheera the black panther. The stories, a mixture of fantasy, myth, and magic, are underpinned by Kipling's abiding preoccupation with the theme of self-discovery, and the nature of the 'Law'.

[classic literature; a challenging read; definitely not the Disney version. More violence and realism. Don't expect a song and dance]