FICTION
Abelove, Joan Go and Come Back: A young
tribeswoman living in an Amazonian village in the
women
anthropologists who arrive to study the way of life of
her people
on a transatlantic voyage in 1832,
is
murderous and the crew rebellious.
Banks, Lynne Reid
struggle
against the consequences of decades of war.
Blume, Judy Just
as Long as we’re Together: A humorous, realistic story of
friendship
between three girls.
Byars, Betsy Cromer Pinballs:
Three lonely foster children learn to care about
themselves
and each other.
Cleary, Beverly Dear
Mr. Henshaw: In letters to his favorite author, a ten-
year-old
reveals his problems in coping with his parents’
divorce,
being the new boy in school, and generally finding
his
own place in the world.
Cooney, Caroline B. Face
on the Milk Carton: A photograph of a missing girl on a
milk
carton leads Janie on a search for her real identity.
Voice on
the Radio: The gripping continuation of the story
from “Face
on the Milk Carton” and “Whatever Happened
to Janie?”
Cormier, Robert In
the Middle of the Night: Sixteen-year-old Danny lives in
the
shadow of a deadly accident with which his father was
connected,
a disaster for which some of the survivors still
blame
his father.
Craven I
Heard the Owl Call my Name: The story of one man’s
discoveries
about life among the Indians of the Northwest.
Creech, Sharon *Walk
Two Moons: After her mother leaves home suddenly,
thirteen-year-old
Sal and her grandparents take a car trip
retracing
her mother’s route.
Crew, Linda Children
of the River: Seventeen-year-old Sundara is torn
between
remaining faithful to her own people in Cambodia
and
adjusting to like in her Oregon high school.
Curtis, Christopher *The
Watsons go to Birmingham – 1963: An African-American
family
living in Michigan is drastically changed after they
visit
their grandmother in Alabama in 1963.
Cushman, Karen The
Ballad of Lucy Whipple: In 1849, twelve-year-old Lucy
is upset when her mother moves the family from
Massachusetts to a small California mining town where Lucy helps run a boarding
house.
Cushman, Karen *Catherine
Called Birdy: The thirteen-year-old daughter of
an English country knight during
the Middle Ages keeps a
journal in which she records the
events of her life, particularly
her longing for adventures beyond
the usual role of women.
Farmer, Nancy *The
Ear, the Eye and the Arm: In 2194 in Zimbabwe, three
children
are kidnapped and put to work in a mine, while three mutant detectives use their special powers to search for
them.
Farmer, Nancy *A
Girl Named Disaster: When journeying to Zimbabwe,
eleven-year-old
Nhamo struggles to escape drowning and
starvation,
and in so doing comes close to the luminous
world of
the African spirits.
Fast, Howard April
Morning: The story of a young man’s baptism by fire
during
the Battle of Lexington in 1775.
Fine, Anne Flour
Babies: A student makes some discoveries about himself
during
the three weeks that his class is assigned to take care of
their
own “babies” in the form of bags of flour.
first
battle of the Civil War.
Fleischman, Paul Whirligig:
While traveling to each corner of the country to
build a
whirligig in memory of the girl whose death he causes,
sixteen-year-old
Brent finds forgiveness and atonement.
Fox, Paula *Slave
Dancer: The story of the kidnapping, enslavement
and
passage across the ocean of a thirteen-year-old African
child
in 1840.
Gilson,
Jamie
Hello,
My Name is Scrambled Eggs: When his parents host a Vietnamese family that
has come to settle in their town, Harvey enjoys Americanizing twelve-year-old
Tuan.
Greene, Bette Summer of my German Soldier: Sheltering
an escaped
prisoner
of war during World War II marks a major turning
point
in the life of a twelve-year-old girl from Arkansas.
Grimes, Nikki Jazmin’s
Notebook: An African-American teen
living
with her older sister in Harlem in the 1960’s finds
strength
in writing poetry and keeping a journal of events
in
her sometimes difficult life.
Hamilton, Virginia *M.
C. Higgins the Great: A young African-American man
must comes
to terms with his family heritage and his own
desire to
escape his life in a strip mining town.
Hamilton, Virginia The
House of Dies Drear: Thomas’s obsession with a house
believed to
have been a station on the Underground Railroad
leads to
danger and intrigue and a stronger connection to his
own past.
relates the hardships of living on her family’s wheat
farm in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl years of the Depression.
Letters from Rifka: In letters to her cousin, a young
Jewish girl chronicles her family’s flight from Russia in 1919 and her own
experiences when she must be left in Belgium for a while when the others
emigrate to America.
Hinton, S.E. Taming
the Star Runner: Sent to live with his uncle after a
violent
confrontation with his father, sixteen-year-old Travis
finds life
in a small California town confining
until he meets an
eighteen-year-old
horse trainer.
accept
the responsibility of growing up.
Hobbs, Will The
Maze: A fourteen-year-old foster child escapes from a
juvenile
detention facility and travels to a national park,
where
he meets a bird biologist working on a project to
reintroduce
condors to the wild.
legendary
sword which he is convinced will help Redwall’s
inhabitants
destroy their enemy, an evil rat.
Kerr, M.E. Gentlehands: A long-buried secret concerning a young man’s
grandfather
changes his life forever and rocks their small
community.
bond
and attract the attention of their teacher, who chooses
them
to represent their sixth-grade class in the Academic
bowl
competition.
L’Engle, Madeleine A
Wind in the Door: A fantasy-adventure story; the
companion
piece to “A Wrinkle in Time”.
Lester, Julius Long Journey Home: Stories from
black history
Ella struggles against the
childhood curse that forces
her
to obey any order given to her.
*Number the Stars:
In 1943, during the German occupation
of Denmark, a young girl shelters her Jewish friend
from the Nazis.
Lunemann, Evelyn No
Turning Back: When the abuse at home becomes too much
for
twelve-year-old Sipho, he runs away to the streets of
Johannesburg
and learns to survive in the post-apartheid world.
Mahy, Margaret Memory:
On the fifth anniversary of his sister’s death, a
young
man troubled by guilt goes in search of the only other
witness
to the fatal accident.
Mahy, Margaret Tricksters:
While gathered together for the Christmas
holiday, a
large New Zealand family and their various
guests find
their lives suddenly invaded by three fascinating
but sinister
brothers.
Mazer, Norma Fox Missing
Pieces: A fourteen-year-old girl decides the family
she
shares with her mother and great-great aunt is not enough,
and
goes in search of the father who left when she was a baby.
Mazer, Norma Fox Silver:
Despite their different backgrounds, a teenage girl
living with
her mother in a trailer becomes friends with an
affluent
group of kids.
Myers, Walter Dean Slam!: Seventeen-year-old “Slam” Harris is counting
on his
basketball
talents to give him a chance to succeed in life, but
his
coach sees things differently.
Myers, Walter
Dean *Somewhere in the Darkness: A young
African-American man’s world changes when the father who disappeared nine
years ago
suddenly wants him to know who his father is.
Nixon, Joan
Lowery
Land of Hope: The year is 1902. Rebekah and her family leave their Russian
village for America to escape the programs against Jews. But, once they make it to New York, they find
themselves working seven days a week in a sweatshop.
nuclear war, a sixteen-year-old
girl is relieved to see a man arrive
in her valley until she realizes
that he is a tyrant and she must somehow escape.
Slave rebellion of 1733, and of one
daring young woman’s suffering, strength and ultimate triumph of will.
Paterson, Katherine Jip:
While living on a Vermont poor farm in 1855 and 1856,
Jip
learns his identity and that of his mother, and comes to
understand
how he arrived there.
to gain her
independence by becoming a factory worker in
Lowell,
Massachusetts in the 1840’s.
Paulsen, Gary The
Schernoff Discoveries: Harold and his friend, both
hopeless
geeks and social misfits, try to survive unusual
science
experiments, the attacks of the football team, and
other
dangers of junior high school.
Paulsen, Gary The
Transall Saga: While backpacking in the desert, a
thirteen-year-old
boy falls into a tube of blue light and is
transported
to a more primitive world, where must use his
knowledge
and skills to survive.
Rinaldi, Ann The
Fifth of March: A fourteen-year-old indentured servant
in
the Boston household of John and Abigail Adams is caught
up in the Colonists
unrest that eventually escalates into the
massacre
of March 5, 1770.
Robinet, Harriette Washington
City is Burning: In 1814 Virginia, a slave in
President
Madison’s White House experiences the burning
of
Washington by the invading British army.
Sebestyen, Quida On
Fire: Involved in a dangerous strike in a frontier mining
town
in 1911, twelve-year-old Sammy finds his feelings
changing
toward the older brother he has always idolized.
Shihab,
Naomi Habibi:
When fourteen-year-old Liyana Abboud, her younger brother, and her parents move
from St. Louis to a new home between Jerusalem and the Palestinian village
where her father was born, they face many changes and must deal with the
tensions between Jews and Palestinians.
the
unpopular boy living next door to her has the ability to
go
into the fourth dimension, she makes the dangerous
decision
to accompany him on his journeys there.
Sleator, William The
Duplicate: Sixteen-year-old David finds a machine that
duplicates
living organisms, duplicates himself, and suffers
the
consequences.
young
girl’s coming of age.
Speare , Elizabeth The Sign of the Beaver: Left alone to
guard the family’s home
in
18th century Maine, a boy is hard-pressed to survive until
local
Indians teach him their skills.
Speare, Elizabeth *The Witch of Blackbird Pond: A young woman
is saved
during
a witch hunt and trial in colonial Connecticut by a
child
she secretly taught to read.
son
of the Chief of Hikueru, feared the sea.
Based on a legend
of
the Polynesian people.
Spinelli, Jerry Crash: “Crash” has always been comfortable with his
tough
behavior,
until his relationship with a Quaker boy and his
grandfather’s
stroke cause to reconsider the meaning of
friendship
and family.
Spinelli, Jerry *Wringer: As Palmer
comes of age, he must either accept the
violence
of being a “wringer” at his town’s annual Pigeon Day
or
find the courage to oppose it.
Taylor, Theodore The Bomb: After World War II ends, a young
man in the
western
Pacific attempts to save his native land from being
used
as a site for atomic weapons tests.
Temple, Frances A
Taste of Salt: A story of the fight against repression in
modern
Haiti.
disabled
student struggles to endure a life in which other kids
make fun of
him and he is haunted by the memory of his
older
sister, who drowned while he was watching.
Yep,
Laurence Child of the
Owl: A twelve-year-old girl who knows little
about her
Chinese heritage is sent to live with her
grandmother
in San Francisco’s Chinatown.
*Dragonwings: Inspired by the account of a Chinese
immigrant who made a flying machine in 1909, this story
portrays the
rich traditions of the Chinese immigrant
community
making its way in a hostile new world.
Mountain
Light: Swept up in one of the local rebellions against the Manchus in
China, nineteen-year-old Squeaky loses his home and travels to America to seek
his fortune among the gold fields of California.
Blumberg What’s
the Deal? Jefferson, Napoleon and the
Louisiana
Purchase: Discusses the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 and
the
political
maneuverings of Napoleon and Jefferson that made
it
possible. Pieced together like a
marvelous mystery story,
with
outstanding graphics.
Clinton, Catherine I,
Too, Sing America: Three Centuries of African-American
Poetry: Illustrated with shining artwork, this
emotional
collection
of African-American poetry gives the reader both
historical
perspective and personal witness.
Fradin, Dennis Samuel
Adams: The Father of American Independence:
Presents
the life and accomplishments of the colonist and
patriot
who was involved in virtually every major event
that
resulted in the birth of the United States.
Freedman *The
Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane:
Follows
the lives of the Wright Brothers and describes how
they
developed the first airplane. A
fascinating study with
original
photographs.
In
lively and lucid prose, this book presents the stories of a
diverse
group of pioneering artists who helped shape
America’s
vision of itself in the modern world.
Sports: Balancing a love of sports with an
historian’s eye,
the author has written an homage to
female athletes that is
also a
window into a century of change.
Marrin, Albert Commander in Chief: Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War:
Brings Lincoln to life by placing him in the context
of his own
personal background and the larger circumstances of
the
country’s
greatest conflict.
Murphy, Jim *The Great Fire: A riveting narrative combined with
personal
accounts recreates one of the most colossal disasters
in
American history with drama and immediacy.
Partridge, Elizabeth Restless Spirit: The Life and Work of Dorothea
Lange:
A biography of Dorothea Lange, whose photographs of
migrant workers, Japanese-American internees and rural
poverty helped bring about important social reforms.
Thomas, Velma Lest We Forget: The Passage From Africa to Slavery and
Emancipation: Artifacts
from the Black Holocaust exhibit
are used to create a three dimensional interactive
story of
slavery in America.
*Newbery or Newbery Honor award winner