Faith, hope, and Ivy June by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

During a student exchange program, seventh-graders Ivy June and Catherine share their lives, homes, and communities, and find that although their lifestyles are total opposites they have a lot in common.

Friendship, tolerance, fiction | Grades 5-8

Crossing stones by Helen Frost

Four young people in two families tell of their experience during World War I when the boys enlist and are sent to fight, Emma finishes school, and Muriel joins the suffrage movement.

Historical fiction | YA Grades 7 up

The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

When ten-year-old orphan Peter Augustus Duchene encounters a fortune teller in the marketplace one day who tells him that his sister, who is presumed dead, is in fact alive, he embarks on a remarkable series of adventures in an attempt to find her.

Adventure fiction | Grades 3-6

The Great and Only Barnum - The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P.T. Barnum by Candace Fleming

Chronicles the life of showman P. T. Barnum, discussing how he created his legendary circus, the people and events that shaped his life, and the impact Barnum had on the entertainment industry.

Nonfiction | Grade 6 up

Stitches: A Memoir, by David Small

A graphic novel that chronicles the life of American author and illustrator David Small, detailing his sickly childhood and teenage years, relationship with his parents, his cancer, and more.

Comic books | grades 8 up

Wild Girl by Patricia Reilly Giff

When twelve-year-old Lidie leaves Brazil to join her father and brother on a horse ranch in New York, she has a hard time adjusting to her changed circumstances, as does a new horse that has come to the ranch.

Fiction | Grades 4-6

A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck

A companion novel to: A long way from Chicago and A year down yonder. Relates the surprising gifts bestowed on twelve-year-old Bob Barnhart and his family, who have recently moved to a small Illinois town in 1958, by their larger-than-life neighbor, Mrs. Dowdel.

Fiction | Grades 5-8

Jolted: Newton Starker's Rules for Survival, by Arthur Slade

Many of Newton Starker's ancestors, including his mother, have been killed by lightning strikes, so when he enrolls at the eccentric Jerry Potts Academy of Higher Learning and Survival in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, he tries to be a model student so that he can avoid the same fate.

Fiction | Grades 5-8

Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba by Margarita Engle

Escaping from Nazi Germany to Cuba in 1939, a young Jewish refugee dreams of finding his parents again, befriends a local girl with painful secrets of her own, and discovers that the Nazi darkness is never far away.

Historical fiction | Holocaust, Jewish | YA Grades 7 up

Shadowed Summer by Saundra Mitchell

In the small town of Ondine, Louisiana, fourteen year old Iris uncovers family secrets when she conjures up the ghost of a boy missing for decades and decides to solve the mystery of his disappearance.

Mystery | Ghost stories | Grades 7 up

Carolina Harmony by Marilyn Taylor McDowell

Carolina, having escaped from a foster home and living with Mr. Ray and Miss Latah on Harmony Farm, refuses to talk about the events surrounding the deaths of her parents and younger brother, and befriends a troubled runaway who she secretly feeds and takes the blame for his pranks.

Fiction | Grades 4 - 8

Dying to Meet You by Kate Klise

In this story, told mostly through letters, children's book author, I. B. Grumpy, gets more than he bargained for when he rents a quiet place to write for the summer.

Ghosts | Humor | Grades 4-8

Night Wings by Joseph Bruchac

After being taken captive by a band of treasure seekers, thirteen year old Paul and his Abenaki grandfather must face a legendary Native American monster at the top of Mount Washington.

Native Americans fiction | Grades 5 - 8

Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur

While living with her Gram in Vermont, eleven year old Aubrey writes letters as a way of dealing with losing her father and sister in a car accident, and then being abandoned by her grief-stricken mother.

Realistic fiction | Grades 4 - 8

Al Capone Shines My Shoes by Gennifer Choldenko

Moose Flanagan, who lives on Alcatraz along with his family and the families of the other prison guards, is frightened when he discovers that noted gangster Al Capone, a prisoner there, wants a favor in return for the help that he secretly gave Moose.

Fiction | Grades 5-8

The Year the Swallows Came Early by Kathryn Fitzmaurice

After her father is sent to jail, eleven year old Groovy Robinson must decide if she can forgive the failings of someone she loves.

Realistic fiction | Grades 4-up

Wild Things by Clay Carmichael

Stubborn, self-reliant, eleven year old Zoe, recently orphaned, moves to the country to live with her prickly half uncle, a famous doctor and sculptor, and together they learn about trust and the strength of family.

Realistic fiction | grades 5-8

Traveling the Freedom Road by Linda Barrett Osborne

Collects accounts from slave narratives, journals, diaries, and other sources to provide a first-person perspective on the antebellum South, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.

Non fiction | grades 5-8

The Stone Child by Dan Poblocki

When friends Eddie, Harris, and Maggie discover that the scary adventures in their favorite author's fictional books come true, they must find a way to close the portal that allows evil creatures and witches to enter their hometown of Gatesweed.

Fantasy | grades 5-8

Operation Redwood by Terrell French

In northern California, Julian Carter-Li and his friends old and new fight to save a grove of redwoods from an investment company that plans to cut them down.

Environmental protection | grades 5-8

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick

Homer P. Figg escapes from his wretched foster home in Pine Swamp, Maine, and sets out to find his beloved older brother, Harold, who has been illegally sold into the Union Army.

Historical fiction | grades 5-8

Mare's War by Tanita Davis

Teens Octavia and Tali learn about strength, independence, and courage when they are forced to take a car trip with their grandmother, who tells about growing up Black in 1940s Alabama and serving in Europe during World War II as a member of the Women's Army Corps.

World War II fiction | Family life fiction | grades 6 up

Kaleidoscope Eyes by Jan Bryant

In 1968, with the Vietnam War raging, thirteen year old Lyza inherits a project from her deceased grandfather, who had been using his knowledge of maps and the geography of Lyza's New jersey hometown to locate the lost treasure of Captain Kidd.

Mystery | Verse | grades 6-up

Jane in Bloom by Deborah Lytton

Devastated when her beautiful, older sister dies from anorexia, twelve year old Jane recovers slowly from the tragedy, with help from unexpected sources.

Realistic fiction | grades 5-8

Darkwood by M.E. Breen

A clever and fearless orphan endures increasing danger while trying to escape from greedy, lawless men and elude the terrifying "kinderstalks" - animals who steal children - before discovering her true destiny.

Fantasy | grades 5-8

Bones of Faerie by Janni Simmer

Fifteen year old Liza travels through war-ravaged territory in a struggle to bridge the faerie and human worlds and to bring back her mother, while she learns of her own powers and that magic can be controlled.

Fantasy | YA

Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry

Orphaned at age five, Lucinda, now fifteen, stands with courage against the man who took everything from her, aided by a thief, a clever goat, and a mysterious woman called the Witch of Amaranth, while the prince she knew as a child prepares to marry, unaware that he, too, is in danger.

Fantasy | grades 5-8

Happenstance Found by P. W. Catanese

Twelve year old Happenstance wakes up in a cave with no idea how he got there, or who he is, but merchant and royal advisor Lord Umber helps Hap and his two friends escape from the caverns.

Fantasy | grades 4-7

Scat by Carl Hiaasen

Nick and Marta are both suspicious when their biology teacher, the feared Mrs. Bunny Starch, disappears, and try to uncover the truth despite the police and headmaster's insistence that nothing is wrong.

Thriller | grades 5-8

Lucky Breaks by Susan Patron

Sequel to The Higher Power of Lucky. 

Lucky, having met  potential best friend who was visiting her uncle who lives in Hare Pan, California, devises a plan to get the young girl back to the town.

Friendship fiction | grades 4-6

The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

In a polygamous cult in the desert, Kyra, not yet fourteen, sees being chosen to be the seventh wife of her uncle as just punishment for having read books and kissed a boy in violation of Prophet Childs' teachings, and is torn between facing her fate and running away from all that she knows and loves.

Cults fiction | young adult, grades 7-10

The White Witch by Janet Graber

Fourteen year old Gwendoline Riston, having been accused of being  witch, is hidden away by her father after the plague hits her English town and witnesses the townspeople die from the sickness while blaming her for it.

Historical fiction | grades 5-8

The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon

In 1968 Chicago, fourteen year old Sam Childs is caught in a conflict between his father's nonviolent approach to seeking civil rights for African-Americans and his older brother, who has joined the Black Panther Party.

Civil rights fiction | Historical fiction | grades 6-10

Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez

After his family hires migrant Mexican workers to help save their Vermont farm from foreclosure, eleven year old Tyler befriends the oldest daughter, but when he discovers they may not be in the country legally, he realizes that real friendship knows no borders.

Family life fiction | grades 5-9

Heart of a Shepherd by Rosanne Parry

Ignatius "Brother" Alderman, nearly twelve, promises to help his grandparents keep the family's Oregon ranch the same while his brothers are away and his father is deployed to Iraq, but as he comes to accept the inevitability of change, he also sees the man he is meant to be.

Family life fiction | grades 4-8

The Girl Who Threw Butterflies by Mick Cochrane

Eighth grader Molly's ability to throw a knuckleball earns her a spot on the baseball team, which not only helps her feel connected to her recently deceased father, who loved baseball, it helps in other aspects of her life, as well.

Friendship fiction | grades 6-9

11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass

After celebrating their first nine same-day birthdays together, Amanda and Leo, having fallen out on their tenth and not speaking to each other for the last year, prepare to celebrate their eleventh birthday separately but peculiar things begin to happen as the day of their birthday begins to repeat itself over and over again.

Friendship fiction | grades 4-6

Anything but Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin

Jason, a twelve year old autistic boy who wants to become a writer, relates what his life is like as he tries to make sense of his world.

Grades 4-10

All the Broken Pieces : A Novel in Verse by Ann Burg

Two years after being airlifted out of Vietnam in 1975, Matt Pin is haunted by the terrible secret he lift behind and, now, in a loving adoptive home in the United States, a series of profound events forces him to confront his past.

Historical fiction | grades 6-10

When the Whistle Blows by Fran Cannon Slayton

Jimmy Cannon tells about his life in the 1940's as the son o a West Virginia railroad man, loving the trains and expecting one day to work on the railroad like his father and brothers.

Historical fiction | grades 6-10

Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia

The lives of Leticia, Dominique, and Trina are irrevocably intertwined through the course of one day in an urban high school after Leticia overhears Dominique's plans to beat up Trina and must decide whether or not to get involved.

Realistic fiction | grades 7 up

Peace Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson

Through letters to his little sister, who is living in a different foster home, sixth-grader Lonnie, also known as "Locomotion," keeps a record of their lives while they are apart, describing his own foster family, including his foster brother who returns home after losing a leg in the Iraq War.

Realistic fiction | grades 5-8

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

As her mother prepares to be a contestant on the 1980's television game show,"The $20,000 Pyramid," a twelve year old New York city girl tries to make sense of some mysterious notes received from an anonymous source which seems to defy the laws of time and space.

grades 4-6

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Alien Feast by Michael Simmons

In 2017, human-eating aliens have kidnapped two scientists who might cure the disese that is destroying them, and twelve-year old William Aitkin, his elderly, ailing Uncle Maynard, and the scientist's daughter, Sophie, set out to rescue them.

Science fiction | grades 5-8

Waggit Again by Peter Howe

After being left in the country by his owner, Waggit sets out on the long journey to New York City and meets some unexpected friends along the way.

Fantasy, dogs | grades 5-8

Escape Under the Forever Sky by Eve Yohalem

Lucy's mother, the US Ambassador to Ethiopia, keeps Lucy confined to the embassy, but Lucy's desire to see what is beyond the compound walls gets her kidnapped and she must rely upon her knowledge and courage in order to escape.

Survival, adventure | grades 5-8

A Recipe 4 Robbery by Marybeth Kelsey

An unsupervised goose, missing family heirlooms, and some suspicious characters turn the annual cucumber festival into a robbery investigation for three sixth-grade friends.

Mystery | grades 5,6

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

In central Texas in 1899, eleven-year-old Callie Vee Tate is instructed to be a lady by her mother, learns about love from the older three of her six brothers, and studies the natural world with her grandfather, the latter of which leads to an important discovery.

Historical fiction | grades 5-8

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Book 2. By winning the annual Hunger Games, District 12 tributes Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark have secured a life of safety and plenty for themselves and their families, but because they won by defying the rules, they unwittingly become the faces of an impending rebellion.

Fantasy | young adult, grade 7 and up

Messed Up by Janet Nichols Lynch

Fifteen-year-old RD is repeating the eighth grade, planning to have an easy year, but after his grandmother walks out her boyfriend is no longer able to care for him, which leaves RD to fend for himself while avoiding being caught.

Realistic fiction | young adult, grade 7 and up