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

Listen to an excerpt from the book read by the author on Teaching Books

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