Top Picks!

Birthmarked

by Caragh M. O'BrienYear Published: 2010Fiction"In the future, in a world baked dry by the harsh sun, there are those who live inside the walled Enclave and those, like sixteen-year-old Gaia Stone, who live outside. Following in her mother's footsteps Gaia has become a midwife, delivering babies in the world outside the wall and handing a quota over to be "advanced" into the privileged society of the Enclave. Gaia has always believed this is her duty, until the night her mother and father are arrested by the very people they so loyally serve. Now Gaia is forced to question everything she has been taught, but her choice is simple: enter the world of the Enclave to rescue her parents, or die trying." -Goodreads.com

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie

by Jordan SonnenblickYear Published: 2006Realistic Fiction"Thirteen-year-old Steven has a totally normal life: he plays drums in the All-Star Jazz Band, has a crush on the hottest girl in the school, and is constantly annoyed by his five year-old brother, Jeffrey. But when Jeffrey is diagnosed with leukemia, Steven's world is turned upside down. He is forced to deal with his brother's illness and his parents' attempts to keep the family in one piece."-Goodreads.com

Life as we Knew it

by Susan beth PfefferYear Published: 2006Scienc Fiction/Realistic Fiction"Miranda's disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove. Told in journal entries, this is the heart-pounding story of Miranda's struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all, hope, in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world." Goodreads.com

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

by Ranson RiggsYear Published: 2011Fantasy"As a kid, Jacob formed a special bond with his grandfather over his bizarre tales and photos of levitating girls and invisible boys. Now at 16, he is reeling from the old man's unexpected death. Then Jacob is given a mysterious letter that propels him on a journey to the remote Welsh island where is grandfather grew up. There, he finds the children from the photographs-alive and well- despite the islanders' assertion that all were killed decades ago. As Jacob begins to unravel more about his grandfather's childhood, he suspects he is being trailed by a monster only he can see. A haunting and out-of-the ordinary read." Goodreads.com

Out of My Mind

by Sharon M. DraperYear Published: 2010Realistic Fiction"Eleven-year-old Melody has a photographic memory. Her head is like a video camera that is always recording. Always. And there's no delete button. She's the smartest kid in her whole school; but no one knows it. Most people; her teachers and doctors included, don't think she's capable of learning, and up until recently her school days consisted of listening to the same preschool-level alphabet lessons again and again and again. If only she could speak up, if only she could tell people what she thinks and knows . . . but she can't, because Melody can't talk. She can't walk. She can't write. Being stuck inside her head is making Melody go out of her mind, that is, until she discovers something that will allow her to speak for the first time ever. At last Melody has a voice . . . but not everyone around her is ready to hear it. From multiple Coretta Scott King Award winner Sharon M. Draper comes a story full of heartache and hope. Get ready to meet a girl whose voice you'll never, ever forget." -Goodreads.com

Rules

by Cynthis LordYear Published: 2006Realistic Fiction"Twelve-year-old Catherine just wants a normal life. Which is near impossible when you have a brother with autism and a family that revolves around his disability. She's spent years trying to teach David the rules- from "a peach is not a funny-looking apple" to "keep your pants on in public" in order to stop his embarrassing behaviors. But the summer Catherine meats Jason, a paraplegic boy, and Kristi, the next-door friend she's always wished for, it's her own shocking behavior that turns everything upside down and forces her to ask: What is normal?"-Goodreads.com

Schooled

by Gordon KormanYear Published: 2007Realistic Fiction"Homeschooled by his hippie grandmother, Capricorn (Cap) Anderson has never watched television, tasted a pizza or even hear of a wedgie. But when his grandmother lands in the hospital, Cap is forced to move in with a school counselor and attend the local middle school. While Cap knows a lot about tie-dyeing and Zen Buddhism, no education could prepare him for the politics of public school."-Goodreads.com 

The Eleventh Plague

by Jeff HirschYear Published: 2011Fiction"In the aftermath of a war, America's landscape has been ravaged and two-thirds of the population left dead from a vicious strain of influenza. Fifteen-year-old Stephen Quinn and his family were among the few that survived and became salvagers, roaming the country in search of material to trade. But when Stephen's grandfather dies, and his father falls into a coma after an accident, Stephen finds his way to Settler's Landing, a community that seems too good to be true. Then Stephen meets strong, defiant, mischievous Jenny, who refuses to accept things as they are. And when they play a prank that goes horribly wrong, chaos erupts, and they find themselves in the midst of a battle that will change Settler's Landing-and their lives-forever." -Goodreads.com

The Fault in Our Stars

by John GreenYear Published: 2012Realistic Fiction"Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten." -Goodreads.com

The Green Glass Sea

by Ellen KlagesYear Published: 2006Historical Fiction"It is 1943, and 11-year-old Dewey Kerrigan is traveling west on a train to live with her scientist father- but no one, not her father nor the military guardians who accompany her, will tell her exactly where he is. When she reaches Los Alamos, New Mexico, she learns why: he's working on a top secret government program. Over the next few years, Dewey gets to know eminent scientists, starts tinkering with her own mechanical projects, becomes friends with a budding artisit who is as much of a misfit as she is- and, all the while, has no idea how the Manhattan Project is about to change the world." Goodreads.com