Realistic Fiction in BLC

	Applegate, Katherine. Home of the Brave Kek, an African refugee, is confronted by many strange things at the Minneapolis home of his aunt and cousin, as well as in his fifth grade classroom, and longs for his missing mother, but finds comfort in the company of a cow and her owner.
	Avi. Nothing But the Truth A ninth-grader's suspension for singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" during homeroom becomes a national news story.
	Avi & Rachel Vail. Never Mind!: a twin novel Twelve-year-old New York City twins Meg and Edward have nothing in common, so they are just as shocked as everyone else when Meg's hopes for popularity and Edward's mischievous schemes coincidentally collide in a hilarious showdown.
	Banks, Lynne Reid. Broken Bridge The murder of fourteen-year-old Glen Shelby, soon after his arrival in Israel to visit his father's family, has a dramatic effect on the lives of his relatives, the other members of their kibbutz, and the Arabs responsible for his death.
	Baskin, Nora Raleigh. Anything but Typical 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.
	Bawden, Nina. Granny the Pag Since her early childhood, twelve-year-old Catriona has lived with her grandmother, whom she refers to as a "Pag"--person with power--and when Cat's parents attempt to regain custody, she fights to determine her own fate, in a story of divorce, custody battles, and a girl's coming of age.
	Bawden, Nina. Humbug In this book, Cora goes to stay with Angel Dearheart. When Angel's mother's ring goes missing, Cora is blamed for it. If this is one of Angel's nasty tricks, then this time she has gone too far.
	Berk, Josh. The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin When Will Halpin transfers from his all-deaf school into a mainstream Pennsylvania high school, he faces discrimination and bullying, but still manages to solve a mystery surrounding the death of a popular football player in his class.
	Birdsall, Jeanne. The Penderwicks on Gardam Street The four Penderwick sisters are faced with the unimaginable prospect of their widowed father dating, and they hatch a plot to stop him.
	Bloor, Edward. Tangerine Twelve-year-old Paul, who lives in the shadow of his football hero brother Erik, fights for the right to play soccer despite his near blindness and slowly begins to remember the incident that damaged his eyesight.
	Blume, Judy. Here's to You, Rachel Robinson Expelled from boarding school, Charles' presence at home proves disruptive, especially for sister Rachel, a gifted seventh grader juggling friendships and school activities.
	Brashares, Ann. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants During summer break, longtime friends Lena, Tibby, Carmen, and Bridget each embark on adventures that they share with each other through a pair of jeans that they have decided will be worn by all and so will absorb all of their stories.
	Bredsdorff, Bodil. Eidi Eidi leaves her mother and stepfather in Crow Cove to live in a nearby village, where she meets the much younger Tink and rescues him from the abusive man he has been living with.
	Brian, Kate. The Princess & the Pauper When sixteen-year-old Julia, of Los Angeles, and sixteen-year-old Princess Carina, of Vineland, switch places, Julia dances at the ball with the incredible Markus and Carina escapes rigid protocol to spend time with a rock star.
	Brooks, Bruce. Midnight Hour Encores A sixteen-year-old cellist and musical prodigy travels cross country with her father, a product of the 1960s, to meet her mother, who abandoned her as a baby.
	Bruchac, Joseph. Night Wings 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.
	Burg, Ann E. All the Broken Pieces Two years after being airlifted out of Vietnam in 1975, Matt Pin is haunted by the terrible secret he left behind and, now, in a loving adoptive home in the United States, a series of profound events forces him to confront his past.
	Byars, Betsy Cromer. Cracker Jackson Twelve-year-old Cracker cannot turn to his parents for help when he learns that his ex-babysitter is in terrible danger and unable to resolve by herself the adult issues that threaten her.
	Byars, Betsy Cromer. The TV Kid To escape failure, boredom, and loneliness, a young boy plunges with all his imagination into the world of television.
	Byars, Betsy Cromer. The Two-Thousand-Pound Goldfish Abandoned by a mother who is hiding from the FBI, eight-year-old Warren escapes into horror movie fantasies while he waits for her return.
	Cabot, Meg. Airhead Sixteen-year-old Emerson Watts, an advanced placement student with a disdain for fashion, is the recipient of a "whole body transplant" and finds herself transformed into one of the world's most famous teen supermodels.
	Calonita, Jen. Broadway Lights: secrets of my Hollywood life Hollywood teen starlet Katilin Burke moves to New York for the summer to appear in a Broadway show, all the while worrying about her boyfriend back in Los Angeles, her handsome new co-star, and the offstage drama going on around her.
	Carmichael, Clay. Wild Things 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.
	Carter, Ally. Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover When Cammie Morgan visits her Gallagher Academy roommate Macey in Boston during summer break, the two girls soon find themselves trapped in a kidnapper's dangerous plot, with only their espionage skills to save them.
	Carter, Ally. I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You As a sophomore at a secret spy school and the daughter of a former CIA operative, Cammie is sheltered from "normal teenage life" until she meets a local boy while on a class surveillance mission.
	Carvell, Marlene. Caught Between the Pages An indifferent student with few real friends, PJ Barnes accidentally gains possession of his English teacher's personal journal and at the same time becomes involved with some drug dealers, but when his mother is in a car accident that lands her in the hospital, his already complicated life starts to spin out of control.
	Choldenko, Gennifer. Al Capone Shines My Shoes 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.
	Christopher, Matt. Mountain Bike Mania Sixth-grader Will is looking for an after-school activity, but when he joins the mountain biking club, his old friendships and values are challenged.
	Cleary, Beverly. Dear Mr. Henshaw Leigh Botts writes letters to his favorite author asking for information and describing his own life since his parents got divorced.
	Cleary, Beverly. Strider In a series of diary entries, Leigh tells how he comes to terms with his parents' divorce, acquires joint custody of an abandoned dog, and joins the track team at school.
	Clements, Andrew. The Janitor's Boy Fifth grader Jack finds himself the target of ridicule at school when it becomes known that his father is one of the janitors, and he turns his anger onto his father.
	Clements, Andrew. Lost and Found Twelve-year-old identical twins Jay and Ray have long resented that everyone treats them as one person, and so they hatch a plot to take advantage of a clerical error at their new school and pretend they are just one.
	Clements, Andrew. Lunch Money Twelve-year-old Greg, who has always been good at moneymaking projects, is surprised to find himself teaming up with his lifelong rival, Maura, to create a series of comic books to sell at school.
	Clements, Andrew. No Talking The noisy fifth grade boys of Laketon Elementary School challenge the equally loud fifth grade girls to a "no talking" contest.
	Clifford, Eth. Harvey's Horrible Snake Disaster Harvey is dismayed by the visit of his nervous Aunt Mildred and his obnoxious cousin Nora, particularly after the arrival of some snakes.
	Cochran, Thomas. Roughnecks Travis Cody prepares for the final game of his high school football career, a rematch with his school's chief rival.
	Cole, Brock. The Goats Howie and Laura, two misfits among a camping group, are left on an island overnight as a practical joke but the pair escape during the night and are forced to lie, steal, and dodge the police as they search for safety.
	Colfer, Eoin. Benny and Omar Two boys in Africa, one recently moved from Britain and the other one a native, quickly develop a friendship and turn the village upside down, until real life tests them both.
	Connor, Leslie. Crunch The oldest Mariss brother, fourteen-year-old Dewey, attempts to be the "embodiment of responsibility" as he juggles the management of the family's bicycle repair business while sharing the household and farm duties with his siblings after a sudden energy crisis strands their parents far from home.
	Cottrell Boyce, Frank. Cosmic Liam Digby is so unusually tall that people think he should act like an adult, which leads him to compete against adults for a chance to go into space.
	Coy, John. Box Out High school sophomore Liam jeopardizes his new position on the varsity basketball team when he decides to take a stand against his coach who is leading prayers before games and enforcing team wide participation.
	Creech, Sharon. Bloomability When her aunt and uncle take her from New Mexico to Lugano, Switzerland, to attend an international school, thirteen-year-old Dinnie discovers an expanding world and her place within it.
	Creech, Sharon. Chasing Redbird Thirteen-year-old Zinnia Taylor uncovers family secrets and self truths while clearing a mysterious settler trail that begins on her family's farm in Kentucky.
	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 and Sal recounts the story of her friend Phoebe, whose mother also left.
	Crew, Linda. Children of the River Having fled Cambodia four years earlier to escape the Khmer Rouge army, seventeen-year-old Sundara is torn between remaining faithful to her own people and adjusting to life in her Oregon high school as a "regular" American.
	Crutcher, Chris. The Crazy Horse Electric Game A high school athlete frustrated at being handicapped after an accident, runs away from home and attempts to rebuild his life and body while trying to survive on his own.
	Crutcher, Chris. Ironman: a novel While training for a triathlon, seventeen-year-old Bo attends an anger management group at school which leads him to examine his relationship with his father.
	Danziger, Paula. The Cat Ate My Gymsuit When the unconventional English teacher who helped her conquer many of her feelings of insecurity is fired, thirteen-year-old Marcy Lewis uses her new found courage to campaign for the teacher's reinstatement.
	Danziger, Paula. The Pistachio Prescription Battling parents, a sister who won't speak to her, and her own asthma attacks don't stop thirteen-year-old Cassandra Stevens from gradually becoming a happy, mature person.
	Danziger, Paula. There's a Bat in Bunk Five On her own for the first time, fourteen-year-old Marcy tries to cope with the new people and situations she encounters while working as a counselor at an arts camp.
	Dee, Barbara. Solving Zoe Zoe's sixth-grade year at a Brooklyn school for gifted students is marked by changing relationships with her fellow students and teachers, recognition of her talent for cryptography, and a greater awareness of her passion.
	Deuker, Carl. Heart of a Champion Not only is Seth Barham coping with the death of his father, but when his best friend Jimmy is kicked off the baseball team, Seth must also deal with his feelings toward his fallen hero.
	Dickinson, Peter. Shadow of a Hero The fall of the Berlin Wall and the opening up of Eastern Europe mean dramatic changes in the life of twelve-year-old Letta, living in London with her family, who are exiles from the country of Varina.
	Dowell, Frances O’Roark. The Kind of Friends We Used to Be Twelve-year-olds Kate and Marylin, friends since preschool, draw further apart as Marylin becomes involved in student government and cheerleading, while Kate wants to play guitar and write songs, and both develop unlikely friendships with other girls and boys.
	Draper, Sharon M. Out of My Mind Considered by many to be mentally retarded, a brilliant, impatient fifth-grader with cerebral palsy discovers a technological device that will allow her to speak for the first time.
	Duffey, Betsy. Utterly yours, Booker Jones Middle school student and aspiring author Booker Jones is evicted from his bedroom when his grandfather moves in, creating problems both at home and at school.
	Dygard, Thomas J. Game Plan When the hospitalization of Barton High's head football coach forces skinny student manager Beano Hatton to step in, he must deal with a rebellious quarterback and his own lack of confidence.
	Dygard, Thomas J. Infield hit After transferring to a new high school during his junior year, Hal tries to make friends, gain a starting position on the baseball team, and hide the fact that his dad is a famous ex-major leaguer.
	Dygard, Thomas J. The Rebounder Doug Fulton, coach of the Hamilton High Panthers, is certain that transfer student Chris Patton can lead the team to a championship, but a tragic accident has made Chris decide to never play basketball again.
	Edwards, Julie. Mandy Lonely for a place of her own, a ten-year-old orphan creates a secret home in a deserted cottage.
	Emerson, Kevin. Carlos Is Gonna Get It Recounts the events that occur at the end of seventh grade, when a group of friends plan to trick Carlos, an annoying "problem" student who says he is visited by aliens, while they are on a field trip in the mountains of New Hampshire.
	Erskine, Kathryn. Mockingbird (mok’ing-bûrd) Ten-year-old Caitlin, who has Asperger's Syndrome, struggles to understand emotions, show empathy, and make friends at school, while at home she seeks closure by working on a project with her father.
	Fergus, Maureen. Exploits of a Reluctant (But Extremely Goodlooking) Hero
	Fine, Anne. Alias, Madame Doubtfire Miranda's three children thoroughly enjoy their huge, overdressed baby sitter/cleaning woman who is actually their father in disguise, and they dread the day when their mother discovers Madame Doubtfire is really her ex-husband.
	Fine, Anne. Flour Babies When his class of underachievers is assigned to spend three torturous weeks taking care of their own "babies" in the form of bags of flour, Simon makes amazing discoveries about himself while coming to terms with his long-absent father.
	Fine, Anne. The Tulip Touch Natalie, who lives in the large hotel managed by her father, has a dangerous friendship with Tulip, the wildly uncontrollable girl on a neighboring farm.
	Fink, Mark. Stepping Up At a competitive basketball camp, fourteen-year-old Ernie Dolan finds his just average performance separating him from his best friend Mike Rivers and the rest of the campers until a near tragedy turns Ernie from outcast to hero.
	Fitzmaurice, Kathryn. The Year the Swallows Came Early After her father is sent to jail, eleven-year-old Groovy Robinson must decide if she can forgive the failings of someone she loves.
	Flegg, A. M. The Cinnamon Tree Losing a leg to amputation after she steps on a landmine, Abonda must learn to walk again and make a new life for herself, and when she meets Hans and travels with him to Ireland for treatment, he helps her find a new purpose.
	Frank, Lucy. Just ask Iris In the summer before seventh grade, twelve-year-old Iris Diaz-Pinkowitz goes up and down the fire escape outside her new New York City apartment, becoming an integral part of the lives of her human and animal neighbors.
	Free?: stories celebrating human rights/Amnesty International An anthology of fourteen stories by young adult authors from around the world, on such themes as asylum, law, education, and faith, compiled in honor of the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (Short Stories Collection)
	French, S. Terrell. Operation Redwood 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.
	Giff, Patricia Reilly. Wild Girl 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.
	Gordon, Sheila. Waiting for the Rain Chronicles nine years in the lives of two South African youths--one black, one white--as their friendship ends in a violent confrontation between student and soldier.
	Green, Tim. Football Genius Troy, a sixth-grader with an unusual gift for predicting football plays before they occur, attempts to use his ability to help his favorite team, the Atlanta Falcons, but he must first prove himself to the coach and players.
	Green, Tim. Football Hero When twelve-year-old Ty's brother Thane is recruited out of college to play for the New York Jets, their Uncle Gus uses Ty to get insider information for his gambling ring, landing Ty and Thane in trouble with the Mafia.
	Griffin, Adele. Overnight Gray hopes that going to a slumber party with the "Lucky Seven" at her private school will take her mind off her mother's cancer, but when she is taken from the party by a deranged woman, both she and the other girls discover things about themselves and each other.
	Grove, Vicki. Destiny Destiny takes a job reading to Mrs. Peck, an elderly woman, in order to make money, but soon discovers that the job has taught her much more.
	Grove, Vicki. Rimwalkers As she develops a closeness with two cousins during a summer on her grandparents' farm in Illinois, fourteen-year-old Victoria emerges from the shadow of her showy younger sister and has some experiences that change her life forever.
	Gutman, Dan. The Get Rich Quick Club Summer vacation in their small Maine town does not look too promising until twelve-year-old Gina and four of her friends make a pact to become millionaires before school starts in September.
	Gutman, Dan. The Secret Life of Dr. Demented When fourteen-year-old Wesley learns that his mild-mannered gym teacher, Mr. Wheeler, is none other than the evil pro wrestler Dr. Demented, Wesley gets an up-close and personal look at the wacky world of professional wrestling.
	Halvorson, Marilyn. Bull Rider Layne, desperate to follow in his late father's footsteps, wants nothing more than to become a bull rider, even with his mother's lack of support.
	Hamilton, Virginia. Cousins Concerned that her grandmother may die, Cammy is unprepared for the accidental death of another relative.
	Han, Jenny. The Summer I Turned Pretty Belly spends the summer she turns sixteen at the beach just like every other summer of her life, but this time things are very different.
	Haynes, David. Business as Usual The Wildcats face hard work and many challenges when their sixth grade spring economics unit focuses on how to run a business.
	Heneghan, James & Norma Charles. Bank Job Thirteen-year old Nell begins to rob banks with her friends in order to pay for renovations to her foster home.
	Henkes, Kevin. Bird Lake Moon Twelve-year-old Mitch and his mother are spending the summer with his grandparents at Bird Lake after his parents separate, and ten-year-old Spencer and his family have returned to the lake where Spencer's little brother drowned long ago, and as the boys become friends and spend time together, each of them begins to heal.
	Henkes, Kevin. The Birthday Room When twelve-year-old Ben visits his uncle in Oregon, he feels caught in the strained relationship between his mother and her brother while he also begins to accept himself as an artist.
	Hiaasen, Carl. Hoot Roy, who is new to his small Florida community, becomes involved in another boy's attempt to save a colony of burrowing owls from a proposed construction site. Newbery Honor Book 2003.
	Hiaasen, Carl. Scat Nick and his friend Marta decide to investigate when a mysterious fire starts near a Florida wildlife preserve and an unpopular teacher goes missing.
	Hinton, S.E. The Outsiders The struggle of three brothers to stay together after their parent's death and their quest for identity among the conflicting values of their adolescent society.
	Hinton, S.E. Rumble Fish A junior high school boy idolizes his older brother, the coolest, toughest guy in the neighborhood, and wants to be just like him.
	Holm, Jennifer L. Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf: a year told through stuff Told entirely through notes, grocery receipts, and a vast array of other items, this story follows Ginny as she accidentally dyes her hair pink, throws live frogs in class, and loses the lead role in ballet to her ex-best friend.
	Holmes, Sara Lewis. Operation Yes In her first ever teaching job, Miss Loupe uses improvisational acting exercises with her sixth-grade students at an Air Force base school, and when she experiences a family tragedy; her previously skeptical class members use what they have learned to help her, her brother, and other wounded soldiers.
	Horvath, Polly. My One Hundred Adventures Twelve-year-old Jane, who lives at the beach in a run-down old house with her mother, two brothers, and sister, has an eventful summer accompanying her pastor on bible deliveries, meeting former boyfriends of her mother's, and being coerced into babysitting for a family of ill-mannered children.
	Horvath, Polly. Northward to the Moon When her stepfather loses his job in Saskatchewan, Jane and the rest of the family set off on a car trip, ending up in Nevada after improbably being given a bag full of possibly stolen money.
	Howe, James. The New Nick Kramer, or My Life as a Baby Sitter Fourteen-year-old Nick signs up for a babysitting and child care class to be near a beautiful new girl at school, but his first attempts at real babysitting prove to be less than successful.
	Hughes, Dean. One-man Team Although he is a basketball whiz, seventh-grader Aaron Reeves must learn to be a team player in order to make friends on the basketball team at his new school.
	Jacobsson, Anders. In Ned's Head Eleven-year-old Ned, who prefers the name Treb, uses his diary to record his wild thoughts about romance, school, and the rest of his eventful life.
	Janover, Caroline. Zipper, the Kid with ADHD Zach, a fifth-grader who has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, has trouble concentrating and controlling himself until a retired jazz musician who believes in him gives him the motivation to start trying to do better.
	Johnson, Angela. Sweet, Hereafter Sweet leaves her family and goes to live in a cabin in the woods with the quiet but understanding Curtis, to whom she feels intensely connected, just as he is called back to serve again in Iraq.
	Johnston, Julie. Adam and Eve and Pinch-Me Sara Moone, a bottled-up teenager who has been in foster homes for fourteen years, is starting to feel comfortable with a farm family just as her birth mother shows up.
	Jones, Marcia Thornton. Ratfink Creative, impulsive Logan vows to turn over a new leaf in fifth grade so his parents will let him have a pet, but when a competitive new girl arrives at school and his forgetful and embarrassing grandfather takes over the basement of Logan's house, doing the right thing becomes harder than it has ever been.
	Kadohata, Cynthia. Cracker!: the best dog in Vietnam Rick Hanski, a young soldier in Vietnam, bonds with Cracker, his bomb-sniffing dog.
	Kadohata, Cynthia. A Million Shades of Gray In 1975 after American troops pull out of Vietnam, a thirteen-year-old boy and his beloved elephant escape into the jungle when the Viet Cong attack his village.
	Kantor, Melissa. If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where’s My Prince? After her father remarries, high school sophomore Lucy Norton is forced to move to Long Island, where her evil new stepmother and annoying stepsisters make her life miserable.
	Kessler, Cristina. Trouble in Timbuktu Ignoring her parents' wishes, as well as the customary place of women in Timbuktu society, twelve-year-old Ayisha joins her twin brother in trying to stop a pair of tourists from stealing an ancient manuscript.
	Kim, Helen. The Long Season of Rain Filled with closely observed details of Korean life, the story of Junehee Lee, her three sisters, her busybody grandmother, her mother, and the orphan boy who comes to stay with the Lees is one of women, tradition, change, and the coming-of-age.
	Kinney, Jeff. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: dog days In the latest diary of middle-schooler Greg Heffley, he records his attempts to spend his summer vacation sensibly indoors playing video games and watching television, despite his mother's other ideas.
	Kinney, Jeff. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley’s journal Greg records his sixth grade experiences in a middle school where he and his best friend, Rowley, undersized weaklings amid boys who need to shave twice daily, hope just to survive, but when Rowley grows more popular, Greg must take drastic measures to save their friendship.
	Koertge, Ron. Shakespeare Makes the Playoffs Fourteen-year-old Kevin Boland, poet and first baseman, is torn between his cute girlfriend Mira and Amy, who is funny, plays Chopin on the piano, and is also a poet.
	Konigsburg, E. L. The View from Saturday Four students develop a special bond and attract the attention of their teacher, a paraplegic, who chooses them to represent their sixth-grade class in the Academic Bowl competition.
	Korman, Gordon. The Chicken Doesn't Skate Wild things happen at the South Middle School when Milo's science project, Henrietta the chicken, becomes the hockey team's mascot and their only chance for a winning season.
	Korman, Gordon. Pop Lonely after a midsummer move to a new town, sixteen-year-old high-school quarterback Marcus Jordan becomes friends with a retired professional linebacker who is great at training him, but whose childish behavior keeps Marcus in hot water.
	Korman, Gordon. Zoobreak After a class trip to a floating zoo where animals are mistreated and Savannah's missing pet monkey is found in a cage, Long Island sixth-grader Griffin Bing and his band of misfits plan a rescue.
	Krech, R.W. Love Puppies and Corner Kicks Thirteen-year-old Andrea is devastated when her parents announce that the family is moving to Scotland for a year-long teacher exchange program, but as she makes new friends, joins a soccer team, and her stutter improves, life does not seem so bad.
	Krisher, Trudy. Spite Fences As she struggles with her troubled relationship with her mother during the summer of 1960, a young girl is also drawn into the violence, hatred, and racial tension in her small Georgia town.
	Kuhlman, Evan. The Last Invisible Boy In the wake of his father's sudden death, twelve-year-old Finn feels he is becoming invisible as his hair and skin become whiter by the day, and so he writes and illustrates a book to try to understand what is happening and to hold on to himself and his father.
	LaFleur, Suzanne. Love, Aubrey 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.
	Leal, Ann Haywood. Also Known As Harper Writing poetry helps fifth-grader Harper Lee Morgan cope with her father's absence, being evicted, and having to skip school to care for her brother while their mother works, and things look even brighter after she befriends a mute girl and a kindly disabled woman.
	Leitch, Patricia. Cross-country Gallop When ten-year-olds Sally and Thalia decide to compete in the horse show as a pair, they place severe strains on their nerves and on their friendship.
	Lichtman, Wendy. Do the Math: secrets, lies, and algebra Tess has always loved math, and she uses mathematical concepts to help her understand things in her life, so she is dismayed to find out how much math--and life--can change in eighth grade.
	Lichtman, Wendy. Do the Math: the writing on the wall Math-loving eighth-grader Tess learns that sometimes life, like algebra, has no solutions and that she must take risks and find her own answers.
	Lieb, Josh. I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I want to be your Class President Omaha, Nebraska, twelve-year-old Oliver Watson has everyone convinced that he is extremely stupid and lazy, but he is actually a very wealthy, evil genius, and when he decides to run for seventh-grade class president, nothing will stand in his way.
	Lipsyte, Robert. One Fat Summer Two-hundred pound Bobby Marks hated summers because he couldn't hide his fat body in heavy clothes until the year he decided to get a job and a strange combination of events changes his life.
	Look, Lenore. Alvin Ho: allergic to girls, school, and other scary things A young boy in Concord, Massachusetts, who loves superheroes and comes from a long line of brave Chinese farmer-warriors, wants to make friends, but first he must overcome his fear of everything.
	Lord, Cynthia. Rules Frustrated at life with an autistic brother, twelve-year-old Catherine longs for a normal existence but her world is further complicated by a friendship with an young paraplegic.
	Lowry, Lois. Anastasia again! Anastasia is hesitant to accept new surroundings when her family moves, but she soon learns moving means not only saying good-bye, but also making new friends.
	Lowry, Lois. Anastasia on Her Own In her mother's absence, resourceful Anastasia Krupnik has to cope with her brother Sam's chicken pox, an unexpected visit from her father's old girlfriend, and her own first date.
	Lupica, Mike. The Batboy Even though his mother feels baseball ruined her marriage to his father, she allows fourteen-year-old Brian to become a bat boy for the Detroit Tigers, who have just drafted his favorite player back onto the team.
	Lupica, Mike. Travel Team After he is cut from his travel basketball team--the very same team that his father once led to national prominence--twelve-year-old Danny Walker forms his own team of cast-offs that might have a shot at victory.
	Lynch, Chris. The Big Game of Everything Jock and his eccentric family spend the summer working at Grampus's golf complex, where they end up learning the rules of "The Big Game of Everything."
	MacLachlan, Patricia. Baby Taking care of a baby left with them at the end of the tourist season helps a family come to terms with the death of their own infant son.
	MacLachlan, Patricia. The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt An eleven-year-old cellist learns about life from her eccentric family, her first boyfriend, and Mozart.
	Marchetta, Melina. Jellicoe Road Abandoned by her drug-addicted mother at the age of eleven, high school student Taylor Markham struggles with her identity and family history at a boarding school in Australia.
	Marino, Nan. Neil Armstrong Is My Uncle & Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me Tamara dreams of the day when ten-year-old Muscle Man McGinty's constant lies catch up to him, but when an incredible event takes place in the summer of 1969, her outlook on life is altered in the most surprising way.
	Martin, Ann M. Everything For A Dog In parallel stories, Bone, an orphaned dog, finds and loses a series of homes, Molly, a family pet, helps Charlie through the grief and other after-effects of his brother's death, and lonely Henry pleads for a dog of his own.
	Mass, Wendy. 11 Birthdays 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.
	Mass, Wendy. Every Soul a Star: a novel Ally, Bree, and Jack meet at the one place the Great Eclipse can be seen in totality, each carrying the burden of different personal problems, which become dim when compared to the task they embark upon and the friendship they find.
	Mass, Wendy. Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life Just before his thirteenth birthday, Jeremy Fink receives keyless locked box--set aside by his father before his death five years earlier--that purportedly contains the meaning of life.
	Mazer, Norma Fox. Silver Despite their different backgrounds, Sarabeth, a teenager living with her mother in a trailer and transferring to a new school, makes friends with Grant and her affluent friends, including troubled Patty who shares a painful secret about her uncle.
	McKay, Hilary. Caddy Ever After The four eccentric Casson siblings each contribute written accounts of the events--which include a Valentine's Day dance, the appearance of a sinister balloon, and the breakdown of a car--that lead to Caddy's wedding day.
	McKay, Hilary. Forever Rose As Christmas approaches, eleven-year-old Rose, the youngest member of the eccentric Casson family, discovers that life is filled with both catastrophic problems and wonderful surprises.
	McKinnon, Hannah Roberts. Franny Parker Through a hot, dry Oklahoma summer, twelve-year-old Franny tends wild animals brought by her neighbors, hears gossip during a weekly quilting bee, befriends a new neighbor who has some big secrets, and learns to hope.
	Michael, Jan. City Boy In the southern African country of Malawi, after the AIDS-related deaths of both of his parents, a boy leaves his affluent life in the city to live in a rural village, sharing a one-roomed hut with his aunt, his cousins, and other orphans.
	Mohr, Nicholasa. Felita Her family's move to a different neighborhood forces Felita to deal with change in her life and to develop pride in her Puerto Rican heritage.
	Monninger, Joseph. Hippie Chick After her sailboat capsizes, fifteen-year-old Lolly Emmerson is rescued by manatees and taken to a mangrove key in the Everglades, where she forms a bond with her aquatic companions while struggling to survive.
	Murdock, Catherine Gilbert. Dairy Queen: a novel After spending her summer running the family farm and training the quarterback for her school's rival football team, sixteen-year-old D.J. decides to go out for the sport herself, not anticipating the reactions of those around her.
	Murdock, Catherine Gilbert. Front and Center During her junior year basketball season, D.J. faces the dual challenges of college recruiting and romance.
	Myers, Walter Dean. Lockdown Teenage Reese, serving time at a juvenile detention facility, gets a lesson in making it through hard times from an unlikely friend with a harrowing past.
	Na, An. A Step from Heaven Young Ju Park is unhappy with her journey to America as her family suffers hard times upon their arrival, yet when her father suddenly becomes violent, Young Ju is thankful when he leaves so that her family can start over.
	Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. Cricket Man Thirteen-year-old Kenny secretly calls himself "Cricket Man" after a summer of rescuing creatures from his family's Bethesda, Maryland, pool, which gives him more self-confidence and an urge to be a hero, especially for his depressed sixteen-year-old neighbor, Jodie.
	Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. Reluctantly Alice Alice experiences the joys and embarrassments of seventh grade while advising her father and older brother on their love lives.
	Nelson, N.A. Bringing the Boy Home As two Takunami youths approach their thirteenth birthdays, Luka reaches the culmination of his mother's training for the tribe's manhood test while Tirio, raised in Miami, Florida, by his adoptive mother, feels called to begin preparations to prove himself during his upcoming visit to the Amazon rain forest where he was born.
	Nelson, Theresa. Earthshine Slim watches over her father, a disarmingly charismatic man, as his struggle with AIDS reach its climax.
	Nicholls, Sally. Ways to Live Forever Eleven-year-old Sam McQueen, who has leukemia, writes a book during the last three months of his life, in which he tells about what he would like to accomplish, how he feels, and things that have happened to him.
	Nuzum, K.A. The Leanin’ Dog In wintry Colorado during the 1930s, eleven-year-old Dessa Dean mourns the death of her beloved mother, but the arrival of an injured dog and the friendship they form is just what they need to change their lives forever.
	O’Connor, Barbara. How to Steal a Dog Living in the family car in their small North Carolina town after their father leaves them virtually penniless, Georgina, desperate to improve their situation and unwilling to accept her overworked mother's calls for patience, persuades her younger brother to help her in an elaborate scheme to get money by stealing a dog and then claiming the reward that the owners are bound to offer.
	O’Connor, Barbara. The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis In Fayette, South Carolina, the highlight of Popeye’s summer is learning vocabulary words with his grandmother until a motor home gets stuck nearby and Elvis, the oldest boy living inside, joins Popeye in finding the source of strange boats floating down the creek.
	Park, Linda Sue. A Single Shard Tree-ear, a thirteen-year-old orphan in medieval Korea, lives under a bridge in a potters' village and longs to learn how to create the delicate ceramics himself after he watches master potter Min making his beautiful pottery. Teacher's Guide available. Newbery Medal book.
	Paterson, Katherine. Bridge to Terabithia Jess Aarons gains the strength to cope with unexpected tragedy by going to a secret kingdom in the woods invented by Leslie Burke, a newcomer to his rural Virginia community.
	Paterson, Katherine. The Day of the Pelican In 1998 when the Kosovo hostilities escalate, thirteen-year-old Meli's life as an ethnic Albanian, changes forever after her brother escapes his Serbian captors and the entire family flees from one refugee camp to another until they are able to immigrate to America.
	Paterson, Katherine. The Great Gilly Hopkins An eleven-year-old foster child tries to cope with her longings and fears as she schemes against everyone who tries to be friendly.
	Paterson, Katherine. Jacob Have I Loved Sarah Louise, who lives with her family on a Chesapeake Bay island, grows up feeling less important than her twin sister, until she finally begins to find her own identity.
	Paulsen, Gary. Harris and Me: a summer remembered Sent to live with relatives on their farm because of his unhappy home life, an eleven-year-old city boy meets his distant cousin Harris and is given an introduction to a whole new world.
	Paulsen, Gary. The Haymeadow Fourteen-year-old John comes of age and gains self-reliance during the summer he spends up in the Wyoming mountains tending his father's herd of sheep.
	Paulsen, Gary. Molly McGinty Has a Really Good Day When supremely organized seventh-grader, Molly McGinty, loses the notebook she relies on to keep her life in order she spends the day in chaos. (Paperback Collection)
	Peck, Richard. Secrets of the Shopping Mall Trying to escape retribution for defying a vicious city gang, Barnie and Teresa seek refuge in a suburban shopping mall and uncover a society of hostile teenage runaways who consider the mall their exclusive territory.
	Perkins, Lynne Rae. As Easy As Falling Off the Face of the Earth A teenage boy encounters one comedic calamity after another when his train strands him in the middle of nowhere, and everything comes down to luck.
	Philbrick, Rodman. Freak the Mighty At the beginning of eighth grade, learning disabled Max and his new friend Freak, whose birth defect has affected his body but not his brilliant mind, find that when they combine forces they make a powerful team.
	Porter, Pamela Paige. The Crazy Man Twelve-year-old Emmaline, a farmer's daughter in 1960s Saskatchewan, injures her leg after a run-in with a tractor and must deal with her disability and the grief of losing her father and beloved dog, getting help from unexpected places.
	Potter, Ellen. Slob Picked on, overweight genius Owen tries to invent a television that can see the past to find out what happened the day his parents were killed.
	Preller, James. Bystander Thirteen-year-old Eric discovers there are consequences to not standing by and watching as the bully at his new school hurts people, but although school officials are aware of the problem, Eric may be the one with a solution.
	Rallison, Janette. Just One Wish Seventeen-year-old Annika tries to cheer up her little brother Jeremy before his surgery to remove a cancerous tumor by bringing home his favorite television actor, Steve Raleigh, the star of "Teen Robin Hood."
	Rawls, Wilson. Summer of the Monkeys Fourteen-year-old Jay tries to recover a group of wily monkeys escaped from a circus train in the hopes the reward will buy him the gun and pony he has so long wanted.
	Resau, Laura. The Indigo Notebook Fifteen-year-old Zeeta lives in a different country every year with her flighty English-teaching mom, Layla. The wandering life suits Layla, but Zeeta yearns for the normal life she sees in American magazine ads. This year, Zeeta finds herself in the Ecuadoran Andes, where sacred waterfalls grant wishes and old Incan gods dwell in mountains. In the colorful marketplace of Otavalo, an American teenager, Wendell, asks Zeeta to help him search for his birth parents.
	Resau, Laura. Star in the Forest After eleven-year-old Zitlally's father is deported to Mexico, she takes refuge in her trailer park's forest of rusted car parts, where she befriends a spunky neighbor and finds a stray dog that she nurses back to health and believes she must keep safe so that her father will return.
	Rhuday-Perkovich, Olugbemisola. Eighth-grade Superzero After half-heartedly joining his church youth group's project at a homeless shelter near his Brooklyn middle school, eighth-grade "loser" Reggie McKnight is inspired to run for school office on a platform of making a real difference in the community.
	Rumford, James. Silent Music: a story of Baghdad As bombs and missiles fall on Baghdad in 2003, a young boy uses the art of calligraphy to distance himself from the horror of war.
	Ryan, Pam Muñoz. Paint the Wind After her overprotective grandmother has a stroke, Maya, an orphan, leaves her extremely restricted life in California to stay with her mother's family on a remote Wyoming ranch, where she discovers a love of horses and encounters a wild mare that her mother once rode.
	Rylant, Cynthia. Missing May After the death of the beloved aunt who has raised her, twelve-year-old Summer and her uncle Ob leave their West Virginia trailer in search of the strength to go on living.
	Salisbury, Graham. Dog Heaven When his teacher asks him to write a persuasive argument about something he really wants, fourth-grader Calvin creates a unique way to express his desire for a dog. (Hawaiian Collection Fiction)
	Salisbury, Graham. Shark bait Twelve-year-old Moke is torn between obeying his father, the police chief in the small town of Kailua, Hawaii, and being with his friends who plan to go see a fight between an island boy and a sailor. (Hawaiian Collection Fiction)
	Sandell, Lisa Ann. A Map of the Known World Devastated, along with her parents, by the death of her older brother and apprehensive about being a freshman in the same high school he attended, fourteen-year-old Cora finds unexpected solace in art.
	Scaletta, Kurtis. Mudville For twenty-two years, since a fateful baseball game against their rival town, it has rained in Moundville, so when the rain finally stops, twelve-year-old Roy, his friends, and foster brother Sturgis dare to face the curse and form a team.
	Schami, Rafik. A Hand Full of Stars A teenager who wants to be a journalist in a suppressed society describes to his diary his daily life in his hometown of Damascus, Syria.
	Schmidt, Gary D. The Wednesday Wars During the 1967 school year, on Wednesday afternoons when all his classmates go to either Catechism or Hebrew school, seventh-grader Holling Hoodhood stays in Mrs. Baker's classroom where they read the plays of William Shakespeare and Holling learns much of value about the world he lives in.
	Shaw, Susan. One of the Survivors When his classmates die in a school fire, fourteen-year-old Joey is haunted by their deaths and struggles to survive amidst suspicion and anger from the town.
	Shreve, Susan. Trout and Me Ben's troubles at school get progressively worse when he starts hanging around Trout, a new boy in his fifth grade class, who is also labeled as learning disabled.
	Smith, Greg Leitich. Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo Honoria, Shohei, and Elias, who are "united together against That Which Is The Peshtigo School," face conflict over their budding romantic interest and a science project gone awry.
	Smith, Roland. Peak A fourteen-year-old boy attempts to be the youngest person to reach the top of Mount Everest.
	Sonnenblick, Jordan. After Ever After Although Jeff and Tad, encouraged by a new friend, Lindsey, make a deal to help one another overcome aftereffects of their cancer treatments in preparation for eighth-grade graduation, Jeff still craves advice from his older brother Stephen, who is studying drums in Africa.
	Spinelli, Jerry. Crash Seventh-grader John "Crash" Coogan has always been comfortable with his tough, aggressive behavior, until his relationship with an unusual Quaker boy and his grandfather's stroke make him consider the meaning of friendship and the importance of family.
	Spinelli, Jerry. Eggs Mourning the loss of his mother, nine-year-old David forms an unlikely friendship with independent, quirky thirteen-year-old Primrose, as the two help each other deal with what is missing in their lives.
	Spinelli, Jerry. Maniac Magee After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life becomes legendary, as he accomplishes athletic and other feats which awe his contemporaries.
	Spinelli, Jerry. Stargirl In this story about the perils of popularity, the courage of nonconformity, and the thrill of first love, an eccentric student named Stargirl changes Mica High School forever.
	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.
	Spollen, Anne. The Shape of Water A year after her artistic mother's death, fifteen-year-old Maggie puts aside her desire to set fires and hopes for more solidity in life, as her down-to-earth father prepares to marry a like-minded woman and sell their home on the Staten Island shore.
	St. John, Lauren. The White Giraffe After a fire kills her parents, eleven-year-old Martine must leave England to live with her grandmother on a wildlife game reserve in South Africa, where she befriends a mythical white giraffe.
	Stolz, Mary. The Bully of Barkham Street Although Martin Hastings has a very good reason for being a bully, he decides to change his ways.
	Stork, Francisco X. Marcelo in the Real World Marcelo Sandoval, a seventeen-year-old boy on the high-functioning end of the autistic spectrum, faces new challenges, including romance and injustice, when he goes to work for his father in the mailroom of a corporate law firm.
	Stratton, Allan. Borderline Despite the strained relationship between them, teenaged Sami Sabiri risks his life to uncover the truth when his father is implicated in a terrorist plot.
	Tarshis, Lauren. Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell in Love Seventh-grader Emma-Jean Lazarus uses her logical, scientific mind to navigate the mysteries of the upcoming Spring Fling, her friend Colleen's secret admirer, and other love-related dilemmas.
	Townsend, Wendy. Lizard Love Grace, a teenager, and her mother have moved to Manhattan where she feels alienated and out of place, far from the ponds and farm where she grew up playing with bullfrogs and lizards, until she finds Fang & Claw, a reptile store, and meets the owner's son, Walter.
	Van Draanen, Wendelin. The Gecko & Sticky: Villain’s Lair Thirteen-year-old Dave and his sidekick, a talking gecko named Sticky, try to retrieve an ancient Aztec powerband and its magic ingots from the evil villain, Damien Black.
	Voigt, Cynthia. Dicey's Song Now that the four abandoned Tillerman children are settled in with their grandmother, Dicey finds that their new beginnings require love, trust, humor, and courage.
	Voigt, Cynthia. Homecoming Abandoned in a parking lot by their mother, who left them with a bag of sandwiches and the address of a distant great-aunt, Dicey, James, Maybeth, and Sammy Tillerman embark on an arduous and eventful journey.
	Wallace, Rich. Perpetual Check Brothers Zeke and Randy participate in an important chess tournament, playing against each other while also trying to deal with their father's intensely competitive tendencies.
	Wallace, Rich. Playing Without the Ball: a novel in four quarters Feeling abandoned by his parents, who have gone their separate ways and left him behind in a small Pennsylvania town, seventeen-year-old Jay finds hope for the future in a church-sponsored basketball team and a female friend.
	Wallace, Rich. Wrestling Sturbridge Stuck in a small town where no one ever leaves and relegated by his wrestling coach to sit on the bench while his best friend becomes state champion, Ben decides he can't let his last high school wrestling season slip by without challenging his friend and the future.
	Walters, Eric. Branded Ian learns that the company that makes the uniforms for his school is reputed to use child labor.
	Warner, Sally. Sort of Forever Twelve-year-olds Cady and Nana explore the strengths of their special friendship as they cope with Nana's cancer.
	Wedekind, Annie. A Horse of Her Own At summer camp Jane feels like an outsider among the cliquish rich girls who board their horses at Sunny Acres farm, and when the horse she has been riding is sold to another camper, she feels even worse until her teacher asks her to help train a beautiful but skittish new horse, and the experience brings out the best in her.
	Weissman, Elissa Brent. The Trouble with Mark Hopper When two eleven-year-olds with the same name, similar looks, and very different personalities go to the same Maryland middle school, confusion and bad feelings ensue, but things improve after a teacher insists that they become study partners.
	White, Ruth. Belle Prater's Boy When Woodrow's mother suddenly disappears, he moves to his grandparents' home in a small Virginia town where he befriends his cousin and together they find the strength to face the terrible losses and fears in their lives.
	White, Ruth. Little Audrey In 1948, eleven-year-old Audrey lives with her father, mother, and three younger sisters in Jewell Valley, a coal mining camp in Southwest Virginia, where her mother still mourns the death of a baby, her father goes on drinking binges on paydays, and Audrey tries to recover from the scarlet fever that has left her skinny and needing to wear glasses.
	White, Ruth. Memories of Summer When Lyric's older sister, Summer, falls victim to mental illness and starts hallucinating, she and her family know that the lively girl they once knew is gone forever and now must cope with the challenges facing them all.
	Wiles, Deborah. Each Little Bird That Sings Comfort Snowberger is well acquainted with death since her family runs the funeral parlor in their small southern town, but even so the ten-year-old is unprepared for the series of heart-wrenching events that begins on the first day of Easter vacation with the sudden death of her beloved great-uncle Edisto.
	Williams-Garcia, Rita. One Crazy Summer In the summer of 1968, after travelling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.
	Wolff, Virginia Euwer. This Full House High-school-senior LaVaughn's perceptions and expectations of her life begin to change as she learns about the many unexpected connections between the people she loves best.
	Woodson, Jacqueline. After Tupac & D Foster In the New York City borough of Queens in 1996, three girls bond over their shared love of Tupac Shakur's music, as together they try to make sense of the unpredictable world in which they live. Newbery Honor Book 2009.
	Yep, Laurence. Ribbons A promising young ballet student cannot afford to continue lessons when her Chinese grandmother emigrates from Hong Kong, creating jealousy and conflict among the entire family.
	Yep, Laurence. Thief of Hearts When Stacy is paired with a Chinese girl at school who is accused of theft, she must come to terms with her own Chinese and American heritage.
	Zeises, Lara M. The Sweet Life of Stella Madison Seventeen-year-old Stella struggles with the separation of her renowned chef parents, writing a food column for the local paper even though she is a junk food addict, and having a boyfriend but being attracted to another. s