One Last Wish


Lurlene McDaniel - 1992
    I can't make you live longer, I can stop you form hurting. But I can give you one wish, as someone did for me.Three letters. Three last wishes.In Mother, Help Me Live, Sarah discovers that her birth mother, whom she's never known, is the one person who may have the bone marrow she needs to survive. When Sarah journeys to find her mother, she learns the real meaning of family.Let Him Live tells the story of Megan's friendship with Donovan, who is hoping to receive a liver transplant. Megan helps make Donovan's wish for his mother and little brother come true, along the way, Megan comes to understand true giving.In Sixteen and Dying, when Anne finds out that a blood transfusion she had seven years ago has made her future uncertain, being given one wish helps her face her pain. She chooses to spend the summer with her father on a ranch out west—and there she meets someone who will change her life.

Striking Out


Will Weaver - 1900
    Never been to a movie. Never played baseball with a real team. Never got over feeling guilty for the loss of his brother. But change is in the air. Billy discovers he has a natural talent for baseball, especially as a pitcher. Maybe, just maybe, there's more in store for him than life on the farm. But can Billy convince his father of that? Or is he destined to spend the rest of his life pitching nothing but hay?Teenager Billy Baggs is desperately needed on his family's struggling dairy farm, but he's also an extraordinarily gifted natural baseball player. How he struggles to reconcile his father's desire to keep him on the farm with his coach's interest in getting him on the field is at the heart of this ‘meaty story.… The complex characters grow and change in profoundly real ways.''K. ‘[With] flashes of humor, a wealth of lovingly recounted details evokes the difficult daily life on a small dairy farm.''Publishers Weekly. 1994 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA)1994 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)1993 "Pick of the Lists" (ABA)

The Rain Catchers


Jean Thesman - 1991
    That's the way it is at grandmother's house where tea is served each day at four and tales of death and divorce, illness and abandonment are shared by grandmother's circle of friends. The women watch over one another and eveyone watches over Grayling -- whose own story has never been told her to hear.But in a summer of many changes, fourteen-year-old Grayling encounters love and romance, joy and saddness...and the need to know her own story -- from the very beginning.

My Not-So-Terrible Time at the Hippie Hotel


Rosemary Graham - 2003
    Her father has dragged her to Farnsworth House, a.k.a. the Hippie Hotel, on Cape Cod. It's a place where divorced parents bring their children for quality "Together Time." Tracy dreads the whole idea, until she meets the other girls her age at the hotel. They seem friendly and fun. But they're also great at flirting, which Tracy definitely isn't. When Tracy meets Kevin, a cute, smart guy, she panics. With pretty friends like Kelsey and Beka around, how can Tracy possibly interest Kevin? Then again, maybe she is someone worth knowing, and maybe Kevin thinks so too. Filled with strong, appealing characters and heartfelt narration, this is a touching and memorable first novel.

Maine Squeeze


Catherine Clark - 2004
    2 Lobster rolls, 1 w/xtra mayo--yuck!1 Lm'ade1 WtrIgnore Evan -- Swap Tues to avoid?Call Ben! RITE AFTR WRKGet tmrw off - qlty time w/ BenStop lookg @ EVAN!!!

The Sandy Bottom Orchestra


Garrison Keillor - 1996
    Twelve-year-old Rachel has always known that her parents were a little eccentric, and now she fears that their weirdness is rubbing off on her. When Rachel is given an opportunity to play with the Dairyland Symphony Orchestra, she wonders if her music will be enough to sustain her through the long, lonely summer.

Saving Juliet


Suzanne Selfors - 2008
    Will she be able to give this classic tragedy a happy ending?

Mad, Mad Monday


Herma Silverstein - 1988
    In trying to cast a spell with a love potion designed to bewitch handsome but conceited Stormy, fourteen-year-old Miranda actually conjures up the ghost of a boy who died in 1958.

All-American Girl


Meg Cabot - 2002
    Her big sister is the most popular girl in school9. Her little sister is a certified genius8. She's in love with her big sister's boyfriend7. She got caught selling celebrity portraits in school6. And now she's being forced to take art classes5. She's just saved the president of the United States from an assassination attempt4. So the whole world thinks she is a hero3. Even though Sam knows she is far, far from being a hero2. And now she's been appointed teen ambassador to the UNAnd the number-one reason Sam's life is over?1. The president's son just might be in love with her

The Breaker Boys


Pat Hughes - 2004
    Anger—mainly  at his father and stepmother—is what gets him there and what prevents him from making friends. Then, in the spring of 1897, it gets him kicked out and sent home. To avoid his family, Nate disappears on his bicycle every day. In this way he meets the breaker boys, who do dangerous, dirty work for his father, separating coal from debris. Nate admires these Polish immigrants, especially Johnny, and longs to become his friend. But the only way is for Nate to hide that he is the boss's son. As Nate and Johnny's friendship marches toward the moment of truth, Nate discovers that the mine workers are plotting a strike. Should he warn his family or protect his friend?This fascinating second novel features a hero who is blessed—or cursed—with the ability to see both sides of a painful issue and to accept that no one is impartial.

Castration Celebration


Jake Wizner - 2009
    She's done the research--after walking in on her dad fooling around with one of his grad students. On her way to an arts summer camp at Yale University, she's decided to write a musical called Castration Celebration. Max, on the other hand, is a big fan of the penis--intact. As an actor, he always has the right line, especially for the ladies. He's going to camp to hone his skills, both acting and otherwise. And when Olivia and Max meet...oh, the drama! Olivia and Max have their roles down pat. Before camp is over, they'll perform Olivia's musical onstage and in real life--though the ending may turn out different than either expects. Peppered with original songs like "Horny," "I'm in Love with Dick," and the titular "Castration Celebration," Jake Wizner's a whole new level in a bawdy uproarious romp that's laugh-out-loud funny.

Prada & Prejudice


Mandy Hubbard - 2009
    Goodbye, Callie the clumsy geek-girl, hello popularity! But before she knows what’s hit her, Callie wobbles, trips, conks her head...and wakes up in the year 1815!She stumbles about until she meets the kind-hearted Emily, who takes Callie in, mistaking her for a long-lost friend. Sparks soon fly between Callie and Emily’s cousin, Alex, the maddeningly handsome - though totally arrogant - Duke of Harksbury. Too bad he seems to have something sinister up his ruffled sleeve...From face-planting off velvet piano benches and hiding behind claw-foot couches to streaking through the estate halls wearing nothing but an itchy blanket, Callie’s curiosity about Alex creates all kinds of trouble.But the grandfather clock is ticking on her 19th Century shenanigans. Can Callie save Emily from a dire engagement, win a kiss from Alex, and prove to herself that she’s more than just a loud-mouth klutz before her time there is up?

Enthusiasm


Polly Shulman - 2006
    Ashleigh's current fancy is also Julie's own passion, Pride and Prejudice, and the heroine's quest for True Love. And so Julie finds herself swept along with Ashleigh, dressed in vintage frocks and sneaking into a dance at the local all-boys' prep school. There they discover several likely candidates for True Love, including the handsome and sensitive Parr. And Julie begins to wonder if maybe this obsession of Ashleigh's isn't so bad after all...

Major Crush


Jennifer Echols - 2006
    Sure, Drew is hot, but because of his superior attitude, he and Virginia are constantly arguing. That is, until they share more than just their half-time salute...But as the drum major's heated competition turns to sizzling romance, explosive rumors threaten everything — including the band's success. Love seemed to be a sure hit, but Virginia and Drew may be marching straight into disaster.

On the Fence


Kasie West - 2014
    She can outrun, outscore, and outwit every boy she knows—including her longtime neighbor and honorary fourth brother, Braden. But when it comes to being a girl, Charlie doesn't know the first thing about anything. So when she starts working at a chichi boutique to pay off a speeding ticket, she finds herself in a strange new world of makeup, lacy skirts, and BeDazzlers. Even stranger, she's spending time with a boy who has never seen her tear it up in a pickup game.To cope with the stress of faking her way through this new reality, Charlie seeks late-night refuge in her backyard, talking out her problems with Braden by the fence that separates them. But their Fence Chats can't solve Charlie's biggest problem: she's falling for Braden. Hard. She knows what it means to go for the win, but if spilling her secret means losing him for good, the stakes just got too high.