Book picks similar to
The Rain Catchers by Jean Thesman
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Snitch
Allison van Diepen - 2007
We knew who our friends were, and were careful what we said. If people thought we were haters, it would only be a matter of time....Lines are clearly marked at South Bay High School. It's mixed territory for the Crips and the Bloods, which means the drama never stops. Julia DiVino wants none of it. No colors, no C-Walks -- it's just not her thing. But when Eric Valiente jumps into her life, everything changes. Lines are redrawn. And then they're crossed.
It Happened to Nancy: By an Anonymous Teenager, A True Story from Her Diary
Beatrice Sparks - 1994
The editor of the classic GO ASK ALICE has compiled the poignant journals of a 14-year-old date-rape victim who contracted AIDS and died.
Wolf Tower
Tanith Lee - 1998
Then a golden stranger arrives, living proof of a world beyond the House walls. Claidi risks all to free the charming prisoner and accompanies him across the Waste toward his faraway home. It is a difficult yet marvelous journey, and all the while Claidi is at the side of a man she could come to love. That is, until they reach his home . . . and the Wolf Tower.
Two Moons in August
Martha Brooks - 1990
A year after her mother's death, 16-year-old Sidonie spends sleepless nights playing cards with her cat, Bogey. During the day she lies around and reads under the nose of her 19-year-old sister, Roberta, who angrily scrubs floors already clean and cooks meals that are inedible. Their father, a doctor, comes home only when he is too exhausted to stay at work any longer. Only the jazz piano playing of Roberta's boyfriend, Phil, brings relief to the long summer. Kieran, a 16-year-old boy, comes to their lakeside community and Sidonie begins to discover what she needs to pull her life and family together again.Martha Brooks skillfully re-creates the world of 1959 in the small town of Bison Valley and reveals the joys and pains of adolescence in this moving and often humorous novel about healing and hope. She deftly explores the themes of mourning, family, friendship, and love.
Define "Normal"
Julie Anne Peters - 2000
A new reading-group guide written by the author is included in the back of this paperback edition.
The Mother-Daughter Book Club
Heather Vogel Frederick - 2007
Even if Megan would rather be at the mall, Cassidy is late for hockey practice, Emma's already read every book in existence, and Jess is missing her mother too much to care, the new book club is scheduled to meet every month. But what begins as a mom-imposed ritual of reading Little Women soon helps four unlikely friends navigate the drama of middle school. From stolen journals, to secret crushes, to a fashion-fiasco first dance, the girls are up to their Wellie boots in drama. They can't help but wonder: What would Jo March do? Acclaimed author Heather Vogel Frederick will delight daughters of all ages in a novel about the fabulousness of fiction, family, and friendship.
In the Forests of the Night
Amelia Atwater-Rhodes - 1999
By night, she hunts the streets of New York City. She is used to being alone. But someone is following Risika. He has left her a black rose, the same sort of rose that sealed her fate three hundred years ago. Three hundred years ago Risika had a family- a brother and a father who loved her. Three hundred years ago she was human. Now she is a vampire, a powerful one. But her past has come back to torment her.
A Corner of the Universe
Ann M. Martin - 2002
Yet this year, it's different -- Hattie's uncle Adam is coming home. Returning from a Chicago school that's just closed and whose existence is kept quiet by adult family members, Adam is a 21-year-old man with a child's mind, having a knack for talking quickly, a savant-like ability for remembering weekdays, and a passion for I Love Lucy. Hattie and Adam wind up spending precious time together -- including a visit to the recently arrived carnival with Hattie's new friend, Leila -- which makes her feel soulfully connected to her uncle, especially when he declares that she's one of the people who can lift the corners of our universe. But when Hattie takes Adam on the Ferris wheel one night, it sets off dramatic events that lead Hattie's family to strengthen its bonds and changes her life's outlook forever.
Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism
Georgia Byng - 2002
When she finds a mysterious old book on hypnotism, she discovers she can make people do whatever she wants. But a sinister stranger is watching her every move and he'll do anything to steal her hypnotic secret...
Saffy's Angel
Hilary McKay - 2001
Cadmium (Caddy), is the eldest; then Saffron (Saffy); Indigo, the only boy; and Rose, the youngest. When Saffy discovers quite by accident that she has been adopted, she is deeply upset, though the others assure her that it makes no difference at all. Saffy is the daughter of Eve's twin sister, who lived in Siena, Italy, and died in a car crash. Grandad brought Saffy, as a very small child, back from Siena. At Grandad's death he leaves something to each of the children. To Saffy, it is "her angel," although no one knows its identity. How Saffy discovers what her angel is, with the help of an energetic new friend, lies at the heart of this enchanting story. Unforgettable characters come alive in often deeply humorous and always absorbing events to be treasured for a long, long time.
My Side of the Mountain
Jean Craighead George - 1959
Young Sam Gribley gets to the end of the block and keeps going--all the way to the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York. There he sets up house in a huge hollowed-out tree, with a falcon and a weasel for companions and his wits as his tool for survival. In a spellbinding, touching, funny account, Sam learns to live off the land, and grows up a little in the process. Blizzards, hunters, loneliness, and fear all battle to drive Sam back to city life. But his desire for freedom, independence, and adventure is stronger. No reader will be immune to the compulsion to go right out and start whittling fishhooks and befriending raccoons. Jean Craighead George, author of more than 80 children's books, including the Newbery Medal-winning Julie of the Wolves, created another prizewinner with My Side of the Mountain--a Newbery Honor Book, an ALA Notable Book, and a Hans Christian Andersen Award Honor Book. Astonishingly, she wrote its sequel, On the Far Side of the Mountain, 30 years later, and a decade after that penned the final book in the trilogy, Frightful's Mountain, told from the falcon's point of view. George has no doubt shaped generations of young readers with her outdoor adventures of the mind and spirit. (Ages 9 to 12) --Emilie Coulter
Smack
Melvin Burgess - 1996
Tar has reasons for running away from home that run deep and sour, whereas Gemma, with her middle-class roots firmly on show, has a deep-rooted lust for adventure. Their first hit brings bliss, the next despair.
The Recruit
Robert Muchamore - 2004
For official purposes, these agents do not exist. They are sent out on missions to spy on terrorists, hack into crucial documents, and gather intel on global threats—all without gadgets or weapons. It is an exceptionally dangerous job, but these agents have one crucial advantage: adults never suspect that teens are spying on them. James is the latest CHERUB recruit. He’s a bit of a troublemaker, but he’s also brilliant. And CHERUB needs him. James has no idea what to expect, but he’s out of options. Before he can start in the field he must first survive one hundred grueling days of basic training, where even the toughest recruits don’t make it to the end.
Shattering Glass
Gail Giles - 2002
Everyone picks on him -- until Rob Haynes shows up. Rob, a transfer student with charisma to spare, immediately becomes the undisputed leader of the senior class. And he has plans for Simon. Rob enlists the help of his crew -- wealthy, intellectual Young, ladies' man Bob, and sweet, athletic Coop -- in a mission: Turn sniveling Simon from total freak to would-be prom king. But as Simon rises to the top of the social ranks, he shows a new confidence and a devious side that power-hungry Rob did not anticipate. And when Simon uncovers a dangerous secret, events darken. The result is disquieting, bone-chilling...and brutal.
The Goose Girl
Shannon Hale - 2003
And when she was older, she watched as a colt was born, and she heard the first word on his tongue, his name, Falada.From the Grimm’s fairy tale of the princess who became a goose girl before she could become queen, Shannon Hale has woven an incredible, original, and magical tale of a girl who must find her own unusual talents before she can lead the people she has made her own.