Behind the Gates


Eva Gray - 2011
    Louisa is nervous about being sent away to a boarding school -- but she's excited, too. And she has her best friend, Maddie, to keep her company. The girls have to pretend to be twin sisters, which Louisa thinks just adds to the adventure! Country Manor School isn't all excitement, though. Louisa isn't sure how she feels about her new roommates: athletic but snobby Rosie and everything's-a-conspiracy Evelyn. Even Maddie seems different away from home, quiet and worried all the time. Still, Louisa loves CMS -- the survival skills classes, the fresh air. She doesn't even miss not having a TV, or the internet, or any contact with home. It's for their own safety, after all. Or is it?

The Book of Three


Lloyd Alexander - 1964
    But the day that Hen Wen vanished, Taran was led into an enchanting and perilous world. With his band of followers, he confronted the Horned King and his terrible Cauldron-Born. These were the forces of evil, and only Hen Wen knew the secret of keeping the kingdom of Prydain safe from them. But who would find her first?

So B. It


Sarah Weeks - 2000
    In fact, everything about Heidi and her mentally disabled mother's past is a mystery. When a strange word in her mother's vocabulary begins to haunt her, Heidi sets out on a cross-country journey in search of the secrets of her past.Far away from home, pieces of her puzzling history come together. But it isn't until she learns to accept not knowing that Heidi truly arrives.

Hide and Seek


Jane McFann - 1995
    This exciting new thriller from the well-reviewed author of Be Mine focuses on a 16-year-old who is being stalked by someone who seems to know her very, very well--someone who may have known her forever.

I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912


Lauren Tarshis - 2010
    The ship is full of exciting places to explore, but when George ventures into the first class storage cabin, a terrible boom shakes the entire boat. Suddenly, water is everywhere, and George's life changes forever.Lauren Tarshis brings history's most exciting and terrifying events to life in this new fictional series. Readers will be transported by stories of amazing kids and how they survived!

Mimus


Lilli Thal - 2003
    The dark Middle Ages jump to life in blazing color in this world of adventure and imagination.Two mighty kingdoms are engaged in endless, merciless war, but change appears imminent. King Philip is meeting his archenemy, King Theodo, to sign a peace treaty. But King Philip and his men are tricked and consigned to the squalid dungeons of King Theodo's castle. Soon, his son, 12-year-old Prince Florin, is lured to the castle, where the same horror awaits him.On a whim, King Theodo decides to make the captive crown prince his second Fool, trained by Mimus, an enigmatic, occasionally spiteful, and unpredictable court jester. To add to Florin's misery, he and Mimus are fed a daily portion of gruel, forced to live in a dark, damp tower, and required to entertain the court on demand. But events ultimately turn for Florin and the other captives. They escape and it is Mimus's intervention that helps make it possible.Mimus is a stunning novel that will take readers in its grip and hold them until the last page is turned. Through the brilliant rhymes, jokes, and wordplay of Mimus, the unceasing action and compelling events are sprinkled with lightness and humor.

Scorpions


Walter Dean Myers - 1988
    It continues to do so today. This special twenty-fifth anniversary edition contains the original Scorpions novel, plus an extra Q&A with New York Times bestselling author Walter Dean Myers—including questions about juvenile detention facilities, gang life today, and friendship.Also included are a sneak peek at Kick, by Walter Dean Myers and Ross Workman, and an excerpt from Myers's New York Times bestselling novel Monster!

Jessica Darling's It List: The (Totally Not) Guaranteed Guide to Popularity, Prettiness & Perfection


Megan McCafferty - 2013
    My best friend had turned pretty.2. She didn't know it yet.3. It wouldn't be long before she did.4. That knowledge would change everything between us.5. And there wasn't a thing I could do about it.It's the first day of seventh grade. Is Jessica Darling doomed for dorkdom?New York Times bestselling author Megan McCafferty's hilarious series opener will have you laughing, cringing, and cheering for Jessica Darling as she learns that being herself beats being popular, pretty & perfect any day.

If the Witness Lied


Caroline B. Cooney - 2009
    But it happened—to Jack; his parents; his sisters, Smithy and Madison. And to his baby brother, Tris. What made it worse was that the media wanted to know every detail. Now it’s almost Tris’s third birthday, and everything’s starting again. Aunt Cheryl, who’s living with the Fountain children now that their parents are gone, has decided that they will heal only if they work through their pain—on camera. The very identities they’ve created for themselves are called into question. In less than twenty-four hours their fate will change yet again, but this time they vow to not be exploited and to discover the truth. In this gripping thriller, Caroline B. Cooney details how love, devotion, and forgiveness make resilience—and recovery—possible.

The Discovery


Gordon Korman - 2003
    What they find, though, is much more than fish - it's sunken treasure. Can they salvage it without anyone else getting to it first? Will the prospect of wealth set them against one another? And what about those sharks . . . .

Young Warriors: Stories of Strength


Tamora PierceHolly Black - 2005
    Compiled by bestselling author Tamora Pierce and folklorist/author Josepha Sherman, Young Warriors includes stories by some of today's most acclaimed and beloved fantasy and science-fiction authors for both adults and young adults.Acts of Faith • (2005) • novelette by Lesley McBainAfterword (Young Warriors: Stories of Strength) • (2005) • essay by Josepha ShermanAn Axe for Men • (2005) • short story by Rosemary EdghillDevil Wind • (2005) • novelette by India EdghillEli and the Dybbuk • (2005) • novelette by Janis IanEmerging Legacy • [Wolverine's Daughter • 1.5] • (2005) • novelette by Doranna DurginHeartless • (2005) • short story by Holly BlackHidden Warriors • (2005) • short story by Margaret MahyIntroduction (Young Warriors: Stories of Strength) • (2005) • essay by Tamora PierceLioness • (2005) • short story by Pamela F. ServiceSerpent's Rock • (2005) • novelette by Laura Anne GilmanStudent of Ostriches • [Song of the Lioness] • (2005) • novelette by Tamora PierceSwords That Talk • (2005) • short story by Brent HartingerThe Boy Who Cried "Dragon!" • (2005) • short story by Mike ResnickThe Gift of Rain Mountain • (2005) • short story by Bruce Holland RogersThe Magestone • (2005) • short story by Janet Stirling and S. M. Stirling [as by Jan Stirling and S. M. Stirling]Thunderbolt • (2005) • short story by Esther M. Friesner [as by Esther Friesner]

Naya Nuki: Shoshone Girl Who Ran


Kenneth Thomasma - 1983
    After being taken prisoner by an enemy tribe, a Shoshoni girl escapes and makes a thousand-mile journey through the wilderness in search of her own people.

Lyddie


Katherine Paterson - 1991
    Hearing about all the money a girl can make working in the textile mills in Lowell, Massachusetts, she makes her way there, only to find that her dreams of returning home may never come true.

Moving Target


Christina Diaz Gonzalez - 2015
    Is she their next target?Cassie sets out to uncover what is happening, only to learn that she is a member of an ancient bloodline that enables her to use the Spear of Destiny—a legendary object that can alter the future. Now running from a secret organization intent on killing those from her bloodline, Cassie must—with the help of some friends—decipher the clues that will lead her to the Spear.Christina Diaz Gonzalez has created a fast-paced thrill-ride of a book, rich with riddles and myth, that young readers will not want to put down.

Diamond Willow


Helen Frost - 2008
    But she still wants to be seen for who she is. She wants her parents to notice that she is growing up. She wants her best friend to like her better than she likes a certain boy. She wants, more than anything, to mush the dogs out to her grandparents' house, by herself, with Roxy in the lead. But sometimes when it's just you, one mistake can have frightening consequences . . . And when Willow stumbles, it takes a surprising group of friends to help her make things right again.Using diamond-shaped poems inspired by forms found in polished diamond willow sticks, Helen Frost tells the moving story of Willow and her family. Hidden messages within each diamond carry the reader further, into feelings Willow doesn't reveal even to herself.Diamond Willow is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.