Home of the Braves


David Klass - 2002
    This was my life. Not the life of any of the people around me, clamoring for blood, but mine. I had to make the decision, and I had to make it now, or it would be made for me.

The Memory Bank


Carolyn Coman - 2010
    In fact these parents are SO horribly awful that one day, when the sisters disobey the rule against "no laughing", they banish Honey forever, telling Hope that she must simply "forget" her. Hope knows that she HAS to find her sister again, before her memories of Honey fade. But before she can even begin to look, she's whisked away to the World Wide Memory Bank, where her accounts are in disarray...

Queen B (The Queen Companion Novels Book 2)


Laura Peyton Roberts - 2006
    The time has come to move from Queen B to Queen Bee. But how is she supposed to fly when life keeps pinching her wings? Her lovesick brother is determined to mortify her in public. She’s in charge of her school’s talentless talent show, where at any moment someone could pull back the curtain and expose her (many) insecurities. The people she cares about most are mad at her. (Again.) And her nemesis, Sterling, has an evil new clone, one who’s making a hobby of humiliating Cassie—and a beeline for Cassie’s boyfriend. Does being popular mean you have to sting like a bee? Or can a girl become queen without losing her honey? Let the buzz begin! “Short chapters with cute titles . . . imagine a novelized blend of Pretty in Pink and Mean Girls.” —Booklist “A fun read that should appeal to teens going through the first joys and trials of young love.” —KLIATT, starred review “A super summer read.” —Sweet 16 A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age A Flamingnet Top Choice Award Winner For the first time in my life, I have an actual shot at being someone at school. I’ve always been more of a Queen B than a Queen Bee—you know, B as in not A. Second tier. (Fine, if you have to get technical, sometimes even lower.) But this year, out of nowhere, I have a chance to be a real Queen Bee. Not that I intend to be snobby, or cliquish, or any of the other rude things sometimes stapled to that label. I just want people to love me.

Cheese: A Combo of Oggie Cooder and Oggie Cooder, Party Animal


Sarah Weeks - 2016
    It's not just for a snack -- Oggie is an excellent charver. (Charving is when you chew a piece of cheese to carve it in the shape of something.) The kids at school think Oggie's charving is a little strange. But when a big TV show comes looking for people with unusual talents, Oggie is suddenly Mr. Popular. Can Oggie charve a path to fame and score an invite to the party of the year without melting under the pressure? No matter how you slice it, you're going to laugh when you read about one small kid becoming a really big cheese, in this hilarious combination of Oggie Cooder and Oggie Cooder, Party Animal.

Hetty Feather Trilogy


Jacqueline Wilson - 2013
    Growing up under the watchful eye of the hateful Matrons is hard for spirited, feisty Hetty, but she lives in hope that she'll find her real family one day, and have a real home.These three inventive, gripping and moving tales from one of our most beloved storytellers have captured the hearts of thousands of young readers. Follow Hetty as she leaves the Hospital, seeks work as a servant girl, searches for her mother and father, and finally decides where her future lies . . .

Nobody Else Has to Know


Ingrid Tomey - 1999
    Webb wakes up in the hospital, his leg shattered and his future as a runner in doubt. He can't remember anything about that day, but he learns: Grandpa was driving. The car hit a little girl. She's in a coma, and she might never walk again.Weeks later, Webber remembers: He was driving."You're fifteen," Grandpa says. "You have your whole life ahead of you. Let me take care of everything. I'm to blame. I'm the one to go to jail. Webber," he begs, "forget it." But how can Webber forget? He was driving.

Sit, Stay, Love


J.J. Howard - 2016
    And when a cute pug named Potato is brought in to Orphan Paws, the shelter where she volunteers, she knows he is the dog she's been waiting for. There's just one problem: Eric Chung -- a popular, arrogant boy from school -- adopts Potato first. What's worse, he hopes to train the little tater to become a show-dog superstar. Cecilia knows that Potato is not cut out for a life of sparkly collars and snobby judges, so she sets out to sabotage Eric's plans.But the more time Cecilia spends with Potato and Eric, the more she questions everything she thought she knew about dog shows ... and a certain cute show-dog trainer. Can Cecilia save Potato -- while also listening to her heart?

Dancing in the Streets of Brooklyn


April Lurie - 2002
    But in July 1944, Judy’s carefree days and her innocence are shaken by a discovery: The man she’s always called Pa isn’t her real father. Even more shocking, Judy learns that the father she doesn’t remember was an alcoholic who abandoned his family. That’s why Judy’s mother emigrated to America from Norway. Now Judy feels jumbled inside: She’s angry at her mother for keeping the truth from her–and she’s suddenly awkward around Pa. Nothing her parents say soothes the hurt.At first, even the attentions of Jacob Jacobsen don’t make her feel any better. Judy likes Jacob; it’s just that his dad’s drinking binges hit too close to home. Ashamed, Judy doesn’t want anyone to find out her secret. But as misfortune befalls Jacob, Judy’s close friends, and her own family, Judy rallies to their side, and in the process recognizes that growing up encompasses forgiveness–of others and of herself.

Lemonade Mouth


Mark Peter Hughes - 2007
    Geniuses. Revolutionaries.The members of the legendary band Lemonade Mouth have been called all of these things. But until now, nobody's known the inside story of how this powerhouse band came to be. How five outcasts in Opoquonsett High School's freshman class found each other, found the music, and went on to change both rock and roll and high school as we know it. Wen, Stella, Charlie, Olivia, and Mo take us back to that fateful detention where a dentist's jingle, a teacher's coughing fit, and a beat-up ukelele gave birth to Rhode Island's most influential band. Told in each of their five voices and compiled by Opoquonsett's "scene queen," freshman Naomi Fishmeier, this anthology is their definitive history.

Too Close to Home


Aoife Walsh - 2015
    Minny is desperate for some space in a house spilling over with family and hangers-on. She has to contend with her autistic sister Aisling's school bullies, whilst trying to keep her self-absorbed BFF Penny happy, and look normal in front of new boy Franklin. And on top of this, now Dad has announced that he’s returning to London – with his new girlfriend.Secrets, lies and home truths will out, frying pans will be burnt, and arguments will flare up in a story full of humour, honesty and minor household emergencies.

Walk two moons by Sharon Creech: Student packet (Novel units) (Novel units)


Novel Units, Inc. - 1995
    Included are activity sheets, quizzes, vocabulary activities, unit tests and much more for an indepth study of the story. (This is NOT the paperback novel.)

The Heaven Shop


Deborah Ellis - 2004
    Binti's father and her mother before him, dies of AIDS. Binti, her sister, and brother are separated and sent to the home of relatives who can barely tolerate their presence. Ostracized by their extended family, the orphans are treated like the lowest servants. With her brother far away and her sister wallowing in her own sorrow, Binti can hardly contain her rage. She, Binti Phirim, was once a child star of a popular radio program. Now she is scraping to survive. Binti always believed she was special, now she is nothing but a common AIDS orphan.Binti Phiri is not about to give up. Even as she clings to hope that her former life will be restored, she must face a greater challenge. If she and her brother and sister are to reunited, Binti Phiri will have to look outside herself and find a new way to be special.Compelling and uplifting, The Heaven Shop, is a contemporary novel that puts a very real face on the African AIDS pandemic, which to-date has orphaned more than 11 million African children. Inspired by a young radio performer the author met during her research visit to Malawi, Binti Phiri is a compelling character that readers will never forget.

Estrella's Quinceanera


Malin Alegria - 2006
    Just thinking about her quince makes Estrella cringe. But her mother insists that it's tradition. Estrella has other things on her mind, anyway -- like dating Speedy. Does it matter that her new friends -- and her parents -- would never approve of a guy from el barrio? Estrella's almost fifteen and wants to start making her own decisions. But is she ready to find out who she is -- and who she really wants to be?

The signers: The fifty-six stories behind the Declaration of Independence


Dennis Brindell Fradin - 2003
    When they first appeared in our nation’s birth certificate, the Declaration of Independence, they were a call to action for a colony on the brink of rebellion. The 56 men who dared to sign their names to this revolutionary document knew they were putting their reputations, their fortunes, and their very lives on the line by boldly and publicly declaring their support for liberty and freedom. As Benjamin Franklin said as he signed his name, “We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately!”Who were these men who are the first heroes of our nation? Award-winning team of author Dennis Brindell Fradin and illustrator Michael McCurdy bring their considerable talents together to illuminate the lives of these valiant men, ranging from the poorest farmers to the wealthiest merchants, whose dauntless courage inspired thousands of colonists to risk all for freedom.

The Light Fantastic


Sarah Combs - 2016
    Three harrowing hours. One fateful day that changes everything. Delaware, the morning of April 19. Senior Skip Day, and April Donovan’s eighteenth birthday. Four days after the Boston Marathon bombing, the country is still reeling, and April’s rare memory condition has her recounting all the tragedies that have cursed her birth month. And just what was that mysterious gathering under the bleachers about? Meanwhile, in Nebraska, Lincoln Evans struggles to pay attention in Honors English, distracted by the enigmatic presence of Laura Echols, capturer of his heart. His teacher tries to hold her class’s interest, but she can’t keep her mind off what Adrian George told her earlier. Over in Idaho, Phoebe is having second thoughts about the Plan mere hours before the start of a cross-country ploy led by an Internet savant known as the Mastermind. Is all her heartache worth the cost of the Assassins’ machinations? The Light Fantastic is a tense, shocking, and beautifully wrought exploration of the pain and pathos of a generation of teenagers on the brink—and the hope of moving from shame and isolation into the light of redemption.