Abbott, Tony. Firegirl.
A middle school boy's life is changed when Jessica, a girl disfigured by burns, starts attending his Catholic school while receiving treatment at a local hospital.
Bauer, Joan. Peeled.
In an upstate New York farming community, high school reporter Hildy Biddle
investigates a series of strange occurrences at a house rumored to be haunted.
Bell, Cathleen Davitt. Little Blog on the Prairie.
Thirteen-year-old Genevieve's summer at a frontier family history camp in Laramie, Wyoming, with her parents and brother is filled with surprises, which she reports to friends back home on the cell phone she sneaked in, and which they turn into a blog.
Birdsall, Jeanne. The Penderwicks: a summer tale of four sisters,
two rabbits, and a very interesting boy.
While vacationing with their widowed father in the Berkshire Mountains, four
lovable sisters, ages four through twelve, share adventures with a local boy,
much to the dismay of his snobbish mother.
**Read the sequels**
Brandeis, Gayle. My Life with the Lincolns.
In 1966 Illinois, twelve-year-old Wilhelmina, convinced that she, her parents,
and sisters are Abraham Lincoln's family reincarnated, determines to keep them
from suffering the same fates, which is complicated when she and her father
become involved in the Civil Rights Movement.
Budhos, Marina Tamar. Tell Us We’re Home.
Three immigrant girls from different parts of the world meet and become close friends in a small New Jersey town where their mothers have found domestic work, but their relationships are tested when one girl's mother is accused of stealing a precious heirloom.
Cushman, Karen. Alchemy and Meggy Swann.
In 1573, the crippled, scorned, and destitute Meggy Swann goes to London, where
she meets her father, an impoverished alchemist, and eventually discovers that
although her legs are bent and weak, she has many other strengths.
Danziger, Paula. United Tates for America.
Eleven-year-old aspiring artist Skate experiences many changes when she enters
middle school, finds her best friend drifting away from her, and loses her
beloved great-uncle.
Day, Karen. Tall Tales.
Meg's family has moved a lot because of her father's drinking. Meg arrives
in her town longing to find a real friend, someone she can talk to and write
stories with. When she and Grace join forces to write a book, she's thrilled
that she has finally found someone who likes her for who she is, who trusts
her and confides in her.
Dowell, Frances O’Roark. 10 Miles Past Normal.
Janie Gorman wants to be normal. The problem with that: she's not. She's smart and creative and a little bit funky. She's also an unwilling player in her parents' modern-hippy, let's-live-on-a-goat-farm experiment.
Ephron, Delia. Frannie in Pieces.
When fifteen-year-old Frannie's father dies, only a mysterious jigsaw puzzle
that he leaves behind can help her come to terms with his death.
Erskine, Kathryn. Mockingbird.
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.
Henkes, Kevin. Olive’s Ocean.
On a summer visit to her grandmother's cottage by the ocean, twelve-year-old
Martha gains perspective on the death of a classmate, on her relationship
with her grandmother, on her feelings for an older boy, and on her plans to
be a writer.
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.
Holm, Jennifer L. Turtle in Paradise.
It's 1935, and jobs and money and sometimes even dreams are scarce. But in Key
West Florida eleven-year-old Turtle finds herself coming out of her shell in
the most unusual of circumstances.
Ingold, Jeanette. Mountain Solo.
Back at her childhood home in Missoula, Montana, a teenage violin prodigy
contemplates giving up life with her mother in New York City and her music
as she, her father, stepmother, and stepsister hike to a pioneer homesite
where another violinist once faced difficult decisions of his own.
Konigsburg, E.L. Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World.
When Amedeo moves to the Navy town of St. Malo, Florida, he finds an unlikely
friend in William Wilcox when, while working together on a house sale for Amedeo's
eccentric neighbor, they become caught up in a story that dates back to Nazi
Germany, which teaches them the true meaning of heroism.
Klages, Ellen. The Green Glass Sea.
It is 1943, and 11-year-old Dewey Kerrigan is traveling west on a train to
live with her scientist father--but no one will tell her exactly where he
is. When she reaches Los Alamos, New Mexico, she learns why: he's working
on a top secret government program.
Lowry, Lois. Taking Care of Terrific.
Taking her overprotected young charge to the public park to broaden his horizons,
fourteen- year- old babysitter Enid enjoys unexpected friendships with a saxophonist
and a bag lady until she is charged with kidnapping.
Luddy, Karon. Spelldown.
In 1969, the town of Red Clover, South Carolina, led by an enthusiastic new
Latin teacher, supports thirteen-year-old Karlene as she wins her school spelling
bee and strives to qualify for the National Bee, despite family problems and
a growing desire for romance.
Mass, Wendy. Every Soul a Star.
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.
Na, An. The Fold.
Korean American high school student Joyce Kim feels like a nonentity compared
to her beautiful older sister, and when her aunt offers to pay for plastic
surgery on her eyes, she jumps at the chance, thinking it will change her
life for the better.
Paterson, Katherine. The Same Stuff as Stars.
When Angel's self-absorbed mother leaves her and her younger brother with
their poor great-grandmother, the eleven-year-old girl worries not only about
her mother and brother, her imprisoned father, the frail old woman, but also
about a mysterious man who begins sharing with her the wonder of the stars.
Peck, Richard. A Year Down Yonder.
During the recession of 1937, fifteen-year-old Mary Alice is sent to live
with her feisty, larger than life grandmother in rural Illinois. 2001 Newberry
Winner.
**sequel to A Long Way From Chicago**
Peck, Richard. A Season of Gifts.
Relates the surprising gifts
bestowed on twelve-year-old Bob Barnhart and his family, who have recently
moved to
a
small Illinois
town
in 1958, by their larger-than-life neighbor, Mrs. Dowdel.
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.
Supplee, Suzanne. Artichoke’s Heart.
While working in her mother's beauty shop where all the best town's gossip
flies free, Rosemary Goode becomes determined to lose the weight that seems
to be an all too common topic and starts keeping a journal to record the
year-long experience in achieving her goals, her relationships with others,
and her feelings about life in her tight-knit Southern community.
Tolan, Stephanie. Surviving the Applewhites.
Jake, a budding juvenile delinquent, is sent for home schooling to the arty
and eccentric Applewhite family's Creative Academy, where he discovers talents
and interests he never knew he had.
Weeks, Sarah. As Simple As It Seems.
Eleven-year-old Verbena Polter gets through a difficult summer of turbulent emotions and the revelation of a disturbing family secret with an odd new friend who believes she is the ghost of a girl who drowned many years before.
Wiles, Deborah. Love, Ruby Lavender.
When her quirky grandmother goes to Hawaii for the summer, nine-year-old Ruby
learns to survive on her own in Mississippi by writing letters, befriending
chickens as well as the new girl in town, and finally coping with her grandfather's
death.