Varsity baseball player Scott Latimer struggles with his own prejudices and those of others when his best friend reveals that he is gay.
Book of the Day: 7 Days at the Hot Corner by Terry Trueman
Varsity baseball player Scott Latimer struggles with his own prejudices and those of others when his best friend reveals that he is gay.
Book of the Day: Jake, Reinvented by Gordon Korman
Rick becomes friends with the popular new boy, Jake Garrett, football player and host of superlative parties, and in the process discovers the true nature of his schoolmates and uncovers the mystery of Jake's past.
Book of the Day: Sixth-grade Glommers, Norks, and Me by Lisa Papademetriou
As Allie Kimball starts sixth grade, she discovers that middle school is a very different world, populated with glommers -- those girls who cling to each other in groups; norks -- a combination of a nerd and a dork; and worst of all, squashes -- crushes that make you feel like your heart has been stepped on. Keeping a journal of words that help define her world, Allie tries to navigate through the strange land of sixth grade. With the help of her soccer team, a few new friends, and some shocking surprises from old friends, Allie soon discovers that she does have the strength to be herself.
Book of the Day: Firegirl by Tony Abbott
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.
Book of the Day: Schooled by Gordon Korman
Homeschooled by his hippie grandmother, Capricorn (Cap) Anderson has never watched television, tasted a pizza, or even heard of a wedgie. But when his grandmother lands in the hospital, Cap is forced to move in with a guidance counselor and attend the local middle school. While Cap knows a lot about tie-dyeing and Zen Buddhism, no education could prepare him for the politics of public school.
Book of the Day: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
When seventeen-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington, she meets an exquisitely handsome boy at school for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and who she comes to realize is not wholly human.
Book of the Day: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie is navigating through the strange worlds of love, drugs, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", and dealing with the loss of a good friend and his favorite aunt.
Book of the Day: The Earth, My Butt and Other Big, Round Things by Carolyn Mackler
Feeling like she does not fit in with the other members of her family, who are all thin, brilliant, and good-looking, fifteen-year-old Virginia tries to deal with her self-image, her first physical relationship, and her disillusionment with some of the people closest to her.
Book of the Day: 6-321 by Michael Laser
Sixth grade in a public school in Queens brings many changes into the life of Marc Chaikin, as he falls in love, deals with class bullies, overcomes his fear of school, and faces his parents' divorce.
Book of the Day: Agnes Parker: Girl in Progress by Kathleen O'Dell
As she starts in the sixth grade, Agnes faces challenges with her old best friend, a longtime bully, a wonderful new classmate and neighbor, and herself.
Book of the Day: Bullyville by Francine Prose
After the death of his estranged father in the World Trade Center on 9/11, thirteen-year-old Bart, still struggling with his feelings of guilt, sorrow and loss, wins a scholarship to the local preparatory school and there encounters a vicious bully whose cruelty compounds the aftermath of the tragedy.
Book of the Day: Real Fitness: 100 Games to Get Girls Going! by American Girl
Round up some friends and play something fun! Get moving instead of sitting in front of the tv. You'll have fun and feel good too.
Book of the Day: The Curse of the Romanovs by Staton Rabin
Alexei Romanov, heir to the Russian throne, is in deadly danger. It's 1916, the struggling Russian people are tired of war and are blaming their Romanov rulers for it, and some are secretly plotting to murder the young heir and his family.
Book of the Day: Sure Fire by Jack Higgins
After their mother is killed, 15-year-old twins Rich and Jade are shocked when their long-lost father, John Chance, arrives. After Chance suddenly disappears, Rich and Jade uncover the truth: Hes a spy--and whoever has kidnapped their father is after them as well, in this first novel for young adults by the bestselling author of espionage.
Book of the Day: The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh
In this haunting adventure, Marsh weaves together New York Citys secret history and its modern-day landscape to create a highly vivid ghost world, full of magical adventure and page-turning action
Book of the Day: Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
Set in a medieval Asian land, a classic Brothers Grimm tale is reimagined by a Newbery Honor author. In this completely unique retelling, filled with adventure and romance, drama and disguise, a young maid sacrifices her freedom to accompany her mistress into exile
Book of the Day: A Dog Called Grk by Joshua Doder
British schoolboy finds adventure when he travels to a dangerous foreign country to return a small dog to its rightful owner.
Book of the Day: I am Not Joey Pigza by Jack Gantos
Joey's father returns, calling himself Charles Heinz and apologizing for his past bad behavior, and he swears that once Joey and his mother change their names and help him fix up the old diner he has bought, their lives will change for the better. Ing's note: even though the Joey Pigza series might be geared toward fourth or fifth grade, but everyone should read this entire series!
Book of the Day: Someone Named Eva by Joan M. Wolf
From her home in Lidice, Czechoslovakia, in 1942, eleven-year-old Milada is taken with other blond, blue-eyed children to a school in Poland to be trained as "proper Germans" for adoption by German families, but all the while she remembers her true name and history.
Book of the Day: Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Greg records his sixth grade experiences in a middle school where he and his best friend, Rowley, undersized weaklings amid boys who need to shave twice daily, hope just to survive, but when Rowley grows more popular, Greg must take drastic measures to save their friendship.
Book of the Day: Uncle Ronald by Brian Doyle
In 1895, to escape his violent father, Mickey is sent to stay with his Uncle Ronald and his twin aunts in the hills north of Ottawa and learns to feel safe for the first time in his life.Book of the Day: The Land of the Silver Apples by Nancy Farmer
After escaping from the Sea of Trolls, the apprentice bard Jack plunges into a new series of adventures, traveling underground to Elfland and uncovering the truth about his little sister Lucy. This is the squel to Farmer's Sea of Trolls.
Book of the Day: If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko
Kirsten and Walk, seventh-graders at an elite private school, alternate telling how race, wealth, weight, and other issues shape their relationships as they and other misfits stand up to a mean but influential classmate, even as they are uncovering a long-kept secret about themselves.
Edenville Owls by Robert B. Parker
Fourteen-year-old Bobby, living in a small Massachusetts town just after World War II, finds himself facing many new challenges as he tries to pull together his coachless basketball team, cope with new feelings for his old friend Joanie, and discover the identity of the mysterious stranger who seems to be threatening his teacher.
Is chat room romance for real?
Lizard by Dennis Covington
Sent by his guardian to live at a Louisiana school for retarded boys, Lizard, a bright, deformed youngster, escapes with the help of a visiting actor who gives him a role in his repertory company's production of "The Tempest."
Shark Bait by Graham Salisbury
Twelve-year-old Mokes is torn between obeying his father, the police chief in the small town of Kailua, Hawaii, and being with his friends who plan to go see a fight between an island boy and a sailor.
With a Hammer for My Heart : a novel by George Ella Lyon
Deep in Kentucky's Appalachian Mountains live a handful of down-to-earth, loving, zealous, confused folks. All of them are in search of a shade of truth (though some seek deeper shades than others) and the right to live their lives according to particular rhythms. Lawanda, a teenager who is afraid she'll get stuck in the Appalachian hills, wants to go to college.
Blue Skin of the Sea ; a novel in stories by Graham Salisbury
Here's a rare, sensitive one about a young man coming of age in a Hawaiian fishing village. What do you do if your biggest fear surrounds you? . . . indeed, what if that which you fear brings life (and death) to those you love? For Sonny Mendoza, it's the sea itself which fills him with fear, and its his wrestling with its powerful force that brings him to adulthood.
True Believer by Virginia Euwer Wolff
Living in the inner city amidst guns and poverty, fifteen-year-old LaVaughn learns from old and new friends, and inspiring mentors, that life is what you make it--an occasion to rise to.