CCPS/CCPL Recommends
- Great and Terrible Beauty by Particia Bray-
After the suspicious death of her mother in 1895, sixteen-year-old Gemma returns to England, after many years in India, to attend a finishing school where she becomes aware of her magical powers and ability to see into the spirit world.
- The Hunger Games by Jackie Collins-
In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss's skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister's place.
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The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau-
In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions.
- The Christopher Killer: Forensic Mystery by Alane Ferguson-
On the payroll as an assistant to her coroner father, seventeen-year-old Cameryn Mahoney uses her knowledge of forensic medicine to catch the killer of a friend while putting herself in terrible danger.
- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman-
Nobody Owens is a normal boy, except that he has been raised by ghosts and other denizens of the graveyard.
- The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner-
In the late eighteenth-century, Sido, the twelve-year-old daughter of a self-indulgent marquis, and Yann, a fourteen-year-old Gypsy orphan raised to perform in a magic show, face a common enemy at the start of the French Revolution.
- The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd-
After her "stand-in mother," a bold black woman named Rosaleen, insults the three biggest racists in town, Lily Owens joins Rosaleen on a journey to Tiburon, South Carolina, where they are taken in by three black, bee-keeping sisters.
- Touching Spirit Bear by Mikaelsen, Ben-
After his anger erupts into violence, Cole, in order to avoid going to prison, agrees to participate in a sentencing alternative based on the native American Circle Justice, and he is sent to a remote Alaskan Island where an encounter with a huge Spirit Bear changes his life.
- Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock-
After spending her summer running the family farm and training the quarterback for her school's rival football team, sixteen-year-old D.J. decides to go out for the sport herself, not anticipating the reactions of those around her.
- Here, There be Dragons by James A. Owen-
Three young men are entrusted with the Imaginarium Geographica, an atlas of fantastical places to which they travel in hopes of defeating the Winter King whose bid for power is related to the First World War raging in the Real World.
- Life as We Knew it by Susan Beth Pfeffer-
Through journal entries sixteen-year-old Miranda describes her family's struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.
- Unwind by Neal Shusterman-
In a future world where those between the ages of thirteen and eighteen can have their lives "unwound" and their body parts harvested for use by others, three teens go to extreme lengths to uphold their beliefs--and, perhaps, save their own lives.
- Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See-
A story of friendship set in nineteenth-century China follows an elderly woman and her companion as they communicate their hopes, dreams, joys, and tragedies through a unique secret language.
- If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson-
After meeting at their private school in New York, fifteen-year-old Jeremiah, who is black and whose parents are separated, and Ellie, who is white and whose mother has twice abandoned her, fall in love and then try to cope with people's reactions.
- American Born Chinese by Gene Yang-
Alternates three interrelated stories about the problems of young Chinese Americans trying to participate in the popular culture. Presented in comic book format.
- Good Enough by Paula Yoo-
A Korean American teenager tries to please her parents by getting into an Ivy League college, but a new guy in school and her love of the violin tempt her in new directions.
- Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin-
After a nasty fall, Naomi realizes that she has no memory of the last four years and finds herself reassessing every aspect of her life.
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak-
Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel--a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors.
- Stravaganza by Mary Hoffman-(series)
Seventeen-year-old Matt, painfully dyslexic and insecure, discovers that he can travel between worlds after being transported to Talia, where he joins Luciano and other Stravaganti in trying to prevent the di Chimici family's breakthrough into our world.
- Maximum Ride by James Patterson- (series)
While on a mission to Antarctica to save the world from global warming, fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride and the other members of the Flock--a band of genetically modified children who can fly--are pursued by their creator, the Uber-Director, who wants to auction them off to the highest bidder.
Sumaries from Novelist-
Butcher, Jim. " NoveList - powered by EBSCOhost." EBSCOhost. 12 May 2009. http://web.ebscohost.com/novelist/.
