The First Part Last

By: Angela Johnson

Summary:
16-year-old Bobby is a single dad who has struggles to take care of his kid and go to school. The mother of the child is in a coma because of eclampsia. Despite his struggles, Bobby loves his kid and makes the best of the situation. He snaps at one point and vandalizes a wall, but his experiences cause him to grow.

Evaluation: This is an endearing story of a teen parent.
Reading level: Grades 9-12
Cautions: Death
Published by: Simon Pulse, 2004
Pages: 132

Love That Dog

By: Sharon Creech

Summary:
This is a story written in free verse about a boy who is assigned a poetry assignment in school, but he has no intention of being poet. He believes that boys don't write poetry. As the story progresses, he begins to develop a tolerance toward poetry that soon turns to love as he uses his recent experience of losing his dog to write poetry.

Evaluation: Sweet, endearing book that causes you to look at poetry differently.
Reading level: Grades 6-12
Cautions: Death
Published by: HaperCollins, 2004
Pages: 128

Number The Stars

By: Lois Lowry

Summary:
Annmarie Johannesen is a 10-year-old German girl living during the Holocaust. Her Jewish friend
Ellen is in danger of being captured by the Nazis and Annmarie's family must hide the Rosen family from them, risking their own safety. Their family helps the Rosen's flee out of the country.

Evaluation: This is a great book for understanding the Holocaust from a German's perspective
Reading level: Grades 3-12
Cautions: Violence, Tense moments
Published by: Laurel Leaf, 1998
Pages: 136

Bomba the Jungle Boy

By: Roy Rockwood

Summary:
Bomba, a white boy, gets lost in the Amazon jungle. He and his friend Casson are the only white people there. The story is about his adventures growing up there. Then his parents find him and he returns to New York for a bit. Then his father gets lost in the jungle and he has his adventures finding him.

Evaluation: This is a classic young adult adventure book that deals with different cultures
Reading level: Grades 6-12
Cautions: Tense family scenes, violence
Published by: Grosset & Dunlap, 1978
Pages: 180

Beast

By: Donna Jo Napoli

Summary:
This is a Beauty and the Beast story told from the perspective of the Beast, Prince Orasmyn. He has been turned into a lion by a curse that can only be reversed through the love of a woman. He travels to France and finds a castle that he breaks into. He plants a rose for a woman to find, she comes and finds it, and the story ends like the original.

Evaluation: A new, refreshing take on the story of Beauty and the Beast
Reading level: Grades 8-12
Cautions: Mild language, sex-related
Published by: Atheneum, 2000
Pages: 272

Inexcusable

By: Chris Lynch

Summary:
Keir is being blamed for the rape of one of the most popular girls in school, Gigi. He proceeds to explain why he couldn't possibly have done what they said he did. First of all, he was blamed for basically crippling a kid in football, but they did an investigation and determined that he was not guilty. And then during the date she gave plenty of hints that she was into him. His word should count for something, right?

Evaluation: A date rape from the mind of the rapist... interesting indeed.
Reading level: Grades 9-12
Cautions: Mild language, sex-related
Published by: Ginee Seo Books, 2005
Pages: 176

Keeper

by Mal Peet

Summary:
Paul Faustino, a famous journalist, gets the assignment to write about the World Cup soccer star, El Gato, who is at the height of his career. He gets a story that is surprising and captivating. El Gato recounts growing up in Brazil and how exactly he got to be so good at playing soccer. His tale of being a scrawny, clumsy boy growing up in the rain forest and a mentor from a different world becomes quite the article.

Evaluation: Very unique and interesting spin on soccer, with some supernatural elements thrown in there. Great for soccer-lovers!
Reading level: Grades 8-12
Cautions: Mild language
Published by: Candlewick, 2007
Pages: 240

So Yesterday

by: Scott Westerfield

Summary: Hunter, 17, is a "cool hunter". His job is to find what the new trends are. He meets a girl named Jen who is amazing at coming up with new innovative trends and styles. Hunter's boss Mandy wants to meet Jen, so they go to meet her in Chinatown and they can't see her. They find her cellphone and some cool shoes, but all they see is a scary bald man. Hunter loses his phone inside the building and now the man has it. They go on an adventure to figure out what happened to Mandy and who this man is.
Evaluation: This story is an interesting blend of adventure and fashion
Reading Level: 9-12
Cautions: Crude language, violence
Published by: Razorbill, 2004
Pages: 240

Stuck In Neutral

by: Terry Trueman

Summary: Shawn McDaniel has cerebral palsy and cannot communicate with anyone. His family assume is virtually brain-dead, but inside he is just a normal 14-year-old boy. Although he doesn't know for sure, he thinks his father wants to kill him. He struggles with the knowledge that his father may want to end his life without him being able to do anything to stop it.
Evaluation: It's very eye-opening to cerebral palsy, makes you thin
Reading Level: 7-12
Cautions: Tense family scenes, death
Published by: HarperTeen
Pages: 128

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing

by M.T. Anderson

Summary:

Taking place during the 1800s in Boston, Octavian and his mother realize that they are experiments in a household of scientists and philosophers. They are dressed well and educated, but are still living a life of slavery. Octavian finds out the horrors of what it means to be a slave as the political unrest of the area increases.

Evaluation: Very well-written, unique style

Reading level: Grades 9-12
Cautions: Violence

Published by: Candlewick, 2006
Pages: 368