The glass castle : a memoir
Walls, Jeannette.
Bookstore has many copies. Booklist starred, February 15, 2005. Library Journal 02/15/05. New York Times 03/13/05. The author recalls her life growing up in a dysfunctional family with an alcohol father and distant mother and describes how she and her siblings had to fend for themselves until they finally found the resources and will to leave home.
Mexican Whiteboy
de la Peña, Matt.
Common Core: English language arts. School Library Journal, Sept., 2008. Booklist 08/01/08. Danny, who is tall and skinny but has a talent for pitching a fastball, cannot seem to fit in at school in San Diego, where his Mexican and white heritage causes people to judge him before he even speaks.
Adios, nirvana
Wesselhoeft, Conrad, 1953-
Booklist 09/15/10. School Library Journal 11/01/10. Voice of Youth Advocates (V.O.Y.A.) 12/01/10. As Seattle sixteen-year-old Jonathan helps a dying man come to terms with a tragic event he experienced during World War II, Jonathan begins facing his own demons, especially the death of his twin brother, helped by an assortment of friends, old and new.
Unbroken : a World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption
Hillenbrand, Laura.
Library Journal, October 2010. New York Times 11/21/10. Booklist, November 2010. Kirkus Review, September 2010. A biography of Olympic runner and World War II bombardier, Louis Zamperini, who had been rambunctious in childhood before succeeding in track and eventually serving in the military, which led to a trial in which he was forced to find a way to survive in the open ocean after being shot down.
Holes
Sachar, Louis, 1954-
"Frances Foster books." Wilson's Children. Wilson's Junior High School. Elem. School Library Collection. As further evidence of his family's bad fortune which they attribute to a curse on a distant relative, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself.
145th Street : short stories
Myers, Walter Dean, 1937-
Wilson's Junior High School. Notable/Best Books (A.L.A.). School Library Journal. Ten stories portray life on a block in Harlem.
A child called "it" : an abused child's journey from victim to victor
Pelzer, David J.
Originally published: Omaha Neb. : Omaha Press Pub. Co., 1993. SLJ Dec 1995. Tells the story of a child's abuse at the hands of his alcoholic mother.
Green eggs and ham
Seuss,
Sam-I-Am tries to persuade his friend to try green eggs and ham.
Breaking dawn
Meyer, Stephenie, 1973-
"Megan Tingley books." "The twilight saga"--Dust jacket. Continues the story of the human Bella and the vampire Edward whose love is threatened by their difference, a werewolf named Jacob, and other outside influences.
Tales from a not-so-talented pop star
Russell, Rachel Renee.
When scholarship student Nikki Maxwell, whose father is the school exterminator, decides to enter the talent show at her expensive private school, her nemesis MacKenzie threatens to reveal Nikki's status to the rest of the school.
Rapunzel, the one with all the hair
Mass, Wendy, 1967-
Rapunzel and Prince Benjamin are both trapped, one in a tower by an evil witch, the other by his royal duties, but when their paths cross, aided by friends and a little luck, conditions change for them both.
Big Nate : what could possibly go wrong?
Peirce, Lincoln.
"These strips appeared in newspapers from November 5, 2007, through June 8, 2008"--T.p. verso. Collects "Big Nate" comic strips that follow the adventures of eleven-year-old Nate Wright.
After Tupac and D Foster
Woodson, Jacqueline.
Wilson's Junior High School, November 2008 School Library Journal starred, April 2008 Book Links (A.L.A.), January 2010 Library Media Connection starred, October 2008 Pub Weekly, December 2007 Booklist, February 2008 New York Times, May 2008 Horn Book, January 2008 Bulletin (Center for Children's books), January 2008 In the New York City borough of Queens in 1996, three girls bond over their shared love of Tupac Shakur's music, as together they try to make sense of the unpredictable world in which they live.
Diary of a wimpy kid : the third wheel
Kinney, Jeff.
As the day of the Valentine's Day dance approaches, Greg Heffley worries he will be left out until a twist of fate lands Greg with a date, but leaves his best friend, Rowley, on his own.
Basketball
Owens, Tom, 1960-
Voice of Youth Advocates (V.O.Y.A.), December 1999. Describes how professional men's basketball teams prepare for games, analyze the games afterwards for improvement, develop strategies, and build themselves through player selection.
I'd tell you I love you, but then I'd have to kill you
Carter, Ally.
Publisher's Weekly. Horn Book. Bulletin (Center for Children's books). As a sophomore at a secret spy school and the daughter of a former CIA operative, Cammie is sheltered from "normal teenage life" until she meets a local boy while on a class surveillance mission.
Leviathan, v. 1
Westerfeld, Scott.
Map on endpapers. In an alternate 1914 Europe, fifteen-year-old Austrian Prince Alek, on the run from the Clanker Powers who are attempting to take over the globe using mechanical machinery, forms an uneasy alliance with Deryn who, disguised as a boy to join the British Air Service, is learning to fly genetically-engineered beasts.
Harry Potter : and the CHAMBER of SECRETS #2
Rowling, J. K.
Sequel to: Harry Potter and the sorcerer's stone. "Year 2"--Spine. Wilson's Children, June 2000. Elem. School Library Collection, June 2000. School Library Journal starred, July 1999. Notable/Best Books (A.L.A.), January 2000. Booklist starred, May 1999. Pub Weekly, May 1999. New York Times, June 1999. Horn Book, July 1999. Bulletin (Center for Children's books), September 1999. Book Report, September 1999. When the Chamber of Secrets is opened again at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, second-year student Harry Potter finds himself in danger from a dark power that has once more been released on the school.
Aenir
Nix, Garth.
"Lucas books." The dream world Aenir is not a safe place. Tal and Milla must find the Codex, a strange and magical object that will decide their fate in this world. But finding the Codex may endanger them more than they dreamed.
Dragon keeper
Wilkinson, Carole.
In ancient China during the Han Dynasty, a nameless orphan is hopeless and lonely until she comes to the aid of an aging dragon, and together they journey to protect a mysterious stone.