Adventure
The Baboon King
by Anton Quintana, trans. by John Nieuwenhuizen
(Walker, 1999) $16.95, 0-8027-8711-8
Half Masai, half Kikuyu and accepted by neither, Morengarú sets off on an unusual journey of self-discovery in the African wilderness. (12-14)
Stick and Whittle
by Sid Hite
(Scholastic, 2000) $16.95, 0-439-09828-9
A picaresque western tale of a Civil War hero and his sidekick on a rescue mission involving Indians, outlaws, and romance. (11-14)
Fantasy and Science Fiction
Among the Hidden
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
(S&S, 1998) $16.00, 0-689-81700-2
Compelling story of twelve-year-old Luke in a futuristic world where third children are not permitted to exist. (12+)
Ashley Bryan's African Tales, Uh-Huh
retold and ill. by Ashley Bryan
(Atheneum, 1998) $22.00, 0-689-82076-3
Fourteen superb tales retold by a master storyteller. (11-14)
Elske
by Cynthia Voigt
(Atheneum,1999) $18.00, 0-689-82472-6
By wit and courage, thirteen-year-old Elske defies her fate as the Death Maiden to save the kingdom for its rightful queen. (11-14)
Gathering Blue
by Lois Lowry
(HMC, 2000) $16.00, 0-618-05581-9
After her mother's death, Kira finds herself in a violent, futuristic society, and is saved by the Guardians because of her weaving skills. (12-16)
The Last Book in the Universe
by Rodman Philbrick
(Blue Sky, 2000) $16.95, 0-439-08758-9
An innovative tale of the future after the big shake written in a remarkable invented vocabulary. (10-14)
Let My People Go: Bible Stories told by a freeman of color to his daughter, Charlotte, in Charleston, South Carolina, 1806-16
by Patricia and Frederick McKissack, ill. by James E. Ransome
(Atheneum, 1998) $20.00, 0-689-80856-9
Old Testament stories narrated by a former slave, interplayed with parallel experiences in slaveholding Charleston. Illustrations portray ancient Hebrews as Semites. (10-14)
Off the Road
by Nina Bawden
(Clarion, 1998) $16.00, 0-395-91321-7
Twelve-year-old Tom follows his grandfather out of the protected place in which they live to the wild outside the wall. (11-14)
Sang Spell
by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
(Atheneum, 1998) $16.00, 0-689-82007-0
On a hitchhiking trip from Boston to Texas, Josh finds himself in a closed community with no way to escape. (12-14)
Growing Up
The Beetle and Me: A Love Story
by Karen Romano Young
(Greenwillow, 1999/HarperTrophy 2001) P$5.95, 0-380-73295-5
Fourteen-year-old Daisy restores a 1957 Volkswagon and finds friendship and a little humility as a result. (12-14)
Bluish
by Virginia Hamilton
(Scholastic (Blue Sky), 1999) $16.95, 0-590-28879-2
The developing friendship between three girls, one of them a newcomer, one of them ill, and one insecure. Lyrically told. (11-14)
Crusader
by Edward Bloor
(HBC, 1999) $17.00, 0-15-201944-8
Fifteen-year-old Roberta struggles with the death of her mother and her father's absenteeism to find her place in the world. (12-14)
Equinox
by Monte Killingsworth
(Henry Holt, 2001) $16.95, 0-8050-6153-3
Anguished at the prospect of leaving her island home, Autumn starts a journal and finds that family relationships are not what they seemed. (12-15)
A Face in Every Window
by Han Nolan
(HBC, 1999) $16.00, 0-15-201915-4
A fifteen-year-old boy slowly learns to accept differences, human frailties, and the randomness of life. (12+)
Fighting Ruben Wolfe
by Markus Zusak
(Scholastic, 2001) $15.95, 0-439-24188-X
Two brothers who start to box as a way to hold onto family pride begin to wonder what winning proves. (13-15)
A Group of One
by Rachna Gilmore
(Henry Holt, 2001) $16.95, 0-8050-6475-3
A visit from a grandmother from India causes Tara to reexamine her own heritage and questions about her Canadian status. An honest and tender look at family relationships. (11-13)
A Hole in the World
by Sid Hite
(Scholastic, 2001) $16.95, 0-439-09830-0
After he is caught lying for a friend, fifteen-year-old Paul's parents send him to spend the summer with relatives in rural Virginia. (11-14)
How to Be a Real Person (in just one day)
by Sally Warner
(Knopf, 2001) o.p.
Sixth-grader Kara tries to conceal her mentally ill mother from her friends, her absent father, and her teachers. (11-14)
Just Ask Iris
by Lucy Frank
(Atheneum, 2001) $17.00, 0-689-84406-9
Clever twelve-year-old transforms the lives of her human and animal neighbors. (11-14)
Kissing Doorknobs
by Terry Spencer Hesser
(Delacorte, 1998) $15.95, 0-385-32329-8
A riveting account by Tara, age 14, of the deterioration of her life caused by progressive obsessive-compulsive disorder. (12-16)
McKendree
by Sandra Belton
(Greenwillow, 2000) o.p.
During the summer of 1948 in West Virginia, five teenagers work at a retirement home--and find new beginnings and self-esteem. (11-14)
Night Flying
by Rita Murphy
(Delacorte/Laurel Leaf, 2000/2002) P$4.99, 0-440-22837-9
Nearing her sixteenth birthday, Pen, from a family of fliers, uncovers secrets which enable her to grow and blossom. (12-14)
Seek
by Paul Fleischman
(Cricket, 2001) $16,95, 0-8126-4900-1
In play format, as he completes an assigned autobiography, Rob reveals his search for his missing father--and its outcome. (12+)
Shipwreck Season
by Donna Hill
(Clarion, 1998) $15.00, 0-395-86614-6
Touching characterizations depict the year spent by a spoiled Boston boy with his brusque uncle at a Cape Cod rescue station. (11-13)
Sort of Forever
by Sally Warner
(Knopf, 1998) $16.00, 0-679-88648-6
Cady and Nana, two best friends, deal with Nana's bone cancer. Sincere and funny. (12-14)
Speak
by Laurie Halse Anderson
(FSG, 1999) $16.00, 0-374-37152-0
A traumatic event at the end of junior high leaves Melinda without a voice. (12+)
Whale Talk
by Chris Crutcher
(Greenwillow, 2001) $15.95, 0-688-18019-1
Determined to subvert his high school's over-emphasis on competative sports, T.J. Jones helps a group of misfits become a swim team. Provocative and intense. (12-15)
Past
The Executioner's Daughter
by Laura E. Williams
(Henry Holt, 2000) $16.95, 0-8050-6234-3
Lily is dismayed to learn that she is expected to become her father's assistant after the death of her mother. Convincing medieval setting. (11-14)
Mara's Stories: Glimmers in the Darkness
by Gary Schmidt
(Henry Holt, 2001) $16.95, 0-8050-6794-9
A sad but beautiful collection of stories from the Jewish tradition, retold by a girl in a concentration camp. (12-14)
Mine Eyes Have Seen
by Ann Rinaldi
(Scholastic, 1998) $16.95, 0-590-54318-0
Fascinating report by John Brown's daughter of the preparations for the raid on Harper's Ferry in 1859. (12-14)
Rockbuster
by Gloria Skurzynski
(Atheneum, 2001) $16.00, 0-689-83991-X
In pre -World War I Utah, coal-miner Tommy's brilliant song writing talent, his union associations, and a romance create conflict. (12-14)
Sacajawea: The Story of Bird Woman and the Lewis and Clark Expedition
by Joseph Bruchac
(Harcourt, 2000) $17.00, 0-15-202234-1
Addressing Sacajawea's young son, Sacajawea and William Clark each tell the story of their great expedition. (11-14)
Walks Alone
by Brian Burks
(Harcourt Brace, 1998) $16.00, 0-15-201612-0
A wounded fifteen-year-old Apache girl shows great ingenuity and courage after her tribal group is attacked. Easy to read. (12-14)
Science Fiction
A Matter of Profit
By Hilari Bell
(Harper Collins, 2001) $16.95, 0-06-029513-9
Soldier and member of the Vivitare people, Abvren hopes to give up war and save his sister by uncovering the plot to assassinate the emperor. (11-14)
Today
Dive
by Adele Griffin
(Hyperion, 1999/2001) P$5.99, 0-7868-1567-1
While traveling to visit his hospitalized stepbrother, eleven-year-old Ben looks back on the love and difficulties of his family life. (11-14)
Hope Was Here
by Joan Bauer
(Putnam, 2000) $16.99, 0-399-23142-0
Sixteen-year-old Hope and her aunt become involved in local Wisconsin politics as newcomers working in the town diner. (12-14)
Mind's Eye
by Paul Fleischman
(Henry Holt, 1999) $15.95, 0-8050-6314-5
A lyrical tale, told in play form, of an imaginary journey to Italy taken by a spinal-cord injured teenager and her elderly roommate in a rehab hospital. (12-14)
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