FOURTEEN AND UP
Adventure
*Cold Skin
by Steven Herrick
(Front Street, $18.95) 978-1-59078-572-0
A rural Australian coal town after World War II confronts the
brutal murder of a teenage girl and discovers truths about their
community. Told in verse. (14-16)
Going Bovine
by Libba Bray
(Delacorte, $17.99) 978-0-385-73397-7
Sixteen-year-old Cameron, diagnosed with Cruezfeldt-Jakob's disease, goes on a quest and learns to trust and to care. (14-18) M
Kisses and Lies
by Lauren Henderson
(Delacorte, $16.99) 978-0-385-73489-9
Scarlett is determined to find out who murdered Dan. Will she succeed, or will she be the next victim? (14-16)
Coming of Age
Angry Management
by Chris Crutcher
(Greenwillow, $16.99) 978-0-06-050247-8
In three short stories, teenagers struggle and find ways to cope with anger and precarious life situations. (14-17)
Backtracked
by Pedro de Alcantara
(Delacorte, $15.99) 978-0-385-73419-6
Fifteen-year-old Tommy's time travels teach him a lot about
early 20th-century immigrant life, the Depression, World War II--and
himself. (13-15)
*Because I am Furniture
by Thalia Chaltas
(Viking, $16.99) 978-0-670-06298-0
Fourteen-year-old Anke feels like an invisible witness to her
father's abusiveness toward her siblings. Will she be able to summon
the courage to take action? Free verse. (14-17)
Broken Soup
by Jenny Valentine
(HarperCollins, $16.99) 978-0-06-085071-5
When fifteen-year-old Rowan's older brother dies, she must deal
with her own grief as well as that of her parents and younger sister.
(14+)
Destroy All Cars
by Blake Nelson
(Scholastic, $17.99) 978-0-545-104474-6
Seventeen-year-old James fights consumerism and global warming while trying to deal with dating and his future. (14-17)
Dope Sick
by Walter Dean Myers
(HarperCollins, $16.99) 978-0-06-121477-6
Caught up in the down spiral of his life in Harlem, Lil J meets
a man who shows how he could have made "better" or "different" choices.
(14-17)
If I Stay
by Gayle Forman
(Dutton, $16.99) 978-0-525-42103-0
Mia's family has been killed in the crash that left her
comatose. She lives because of her love for music, Adam, relatives, and
her best friend. (14-16)
*Jumping Off Swings
by Jo Knowles
(Candlewick, $16.99) 978-0-7636-3949-5
The pregnancy of a sixteen-year-old has sharp ramifications on
her friends and family. Varied points of view including that of the boy
involved. (14+)
*Love is the Higher Law
by David Levithan
(Knopf, $15.99) 978-0-375-83468-4
Three New York teens deal with the horror of September 11, 2001 and learn about the nature of love and friendship. (14-17)
*Marcelo in the Real World
by Francisco X. Stork
(Arthur A. Levine, $17.99) 978-0-545-05474-4
Marcelo, a bright autistic teen, spends a challenging summer
working at his father's law firm and considers the transition to a
regular high school. (14+)
North of Beautiful
by Justina Chen Headley
(Little, Brown, $16.99) 978-0-316-02505-8
Terra, beautiful and talented but insecure, struggles to create a life that is not defined by her portwine birthmark and bullying father. (14-17)
Response
by Paul Volponi
(Viking, $15.99) 978-0-670-06283-6
Noah, a black teen, is attacked by three white teens and
seriously hurt. The ensuing arrests and trial show Noah's growth toward
manhood. (14-17)
Rosie and Skate
by Beth Ann Bauman
(Wendy Lamb, $15.99) 978-0-385-73735-7
Two sisters deal with the challenges of adolescence plus an
alcoholic father, aided by friends and relatives and a teen support
group. (14-17) M
Sprout
by Dale Peck
(Bloomsbury, $16.99) 978-1-59990-160-2
Sprout, a high school junior and budding writer, has his first
real romantic relationship with a boy. Full of smart alecky remarks as
well as pathos. (14-16)
*Tempo Change
by Barbara Hall
(Delacorte, $16.99) 978-0-385-73607-7
Sixteen-year-old Blanche's father, a famous rock musician, left
when she was six. Will becoming a musician herself help her reconnect
with him? (13-15)
Willow
by Julia Hoban
(Dial, $16.99) 978-0-8037-3356-5
Holding herself responsible for her parents' deaths, Willow
can't believe that she has a right to be pain free and beloved by
others. (14-17)
*Wintergirls
by Laurie Halse Anderson
(Viking, $17.99) 978-0-670-01110-0
When the death of a friend triggers Lia's anorexia, the physical and emotional tolls of her illness threaten her life. (14-16)
Fantasy
Shiver
by Maggie Stiefvater
(Scholastic, $17.99) 978-0-545-12326-6
Seventeen-year-old Grace and eighteen-year-old Sam, a werewolf,
are transformed by love and learn new definitions of family. (14-16)
*Winter's End
by Jean-Claude Mourlevat, trans. by Anthea Bell
(Candlewick, $17.99) 978-0-7636-4450-5
Four children escape from their repressive French boarding
school. Exhibiting great courage,they fight for freedom against
despotic officials and the terrifying dog-men. (14+)
Historical Fiction
The Brooklyn Nine:
A Novel in Nine Innings
by Alan Gratz
(Dial, $16.99) 978-0-8037-3224-7
Follow 150 years in the life of many generations of a family--and of the history of baseball in the U. S. (13-15)
The Devil's Paintbox
by Victoria McKernan
(Knopf, $16.99) 978-0-375-83750-0
Help comes from unexpected places when Aiden and Maddy begin the harrowing journey from Kansas to Seattle. (14-17)
Gringolandia:
When History Calls Your Name, How Will You Answer?
by Lyn Miller-Lachmann
(Curbstone, $16.95) 978-1-93189649-8
Together with his family, Daniel, a seventeen-year-old Chilean
refugee, tries to understand the effects of torture on their
politically activist father. (14-17)
Hidden Voices:
The Orphan Musicians of Venice
by Pat Lowery Collins
(Candlewick, $17.99) 978-0-7636-3917-4
In 1700s Venice, as Antonio Vivaldi seeks to develop his career,
his orphaned students practice their own music and hope for love. (14+)
Today
*After the Moment
by Garret Freymann-Weyr
(HMH, $16.00) 978-0-618-60572-9
Leigh changes high schools to help his stepsister after the
death of her father, and then gets involved in trying to protect her
complicated best friend. (15+)
*The Anatomy of Wings
by Karen Foxlee
(Knopf, $16.99) 978-0-375-85643-3
In this brilliantly written, touching novel set in an Australian
mining town, ten-year-old Jennifer struggles to come to terms with her
sister's death. (14-16)
Breathless
by Lurlene McDaniel
(Delacorte, $10.99) 978-0-385-73459-2
Once a star of his high school swim team, Travis now battles terminal bone cancer. Does he have the right to decide when and how he dies? (13-17)
Hate List
by Jennifer Brown
(Little, Brown, $16.99) 978-0-316-04144-7
In the aftermath of a school shooting for which her boyfriend is
responsible, sixteen-year-old Valerie faces feelings of guilt and
difficulties in returning to school. (14-16)
How Beautiful the Ordinary:
Twelve Stories of Identity
edited by Michael Cart
(HarperCollins, $16.99) 978-0-06-115498-0
Three stories, some in graphic format, explore multiple aspects of what life is like for gay and transgendered youth. (15-18)
Just One Wish
by Janette Rallison
(Putnam, $16.99) 978-0-399-24618-0
Adventurous, feisty, seventeen-year-old Annika will do anything to help her six-year-old brother battle cancer. (13-15)
*Liar
by Justine Larbalestier
(Bloomsbury, $16.99) 978-1-59990-305-7
Seventeen-year-old Micah is a self-confessed compulsive liar.
But when she becomes a suspect in her boyfriend's murder, she decides
to come clean. Or does she? (15-18)
*Little Brother
by Cory Doctorow
(Tor, $17.95) 978-0-7653-1985-2
Marcus and three techie friends get caught escaping from a
terrorist attack on San Francisco and are interrogated as perps.
Terrifyingly possible. (14+)
*The Miles Between
by Mary E. Pearson
(Henry Holt, $16.99) 978-0-8050-8828-1
When fifteen-year-old Des takes an unauthorized road trip in
search of "one fair day," she and her friends discover a lot about each
other...and themselves. (14-17)
*Purple Heart
by Patricia McCormick
(HarperCollins, $16.99) 978-0-06-173090-0
Matt, an eighteen-year-old in the United States Army, finds
himself in combat in Iraq, trying to understand that conflict. A moving
war tale. (14+)
Raven Summer
by David Almond
(Delacorte, $16.99) 978-0-385-73806-4
Fourteen-year-old Liam's discovery of an abandoned infant leads
to other equally unexpected encounters, both wonderful and disturbing.
(13-15)
Tales of the Madman Underground
by John Barnes
(Viking, $18.99) 978-0-670-06081-8
Teenagers from dysfunctional families help one another survive abuse. (14+)
The Vast Fields of Ordinary
by Nick Burd
(Dial, $16.99) 978-0-8037-3340-4
In a funny, touching, hopeful story, eighteen-year-old Dade
comes out of the closet while dealing with family problems and
community intolerance. (14+)