Bucking the Sarge by Christopher Paul Curtis. Fourteen-year-old Luther wants to go to college, but he is pressured to oversee his mom’s dishonest business empire in Flint, Michigan, and he struggles with ethical questions as he runs the Happy Neighbor Group Home for Men.
Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams Trying to avoid being implicated in a local murder, Ingrid attempts to investigate the mysterious death herself, disturbing her usual routine of soccer practice and drama rehearsals.
Emako Blue by Brenda Woods Emako Blue is beautiful and talented, making friends quickly at her new school, but just as things begin to come together for her, the violence of her neighborhood interrupts her plans.
In Darkness, Death by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler Seikei, apprentice to the powerful Shogun detective Judge Ooka, tracks down a mysterious samurai, uncovering the identity of a powerful lord’s killer.
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan 21st century kid Percy Jackson discovers he is the secret son of one of the mythical Greek gods of Mount Olympus. After this discovery, Percy is sent to a summer camp for children of the gods, where he learns to fight monsters and survive against unnatural odds, handy skills for his first quest.
Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson As part of a fifth grade assignment, Lonnie Collins writes poems to express his feelings after the death of his parents and separation from his beloved younger sister.
Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney The seventh son of a seventh son, possessing powers he doesn’t understand, Tom is apprenticed to the village “spook,” defeating witches, ghosts, goblins, and other creatures that walk in the darkness, but soon he is caught up in the plotting of the darkest witch around, and he alone must destroy her.
The River Between Us by Richard Peck In April 1861,Tilly’s mama opens her home to two young ladies, Delphine and Calinda, after they are forced to flee New Orleans, and soon the family is caught up, not only in the mystery of these two young women, but also in the war when Tilly’s twin brother Noah runs away to join the fight.
The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer To free his younger sister from a shape-shifting troll, 11-year-old Jack takes a journey with Viking berserkers, encountering a variety of helpful and dangerous mythological creatures along the way.
Shackleton's Stowaway by Victoria McKernan. Perce Blackborow stows away on Ernest Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance, hoping for an adventure. However, when the ship is crushed by ice, and the crew is forced to abandon her in Antarctica, survival becomes everyone’s main occupation.
