Al Capone Does My Shirts, Gennifer Choldenko (Historical Fiction)
12-year-old Moose Flanagan moves to Alcatraz when his dad takes a job as a prison guard at Alcatraz. “Today I moved to a twelve-acre rock covered with cement, topped with bird turd and surrounded by water. I'm not the only kid who lives here. There's my sister, Natalie, except she doesn't count. And there are twenty-three other kids who live on the island because their dads work as guards or cook's or doctors or electricians for the prison, like my dad does. Plus, there are a ton of bad men- hit men, con men, stickup men, embezzlers, connivers, burglars, kidnappers and maybe even an innocent man or two, though I doubt it. The convicts we have are the kind other prisons don't want. I never knew prisons could be picky, but I guess they can. You get to Alcatraz by being the worst of the worst. Unless you're me. I came here because my mother said I had to.”Al Capone Does My Shirts, Gennifer Choldenko (Historical Fiction)
Brown Girl Dreaming, Jacqueline Woodson (Nonfiction, Memoir, Novel in Verse)
Brown Girl Dreaming, Jacqueline Woodson (Nonfiction, Memoir, Novel in Verse)
Fast Break, Mike Lupica (Realistic Fiction)
Forced to live on his own after his mom dies and her boyfriend abandons him, 12-year-old Jayson does whatever it takes to get by. He will do anything to avoid the foster care system. Besides, his real home has always been the beat-up basketball court behind the projects in the North Carolina hills, and his family has always been his friends and teammates. He manages to get away with his deception until the day he gets caught stealing a new pair of basketball sneakers. Game over. Within a day a social worker places him with a family from the other side of town, the Lawtons. New home, new school, new teammates. Jayson, at first, is combative, testing the Lawtons' patience at every turn. He wants out, yet the Lawtons refuse to take the bait. But not everyone in Jayson's new life is so ready to trust him--and even Jayson's old friends give him a hard time now that he's attending a school full of rich kids. It's on Jayson to believe that he deserves a better life than the one he once had. The ultimate prize if he can? A trip to play in the state finals at Cameron Indoor Stadium–home to the Duke Blue Devils and launching pad to his dream of playing big time college ball. Getting there will be a journey that reaches far beyond the basketball court.Fast Break, Mike Lupica (Realistic Fiction)
Raymie Nightingale, Kate Dicamillo (Realistic Fiction)
Raymie Nightingale, Kate Dicamillo (Realistic Fiction)
Lions of Little Rock, Kristen Levine (Historical Fiction)
Lions of Little Rock, Kristen Levine (Historical Fiction)
Counting by 7's, Holly Goldberg Sloan (Realistic Fiction
Counting by 7's, Holly Goldberg Sloan (Realistic Fiction
Other Words From Home, Jasmine Warga (Novel in Verse/Realistic Fiction)
I am learning how to besadand happyat the same time.Jude never thought she’d be leaving her beloved older brother and father behind, all the way across the ocean in Syria. But when things in her hometown start becoming volatile, Jude and her mother are sent to live in Cincinnati with relatives. At first, everything in America seems too fast and too loud. The American movies that Jude has always loved haven’t quite prepared her for starting school in the US—and her new label of “Middle Eastern,” an identity she’s never known before. But this life also brings unexpected surprises—there are new friends, a whole new family, and a school musical that Jude might just try out for. Maybe America, too, is a place where Jude can be seen as she really is.Other Words From Home, Jasmine Warga (Novel in Verse/Realistic Fiction)
Sky Jumpers, Peggy Eddlemand (Science Fiction)
Sky Jumpers, Peggy Eddlemand (Science Fiction)
The False Prince, Jennifer Nielsen (Action/Adventure)
In this first book in a remarkable trilogy, an orphan is forced into a twisted game with deadly stakes.Choose to lie...or choose to die. In a discontent kingdom, civil war is brewing. To unify the divided people, Conner, a nobleman of the court, devises a cunning plan to find an impersonator of the king's long-lost son and install him as a puppet prince. Four orphans are recruited to compete for the role, including a defiant boy named Sage. Sage knows that Conner's motives are more than questionable, yet his life balances on a sword's point -- he must be chosen to play the prince or he will certainly be killed. But Sage's rivals have their own agendas as well. As Sage moves from a rundown orphanage to Conner's sumptuous palace, layer upon layer of treachery and deceit unfold, until finally, a truth is revealed that, in the end, may very well prove more dangerous than all of the lies taken together. An extraordinary adventure filled with danger and action, lies and deadly truths that will have readers clinging to the edge of their seats. The False Prince, Jennifer Nielsen (Action/Adventure)
To Night Owl From Dogfish, Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer (Realistic Fiction)
Avery Bloom, who’s bookish, intense, and afraid of many things, particularly deep water, lives in New york City. Bett Devlin, who’s fearless, outgoing, and loves all animals as well as the ocean, lives in California. What they have in common is that they are both twelve years old, and are both being raised by single, gay dads. When their dads fall in love, Bett and Avery are sent, against their will, to the same sleepaway camp. Their dads hope that they will find common ground and become friends--and possibly, one day, even sisters. But things soon go off the rails for the girls (and for their dads too), and they ind themselves on a summer adventure that neither of them could have predicted. Now that they can’t imagine life without each other, will the two girls (who sometimes call themselves Night Owl and Dogfish) figure out a way to be a family? To Night Owl From Dogfish, Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer (Realistic Fiction)
Wings of Fire, The Dragon Prophecy, Tui T. Sutherland (Fantasy)
Wings of Fire, The Dragon Prophecy, Tui T. Sutherland (Fantasy)
Rocket Boys, Homer Hickam (Memoir)
Rocket Boys, Homer Hickam (Memoir)