Contemporary Reads

Feel Good Books:

Thwonk by Joan Bauer FIC BAU

A cupid doll comes to life and offers romantic assistance to A.J., a teenage photographer suffering from unrequited love.

Teen Idol by Meg Cabot FIC CAB

When teenage heartthrob Luke Stryker shows up at a small-town Indiana high school to do research for a movie role, he persuades junior Jenny Greenley to use her considerable talents to try to change things at school for the better.

13 little blue envelopes by Maureen Johnson FIC JOH

When seventeen-year-old Ginny receives a packet of mysterious envelopes from her favorite aunt, she leaves New Jersey to criss-cross Europe on a sort of scavenger hunt that transforms her life.

Girl, 15, charming but insane by Sue Limb FIC LIM

Fifteen-year-old Jess, living with her mum, separated from her father in Cornwall, and with a best friend who seems to do everything perfectly, finds her own assets through humor.

Year of secret assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty FIC MOR

Three female students from Ashbury High write to three male students from rival Brookfield High as part of a pen pal program, leading to romance, humiliation, revenge plots, and war between the schools.

Diary Queen by Catherine Murdock FIC MUR

After spending her summer running the family farm and training the quarterback for her school's rival football team, sixteen-year-old D.J. decides to go out for the sport herself, not anticipating the reactions of those around her.

One piece, vol 1 by Eiichiro Oda GN ODA

When Monkey D. Luffy accidentally gains the power to stretch like rubber at the cost of never being able to swim again, he and his crew of pirate wannabes set off in search of the "One Piece," the greatest treasure in the world.

Angus, thongs and full frontal snogging by Louise Rennison FIC REN

Presents the humorous journal of a year in the life of a fourteen-year-old British girl who tries to reduce the size of her nose, stop her mad cat from terrorizing the neighborhood animals, and win the love of handsome hunk Robbie.

Flavor of the week by Tucker Shaw FIC SHA

Cyril, an overweight boy who is good friends with Rose but wishes he could be more, helps his best friend Nick woo her with culinary masterpieces which Cyril himself secretly creates. Includes recipes from the story.

Fruits basket, Vol. 1 by Natsuki Takaya GN TAK

Tohru Honda is an orphaned teenager who comes to live with the Sohma family in exchange for housekeeping duties, but she soon comes to know the family secret.

Books about Friendship:

Firegirl by Tony Abbott FIC ABB

A middle school boy's life is changed when Jessica, a girl disfigured by burns, starts attending his Catholic school while receiving treatment at a local hospital.

Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson FIC AND

Eighteen-year-old Ash wants nothing to do with senior prom, but when disaster strikes and her desperate friend, Nat, needs her help to get it back on track, Ash's involvement transforms her life.

The sisterhood of the traveling pants by Ann Brashares FIC BRA

Four best girlfriends spend the biggest summer of their lives enchanted by a magical pair of pants.

The sledding hill by Chris Crutcher FIC CRU

Billy, recently deceased, keeps an eye on his best friend, fourteen-year-old Eddie, who has added to his home and school problems by becoming mute, and helps him stand up to a conservative minister and English teacher who is orchestrating a censorship challenge.

Amandine by Adele Griffin FIC GRI

Her first week at a new school, shy, plain Delia befriends Amandine, not anticipating the dangerous turns their friendship would take.

Far North by Will Hobbs FIC HOB

After the destruction of their floatplane, two teenage boys, a Texan and a Dene, struggle for survival in the wilderness along the South Nahanni River.

Impulse by Ellen Hopkins FIC HOP

Three teens who meet at Reno, Nevada's Aspen Springs mental hospital after each has attempted suicide connect with each other in a way they never have with their parents or anyone else in their lives.

Silent to the bone by E.L. Konigsburg FIC KON

When he is wrongly accused of gravely injuring his baby half-sister, thirteen-year-old Branwell loses his power of speech and only his friend Connor is able to reach him and uncover the truth about what really happened.

Big mouth & ugly girl by Joyce Carol Oates FIC OAT

When sixteen-year-old Matt is falsely accused of threatening to blow up his high school and his friends turn against him, an unlikely classmate comes to his aid.

Freak the mighty by W.R. Philbrick FIC PHI

At the beginning of eighth grade, learning disabled Max and his new friend Freak, whose birth defect has affected his body but not his brilliant mind, find that when they combine forces they make a powerful team.

King dork by Frank Portman FIC POR

High school loser Tom Henderson discovers that "The Catcher in the Rye" may hold the clues to the many mysteries in his life.

Notes from the midnight driver FIC SON

by Jordan Sonnenblick

After being assigned to perform community service at a nursing home, sixteen-year-old Alex befriends a cantankerous old man who has some lessons to impart about jazz guitar playing, love, and forgiveness.

Wrestling Sturbridge by Rich Wallace FIC WAL

Stuck in small town Sturbridge, Pennsylvania, where no one ever leaves, and relegated by his wrestling coach to sit on the bench while his best friend Al becomes state champion, Ben decides he can't let his last high school wrestling season slip by without challenging his friend and the future.

True believer by Virginia Euwer Wolff FIC WOL

Living in the inner city amidst guns and poverty, fifteen-year-old LaVaughn learns from old and new friends, and inspiring mentors, that life is what you make it--an occasion to rise to.

Emako Blue by Brenda Woods FIC WOO

Monterey, Savannah, Jamal, and Eddie have never had much to do with each other until Emako Blue shows up at chorus practice, but just as the lives of the five Los Angeles high school students become intertwined, tragedy tears them apart.

Fantasy Bibliography

Fantasy Classics

Watership Down by Richard Adams FIC ADA

Summary: In a constant struggle against oppression, a group of rabbits search for peaceful co-existence.

Over sea under stone by Susan Cooper FIC COO

Summary: Three children on a holiday in Cornwall find an ancient manuscript which sends them on a dangerous quest for a grail that would reveal the true story of King Arthur.

The princess bride by William Goldman FIC GOL

A writer's view on life and art are revealed during his attempts to edit the children's classic that shaped his literary ambitions

A wizard of earthsea by Ursula La Guin FIC GUI

During a spell recalling the dead, the boy Sparrowhawk, a sorcerer's apprentice, unwittingly unleashes evil on the land. He grows to manhood while attempting to subdue the evil he unleashed on the world.

Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey FIC MCC

Forbidden by her father to indulge in music in any way, a girl on the planet Pern runs away, taking shelter with the planet's fire lizards that, along with her music, open a new life for her.

The hero and the crown by Robin McKinley FIC MCK

Aerin, with the guidance of the wizard Luthe and the help of the blue sword, wins the birthright due her as the daughter of the Damarian king and a witchwoman of the mysterious, demon-haunted North.

Sabriel by Garth Nix FIC NIX

Sabriel, daughter of the necromancer Abhorsen, must journey into the mysterious and magical Old Kingdom to rescue her father from the Land of the Dead.

The golden compass by Philip Pullman FIC PUL

Accompanied by her shape-shifting daemon, Lyra Belacqua sets out to prevent her best friend and other kidnapped children from becoming the subject of gruesome experiments in the Far North.

The hobbit by J.R. Tolkien FIC TOL

Bilbo Baggins, a respectable, well-to-do hobbit, lives comfortably in his hobbit-hole until the day the wandering wizard Gandalf chooses him to take part in an adventure from which he may never return

Humorous Fantasy

Swords for hire by Will Allen FIC ALL

In the ancient kingdom of Parmall, sixteen-year-old Sam Hatcher and an eccentric Royal Guard set out on a mission to rescue the rightful king who has been imprisoned in a faraway dungeon by his evil brother.

Once upon a marigold by Jean Ferris FIC FER

A young man with a mysterious past and a penchant for inventing things leaves the troll who raised him, meets an unhappy princess he has loved from afar, and discovers a plot against her and her father.

Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix FIC HAD

In this continuation of the Cinderella story, fifteen-year-old Ella finds that accepting Prince Charming's proposal ensnares her in a suffocating tangle of palace rules and royal etiquette, so she plots to escape.

Goose chase by Patrice Kindl FIC KIN

Rather than marry a cruel king or a seemingly dim-witted prince, an enchanted goose girl endures imprisonment, capture by several ogresses, and other dangers, before learning exactly who she is.

Wizards of the game by David Lubar FIC LUB

Eighth grader Mercer, whose passion is the fantasy role-playing game Wizards of the Warrior World, hopes to use a fund raiser to bring a gaming convention to his middle school, but instead he attracts four genuine wizards who are trapped on Earth and want his help in returning to their own world.

Bras and broomsticks by Sarah Mlynowski FIC MLY

Living in New York City with her mother and her younger sister, Miri, fourteen-year-old Rachel tries to persuade Miri, who has recently become a witch, to help her become popular at school and to try to stop their divorced father's wedding.

The wee free men by Terry Pratchett FIC PRA

A young witch-to-be named Tiffany teams up with the Wee Free Men, a clan of six-inch-high blue men, to rescue her baby brother and ward off a sinister invasion from Fairyland.

Dealing with dragons by Patricia Wrede FIC WRE

Bored with traditional palace life, a princess goes off to live with a group of dragons and soon becomes involved with fighting against some disreputable wizards who want to steal away the dragons' kingdom.

Contemporary Fairy Tale Adaptations

The rose and the beast by Francesca Lia Block FIC BLO

Nine fairy tales are turned "inside out"

Kissing the witch by Emma Donoghue FIC DON

A collection of thirteen interconnected stories that give old fairytales an old twist.

Beastly by Alex Flinn FIC FLI

A modern retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" from the point of view of the Beast, a vain Manhattan private school student who is turned into a monster and must find true love before he can return to his human form.

If I have a wicked stepmother by Melissa Kantor FIC KAN

After her father remarries, high school sophomore Lucy Norton is forced to move to Long Island, where her evil new stepmother and annoying stepsisters make her life miserable.

Snow by Tracy Lynn FIC LYN

When her father, the duke, decides to remarry in the hopes of producing an heir to the throne, the young princess must learn to cope with her jealous and evil stepmother, but when the situation becomes dangerous, the princess flees to London.

Bound by Donna Jo Napoli FIC NAP

In a novel based on Chinese Cinderella tales, fourteen-year-old stepchild Xing-Xing endures a life of neglect and servitude, as her stepmother cruelly mutilates her own child's feet so that she alone might marry well.

Witches

In the forests of the night by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes FIC ATW

Risika, a teenage vampire, wanders back in time to the year 1684 when, as a human, she died and was transformed against her will.

So mote it be by Isobel Bird FIC BIR

Kate cast the love spell with results unforeseen. She cannot stop it by herself, but the book of spells tells her of two strangers who can help her - if only she can find them.

Jinx by Meg Cabot FIC CAB

Sixteen-year-old Jean "Jinx" Honeychurch, the descendant of a witch, must leave Iowa to live with relatives in Manhattan after the first spell she casts goes awry, but she will have to improve her skills to stop her cousin from practicing black magic that endangers them and the boy they both like.

Enter three witches by Caroline Cooney FIC COO

When her father betrays the Scottish king and is hung as a traitor, Lady Mary's future is bleak after she loses her only true protector and ends up locked away in the tower by the powerful and deadly Lord and Lady Macbeth.

The last apprentice by Joseph Delany FIC DEL

Young Tom, the seventh son of a seventh son, starts work as an apprentice for the village spook, whose job is to protect ordinary folk from "ghouls, boggarts, and all manner of wicked beasties."

The witch’s boy by Michael Gruber FIC GRU

A grotesque foundling turns against the witch who sacrificed almost everything to raise him when he becomes consumed by the desire for money and revenge against those who have hurt him, but he eventually finds his true heart’s desire.

Raven’s gate by Anthony Horowitz FIC HOR

Sent to live in a foster home in a remote Yorkshire village, Matt, a troubled fourteen-year-old English boy, uncovers an evil plot involving witchcraft and the site of an ancient stone circle.

The Merlin conspiracy by Diana Wynne Jones FIC JON

Roddy and Nick two teenagers with magical powers they are just learning to use find that they must work together to save Roddy’s home world of Blest from destruction by power-hungry wizards.

The hunter’s moon by O.R. Melling FIC MEL

Two teenage cousins, one Irish, the other from the United States, set out to find a magic doorway to the Faraway Country, where humans must bow to the little people.

Blue is for nightmares by Laurie Faria Stolarz FIC STO

Sixteen-year-old hereditary witch Stacey Brown has nightmares of her roommate being murdered and hopes that her magick will be enough to protect Drea—unlike the last person whose death Stacey dreamed.

Book of shadows by Cate Tiernan FIC TIE

Life is uneventful for sixteen-year-old Morgan Rowlands in her upstate New York town until her best friend Bree drags her to a Wiccan circle led by newcomer Cal Blaire, and Morgan begins to experience things she never had before.

Mystery Bibliography

Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett. FIC BAL

When seemingly unrelated and strange events start to happen and a precious Vermeer painting disappears, eleven-year-olds Petra and Calder combine their talents to solve an international art scandal.

Lucas by Kevin Brooks FIC BRO

On an isolated English island, fifteen-year-old Caitlin McCann makes the painful journey from adolescence to adulthood through her experiences with a mysterious boy, whose presence has an unsettling effect on the island's inhabitants.

Road of the Dead by Kevin Brooks FIC BRO

Two brothers, sons of an incarcerated gypsy, leave London and travel to an isolated and desolate village, in search of the brutal killer of their sister.

The wish list by Eoin Colfer FIC COL

Forced out of her home by her stepfather after her mother's death, Meg Finn becomes a wanderer, until an attempted robbery goes wrong, leaving Meg's spirit in limbo, where she becomes involved in a battle between good and evil.

Tenderness by Robert Cormier FIC COR

A psychological thriller told from the points of view of a teenage serial killer and the runaway girl who falls in love with him.

Tightrope by Gillian Cross FIC CRO

When she begins receiving bizarre threatening messages from someone who seems to know her every move, fourteen-year-old Ashley, after seeking help from the neighborhood tough guy, comes to realize that she alone can end the stalker's reign of terror.

I know what you did last summer by Lois Duncan FIC DUN

Four teenagers who have desperately tried to conceal their responsibility for a hit-and-run accident are pursued by a mystery person seeking revenge.

Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan FIC DUN

A teenager casually suggests playing a cruel trick on the English teacher, but did he intend it to end with murder?

The Christopher Killer by Alane Ferguson FIC FER

On the payroll as an assistant to her coroner father, seventeen-year-old Cameryn Mahoney uses her knowledge of forensic medicine to catch the killer of a friend while putting herself in terrible danger.

As Simple as Snow by Gregory Galloway FIC GAL

In awe of high school girl Anna Cayne and her penchant for affectionate magic tricks and riddles, a man is baffled by her mysterious disappearance just before Valentine's Day and retraces the time they spent together for clues to her fate.

Dead Girls don’t write letters by Gail Giles FIC GIL

Fourteen-year-old Sunny is stunned when a total stranger shows up at her house posing as her older sister Jazz, who supposedly died out of town in a fire months earlier.

Nathan’s run by John Gilstrap FIC GIL

Twelve-year-old Nathan Bailey, an escapee from a juvenile detention center who has been accused of killing a guard, becomes the center of a national dialogue on violent youth crime, the object of a nationwide manhunt, and the target of a professional killer

Escape from Memory by Margaret Peterson Haddix FIC HAD

Allowing herself to be hypnotized, fifteen-year-old Kira reveals memories of another time and place that may eventually cost her and her mother their lives.

Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz FIC HOR

After the death of the uncle who had been his guardian, fourteen-year-old Alex Rider is coerced to continue his uncle's dangerous work for Britain's intelligence agency, MI6.

Acceleration by Graham McNamee FIC McN

Stuck working in the Lost and Found of the Toronto Transit Authority for the summer, seventeen-year-old Duncan finds the diary of a serial killer and sets out to stop him.

Kiki Strike by Kirsten Miller FIC MIL

Life becomes more interesting for Ananka Fishbein when, at the age of twelve, she discovers an underground room in the park across from her New York City apartment and meets a mysterious girl called Kiki Strike who claims that she, too, wants to explore the subterranean world.

Jude by Kate Morgenroth FIC MOR

Still reeling from his drug-dealing father's murder, moving in with the wealthy mother he never knew, and transferring to a private school, fifteen-year-old Jude is tricked into pleading guilty to a crime he did not commit.

Full tilt by Neal Shusterman FIC SHU

When sixteen-year-old Blake goes to a mysterious, by-invitation-only carnival he somehow knows that it could save his comatose brother, but soon learns that much more is at stake if he fails to meet the challenge presented there by the beautiful Cassandra.

The boy who couldn’t die by William Sleator FIC SLE

When his best friend dies in a plane crash, sixteen-year-old Ken has a ritual performed that will make him invulnerable, but soon learns that he had good reason to be suspicious of the woman he paid to lock his soul away.

Inside out by Terry Trueman FIC TRU

A sixteen-year-old with schizophrenia is caught up in the events surrounding an attempted robbery by two other teens that eventually hold him hostage.

The Killer’s cousin by Nancy Werlin FIC WER

After being acquitted of murder, seventeen-year-old David goes to stay with relatives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he finds himself forced to face his past as he learns more about his strange young cousin Lily.

So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld FIC WES

Hunter Braque, a New York City teenager who is paid by corporations to spot what is "cool," combines his analytical skills with girlfriend Jen's creative talents to find a missing person and thwart a conspiracy directed at the heart of consumer culture.

Middle School Must Reads

Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling FIC ROW

Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer FIC MEY

When seventeen-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington, she meets an exquisitely handsome boy at school for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and who she comes to realize is not wholly human.

The Uglies Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld FIC WES

Uglies, Pretties, Specials

This arc of Scott Westerfeld's UGLIES trilogy follows the high-tech adventures of Tally Youngblood. As an ugly, then a pretty, and finally a special, Tally works to take down a society created to function with perfect-looking people who never have a chance to think for themselves.

Extras by Scott Westerfeld FIC WES

After rebel Tally Youngblood brings down the uglies/pretties/specials regime, fame, instead of beauty, becomes the new world order, and fifteen-year-old Aya Fuse embarks on a dangerous plan to boost her popularity ranking

The Giver by Lois Lowry FIC LOW

Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives.

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry FIC LOW

Lame and suddenly orphaned, Kira is mysteriously removed from her squalid village to live in the palatial Council Edifice, where she is expected to use her gifts as a weaver to do the bidding of the all-powerful Guardians.

The Messenger by Lois Lowry FIC LOW

In this novel that unites characters from "The Giver" and "Gathering Blue," Matty, a young member of a utopian community that values honesty, conceals an emerging healing power that he cannot explain or understand

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton FIC HIN

Three brothers struggle to stay together after their parents' death, as they search for an identity among the conflicting values of their adolescent society in which they find themselves "outsiders.”

The Penderwicks: A summer tale of four sisters FIC BIR

by Jeanne Birdsall

While vacationing with their widowed father in the Berkshire Mountains, four lovable sisters, ages four through twelve, share adventures with a local boy, much to the dismay of his snobbish mother.

The Penderwicks on Gardam St FIC BIR

by Jeanne Birdsall

The four Penderwick sisters are faced with the unimaginable prospect of their widowed father dating, and they hatch a plot to stop him.

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery FIC MON

Anne, a mischievous, red-haired, eleven-year-old orphan, is sent by mistake to live with a lonely, middle-aged brother and sister on a Prince Edward Island farm and proceeds to make an indelible impression on everyone around her.

The book of lost things by John Connolly FIC CON

Taking refuge in fairy tales after the loss of his mother, twelve-year-old David finds himself violently propelled into an imaginary land in which the boundaries of fantasy and reality are disturbingly melded.

The boy next door by Meg Cabot FIC CAB

Mel is bored with her life, until the elderly woman next door is nearly murdered, and she sets out to find who is responsible by investigating her neighbors, including the handsome, but mysterious, man who has come to dog sit for his comatose aunt.

Holes by Louis Sachar FIC SAC

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.

Diary of a wimpy kid by Jeff Kinney FIC KIN

Greg records his sixth grade experiences in a middle school where he and his best friend, Rowley, undersized weaklings amid boys who need to shave twice daily, hope just to survive, but when Rowley grows more popular, Greg must take drastic measures to save their friendship.

Eragon, Eldest and Brisingr by Christopher Paolini FIC PAO

In Aagaesia, a fifteen-year-old boy of unknown lineage called Eragon finds a mysterious stone that weaves his life into an intricate tapestry of destiny, magic, and power, peopled with dragons, elves, and monsters.

After successfully evading an Urgals ambush, Eragon is adopted into the Ingeitum clan and sent to finish his training so he can further help the Varden in their struggle against the Empire.

The further adventures of Eragon and his dragon Saphira as they continue to aid the Varden in the struggle against the evil king, Galbatorix.

What the Dickens: the story of a rogue tooth fairy FIC MAG

by Gregory Maguire
As a terrible storm rages, ten-year-old Dinah and her brother and sister listen to their cousin Gage's tale of a newly-hatched, orphaned, skibberee, or tooth fairy, called What-the-Dickens, who hopes to find a home among the skibbereen tribe, if only he can stay out of trouble

What my mother doesn’t know by Sonya Sones FIC SON

A series of poems reflect the thoughts and feelings of Sophie, a fifteen-year-old-girl, as she describes her relationships with a series of boys and as she searches for Mr. Right.

Watership Down by Richard Adams FIC ADA

In a constant struggle against oppression, a group of rabbits search for peaceful co-existence. Chronicles the adventures of a group of rabbits searching for a safe place to establish a new warren where they can live in peace.

Island of the blue dolphins by Scott O’Dell FIC ODE

Left alone on a beautiful but isolated island off the coast of California, a young Indian girl spends eighteen years, not only merely surviving through her enormous courage and self-reliance, but also finding a measure of happiness in her solitary life.

Jacob I have loved by Katherine Patterson FIC PAT

Feeling deprived all her life of schooling, friends, mother, and even her name by her twin sister, Louise finally begins to find her identity.

Time trilogy by Madeleine L’Engle FIC LEN

A Wrinkle in time,

Meg and Charles Wallace set out with their friend Calvin in a search for their father. His top secret job as a physicist for the government has taken him away and the children search through time and space to find him.

Swiftly Tilting planet,

The youngest of the Murry children must travel through time and space in a battle against an evil dictator who would destroy the entire universe.

Many Waters

The fifteen-year-old Murry twins, Sandy and Dennys, are accidentally sent back to a strange Biblical time period, in which mythical beasts roam the desert and a man named Noah is building a boat in preparation for a great flood.

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech FIC CRE

After her mother leaves home suddenly, thirteen-year-old Sal and her grandparents take a car trip retracing her mother's route. Along the way, Sal recounts the story of her friend Phoebe, whose mother also left.

Dicey’s song by Cynthia Voigt FIC VOI

Now that the four abandoned Tillerman children are settled in with their grandmother, Dicey must decide what she wants for her siblings and herself.

Julie of the wolves by Jean Craighead George FIC GEO

While running away from home and an unwanted marriage, a thirteen-year-old Eskimo girl becomes lost on the North Slope of Alaska and is befriended by a wolf pack.

Hunger games by Suzanne Collins FIC COL

In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss's skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister's place.

Number the stars by Lois Lowry FIC LOW

In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis.

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli FIC SPI

In this story about the perils of popularity, the courage of nonconformity, and the thrill of first love, an eccentric student named Stargirl changes Mica High School forever.

Diary of a wimpy kid: the last straw by Jeff Kinney FIC KIN
Middle-schooler Greg Heffley nimbly sidesteps his father's attempts to change Greg's wimpy ways until his father threatens to send him to military school.

Sold by Patricia McCormick FIC MCC

Thirteen-year-old Lakshmi leaves her poor mountain home in Nepal thinking that she is to work in the city as a maid only to find that she has been sold into the sex slave trade in India and that there is no hope of escape.

Sisterhood of the traveling pants

Second summer by Ann Brashares FIC BRA

When teenager Carmen and her three friends discover that a pair of worn jeans from a thrift shop provides an uncanny fit for all four of them, they decide to form a sisterhood, with the pants as the symbolic bond of friendship among them, and embark on a sweet-sixteen summer.