My Basmati Bat Mitzvah

By Paula J. Freedman

Tara Feinstein has always been able to balance her mother's East Indian traditions and her father's Jewish ones, but with her bat mitzvah approaching she may have to make some choices. On top of all that, she's contending with some delicate situations with friends and a possible boyfriend.

Counting By 7s

By Holly Goldberg Sloan

Willow Chance is a brilliant 12-year-old, obsessed with nature, diagnosing medical conditions, and counting by 7s. What she's not good at is connecting with people, but that's what she'll have to do when her parents are killed in a car accident and she finds herself living with an unusual family.

Three Times Lucky

By Sheila Turnage

Mo LoBeau washed ashore as a baby in tiny Tupelo Landing, North Carolina, and was taken in by The Colonel and Miss Lana, who run a cafe. Mo is determined to track down her birth family but she gets distracted from that task and turns detective when her best friend is accused of murder and the Colonel mysteriously disappears.

Navigating Early

By Clare Vanderpool

At the end of World War II, Jack Baker is suddenly sent after his mother's death from the plains of Kansas to a boys' boarding school in Maine. There, Jack encounters Early Auden, the strangest of boys, who reads the number pi as a story and collects clippings about the sightings of a great black bear in the nearby mountains.

Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different

By Karen Blumenthal

Steve Jobs changed the direction of personal computing for our generation. A complex man, he was given up for adoption at birth and dropped out of college after one semester, but at the age of 20, created Apple in his parents' garage with Steve Wozniack. From then until his death in 2011, he encountered many failures along with successes. What made him keep going? Adapted for a YA audience.

The Reluctant Assassin

By Eoin Colfer

In Victorian London, Albert Garrick, an assassin-for-hire, and his reluctant young helper, Riley, are transported by a time travel wormhole to modern London. Riley teams up with a young FBI agent, Chevie, to stop Garrick from returning to his own time with scientific knowledge of the future that could change the world forever. Book #1 in WARP series.

Grayson

By Lynne Cox

While training for a long-distance swim off the coast of California, Lynne encounters a baby gray whale that has become separated from its mother. It's up to Lynne to help reunite the calf and its mother, despite her growing exhaustion. A true story of suspense, courage, grit, and inspiration.

Blindsided

By Patricia Cummings

Natalie is going blind. Her eyesight's been failing for years but now her parents have sent her against her will to a school for the blind, where she confronts the problems that lie ahead but also learns the skills that will help her survive in the sighted world.

Foul Trouble

By John Feinstein

College recruiters are clamoring to sign up Terrell Jamerson, the #1 high school basketball player in the country. Not all of these recruiters are straight shooters; Terrell will have to think fast and act carefully if he wants to stay in the game -- and stay true to himself. Lots of good basketball action!

90 Miles to Havana

By Enrique Flores-Galbis

Julian and his two brothers are sent by their parents to Miami, as part of the "Pedro Pan" operation, from the dangerous streets of Havana, Cuba, where violence and revolution threaten everyday life. But when the boys get to Florida, they are thrown into a world where bullies seem to run rampant and it's not always clear how best to protect themselves without their parents there to help.

My Life in Pink & Green

By Lisa Greenwald

Lucy is good at solving problems, doing makeup, and helping the environment. When her family's drugstore is failing, she comes up with a plan that combines all those things. It just might work if Lucy can get the grownups in her life to stop and listen to her and put the plan into action. Book 1 in series.

Safekeeping

By Karen Hesse

The president has been assassinated and the U.S. is under military rule. Radley rushes home from overseas, but her parents aren't at the airport to meet her. Her cell phone is dead, she has no money and no travel permits. Without any other choices, she begins a journey on foot through the woods of New England to her Vermont home. Who or what will be waiting for her?

Nine Days

By Fred Hiatt

10th graders Ethan and Ti-Anna fly from Washington, D.C. to Hong Kong in search of her father, a Chinese democracy activist who has disappeared. They are quickly drawn into dangerous situations as they follow his trail to Vietnam and back, uncovering illegal activity, and a chance to save many lives. Based on a true story.

The Art of Secrets

By James Klise

Some quirky art donated to a school fundraising effort to help a family who've been victims of a possible hate crime is revealed to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars -- and then it disappears! A mystery unfolds as students, teachers all begin to question each other's motivations

Like No Other

By Una LaMarche

Devorah and Jax meet when a power failure traps them in an elevator in Brooklyn. Devorah's strict religous family would never approve of her even speaking to Jax, let alone becoming involved with him. In this modern-day Romeo and Juliet tale, the two arrange secret meetings and risk everything to be together.

March: Book One

By John Lewis

John Lewis grew up as a sharecropper, but inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr., became one of the foremost leaders of the Civil Rights Movement and eventually a U.S. Congressman. This is his first-hand account of his struggle for civil and human rights, told in a graphic novel format. First of a trilogy.

The Rock and the River

By Kekla Magoon

14-year-old Sam is caught in a conflict between his father, who advocates a nonviolent approach to seeking civil rights for African Americans, and his older brother, who has joined the more extreme Black Panther Party. Sam and his friends experience first hand the impact of racism on their community and the police in the explosive environment of 1968 Chicago.

Yaqui Delgado Wants To Kick Your Ass

By Meg Medina

Piddy Sanchez has just moved to a new neighborhood and a new school in Queens, New York. Almost immediately, she's told that Yaqui Delgado, a girl she doesn't even know, hates her and wants to "kick her ass." Piddy tries to ignore Yaqui and her gang, but as the harassment escalates, she has to confront the issue.

Pura Belpre Award Winner

The False Prince

By Jennifer Nielsen

Civil war is brewing in the country of Carthya. A devious nobleman comes up with a plan to unify the country around the king's long-missing son. He thrusts four orphans to into a brutal competition: the winner will have to pretend to be the prince. Danger looms for both the winner and the losers. Book 1 in a trilogy.

Steelheart

By Brandon Sanderson

Ten years ago, the great Calamity turned some ordinary people into Epics, super-hero like beings with extraordinary powers. They rule the earth now with cruelty and no one can fight them -- except the Reckoners. David's father was killed by an Epic and how he wants to join the Reckoners to end their tyranny. Book 1 in The Reckoners series.

Okay For Now

By Gary D. Schmidt

14-year-old Doug has just moved from New York city to a small town upstate. His oldest brother's serving in Vietnam, his other brother makes his life miserable, and his dad is either at work or making life miserable at home. He fights against the perception he's just a "skinny thug," finding refuge with some unlikely friends and by saving an old book of valuable illustrations.

Outcasts United: The Story of a Refugee Soccer Team That Changed a Town

By Warren St. John

A soccer coach in small-town Georgia unites newly arrived refugees from around the world on a soccer team that succeeds despite the odds. She helps the players overcome their own challenges and traumas, as well as the negative attitudes of some locals, to unite as a team on the soccer field. YA adaptation of an adult bestseller.

The Screaming Staircase

By Jonathan Stroud

London is overrun with unfriendly ghosts and supernatural beings. 15-year-old Lucy teams up with two boys at the Lockwood & Co. Psychic Detection Agency, hiring themselves out for a series of dangerous and frightening jobs to help rid the city of these ghouls. Book 1 in the Lockwood & Co. series.

Popular: How a Geek in Pearls Discovered the Secret to Confidence

By Maya VanWagenen

Maya Van Wagenen is the new girl in town and already at the bottom of the social ladder. She makes a bold decision to follow the directions of a 1950s popularity guide and records her experiences in a diary, which she then turned into this book. A true story that's already been sold for movie rights.