Teen

Past "Battle" Titles

These books were used in the "Battle of the Books" middle school reading competitions from 1997-2012. 
The year listed after the book synopsis is the year that it was a Battle Title
(not the year of publication).  
       
Cover Title Author Description
Book cover of Abduction Abduction  Kehret, Peg  Thirteen-year-old Bonnie has a feeling of foreboding on the very day that her six-year-old brother Matt and their dog Pookie are abducted by Matt’s biological father, Denny. (2011)
 Book cover of Abracadabra Kid  Abracadabra Kid  Fleischman, Sid  The autobiography of the Newbery award-winning children's author who set out from childhood to be a magician. (2000)
 Book cover of Absolutely Normal Chaos  Absolutely Normal Chaos  Sharon Creech  Thirteen-year-old Mary Lou grows up considerably during the summer while learning about romance, homesickness, death, and her cousin's search for his biological father. (2001)
The alchemyst : the secrets of the immortal Nicholas Flamel   The Alchemyst: the Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel Scott, Michael While working at pleasant but mundane summer jobs in San Francisco, fifteen-year-old twins, Sophie and Josh, suddenly find themselves caught up in the deadly, centuries-old struggle between rival alchemists, Nicholas Flamel and John Dee, over the possession of an ancient and powerful book holding the secret formulas for alchemy and everlasting life. (2012)
Book cover of Al Capone Does My Shirts Al Capone Does My Shirts Gennifer Choldenko A twelve-year-old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 where his father is a guard and electrician, and has to contend with his extraordinary new environment in addition to life with his autistic sister, Natalie. Natalie is friends with Teresa Mattaman. (2007)
Book cover of Al Capone Shines My Shoes Al Capone Shines My Shoes Gennifer Choldenko When twelve-year-old Moose Flanagan finds a note in one of his freshly laundered pillowcases, he knows exactly who it's from: Al Capone. Piper is the Warden’s daughter, Jimmy keeps barrels of flies under the docks. (2011)
Book cover of All American Girl All American Girl Meg Cabot A sophomore girl stops a presidential assassination attempt, is appointed Teen Ambassador to the United Nations, and catches the eye of the very cute First Son. (2005)
Book cover of Amazon Papers Amazon Papers Beverly Keller Fifteen-year-old Iris gets into hilarious trouble when her mother goes on vacation and leaves her alone. (1998)
Book cover of Among the Hidden Among the Hidden  Margaret Peterson Haddix In a future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on his family's farm, until another "third" convinces him that the government is wrong. (2000)
Book Cover of Among the Imposters Among the Imposters  Margaret Peterson Haddix In a future where the law limits a family to only two children, third-born Luke has been in hiding for the entire twelve years of his life, until he enters boarding school under an assumed name and is forced to face his fears. (2003)
Book cover of Armageddon Summer Armageddon Summer Jane Yolen Fourteen-year-old Marina and sixteen-year-old Jed accompany their parents' religious cult, the Believers, to await the end of the world atop a remote mountain, where they try to decide what they themselves believe. (2000)
Book cover of Athletic Shorts  Athletic Shorts Chris Crutcher A collection of short stories featuring characters from earlier books by Chris Crutcher. Titles include: Brief moment in the life of Angus Bethune – Pin – Other Pin – Goin’ Fishin’ – Telephone Man – In the time I get. (1997)
Book cover of Art of Keeping Cool  Art of Keeping Cool Janet Taylor Lisle In 1942, Robert and his cousin Elliot uncover long-hidden family secrets while staying in their grandparents' Rhode Island town, where they also become involved with a German artist who is suspected of being a spy. (2003)
Book cover of Artemis Fowl  Artemis Fowl  Eoin Colfer When a twelve-year-old evil genius tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold, the fairies fight back with magic, technology, and a particularly nasty troll. (2005)
Book cover of The Ballad of Lucy Whipple  Ballad of Lucy Whipple  Karen Cushman In 1849, twelve-year-old California Morning Whipple, who renames herself Lucy, is distraught when her mother moves the family from Massachusetts to a rough California mining town. (2001)
Bearstone  Bearstone  Will Hobbs  A troubled Indian boy goes to live with an elderly rancher whose caring ways help the boy become a man. (1997)
 Book cover of Beastly  Beastly  Alex Flinn  is turned into a monster and must find true love before he can return to his human form. (2009)
 Book cover of Belle Prater's Boy  Belle Prater's Boy  Ruth White  When Woodrow's mother suddenly disappears, he moves to his grandparents' home in a small Virginia town where he befriends his cousin and together they find the strength to face the terrible losses and fears in their lives. (1999)
 Book cover of Best Foot Forward  Best Foot Forward  Joan Bauer  Between school and Al-Anon meetings, Jenna helps Mrs. Gladstone cope with escalating problems that result from the merger of Gladstone Shoes with Shoe Warehouse Corporation, while managing a new employee with a shoplifting record. (2007, 2008)
The Black Book of Secrets  The Black Book of Secrets  Higgins, F.E. When Ludlow Fitch runs away from his thieving parents in the City, he meets up with the mysterious Joe Zabbidou, who calls himself a secret pawnbroker, and who takes Ludlow as an apprentice to record the confessions of the townspeople of Pagus Parvus, where resentments are many and trust is scarce. (2012)
Boggart  Boggart  Susan Cooper  After visiting the castle in Scotland which her family has inherited and returning home to Canada, twelve-year-old Emily finds that she has accidentally brought back with her a boggart, an invisible and mischievous spirit with a fondness for practical jokes. (1998)
Book cover of The Boy Who Saved Baseball Boy Who Saved Baseball  John H. Ritter The fate of a small California town rests on the outcome of one baseball game, and Tom Gallagher hopes to lead his team to victory with the secrets of the now disgraced player, Dante Del Gato. (2006)
Book cover of Brian's Winter Brian's Winter Gary Paulsen Instead of being rescued from a plane crash, as in the author's book Hatchet, this story portrays what would have happened to Brian had he been forced to survive a winter in the wilderness with only his survival pack and hatchet. (1999)
Book cover of Bud Not Buddy Bud, Not Buddy  Christopher Paul Curtis Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father--the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids. (2002)
Book cover of Catherine Called Birdy Catherine, Called Birdy  Karen Cushman The thirteen-year-old daughter of an English country knight keeps a journal in which she records the events of her life, particularly her longing for adventures beyond the usual role of women and her efforts to avoid being married off. (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000)
Book cover of Chasing Vermeer Chasing Vermeer Blue Balliett 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. (2007)
Book cover of The Chocolate War Chocolate War  Robert Cormier A high-school freshman who refuses to participate in the annual fund-raising chocolate sale is forced to defend his convictions. (1997)
The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Eighth Grade Bites  The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Eighth Grade Bites  Brewer, Heather  For thirteen years, Vlad, aided by his aunt and best friend, has kept secret that he is half-vampire, but when his missing teacher is replaced by a sinister substitute, he learns that there is more to being a vampire, and to his parents' deaths, than he could have guessed. (2012)
Book cover of City of Ember City of Ember Jeanne Duprau In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions. (2007)
Close to Famous Close to Famous  Bauer, Joan Twelve-year-old Foster McFee and her mother escape from her mother's abusive boyfriend and end up in the small town of Culpepper, West Virginia, where they use their strengths and challenge themselves to build a new life, with the help of the friends they make there. (2012)
Book cover of Code Orange Code Orange Caroline B. Cooney While conducting research for a school paper on smallpox, Mitty finds an envelope containing 100-year-old smallpox scabs and fears that he has infected himself and all of New York City. (2008)
Book cover of Coraline Coraline  Gaiman, Neil When Coraline steps through the locked door in her family's new flat, she finds a world which caters to her every whim. When she wants to leave, however, things rapidly change and she must fight a battle of good and evil to save herself. Buttons on eyes! (2006)
Cosmic  Cosmic Cottrell Boyce, Frank 12-year old Liam looks like he's thirty. Sometimes it's not bad; for example on the first day of school the principal mistakes Liam for a teacher or when he convinces a car dealer to let him test drive a Porsche. So feeling like he's stuck between two worlds, Liam cons his way into being the adult chaperone on the first space ship to take civilians into space. But when the ship is stuck 230,000 miles from home, being mistaken for an adult is not good. (2012)
Crash  Crash  Jerry Spinelli   Seventh-grader John "Crash" Coogan has always been comfortable with his tough, aggressive behavior, until his relationship with an unusual Quaker boy and his grandfather's stroke make him consider the meaning of friendship and the importance of family. (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001)
 Book cover of Crispin: The Cross of Lead  Crispin: the Cross of Lead   Avi  Falsely accused of theft and murder, an orphaned peasant boy in fourteenth-century England flees his village and meets a larger-than-life juggler who holds a dangerous secret. (2005)
 Book cover of The Danger Zone  Danger Zone   David Klass  When he joins a predominantly black "Teen Dream Team" that will be representing the United States in an international basketball tournament in Rome, Jimmy Doyle makes some unexpected discoveries about prejudice, racism, and politics. (2005)
 David and Della  David and Della  Paul Zindel  David Mahooley, a teenage playwrght suffering from writer's block, finds himself drawn into the passsionate world of a flamboyant, alcoholic young actress with a talent for lying. (1997)
 Book cover of Dealing with Dragons  Dealing with Dragons  Patricia Wrede  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. (1997, 1998)
Book cover of Dogsong Dogsong Gary Paulsen A fourteen-year-old Eskimo boy who feels assailed by the modernity of his life takes a 1400-mile journey by dog sled across ice, tundra, and mountains seeking his own "song" of himself. (1997)
Book cover of Don't Scream Don't Scream Joan Lowery Nixon When two new guys come to her school, Jess thinks things are really looking up, but she doesn't know their real identities or if she can trust them. (2001)
Down a Dark Hall  Down a Dark Hall  Duncan, Lois  Suspicious and uneasy about the atmosphere at her new boarding school, fourteen-year-old Kit slowly realizes why she and the other three students at the school were selected. (2004)
 Book Cover of Downsiders  Downsiders  Neal Shusterman  When fourteen-year-old Lindsay meets Talon and discovers the Downsiders world which had evolved from the subway built in New York in 1867 by Alfred Ely Beach, she and her new friend experience the clash of their two cultures. (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
 Book cover of Driver's Ed  Driver's Ed   Caroline B. Cooney  Three teenagers' lives are changed forever when they thoughtlessly steal a stop sign from a dangerous intersection and a young mother is killed in an automobile accident there. (2005)
 Book cover of Ella Enchanted  Ella Enchanted  Gail Carson Levine  In this novel based on the story of Cinderella, Ella struggles against the childhood curse that forces her to obey any order given to her. (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002)
 Book cover of Esperanza Rising  Esperanza Rising  Pam Munoz Ryan  Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave their life of wealth and privilege in Mexico to go work in the labor camps of Southern California, where they must adapt to the harsh circumstances facing Mexican farm workers on the eve of the Great Depression. (2006)
 Book cover of Face on the Milk Carton  Face on the Milk Carton  Caroline Cooney  A photograph of a missing girl on a milk carton leads Janie on a search for her real identity. (1998)
Book cover of Far North Far North Will Hobbs After the destruction of their floatplane, sixteen-year-old Gabe and his Dene friend, Raymond, struggle to survive a winter in the wilderness of the Northwest Territories. (2003)
Book cover of Fever 1793 Fever 1793  Laurie Halse Anderson In 1793 Philadelphia, sixteen-year-old Matilda Cook, separated from her sick mother, learns about perseverance and self-reliance when she is forced to cope with the horrors of a yellow fever epidemic. (2003)
Book cover of Flight 116 is Down Flight #116 is Down Caroline B. Cooney Teenager Heidi Landseth helps rescue people from a plane crash on her family's property, and the experience changes her life forever. (2004)
Book cover of Flush Flush Carl Hiaasen With their father jailed for sinking a river boat, Noah Underwood and his younger sister, Abbey, must gather evidence that the owner of this floating casino is emptying his bilge tanks into the protected waters around their Florida Keys home. (2008)
Book cover of From the Mixed Up Files From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler  E.L. Konigsburg  
Having run away with her younger brother to live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, twelve-year-old Claudia strives to keep things in order in their new home and to become a changed person and a heroine to herself. (2000)
Book cover of Gathering Blue Gathering Blue  Lois Lowry 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. (2003)
Book cover of The Giver Giver Lois Lowry 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. (1999)
Book cover of The Graveyard Book Graveyard Book Neil Gaiman Nobody Owens is a normal boy, except that he has been raised by ghosts and other denizens of the graveyard. (2011)
Book cover of Gregor the Overlander Gregor the Overlander Suzanne Collins When eleven-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister are pulled into a strange underground world, they trigger an epic battle involving men, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders while on a quest foretold by ancient prophecy. Sister is Boots. (2011, 2012)
Book cover of Harris and Me Harris and Me  Gary Paulsen Sent to live with relatives on their farm because of his unhappy home life, an eleven-year-old city boy meets his distant cousin Harris and is given an introduction to a whole new world. (1998)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets  J.K. Rowling  When the Chamber of Secrets is opened again at the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, second-year student Harry Potter finds himself in danger from a dark power that has once more been released on the school. (2001)
 Book cover of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban  J.K. Rowling  During his third year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry Potter must confront the devious and dangerous wizard responsible for his parents' deaths. Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. (2002)
   Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone  J.K. Rowling  Rescued from the outrageous neglect of his aunt and uncle, a young boy with a great destiny proves his worth while attending Hogwarts School for Wizards and Witches. (2000)
 Book cover of Heat  Heat  Mike Lupica  Pitching prodigy Michael Arroyo is on the run from social services after being banned from playing Little League baseball because rival coaches doubt he is only twelve years old and he has no parents to offer them proof. (2008)
Heist Society Heist Society Carter, Ally   A group of teenagers uses their combined talents to re-steal several priceless paintings and save fifteen-year-old Kat Bishop's father, himself an international art thief, from a vengeful collector. (2012)
 Book cover of Hidden Talents  Hidden Talents   David Lubar  When thirteen-year-old Martin arrives at an alternative school for misfits and problem students, he falls in with a group of boys with psychic powers and discovers something surprising about himself. (2008, 2009)
 Book cover of Holes  Holes   Louis Sachar  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. (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004)
Book cover of Homeless Bird Homeless Bird  Gloria Whelen When thirteen-year-old Koly enters into an ill-fated arranged marriage, she must either suffer a destiny dictated by India's tradition or find the courage to oppose it. (2004)
Hoot  Hoot  Carl Hiaasen  Roy, who is new to his small Florida community, becomes involved in another boy's attempt to save a colony of burrowing owls from a proposed construction site. (2005)
 Book cover of Hope Was Here  Hope was Here   Joan Bauer  When sixteen-year-old Hope and the aunt who has raised her move from Brooklyn to Mulhoney, Wisconsin, to work as waitress and cook in the Welcome Stairways diner, they become involved with the diner owner's political campaign to oust the town's corrupt mayor. (2003)
 Book cover for I'd Tell You I Love You  I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have To Kill You  Ally Carter  As a sophomore at a secret spy school and the daughter of a former CIA operative, Cammie is sheltered from "normal teenage life" until she meets a local boy while on a class surveillance mission. (2011)
 Book cover of Island of the Blue Dolphins  Island of the Blue Dolphins  Scott O’Dell  Records the courage and self-reliance of an Indian girl who lived alone for eighteen years on an isolated island off the California coast when her tribe emigrated and she was left behind. (1997)
 Book cover of Joey Pigza  Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key  Jack Gantos  To the constant disappointment of his mother and his teachers, Joey has trouble paying attention or controlling his mood swings when his prescription meds wear off and he starts getting worked up and acting wired. (2002)
 Kingdom Keepers  Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark  Ridley Pearson  Finn Whitman and his fellow DHIs, teenagers chosen to serve as actors for a new technology, investigate strange occurrences at Disney theme park attractions, racing to uncover a supernatural force that could destroy the world. (2010)
 Book cover of Last Shot  Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery  John Feinstein  After winning a basketball reporting contest, eighth graders Stevie and Susan Carol are sent to cover the Final Four tournament, where they discover that a talented player is being blackmailed into throwing the final game. (2009)
The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch DeLaney, Joseph For years, Old Gregory has been the Spook for the county, ridding the local villages of evil. Now his time is coming to an end. But who will take over for him? Twenty-nine apprentices have tried- some floundered, some fled, some failed to stay alive. Only Thomas Ward is left. He's the last hope, the last apprentice. (2012)
 Book cover of The Lightning Thief  The Lightning Thief   Rick Riordan  After learning that he is the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, god of the sea, twelve-year-old Percy is sent to a summer camp for demigods like himself, and joins his new friends on a quest to prevent a war between the gods. (2009, 2010)
 Book cover of Lily's Crossing  Lily's Crossing Patricia Reilly Giff   During a summer spent at Rockaway Beach in 1944, Lily's friendship with a young Hungarian refugee causes her to see the war and her own world differently. (2000)
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe  The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe  C.S. Lewis  Four English schoolchildren find their way through the back of a wardrobe into the magic land of Narnia and assist Aslan, the golden lion, to triumph over the White Witch, who has cursed the land with eternal winter. (2004)
 Book cover of Love Among The Walnuts  Love Among the Walnuts  Jean Ferris  Born and raised in isolation in a wealthy, eccentric family, Sandy is shocked when he, his parents, and their servants become victims of a vicious plot by his greedy uncles to incapacitate them and take their money. (2009)
 Book cover of The Man Who Was Poe  Man Who was Poe  Avi  In Providence, R.I., in 1848, Edgar Allan Poe reluctantly investigates the problems of eleven-year-old Edmund, whose family has mysteriously disappeared and whose story suggests a new Poe tale with a ghastly final twist. (2006)
 Book Cover of Maniac Magee  Maniac Magee  Jerry Spinelli  After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life becomes legendary, as he accomplishes athletic and other feats which awe his contemporaries.(1999)
 Book cover of Marley: A Dog Like No Other  Marley: a Dog Like No Other   John Grogan  Follows the life story of an exuberant Labrador retriever who gets into perpetual trouble and experiences a range of inspiring adventures. (2009)
 Book cover of Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment  Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment  James Patterson  After the mutant Erasers abduct the youngest member of their group, the "bird kids," who are the result of genetic experimentation, take off in pursuit and find themselves struggling to understand their own origins and purpose. (2008)
 Book cover of Found  Missing, Book One: Found  Margaret Peterson Haddix  Thirteen year old best friends Jonah and Chip, who know that they are both adopted, begin receiving threatening notes in the mail and as they investigate they uncover very complicated circumstances surrounding their adoptions. (2010)
 Book cover of No More Dead Dogs  No More Dead Dogs   Gordon Korman  Eighth-grade football hero Wallace Wallace is sentenced to detention attending rehearsals of the school play where, in spite of himself, he becomes wrapped up in the production and begins to suggest changes that improve not only the play but his life as well. (2005, 2006, 2007)
 Book cover of Nothing But the Truth  Nothing but the Truth  Avi  Ninth-grader Philip Malloy's suspension for humming "The Star-Spangled Banner" during homeroom becomes a national news story. (1999)
 Book cover for Once Upon a Marigold  Once Upon a Marigold  Jean Ferris  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. (2006)
 Book cover of Out of the Dust  Out of the Dust  Karen Hesse  In a series of poems, fifteen-year-old Billie Jo relates the hardships of living on her family's wheat farm in Oklahoma during the dust bowl years of the Depression.(1999)
 Book cover of The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place  Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place   E.L. Konigsburg  Upon leaving an oppressive summer camp, twelve-year-old Margaret Rose Kane spearheads a campaign to preserve three unique towers her great-uncles have been building in their backyard for over forty years. (2007)
Book cover of Peak Peak Roland Smith A fourteen-year-old boy attempts to be the youngest person to reach the top of Mount Everest. (2010)
Book cover of Peeled Peeled Joan Bauer In an upstate New York farming community, high school reporter Hildy Biddle investigates a series of strange occurrences at a house rumored to be haunted. (2010)
Book cover of Point Blank Point Blank Anthony Horowitz Fourteen-year-old Alex Rider continues his work as a spy for the British MI6, investigating an exclusive school for boys in the French Alps. (2007)
Book cover of The Ruins of Gorlan Ranger’s Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan  John Flanagan When fifteen-year-old Will is rejected by battleschool, he becomes the reluctant apprentice to the mysterious Ranger Halt, and ends up protecting the kingdom from danger. (2010, 2011)
Book cover of The Ring of Rocamadour Red Blazer Girls: The Ring of Rocamadour  Michael Beil Catholic-schooled seventh-graders Sophie, Margaret, Rebecca, and Leigh Ann help an elderly neighbor solve a puzzle her father left for her estranged daughter twenty years ago. (2011)
Book cover of Ruby Electric Ruby Electric Theresa Nelson Twelve-year-old Ruby Miller, movie buff and aspiring screen writer, tries to resolve the mysteries surrounding her little brother's stuffed woolly mammoth and their father's five year absence.(2007)
Book cover of Rules of the Road Rules of the Road Joan Bauer Sixteen-year-old Jenna gets a job driving the elderly owner of a chain of shoe stores from Chicago to Texas to confront the son who wants her to retire. (2002)
Running Out Of Time  Running Out Of Time  Margaret Peterson Haddix  When a diphtheria epidemic hits her 1840 village, thirteen-year-old Jessie discovers it is actually a 1995 tourist site under unseen observation by heartless scientists, and it's up to Jessie to escape the village and save the lives of the dying children. (2002)
 Book cover of Sammy Keyes and the Curse of Moustache Mary  Sammy Keyes and the Curse of Moustache Mary  Wendelin Van Draanen  While celebrating the New Year with a friend, Sammy encounters a mystery involving an elderly neighbor, a pioneer cabin, and a century-old family feud. (2002)
 Book cover of Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief  Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief   Wendelin Van Draanen  Thirteen-year-old Sammy's penchant for speaking her mind gets her in trouble when she involves herself in the investigation of a robbery at the "seedy" hotel across the street from the seniors' building where she is living with her grandmother. (2004)
 Book cover of Sammy Keyes and the Skeleton Man  Sammy Keyes and the Skeleton Man  Wendelin Van Draanen  On Halloween night, seventh grader Sammy stumbles onto a mystery involving a twenty-year-old family feud and some heirlooms stolen by a man in a skeleton costume. (2005)
 Book cover of Schooled  Schooled  Gordon Korman  After his hippie grandmother ends up in the hospital, Cap Anderson is forced to leave the commune where he is homeschooled and attend Claverage Middle School, where his odd looks and behavior make him the target of bullies. (2010)
 Book cover of The Secret of Platform 13  Secret of Platform 13   Eve Ibbotson  Odge Gribble, a young hag, joins an old wizard, a gentle fey, and a giant ogre on a journey from their magical island kingdom to London through a tunnel which opens every nine years for nine days, to try and rescue the young prince who had been stolen as an infant nine years before. (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005)
 Book cover of Shakespeare's Scribe  Shakespeare’s Scribe  Gary Blackwood  In plague-ridden 1602 England, a fifteen-year-old orphan boy, who has become an apprentice actor, goes on the road with Shakespeare's troupe, and finds out more about his parents along the way. (2002)
 Book cover of The Shakespeare Stealer  The Shakespeare Stealer  Gary Blackwood  A young orphan boy is ordered by his master to infiltrate Shakespeare's acting troupe in order to steal the script of "Hamlet," but he discovers instead the meaning of friendship and loyalty. Sequel to Shakespeare’s Scribe. (2001)
 Book cover of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants  Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants   Ann Brashares  During their first summer apart, four teenage girls, best friends since earliest childhood, stay in touch through a shared pair of secondhand jeans that magically adapts to each of their figures and affects their attitudes to their different summer experiences. (2004)
 Book cover of Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie  Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie  David Lubar  While navigating his first year of high school and awaiting the birth of his new baby brother, Scott loses old friends and gains some unlikely new ones as he hones his skills as a writer. (2011)
 Snake Stone  Snake Stone  Berlie Doherty  While searching for his birthmother, fifteen-year-old James, a championship diver, discovers who his real parents are and where his real home is. (2001)
 Book cover of So B. It  So B. It  Sarah Weeks  After spending her life with her mentally retarded mother and agoraphobic neighbor, twelve-year-old Heidi sets out from Reno, Nevada, to New York to find out who she is. (2006)
 Book cover of So You Want to be a Wizard  So You Want to be a Wizard  Diane Duane  Thirteen-year-old Nita, tormented by a gang of bullies because she will not fight back, finds the help she needs in a library book on wizardry which guides her into another dimension. (2006)
 Book cover of Somewhere in the Darkness  Somewhere in the Darkness  Walter Dean Myers  A teenage boy accompanies his father, who has recently escaped from prison, on a trip that turns out to be an, often painful, time of discovery for them both. (2004)
 Book cover of SOS Titanic  S.O.S. Titanic   Eve Bunting  Fifteen-year-old Barry O'Neill, traveling from Ireland to America on the maiden voyage of the Titanic, finds his life endangered when the ship hits an iceberg and begins to sink. (1997, 1998)
 Book cover of Squashed  Squashed  Joan Bauer  As a sixteen-year-old pursues her two goals--growing the biggest pumpkin in Iowa and losing twenty pounds herself--she strengthens her relationship with her father and meets a young man with interests similar to her own. (2001)
 Book cover of Star Girl  Star Girl  Jerry Spinelli  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. (2003)
 Book cover of Stormbreaker  Stormbreaker  Anthony Horowitz  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. (2006)
 Book cover of The Supernaturalist  Supernaturalis   Eoin Colfer  In futuristic Satellite City, fourteen-year-old Cosmo Hill escapes from his abusive orphanage and teams up with three other people who share his unusual ability to see supernatural creatures, and together they determine the nature and purpose of the swarming blue Parasites that are invisible to most humans. (2006, 2007)
 Sweetgrass  Sweetgrass  Jan Hudson  Living on the western Canadian prairie in the nineteenth century, Sweetgrass, a fifteen-year-old Blackfoot Indian girl, saves her family from a smallpox epidemic and proves her maturity to her father. (1998)
 Book cover of Swallowing Stone  Swallowing Stones  Joyce McDonald  Dual perspectives reveal the aftermath of seventeen-year-old Michael MacKenzie's birthday celebration during which he discharges an antique Winchester rifle and unknowingly kills the father of high school classmate Jenna Ward. (2004
 Sweet Friday Island  Sweet Friday Island  Theodore Taylor  Vacationing on what they think is an uninhabited island, fifteen-year-old Peg and her father find their adventure turned into a fight for survival. (1997)
 Book cover of Tangerine Tangerine   Edward Bloor  Twelve-year-old Paul, who lives in the shadow of his football hero brother Erik, fights for the right to play soccer despite his near blindness and slowly begins to remember the incident that damaged his eyesight. (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003)
 Book cover of Thief  Thief  Megan Whalen Turner  Gen flaunts his ingenuity as a thief and relishes the adventure which takes him to a remote temple of the gods where he will attempt to steal a precious stone. (2001)
Book cover of Things Not Seen Things Not Seen Andrew Clements When fifteen-year-old Bobby wakes up and finds himself invisible, he and his parents and his new blind friend Alicia try to find out what caused his condition and how to reverse it. (2007)
Travel Team  Travel Team  Mike Lupica  After he is cut from his travel basketball team--the very same team that his father once led to national prominence--twelve-year-old Danny Walker forms his own team of cast-offs that might have a shot at victory. (2007)
 Book cover of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle  True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle  Avi  As the only passenger, and the only female, on a transatlantic voyage in 1832, thirteen-year-old Charlotte finds herself caught between a murderous captain and a mutinous crew. (1998)
 Book cover of Tuck Everlasting  Tuck Everlasting   Natalie Babbitt  The Tuck family is confronted with an agonizing situation when they discover that a ten-year-old girl and a malicious stranger now share their secret about a spring whose water prevents one from ever growing any older. (2000)
 Book Cover of Turnabout  Turnabout  Margaret Peterson Haddix  Eighty-five years after participating in a flawed scientific experiment to reverse the aging process, Melly and Anny Beth face the fear of being unable to care for themselves as they continue to grow younger. (2009)
 Book cover of Two Princesses of Bamarre  Two Princesses of Bamarre  Gail Carson Levine  When her sister goes missing, shy Addie knows that she must muster all of her strength to take on a dangerous journey in order to find her, save her life, and save the future of their kingdom of Bamarre.(2008)
 Book cover of View from Saturday  View from Saturday   E.L. Konigsburg  Four students, with their own individual stories, develop a special bond and attract the attention of their teacher, a paraplegic, who chooses them to represent their sixth-grade class in the Academic Bowl competition. (1999)
 Book cover of The Watsons Go to Birmingham  Watsons Go to Birmingham   Christopher Paul Curtis  The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963. (1999)
Book cover of The Wednesday Wars Wednesday Wars Gary Schmidt During the 1967 school year, on Wednesday afternoons when all his classmates go to either Catechism or Hebrew school, seventh-grader Holling Hoodhood stays in Mrs. Baker's classroom where they read the plays of William Shakespeare and Holling learns much of value about the world he lives in. (2010)
Book cover of The Westing Game Westing Game Ellen Raskin The mysterious death of an eccentric millionaire brings together an unlikely assortment of heirs who must uncover the circumstances of his death before they can claim their inheritance. (1998, 1999)
Book cover of When My Name Was Keoko When My Name was Keoko Linda Sue Park With national pride and occasional fear, a brother and sister face the increasingly oppressive occupation of Korea by Japan during World War II, which threatens to suppress Korean culture entirely. (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007)
Book cover of When Zachary Beaver Came to Town When Zachary Beaver Came to Town Kimberly Willis Holt During the summer of 1971 in a small Texas town, thirteen-year-old Toby and his best friend Cal meet the star of a sideshow act, 600-pound Zachary, the fattest boy in the world. (2002)
Book cover of Whirligig Whirligig Paul Fleischman While traveling to each corner of the country to build a whirligig in memory of the girl whose death he caused, sixteen-year-old Brent finds forgiveness and atonement. (2000)
Book cover of The White Giraffe The White Giraffe Lauren St. Jean After a fire kills her parents, eleven-year-old Martine must leave England to live with her grandmother on a wildlife game reserve in South Africa, where she befriends a mythical white giraffe.
Williwaw!  Williwaw!  Tom Bodett  In their father's absence, thirteen-year-old September and her younger brother Ivan disobey his orders by taking the boat out on their Alaska bay, where they are caught in a terrifying storm called a williwaw. (2003)
 Book cover of Wolf Rider  Wolf Rider  Avi  After receiving an apparent crank call from a man claiming to have committed murder, fifteen-year-old Andy finds his close relationship with his father crumbling as he struggles to make everyone believe him. (2008)
 Book cover of A Wrinkle in Time  Wrinkle in Time  Madeleine L'Engle  Meg Murry and her friends become involved with unearthly strangers and a search for Meg's father, who has disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government. (2005)
       
       
       
       
       
       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Meg Murry and her friends become involved with unearthly strangers and a search for Meg's father, who has disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government. (2005)