Clementine: Friend of the Week, Sara Pennypacker (Disney Hyperion, ages 7-9)
The quirky 3rd grader is back in a 4th book with the same wonderful voice and humor as she works to find a missing kitten and make sure that her Friend of the Week book is studded with great reviews of her.
A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park (Clarion, ages mature 10 and up)
Two interwining stories tell of Sudanese children who struggle to survive-Nya who must walk daily to get water for her family and Salva, one of the lost boys of Sudan, whose home is burned, family lost to him, and he must walks to safety through natural dangers and man-made horrors.
Justin Case: School, Drool, and Other Daily Disasters by Rachel Vail (Feiwel, ages 7-9)
Worried 3rd grade Justin keeps a journal mostly composed of his terrors—his fears make for reader’s fun.
Mockingbird (Mok’ing-burd) by Kathryn Erskine (Philomel, ages 9-12). Caitlin’s always struggled to understand because of her Asperger’s, but now that her older brother has been killed in a shooting at his middle school, she searches for some way of interpreting the crazy normal world. Strong voice lends both a certain poetry and strengthened understanding of Caitlin’s way of seeing.
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper (Atheneum, ages 9-12)
Melody’s eleven and she’s never spoken a word. Trapped in her body by cerebral palsy, when she finally gets to communication, she’s got a lot to say…and much to teach children about dealing with a disability.
The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood (Brazer + Bray, ages 10-12)
An intriguing beginning to the new Incorrigible Children series finds a newly graduated governess surprised but determined to teach three charges raised by wolves. Mystery, humor, and the most respectful intrusive narrator you’ll ever met makes this an exciting launch.
Alchemy and Meggy Swan by Karen Cushman (Clarion, ages 9-12)
“Crooked-legged” Meggy is used to the curses of villagers and negligence of her mother, but she does not expect the same from her father, nor the dangerous chaos of Elizabethan England. But Meggy’s wit and grit determine an exciting future. Readers know the plays, ballads, print shops and customs, but most importantly an unforgettable new heroine.
Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Holm (Random House, ages 9-12)
The author captures the era and oddities of 1930’s Key West through the eyes of 11-year-old Turtle who lives up to her nickname. She’s tough on the outside, but has a soft heart that yearns for home and family. Adventures abound for the heroine in a world where the exotic and eccentric are commonplace.
Cosmic, Frank Cottrell Boyce (HarperCollins, ages 9-12)
Liam may not be the only twelve-year-old who’s tall and has premature facial hair, but he’s the first one who wins a Greatest Dad Ever contest and goes rocketing into space. Humor in situation and wordplay is out of this world.
One Crazy Summer, Rita Williams-Garcia (Amistad, ages 9-12)
Eleven-year-old Delphine is the only one of three sisters who remembers Cecile, the mother who deserted them. All three have a chance to meet their eccentric parent when their father sends them to a summer spent in Oakland. They imagine Disneyland and wind up in a Black Panther summer camp. Poetic language, history, humor, and a touch of heartbreak make for a peek at an era never seen in children’s books.
Revolution, Jennifer Donnelly (Delacorte, ages 11 and up)
The poignant stories of two girls who live centuries apart parallel and intersect with graceful plotting and driving emotions. Andi Alpers, on the edge of suicide after the death of her younger brother, finds the journal of Alexandrine Paradis, an actress who wishes to save the doomed Louis-Charles, son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The ending has a strange time twist, but you’ll follow this narrator anywhere!
The Sky is Everywhere, Jandy Nelson (Dial, ages 14 and up)
Lennie’s been sleeping through her life while her sister Bailey shines in center stage and shepherds them both through the sadness of their mother’s having deserted them early in life. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie’s inundated with feelings, boyfriends, and confusions she’s never had before. The book requires a sophisticated reader, more for the author’s poignant images of grief than Lennie’s issues with her burgeoning sexuality. The poetic writings work less well than the narrative, but can’t take away from the story’s power.
Num8ers, Rachel Ward (Scholastic, ages 14 and up)
Part thriller, part science fiction, part love story. 15-year-old Jem’s been in and out of foster homes most of her life…but her greater trouble is that when she looks at people, she sees their death dates. Complex characterizations make this more that the thriller cum science fiction cumlove story.