Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him ? something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.

Horatio Wilkes joins his good friend, Mac, at the Mount Birnam Highland Games, an annual festival of Scottish food, sport, and family. When the founder of the games, Duncan MacRae, is murdered, the clues point to his son, Mal, as the culprit. However, Horatio soon realizes that the case against Mal is weak . . . and the true killer still roams the mountain. A modern murder mystery inspired by Shakespeare?s Macbeth.

Although they were friends as kids, Margo is now at the center of the popular crowd, and Quentin just idolizes her from afar. Then one night, Margo shows up at Quentin?s window and, mysteriously, asks him to help her do ?eleven things,? including five that involve a ?getaway man.? Quentin is still reliving their adventures the next day when he learns that Margo has disappeared. He thinks she must be ?. . . doing Margo stuff. Making stories. Rocking worlds.? But as he follows the trail of clues she left behind, he discovers a far different Margo from the one he thought he knew. Author?s note.

Michael switched schools because he was viciously bullied; now he can't quite believe that he's found such a good friend in Francis. Together, they spend hours creating an imaginary world called Evgard, where a cruel duke oppresses the weak tribes that live in the swamps around his walled city. Michael is adamant that no one find out about Evgard-he is terrified that if anyone does, the bullying will begin again. When Michael receives notes in his locker telling him that the secret is out, he becomes convinced that Francis has betrayed him.

A terror cell has injected a deadly biochemical agent into the water supply of Trinity Falls, New Jersey. The first to die is Cora's mother; next is Mrs. Eberman, mother of Cora's classmate Owen and his brother S cott, on whom Cora has a hopeless crush. To help find the terrorists, U.S. Intelligence brings Shahzad Hamdani, a sixteen-year-old Pakistani computer spy, to the United States. As Cora and Owen begin to suffer the effects of the mysterious poison, Shahzad races to find the terrorists and discover just what they've done to the water.

Frankie Landau-Banks, a sophomore at the prestigious Alabaster Preparatory Academy, thought she had her school's social dynamics figured out. But when she begins dating the gorgeous and witty senior Matthew Livingston and hanging out with his rich, popular friends, Frankie senses there's something that they're not telling her. She soon discovers that they are members of an all-boys secret society. Frankie lets them keep thinking she's just a cute, clueless girl, all the while implementing a plan with a seemingly impossible goal: to take over the Loyal Order of the Basset Hound.

Robin Perry of Harlem, New York, has enlisted and been shipped off to Iraq. There, he and his Civil Affairs unit undertake a series of missions that lead to some baffling interactions with Iraqis. They help arrest an old man who Robin thinks may be innocent; they search the house of a seemingly harmless family and find bomb detonators hidden in the kitchen. Increasingly unsure of who is a friend and who is an enemy, Robin and his fellow soldiers are suddenly sent on their most dangerous mission: to rescue three kidnapped Iraqi children. Glossary.

A boy struggles to drop below his spaceship's weight limit so that he can bring his most treasured possession with him to a distant planet; a girl's obsession with tanning cream causes her to turn orange and draws the attention of extraterrestrials; an Internet celebrity switches from one custom-made body to another, desperate to keep his fans interested. In sixteen stories, authors including Neil Gaiman, Scott Westerfeld, and Margo Lanagan imagine the lives of teens in the near and distant future. Introduction. Brief author's note and biography after each story. Editor's note.

"Skim" is Kimberly Keiko Cameron, a would-be Wiccan goth who attends a private girls' school in Toronto. She has a broken arm, an increasingly distant best friend, and she thinks she is falling in love with her favorite teacher, Ms. Archer. When Kim's classmate Katie Matthews is dumped by her boyfriend who then kills himself, their entire school becomes obsessed with preventing suicide. Kim's classmates talk incessantly about taking care of one another and "celebrating life"-but all Kim gets is their disdain when she won't pretend to be happy. Graphic novel. Black-and-white art.

Taken from her mother at age three, Ashley Rhodes spent most of her childhood being moved from one foster home to another, sometimes with her younger brother, often separated from him. "I have had more than a dozen so-called mothers in my life," Ashley says. She survived neglectful and abusive homes, and for years she hoped in vain that her biological mother would return. When a stable family finally did want to adopt Ashley, she didn't know whether she could trust them. . . .

A confrontation with an ancient hero scars a boy for life, but makes him fearless; a man discovers that his neighbor is a witch and decides to try casting one of her spells; a guardian angel returns to Earth to save a girl from her junkie boyfriend. In these grim, fascinating, and utterly original stories, the world we know blurs into worlds we'veonly dreamed of, and characters are changed forever by their encounters with mysterious forces.

The tabloids are desperate for any information they can find about the recently released Jenny Jones: now sixteen, she was arrested at age ten for the murder of another girl. Details about the killing are all over the papers, and columnists are asking whether she even deserves a second chance. Jenny follows the story in the news-she has begun a new life under a new name, and is terrified of being discovered. She finally has her first boyfriend, a job, and a roommate she trusts with her secret. Will she lose it all?

What They Found: Love on 145th Street by Dean Myers
Month: December, 2007

"Ain't it funny how we understand each other?" a customer asks Mama Evans, owner of the Curl-E-Que hair salon in Harlem, New York. These moving, intertwined stories demonstrate the many ways that the neighbors on145th Street truly do understand one another. From the story of a dying father's last loving gesture to that of a young girl who doesn't realize how beautiful she is until a neighbor paints her portrait, this collection, full of individuals searching for and finding love, is also the story of their community.

The Wellpinit reservation is a rough place to grow up, but to Arnold, it's home. So he feels torn when he begins attending an affluent high school off the reservation. Things only get worse when Arnold's new basketball team returns to play the team from Wellpinit, and he must face his best friend and all his former teammates on the court. Could the crowd really be booing him? "I felt like one of those Indian scouts who led the U.S. Cavalry against other Indians." Illustrated with Arnold's cartoon drawings.

When Alonso's mother is assassinated by leftist revolutionaries, his whole life falls apart. His father begins drinking too much and Alonso, confused and full of rage, must care for his young siblings alone. He needs help-and the only people offering to lend a hand are the terrorists of the Shining Path, the very people who killed his mother. Alonso is faced with an impossible choice: he cannot possibly join the Shining Path, but how will his family survive if he doesn't?

After Callum dies, Sephy is left to raise their mixed-race baby alone-a daunting task in a society where naughts and Crosses are deeply divided. What's worse, many people blame her for Callum's death-especially Jude, Callum's brother. Jude is part of an underground naught militia andis obsessed with getting revenge: "I only have one desire, one ambition left. I'm going to make them all suffer. I'm going to make them all pay."

"J.R. always knew what I was thinking on the court. It was like he could see the moves being born in my mind at the same time I did. Only J.R. couldn't see everything inside of me. He didn't know what I got myself into, or how it got him killed." Mackey and J.R. grew up playing basketball together and dreamed of winning the legendary tournament at Rucker Park. Now Mackey must play the championship game hiding a terrible secret-and knowing that his best friend's killer is watching his every move.

"The Coolbar fields floated away, hedgerows trammeled on either side. She didn't know where they were taking her. The only thing she could hear was the word dead[ital] clanging in her brain, over and over like an Angelus bell." Two newborn infants are found dead in a small village, and fifteen-year-old Shell Talent is caught up in a scandal that shocks all of Ireland. Inspired by a true story. Library edition with trade jacket added.

Battle Hall Davies moves into an artsy Portland co-op for the summer before she starts college. Her housemates include several actors, a bike messenger, a set designer, and a swimming instructor. But there's one person living in Forest House whom Battle is particularly anxious to spend time with: her charmingolder brother, Nick, whom she hasn't seen since he ran away from home years ago.

Twelve-year-old Victor and his fellow beggars may be worth more dead than alive. It is 1830s London, and a booming underground trade has emerged-in bodies. "Resurrection men" rob graves and supply doctors with fresh corpses for medical research, no questions asked. Lately, however, Victor's friends-still very much alive-have been disappearing from the streets. Victor must find out what's going on before it's too late.

When Tamar's grandfather died, he left her a boxful of strange clues and messages. As the fifteen-year-old sets out to unravel the box's meaning, the story of another[ital] Tamar-her namesake-emerges. He was a spy for the Dutch resistance during World War II whose job was to send and receive coded transmissions to England. Now young Tamar must decode a message from the past that will have a shocking impact on her and her family's life.

Through the 1950s and 60s, most fiction written for teens was saccharine and didactic. Then in 1974, Robert Cormier published The Chocolate War and "set free the acknowledgement of the very real presence of evil in young lives," critic Michael Cart says. From his groundbreaking first book to the complex I Am the Cheese to the provocative The Rag and Bone Shop, here is an examination of a novelist who "took his . . . readers into the heart of darkness and turned the lights on there." Selected bibliography. Appendix.

Octavian has spent his childhood in colonial Boston receiving a classical education from a house full of scientists. Aside from Greek, Latin, math, and music, the scholars train him "to be precise in notation, acute in investigation, and rational in inference." It's the only life he's known, and he has never thought it out of the ordinary. As he grows older, however, Octavian wonders: How is he related to these men? Why are they interested in his development? And what lies inside the room he's forbidden to enter? Author's note.

Lakshmi, thirteen, lives in the mountains of Nepal, tending her cucumber plants and daydreaming with her mother about a tin roof for their hut. But after monsoons destroy the family's crop, her stepfather sends her away to earn money. Lakshmi believes she will work as a maid in the city; instead, she ends up in a foreign country, in a house full of girls-"young ones dressed to look old, and old ones dressed to look young." Powerless and alone, Lakshmi realizes that something is terribly wrong. Author's note.

Tess, a psychic burdened by other people's troubles, falls for a boy who seems miraculously free of yearnings. Hive-soldier Dybbol wins the queen's favor-but his special status kills his fighting spirit. A school assignment brings Sheneel to White Time Labs, where scientists rescue time travelers from limbo while slowly losing their own minds. Each speculative fiction story in this collection takes place in an alternate realm. Argumentative elves, stealthy aliens, and warrior princesses are some of the characters who populate these ten strange worlds.

When Iggy Corso gets suspended from Carver High, he goes back to his apartment in the projects to find his father passed out and his mother gone. He decides to set out alone to make something of his life-but where does he start? "In the movies and comic books and all, people who get kicked out of school are always good at other things like drawing or photography or writing . . . but I can not write much and I do not draw except graffiti. . . ."

Moz and Zahler need a home for the Big Riff they've practiced for years. Pearl has been looking for people to play with since her Juilliard group, Nervous System, broke up. Minerva thinks her mysterious disease is finally under control and is ready to sing again. Alana Ray has only ever drummed by herself-in the subways-on paint buckets. Can the five very different members of New York's hottest new band agree on a name . . . oh, and stave off the end of the world? Author's note.

Addison was like the big brother Clay never had. Separated for years by a family rift, the two cousins are back together at Daytop, a New York drug treatment facility. For Clay, working the program and staying clean is easier-and even more fun-with Addison around. Their reunion is cut tragically short, however, when an unarmed Addison is killed by police on a housing project rooftop. The shooting inflames the city and leaves Clay with a terrible choice-whether or not to tell truth about what really happened that night.

A child in a bunny suit stands in a field. Does the picture reveal a secret about a parent's past-or show a lonely boy adrift in a new town? An ax lies on the kitchen table next to a freshly baked cake. An instrument for a strange rite of passage or the weapon in a ghastly murder? Each drawing in this collection serves as inspiration for two short stories. M. T. Anderson, Ellen Wittlinger, and Ron Koertge are among the authors who lend their imaginations to nine mysterious scenes.

To many people, she is the cheerleader and Homecoming Queen in the Kopf's Department Store commercial. The truth, though, is that Annabel Greene feels nothing like the carefree, beautiful teenager she plays on TV. Ever since a falling out with her popular best friend, she's been an outcast at school and has come to hate modeling. There's a secret at the bottom of all of Annabel's troubles, but she's not ready to tell it-until her new friend, misfit music geek Owen Armstrong, convinces her that people will listen.

Gretchen Kaufman Yee knows a lot about drawing, action figures, Spiderman, and her best friend, Katya, but she can't understand one thing: boys. When Gretchen tells Katya, "I wish I were a fly on the wall of the boys' locker room," her unthinking words land her in a situation that turns an average week into an up-close-and-personal lesson in bullying, insecurities, secrets, male friendships, and Gretchen's crush, Titus. Library edition with trade jacket.

"I'm okay because I have a plan and a solution: I'm going to kill myself." Fifteen-year-old Craig Gilner has a loving family and goes to one of the best high schools in New York City; but lately he can't sleep, can't eat, and just can't seem to keep up with everyday life. Instead of suicide, though, Craig calls a hotline. Before he knows it, he's in a hospital psychiatric unit facing his depression head on.

One warm January day, a man arrives at the Poloverdo's home near the desolate, windswept tip of Chile. Angel Allegria is a lifelong criminal and a fugitive from the law; the farm seems the perfect place for him to hide out in peace. Without a moment's hesitation, Angel murders the Poloverdo man and his wife. He is about to go after their son, Paolo-but a twist of conscience makes him put away his knife. Library edition with trade jacket.

Someone at Dewey cheated on their SATs. Now rumors are flying at school, and everyone has a guess about who the culprit is. Is it Leo, the perfectionist aiming for the Ivy League? Or Jane, the rich girl, hungry for her famous mom's attention? Is it Max, feeling pressured by his dad? Or Daisy, desperate for a scholarship?

What makes a warrior? In fifteen short stories, popular science-fiction and fantasy authors-including Holly Black, Brent Hartinger, Margaret Mahy, and Tamora Pierce-offer some answers, while raising their own questions about patriotism, violence, and sacrifice. Introduction. Afterword. Brief author biographies.

Fifteen-year-old Paul Sutton, a farm kid from a devoutly religious family, doesn't mix much with the town kids in small Hawk Bend, Minnesota. When Paul's mother determines that he should have a summer job in town so he can "meet the public," he begins work at the local Shell station. There, Paul is exposed to the possibilities of a life in town: beer, dishonesty, and girls.

"There's something wrong with me because I seem to see things other people don't see. Am I crazy, or am I a genius?" This intimate biography chronicles the emotional highs and paralyzing lows that John Lennon transformed into brilliant, evocative songs. Afterword.Author's note. Source Notes. Bibliography. Index.

"It was dusk in the Adirondacks that night. We were coming around a curve. Ivy pumped the brakes, but a light blue truck was going too fast . . . ." Rose Latham can't stop reliving the accident that put her older sister, Ivy, in a coma. With her mother refusing to even visit the hospital and most of her classmates afraid to talk to her, Rosefinds her own ways to ease her suffering.

Nineteen-year-old Cal Thompson works for New York City's Night Watch, where he hunts for peeps, diseased cannibals sometimes known as vampires. While on a mission to trace a mutant strain of the illness invading the city, he meets Lacey, an aspiring journalist with a nose for conspiracy-who also happens to be his type. How long can he keep her from discovering that he's a peep himself? Afterword. Bibliography.

In this reimagining of the story of Noah's ark, Noah's family members and the animals aboard the ship voice their experiences as they wait out the devastating flood. Only Noah's daughter, Timna, questions her father's actions. As she witnesses the destruction around her she struggles to understand why her father has turned his back on the rest of the world.

Why is the new English teacher having late-night meetings with a guy who looks like a gangster? And what's that bag of white powder that they're passing across the table? Calma and Kiffo know that Miss Payne is hiding something big, and they'll go to any length-stalking, lying, wearing disguises, snooping-to find out what it is.

"The thing is, I love the beginning stuff when the guy is so anxious and can hardly wait to be alone with me . . ." When it comes to boys and dating, Sandy Ragsdale is used to being in control. So when she meets Walker, a loner who is indifferent to her presence, she can't seem to get him out of her mind. Why does this mysterious misfit keep pushing her away?

Callum is a naught, a second-class citizen in a society ruled by Crosses. Sephy is a Cross and the daughter of the man slated to become prime minister. They played together when they were children and still think of each other as best friends-maybe more-but society's rules are pressing down. In a world where white naughts and black Crosses simply do not mix, can the two find a way to be together?

Ivan Korske is haunted by an unfair loss at last year's wrestling semifinals and by his mother's recent death. He needs to win the New Jersey State championship to get a scholarship for college, his only way out of his small town. Bobby Zane has lived a much easier life, but with his parents' strained relationship, all that family stuff seems like a lie. He wants to regain the glow from last year's district win and maybe pull his family back together. Which of the two will be the state champ?

Kit has never done any theater before, so he doesn't know what to expect when he lands a lead role in the high school play. After just a couple of rehearsals, though, it's clear he's good-good enough for Lindsay, the other lead and president of the drama club, to take notice. But as Kit and Lindsay grow closer and perfect their parts, their offstage lives begin to interfere with their act.

Paul's parents divorced several years ago, shortly before his father won a prestigious award for his poetry about Paul's severely disabled brother, Shawn. The way Paul sees it, his father is exploiting Shawn and should spend more time taking care of him. Yet Paul also feels guilty about his own frustrations with his brother and struggles to connect with him.

Renowned children's book author Julius Lester reflects on his childhood and the experiences that shaped his journey to becoming a writer. Lester explores his German and African-American roots as well as his conversion to Judaism. He also discusses his work, including his Newbery Honor-winning book, To Be a Slave, and his retellings of folktales. Black-and-white photos.

The FUP company has reopened their time travel tube following a disastrous upset to relations between its twenty-first-century employees and a violent sixteenth-century clan known as the Sterkarms. Project chief James Windsor again intends to manipulate the Sterkarms for his own gain and persuades Andrea, an anthropologist, to return with him to the sixteenth side. Anxious to see Per, her Sterkarm sweetheart, Andrea unwittingly becomes a pawn in a dangerous plan.

"Freedom!" thinks Vince Luca as he drives his Mazda toward California for his freshman year of college. His girlfriend, Kendra, is riding shotgun; his best friend, Alex, is in the back seat. Vince is thrilled to put Long Island and the shady dealings of his family's "vending machine" business behind him. After fifteen hours of driving, however, he opens his suitcase to find, not his carefully packed clothes, but thousands of hundred-dollar bills.

In this autobiography, Brent Runyon recounts his suicide attempt at age fourteen and his physical and psychological recovery from burns that covered eighty-five percent of his body. After Brent sets fire to a shirt in the locker room, the gym teacher threatens to expel him. A friend asks him what he's going to do. He answers, "I'm going to kill myself." At home after school, Brent soaks his bathrobe in gasoline and lights himself on fire.

Fifteen-year-old Daisy finds visiting her cousins on Aunt Penn's farm in England a huge improvement over life with her stepmother in Manhattan. Then one day soon after her aunt leaves on a business trip to Oslo, a bomb explodes in a London train station, killing thousands. Airports close, phones and e-mail fail, and suddenly, Daisy and her cousins are on their own in a world that is frightening, lawless, and strangely exhilarating.

Michael L. Printz Award, Winner, 2005

Through e-mail, instant messaging, and snail mail, the story of Chloe's complicated last semester in high school emerges. On a weekend visit to a prospective college, Chloe meets Julian, and suddenly she has doubts about her relationship with her longtime boyfriend, Eli. When she turns to her older sister, Veev, for support, she unexpectedly learns a secret that challenges her perceptions of their family.

The Vietnamese conflict is ongoing and Neil Armstrong walks on the moon. Eighteen-year-old Brady Callahan is on vacation when she learns that her older brother, Will, a soldier in Vietnam, is AWOL. Despite the evidence, Brady is convinced that her brother would never desert. She tries to uncover the truth behind Will's disappearance with the help of a new friend and in the process discovers a resolve she never knew she had.

On April 22, seventeen-year-old Leonard Gray staged a shooting at Madison High School, killing another student and himself. In an attempt to make sense of the devastating incident and determine whether it could have been prevented, the Harrison County School Safety Committee compiles an investigative report. Psychologists and law enforcement officials interview Leonard's two closest friends and examine his diary entries for clues.

Josh Swensen faked his own death and went underground after the public discovered that he was the creator of "The Gospel According to Larry," a popular anti-consumerist Web site. Now eighteen and living in Boulder, Colorado, Josh realizes that his values are slipping when he begins to enjoy shopping with his new girlfriend, Janine. Then one night Josh's past catches up with him-his childhood friend and fellow activist Beth kidnaps him and asks for his help: She wants Josh to run for president.

Fourteen-year-old Maybe ran away from an abusive home to New York City, where she and six other homeless teens form a family and survive by sleeping in abandoned buildings, scavenging for food, and begging for spare change. Distrustful of adults, they have given up hope that a better life is possible. Then Tears, an innocent twelve-year-old, joins the group, and Maybe becomes determined to save her from the devastation of life on the streets.

Over the summer, ten-year-old Akilah's "one true friend," Victoria, returned to her homeland, Nigeria, to celebrate her coming-of-age. After sending two letters to Akilah, Victoria stopped writing. When she returns to New York, she is withdrawn and serious. One afternoon Victoria reveals that her family forced her to submit to a frightening traditional ritual. Akilah is worried about her friend, but she promises not to tell anyone.

"Before Heart's Delight, I was a boy. . . . Before Heart's Delight, I was a child." A sixteen-year-old Swedish boy sits alone at his desk, staring at the relics of his first relationship: a lemon-balm plant, a textbook, and a tattered American flag. His heartache threatens to swallow him as he destroys the mementos and fits each one into the story of his love for Ann-Katrin or, as he calls her, "Heart's Delight."

Duncan isn't sure how he will survive his summer job in the Toronto Transit Commission's Lost and Found, a morgue-like room, fifty feet below ground. Amidst stacks of unclaimed sunglasses, umbrellas, and books, Duncan notices a leather-bound journal. He opens it and finds what appears to be the writings of a killer. Is the book just a twisted joke, or is it the diary of a madman who should be stopped?

ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2004
Edgar Allan Poe Award, Winner, 2004 Best Young Adult Novel

Nick used to be a well-respected graffiti artist and prep-school "hood." He abandoned that lifestyle after a close friend was stabbed. Two years later, he is more concerned with admitting his love for his best friend, Kris, than "piecing" a wall. Then Kris's younger brother, Danny, gets into trouble with a gang, and only Nick can help him. Nick is hesitant to reenter the dangerous world he left behind but agrees to help Danny smooth things over.

ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2004

Del has moved from one foster home to another for all of her seventeen years. Fed up with the system and convinced she can do better on her own, Del fakes her own death and leaves Los Angeles. Her plans for a quick escape are foiled by an all-day traffic jam. While stuck, she discovers a new direction for her talent as a mimic. Eight years later, Del puts on a one-woman show inspired by the jam.

National Book Awards, Young People's Literature, Finalist, 2004

Seventeen-year-old Becky is not a guy magnet like her best friend, Abby, but when they meet Kip, a fellow aspiring comic, she connects instantly with him. She is amazed by his wit and charm and by their budding relationship: "When we were together . . . the universe spoke to me as it never had done before." When Kip becomes controlling--he reads Becky's e-mails, and he doesn't want Abby around--Becky struggles to understand her feelings.

Robin is devastated that her perfect boyfriend, Chris, will be spending his last summer before college in Rome; she is not sure what her life is worth without him. Depressed and angry, she grudgingly accepts an invitation to accompany her newly-widowed aunt and troubled younger cousins on a road trip. As she discovers America, she imagines a life outside of Iowa--a life where she doesn't depend on a boyfriend for meaning.

ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2004

Over time, the definition of family in our society has evolved. The eleven stories in this collection explore what family can mean to contemporary teens. The bonds between extended family members, discord between siblings, and coping with same-sex parents are among the themes addressed. Contributors include Joan Bauer, Norma Howe, and Walter Dean Myers.

Three-hundred pound, six foot one Troy is standing at the edge of a train platform contemplating suicide when he first meets Curt MacCrae, an infamous former student from Troy's high school. Troy thinks he's being rescued from permanent obscurity when Curt convinces him to learn how to play the drums and join Curt's band. Troy doesn't realize that Curt is the one who needs to be saved.

ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2004
Michael L. Printz Award, 2004 Honor Book

It is 1906, and sixteen-year-old Mattie Gokey has ambitions that reach far beyond her family's homestead in the Adirondacks. Mattie dreams of going to college and becoming a writer, but she promised her dying mother she would watch over the family. Then a young woman is found drowned near the hotel where Mattie works. On the day the victim died, she instructed Mattie to destroy her personal letters. Instead, Mattie reads the letters and rethinks her own life. Author's note.

ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2004 Top 10
The Carnegie Medal, Winner, 2003
Michael L. Printz Award, 2004 Honor Book

Lissa's life turns upside down and right-side-up after she and her best friend, Kate, kiss. For Lissa, the incident was a revelation; for Kate, it was a mistake. After weeks of silence, Kate attempts to make peace. Lissa is lonely and confused but isn't prepared to accept Kate's terms. If rekindling their friendship means denying her true feelings, she would rather be alone. With the help of a new friend, Lissa works toward a third option.

ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2004

Seventeen-year-old Noreen is running from her disaster of a life when she stops for a cup of coffee at the Molly Thorvaldson Café in Pembina Lake. The cafe's owner, Lynda, somewhat reluctantly listens to Noreen's story of heartache and disappointment and offers her a place to stay. Over time and with the support of Lynda and her friends, Noreen learns to trust herself as well as others.

ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2004 Top 10

High school junior Jed Berg knows he lives a privileged life. He has a good relationship with his easygoing parents, he's doing well in school and on the tennis team, and he has recently started to date a popular senior. Everything changes on the day a mysterious girl introduces herself to Jed--she seems to know everything about him and shocks him with the news that his father is having an affair with her mother.

Vince Luca has never wanted to have anything to do with his father's "vending machine" business, also known as "the Mob." But he can't seem to avoid it--a man, alive but unconscious, turns up in the trunk of his car on the night of a big date; he's able to make incredible plays on the football field when a member of the opposing team recognizes him; and worst of all, the girl of his dreams happens to be the daughter of the FBI agent assigned to keep tabs on his father.

Sadie experiences life outside the Amish community after she becomes pregnant and is sent to a home for unwed mothers. In Thailand, Lep enters a monastery in order to be able to continue his schooling. Sarah is embarrassed to be Jewish and fantasizes about being Catholic. Teens' explorations of various belief systems are examined in this anthology. Introduction. Notes from the authors.

It is the future and most of the U.S. population, including Titus, is equipped with a "feed," a transmitter implanted in the brain. The device controls Titus's biological functions, monitors his thoughts, and advises him on what to buy and where to go to have fun. He is barely aware that it has almost completely obliterated his ability to think for himself until he meets Violet--she cares about what is going on in other parts of the world and wants to fight the feed.

In the fall of senior year, Joe Brickman looks forward to being captain of the soccer team and hopes to finally work up the courage to ask his friend Kristine on a date. Then Brazilian transfer student Antonio Silva arrives. Not only does he steal the spotlight on the soccer field and win Kris's heart, he also starts a feud that leaves Joe having to defend himself against a group of violent football players.

Life has not been easy for Ben Campbell or his family since their recent move to Lodgette, Montana. His father cannot find work, and his mother supports them as a part-time cleaning woman. Ben is drawn to a local white supremacist organization until new friends challenge his thinking. He watches helplessly, however, as his brother David grows more and more involved in the hate group's activities.

Matt Donaghy has a big mouth. It finally gets him into trouble the day he is accused of threatening to blow up Rocky River High School. The police pull Matt out of class and confine him to his home while they investigate. During that time, Matt's friends keep their distance. The only one willing to speak out on Matt's behalf is Ursula, the school loner, who overheard what Matt said that day.

By age fifteen, America has spent years lost in the system and thinks he is "not worth the trouble of finding." But Dr. B., a psychiatrist at Ridgeway Hospital, takes the trouble. As America opens up--about the mother who abandoned him; his "bad" and "baddest" brothers, who taught him how to behave; and Browning, his foster uncle, who was first kind, then devastatingly cruel--the wounds from years of hurt start to heal.

Chiaki is six when her father dies and her mother rents an apartment from Mrs.Yanagi. Overwhelmed by the recent changes in her life, Chiaki falls ill. Mrs. Yanagi tells Chiaki that she will carry letters to the dead when she herself passes away and encourages Chiaki to write to her father. Chiaki recalls these events years later on the occasion of Mrs.Yanagi's death.

Flint McCallister is the captain of a four-man flag-football team. He and Beaterson and Deshutsis are eager to play, but Cade Savage, their fourth man, is partying too hard and is unreliable. Should they stick with him or replace him with Tim Goon, who can't play but has a ski cabin; Thor, a nice-guy stoner; or Rachel Summerfield, a girl who is talented but wants to change the way they play the game?

Bernadette should be thrilled that her school, Wickham High, has beaten archrival, Pinehurst Academy, on the written part of the statewide classics contest. She is one of the five students chosen to compete in the televised classics bowl against Pinehurst. But Bernadette senses that something is wrong. She and her classmates haven't read many of the books that were covered on the exam. So how did they get such a high score?

Julek Grünfeld was eleven in 1941 when his father was killed in a mass execution of Jewish men in their Polish town. Julek, his mother, and his sister escaped detection by the Nazis using false baptismal documents. They lived with gentile families and worked in close proximity to Germans, with the constant fear that their true names and identities would be discovered.

Under the pseudonym of Larry, seventeen-year-old Josh Swensen creates a Web site and posts essays on it that denounce consumerism in America. Unexpectedly, he develops a cult following of teens who hail him as a guru. No one guesses that Josh is Larry. Not even Beth, Josh's best friend whom he has been in love with since the sixth grade. She wants Josh to help her start a Larry fan club at their school.

Austin Reid, star of his high school football team, can't shake a feeling of being "not real" during senior year. He loses interest in sports, his friends, even girls. Then Heather MacKenzie, who usually dates college guys, starts to flirt with him. Austin is flattered by her attention and feels a connection to her--he was three when his father died of cancer; she was eight when she lost her father to suicide.

In the past, Sara has had a difficult time--she was abused by her father and has lived in several foster homes. At the start of junior year, she finally starts to feel settled and has a best friend for the first time--Dulcie, a Korean adoptee. When Dulcie starts dating a popular football player, Sara worries about losing her. Told through Sara's e-mail exchanges, journal entries, and creative writing assignments.

Twelve-year-old Jason Dorrant is shocked when his friend Alicia Bartlett is murdered a few hours after he leaves her house. The police suspect Jason of the crime, but have no material evidence. They ask Jason to help with the investigation and meet with a detective. Jason doesn't know that they plan to have him questioned by an interrogator who specializes in eliciting confessions.

Janie, the daughter of a heroin addict, is placed with foster parents at age four. Another foster child, Harmon, introduces her to "the ladies"--female soul and blues singers. Their music and Harmon's friendship help Janie to cope with feeling lonely and unwanted. Then Harmon is adopted. In the years that follow, as Janie struggles with moving from one home to another and an unplanned pregnancy, she holds on to a dream of becoming a singer.

In 1924, the Ku Klux Klan becomes active in a small town in Vermont. A twelve-year-old African-American girl, an eighteen-year-old white boy, and a six-year-old Jewish girl are among the eleven residents who describe what happens as the Klan's influence pervades the community. Told in free verse.

Four lesser-known characters from the legend of King Arthur tell their stories. Nimue is sixteen when she falls in love with the bard who becomes Arthur's most trusted adviser. Morgan remembers the night her mother was kidnapped by Arthur's father. A handmaid to Morgan's older sister describes her mistress's miserable life. Arthur's son Medraud recalls the pain of being rejected by his father. Author's note.

Fourteen-year-old Keisha has always done well in school and plans to become a doctor. When a counselor removes her from the college-prep track, Keisha is upset. She resents being judged on the basis of her race and class (she's black and poor). Through a program for "at-risk" students, Keisha discovers she has a talent for swimming. She joins a team that is training for the Olympics, but her priority continues to be college.

ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2002 Nomination

In twelve diverse stories set in Ireland and America, memorable adolescent experiences are explored. A sixteen-year-old boy copes with his girlfriend's overprotective uncle. Grania, the youngest daughter in a large family, faces the painful truth about her parents' relationship. After his friend leaves their small town, Martin begins to question his own complacency. Contributors to this anthology include Maeve Binchy and Chris Lynch. Author biographies.

Eva Mae Hurt is sixteen when Franz Edmund Creffield arrives in her hometown of Corvallis, Oregon, in 1903. Creffield starts a new church that attracts dozens of worshipers. Over time, he develops a cult-like following of mostly women. In this fictional narrative based on true events, Eva describes how she and her friends became hypnotized by Creffield's charm. Photographs. Afterword.

ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2002 Nomination

The summer before his senior year, Thulani spends a lot of time with his pigeons on the roof of the brownstone where he lives. One afternoon, he hears screams from below and sees a young woman being raped. Thulani intervenes and walks her home. Over the next few weeks, he can't stop thinking about her. When he notices that she walks through the neighborhood every Wednesday, he decides to follow her.

ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2002 Nomination

The private thoughts of the seniors of Branston High School are revealed in a series of interconnected poems. Tran struggles with the challenges that face an immigrant. Sheila is attracted to a girl. Damon revels in his jock status but also worries about losing it. When two students threaten to engage in a killing spree, their classmates must make a difficult decision.

ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2002 Nomination

"Listen, I am trying/to remember everything/because it keeps coming back..." Annie is safe now, but she recalls a time when she was not. It was summer, and she was going to learn to swim without her pink ring, pick blueberries, and take long walks. Her world was shattered when she was molested by a boy who lived nearby. Eventually, Annie is able to tell her mother and learn to swim "in the dark water."

ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2001

Orasmyn, a young Persian prince, makes a poor decision because he is too proud to seek advice. This angers a fairy who then transforms Orasmyn into a lion on the day his father begins a lion hunt. Using his human mind and animal instincts, Orasmyn escapes. He wanders through Asia and across Europe to France, where he finally finds love and redemption. This story answers the question: Who was Beast before he met Beauty?

School Library Journal, Best Books, 2000
ALA, Best Books for Young Adults, 2001 Nomination

In 1955, a sixteen-year-old boy leaves home to escape his alcoholic parents' abusive treatment. On his own for the first time, the boy encounters hard work and hunger. He works as a migrant laborer and a farm hand before joining the carnival. By the end of the summer he feels well-schooled in most of life's lessons. Then he meets Ruby. Based on the author's own experiences.

ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2001
Kentucky Bluegrass Award, Master List, 2001-2002

Mifflin Gibbs was one of many African Americans drawn west by the California gold rush. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and raised in poverty. In 1850, he traveled to San Francisco in search of opportunity. Although he met with prejudice and hostility, Gibbs managed to start a successful business. With other African Americans, he led a campaign to obtain equal legal and civil rights for blacks in California.

National Book Award, Young People's Literature, 2000
California Library Association, John and Patricia Beatty Award, 2001

In England in the twenty-first century, a company called FUP has built a Time Tube and plans to mine the resources of the sixteenth century. At the other end of the Tube are the Sterkarms, a violent border clan that robs the FUP surveyors. A young anthropologist living with the Sterkarms tries to resolve the conflict, but she underestimates the arrogance and treachery of both her hosts and her fellow time-travelers.

ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2001 Nomination
Kentucky Bluegrass Award, Master List, 2001-2002

When Iris Sellin is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, the accomplished pianist and composer has herself cloned in order to pass on her talent. Iris trains her clone, Siri, to become a mirror image, but Siri longs for a personality of her own. Two weeks after Iris's death, Siri, now twenty-two, tells the story of the turbulent life she shared with her mother-twin.

The German Youth Literature Prize, 2000

Neal finishes his junior year in high school with an incomplete in a documentary film class. He applies for a summer job to please his mother and girlfriend, who think it is time for him to get serious about the future---to prepare for business school, a steady job, and marriage. As Neal works on the film project and sorts out confusing memories of his late father, his life moves in a new direction.

ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2001 Nomination
Kentucky Bluegrass Award, Master List, 2001-2002