Arrington, Frances. Prairie Whispers
Out on the prairie in the 1860s Colleen's mother gave birth while her husband was away. Colleen set out to fetch the midwife, but instead happened upon a dying woman who begged Colleen to take her newborn girl and keep it and a precious watch safe from her cruel husband. When Colleen's sister died an hour after being born, Colleen switched the babies. Wrapped up in a web of lies, Colleen is terrified when the dead woman's husband suspects her of having the baby, a strongbox of money and the watch.

Avi. Nothing but the Truth.
A ninth-grader's suspension for singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" during homeroom becomes a national news story.

Bloor, Edward. Tangerine.
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.

Cadnum, Michael. Edge.
Zachary, living with his divorced mother in California, finds violence gradually invading his life and making significant changes in his day-to-day existence.

Cadnum, Michael. Rundown.
As a game, sixteen-year-old Jennifer pretends that she has been attacked by a serial rapist, but then she finds herself getting more attention than she wanted, from the police and her parents.

Cooney, Caroline B. Burning Up.
When a girl she had met at an inner city church is murdered, fifteen-year-old Macey channels her grief into a school project that leads her to uncover prejudice she had not imagined in her grandparents and their wealthy Connecticut community.

Cooney, Caroline B. Driver's Ed.
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.

Cormier, Robert. The Chocolate War.
A high school freshman discovers the devastating consequences of refusing to join in the school's annual fund raising drive and rousing the wrath of the school bullies.

Crutcher, Chris. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes.
The daily class discussions about the nature of man, the existence of God, abortion, organized religion, suicide and other contemporary issues serve as a backdrop for a high-school senior's attempt to answer a friend's dramatic cry for help.

Deuker, Carl. Painting the Black.
When star athlete Josh Daniels moves in across the street, Remy Ward doesn't realize how much his life will change during his senior year at Seattle's Crown Hill High.

Draper, Sharon M. Tears of a Tiger.
The death of high school basketball star Rob Washington in an automobile accident affects the lives of his close friend Andy, who was driving the car, and many others in the school.

Duncan, Lois. Killing Mr. Griffin.
A teenager casually suggests playing a cruel trick on the English teacher, but did he intend it to end with murder?

Engdahl, Sylvia Louise. Enchantress from the Stars.
Federation team land on Andrecia to try to rid the planet of its invaders.

Fleischman, Paul. Whirligig.
While traveling to each corner of the country to build a whirligig in memory of the girl whose death he causes, sixteen-year-old Brian finds forgiveness and atonement.

Gallo, Donald R., ed. No Easy Answers: Short Stories about Teenagers Making Tough Choices.
A collection of sixteen short stories, by Louise Plummer, M.E. Kerr, Jack Gantos, and others, about teenagers in situations that test their character.

Gilbert, Margaret Snow. Stone Water.
Fifteen-year-old Grant confronts the difficult decision of whether or not to cooperate with his grandfather's wish that he not be placed on life-support systems.

Greene, Bette. Summer of My German Soldier.
Sheltering an escaped German prisoner of war is the beginning of some shattering experiences for a 12-year-old Jewish girl in Arkansas.

Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Among the Hidden.
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.

Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Leaving Fishers.
After joining her new friends in the religious group called Fishers of Men, Dorry finds herself immersed in a cult from which she must struggle to extricate herself.

Hassler, Jon. Four Miles to Pinecone.
An incident at his uncle's isolated cabin causes a sixteen-year-old to reexamine his decision to keep silent about a robbery he witnessed.

Klass, David. Wrestling with Honor.
Champion high school wrestler Ron Woods faces a soul-searching season when he refuses to retake a mandatory drug test he has failed. This decision affects every area of his life including his feelings about his father, who died in Vietnam, and his first tentative romance.

Krisher, Trudy. Spite Fences.
As she struggles with her troubled relationship with her mother during the summer of 1960, a young girl is also drawn into the violence, hatred, and racial tension in her small Georgia town.

Lasky, Kathryn. Memoirs of a Bookbat.
Fourteen-year-old Harper, an avid reader of fantasy who must hide her books from her fundamentalist parents, comes to realize that their public promotion of censorship threatens her freedom to make her own choices.

Lobel, Anita. No Pretty Pictures: A Child of War.
The author, known as an illustrator of children's books, describes her experiences as a Polish Jew during World War II and for years in Sweden afterwards.

Lowry, Lois. The Giver.
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.

Marchetta, Melita. Looking for Alibrandi.
During her senior year in a Catholic school in Sydney, Australia, seventeen-year-old Josie meets and must contend with the father she has never known.

McDonald, Joyce. Swallowing Stones.
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.

Myers, Walter Dean. Monster.
While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the form of a film script as he tries to come to terms with the course his life has taken.

Orlev, Uri. The Man From the Other Side.
Living on the outskirts of the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II, fourteen-year-old Marek and his grandparents shelter a Jewish man in the days before the Jewish uprising.

Paulsen, Gary. Nightjohn.
Twelve-year-old Sarny's brutal life as a slave becomes even more dangerous when a newly arrived slave offers to teach her how to read.

Peck, Richard. The Last Safe Place on Earth.
High school sophomore Todd must rescue his sister after she is brainwashed into fearing Halloween.

Rylant, Cynthia. I Had Seen Castles.
Now an old man, John is haunted by memories of enlisting to fight in World War II, a decision which forced him to face the horrors of war and changed his life forever.

Seymour, Tres. The Revelation of Saint Bruce.
When high-school senior Bruce Wells inadvertently snitches on his friends, he learns painful lessons about being true to himself and different from his classmates.

Soto, Gary. Buried Onions.
When nineteen-year-old Eddie drops out of college, he struggles to find a place for himself as a Mexican American living in a violence-infested neighborhood of Fresno, California.

Spinelli, Jerry. Wringer.
As Palmer comes of age, he must either accept the violence of being a wringer at his town's annual Pigeon Day or find the courage to oppose it.

Tashjian, Janet. Multiple Choice.
Monica, a fourteen-year-old perfectionist and word game expert, tries to break free from all of the suffocating rules in her life by creating a game for living called Multiple Choice.

Thomas, Rob. Slave Day.
Relates the events of a southern high school's "Slave Day" auction and fund raiser, which leads students, teachers, and even community members to rethink their approaches to their lives.

Tomey, Ingrid. Nobody Else Has to Know.
Fifteen-year-old Webber must either live with guilt or tell the truth about who was driving his grandfather's car when it struck and seriously injured a little girl.

Yolen, Jane and Bruce Coville. Armageddon Summer.
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.

updated 3/2007