Adams, Douglas. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Arthur Dent, a refugee from the late planet Earth, and his pal from the planet Betelgeuse, Ford Prefect, thumb their way through comic misadventures throughout the universe.

Anderson, M.T. Burger Wuss.
Hoping to lose his loser image, Anthony plans revenge on a bully which results in a war between two competing fast food restaurants, Burger Queen and O'Dermott's.

Bauer, Joan. Rules of the Road.
Sixteen-year-old Jenna gets a job driving the elderly owner of a chain of successful shoe stores from Chicago to Texas to confront the son who is trying to force her to retire, and along the way Jenna hones her talents as a saleswoman and finds the strength to face her alcoholic father.

Bauer, Joan. Squashed.
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.

Block, Francesca Lia. Weetzie Bat.
Bleach-blond L.A. girl Weetzie Bat encounters a genie who grants her three wishes a Hollywood cottage, a dream man for her, and a surfer guy for her gay friend, Dirk but Weetzie's wishes soon begin to backfire.

Cabot, Meg. The Princess Diaries.
Fourteen-year-old Mia, who is trying to lead a normal life as a teenage girl in New York City, is shocked to learn that her father is the Prince of Genovia, a small European principality, and that she is a princess and the heir to the throne. Book I of the Princess Diaries.

Cabot, Meg. Princess in Love.
In a series of humorous diary entries, a New York City ninth grader agonizes over her love life, final exams, and future role as the princess of Genovia. Book III of the Princess Diaries.

Cabot, Meg. The Princess in the Spotlight.
Having recently discovered she is the sole heir to the throne of a tiny European principality, fourteen-year-old Manhattan resident Mia writes in her journal about her attempts to cope with this news, as well as with more typical teenage concerns. Book II of the Princess Diaries.

Conford, Ellen. I Love You, I Hate You, Get Lost
A collection of humorous stories reflecting the ups and downs of teenage love and life.

Creech, Sharon. Absolutely Normal Chaos.
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.

Crutcher, Chris. Athletic Shorts.
A collection of short stories featuring characters from earlier books by Chris Crutcher.

Crutcher, Chris. Ironman.
While training for a triathlon, seventeen-year-old Bo attends an anger management group at school which leads him to examine his relationship with his father.

Curtis, Christopher P. Bud, Not Buddy.
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.

Curtis, Christopher P. The Watsons Go To Birmingham - 1963.
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.

Cushman, Karen. The Ballad of Lucy Whipple.
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.

Danziger, Paula. This Place Has No Atmosphere.
Aurora loves her life on Earth in the twenty-first century, until she learns that her family is moving to the colony on the moon.

Danziger, Paula. The Pistachio Prescription.
A high school "freshperson" attempts to rise above such inconveniences of life as her older sister, parents, and school.

Eberhardt, Thom. Rat Boys: A Dating Experiment.
Fourteen-year-olds Marci and Summer use a magic ring to turn two rats into cute boys so that they can have dates for the Spring Fling.

Ferris, Jean. Love Among the Walnuts: Or, How I Saved My Family from Being Poisoned.
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.

Fleischman, Paul. A Fate Totally Worse Than Death.
In this horror novel parody, three self-centered members of Cliffside High School's ruling clique, who are beginning to age rapidly, become convinced that the beautiful new exchange student is the ghost of the girl whose death they caused the year before.

Gantos, Jack. Joey Pigza Loses Control.
Joey, who is still taking medication to keep him from getting too wired, goes to spend the summer with the hard-drinking father he has never known and tries to help the baseball team he coaches win the championship.

Gantos, Jack. Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key.
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.

Gantos, Jack. What Would Joey Do?
Joey tries to keep his life from degenerating into total chaos when his mother sends him to be home-schooled with a hostile blind girl, his divorced parents cannot stop fighting, and his grandmother is dying of emphysema.

Hayes, Daniel. Eye of the Beholder.
Eighth graders Tyler and Lymie mastermind a hoax in which they imitate the sculptures of a famous artist who once lived in their town, but they find themselves in big trouble when their work is accepted as genuine by art critics.

Jones, Diana Wynne. Howl's Moving Castle.
Eldest of three sisters in a land where it is considered to be a misfortune, Sophie is resigned to her fate as a hat shop apprentice until a witch turns her into an old woman and she finds herself in the castle of the greatly feared wizard Howl.

Keller, Beverly. The Amazon Papers.
Fifteen-year-old Iris gets into hilarious trouble when her mother goes on vacation and leaves her alone.

Koertge, Ronald. Confess-O-Rama.
While his mother grieves the death of her fourth husband, Tony vents his feelings to the Confess-O-Rama, never suspecting who's on the other end of the line.

Korman, Gordon. Don't Care High.
Paul's attempts to adjust to New York City life are thwarted at his high school, nicknamed Don't Care High, until his manipulation of a new Student Council president wakes up the apathetic student body.

Korman, Gordon. Losing Joe's Place.
Jason and his two friends move into Jason's brother's apartment and manage to wreak havoc in it during one funny and memorable summer.

Korman, Gordon. No More Dead Dogs.
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.

Korman, Gordon. Son of the Mob.
Vince Luca, 17, doesn't want to have anything to do with his family's business, organized crime, but the business keeps inserting itself into his life. Like the time he took a date to the beach and when he went to get a blanket, he found Jimmy the Rat in the trunk. Or when playing football he makes one touchdown after the other because the opposing team is afraid to touch him. But Vince's live takes a complicated and hilarious turn when he falls in love with the daughter of the FBI agent who is investigating his father.

Lynch, Chris. Extreme Elvin.
As he enters high school, fourteen-year-old Elvin continues to deal with his weight problem as he tries to find his place among his peers.

McKay, Hilary. The Exiles.
The four Conroy sisters spend a wild summer at the seaside with Big Grandma, who tries to break them of their reading habit by substituting fresh air and hard work for books and gets unexpected results.

Mills, Claudia. You're a Brave Man, Julius Zimmerman.
Twelve-year-old Julius has his hands full over the summer when his mother attempts to improve his grades and teach him responsibility by signing him up for a French class and getting him a job babysitting.

Murphy, Barbara. Ace Hits the Big Time.
On the day he enters Kennedy High in Manhattan wearing a patch over one eye, sixteen-year-old Horace Hobaart is urged to join the toughest gang at school.

Nodelman, Perry. Behaving Bradley.
Recruited by his best friend to gather student input for the proposed Code of Conduct at his high school, Brad encounters obstinate faculty members, monstrous bullies, spineless student leaders, and personal agendas.

Paulsen, Gary. The Boy Who Owned the School.
Jacob Freisten, often in a fog, tries to ease through high school unnoticed; but a beautiful classmate takes notice of him and his life begins to change.

Paulsen, Gary. The Schernoff Discoveries.
Harold and his best friend, both hopeless geeks and societal misfits, try to survive unusual science experiments, the attacks of the football team, and other dangers of junior high school.

Payne, C.D. Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twisp.
The diaries of teenager Nick Twisp and his frustration at trying to get a girlfriend.

Peck, Richard. Bel-Air Bambi and the Mall Rats.
Bambi, Buffie, and Brick, three totally cool siblings from Los Angeles, move with their parents to Hickory Fork, a small town terrorized by a high school gang.

Peck, Richard. A Long Way from Chicago.
A boy recounts his annual summer trips to rural Illinois with his sister during the Great Depression to visit their larger-than-life grandmother.

Peck, Richard. Those Summer Girls I Never Met.
Drew and Stephanie, ages almost-sixteen and fourteen, reluctantly take a Baltic cruise with their heretofore unknown grandmother, a singing star of the 1940s, and have the experience of a lifetime.

Peck, Richard. A Year Down Yonder.
During the recession of 1937, fifteen-year-old Mary Alice is sent to live with her feisty, larger-than-life grandmother in rural Illinois and comes to a better understanding of this fearsome woman.

Pettersson, Allan Rune. Frankenstein's Aunt.
When Aunt Frankenstein arrives at the castle of her nephew,who created the monster to restore that place to order and clear the family's blackened name, she encounters both Dracula and the werewolf and attempts to solve their problems, too.

Rennison, Louise. Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson.
Presents the humorous journal of a year in the life of a fourteen-year-old British girl who tries to reduce the size of her nose, stop her mad cat from terrorizing the neighborhood animals, and win the love of handsome hunk Robbie.

Rennison, Louise. Knocked Out by My Nunga-Nungas: Further, Further Confessions of Georgia Nicolson.
The saga of fourteen-year-old Georgia Nicolson continues as she travels to Scotland on a nightmarish family vacation, confesses her anxiety over being the girlfriend of a sex god, and tests the limits of true friendship.

Rennison, Louise. On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God: Further Confessions of Georgia Nicolson.
Fourteen-year-old Georgia continues her diary in which she records her misadventures trying to reclaim the attention of seventeen-year-old Robbie, while coping with her friends, family, and dog-like cat Angus at the same time.

Sachar, Louis. Holes.
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.

Sheldon, Dyan. Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen.
In her first year at a suburban New Jersey high school, Mary Elizabeth Cep, who now calls herself "Lola," sets her sights on the lead in the annual drama production, and finds herself in conflict with the most popular girl in school.

Sleator, William. Oddballs: Stories.
A collection of stories based on experiences from the author's youth and peopled with an unusual assortment of family and friends.

Springer, Nancy. Ribbiting Tales: Original Stories about Frogs
Humorous stories celebrating frogs by such authors as Brian Jacques, and Jane Yolen.

Strasser, Todd. How I Spent My Last Night on Earth.
When a rumor appears on the Internet that a giant asteroid is about to destroy Earth, Legs Hanover scrambles to meet the boy of her dreams, elusive Andros Bliss.

Townsend, Sue. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4.
The humorous diary of a thirteen-year-old English boy.

Welter, John. I Want to Buy a Vowel.
Eva Galt, a young minister's child, begins asking hard questions about God and her parents' divorce, while illegal immigrant Alfredo Santayana questions the American dream, and when their paths cross, the result is a satire on small-town media culture run amok.

Zindel, Paul. The Undertaker's Gone Bananas.
Two teenagers believe a neighbor, an undertaker, has murdered his wife but can't convince anyone else.

updated 1/2006