Bearstone

In this award-winning adventure set along Colorado's Continental Divide, 14-year-old Cloyd Atcitty is sent to work for an old rancher named Walter. While hiking in the cliffs above Walter's ranch, Cloyd discovers a turquoise bearstone in an ancient burial. Knowing that his people, the Utes, have a special relationship with bears, he decides to keep the small stone in hopes it will bring him strength. Cloyd is thrilled when Walter proposes that the two of them go up into the mountains together to reopen the old man's gold mine, The Pride of the West. Riding his horse far from their camp, Cloyd comes face-to-face with the last grizzly bear in Colorado, only to find that there's a trophy hunter stalking the bear. In the story's exciting climax, Cloyd tries to warn the bear and to save Walter, who has been injured in a mining explosion.

Beardance

In Bearstone (RB# 94858), 14-year-old Cloyd Atcitty watched as a hunter killed what he thought was the last grizzly bear in Colorado. In this sequel, Cloyd continues his quest to find grizzlies in the mountains. Exploring the Weminuche Wilderness, Cloyd finds a pair of orphaned grizzly cubs. He must draw on his courage, determination, and Ute Indian heritage to teach them how to live in the wild. With winter approaching and food growing scarce, Cloyd must not only ensure the survival of the bears, but return to civilization before starvation and cold kill him. Will Hobbs lives in southwestern Colorado, where he spends much of the year in the mountains, exploring new settings for his books. Beardance is a winner of the Golden Spur Award for Juvenile Fiction, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and an ABA Pick of the Lists.

Forged by Fire

When his aunt dies, Gerald is thrust into a new home where his brutal stepfather, Jordan, makes life miserable. When Gerald learns that Jordan is sexually abusing his stepsister, he risks physical assault and public embarrassment to rescue her. "An explosive sequel to Tears of a Tiger." -Ingram

The Girl Who Owned a City

After a virus wipes out everyone over the age of twelve, the surviving children find themselves on the verge of starvation. In a Chicago suburb, ten-year-old Lisa Nelson thinks of ways to get food that the other children haven't thought of, such as breaking into a grocery warehouse and driving out to a farm, but this makes her a target of gangs of boys who steal her stuff. Lisa tries to turn the local kids into a militia, but finding that her street is impossible to defend, relocates them to the local high school. The high school is as defensible as a castle, and after they recruit enough children that the population swells to over 500, as populous as a city.

The Great Gilly Hopkins

How can the great Gilly Hopkins be expected to tolerate an ignorant foster mother, a freaky foster brother, or the poetry-loving black man next door? At first Gilly despises them all, but finds herself slowly drawn into their circle of love.

Heads or Tails

A collection of six semi-autobiographical stories by the author of the Rotten Ralph picture books. Here a sixth grader named Jack deals with such strange situations as when a neighbor drives his car on Jack's family's lawn and the bizarre death of a pet dog., Jack's diary helps him deal with his problems which include dog-eating alligators, a terror for an older sister, a younger brother who keeps breaking parts of himself, and next-door neighbors who are really weird.

Homecoming

In Cynthia Voigt's first novel — and the introduction to her Tillerman saga — the four Tillerman children, abandoned by their emotionally ill mother, travel on foot from New England to their paternal grandmother's Maryland farm in search of a place to call home. Will great-aunt Cilla welcome them? Or will they be caught by authorities and put in foster homes?

I Am Rosa Parks

When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, in December 1955, she made history. In simple, lively language, she tells about her life from childhood to the present, and describes the bus boycott that propelled the Civil Rights Movement to national attention.

Island of the Blue Dolphins

Karana, an Indian girl, lives happily with her people on the Island of the Blue Dolphins. It is an island in the Pacific that gets its name from its beautiful shape — from above it looks like a dolphin lying on its side, "with its tail pointing toward sunrise," sunning itself in the sea. Around it blue dolphins swim, otters play, and sea elephants and sea birds thrive. Karana's people live in harmony among the other animals on and around the island as they have for generations. Her father is the chief of the village. And then one day a boat comes captained by a Russian man, who "looked at the little harbor as though it already belonged to him." The captain and his crew wish to hunt sea otter on their own terms. Their disregard for the ways of the Indians leads to bloody consequences, and Karana's family is destroyed, and eventually with the arrival of more white men, the entire community disappears from the island, save Karana.

Junebug

Junebug is a boy compelled by circumstances to be a man. He will inspire readers with his courage, determination, and wit. But in this gripping, uplifting novel it is simply the hero's refusal to stop dreaming that will touch readers most deeply.

The Kid Who Ran for President

With his friend as campaign manager and his former babysitter as running mate, twelve-year-old Judson Moon sets out to become President of the United States.

Mossflower

Martin the warrior mouse and Gonff the mousethief set out to find the missing ruler of Mossflower, while the other animal inhabitants of the woodland prepare to rebel against the evil wildcat who has seized power.

Pacific Crossing

When Lincoln Mendoza leaves his home in San Francisco to spend the summer in Japan, he imagines that he'll be spending all of his time studying the martial arts. But once he crosses the Pacific and meets his host family, Lincoln finds baseball, family life, history, and tradition. He also discovers that people are eager to know more about him. How can he explain what it means to be both Mexican and American?

Rowan and the Ice Creepers

"Four must make their sacrifice. In the realm twixt fire and ice . . . The quest unites both life and death." The wise woman Sheba's ominous words haunt Rowan. The bitter winter has lasted far too long and won't loosen its deadly hold on the land. As food stores dwindle, the people of Rin flee to the warmer coast. Rowan and two friends -- and a shadow -- journey up the mountain that towers over Rin to seek the source of the unending cold. Rowan knows from past experience that the mountain is unpredictable and harbors many dangers. But now waves of freezing air stream down its sides. And ferocious ice creepers -- giant eyeless creatures with gaping jaws and teeth like shards of ice -- slither from its shadow eager to devour any warm being. Will Rowan and his friends somehow be able to bring spring -- and life -- back to the land? Can they survive the perils of the mountain and the attacks of the ice creepers? "

Ruby Holler

"Dallas and Florida have been dubbed the "trouble twins." They have been shuffled between foster families and orphanages all their lives, longing only for a loving place to call home, though mistrustful that one exists for the likes of them. Tiller and Sairy are an eccentric older couple whose children are grown and long gone, and they're each restless for one more big adventure while their bodies are still spry enough to paddle a river or climb a mountain. Ruby Holler is the beautiful, mysterious place that changes all their lives forever. When Tiller and Sairy invite Dallas and Florida to stay with them and keep them company on their adventures, the magic of the Holler takes over, and the two kids begin to think that maybe, just maybe the old folks aren't so bad... Filled with humor, poignancy, cookies, and treasure maps, Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech's Ruby Holler is a

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes

"Hiroshima-born Sadako is lively and athletic--the star of her school's running team. And then the dizzy spells start. Soon gravely ill with leukemia, the "atom bomb disease," Sadako faces her future with spirit and bravery. Recalling a Japanese legend, Sadako sets to work folding paper cranes. For the legend holds that if a sick person folds one thousand cranes, the gods will grant her wish and make her healthy again. Based on a true story, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes celebrates the extraordinary courage that made one young woman a heroine in Japan"

The Same Stuff as Stars

"Angel Morgan Needs Help. Her daddy is in jail, and her mother has abandoned Angel and her little brother, Bernie, at their great-grandmother's crumbling Vermont farmhouse. Grandma, aged and poor, spends most of her time wrapped in a blanket by the wood stove and can't care for the children. That's left up to Angel, even though she is not yet twelve. In this dreary world of canned beans and peaches, of adult worries and loneliness, there is only one bright spot -- a mysterious stranger who appears on clear nights and teaches Angel all about the stars and planets and constellations. Angel's quest to carve out a new life for herself and Bernie makes for a powerful, moving story that could arise only from the keen sensitivity, penetrating sense of drama, and honed skill of master storyteller Katherine Paterson. "

Sarny

A riveting story of the power of literacy against the inhumanity of the slave system in the pre-Civil War South.Travel to the Waller plantation and meet 12-year-old Sarny, a slave whose mother was sold away when she was four. Sarny first sees Nightjohn when he is brought to the plantation with a rope around his neck, his body covered with scars from many beatings. Sarny is drawn to Nightjohn when she learns that he had escaped North to freedom, only to voluntarily return to the South. Nightjohn has a self-imposed mission–to teach slaves how to read and write. He believes knowledge is the key to helping slaves break out of bondage. Sarny is willing to take the risk, even knowing that the penalty for reading is dismemberment.

Shark Bait

Mokes is 12, and he knows he's supposed to stay home when the Navy ships drop anchor in the harbor. Anything can happen on those nights when his sleepy Hawaiian village wakes up -- with everyone dancing, laughing, drinking, fighting. But tonight Mokes has got to be there. His hero, Booley, has sworn to get revenge on a sailor, and Mokes must uphold one of the codes of survival: Stand by your friends. There's one problem, though. Mokes's dad is the chief of police.

Short & Shivery

SHORT & SHIVERY invites you into the world of hair-raising tales chock-full of chills. The thirty stories in this book have been carefully selected from international ghost lore and skillfully retold with ghastly details and strong, shuddery endings. Come inside and meet the young miller's daughter in "The Robber Bridegroom," who may have discovered too late that she has been betrothed to a madman; the dancing skeleton who returns from the dead to haunt the friend who betrayed him in life; the Golem, who tires of serving his greedy master and suddenly turns evil; and the many other intriguing characters in stories from the Brother's Grimm, Washington Irving, and other world-famous authors. But before you settle down in your cozy reading chair, make sure all the lights are on!