8th Grade Complete List (pdf) | Pick of the Decade Complete List (pdf)
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Pick of the Decade 1995-2005: Best Fiction Lasky, Kathryn. True North , 1996. Because of the strong influence which her grandfather, an abolitionist, has in her life, fourteen-year-old Lucy assists a fugitive slave girl in her escape. Lawrence, Iain. Ghost Boy , 2000. Unhappy in a home seemingly devoid of love, a fourteen-year-old albino boy who thinks of himself as Harold the Ghost runs away to join the circus, where he works with the elephants and searches for a sense of who he is. Lawrence, Iain. B for Buster , 2004. In the spring of 1943, sixteen-year-old Kak, desperate to escape his abusive parents, lies about his age to enlist in the Canadian Air Force and soon finds himself based in England as part of a crew flying bombing raids over Germany . Lawrence, Michael. A Crack in the Line , 2004. It's been two years since his mother died in a terrible train crash, and Alaric's life continues to unravel. He and his father are barely on speaking terms, and Withern Rise, their Victorian mansion, is in shambles. Trapped at home during a blizzard, Alaric stumbles into a parallel world; a reality in which his mother is still alive. There's only one problem ... someone else is living his life. Lee, Tanith. Piratica: Being a Daring Tale of a Singular Girl's Adventure upon the High Seas , 2004. A bump on the head restores Art's memories of her mother and the exciting life they led, so the sixteen-year-old leaves Angels Academy for Young Maidens, seeks out the pirates who were her family before her mother's death, and leads them back to adventure on the high seas. Lester, Julius. Day of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue , 2005. Slave owner, Pierce Butler must sell his slaves to cover his gambling debts and although he promises twelve-year-old Emma that he will never sell her, he does on the last day of the auctions. Emma moves to Kentucky with her new mistress, where she eventually marries, runs away and finally finds freedom in Canada . Lubar, David. Hidden Talents , 2000. When thirteen-year-old Martin arrives at an alternative school for misfits and problem students, he falls in with a group of boys with psychic powers and discovers something surprising about himself. McNaughton, Janet. An Earthly Knight , 2004. In 1162 in Scotland, sixteen-year-old Jenny Avenel falls in love with the mysterious Tam Lin while being courted by the king's brother and must navigate the tides of tradition and the power of ancient magic to define her own destiny. Mack, Tracy . Birdland , 2003. Fourteen-year-old, tongue-tied Jed spends Christmas break working on a school project filming a documentary about his East Village, New York City, neighborhood, where he is continually reminded of his older brother, Zeke, a promising poet who died the year before.
Mackler, Carolyn. The Earth, My Butt and Other Round Things , 2003. Fifteen-year-old Virginia Shreves has a larger-than-average body and a plus-size inferiority complex. She lives on the Web, snarfs junk food, and follows the "Fat Girl Code of Conduct." Marchetta, Melina. Saving Francesca , 2004. Sixteen-year-old Francesca could use her outspoken mother's help with the problems of being one of a handful of girls at a parochial school that has just turned co-ed, but her mother has suddenly become severely depressed. Mazer, Norma Fox. Missing Pieces , 1996. As she watches her friends with their fathers, fourteen-year-old Jessie decides the family she shares with her mother and her great-great-aunt is not enough, so she sets out to learn more about the father who left when she was just a baby. McCormick, Patricia. Cut , 2000. While confined to a mental hospital, thirteen-year-old Callie slowly comes to understand some of the reasons behind her self-mutilation, and gradually starts to get better. McDonald, Janet. Spellbound , 2003. Raven, a teenage mother and high school dropout living in a housing project, decides, with the help and sometime interference of her best friend Aisha, to study for a spelling bee which could lead to a college preparatory program and four-year scholarship. McDonald, Joyce. Shades of Simon Gray , 2001. Seventeen-year-old Simon lies in a coma, finding his space and time overlapping with that of a man who was lynched over 200 years ago, while a member of the cheating ring he has been helping wonders if their actions have caused the plagues assaulting their New Jersey town. (See also: Shadow People and Swallowing Stones .) McNamee, Graham. Hate You , 1999. Nursing hatred for the father who choked her and damaged her voice as a child, seventeen-year-old Alice writes songs she feels she cannot sing and seeks to reconcile her feelings for herself and her father. (See also: Acceleration .) McNaughton, James. An Earthly Knight , 2004. In 1162 in Scotland, sixteen-year-old Jenny Avenel falls in love with the mysterious Tam Lin while being courted by the king's brother and must navigate the tides of tradition and the power of ancient magic to define her own destiny. Mikaelson, Ben. Petey , 1999. In 1922 Petey, who has cerebral palsy, is misdiagnosed as an idiot and institutionalized; sixty years later, still in the institution, he befriends a boy and shares with him the joy of life. Morpurgo, Michael. Private Peaceful , 2004. When Thomas Peaceful's older brother is forced to join the British army, Thomas decides to sign up as well, although he is only fourteen-years-old, to prove himself to his country, his family, his childhood love, Molly, and himself. Murphy, Rita. Night Flying , 2000. As the time for her solo flight on the sixteenth birthday approaches, Georgia begins to question the course of her life and her relationships with the other women in her unusual family.
Myers, Walter Dean. Monster , 1999. 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. (See also: Slam .) Na, An. A Step from Heaven , 2001. A young Korean girl and her family find it difficult to learn English and adjust to life in America . Naidoo, Beverly. The Other Side of the Truth , 2001. Smuggled out of Nigeria after their mother's murder, Sade and her younger brother are abandoned in London when their uncle fails to meet them at the airport and they are fearful of their new surroundings and of what may have happened to their journalist father back in Nigeria . Napoli , Donna Jo. Beast , 2000. The story of Beauty and the Beast is retold from the Beast's point of view. Here, the Beast is a Persian prince who is cursed to be a lion until he wins the love of a woman. (See also: The Song of the Magdalene , For the Love of Venice and Bound .) Nix, Garth. Shade's Children , 1997. In a savage post nuclear world, four young fugitives attempt to overthrow the bloodthirsty rule of the Overlords with the help of Shade, their mysterious mentor. Oates, Joyce Carol. Big Mouth and Ugly Girl , 2002. When sixteen-year-old Matt is falsely accused of threatening to blow up his high school and his friends turn against him, an unlikely classmate comes to his aid. Oppel, Kenneth. Airborn , 2004. Matt, a young cabin boy aboard an airship, and Kate, a wealthy young girl traveling with her chaperone, team up to search for the existence of mysterious winged creatures reportedly living hundreds of feet above the Earth's surface. Orr, Wendy. Peeling the Onion , 1997. Following an automobile accident in which her neck is broken, a teenage karate champion begins a long and painful recovery with the help of her family. Pattou, Edith. East , 2003. Rose was raised in a small Norwegian village and her mother would like to keep her close to home, but she has a wandering spirit. When her sister becomes ill and a white bear offers a cure in exchange for Rose, Rose chooses to accompany him to his castle-in-a-cave. While her sister recovers, Rose finds enchantment and danger in her new home. Pearson, Mary. Scibbler of Dreams , 2001. Despite her family's long feud with the Crutchfields, seventeen-year-old Kaitlin falls in love with Bram Crutchfield and weaves a tangled web of deception to conceal her identity from him.
Pennebaker, Ruth. Both Sides Now , 2000. Fifteen-year-old Liza tries to deal with the normal everyday crises of life in an Austin , Texas , high school, a process complicated by her mother's fight with breast cancer. (See also: Conditions of Love .) Powell, Randy. Tribute to Another Dead Rock Star , 1999. For a tribute to his mother, a dead rock star, fifteen-year-old Grady returns to Seattle , where he faces his mixed feelings for his retarded younger half-brother Louie while pondering his own future. (See also: Whistling Toilets .) |
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