Complete List (pdf)

New Jersey Novels

A Compilation of Lists by One Book New Jersey and Ocean County Libraries

Bauer, Cat. Harley, Like a Person . Winslow Press, 2000.

Fourteen-year-old Harley, an artistic teenager living with her alcoholic father and angry mother, suspects that she is adopted and begins a search for her biological parents.

Black, Holly. Tithe, a Modern Faerie. Simon & Schuster, 2002.

Sixteen-year-old Kaye, who has been visited by faeries since childhood, discovers that she herself is a magical faerie creature with a special destiny.

Coman, Carolyn. Tell Me Everything. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1993.

After her mother dies in a rescue mission on a snowy mountain, twelve-year-old Roz wonders if talking to God, and to the boy for whom her mother died, can help her understand what happened.

Hanauer, Cathi. My Sister's Bones. Dell Pub., 1997.

When Billie's older sister Cassie gets sick, she becomes the sounding board for the person she once looked up to most.

Danziger, Paula and Ann M. Martin. Snail Mail No More . Paula Danziger. Scholastic, 2000. (Gr. 6-8)

Now that they live in different cities, thirteen-year-old Tara and Elizabeth use email to "talk" about everything that is occuring in their lives and to try to maintain their closeness as they face big changes.

Desai Hidier, Tanjua. Born Confused. Scholastic Press, 2002.

Seventeen-year-old Dimple, whose family is from India , discovers that she is not Indian enough for the Indians and not American enough for the Americans, as she sees her hypnotically beautiful, manipulative best friend taking possession of both her heritage and the boy she likes.

Klass, David. Home of the Braves . Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002.

Eighteen-year-old Joe, captain of the soccer team, is dismayed when a hotshot player shows up from Brazil and threatens to take over both the team and the girl whom Joe hopes to date.

Klass, Sheila Solomon. Page Four Bantam Books, 1986.

During senior year when his father leaves his "all-American" family, Dave's schoolwork, sports, and relationships suffer to the point where he sometimes feels he'll never recover.

Korman, Gordon. Son of the Mob . Hyperion, 2002.

Seventeen-year-old Vince's life is constantly complicated by the fact that he is the son of a powerful Mafia boss, a relationship that threatens to destroy his romance with the daughter of an FBI agent.

Lubar, David. Dunk. Clarion Books, 2002.

While hoping to work as the clown in an amusement park dunk tank on the New Jersey shore the summer before his junior year in high school, Chad faces his best friend's serious illness, hassles with police, and the girl that got away.

Martin, Ann M. Missing Since Monday . Holiday House, 1986.

When their little sister doesn't come home from school, fifteen-year-old Maggie and her brother must face up to some deep, dark secrets about their natural mother, whom they must consider as a kidnapping suspect.

McCafferty, Megan. Sloppy Firsts . Crown Publishers, 2001. (Grades 9+)

Jessica learns to cope with high school drama after her best friend moves away. (Sequel: Second Helpings )

McDonald, Joyce. Shades of Simon Gray . Delacorte Press, 2001. (Gr. 7+)

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.

McDonald, Joyce. Shadow People . Delacorte Press, 2000. (Gr. 8+)

When his family moves to a secluded area in western New Jersey after his brother is murdered, Gabriel finds himself involved with three other teenagers, each with his or her own problems, in a series of increasingly violent acts.

McDonald, Joyce. Swallowing Stones . Delacorte Press, 1997. (Gr. 7+)

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.

Moore, Peter. Blind Sighted . Viking, 2002. (Gr. 9+)

Kirk is forced to fend for himself when his mother runs away to California with her boyfriend.

Nelson, Theresa. The Beggar's Ride . Orchard Books, 1992. (Gr. 6-8)

Twelve-year-old Clare flees an unhappy home life and tries to survive on the streets of Atlantic City with a small gang of homeless kids, each of whom has his own secret reason for distrusting society.

Perrotta, Tom. Election. G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1998. (Gr. 9+)

A New Jersey high school teacher Mr. McAllister gets more than he bargained for when he decides to fix the election for the student council president.

Plum-Ucci, Carol. The Body of Christopher Creed . Harcourt, 2000.

Torey Adams, a high school junior with a seemingly perfect life, struggles with doubts and questions surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the class outcast.

Plum-Ucci, Carol. The She . Harcourt, 2003. (Gr. 8+)

After his parents are lost at sea, Evan Barrett and his older brother leave their seaside home in West Hook to escape bad memories, but years later even worse questions emerge when Evan is asked to help a fellow student deal with another sea-related tragedy.

Plum-Ucci, Carol. What Happened to Lani Garver . Harcourt, 2002. (Gr. 9+)

Sixteen-year-old Claire is unable to face her fears about a recurrence of her leukemia, her eating disorder, her need to fit in with the popular crowd on Hackett Island , and her mother's alcoholism until the enigmatic Lani Garver helps her get control of her life at the risk of his own.

Rinaldi, Ann. A Ride Into Morning: The Story of Tempe Wick . Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991. (Gr. 7-9)

When unrest spreads at the Revolutionary War camp in Morristown , New Jersey , under the command of General Anthony Wayne, a young woman cleverly hides her horse from the mutinous soldiers who have need of it.

Rinaldi, Ann. Time Enough for Drums . Holiday House, 1986. (Gr. 6-9)

Sixteen-year-old Jem and her servant struggle to keep things going at home in Trenton , New Jersey, when the family men join the war for independence from the British king.

Sheldon, Dyan. Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen . Candlewick Press, 1999. (Gr. 6-10)

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.

Sheldon, Dyan. My Perfect Life . Candlewick Press, 2002. (Gr. 7-10)

Ella has no interest in running for class president at her suburban New Jersey high school, but her offbeat friend Lola tricks her into challenging the rich and overbearing Carla Santini in a less-than-friendly race.

Weisberg, Joseph. 10th Grade . Random House, 2002. (Gr. 9+)

Jeremy finds a new group of friends and chronicles his life in his journal.