Pick of the Decade 1995-2005:
7th Grade

Best Fiction

Kadohata, Cynthia. Kira-Kira , 2004.

Chronicles the close friendship between two Japanese-American sisters growing up in rural Georgia during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and the despair when one sister becomes terminally ill.

Krisher, Trudy. Uncommon Faith , 2003.

In 1837-38, residents of Millbrook , Massachusetts , speak in their different voices of major issues of their day, including women's rights, slavery, religious differences, and one fiery girl named Faith.

Lawrence, Iain. The Wreckers , 1998.

Shipwrecked after a vicious storm, fourteen-year-old John Spencer attempts to save his father and himself while also dealing with an evil secret about the English coastal town where they are stranded. (Sequels: The Smugglers and The Buccanneers .)

Le Guin, Ursula. Gifts , 2004.

In the Uplands the clans possess hereditary gifts of magic: to call animals, to bring forth fire, to twist a limb, chain a mind or unmake stone and bone. The gifts are wondrous and dangerous, and when two teenagers, Orrec and Gyr who have been best friends since childhood, decide not to use their gifts, their whole world changes. (See also: A Wizard of Earthsea ; The Tombs of Atuan ; The Farthest Shore and Tehanu .)

Lester, Julius. Pharoh's Daughter , 2000.

A fictionalized account of a Biblical story in which an Egyptian princess rescues a Hebrew infant who becomes a prophet of his people while his sister finds her true self as a priestess to the Egyptian gods. (See also: Othello .)

Marsden, John. Tomorrow When the War Began , 1995.

Seven Australian teenagers return home from a camping trip to discover that their country has been invaded and they must hide to stay alive. (Sequels: Dead of Night ; A Killing Frost ; Darkness Be My Friend ; Burning for Revenge ; The Night Is for Hunting and The Other Side of Dawn .)

Matas, Carol. After the War , 1996.

After being released from Buchenwald at the end of World War II, fifteen-year-old Ruth risks her life to lead a group of children across Europe to Palestine .

McCaffrey, Anne. Black Horses for the King , 1996.

Galwyn, son of a Roman Celt, escapes from his tyrannical uncle and joins Lord Artos, later know as King Arthur, using his talent with languages and way with horses to help secure and care for the Libyan horses that Artos hopes to use in battle against the Saxons.

McCaughrean, Geraldine. The Pirate's Son , 1998.

Left penniless in eighteenth century England , fourteen-year-old Nathan Gull and his mousy sister Maud accompany Tamo, the son of a notorious pirate, to his homeland of Madagascar where they are all changed by their encounter with Tamo's dangerous past.

McKinley, Robin. Rose Daughter , 1997.

Beauty grows to love the Beast at whose castle she is compelled to stay, and through her love he is released from the curse that had turned him from man to beast. (See also: Beauty , The Blue Sword , The Hero and the Crown and Spindle's End .)

Metzger, Lois. Missing Girls , 1999.

During eighth grade, Carrie moves in with her grandmother, becomes friends with an indrawn classmate, and comes to terms with her mother's death.

Mori, Kyoko. One Bird , 1995, o.p.

After her mother abandons them, fifteen-year-old Megumi tries to understand her father's need for his mistress while dealing with her own aching isolation.

Napoli , Donna Jo. Sirena , 1998.

The gods grant immortality to the mermaid Sirena when she rescues a human man from the sea and they fall in love, but his mortality creates great conflict between love and honor when he is called to defend Greece in the Trojan War. (See also: Crazy Jack , Spinners and Zel .)

Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. Jade Green: A Ghost Story , 1999.

While living with her uncle in a house haunted by the ghost of a young woman, recently orphaned Judith Sparrow wonders if her one small transgression causes mysterious happenings. (See also: Sang Spell .)

Nix, Garth. Sabriel , 1996.

Sabriel, the daughter of Abhorsen, the necromancer who lays the dead to rest, was born in the Old Kingdom , a place of magic and mystery, but schooled in the modern world. Now she must go back to find a way to rescue her father who is trapped in the land of the dead. (Sequels: Lirael and Abhorsen .)

Nolan, Han. Dancing on the Edge , 1997.

A young girl from a dysfunctional family creates for herself an alternative world which nearly results in her death but which ultimately leads her to reality.

Paulsen, Gary. Transall Saga , 1998.

While backpacking in the desert, thirteen-year-old Mark falls into a tube of blue light and is transported into a more primitive world, where he must use his knowledge and skills to survive.

Paulsen, Gary. The Rifle , 1995.

A priceless, handcrafted rifle, fired throughout the American Revolution, is passed down through the years until it fires on a fateful Christmas Eve of 1994.

Pearsall, Shelley. Trouble Don't Last , 2002.

Samuel, an eleven-year-old Kentucky slave, and Harrison, the elderly slave who helped raise him, attempt to escape to Canada via the Underground Railroad.

Peters, Julie Ann. Define " Normal " , 2000.

When she agrees to meet with Jasmine as a peer counselor at their middle school, Antonia never dreams that this girl with the black lipstick and pierced eyebrow will end up helping her deal with the serious problems she faces at home and become a good friend.

Philbrick, Rodman. The Last Book in the Universe , 2000.

In a world where most people are plugged into brain-drain entertainment systems epileptic teenager Spaz is a rare human being who can see life for what it really is. When he meets an old man called Ryter, he begins to learn about earth and its past. With Ryter as his companion, Spaz sets off on an unlikely quest to save his dying sister ­ and in the process, perhaps the world.

Pierce, Meredith Ann. Treasure at the Heart of Tanglewood , 2001.

Hannah, a healer with unusual powers, leaves the wizard she has always served and, along with her animal companions, begins a journey which uncovers the truth about her real nature.

Pierce, Tamora. Trickster's Choice , 2003.

Alianne, the daughter of Alanna who is the first Lady Knight of Tortall, but she would rather be a spy like her father. This ambition leads to her capture by slavers who whisk her off to the Copper Isles where she must use all of her wits to survive and escape. (Sequel: Trickster's Queen . See also: The Song of the Lioness quartet.)

Prachett, Terry. Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents , 2001.

A talking cat, intelligent rats, and a strange boy cooperate in a Pied Piper scam until they try to con the wrong town and are confronted by a deadly evil rat king.

Pullman, Philip. The Golden Compass , 1996.

Lyra lives in an alternate world, similar to modern day England , but different in some very significant ways. Like everyone in Lyra's world, Lyra has a daemon, a creature that is like an animal form of her spirit. They live at Jordan College and are being raised by Oxford professors. Lyra is not a good student, but she is curious. Her curiosity sets her on a path of adventure, armed only with a golden compass that will answer her questions, if only she could learn how to read it. On her journey, she meets witches and an armored bear, and learns of an evil plot. A group of scientists are kidnapping children and using them and their daemons in horrifying experiments. (Sequels: The Subtle Knife ; The Amber Spyglass and Lyra's Oxford .)