Fiction A-C | Fiction D-G | Fiction H-O | Fiction P-Z
6th Grade Complete List (pdf) | Pick of the Decade Complete List (pdf)
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Pick of the Decade 1995-2005: Best Fiction Haas, Jessie. Unbroken , 1999. Following her mother's death in the early 1900s, thirteen-year-old Harry lives on Aunt Sarah's farm where an accident with her spirited colt leaves her a changed young woman. (See also: Shaper .) Hahn, Mary Downing. The Gentleman Outlaw and Me-Eli , 1996. In 1887 twelve-year-old Eliza, disguised as a boy and traveling towards Colorado in search of her missing father, falls in with a Gentleman Outlaw and joins him in his illegal schemes. (See also: Following My Own Footsteps .) Henkes, Kevin. Olive's Ocean , 2003. On a summer visit to her grandmother's cottage by the ocean, twelve-year-old Martha gains perspective on the death of a classmate, on her relationship with her grandmother, on her feelings for an older boy, and on her plans to be a writer. (See also: Words of Stone and Protecting Marie .) Hesse, Karen. Out of the Dust , 1997. In a series of narrative poems, fifteen-year-old Billie Jo relates the hardships of living on her family's wheat farm in Oklahoma during the dust bowl years of the Depression. (See also: Letters from Rifka and Phoenix Rising .) Hesse, Karen. Stowaway , 2000. A fictionalized journal relates the experiences of a young stowaway from 1768 to 1771 aboard the Endeavor which sailed around the world under Captain James Cook. (See also: A Time of Angels .) Hobbs, Will. Ghost Canoe , 1997. Nathan, fishing with the Makah in the Pacific Northwest , finds himself holding a vital clue when a mysterious stranger comes to town looking for Spanish treasure. Holmes, Barbara. Following Fake Man , 2001. During his summer in Maine , twelve-year-old Homer, together with his new friend Roger, is determined to find the truth about himself, his long-dead father, and a mysterious costumed man. Holt, Kimberly Willis. Dancing in Cadillac Light , 2001. In 1968, eleven-year-old Jaynell's life in the town of Moon , Texas , is enlivened when her eccentric Grandpap comes to live with her family. Hoobler, Dorothy. Ghost in the Takaido Inn , 1999. While attempting to solve the mystery of a stolen jewel, Seikeia merchant's son who longs to be a samurai, joins a group of kabuki actors in eighteenth-century Japan . (Sequels: The Demon in the Teahouse and In Darkness, Death .)
Ibbotson, Eva. The Star of Kazan , 2004. After twelve-year-old Annika, a foundling living in late nineteenth-century Vienna , inherits a trunk of costume jewelry, a woman claiming to be her aristocratic mother arrives and takes her to live in a strangely decrepit mansion in Germany . Isaacs, Anne. Torn Thread , 2000. In an attempt to save his daughter's life, Eva's father sends her from Poland to a labor camp in Czechoslovakia where she and her sister survive the war. Jennings, Richard. The Beastly Arms , 2001. Nickel, a boy with a great affinity for both animals and photography, moves into an apartment building run by the strange and mysterious Mr. Beastly and discovers a secret about the other tenants. Johnson, Angela. Heaven , 1998. Marley's seemingly perfect life in the small town of Heaven is disrupted when she discovers that her father and mother are not her real parents. Johnson, Angela. Bird , 2004. Devastated by the loss of a second father, thirteen-year-old Bird follows her stepfather from Cleveland to Alabama in hopes of convincing him to come home, and along the way helps two boys. Kaaberbol, Lene. Shamer's Daughter , 2004. Both Dina and her mother possess the magical gift of truth-telling. They can look into anyone's eyes and know their deepest secrets and shames. When Drakan, lord of Dunark castle, summons the Shamer, Dina's mother goes but cannot condemn Nicodemus for murder as Drakan wishes, for the seventeen-year-old is innocent. The lord arrests her for being false and it is up to Dina and Nico to rescue her and prove the guilt of the usurping Drakan. (Sequel: Shamer's Signet .) Karr, Kathleen. Skullduggery , 2000. In 1839, twelve-year-old Matthew's job as assistant to the phrenologist Dr. Cornwall takes him up and down the Eastern Seaboard and to Europe , as they rob graves and try to find out who is following them and why. Katz, Welwyn. Out of the Dark , 1996. After he builds and successfully sails the model ship which he names for his absent mother, thirteen-year-old Ben begins to accept his new life in the land of the historical Vikings. Kirkpatrick, Katherine. Trouble's Daughter: The Story of Susanna Hutchinson, Indian Captive , 1996, o.p. When her family is massacred by Lenape Indians in 1643, nine-year-old Susanna, daughter of Anne Hutchinson, is captured and raised as a Lenape. Konigsburg, E. L. Silent to the Bone , 2000. When he is wrongly accused of gravely injuring his baby half-sister, thirteen-year-old Branwell loses his power of speech and only his friend Connor is able to reach him and uncover the truth about what really happened. (Prequel: The Outcasts of 19 Shuyler Place .) Korman, Gordon. No More Dead Dogs , 2001. 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. Kurtz, Jane. The Storyteller's Beads , 1998. During the political strife and famine of the 1980's, two Ethiopian girls, one Christian and the other Jewish and blind, struggle to overcome many difficulties, including their prejudices about each other, as they make the dangerous journey out of Ethiopia.
Leavitt, Martine. Heck Superhero , 2004. Abandoned by his mentally ill mother, thirteen-year-old Heck tries to survive on his own as his mind bounces between the superhero character he imagines himself to be and the harsh reality of his life. Levine, Gail Carson. Dave at Night , 1999. When orphaned Dave is sent to the Hebrew Home for Boys where he is treated cruelly, he sneaks out at night and is welcomed into the music- and culture-filled world of the Harlem Renaissance. Levine, Gail Carson. The Two Princesses of Bamarre , 2001. Meryl is the adventurous sister and Addie the timid one. When Meryl falls ill, it is Meryl who braves specters, griffins and dragons to try to save her sister. Levine, Gail Carson. The Wish , 2000. When Wilma gives an old woman on the subway her seat, her kindness is rewarded by the granting of one wish. Wilma wishes to be the most popular kid in Claverford school. Too late, she realizes that she only has three more weeks until graduation. Lowry, Lois. Messenger , 2004. In this novel that unites characters from The Giver and Gathering Blue, Matty, a young member of a utopian community that values honesty, conceals an emerging healing power that he cannot explain or understand. Lubar, David. Flip , 2003. Eighth-graders Ryan and Taylor are twins, but that's where the similarities end. But they share at least one thing in common: nothing is turning out as they planned. Lynch, David. Slot Machine , 1995. When overweight thirteen-year-old Elvin Bishop is sent to camp at St. Paul 's Seminary Retreat Center , he and his two best friends are forced to try out various sports in order to find out where they belong. (See also: Gold Dust .) Lyons, Mary. Dear Ellen Bee: A Civil War Scrapbook of Two Union Spies , 2000. A scrapbook kept by a young black girl details her experiences and those of the older white woman, "Miss Bet," who had freed her and her family, sent her north from Richmond to get an education, and then worked to bring an end to slavery. Based on the life of Elizabeth Van Lew. Mahy, Margaret. The Other Side of Silence , 1995. As a member of a gifted, idiosyncratic, and argumentative family, twelve-year-old Hero chooses mutism until she reconciles the true with the real in her life. McCaughrean, Geraldine. Stop the Train! 1996. Despite the opposition of the owner of the Red Rock Runner railroad in 1893, the new settlers of Florence , Oklahoma , are determined to build a real town. McGraw, Eloise. Moorchild , 1996. The children of the village hate Saaski for being different. The only place she feels at home is on the lonely moor with her pipes. Gradually, she begins to suspect the truth of why she does not belong and seeks to set things right with the fairies.
McKay, Hilary. Exiles in Love , 1998. When Big Grandma takes the four Conroy sisters on holiday as a cure for the "family failing," the girls wonder if their grandmother herself is still susceptible to it. (Previous titles: The Exiles and The Exiles at Home .) Martin, Ann. A Corner of the Universe , 2002. The summer that Hattie turns twelve, she meets the childlike uncle she never knew and becomes friends with a girl who works at the carnival that comes to Hattie's small town. Martin, Ann. Here Today , 2004. In 1963, when her flamboyant mother abandons the family to pursue her dream of becoming an actress, eleven-year-old Ellie Dingman takes charge of her younger siblings, while also trying to deal with her outcast status in school and frightening acts of prejudice toward the "misfits" that live on her street. Morgan, Clay. The Boy Who Spoke Dog , 2003. After being marooned on an island near New Zealand , Jack, an orphaned cabin boy from San Francisco , becomes allied with a group of dogs who protect the local sheep from wild dogs. Moore, Martha. Under the Mermaid Angel , 1995. Through an unusual friendship with her thirty-one-year-old neighbor in a Texas trailer park, thirteen-year-old Jesse learns that what's inside a person is more important than what's outside. Morpurgo, Michael. Kensuke's Kingdom , 2003. When Michael is swept off his family's yacht, he washes up on a desert island, where he struggles to survive--until he finds he is not alone. Myers, Anna. The Keeping Room , 1997. Left in charge of the family by his father who joins the Revolutionary War effort, thirteen-year-old Joey undergoes such great changes that he fears he may be betraying his beloved parent. Napoli , Donna Jo. Stones in the Water , 1997. After being taken from a local movie theater--along with other Italian boys, including his Jewish friend--by German soldiers, Roberto is forced to work for the German war effort until he escapes into the Ukrainian winter, desperately trying to make his way back home to Venice . Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. Ice , 1995. When thirteen-year-old Chrissa is sent to her paternal grandmother's farm, she learns more about her absent father and some of the reasons for her distant relationship with her mother.
Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. Including Alice , 2004. Alice, now fifteen, finds it hard to adjust to the changes in her life, including her father's marriage and her brother moving out and getting his own apartment. (Newest in the Alice series which includes: The Agony of Alice ; Alice in Rapture, Sort of ; Reluctantly Alice ; All but Alice ; Alice in April ; Alice In-Between ; Alice the Brave ; Alice in Lace ; Outrageously Alice ; Achingly Alice ; Alice on the Outside ; The Grooming of Alice ; Alice Alone ; Simply Alice ; Patiently Alice and Alice on Her Way .) Nye, Naomi Shahib. Habibi , 1997. When fourteen-year-old Liyanne Abboud, her younger brother, and her parents move from St. Louis to a new home between Jerusalem and the Palestinian village where her father was born, they face many changes and must deal with the tensions between Jews and Palestinians. Oppel, Kenneth . Silverwing , 1997. When a newborn bat named Shade but sometimes called "Runt" becomes separated from his colony during migration, he grows in ways that prepare him for even greater journeys. (Sequels: Sunwing and Firewing .) |
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