The Summer Reading List was compiled after consulting teachers, librarians, bookstores, booklists and journals. Although students are free to read any book on the list, suggested grade levels are given for each book.

Feel free to use the St. Margaret's Bookstore in partnership with Amazon.com for discounts on books. For ordering and book reviews, click on the title of your preferred book choice. Purchases made through Amazon.com or Schoolcash.com earn St. Margaret's School up to 15% return on each purchase. Contact George McDowell if you have further questions.

Abelove, Joan. Go and Come Back.  1996. Nonfiction. (8-12)    In a story of mutual culture shock, Alicia, a young Isabo girl in a remote area of Peru, is just as fascinated by the American anthropologists, Joanna and Margarita, as they are with the ways of her people. (FTCB)

Adams, Richard. Watership Down. 1974. (8-12) A timeless classic and one of the most beloved novels of all time. Set in England's Downs, a once idyllic rural landscape, this stirring tale of adventure, courage and survival follows a band of very special creatures on their flight from the intrusion of man and the certain destruction of their home. Led by a stouthearted pair of brothers, they journey forth from their native Sandleford Warren through the harrowing trials posed by predators and adversaries, to a mysterious promised land and a more perfect society.

Aebi, Tania.   Maiden Voyage.   1997. Nonfiction. (8-12)  The remarkable true adventure of the 18-year-old girl who left on a 27,000-mile, two-and-a-half-year solo sail around the globe, braving typhoons, pirates, and starvation to return home a woman, and a hero.

Albom, Mitch.  For One More Day.  2006. Nonfiction. (8-12)  Mitch Albom pays homage to all mothers with this novel that beautifully shows the enduring power of a mother's love, a love so strong it can transcend even death. This book is the is the story of Charles "Chick" Benetto's rise to Major League "stardom" and his plummet to shabby drunk including all the people he hurts in the process. The book focuses on Chick's attempt to completely demolish himself, and the rescue he receives at the side of his dead mother. One of the first lines in the book state how "every family is a ghost story" (Albom), but it really isn't. It's about what the mind keeps in remembrance of someone who has gone and passed away. It is about the pain that one goes through and how they can be healed, but only by choosing to repair themselves before it gets too late. This book is an overall quick, enlightening read, suitable for all ages, and a book which everyone should experience. Tuesdays with Morrie. is also recommended.

Allison, Dorothy. Bastard Out of Carolina. 1992. (9-12) Bone confronts poverty, the troubled marriage of her mother and stepfather, and the stigma of being considered "white trash" as she comes of age in South Carolina.(FCTB)

Alvarez, Julia.  In the Time of Butterflies. 1994. (9-12) Dede, the only survivor of the four Mirabel sisters, code named Mariposas or butterflies, reveals their role in the liberation of the Dominican Republic from the dictator Trujillo. (FCTB)

Anderson, Laure Halse.  Speak.  2000.  (8-12) Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Now her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't even know hate her from a distance. The safest place to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that's not safe. Because there's something she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have to speak the truth. (ALA Best Book, SLJ, National Book Finalist)

Anderson, M.T.. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party 2006. Nonfiction (8-12) Raised by a group of rational philosophers known only by numbers, a boy and his mother — a princess in exile from Africa — are the only persons in their household assigned names. As the boy's regal mother, Cassiopeia, entertains the house scholars with her beauty and wit, young Octavian begins to question the purpose behind his guardians' fanatical studies. Only after he dares to open a forbidden door does he learn the hideous nature of their experiments — and his own chilling role in them. Set against the disquiet of Boston during the American Revolution, this extraordinary novel takes place at a time when American Patriots rioted and battled to win liberty while African slaves were entreated to risk their lives for a freedom they would never claim. (National Book Award)

Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. 1971. Nonfiction (9-12) A poetic and frank autobiography about a talented black girl who recounts her experiences growing up in Arkansas, St. Louis, and San Francisco. (SLJ, CWIS, HTR, Bank Street, ALA2, FTCB, 500)

Barry, Max. Jennifer Government. 2003. (9-12) In an America governed by massive corporations, Hack Nike, is a merchandiser embroiled in a murder plan, while Jennifer Government, a tough agent, pursues him. A hip, ironic adventure filled with futuristic scenoarios that seem chillingly plausible. (ALA)

Berg, Elizabeth. Joy School. 1998 (9-12) Katie, the narrator, has relocated to Missouri with her distant, occasionally abusive father, and she feels very much alone: her much-loved mother is dead; her new school is unaccepting of her; and her only friends fall far short of being ideal companions. When she accidentally falls through the ice while skating, she meets Jimmy. He is handsome, far older than she, and married, but she is entranced. As their relationship unfolds, so too does Katie's awareness of the pain and intensity first love can bring.

Berkin, Carol. Revolutionary Mothers. 2005. Nonfiction. (10-12) American women's participation in the struggle for independence was not restricted to such celebrated figures as Abigail Adams, Martha Washington, Betsy Ross, and the apocryphal Molly Pitcher. Although conventional histories have traditionally been limited to chronicling the heroic exploits of a handful of women as opposed to masses of men, in truth the creation of a new nation required the active involvement of countless numbers of females.

Blais, Madeleine. In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle. 1994. Nonfiction. (8-12) They were a talented team with a near-perfect record but a reputation for choking in the crunch of the state playoffs. Finally, after five straight years of disappointments, the Amherst Lady Hurricanes found they just might have what it takes to go all the way. This is a fierce, funny, and intimate look into their minds and hearts during one special season. A finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction.

Block, Francesca Lia.  Dangerous Angels: The Weetzie Bat Books.  (8-10) Available for the first time in a single volume, Francesca Lia Block's five post-modern fairy tales chronicle the thin line between fear and desire, pain and pleasure, cutting loose and holding on in a world where everyone is vulnerable to the most excruciatingly beautiful and dangerous angel of all--love.  A great read.

Bradley, Marion Zimmer. The Mists of Avalon. 1987. (10-12) The Arthurian legend is retold from the feminine point of view with an emphasis on the conflict between the old religion and Christianity. (SLJ, 500)

Butler, Octavia.  The Kindred. 1979. (8-12) The book utilizes the devices of science fiction in order to answer the question "how could anybody be a slave?" A woman from the twentieth century, Dana is repeatedly brought back in time by her slave-owning ancestor Rufus when his life is endangered. She chooses to save him, knowing that because of her actions a free-born black woman will eventually become his slave and her own grandmother. When forced to live the life of a slave, Dana realizes she is not as strong as her ancestors.

Card, Orson Scott. Sarah. 2001. (8-12) The character of Sarah, Abraham's beloved wife, illuminates this rendering of a pivotal story from the Old Testament. (FTCB)

Chevalier, Tracey. Girl with a Pearl Earring. 1999.  (9-12) Inspired by Vermeer's painting of the same name, this is an elegant and intriguing story of a young peasant girl's coming-of-age in seventeenth century Holland. (ALA YA Best Book)

Choi, Sook Nyui. Year of Impossible Goodbyes. 1991. (8-10) In 1945 the courageous ten-year-old Sookan and her family must endure the cruelties of the Japanese military occupying Korea, and later the Russian Communist troops. Here is an incredible story of one family's love for each other and their determination to risk everything to find freedom. (ALA YA Best Book)

Cisneros, Sandra. Caramelo.(9-12) When Celaya (or "Lala") Reyes takes a family vacation from Chicago to Mexico City, she begins a journey from girl to young adult and from the present to the past. Generous digressions trace roots and branches on the luxuriant family tree, telling the tales of ancestors, family members, and sometimes even walk-on players. The book's title refers to an unfinished, candy-colored rebozo (shawl) that comes to symbolize both the interconnectedness of all these individual histories and the author's act of weaving them together.(ALA, FCTB)

Coman, Carolyn.  Many Stones.  2000.  (8-12) In plain words, this small, riveting novel connects the anguish in one American family with the struggle of South Africa to come to terms with its savage past.  Teenager Berry doesn't want to take a 10-day tourist trip to South Africa with her divorced dad, but her older sister was murdered there, and a memorial to her is about to be unveiled.  Avoiding tourist clichés, Coman shows that both political and personal reconiciliation are difficult and often incomplete. (ALA Best Book)

Conway, Jill Ker. Road From Coorain. 1989. (8-12) Australian outbacker Jill Ker Conway fights for an education and, against the odds, becomes the first woman president of Smith College.

Crew, Linda. Children of the River. 1991. (8-10) Having fled Cambodia with her aunt's family to escape the Khmer Rouge army, Sundara, 13, struggles to adjust to a new culture without knowledge of the fate of her immediate family. (SLJ, CWIS)

Cross, Donna Wookfolk. Pope Joan. 1996. (9-12) For a thousand years men have denied her existence--Pope Joan, the woman who disguised herself as a man and rose to rule Christianity for two years. Now this compelling novel animates the legend with a portrait of an unforgettable woman who struggles against restrictions her soul cannot accept. When her older brother dies in a Viking attack, the brilliant young Joan assumes his identity and enters a Benedictine monastery where she distinguishes herself as a scholar and healer. Eventually drawn to Rome, she soon becomes enmeshed in a dangerous mix of powerful passion and explosive politics that threatens her life even as it elevates her to the highest throne in the Western world.

Dallas, Sandra. Alice's Tulips. 2000. (8-12) When her husband enlists in Union army, newlywed Alice is left to mind the family farm with her cantankerous mother-in-law.  Alice's matter of fact, sometimes funny letters to her sister tell of the uncertainty and daily hardships of women on the home front.  Then Alice becomes prime suspect in a local murder. (ALA Best Book)

Danticat, Edwidge. The Farming of Bones. 1999. (9-12) A Caribbean holocaust story, when nationalist madness and ethnic hatred turn island neighbors into executioners. Amid the rumors of terror, Annabelle and Sebastien hold on to love, to dignity-and struggle to survive. (FTCB)

Delany, Elizabeth, Sarah Delany, and Amy Hill Hearth. Having Our Say. 1993. (8-12) Two daughters of former slaves tell their stories of fighting racial and gender prejudice during the twentieth century. (FCTB)

Dessen, Sarah. Just Listen  2006. (8-10)  Annabel Greene seemingly had everything: cool friends, close family, good grades, and a part-time modeling career in town. But it all came crashing down, and Annabel has spent the summer in shaky, self-imposed exile. Annabel's devastating secret is revealed in bits and snatches, as readers see her go to amazing lengths to avoid confrontation. Caught between wanting to protect her family and her own struggles to face a devastating experience, Annabel finds comfort in an unlikely friendship with the school's most notorious loner.

Diamant, Anita.  The Red Tent. 1997. (9-12)  This novel is an attempt to breathe life into the story of Jacob's daughter, Dinah, who is known in an episode in the book of Genesis as a woman dishonored by Shalem and the cause of a bloody massacre. Dinah herself narrates this novel, giving a new perspective on herself, Jacob's wives, and her famous half-brother, Joseph. This is a celebration of women and their work: of life, birth, cooking, cleaning, sewing, gardening, and even dying. 

Dickinson, Peter. A Bone from a Dry Sea. 1995. (8-10) In two parallel stories, a prehistoric child prepares her people for evolutionary advances, and a present-day girl visits her father on a dig in Africa, where they discover important fossil remains. A fascinating look at a controversial theory of evolution. (ALA Best Book)

Dillard, Annie. An American Childhood. Nonfiction. 1987. (10-12) That rare thing in literature (if not in "real life") of an exciting, joyous, intellectually exciting childhood. An autobiography of life in an upper middle class, emotionally supportive family in the 1950s. (Bank Street, CWIS, FTCB)

Donati, Sara. Into the Wilderness. 1999. A beautifully wrought, passionately evoked novel of early America is actually a sequel of sorts to The Last of the Mohicans. When Elizabeth Middleton leaves England to join her father and brother in the remote mountain village of Paradise, New York, she does so with a strong will and an unwavering purpose: to teach school.

Du Maurier, Daphne. Rebecca. (9-12) With a husband she barely knew, the young bride arrived at this immense estate, only to be inexorably drawn into the life of the first Mrs. de Winter, the beautiful Rebecca, dead but never forgotten...her suite of rooms never touched, her clothes ready to be worn, her servant -- the sinister Mrs. Danvers -- still loyal. And as an eerie presentiment of evil tightened around her heart, the second Mrs. de Winter began her search for the real fate of Rebecca...for the secrets of Manderley.

Edward, Kim. The Memory Keeper's Daughter. 2006. (10-12) In 1964, when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins, he immediately recognizes that one of them has Down Syndrome and makes a split-second decision that will haunt all their lives forever. He asks his nurse to take the baby away to an institution and to keep her birth a secret. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own. (SLJ, FTCB)

Emecheta, Buchi. The Bride Price. 1976. (10-12) Aku-nna, a young Ibo girl, and Chike, her teacher and the son of a prosperous former slave , fall in love despite tribal custom forbidding their romance. (SLJ, FTCB)

Erdich, Louise. Love Medicine. 1993. (9-12) A multigenerational saga of two extended families who live on and around a Chippewa reservation in North Dakota. Each chapter is narrated in a memorable voice like the one of Lipsha Morrissey, a young man who is believed to have "the touch," with which he attempts to bring his wandering grandfather back to his long-suffering grandmother with a love medicine made from goose hearts. By placing us right inside the heads of her remarkable characters, Erdrich allows us to feel the despair that insensitive government policies, poverty, and alcoholism have brought them.

Esquivel, Laura.Like Water for Chocolate. 1992.(9-12) As the youngest of three daughters in a turn of the century Mexican family, Tita may not marry but must remain at home to care for her mother. (FCTB, 500, 375)

Flagg, Fannie.  Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café.  1988. (9-12) A folksy, funny and endearing story of life in a small town in Alabama in the Depression and in the 1980s. However, the novel's laughter and tears are interrupted by a strange murder and a still stranger trial.

Flannery, Sarah. In Code: A Mathematical Journey. 2001. (8-12) One teenager's discoveries in the science of cryptography dramatically impact the modern world. (FTCB)

Gaarder, Jostein. Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy. 1994. (11-12) Sixteen-year-old Sophie develops a sense of wonder and meaning as she searches for her father, herself, and the answers to the questions of the mysterious Major.

Garden, Nancy. Annie on My Mind. 1982. (8-10) When Liza and Annie, two New York City high school seniors meet, they are immediately drawn to each other. Although both young women face conflicts in accepting their feelings of attraction, the story captures the magic and intensity of first love. (ALA YA Best Books 1970-1982)

Gaines, Ernest J.  A Lesson Before Dying. (8-12) When Jefferson's attorney states, "I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this," disillusioned teacher Grant Wiggins is sent into the penitentiary to help this slow learner gain a sense of dignity and self-esteem before his execution. (FTCB)

Geras, Adele. Troy. 2001. (8-12) A city under siege, epic battles and heroes, powerful supernatural forces-it's the story of the Trojan war seen through the eyes of its women in one our oldest stories of the cruelty of war. (FTCB)

Glancy, Diane. Stone Heart: A Novel of Sacajawea. 2003. (9-12) You are there on the epic journey of Lewis and Clark that opened the west to the call of manifest destiny. Contrasts between the explorers' actual journals and the young Shoshone woman's own records reveal the inherent clash of cultures in this vast new land. (FTCB)

Greenlaw, Linda. The Hungry Ocean. 2000. In the bestseller, The Perfect Storm, Sebastian Junger describes Linda Greenlaw as ;one of the best sea captains, period, on the East Coast. Now Greenlaw tells her own riveting story of a thirty-day swordfishing voyage aboard one of the best-outfitted boats on the East Coast, complete with danger, humor, and characters so colorful they seem to have been ripped from the pages of Moby Dick.

Gregory, Philippa. The Other Boleyn Girl. 2002. (8-12) Two sisters competing for the greatest prize: the love of a king. When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen, she catches the eye of Henry VIII. Dazzled by the king, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realizes just how much she is a pawn in her family's ambitious plots as the king's interest begins to wane and she is forced to step aside for her best friend and rival: her sister, Anne. Then Mary knows that she must defy her family and her king, and take her fate into her own hands. A rich and compelling tale of love, sex, ambition, and intrigue, The Other Boleyn Girl introduces a woman of extraordinary determination and desire who lived at the heart of the most exciting and glamorous court in Europe and survived by following her own heart.

Gruen, Sara. Water for Elephants. 2006. (8-12) As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival. Alex Award 2006.

Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. 2003. (8-12) When a teen discovers his neighbor's dog savagely stabbed to death, he decides to use the deductive reasoning of his favorite detective to solve the crime. Employing Holmesian logic is not an easy task for even the cleverest amateur sleuth and, in Christopher's case, it is particularly daunting. He suffers from autism that causes, among other things, compulsive behavior; the inability to read others' emotions; and intolerance for noise, human touch, and unexpected events. He has learned to cope amazingly well with the help of a brilliant teacher who encourages him to write a book. (ALA Best Book)

Haizlip, Shirlee.  The Sweeter the Juice.  1995. Nonfiction. (8-12)  This is a provocative memoir that goes to the heart of our American identity. In an effort to reconcile the dissonance between her black persona and her undeniably multiracial heritage, Haizlip started on a journey of discovery that took her over thousands of miles and hundreds of years. While searching for her mother's family, Haizlip confronted the deeply intertwined but often suppressed tensions between race and skin color.

Hoffman, Alice.  Local Girls.  2000.  (9-12) It's not only her parents' divorce that complicates Gretel Samuelson's adolescence, as readers will gather from the poignant, funny perspectives in these interconnected coming-of-age stories.  (ALA Editor's Choice)

Hornbacher, Marya.  Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulemia.  1998. Nonfiction. (9-12) This vivid and emotionally wrenching memoir of the author's lifelong love affair with bulimia and anorexia offers a devastating critique of the American obsession with food and body image.

Hosseini, Khaled. A Thousand Splendid Suns. 2007. (9-12) This new novel views the plight of Afghanistan during the last half-century through the eyes of two women. Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them-in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul-they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even the memory of love, that is often the key to survival. You may also read The Kite Runner, another very popular novel of Afghanistan.

Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. 1937. (9-12) Fair and long-legged, independent and articulate, Janie Crawford sets out to be her own person -- no mean feat for a black woman in the 1930s. Janie's quest for identity takes her through three marriages and into a journey back to her roots.

Jiles, Paulette. Enemy Women. 2002. (9-12) Eighteen year old Adair Colley is the headstrong heroine of this novel set in Missouri during the Civil War. Living at the southern end of the politically divided state, Adair and her family are Confederate sympathizers have done their best to remain neutral throughout the war. This means nothing to the Union militia, who burn her family home and arrest her elderly father as a conspirator. Soon Adair finds herself unjustly behind bars with countless other women accused of treason simply for feeding and clothing their Confederate fathers and brothers. Adair escapes from jail with the help of a Union major who is enamored of her, and she makes her way back home, hoping to reunite her torn family once again.

Johnson, Maureen. The Key to the Golden Firebird. 2005. (8-10) When their father dies, everything begins to fall apart. Level-headed May is left to fend for herself (and somehow learn to drive), while her two sisters struggle with their own demons. But the girls learn that while there are a lot of rules for the road, there are no rules when it comes to the heart. Together, they discover the key to moving on -- and it's the key to their father's Pontiac Firebird.

Kidd, Sue Monk. The Secret Life of Bees. 2002 (9-12) This sweeping debut novel tells the tale of a 14-year-old white girl named Lily Owen who is raised by the elderly African American Rosaleen after the accidental death of Lily's mother. Following a racial brawl in 1960s Tiburon, SC, Lily and Rosaleen find shelter in a distant town with three black bee-keeping sisters. The sisters and their close-knit community of women live within the confines of racial and gender bondage and yet have an unmistakable strength and serenity associated with the worship of a black Madonna and the healing power of honey. In a series of unforgettable events, Lily discovers the truth about her mother's past and the certainty that "the hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters."

King, Laurie R. The Beekeeper's Apprentice, or, on the Segregation of the Queen. 1994.  (8-12)  Retired Sherlock Holmes meets his intellectual match in 15-year-old Mary Russell, who challenges him to investigate yet another case.

King, Florence.  Southern Ladies and Gentlemen.  1993.  (10-12). A humorous, sharp, scathing, and affectionate guide to the ways and means of the Southern culture, including story types such as the Southern Woman, the Self-Rejuvenating Virgin, and the Good Ole' Boy.

Kingsolver, Barbara.  Prodigal Summer.  2001. (10-12) This novel is a hymn to wildness that celebrates the prodigal spirit of human nature, and of nature itself. It weaves together three stories of human love within a larger tapestry of lives amid the mountains and farms of southern Appalachia. Over the course of one humid summer, this novel's intriguing protagonists face disparate predicaments but find connections to one another and to the flora and fauna with which they necessarily share a place.

Kostova, Elizabeth.  The Historian.  2005 (9-12)  In this smart retelling of the Dracula story, a young girl's discovery of a mysterious book, blank save for a sinister woodcut of a dragon, impels her father to divulge, reluctantly, details of his vampire-hunting days back in grad school. Halfway through his tale, which is told over several sessions in various atmospheric European locations, he vanishes. His daughter's quest to find him is interwoven with letters that reveal the past in full.

Lang, Ji-Li Jiang.  Red Scarf Girl:  A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution.  1997 (8-10)  A young Chinese girl must make difficult choices when the government urges her to repudiate her ancestors and inform on her parents.  (FCTB)

Leavitt, Martine Keturah and Lord Death 2006. (9-12) The romance is intense, the writing is startling, and the story is spellbinding--and it is as difficult to turn away from as the tales beautiful Keturah tells to the people of her village, Tide-by-Rood. But one day Keturah must use her storytelling skills with quite a different audience. Lost and hungry after following a stately hart through the forest, Keturah encounters Lord Death, who is ready to take her. Like Scheherazade, Keturah spins a story that she leaves unfinished and extracts from Lord Death a promise that if she finds her true love in a day, she can go free. But Lord Death is falling in love with her, and as the villagers begin to sense her alliance with this horrifying figure, her life twists and turns on itself.

L'Engle, Madeline. A Wrinkle in Time. 1962. (8-10) Combining theology, fantasy, and science, it is the story of travel through space and time to battle a cosmic evil. With their neighbor Calvin O'Keefe, young Meg Murry and her brother Charles Wallace embark on a cosmic journey to find their lost father, a scientist studying time travel. Assisted by three eccentric women the children travel to the planet Camazotz where they encounter a repressed society controlled by IT, a disembodied brain that represents evil. Among the themes of the work are the dangers of unthinking conformity and scientific irresponsibility and the saving power of love.

Lewis, C.S. The Screwtape Letters. (8-12) Screwtape is an experienced devil. His nephew Wormwood is just beginning his demonic career and has been assigned to secure the damnation of a young man who has just become a Christian. In this humorous exchange, C. S. Lewis delves into moral questions about good v. evil, temptation, repentance, and grace. Through this wonderful tale, the reader emerges with a better knowledge of what it means to live a good, honest life.

Lockhart, E. Dramarama (8-10) Sadye and Demi are two teenagers who are tired of their non-razzle-dazzle lives in Brenton, Ohio and decide to apply to the Wildewood Academy for the Performing Arts Summer Institute, run by a well-known Broadway director. Both are fans of Broadway musicals and Liza Minelli, whom they both adore. Their summer is one of friendship, jealousy, and new love. From "Cats" to "Guys and Dolls," this book tells all of the ups and downs of their summer, their new relationships, and just how hard the kids must work to be the actors they want to become in order to leave boring old Ohio behind them once and for all.

Lord, Bette B. Spring Moon: A Novel of China. 1981. (9-12) A heart wrenching cultural and personal history of Twentieth-century China in transition. History unfolds through the experiences five generations of an upper-class family with special focus on Spring Moon, who though intelligent and educated, suffers the bound feet and other traditional bonds of Chinese women, and whose rebellious daughter takes part in the Long March of 1934-35. (FTCB, 500)

Mackler, Carolyn. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Round Things. 2003. (8-10) Feeling like she does not fit in with the other members of her family, who are all thin, brilliant, and good-looking, fifteen-year-old Virginia tries to deal with her self-image, her first physical relationship, and her disillusionment with some of the people closest to her.

Maguire, Gregory.  Wicked. 1996. (10-12) When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil? Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to be the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil.

Markandaya, Kamala.  Nectar in a Sieve. 1954. (9-12) Married at the age of 12 to a tenant farmer she has never seen but comes to love, a simple peasant girl, Rukmani, struggles quietly and courageously against poverty and natural disasters in a changing rural India. (SLJ, CWIS, FTCB, 500)

Markham, Beryl. West with the Night. Nonfiction. (8-12) West with the Night is the story of Beryl Markham--aviator, racehorse trainer, beauty--and her life in the Kenya of the 1920s and '30s. (500)

Mathabane, Mark. Miriam’s Song: A Memoir. Nonfiction. (9-12) he powerful memoir of a young black woman coming of age in South Africa amid the violence of apartheid, beautifully written by her brother, the bestselling author of Kaffir Boy.

Maynard, Joyce. The Usual Rules:A Novel. 2003. (8-10) Wendy, the 13-year-old heroine lives in a happy, haphazard Brooklyn household with her dancer/secretary mom, her jazz musician stepfather, and her eccentric little brother. Life for Wendy is fraught with the usual teen angst until September 11, when her mom heads off to work at the World Trade Center and never comes home. (ALA Best Book)

McCafferty, Megan. Sloppy Firsts. 2001. (8-12) When her best friend, Hope, moves away from Pineville, New Jersey, 16-year-old Jessica Darling is devastated. Jessica is a fish out of water at school, a stranger at home, and now -- with the only person with whom she could really communicate gone -- more lost than ever. How is she supposed to deal with the boy-and-shopping-crazy girls at school, her dad's obsession with her track meets, and her nonexistent love life? Sloppy Firsts is an insightful, true-to-life look at Jessica's predicament, from the dark days following Hope's departure to her hopelessly mixed-up feelings about the intelligent and mysterious bad-boy who works his way into her life. (ALA Best Book)

McEwan, Ian. Atonement. 2002. (10-12) On a hot summer day in 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis witnesses a moment’s flirtation between her older sister, Cecilia, and Robbie Turner, the son of a servant and Cecilia’s childhood friend. But Briony’s incomplete grasp of adult motives–together with her precocious literary gifts–brings about a crime that will change all their lives. The novel then follows that crime’s repercussions through the chaos and carnage of World War II and into the close of the twentieth century.

McKinley, Robin.  Beauty.  1979.  (8-12) The plot follows that of the renowned legend Beauty and the Beast.  Beauty selflessly agrees to inhabit the Beast's castle to spare her father's life. Beauty's gradual acceptance of the Beast and the couple's deepening trust and affection are amplified in novel form. Robin McKinley's writing has the flavor of another century, and Beauty heightens the authenticity as a reliable and competent narrator. (FCTB)

Miller, Kirsten. Kiki Strike. 2006. (8-10) Life will never be the same for Ananka Fishbein after she ventures into an enormous sinkhole near her New York City apartment. A million rats, delinquent Girl Scouts out for revenge, and a secret city below the streets of Manhattan combine in this remarkable novel about a darker side of New York City you have only just begun to know about…

Moody, Anne.Coming of Age in Mississippi: An Autobiography. 1968. (8-12) Living in two-room shacks in rural Mississippi and forced into menial jobs for little pay, Anne Moody learned at an early age the degradation of being African American. (FTCB, 500)

Moriarity, Jaclyn. Year of Secret Assignments. 2004 (8-12) A tenth grade English teacher attempts to unite feuding schools by launching a pen-pal project. Best friends Cassie, Emily and Lydia initiate the correspondence, and are answered by Matthew, Charlie and Seb. Emily and Lydia are more than pleased with their matches, but quiet Cassie has a frightening experience with Matthew. When Lydia and Emily discover that Matthew has threatened their fragile friend, the Ashbury girls close ranks, declaring an all-out war on the Brookfield boys. Soon, the couples are caught up in everything from car-jacking and lock-picking, to undercover spying and identity theft. Moriarty's captivating comedy of manners reads like a breezy 21st century version of Jane Austen--with no end of ridiculous misunderstandings, angst-ridden speeches, and heartfelt make-ups.

Myracle, Lauren.ttyl. 2005. (8-10) An epistolary novel for the 21st century, this sharp, funny, and true-to-life breakout hit about friendship is told entirely in instant messages. And Internet-savvy teens have fallen in love with flirty Angela (SnowAngel), moody Maddie (mad maddie), and good girl Zoe (zoegirl) and their frank perceptions about a tumultuous tenth-grade semester.

Nye, Naomi Shihab. Habibi.1997. (8-10) Fourteen-year-old Liyana loves to hear her father call her habibi – Arabic for “darling.”  But she is not prepared for her family’s move from St. Louis to Jerusalem.  This provocative novel builds a bridge to the Arab world, introduces a family readers won’t soon forget, and offers a hope for peace. (ALA Best Book)

Oates, Joyce Carol.  Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang. 1994. (9-12) Five teenage girls from upstate New York in the 1950s form a blood sisterhood to protect one another against the world and its oppressors, until their leader's disastrous act of revenge puts all their lives in turmoil.

Otsuka, Julie. When the Emperor Was Divine. 2002. (9-12) This heartbreaking, bracingly unsentimental debut describes in poetic detail the travails of a Japanese family living in an internment camp during World War II. Spare, intimate, arrestingly understated, When the Emperor Was Divine is a haunting evocation of a family in wartime and an unmistakably resonant lesson for our times.

Park, Linda Sue. When My Name was Keoko. 2004. (8-10) Sun-hee and her older brother Tae-yul are proud of their Korean heritage. Yet they live their lives under Japanese occupation. All students must read and write in Japanese and no one can fly the Korean flag. Hardest of all is when the Japanese Emperor forces all Koreans to take Japanese names. Sun-hee and Tae-yul become Keoko and Nobuo. Korea is torn apart by their Japanese invaders during World War II. Everyone must help with war preparations, but it doesn’t mean they are willing to defend Japan. Tae-yul is about to risk his life to help his family, while Sun-hee stays home guarding life-and-death secrets.

Picoult, Jodi. My Sister’s Keeper. 2004. (9-12) Young Kate is diagnosed with a severe form of leukemia. Her parents then have a baby, Anna, who is genetically selected to be a close donor match for Kate. From her birth onward into her early teens, Anna is called upon to undergo increasingly invasive and dangerous procedures to provide blood, bone marrow, and other tissues to sustain her older sister's life. Now, a kidney is needed, and Anna brings a lawsuit against her parents, claiming the right to her make own decision about what medical procedures can be performed on her. Anna's mother Sara, an attorney, decides to represent her own daughter Kate at the trial.

Pullman, Philip. His Dark Materials Trilogy. (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass). In an epic trilogy, Philip Pullman unlocks the door to a world parallel to our own, but with a mysterious slant all its own. Dæmons and winged creatures live side by side with humans, and a mysterious entity called Dust just might have the power to unite the universes--if it isn't destroyed first. Join Lyra, Pantalaimon, Will, and the rest as they embark on the most breathtaking, heartbreaking adventures of their lives. The fate of the universe is in their hands.

Rosoff, Meg. How I Live Now. 2004. (8-12) Fifteen-year-old Daisy is sent from Manhattan to England to visit her aunt and cousins she’s never met: three boys near her age, and their little sister. Her aunt goes away on business soon after Daisy arrives. The next day bombs go off as London is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy. As power fails, and systems fail, the farm becomes more isolated. Despite the war, it’s a kind of Eden, with no adults in charge and no rules, a place where Daisy’s uncanny bond with her cousins grows into something rare and extraordinary.

Rowling, J.K.  Any of the Harry Potter  series. (8-12)  Young wizard-in-training Harry Potter has had his hands full during his first four years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As if excelling on and off the Quidditch field isn't enough, Harry has heard evil voices in the walls, saved lives, and fended off convicts. Only time will tell how Harry will manage the certain dangers in store for him over the next few years.

Sasson, Jean. Princess: A True Story of Life behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia. 1992. (8-12) A Saudi Arabian princess describes the inequities for women in her country, discussing arranged marriages for child brides, the murder of female babies, and her own life in the shadow of men. (500)

Sebold, Alice. Lovely Bones. 2002. (8-12) After 14-year-old Suzie Salmon is murdered, she goes to heaven and is able to observe her family, friends, and even her murderer dealing with the aftermath of her death. Sebold’s beautiful debut novel is a powerful and unique coming-of-age story. (ALA Best Book)

See, Linda. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. 2006. (9-12) In nineteenth-century China, in a remote Hunan county, a girl named Lily, at the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, “old same,” in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. The laotong, Snow Flower, introduces herself by sending Lily a silk fan on which she’s painted a poem in nu shu, a unique language that Chinese women created in order to communicate in secret, away from the influence of men. As the years pass, Lily and Snow Flower send messages on fans, compose stories on handkerchiefs, reaching out of isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. Together, they endure the agony of foot-binding, and reflect upon their arranged marriages, shared loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their deep friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.

Shange, Ntozake. Betsey Brown. 1986. (8-12) Betsey, full of dreams about changing the world, struggles with her loving but conflict-torn family in this portrait of three generations of black women living in newly integrated St. Louis of 1959. (SLJ, CWIS, FTCB) Review

Siegel, Jan.  Prospero's Children. 2000.  (8-12)  A strong sense of foreboding permeates this fast-paced fantasy about 16-year-old Fern, who discovers she's not the matter-of-fact person she thought she was, but a descendant of ancient Atlantis, one of Prospero's children, and possessor of the Gift. (ALA)

Smith, Lee. Fair and Tender Ladies.  1989. (8-12) Ivy Rowe may not have much education, but her thoughts are classic, and her experiences are fascinating. Born near the turn of the century in the Virginia Mountains, Ivy's story is told completely through letters she is forever writing, and that you will forever want to read.

Sones, Sonya. What My Mother Doesn’t Know. 2001. (8-10) Drawing on the recognizable cadences of teenage speech, this novel in verse poignantly captures the tingle and heartache of being young and boy-crazy. The author keenly portrays ninth-grader Sophie's trajectory of lusty crushes and disillusionment whether she is gazing at Dylan's "smoldery dark eyes" or dancing with a mystery man to music that "is slow/ and/ saxophony." Best friends Rachel and Grace provide anchoring friendships for Sophie as she navigates her home life as an only child with a distant father and a soap opera-devotee mother whose "shrieking whips around inside me/ like a tornado." (ALA Best Book)

Spinelli, Jerry. Stargirl. 2000 (8-10) Susan was home-schooled until tenth grade. She has utter disregard for convention by the time she enters Mica High. Her hugely embarrassing behavior, such as playing the ukulele and singing "Happy Birthday" in the lunchroom appalls Leo, a junior. He is both attracted and repelled by this young woman who calls herself Stargirl. The novel, which Leo tells in the first person, unfolds. Slowly, Leo and we come to know the girl's behavior is based in kindness. Star Girl is a unique love story and humorous tragedy

Thom, James Alexander.  Follow the River.  1996. (9-12) Mary Ingles was twenty-three, married, and pregnant, when Shawnee Indians invaded peaceful Virginia settlement, killed the men and women, then took her captive. For months, she lived with them, unbroken, until she escaped, and followed a thousand mile trail to freedom--an extraordinary story of a pioneer woman who risked her life to return to her people.

Turner, Nancy. These Is My Words. 1998. (8-10) This rip-roaring yarn, the diary as page-turner, is based on Turner's great-grandmother's diary and covers 20 years in the life of a woman in the Arizona Territories at the end of the last century. Through these pages, we watch the spirited Sarah, unpolished but spunky at 17, improve both her grammar and her grace; come to terms with death and tragedy including Indian attacks, train robbers, and childhood disease; marry twice and love one man fiercely; birth and bury children; and keep a large cast of extended family in her heart and in her kitchen. Along the way, she examines her own feelings toward Indians, Mexicans, and folks from back east; learns to manage money by making and selling

Von Drehle, David. Triangle: The Fire That Changed America. (9-12) Beyond the terror, destruction and loss of life, this event changed the landscape of our cities and the lives of working people everywhere. (FTCB)

Walls, Jeanette. The Glass Castle. 2005 (9-12) "Being homeless is an adventure," Walls’s mom used to say. In her extraordinary memoir, Walls recalls her nomadic life with surprising affection—though she would not want to relive it. The title, which derives from her father’s dream house, serves as an apt metaphor for the Walls’ fragility. Yet Walls sheds no tears nor succumbs to self-pity—she probably learned early on they would get her nowhere. Instead of condemning her parents’ foibles, she unblinkingly examines how they transformed hardship into family romance and adventure. Sharing incredible, painful experiences in no-nonsense prose.

Williams, Brett. Girl Walking Backwards. 1998. (9-12) Bett Williams tells the coming-of-age story of Skye, a young woman with conflict from a new-age mother who wishes to hamper her emerging sexuality. It's not until she receives aid from Mol and Lorrie that she learns to feel authentic emotions in a culture of poseurs and new-age charlatans.

Zusak, Marcus. The Book Thief. 2006. (9-12) Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau. This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

ALA YA Editors’ Choice—American Library Association

Bank Street—Bank Street College of Education.  “Child Development Through Literature and Autobiography.”

CWIS—National Association of Independent Schools/Council for Women in Independent Schools.  ”Many Women’s Voices: A
Bibliography of Authentic Women’s Voices.” 1992.

FTCB—American Library Association. “For the College Bound: Outstanding Books”

SLJ—Recommended reviews in  School Library Journal.

VOYA—Selected and reviewed in Voices of Youth Advocates.