New Fiction for Younger Teens, Summer 2009
The reformed vampire support group / by Catherine Jinks
Fifteen-year-old vampire Nina has been stuck for fifty-one years in a boring support group for vampires, and nothing exciting has ever happened to them–until one of them is murdered and the others must try to solve the crime.
Lay ups and long shots : an anthology of short stories / by Joseph Bruchac … [et al.]
A collection of eight short stories about middle-schoolers and sports. They range from a game of “H-O-R-S-E” to running, ping pong, dirt biking, surfing, place kicking, soccer, and basketball.
Heck : where the bad kids go / by Dale E. Basye
When timid Milton and his older sister Marlo die in a marshmallow bear explosion at Grizzly Mall, they are sent to Heck, an otherworldly reform school from which they are determined to escape.
The Juvie three / by Gordon Korman
Gecko, Arjay, and Terence, all in trouble with the law, must find a way to keep their halfway house open in order to stay out of juvenile detention.
The comet’s curse / by Dom Testa
Desperate to save the human race after a comet’s deadly particles devastate the adult population, scientists create a ship that will carry a crew of 251 teenagers to a home in a distant solar system.
Soldier’s secret : the story of Deborah Sampson / by Sheila Solomon Klass
During the Revolutionary War, a young woman named Deborah Sampson disguises herself as a man in order to serve in the Continental Army.
Flygirl / by Sherri L. Smith
During World War II, a light-skinned African American girl “passes” for white in order to join the Women Airforce Service Pilots.
The graveyard book / by Neil Gaiman
After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own.
The hunger games / by Suzanne Collins
In a future North America, where the rulers maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss’s skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister’s place.
Nation / by Terry Pratchett
After a devastating tsunami destroys all that they have ever known, Mau, an island boy, and Daphne, an aristocratic English girl, together with a small band of refugees, set about rebuilding their community and all the things that are important in their lives.
Savvy / by Ingrid Law
The adventures of Mibs Beaumont, whose thirteenth birthday has revealed her “savvy”–a magical power unique to each member of her family–just as her father is injured in a terrible accident.
Steel Trapp : the challenge / by Ridley Pearson
On a two-day train trip to enter his invention in the National Science Competition in Washington, D.C., fourteen-year-old Steven “Steel” Trapp, possessor of a remarkable photographic memory, becomes embroiled in an international plot of kidnapping and bribery that may have links to terrorists.
The last Olympian / by Rick Riordan (Book 5, Percy Jackson & the Olympians)
While the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster Typhon, Kronos begins his advance on New York City, where Mount Olympus stands virtually unguarded. Now it’s up to Percy Jackson and an army of young demigods to stop the Lord of Time.
Princess Ben : being a wholly truthful account of her various discoveries and misadventures, recounted to the best of her recollection, in four parts / by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
A girl is transformed, through instruction in life at court, determination, and magic, from sullen, pudgy, graceless Ben into Crown Princess Benevolence, a fit ruler of the kingdom of Montagne as it faces war with neighboring Drachensbett.
Everything is fine / by Ann Dee Ellis
When her father leaves for a job out of town, Mazzy is left at home to try to cope with her mother, who has been severely depressed since the death of Mazzy’s baby sister.
Chains / by Laurie Halse Anderson
After being sold to a cruel couple in New York City, a slave named Isabel spies for the rebels during the Revolutionary War.
The last invisible boy / by Evan Kuhlman
In the wake of his father’s sudden death, twelve-year-old Finn feels he is becoming invisible as his hair and skin become whiter by the day, and so he writes and illustrates a book to try to understand what is happening and to hold on to himself and his father.
All shook up / by Shelley Pearsall
When thirteen-year-old Josh goes to stay with his father in Chicago for a few months, he discovers–to his horror–that his dad has become an Elvis impersonator.
The last knight / by Hilari Bell
In alternate chapters, eighteen-year-old Sir Michael Sevenson, an anachronistic knight errant, and seventeen-year-old Fisk, his street-wise squire, tell of their noble quest to bring Lady Ceciel to justice while trying to solve her husband’s murder.
Palace of Mirrors / by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Fourteen-year-old Cecilia has always known she is the true princess of Suala, but when she and her best friend, Harper, decide to speed up her ascendancy to the throne, they find danger and many imposters who challenge her claim.
Persistence of memory / by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Diagnosed with schizophrenia as a child, sixteen-year-old Erin has spent half of her life in therapy and on drugs, but now must face the possibility of weird things in the real world, including shapeshifting friends and her “alter,” a centuries-old vampire.
Wintergirls / by Laurie Halse Anderson
Eighteen-year-old Lia comes to terms with her best friend’s death from anorexia as she struggles with the same disorder.