Black Elk Speaks by John G. Neihardt – 20 copies
Black Elk Speaks is the story of the Lakota visionary and healer Nicholas Black Elk (1863-1950) and his people during the momentous twilight years of the nineteenth century.
The Book Thief by Markus Zukas – 20 copies
Death meets the book thief, a 9-year-old girl named Liesel Meminger, when he comes to take her little brother, and she becomes an enduring force in his life, despite his efforts to resist her.
The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson – 13 copies
Leslie was more than his friend; she was his other, more exciting, self, his way to Terabithia and all the worlds beyond.
The Cabin Faced West by Jean Fritz – 16 copies
For Ann Hamilton, life out west was anything but adventurous. In fact, she had never been lonelier. She longed for the ease and comfort of the days with friends back in Gettysburg-until a stranger rode into Hamilton Hill and changed her life forever.
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson – 20 copies
In the spring of 1776, Isabel, a teenage slave, and her sister, Ruth, are sold to ruthless, wealthy loyalists in Manhattan. While running errands, Isabel is approached by rebels, who promise her freedom (and help finding Ruth, who has been sent away) if she agrees to spy. Using the invisibility her slave status brings, Isabel lurks and listens as Master Lockton and his fellow Tories plot to crush the rebel uprisings, but the incendiary proof that she carries to the rebel camp doesn’t bring the desired rewards.
Crazy Horse by Mari Sandoz – 10 copies
Digging to America by Anne Tyler – 8 copies
Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede – 20 copies
Princess Cimorene is Rangy, curious, energetic, matter-of-fact. She rolls up her sleeves and gets the job done with a happy disregard for the traditions of her role. Although her parents want her to stifle her improper interests in fencing, Latin, and cooking, the princess is not about to be forced into marriage with the vapid prince they have chosen. She throws herself wholeheartedly into a career as a dragon’s princess, a respectable role, although not one for which one usually volunteers.
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine – 15 copies
At birth, Ella is inadvertently cursed by an imprudent fairy named Lucinda, who bestows on her the “gift” of obedience. Anything anyone tells her to do, Ella must obey.
Everlost by Neal Shusterman – 15 copies
Nick and Allie don’t survive the crash and now their souls are stuck halfway between life and death in a sort of limbo called Everlost.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury – 8 copies
Classic novel of censorship and defiance.
Full Tilt by Neal Shusterman – 15 copies
Blake and Quinn are caught in a bizarre phantom carnival that traps its customers forever.
Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages – 16 copies
Two girls spend a year in Los Alamos as their parents work on the secret gadget that will end World War II. Dewey is a mechanically minded 10-year-old who gets along fine with the scientists at the site, but is teased by girls her own age. When her mathematician father is called away, she moves in with Suze, who initially detests her new roommate. The two draw closer, though, and their growing friendship is neatly set against the tenseness of the Los Alamos compound as the project nears completion.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer -10 copies:
January 1946: writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen – 19 copies + audio
The novel chronicles in gritty detail Brian’s mistakes, setbacks, and small triumphs as, with the help of the hatchet, he manages to survive the 54 days alone in the wilderness after a plane crash.
The Home Place by Wright Morris – 17 copies
A first-person narrative and photographs of the one-day visit of Clyde Muncy to “the home place” at Lone Tree, Nebraska.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – 10 copies
In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games.
I am a Man by Joe Starika – 10 copies
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke – 15 copies
Meggie’s father, Mo, has an wonderful and sometimes terrible ability. When he reads aloud from books, he brings the characters to life–literally. Mo discovered his power when Maggie was just a baby. He read so lyrically from the the book Inkheart, that several of the book’s wicked characters ended up blinking and cursing on his cottage floor. Then Mo discovered something even worse–when he read Capricorn and his henchmen out of Inkheart, he accidentally read Meggie’s mother in.
Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos – 20 copies
Joey Pigza has problems. Big problems. He was emotionally abused by his grandmother. He has never met his dad. He can’t get along in his elementary school classroom because of his mood swings and his “dud meds.” We gradually see that Joey must have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), which is not being effectively controlled with his current medication. Joey’s life is a terrifying roller-coaster ride, and Jack Gantos, author of the Rotten Ralph books, drags the reader along to see what life is like with ADD.
The Landry News by Andrew Clements – 20 copies
A fifth grader’s scathing editorial criticizing her burned-out teacher spurs him to take his duties seriously. A book about free speech, the power of the pen, and the need to temper truth with mercy.
Lantern in Her Hand – Bess Streeter Aldrich – 18 copies
Aldrich’s pioneer woman was based on her mother, and the integrity of her depiction of life in a sod house in the late nineteeth-century Nebraska speaks to her readers
Last Newspaper Boy in America by Sue Corbett – 10 copies
The David family has delivered the Cooper County Caller to residents of Steele, PA, for as long as anyone can remember. Wil’s 12th birthday signals that he will take over for his older brother, and he’s been practicing his tosses from his bike. When the circulation manager phones the day before his start date to inform him that the Caller has decided to discontinue home delivery, Wil is devastated.
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan – 19 copies + CD
Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson knows he’s different, but when a teacher becomes a deadly monster and his scrawny best friend turns out to be a satyr, he learns he’s a hero–the half-blood son of an Olympian god.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis – 14 copies
Narnia is a land frozen in eternal winter; a country waiting to be set free. Four adventurers step through a wardrobe door and into a land enslaved by the power of the White Witch. But when almost all hope is lost, the return of the Great Lion, Aslan, signals a great change and a great sacrifice.
Local Wonders by Ted Kooser – 10 copies
Season by season, Kooser reflects upon life in, around, and beyond his home nestled in the rolling hills of eastern Nebraska, an area he slyly calls the “Bohemian alps,” then honors the German and Czech immigrants who originally settled the area by liberally scattering their inspirational homilies throughout his essays.
Morgan’s Run by Colleen McCullough – 10 copies
A passionate epic of 18th-century England’s colonization of Australia, in which an upright Bristol tavern keeper, Richard Morgan, becomes one of the first British convicts to be sent to the rugged new prison colony of Botany Bay.
My Antonia by Willa Cather – 20 copies
Lush descriptions of the rolling Nebraska grasslands interweave with the blossoming of a woman in the early days of the twentieth century, in an epic novel that chronicles America’s past.
My Daniel by Pam Conrad – 20 copies
When she’s 80 years old, Julia Summerwaithe decides to visit her grandchildren, Ellie and Stevie, in New York City, for the first time. She has something important to show them; in the Natural History Museum is the dinosaur she and her brother discovered on their farm in Nebraska when they were young. But even more important to Julia than seeing the dinosaur is sharing her memories of the discovery and excavation with her grandchildren.
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman – 20 copies
Neverwhere’s protagonist, Richard Mayhew, learns the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished. He ceases to exist in the ordinary world of London Above, and joins a quest through the dark and dangerous London Below, a shadow city of lost and forgotten people, places, and times.
O Pioneers by Willa Cather – 10 copies
The story of Alexandra Bergson, whose dying father leaves her in charge of the family and farm on the Nebraska prairie.
Peak by Roland Smith – 20 copies
The emotional, tension-filled story of a fourteen-year-old boy’s attempt to be the youngest person to reach the top of Mount Everest.
Peeps by Scott Westerfeld – 17 copies
A year ago, Cal Thompson was a college freshman more interested in meeting girls and partying than in attending biology class. Now, after a fateful encounter with a mysterious woman named Morgan, biology has become, literally, Cal’s life. Cal was infected by a parasite that has a truly horrifying effect on its host. Cal himself is a carrier, unchanged by the parasite, but he’s infected the girlfriends he’s had since Morgan. All three have turned into the ravening ghouls Cal calls Peeps. The rest of us know them as vampires. It’s Cal’s job to hunt them down before they can create more of their kind. . . .
Punished by David Lubar – 20 copies
Logan knows he shouldn’t have been playing tag in the library reference stacks and he’s sorry that he crashed into Professor Wordsworth. But what did the strange old man mean when he said that Logan should be punished? Suddenly, the boy starts speaking in puns really awful puns and he can’t stop. His family and friends think he’s just smarting off, but Logan quickly realizes that he is under a curse.
Red Cell by John Kalkowski – 15 copies
A brilliant boy’s unconventional thinking makes him an intelligence asset and a terrorist target.
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant- 10 copies
Her name is Dinah. In the Bible, her life is only hinted at in a brief and violent detour within the more familiar chapters of the Book of Genesis that tell of her father, Jacob, and his twelve sons.
Told in Dinah’s voice, Anita Diamant imagines the traditions and turmoils of ancient womanhood—the world of the red tent. It begins with the story of the mothers—Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah—the four wives of Jacob. They love Dinah and give her gifts that sustain her through childhood, a calling to midwifery, and a new home in a foreign land. Dinah’s story reaches out from a remarkable period of early history and creates an intimate connection with the past.
Regarding the Fountain by Kate Klise – 19 copies
How could a simple request for a new water fountain go so very, very off-track? When Principal Wally Russ writes to fountain designer Florence Waters to ask her to replace Dry Creek Middle School’s busted drinking fountain, he little suspects that he is sparking the imagination of an artiste. Theis`mystery novel is told entirely in letters and faxes, as the glamorous Florence visits Dry Creek and becomes friends with Mr. Sam N.’s fifth-grade class.
Rescue Josh McGuire by Ben Michaelsen – 15 copies
A Daring Rescue…or a Deadly Risk? Ever since Josh’s older brother died, his father has been drinking too much and taking his anger out on Josh. But when he orphans a bear cub on a hunting trip, it’s more than Josh can stand. Josh insists on bringing the defenseless cub home-only to find out he must surrender it to game officials.
Rules by Cynthia Lord – 19 copies
“No toys in the fish tank” is one of many rules that 12-year-old Catherine shares with her autistic younger brother, David, to help him understand his world.
Running Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix – 20 copies
Jessie Keyser, 13, believes that the year is 1840. In truth, she and her family, along with a small group of others, live in a reconstructed village viewed by unseen modern tourists and used as an experimental site by unethical scientists. Jessie discovers the truth when her mother asks her to leave the village and seek medical help for the diptheria epidemic that has struck the children of the community.
Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay – 10 copies:
A young girl.
A fateful key.
A woman searching for the truth.
Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten-year-old girl, is taken with her parents by the French police as they go door to door arresting Jewish families in the middle of the night. Desperate to protect her younger brother, Sarah locks him in a bedroom cupboard—their secret hiding place—and promises to come back for him as soon as they are released.
Sixty Years Later: Sarah’s story intertwines with that of Julia Jarmond, an American journalist investigating the roundup. In her research, Julia stumbles onto a trail of secrets that link her to Sarah, and to questions about her own future.
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman – 7 copies
When trouble strikes, Cee Cee Honeycutt’s long-lost aunt comes to the rescue and whisks her off to Savannah where she is catapulted into a perfumed world of prosperity and Southern eccentricity.
The Schwa Was Here by Neal Shusterman – 20 copies
When Anthony “Antsy” Bonano and his friends meet Calvin Schwa, they are impressed and puzzled by his ability to appear and disappear before their very eyes. Antsy concocts a moneymaking scheme based on the Schwa’s invisibility that seems promising until he and his friends overreach and are caught by the town’s legendary mean millionaire, Mr. Crawley.
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor – 19 copies
When 11-year-old Marty Preston chances upon a mistreated beagle pup in his hometown of Friendly, West Virginia, he is not prepared for the ethical questions he has to face.
The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen – 8 copies:
Josey Cirrini is sure of three things: winter is her favorite season, she’s a sorry excuse for a Southern belle, and sweets are best eaten in the privacy of her closet. For while Josey has settled into an uneventful life in her mother’s house, her one consolation is the stockpile of sugary treats and paperback romances she escapes to each night…. Until she finds her closet harboring Della Lee Baker, a local waitress who is one part nemesis—and two parts fairy godmother. With Della Lee’s tough love, Josey’s narrow existence quickly expands. She even bonds with Chloe Finley, a young woman who is hounded by books that inexplicably appear when she needs them—and who has a close connection to Josey’s longtime crush. Soon Josey is living in a world where the color red has startling powers, and passion can make eggs fry in their cartons. And that’s just for starters.
Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan – 20 copies
Percy Jackson is now 14, a bit older and wiser, yet still entangled with the Fates. Friends, monsters, dysfunctional gods, and the romantic stirrings of all things natural and mythological are encountered.
Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen – 11 copies
Cole Matthews is a violent teen offender convicted of viciously beating a classmate, Peter, causing neurological and psychological problems. Cole elects to participate in Circle Justice, an alternative sentencing program based on traditional Native American practices that results in his being banished to a remote Alaskan Island where he is left to survive for a year.
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt – 15 copies
The Tuck family discovers a spring which grants eternal life, decides to protect it for the sake of humanity, and finally meets challenges to their goals in the form of a ten-year-old’s inquisitive mind and a greedy stranger who suspects their secret.
Unwind by Neal Schusterman – 16 copies
Between the ages of 13 and 17, parents or guardians can choose to have their children unwound, which involves having every part of their bodies harvested to be “donated” to another person so, technically, they don’t really die. The complex and compelling plot follows three teens whose stories intertwine when they escape while on their way to the harvest camps.
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawl – 20 copies
White Star: A Dog on the Titanic by Marty Crisp – 20 copies
Sam Harris, 12, is on his way to America to join his mother and new stepfather. A dog lover, he spends the bulk of his time aboard the Titanic in the ship’s kennels and forms a strong attachment to the owner’s dog, whom he names Star.
Please contact the System Office listed if you would like to borrow any of the for use with your book discussion group
e-mail: meridian@frontiernet.net
