Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
A cabin boy on a luxury airship and a wealthy passenger investigate reports of mysterious flying beasts.  Pirate attacks, a sinking ship, and a deserted island leave the two in danger.

Al Capone Does My Shirts  by Gennifer Choldenko
Moose's father gets a job in the prison at Alcatraz Island where Al Capone is locked up.  Moose ends up taking care of his autistic sister and gets dragged into a wacky money-making scheme dreamed up by the warden's daughter.

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
Nathaniel, a magician-in-training, summons up Bartimaeus, a djinni with attitude who steals a valuable amulet and triggers espionage, murder, blackmail and revolt.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
When a twelve-year-old evil genius tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold, the fairies fight back with magic, technology, and a particularly nasty troll.

Bat 6 by Virginia Wolff
The annual sixth grade girls' softball game in 1949 is disrupted by a racial incident against a Japanese American girl.

Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
The thirteen-year-old daughter of an English country knight keeps a journal in which she records the events of her life, particularly her longing for adventures beyond the usual role of women and her efforts to avoid being married off.

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
In this novel based on the story of Cinderella, Ella struggles against the childhood curse that forces her to obey any order given to her.

Frindle by Andrew Clements
When he decides to turn his fifth grade teacher's love of the dictionary around on her, clever Nick Allen invents a new word and begins a chain of events that quickly moves beyond his control.

Gregor the Overlander - by Suzanne Collins
Gregor and his little sister fall through a laundry vent in a New York City apartment and land in an underground world where giant-sized talking bats, cockroaches and vicious bats live in an uneasy truce with humans.  Gregor is destined to save the humans from the warlike rodents, but he just wants to go back home.

Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer
When sixteen-year-old Hope and the aunt who has raised her move from Brooklyn to Mulhoney, Wisconsin, to work as waitress and cook in the Welcome Stairways diner, they become involved with the diner owner's political campaign to oust the town's corrupt mayor.

How Angel Peterson Got His Name - by Gary Paulsen
The author describes his 13th year "of wonderful madness" when he and his friends tried to break the world record for speed on skis, go over a waterfall in a barrel, and hang glide with an Army surplus parachute.

Inkheart - by Cornelia Funke
Maggie's father can bring book characters alive by reading books aloud.  Unfortunately he releases the evil character Capricorn and reads Maggie's mother into the book.

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos
To the constant disappointment of his mother and his teachers, Joey has trouble paying attention or controlling his mood swings when his prescription meds wear off and he starts getting worked up and acting wired.

The Last Book in the Universe by W. R. Philbrick
After an earthquake has destroyed much of the planet, an epileptic teenager nicknamed Spaz begins the heroic fight to bring human intelligence back to the Earth of a distant future.

Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse
In letters to her cousin, a young Jewish girl chronicles her family's
flight from Russia in 1919 and her own experiences when she must be
left in Belgium for a while when the others emigrate to America.

Mable Riley:  A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance by Marthe Jocelyn
Mable's diary describes her life with her teacher sister in 1901 Canada.  She also makes up a romantic adventure to amuse herself.  Friendship with a suffragette, farm chores and helping her sister at school keep Mable busy.  Funny and delightful -- like the Little House books or Anne of Green Gables.

Mr. Was by Pete Hautman
After his dying grandfather tries to strangle him, Jack Lund discovers a door that leads him fifty years into the past and involves him in events that determine his own future.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
Having no one to help her with her problems, a widowed mouse visits the rats whose former imprisonment in a laboratory made them wise and long lived.

My Life in Dog Years by Gary Paulsen
The author describes some of the dogs that have had special places in his life, including his first dog, Snowball, in the Philippines; Dirk, who protected him from bullies; and Cookie, who saved his life.

Olive's Ocean - by Kevin Henkes
Martha gets a page from a journal written by Olive, a classmate who was killed in a car accident.  Marth never knew Olive well, but the journal changes Martha's life.

The Oracle Betrayed by Catherine Fisher
Living in a Greek-Egyptian sort of place, timid mousy Mirany serves the High Priestess and uncovers corruption and danger involving a plot to become ruler.  Suspenseful plot (and really creepy scorpions!)

The Radioactive Boy Scout:  The Frightening True Story of a Whiz Kid and His Homemade Nuclear Reactor by Ken Silverstein
This misfit geek really did built a reactor in his backyard shed.  Read this amazing true story.

Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Ji-li Jiang
A Chinese girl named Ji-li, remembers the Cultural Revolution in China and how it affected her and her family.

Redwall by Brian Jacques
When the peaceful life of ancient Redwall Abbey is shattered by the arrival of the evil rat Cluny and his villainous hordes, Matthias, a young mouse, determines to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior which, he is convinced, will help Redwall's inhabitants destroy the enemy

Ruby Holler - by Sharon Creech
Orphaned twins Dallas and Florida get sent to stay with an eccentric elderly couple in Ruby Holler. A treasure hunt, a river expedition,  and some really hilarious meals change the way the twins feel about their new home.

Scorpions - by Walter Dean Myers
After reluctantly taking on the leadership of the Harlem gang, the Scorpions, Jamal finds that his enemies treat him with respect when heacquires a gun--until a tragedy occurs.

The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer
Jack and his sister are kidnapped by Viking berserkers and find themselves on an adventure quest.  The characters all have terrific names and you'll be surprised how you feel about them by the end of the book.  History, myth and pillaging...

The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson
Odge Gribble, a young hag, accompanies an old wizard, a gentle fey, and a giant ogre on their mission through a magical tunnel from their Island to London to rescue their King and Queen's son who had been stolen as an infant.

Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Staples
When eleven-year old Shabanu, the daughter of a nomad in the Cholistan Desert of present-day Pakistan, is pledged in marriage to an older man whose money will bring prestige to the family, she must either accept the decision, as is the custom, or risk the consequences of defying her father's wishes.

Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World by Jennifer Armstrong
Describes the events of the 1914 Shackleton Antarctic expedition when,
after being trapped in a frozen sea for nine months, their ship, Endurance, was finally crushed, forcing Shackleton and his men to make a very long and perilous journey across ice and stormy seas to reach inhabited land.

Skeleton Man - by Joseph Bruchac
Molly's parents mysteriously disappear and a "great uncle" she never met shows up to claim her.  Every night her bony uncle locks her in her room, where she has weird dreams of the Skeleton Man.

So B. It by Sarah Weeks
Heidi's mom has a 23-word vocabulary and a "bum brain" so Heidi doesn't know anything about her family, who she is, where they came from or why they're alone.  Clues from old photographs lead her to a cross-country bus trip to find some answers.

Someone Is Hiding on Alcatraz Island by Eve Bunting
When he offends the toughest gang in his San Francisco school, Danny
tries to elude them by going to Alcatraz only to find himself and a Park Service employee trapped by the gang in an old prison cell block.

S.O.R. Losers by Avi
Each member of the South Orange River seventh-grade soccer team has qualities of excellence, but not on the soccer field.

The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson
Annika lives with unusual professors and their servant after being abandoned by her parents.  When a glamorous woman comes to claim her, Annika thinks her fondest dream has come true.  However the reality of living her new life isn't what Annika expected.

Stormbreaker - by Anthony Horowitz
Alex is recruited as a British spy to investigate the Stormbreaker computer and the man who is giving them away to children.  His equipment includes zit cream that eats through metal, a yo-yo that turns into a winch, and a GameBoy full of spy gear.

The Tale of Despereaux - by Kate DiCamillo
Despereaux the mouse falls in love with a princess, a rat who loves light ends up in the queen's soup, a slow-witted servant girl wants to be a princess, and their stories all connect with each other.

The Teacher's Funeral by Richard Peck
Russell hopes that the death of his teacher will lead to the closing of his school. To his horror, his bossy older sister gets the job.  A privy fire, buggy accident and snake in the drawer are all part of the humor.

There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar
An unmanageable, but lovable, eleven-year-old misfit learns to believe in himself when he gets to know the new school counselor, who is a sort of misfit too.

The Thief by Megan Turner
Gen flaunts his ingenuity as a thief and relishes the adventure which takes him to a remote temple of the gods where he will attempt to steal a precious stone.

The Trouble with Lemons by Daniel Hayes
Tyler and Lymie, eighth grade misfits, discover a dead body in a quarry and work to uncover the mystery behind it.

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
The Tuck family is confronted with an agonizing situation when they
discover that a ten-year-old girl and a malicious stranger now share their secret about a spring whose water prevents one from ever growing any older.

The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Curtis
The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The mysterious death of an eccentric millionaire brings together an unlikely assortment of heirs who must uncover the circumstances of his death before they can claim their inheritance.

Wolf Rider by Avi
After receiving an apparent crank call from a man claiming to have committed murder, fifteen-year-old Andy finds his close relationship with his father crumbling as he struggles to make everyone believe him.