Student Recommended Books

1. Student Recommended Books

2. Because of Winn-Dixie By Kate DiCamillo After her mother abandons her family, ten year old India Opal Buloni & her father (a preacher) move to Naomi, Florida. Opal finds a dog in the local Winn-Dixie store and takes him home with her. Winn-Dixie (the dog) helps Opal make new friends and come to terms with her mother and helps her to discover a love for her father.

3. Flipped By Wendelin Van Drannen Julie and Bryce are next-door neighbors who fall in love with each other- at different times (hence the title). Their families have different philosophies on raising children, creating a home, and respecting others. Julie is a carefree spirit who loves the world and everyone in it. Bryce is worried about his social standing in school. The story is told from each of their perspectives with a great deal of humor.

4. Hope Was Here By Joan Bauer Hope and her Aunt Addie have moved once again to work in G.T. Stopps diner in Wisconsin. Hope is a teenager who never met her father and has only seen her mother a few times- her Aunt Addie raised her. Hope’s outlook on life is enriching as she learns to make new friendships at the diner and finally finds the father she always dreamed about. Hope is a waitress who learns about herself and others through her job.

5. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer Joel Bates and Tony Zabrisky are 12-year-old best friends who grew up together. Tony is wild and reckless and Joel is intelligent and cautious like his father. Tony convinces Joel to ride bikes to Starved Rock Park and climb the dangerous cliffs. On the way there, Tony stops at the Vermillion river and the boys begin swimming in the swift current. Tony gets sucked into the water and Joel can’t see him. Joel is scared and lies to his family about Tony’s whereabouts. His guilt and fear make Tony question his morality and responsibilities.

6. Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse During the Great Depression, young Billie Jo has an unexpected talent playing the piano. After a tragic fire, Billie Jo’s hands are burned and deformed and her mother & baby brother die. Billie Jo must learn how to deal with her new responsibilities in the household with her quiet and stern father, and also how to overcome her disability to continue her passion for playing the piano. The story is about her journey back to sanity and love.

7. Phoenix Rising By Karen Hesse Nyle Sumner, 13, has had many losses in her young life; her mother died from cancer, her father left because he couldn’t watch his wife die, and her grandfather recently died. Nyle & her Gran take care of the sheep farm by themselves and a recent national tragedy forces Nyle to love and lose again. A nuclear plant near Boston explodes and sends radiation into the air, killing thousands and Boston is now empty of people. A young Jewish boy, Ezra Trent, and his mother are evacuees from Boston who come to live in Gran’s back bedroom to either heal or die. Nyle is afraid to become friends with Ezra and then be hurt by the loss. Nyle faces many tough life experiences, and learns from her grandmother to trust her heart.

8. Speak By Laurie Hale Anderson Melinda Sordino is a teenage girl who is being ignored by her friends, and the student population in general, because she called to cops to break up a summer party. Melinda has stopped talking to anyone and has suicidal thoughts. As the school year progresses, she meets a variety of classmates, teachers, and strangers who sometimes help her out of her depression. The ending of the book is mysterious, suspenseful, and fulfilling. CASHS

9. Stargirl By Jerry Spinelli Stargirl is a new student at MICA High School. She wears funny clothes, sings happy birthday in the cafeteria, dances on the football field, and plays a ukulele. She is asked to become a cheerleader and she draws large crowds to the football games. Hillary Kimble is the most popular girl at school and hates the attention Stargirl gets. Her goal is to get her classmates to hate Stargirl. Kevin is the host of Hot Seat, a school TV show. He finds himself attracted to Stargirl, but doesn’t want to be unpopular with the “in” crowd. Throughout her peers condemnation, Stargirl isn’t afraid to be different and she makes other people look at their lives differently, especially Kevin, who must learn to be true to his own feelings.

10. Tangerine By Edward Bloor Paul Fisher moves to Tangerine, Florida where strange things happen all the time- underground fires, lightning strikes, and murder. Paul is partially blind from a mysterious accident when he was a young boy. Although he is handicapped, he is an awesome soccer goalie. His older brother is a football star, as well as being obnoxious and mean. Paul must make sense of things, including choosing sides between his family and new friends.

11. Walk Two Moons By Sharon Creech Salamanca Tree Hiddle is traveling with her crazy-in-love grandparents to find her mother who left home “to find herself” in Idaho. The Hiddle’s encounter different characters on their trip and Sal learns to “first walk in someone else’s moccasins.” As they travel, Sal tells the story of her friend Phoebee whose mother has disappeared. Phoebe’s story and Sal’s story of missing mothers have extremely different endings- Phoebe’s mother returns and Sal’s mother dies. CASHS J. Frank Faust

12. The Killer’s Cousin By Nancy Werlin After being acquitted for murder, Jason flees his hometown to escape the gossip. He moves in with his aunt, uncle, and cousin Lily, who really don’t want him there. While Jason wrestles with the demons of his girlfriend’s death, he suspects something evil is occurring with his cousin.

13. J. Frank Faust

14. My Sister’s Keeper By Jodi Picoult 13 year old Anna Alexander has already gone through countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can fight the leukemia that is killing her. Now her parents want Anna to give up her kidney for Kate. Anna hires a lawyer to protect her from another painful surgery which tears her family apart. Who is right, Anna or her parents? This story has a shocking ending.

15. A Long way From Chicago By Richard Peck Joey & his sister, Mary Alice, leave their city life behind to visit Grandma Dowdel in the country. Shotgun Cheatham dies & Grandma’s lies to a city reporter set up a hilarious series of events that keeps the whole town talking.

16. A Year down Yonder By Richard Peck Sequel to a long way from Chicago. In 1937 Brother Joey is working and a teenage Mary Alice spends the summer alone with Grandma Dowdel. Grandma keeps surprising Mary Alice with her capers & contributions to people who are more poor & have more problems. Grandma’s outrageous actions are hilarious.

17. Let the Circle Be Unbroken By Mildred Taylor The Logan Family Lives in Mississippi during the Great Depression and amid racial discrimination. Their friend T.J. is found guilty to murders he didn’t commit. A cousin marries a white girl & brings their mixed-race daughter to live on the farm for awhile. CASHS

18. Fig Pudding By Ralph Fletcher Cliff Abernathy’s younger brother, Brad, is killed in a tragic accident. His family must learn to love & laugh again.

19. Mary, Bloody Mary By Carolyn Meyer Mary Tudor was the daughter of the king of England, Henry VIII and Queen Catherine of Aragon. King Henry wants to divorce Catherine, so Mary is moved from castle to castle & separated from her mother. 25 years later, Mary gains the throne & in revenge for her father’s ways, burns 300 heretics at the stake, earning her title, “Bloody Mary.”

20. Uglies By Scott Westerfeld Tally Youngblood is looking forward to her sixteenth birthday and the chance to become a “pretty” with all her other friends when she meets Shay. Shay shows Tally that there is more in the futuristic world than just getting a surgery to become pretty and popular like everyone else. This story takes Tally on a long journey to becoming herself while saving her friends, old ones and the new ones from The Smoke. Also in the series: Pretties and Specials

21. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer Bella Swan moves to Forks, Washington to be with her father after her mom gets remarried. While in Forks, a dreary, cold town where it is almost constantly raining, she meets the mysterious Cullen family. Friends from the nearby town La Push tell Bella about the legend that the Cullens are really vampires. Through the entire series, young Bella encounters mystery, love, loss, and overall triumph in the end. Also in the Twilight saga: New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn

22. The Freedom Writers Diary The Freedom Writers Diary is a true story about students who were involved with gangs. Their teacher, Ms. Erin Gruwell, helped them to show respect to people of all different races and ethnic backgrounds. She did this by taking them on field trips and writing about their feelings. They talked a lot about Anne Frank and the Jews who were terrorized by Hitler’s Nazis. This books helps to understand how people different from yourself really feel.

23. Street Magic By Tamora Pierce In this book, a mage named Briar is visiting the city of Summersea with his teacher Rosethorn. As you can guess by their names they are plant mages, meaning they can talk to plants and control them. Every thing is going smoothly until Briar sees a girl use magic on stones, and true to mage code, he has to be her teacher in magic. I like this book because it talks about magic, I like the conflict Briar has of earning the trust of a street rat and to try and convince her that she is a stone mage. I also enjoyed how Briar , who used to be in a gang, has to help a gang out when another gang starts to kill it’s members.

24. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants By Ann Brashares This book talks of a friendship that turns into a “sisterhood.” The pants that they find one day magically fits all of them and so from then on they called them the traveling pants. Each summer the four best friends travel or are away from home, so each sister gets to keep the pants for one week, then send them on to the next with a detailed letter about what happened while wearing them. When the sisters reunite again, they document what happened on the pants themselves. This tradition continues throughout the four books in the series. This book details what true friendship is really about.

25. Eragon Eragon is about a boy who finds a magical stone in the woods when hunting. Eragon takes it home, thinking it will bring money for food for the winter. Eragon makes a stunning discovery about the stone that will change his life forever.

26. Chasing Vermeer When a book called “Lo!”, with extraordinary and unexplainable events brings Calder Pillay and Petra Andalee together, many strange events start to happen. A kid disappears and a Vermeer painting is stolen with a strange note left behind. They both find themselves putting the pieces to this strange puzzle together. A strange old lady and their 6th grade teacher seem to be mixed up in this mess somehow. With Calder’s pentominoes, Petra’s book,and both of their brains, can they figure out this twisted puzzle that even confuses the F.B.I.?

27. Stormbreaker By Anthony Horowitz In Alex Rider Operation Stormbreaker an unsuspecting 14-year-old boy Alex Rider is living with his uncle Ian after his parents died when he was a baby. But when his uncle dies in a “car crash” he discovers that his uncle was actually a spy for MI6 the British intelligence service. After his discovery Alex becomes tangled up in a web of lies and deception when MI6 decides to recruit Alex to work for the investigating Herod Sayle a British nation that has kindly decided to donate thousands of his new computers to British schools all across the country.

28. The chronicles of Vladimir Tod The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod The Book The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod is about an eighth grader named Vladimir Tod (Vlad for short). His dad was a vampire, but his mom was human. When a accident happens to his parents he has to live with his aunt. He doesn’t drink human blood, but he did bite his best friend when they were younger. Since Vlad’s father broke the rules he is afraid for his family and what might be after his son.

29. Gracie, A Love Story By George Burns The book is about a girl named Gracie Allen, her family, and her husband. It describes why she is famous and what she did to become famous, like work on TV and radio. She adopted two kids and had her own house built for her and her family. This book showed how much George loved her and how great her life was.

30. Left Behind By: Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins The world has ended!!! Rayford Steele and his daughter, Chloe, defeat the forces of evil while living their life knowing that Irene, Rayford’s wife, and Rayford Jr. are gone. The world is filled with terror, people are being killed for being out in the streets! They try to find answers and find comfort in a nearby church. At this church, they meet Bruce Barnes, who was the only member of the church that was left behind. He tells them about the Rapture. But when a man named Carpathia rises to power, is their force with God strong enough to defeat him??? “I enjoyed reading this book because it shows what the world will be like once Christ comes back to earth and takes all of the believers with him. The book also shows third person, so you get to know every character involved very well. This book had me on the edge the whole time!!!” -Randy Snider

31. OTHER BOOK TITLES Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko humorous story of boy living on Alcatrez Island Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan young sister & brother are abandoned by their parents & live with their grandmother…they want to find their father in Mexico Milkweek by Jerry Spinelli a young gypsy boy must escape the Nazis Double Identity by Margaret Peterson Haddix a teenage girl awakens from a coma & must find out who she is & why she was put in the hospital

32. MYSTERY • Diamonds in the Shadow…by Caroline Cooney… the Finch family from Connecticut takes in a family of refugees from Africa. One of the refugees is a lawless rebel. Only teenage Jared Finch knows what the rebel is planning…can he save his family & his community? • If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period…by Gennifer Choldenko…2 kids…2 lives…1 collision. Mystery & suspense • Four Things My Geeky Jock Of A Best Friend Must Do in Europe…by Jane Harrington…Delia’s best friend dares her to do 4 things while she is on a cruise to Europe. Will she do them? • Inventing Elliott…by Graham Gardner… Elliott arrives at a new high school & the Guardians want him. The Guardians rule the high school with secrecy & terror. Will Elliot join them?

33. Margaret Peterson Haddix • Suspense, thrilling twists & turns… • Turnabout…2 old women are given shots that make them young…but it keeps making them younger!! What will happen when they become babies? • Memory…when hypnotized Kira get memories of a life she didn’t know existed for her! • Among the Brave…illegal 3rd borns run from the police who want to exterminate them! • Among the Impostors…sequel to Among the Brave • Among the Enemy… sequel to Among the Brave

34. Adventure Books • Betrayed…by Patricia Calvert…2 friends head west to make a fortune for themselves. A story of adventure & survival. • Daniel Half Human…by David Chotjewitz… a German boy discovers that his mother is Jewish. He hides his secret while he joins the Hitler Youth, but it has fateful consequences for his family. • Paradise…by Joan E. Goodman… based on a true story. 1542 Marguerite, her maid & her true love are stranded on an island. • Dusk…by Susan Gates… bizarre military experiment produces a girl with hawk genes. She must battle mutant rats & killer dogs.

35. Adventure Books • Firmament…by Tim Bowler…Luke’s gang wants him to steal from Mrs. Little’s house. He find something so unexpected that it changes everything in his life. • The Big Burn…by Jeanette Ingold… hundreds of forests are on fire & 3 teens are caught in its path. Based on one of the biggest wildfires of US history • The Dying Sun…by Gary Blackwood…2050 an ice age has descended on most of the world. Jame’s family must migrate with millions of people to find warmer climate. • The White Darkness…by Geraldine McCaughrean… Sym travels to the Antarctic that turns into a nightmarish struggle for survival.

36. Death is a Lonely Business…when an old roller coaster is torn apart, a dead body is found. A young writer & a detective try to solve the mystery without being murdered! • Open Ice…Nick’s a great hockey player who suffers a serious head injury. His parents & doctor don’t want him to play anymore, but hockey is his life and his future.