Challenged Young Adult Books
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This list contains young adult books that have been challenged.
Number - A
33 Snowfish -- Adam Rapp
A homeless boy, running from the police with a fifteen-year-old, drug-addicted prostitute, her boyfriend who just killed his own parents, and a baby, gets the chance to make a better life for himself.
About David -- Susan Beth Pfeffer
When her close friend since childhood murders his adoptive parents and kills himself, 17-year-old Lynn is haunted by the tragedy.
Adrift -- Julie Burtinshaw
David Garrett's already difficult family life falls apart when his mother is diagnosed with clinical depression, and he and his sister get sent to Aunt Jenn in Desolation Sound, British Columbia, but when they steal a dinghy and try to escape the situation turns dangerous.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn -- Mark Twain
Huckleberry Finn, an abused outcast, rafts with Jim, a runaway slave, down the Mississippi River, where they have a variety of experiences.
After the First Death -- Robert Cormier
Events of the hijacking of a bus of children by terrorists seeking the return of their homeland are described from the perspectives of a hostage, a terrorist, an Army general involved in the rescue operation, and his son.
After the Rain -- Norma Fox Mazer
After discovering her grandfather is dying, fifteen-year-old Rachel gets to know him better than ever before and finds the experience bittersweet.
The Afterlife -- Gary Soto
A senior at East Fresno High School lives on as a ghost after his brutal murder in the restroom of a club where he had gone to dance.
Alice on the Outside -- Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Eighth-grader Alice has lots of questions about sex, relationships, prejudice, and change.
All Together Now -- Sue Ellen Bridgers
Casey spends her twelfth summer visiting her grandparents in their small town while her father serves in the Korean War and her mother works two jobs.
Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence -- Marion Dane Bauer
A collection of 16 short stories about homosexuality by such authors as Bruce Coville, M.E. Kerr, William Sleator, and Jane Yolen.
Am I the Last Virgin? Ten African American Reflections on Sex and Love -- Tara Roberts, ed.
In this collection, 10 African American women reflect on the sexual challenges they have faced--from sweet, weak-kneed first love to painful healing after rape and abuse.
The Amber Spyglass -- Philip Pullman
Lyra and Will find themselves at the center of a battle between the forces of the Authority and those gathered by Lyra's father, Lord Asriel.
America -- E.R. Frank
At the discretion of the social welfare system, a 5-year-old boy named America trustingly leaves the safe haven of his foster home for a visit with his desperate, drug-addicted mother. And because of that one lapse in adult judgment, a child is lost within the system until almost 11 years later when he tries to end his own life.
Amy -- Mary Hooper
Lonely after being dumped by her two best friends, Amy hopes for a romance with Zed, whom she met in an Internet chat room, but the day they spend together in his seaside village near London is not what she expected.
Angel Face -- Norma Klein
When his father walks out on the family, Jason Lieberman must juggle his own plans for romance with his mother's increasing demands on him as she learns to adjust to her new single role.
Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging -- Louise Rennison
Presents the humorous journal of a year in the life of a fourteen-year-old British girl who tries to reduce the size of her nose, stop her mad cat from terrorizing the neighborhood animals, and win the love of handsome hunk Robbie.
Annie on My Mind -- Nancy Garden
Liza puts aside her feelings for Annie after the disaster at school, but eventually she allows love to triumph over the ignorance of people.
Annie's Baby: The Diary of Anonymous, a Pregnant Teenager -- Jessica Trantowski
Annie, 14, falls head over heels for handsome, wealthy 16-year-old Danny when he befriends her. But soon she is left to face her biggest challenge on her own.
Are You in the House Alone? -- Richard Peck
Gail, a rape victim, learns she must prove her assailant's guilt in order to see him convicted.
Arizona Kid -- Ron Koertge
Sixteen-year-old Billy comes to terms with his own values when he is sent to live with his gay uncle in Tucson and is introduced to the world of rodeos where he falls in love with an outspoken racehorse rider named Cara.
Armageddon Summer -- Jane Yolen and Bruce Coville
Fourteen-year-old Marina and sixteen-year-old Jed accompany their parents' religious cult, the Believers, to await the end of the world atop a remote mountain, where they try to decide what they themselves believe.
Athletic Shorts: Six Short Stories -- Chris Crutcher
A collection of short stories featuring characters from earlier books by Chris Crutcher.
B
Baby Be-Bop -- Francesca Lia Block
Dirk MacDonald, a sixteen-year-old boy living in Los Angeles, comes to terms with being gay after he receives surreal storytelling visitations from his dead father and great-grandmother.
Babylon Boyz -- Jess Mowry
Inner city teenagers find a suitcase full of cocaine and must decide whether to sell it and take the opportunity the money would provide or to destroy it to keep the drug from poisoning their community.
Bad -- Jean Ferris
In an attempt to please her friends, sixteen-year-old Dallas goes along with their plan to rob a convenience store and when her father refuses to allow to her to come home, she is sentenced to six months in the Girls' Rehabilitation Center.
Bad Boy: A Memoir -- Walter Dean Myers
Myers' autobiographical account of growing up in Harlem in the 1940s.
Band of Angels -- Julian F. Thompson
While traveling across the country, a group of teenagers decide to launch a kids' campaign against nuclear war unaware that they are being pursued by government agents determined to kill each of them.
The Battle of Jericho -- Sharon Draper
A high school junior and his cousin suffer the ramifications of joining what seems to be a "reputable" school club.
The Beast -- Walter Dean Myers
A visit to his Harlem neighborhood and the discovery that the girl he loves is using drugs give sixteen-year-old Anthony Witherspoon a new perspective both on his home and on his life at a Connecticut prep school.
Beauty Queen -- Linda Glovach
Samantha Strasbourg's diary of her life as an aspiring actress working at a topless bar in New York City provides an account of one teenager's addiction to heroin and the difficulties she must face when trying to escape its grasp.
Before Wings -- Beth Goobie
Adrien, recovering from a near-death experience after suffering a brain aneurysm two years earlier, spends the summer at her aunt's camp in Canada. While there, she unravels the secrets behind her aunt's haunted past.
Beggars' Ride -- Theresa Nelson
Twelve-year-old Clare flees an unhappy home life and tries to survive on the streets of Atlantic City with a small gang of homeless kids, each of whom has his own secret reason for distrusting society.
Begging for Change -- Sharon G. Flake
Teenaged Raspberry Hill tries to sort out her confused feelings of disgust, shame, and love for her homeless, drug addicted father and worries that she may have inherited his lying and stealing ways.
The Beginning of Unbelief -- Robin D. Jones
While keeping a journal to record some upheavals in his life, fifteen-year-old Hal creates within its pages a science fiction story starring his alter ego, Zach.
Beyond the Chocolate War -- Robert Cormier
Dark deeds continue at Trinity High School, climaxing in a public demonstration of one student's homemade guillotine.
The Big Bang -- James Forman
As he relates the events leading up to the terrible accident that kills his "wild' and much-admired older brother and seven friends, Chris, as the lone survivor, tries to sort out his confused feelings of guilt, grief, and anger and to better understand the kind of person his brother really was.
Big Mouth and Ugly Girl -- Joyce Carol Oates
When sixteen-year-old Matt is falsely accused of threatening to blow up his high school and his friends turn against him, an unlikely classmate comes to his aid.
Billy -- Laura Roybal
Billy, a sixteen-year-old boy who becomes reunited with the family he was kidnapped from by his natural father six years earlier, tries to sort out his identity.
Binge -- Charles Ferry
When eighteen-year-old Weldon wakes up in a hospital, he must face the tragic consequences of a drinking spree.
Black Boy (Diary of a Teenage Stud) Vol. 1: Girls, Girls, Girls -- Jonah Black
Jonah reveals his difficulty in separating his rich imaginary life with the real world. Between writing about his steamy, disturbing encounters with the beautiful and possibly made-up Sophie, Jonah also documents some cold, hard facts about himself: he was expelled from his Pennsylvania boarding school, his former Florida high school is forcing him to repeat 11th grade, and his mom is a scary New Age sex therapist who writes books like Hello Penis! Hello, Vagina!
Black Mirror -- Nancy Werlin
Convinced her brother's death was murder rather than suicide, sixteen-year-old Frances begins her own investigation into suspicious student activities at her boarding school.
Blood and Chocolate -- Annette Curtis Klause
Having fallen for a human boy, a beautiful teenage werewolf must battle both her packmates and the fear of the townspeople to decide where she belongs and with whom.
Body of Christopher Creed -- Carol Plum-Ucci
Torey Adams, a high school junior with a seemingly perfect life, struggles with doubts and questions surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the class outcast.
The Bomb -- Theodore Taylor
In 1945, when the American forces take the Bikini Atoll from the occupying Japanese, Sorry Rinamu does not realize that the next year he will lead a desperate effort to save his island home from a much more deadly threat.
Bone from a Dry Sea -- Peter Dickinson
A story, told by two different narrators, in two different worlds 4 million years apart, of two girls who made two different important discoveries.
Born Blue -- Han Nolan
Janie was four years old when she nearly drowned due to her mother's neglect. Through an unhappy foster home experience, and years of feeling that she is unwanted, she keeps alive her dream of someday being a famous singer.
Both Sides Now -- Ruth Rennebaker
Fifteen-year-old Liza tries to deal with the normal everyday crises of life in an Austin, Texas, high school, a process complicated by her mother's fight with breast cancer.
Boy Meets Boy -- David Levithan
When Paul falls hard for Noah, he thinks he has found his one true love, but when Noah walks out of his life, Paul has to find a way to get him back and make everything right once more.
Boys Lie -- John Neufeld
Eighth-grader Gina Smith is targeted as easy by some boys in her new school because of her physical development and because of an incident in her past in which she was assaulted in a public swimming pool.
Boys Will Be -- Bruce Brooks
A collection of essays about the things that worry, excite, and interest adolescent boys.
Brave New Girl -- Louisa Luna
An outcast at school, misunderstood by her parents, and mourning the disappearance of her older brother, fourteen-year-old Doreen seeks solace in her music until her sister's boyfriend forces her to confront new feelings about the world around her.
The Brave -- Robert Lipsyte
Having left the Indian reservation for the streets of New York, seventeen-year-old boxer Sonny Bear tries to harness his inner rage by training Alfred Brooks, who has left the sport to become a policeman.
A Break with Charity: a Story about the Salem Witch Trials -- Ann Rinaldi
While waiting for a church meeting in 1706, Susanna English, daughter of a wealthy Salem merchant, recalls the malice, fear, and accusations of witchcraft that tore her village apart in 1692.
.Breaking Boxes -- A.M. Jenkins
When in the course of an unusual friendship Charlie reveals something confidential about his brother, he must decide if he can accept the risks of caring.
Breaking Point -- Alex (Alexandria) Flinn
Fifteen-year-old Paul enters an exclusive private school and falls under the spell of a charismatic boy who may be using him.
Breaking Rank -- Kristen Randle
Seventeen-year-old Casey has some of her preconceived notions challenged when she begins to tutor Baby, a member of a gang-like non-conformist society called the Clan.
Breaking the Ring -- Donna Walsh Inglehart
Three girls spending their summer vacation at their grandparents' house on the St. Lawrence River discover hidden cocaine on an island and become suspected of drug dealing themselves.
Breathing Underwater -- Alexandra Flinn
Sent to counseling for hitting his girlfriend, Caitlin, and ordered to keep a journal, sixteen-year-old Nick recounts his relationship with Caitlin, examines his controlling behavior and anger, and describes living with his abusive father.
The Broken Bridge -- Philip Pullman
Over the course of a long summer in Wales, sixteen-year-old Ginny, the mixed-race, artist daughter of an English father and Haitian mother, learns that she has a half-brother from her father's earlier marriage, and that her own mother may still be alive.
Bronx Masquerade -- Nikki Grimes
While studying the Harlem Renaissance, students at a Bronx high school read aloud poems they've written, revealing their innermost thoughts and fears to their formerly clueless classmates.
Buck -- Tamela Larimer
Buck Dawson, the handsome, independent golden-boy whom everyone loved, respected, and admired, finds his life and relationships threatened by the revelation of a dark secret from his past.
The Buffalo Tree -- Adam Rapp
A boy adjusts to life in a juvenile detention center.
Building Blocks -- Cynthia Voigt
In a trip back in time, Brann meets his father as a ten-year-old and learns for the first time to love and understand him.
The Bumblebee Flies Anyway -- Robert Cormier
Sixteen-year-old Barney has only fleeting memories about his past but, as a voluntary patient at the institute for experimental medicine, he knows he is different from the terminally ill patients surrounding him. His involvement with the bitter, slowly dying, Mazzo brings Barney hope, pain, and a moment of heroic glory.
But I'll Be Back Again -- Cynthia Rylant
"In this autobiographical essay, Rylant recounts the formative events of her childhood: the early loss of both her mother and father, who sent her to live with grandparents after their separation; years spent in a small Bible-belt town after her mother returned to reclaim her; her crushes on peers and on a larger-than-life hero, Bobby Kennedy; and, through it all, a determination to "be someone else," which fueled her willingness to try on the mantle of a writer."--from PW
C
The Cage -- Ruth Minsky Sender
"Sender writes a searing, memorable story of her years in the Lodz ghetto and in Auschwitz."--from PW
Caged Eagles -- Eric Walters
Fourteen-year-old Tadashi Fukushima and his Japanese Canadian family are evacuated from their village near Prince Rupert, British Columbia, and held in an internment camp where he struggles to balance being Japanese enough and Canadian enough to get along with everyone.
Catalyst -- Laurie Halse Anderson
Eighteen-year-old Kate, who sometimes chafes at being a preacher's daughter, finds herself losing control in her senior year as she faces difficult neighbors, the possibility that she may not be accepted by the college of her choice, and an unexpected death.
The Catcher in the Rye -- J.D. Salinger
After leaving prep school Holden Caulfield spends three days on his own in New York City
Catherine, Called Birdy -- 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.
Chain Letter -- Christopher Pike
Each of the seven teenage friends involved in the death of a lone stranger on a deserted California road receive letters signed "Your Caretaker" demanding dangerous, impossible things and threatening violence--then fatal "accidents" begin to occur.
Changing Jereth -- Elizabeth Wennick
This novel "follows a Canadian teenager as he struggles to escape his troubled life." --from PW
The Cheat -- Amy Goldman Koss
When Sarah gets her hands on the answers to the eighth-grade geography midterm and decides to share them with some other students, the consequences are far-ranging.
Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys -- Francesca Lia Block
With their parents away, four young people form a rock band that becomes wildly popular, carrying them into a "freer" life than they can cope with.
The Chief -- Robert Lipsyte
On the verge of having a shot at the heavyweight boxing championship, nineteen-year-old Sonny Bear finds himself with conflicting loyalties when trouble erupts on his reservation over the construction of a new gambling casino. Sequel to: The Brave.
Chill Wind -- Janet McDonald
Afraid that she will have no where to go when her welfare checks are stopped, nineteen-year-old high school dropout Aisha tries to figure out how she can support herself and her two young children in New York City.
Chinese Handcuffs -- Chris Crutcher
Still troubled by his older brother's violent suicide, eighteen-year-old Dillon becomes deeply involved in the terrible secret of his friend Jennifer, who feels she can tell no one what her stepfather is doing to her.
The Chocolate War -- Robert Cormier
A high school freshman discovers the devastating consequences of refusing to join in the school's annual fund raising drive and arousing the wrath of the school bullies.
Confess-O-Rama -- Ron Koertge
When Tony sees the Confess-O-Rama flyer he thinks he's found the perfect "listener" to talk about all his problems and feelings. But when he finds out to whom he has been confessing, he feels betrayed.
The Contender -- Robert Lipsyte
Against great odds, a black high school drop-out trains to become a championship boxer.
Coraline -- Neil Gaiman
Looking for excitement, Coraline ventures through a mysterious door into a world that is similar, yet disturbingly different from her own, where she must challenge a gruesome entity in order to save herself, her parents, and the souls of three others.
Cosmos Coyote and William the Nice -- Jim Heynen
When sent to live on a farm in Iowa as an alternative to juvenile detention, seventeen-year-old Cosmos falls in love with a religious girl and reconsiders his values and beliefs.
Crazy Horse Electric Game -- Chris Crutcher
A high school athlete, frustrated at being disabled after an accident, runs away from home to Oakland, California, and is helped back to mental and physical health by a Black benefactor and the people in a special school where he enrolls.
Crosses -- Shelley Stoehr
Unhappy at home, Nancy and her friend Katie adopt punk lifestyles and find relief in cutting themselves, until Nancy is forced to confront her problems.
The Cure -- Sonia Levitin
A sixteen-year-old boy living in 2407 collides with the past when he finds himself in Strasbourg in 1348 confronting the anti-Semitism that sweeps through Europe during the Black Plague.
Cut -- Patricia McCormick
While confined to a mental hospital, thirteen-year-old Callie slowly comes to understand some of the reasons behind her self-mutilation, and gradually starts to get better.
D
Damned Strong Love: the True Story of Willi G. and Stefan K. -- Lutz Van Dijk
Two males develop their relationship during World War II when Stephan K. falls in love with an Austrian-German soldier.
Dance on My Grave: a Life and a Death in Four Parts -- Aidan Chambers
Hal's summer affair with Barry Goldman ends tragically when Hal discovers he is much more committed to the relationship than his friend.
Dancing Naked -- Shelley Hrdlitschka
After Kia discovers that she is pregnant and that the father wants her to have an abortion, she must make some difficult decisions, aided by her youth counselor Justin and Grace, a woman she met while volunteering at a senior's home.
Danny Ain't -- Joe Cottonwood
With the help of some unusual characters in a small California town, Danny struggles to live on his own while his father, a Vietnam veteran, is in the VA hospital.
The Dark is Rising -- Susan Cooper
Will Stanton discovers the role he must play in the struggle to overcome the powers of the Dark.
Darkness, Be My Friend -- John Marsden
As survivors of an enemy invasion of their homeland, Ellie and her friends return to Australia as guides for soldiers from New Zealand who plan an attack on the Wirrawee airfield.
David and Della -- Paul Zindel
David Mahooley, a teenage playwright suffering from writer's block, finds himself drawn into the passionate world of a flamboyant, alcoholic young actress with a talent for lying.
David and Jonathan -- Cynthia Voigt
The relationship between two close friends, Henry and Jonathan, changes when Jonathan's cousin David, a survivor of the Holocaust, comes to live with David's family.
David vs. God -- Mary E. Pearson
Certain that his death was a mistake, wise guy David James finds himself teamed up with the "Queen of the Nerds" from his high school in preparation for a debate with God.
A Day No Pigs Would Die -- Robert Newton Peck
To a thirteen-year-old Vermont farm boy whose father slaughters pigs for a living, maturity comes early as he learns "doing what's got to be done," especially regarding his pet pig who cannot produce a litter.
The Day They Came to Arrest the Book -- Nat Hentoff
Students and faculty at a high school become embroiled in a censorship case over "Huckleberry Finn."
The Dear One -- Jacqueline Woodson
Twelve-year-old Feni has to adjust when the pregnant young daughter of an old friend of her mother's comes to stay with them.
Deenie -- Judy Blume
A thirteen-year-old girl seemingly destined for a modeling career finds she has a deformation of the spine called scoliosis.
Define "Normal" -- Julie Anne Peters
When she agrees to meet with Jasmine as a peer counselor at their middle school, Antonia never dreams that this girl with the black lipstick and pierced eyebrow will end up helping her deal with the serious problems she faces at home and become a good friend.
Deliver Us from Evie -- M.E.Kerr
Sixteen-year-old Parr Burrman and his family face some difficult times when word spreads through their rural Missouri town that his older sister is a lesbian, and she leaves the family farm to live with the daughter of the town's banker.
Detour for Emmy -- Marilyn Reynolds
Emmy, whose future had once looked so bright, struggles to overcome the isolation and depression brought about by being a teen mother who gets little support from her family or the father of her child.
Devils' Race -- Avi
Sixteen-year-old John Proud is tormented by the ghost of an evil ancestor, with his own name and his own face, who was hanged in 1854 for being a demon.
The Devil's Arithmetic -- Jane Yolen
Hannah resents the traditions of her Jewish heritage until time travel places her in the middle of a small Jewish village in Nazi-occupied Poland.
The Diary of a Young Girl -- Anne Frank
Born in 1929, Anne Frank received a blank diary journal on her 13th birthday, just weeks before going into hiding in Nazi occupied Holland. Her world-wide success of her journal is a fitting memorial to the gifted Jewish teenager who died at Bergen-Belsen, Germany, in 1945.
Dicey's Song -- Cynthia Voigt
Now that the four abandoned Tillerman children are settled in with their grandmother, Dicey must decide what she wants for her siblings and herself.
Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack -- M.E. Kerr
Many things change in a teenage boy's life when he meets the overweight girl who answers his ad for the cat he must give away.
The Divorce Express -- Paula Danziger
Resentful of her parents' divorce, a young girl tries to accommodate herself to their new lives and also find a place for herself.
Dixie Storms -- Barbara Hall
Fourteen-year-old Dutch Peyton learns about growing up as her family struggles with a crippling drought and a painful past.
Dogsong -- Gary Paulsen
A fourteen-year-old Inuit boy who feels assailed by the modernity of his life takes a 1400-mile journey by dog sled across ice, tundra, and mountains seeking his own "song" of himself.
Doing It -- Melvin Burgess
Three teenage friends, Dino, Jonathon, and Ben, confront the confusions, fears, and joys of adolescent male sexuality.
Doing Time: Notes from the Undergrad -- Rob Thomas
Each of these ten short stories focuses on a high school student's mandatory 200 hours of community service and the youth's response to the required project.
Don't Look Behind You -- Lois Duncan
Seventeen-year-old April finds her comfortable life changed forever when death threats to her father, a witness in a federal case, force her family to go into hiding under assumed names and flee the pursuit of a hired killer. Includes material on the Federal Witness Protection Program.
Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey -- Margaret Haddix
In the journal she is keeping for English class, sixteen-year-old Tish chronicles the changes in her life when her abusive father returns home after a two-year absence.
Double Date – R. L. Stine
When the beautiful Wade twins move to Shadyside, they both fall for Bobby Newkirk, but one of them--either quiet, shy Bree or sexy Samantha--turns murderously jealous.
Double Dutch -- Sharon Draper
Three eighth-grade friends, preparing for the International Double Dutch Championship jump rope competition in their home town of Cincinnati, Ohio, cope with Randy's missing father, Delia's inability to read, and Yo Yo's encounter with the class bullies.
Double or Nothing -- Dennis Foon
Kip has a gambling addiction, but when Kip starts dating Joey his gambling addiction is worsened by the fact that Joey's dad is a Master Illusionist and a gambler.
Downriver -- Will Hobbs
Fifteen-year-old Jessie and the other rebellious teenage members of a wilderness survival school team abandon their adult leader, hijack his boats, and try to run the dangerous white water at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
Downsiders -- Neal Shusterman
A fourteen-year-old boy who lives in the subterranean world beneath New York City meets a girl from above ground. When she visits him down below, she discovers his world is not what it appears to be.
Dragonwings -- Laurence Yep
In the early twentieth century a young Chinese boy joins his father in San Francisco and helps him realize his dream of making a flying machine.
Dreamland -- Sarah Dessen
After her older sister runs away, sixteen-year-old Caitlin decides that she needs to make a major change in her own life and begins an abusive relationship with a boy who is mysterious, brilliant, and dangerous.
Driving Lessons -- Catherine Dexter
When she is sent to the small town in South Dakota where she had lived briefly with her great-grandmother after her father's death, fourteen-year-old Mattie must sort out her confused feelings about why she is there, her mother's possible remarriage, and the free-spirited seventeen-year-old she has just met.
Drowning Anna -- Sue Mayfield
Beautiful, intelligent Anna Goldsmith has just attempted suicide. As she lies in a coma, her friend Melanie and Anna's parents try to figure out why she tried to take her own life.
Drowning of Stephan Jones -- Bette Green
As her mother battles a citizens' group that wants to ban all "anti-Christian" literature from the public library, Carla faces her own battle of torn loyalties when her boyfriend starts persecuting the homosexual owners of an antiques shop.
Dunk -- David Lubar
While hoping to work as the clown in an amusement park dunk tank on the New Jersey shore the summer before his junior year in high school, Chad faces his best friend's serious illness, hassles with police, and the girl that got away.
The Duplicate -- William Sleator
Sixteen-year-old David, finding a strange machine that creates replicas of living organisms, duplicates himself and suffers the horrible consequences when the duplicate turns against him.
E - F
The Eagle Kite -- Paula Fox
Liam's father has AIDS, and his family cannot talk about it until Liam reveals a secret that he has tried to deny ever since he saw his father embracing another man at the beach.
The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things -- Carolyn Mackler
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.
Echo -- Francesca Lia Block
Jealous of her perfect mother and ignored by her artist father, Echo seeks attention and healing from a variety of people living in beautiful Los Angeles.
The Eclipse of Moonbeam Dawson -- Jean Davies Okimoto
"Raised on a commune by a granola-munching ex-hippie mother, fifteen-year-old Moonbeam realizes that nothing is normal in his life and so sets out to change things." -- from WorldCat
Edge -- Michael Cadnum
Zachary, living with his divorced mother in California, finds violence gradually invading his life and making significant changes in his day-to-day existence.
Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds -- Paul Zindel
"Shame hangs in the air of this house and palpably as poison gas. And yet, Zindel reminds us, strong, strange, beautiful flowers spring from such compost heaps. It is a troubling thought, one of the honest and intelligent values of this splendid and tormented play."-- from Time
Ever After -- Rachel Vail
The appearance of a new girl in her community changes the relationship between fourteen-year-old Molly and her best friend Vicky and complicates Molly's attempt to pinpoint her own identity.
The Executioner -- Jay Bennett
Three survivors of an automobile crash in which the driver was killed are threatened by an executioner who believes they too should die.
Extreme Elvin -- Chris Lynch
The story of one overweight teen's efforts to deal with his first year in high school, his mother, his body, and the opposite sex. The sequel to Slot Machine.
A Face in Every Window -- Han Nolan
After the death of his grandmother, who held the family together, teenage JP is left with a mentally challenged father and a mother who seems ineffectual and constantly sick, and he feels everything sliding out of control.
The Face on the Milk Carton -- Caroline Cooney
A photograph of a missing girl on a milk carton leads Janie on a search for her real identity.
Facing the Music -- Margaret Willey
Through her love of music and membership in her brother's band, fifteen-year-old Lisa learns to deal with her feelings of abandonment following her mother's death.
Facts Speak for Themselves -- Brock Cole
At the request of her social worker, thirteen-year-old Linda gradually reveals how her life with her unstable mother and her younger brother led to her rape and the murder she witnessed.
Fade -- Robert Cormier
In the summer of 1938, Paul Moreaux, the thirteen-year-old son of French-Canadian immigrants, inherits the ability to become invisible, but this power soon leads to death and destruction.
Fallen Angels -- Walter Dean Myers
Seventeen-year-old Richie Perry, just out of his Harlem high school, enlists in the Army in the summer of 1967 and spends a devastating year on active duty in Vietnam.
Family of Strangers -- Susan Beth Pfeffer
Through letters and essays, emotionally disturbed sixteen-year-old Abby chronicles her growing desperation in a family consisting of parents who seem devoid of love, one older sister bent of self-destruction, and another older sister who has always seemed perfect.
Far from Shore -- Kevin Major
Follows the lives of a Newfoundland family for several months as they deal with the father's drinking and unemployment, the son's poor choice of friends and subsequent problems, and general familial deterioration.
Farewell to Manzanar -- Jeanne Wakatuski Houston
Jeanne Wakatsuki was seven years old in 1942 when her family was uprooted from their home and sent to live at Manzanar internment camp--with 10,000 other Japanese Americans.
Fat Chance -- Leslea Newman
In a series of diary entries, thirteen-year-old Judi recounts her struggles to lose weight, hide her bulimia from her mother, find a boy friend, and decide on a profession.
Fat Kid Rules the World -- K.L. Going
Seventeen-year-old Troy, depressed, suicidal, and weighing nearly 300 pounds, gets a new perspective on life when a homeless teenager who is a genius on guitar wants Troy to be the drummer in his rock band.
Father Figure -- Richard Peck
Jim, 17, has always fathered his younger brother until, on the death of their mother, their father returns. Then Jim must compete not just for the father role but also for the woman he and his father both love.
Feed -- Michael T. Anderson
In a future where most people have computer implants in their heads to control their environment, a boy meets an unusual girl who is in serious trouble.
Fell -- M.E. Kerr
A strange incident on the night of the senior prom changes John Fell's entire life, leading him to enroll in an exclusive private school under an assumed name.
Finding My Voice -- Marie G. Lee
As she tries to enjoy her senior year and choose which college she will attend, Korean American Ellen Sung must deal with the prejudice of some of her classmates and pressure from her parents to get good grades.
Finn: a Novel -- Mathew Olshan
Rescued from a murderous life with her mother, Chloe Wilder lives with her grandparents in the cocoon of a quiet, middle-class neighborhood. For the first time in her life, things are steady, safe ... and stifling. Chloe, along with her grandparents’ Hispanic maid, set off on an adventure, very similar to that of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. She encounters prejudice and social injustice as well as human kindness.
First French Kiss and other Traumas -- Adam Bagdasarian
The author recounts humorous, sad, traumatic, romantic, and confusing episodes from his childhood.
The Fling -- Julian Thompson
When three high-school friends are invited to live briefly with a wealthy neighbor, their lives are changed by their relationships with a mysterious "gardener."
Forged by Fire -- Sharon M. Draper
After surviving a fire, Gerald experiences separation from his mother, the loss of his great aunt, and life with his stepsister's abusive father.
Freak the Mighty -- Rodman Philbrick
At the beginning of eighth grade, learning disabled Max and his new friend Freak, whose birth defect has affected his body but not his brilliant mind, find that when they combine forces they make a powerful team.
Freewill -- Chris Lynch
A teenager trying to recover from the tragic death of his father and stepmother believes himself to be responsible for the rash of teen suicides occurring in his town.
Frenchtown Summer -- Robert Cormier
A series of vignettes in free verse in which the writer reminisces about his life as a twelve-year-old boy living in a small town during the hot summer of 1938.
From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun -- Jacqueline Woodson
Thirteen-year-old Melanin Sun's comfortable, quiet life is shattered when his mother reveals she has fallen in love with a woman.
G
The Gathering -- Isobelle Carmody
When fifteen-year-old Nathanial moves to a sinister town that has been bruised by an ancient evil, he finds himself one of those chosen to fight the cycle of darkness.
Geography Club -- Brent Hartinger
A group of gay and lesbian teenagers finds mutual support when they form the "Geography Club" at their high school.
Ghost Boy -- Lain Lawrence
An albino teenage boy strives to find acceptance in a circus.
Gingerbread -- Rachel Cohn
After being expelled from a fancy boarding school, Cyd Charisse's problems with her mother escalate after Cyd falls in love with a sensitive surfer and is subsequently sent from San Francisco to New York City to spend time with her biological father.
Girl Gives Birth to Own Prom Date -- Todd Strasser
When Brad asks someone else to the senior prom, Nicole resorts to a desperate measure -- she decides to make her next-door neighbor over into a dream date.
Girl Goddess #9 -- Francesca Lia Block
Stories about nine remarkable young women include the tales of a girl with two mothers, a girl who keeps a strange blue-skinned creature in her closet, a rock star groupie, and a dancer who loves poetry and moonlight picnics
A Girl Named Disaster -- Nancy Farmer
While journeying to Zimbabwe from Mozambique, eleven-year-old Nhamo struggles to escape drowning and starvation and in so doing comes close to the luminous world of the African spirits.
Give a Boy a Gun -- Todd Strasser
Events leading up to a night of terror at a high school dance are told from the point of view of various people involved.
The Giver -- Lynn Hall
A growing attachment between fifteen-year-old Mary McNeal and her homeroom teacher tests her character and proves her maturity.
The Glory Field -- Walter Dean Myers
Follows a family's two hundred forty-one year history, from the capture of an African boy in the 1750s through the lives of his descendants, as their dreams and circumstances lead them away from and back to the small plot of land in South Carolina that they call the Glory Field.
Go Ask Alice -- Anonymous
A novel in diary form of a fifteen-year-old girl's journey from a secure middle class family to the nightmare world of drug addiction, hustlers, and dealers.
The Goats -- Brock Cole
The boy and girl are stripped and marooned on a small island for the night. They are the 'goats.' The kids at camp think it is a great joke. No harm is intended, but the goats don't see it that way.
Going for the Big One -- P.J. Petersen
Left penniless by their latest stepmother while their father is looking for work in Alaska, three youngsters start out on what becomes a dangerous trek over the mountains to a small town where they once lived and where they plan to wait for their father.
The Golden Compass -- Philip Pullman
Accompanied by her shape-shifting daemon, Lyra Belacqua sets out to prevent her best friend and other kidnapped children from becoming the subject of gruesome experiments in the Far North.
Good Moon Rising -- Nancy Garden
Two girls working together on a school play fall in love.
Good Night, Mr. Tom -- Michelle Magorian
A battered, nine-year-old boy learns to embrace life when he is adopted by an old man in the English countryside during the Second World War.
Good-bye and Keep Cold -- Jenny Davis
Edda's mother is courted by the man responsible for her young father's death in a mine accident in a small Kentucky town.
Good-bye Tomorrow -- Gloria Miklowitz
A high school junior who has received two blood transfusions finds out he has the AIDS virus, though not the disease, and finds all his relationships changing--with his friends, his girlfriend, and even his family.
Grab Hands and Run -- Frances Temple
After his father disappears, twelve-year-old Felipe, his mother, and his younger sisters set out on a difficult and dangerous journey, trying to make their way from their home in El Salvador to Canada.
The Greatest: Muhammad Ali -- Walter Dean Myers
A biography of Ali, covering his life from childhood to the present day. Includes highlights of his career and the controversies surrounding him.
Grounding of Group 6 -- Julian Thompson
Teenage backpackers from an exclusive boarding school find themselves the target of contract killers.
Group of One -- Rachna Gilmore
Learning from her grandmother that her family was active in the Quit India movement of 1942, a rebellion against nearly two centuries of British occupation, gives fifteen-year-old Tara new pride in her heritage, but she still objects when her teacher implies she is not a regular Canadian.
Guilt Trip -- Stephen Schwandt
High school junior Eddie thinks he may have found the solution to his anger and unfocused identity in the beautiful, disturbing Angela Favor, until she draws him into the investigation of the murder of her director at the New Energy Theater Troupe.
H
Handbook for Boys: a Novel -- Walter Dean Myers
Sixteen-year-old Jimmy, on probation for assault, talks about life with three old men in a Harlem barbershop and hears about the tools he can use to get what he wants.
Hanging on to Max -- Margaret Bechard
When his girlfriend decides to give their baby away, seventeen-year-old Sam is determined to keep him and raise him alone.
Happenings -- Katie Cobb
A high school girl faces pressure from her older brother, who is also her guardian, when she and her peers peacefully protest a teacher who they believe has stopped doing her job.
Happy Endings are All Alike -- Sandra Scoppettone
Small town prejudices emerge when a love affair between two teenage girls is revealed.
Hard Love -- Ellen Wittlinger
After starting to publish a zine in which he writes his secret feelings about his lonely life and his parents' divorce, sixteen-year-old John meets an unusual girl and begins to develop a healthier personality.
The Harmony Arms -- Ron Koertge
Fifteen-year-old Gabriel is continually embarrassed by his teacher/writer father, but when he goes to live with him in Los Angeles in an apartment complex full of unusual characters, Gabriel gains new insights into himself and his father.
Harris and Me -- Gary Paulsen
Sent to live with relatives on their farm because of his unhappy home life, an eleven-year-old city boy meets his distant cousin Harris and is given an introduction to a whole new world.
The Hate Crime -- Phyllis Karas
Unable to understand why his district attorney father is so upset about the defacing of a local temple, Zack learns that one of his own classmates is behind the crime and begins to understand why such acts are so threatening.
Hawksong -- Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
In a land that has been at war so long that no one remembers the reason for fighting, the shapeshifters who rule the two factions agree to marry in the hope of bringing peace, despite deep-seated fear and distrust of each other.
Healer -- Peter Dickinson
Although grudgingly aware that ten-year-old Pinki has extraordinary powers to heal, sixteen-year-old Barry becomes increasingly convinced that she is an unwilling participant at the healing sessions run by her enterprising stepfather.
Heartbreak and Roses: Real-Life Stories of Troubled Love -- Janet Bode and Stan Mack
A dozen real-life stories explore teenage relationships, focusing on such topics as interracial dating, codependence, coping with a disability and breaking up.
Heaven -- Angela Johnson
Fourteen-year-old Marley's seemingly perfect life in the small town of Heaven is disrupted when she discovers that her father and mother are not her real parents.
"Hello", I Lied -- M.E. Kerr
Summering in the Hamptons on a famous rock star's estate, 17-year-old Lang tries to decide how to tell his longtime friends that he's gay--while struggling with an unexpected infatuation with a young woman from France.
Hero -- S. L. Rottman
After years of abuse from his mother and neglect from his father, ninth-grader Sean Parker is headed for trouble when he is sent to do community service for violating curfew at a farm owned by an old man who teaches Sean that he can take control of his own fate.
A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich -- Alice Childress
The life of a thirteen-year-old Harlem youth on his way to becoming a confirmed heroin addict is seen from his viewpoint and from that of several people around him.
Heroes -- Robert Cormier
After joining the army at fifteen and having his face blown away by a grenade in a battle in France, Francis returns home to Frenchtown hoping to find--and kill--the former childhood hero he feels betrayed him.
Hey, Kid! Does She Love Me? -- Harry Mazer
Jeff dreams of being a movie director, and when he falls in love with a once-aspiring actress and her baby daughter, he imagines that together they can make their dreams come true.
Holding Up the Earth -- Dianne E. Gray
Fourteen-year-old Hope visits her new foster mother's Nebraska farm and, through old letters, a diary, and stories, gets a vivid picture of the past in the voices of four girls her age who lived there in 1869, 1900, 1936, and 1960.
Holly Starcross -- Berlie Doherty
When fourteen-year-old Holly Starcross meets her father for the first time in eight years, the experience changes the way she thinks about him, her mother, and even herself.
Home Before Dark -- Sue Ellen Bridgers
Returning with her migrant family to her father's childhood home, a 14-year-old struggles with her new stationary life.
Hoops -- Walter Dean Myers
A teenage basketball player from Harlem is befriended by a former professional player who, after being forced to quit because of a point shaving scandal, hopes to prevent other young athletes from repeating his mistake.
Hoot -- Carl Hiaasen
Roy, who is new to his small Florida community, becomes involved in another boy's attempt to save a colony of burrowing owls from a proposed construction site.
House of Stairs -- William Sleator
Five fifteen-year-old orphans of widely varying personality characteristics are involuntarily placed in a house of endless stairs as subjects for a psychological experiment on conditioned human response.
The House of the Scorpion -- Nancy Farmer
In a future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as the young clone of El Patron, the 142-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between Mexico and the United States.
How I Changed My Life -- Todd Strasser
Overweight high school senior Bo decides to change her image while working on the school play with a former star football player who is also struggling to find a new identity for himself.
Hush -- Jacqueline Woodson
Twelve-year-old Toswiah finds her life changed when her family enters the witness protection program.
I - K
I Am the Cheese -- Robert Cormier
A young boy desperately tries to unlock his past yet knows he must hide those memories if he is to remain alive.
I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This -- Jacqueline Woodson
Marie, the only Black girl in the eighth grade willing to befriend her White classmate Lena, discovers that Lena's father is doing horrible things to her in private.
I Was a Teenage Fairy -- Francesca Lia Block
A feisty, sexy fairy helps a girl deal with her annoying mother, absent father, and a past incident of sexual abuse.
I'll Get There, It Better Be Worth the Trip -- John Donovan
Written in 1969, it was the first young-adult novel to deal with the issue of homosexuality.
If It Doesn't Kill You -- Margaret Bechard
High school freshman Ben should be enjoying playing football, meeting girls, and going to parties, but he's too busy trying to cope with his father's moving out to live with another man.
Imitate the Tiger -- Jan Cheripko
A high school football player has to face his collapsing world brought on by his drinking problem.
In the Forests of the Night -- Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Risika, a teenage vampire, wanders back in time to the year 1684 when, as a human, she died and was transformed against her will.
Interstellar Pig -- William Sleator
Barney's boring seaside vacation suddenly becomes more interesting when the cottage next door is occupied by three exotic neighbors who are addicted to a game they call "Interstellar Pig."
Invitation to the Game -- Monica Hughes
Unemployed after high school in the highly robotic society of 2154, Lisse and seven friends resign themselves to a boring existence in their "Designated Area" until the government invites them to play The Game.
Ironman -- Chris Crutcher
While training for a triathlon, seventeen-year-old Bo attends an anger management group at school which leads him to examine his relationship with his father.
It Happened to Nancy -- Beatrice Sparks
The editor of the classic GO ASK ALICE has compiled the poignant journals of a 14-year-old date-rape victim who contracted AIDS and died.
It's Ok if You Don't Love Me -- Norma Klein
A 17-year-old girl in New York City with strong ideas about liberated sexual behavior becomes involved with a more traditional boy from Ohio.
Izzy, Willy-Nilly -- Cynthia Voigt
A car accident causes fifteen-year-old Izzy to lose one leg and face the need to start building a new life as an amputee.
Jacob Have I Loved -- Katherine Paterson
Feeling deprived all her life of schooling, friends, mother, and even her name by her twin sister, Louise finally begins to find her identity.
Jake Riley: Irreparably Damaged -- Rebecca Fjelland Davis
The friendship between a troubled boy, recently released from a reform school, and the farm girl who lives next door angers the faculty at their school and leads to a dangerous confrontation.
Jazmin's Notebook -- Nikki Grimes
Jazmin, a fourteen-year-old African-American girl who lives with her sister in a Harlem apartment, finds strength in writing poetry and keeping a diary.
Jock and Jill -- Robert Lipsyte
Jock Ryder, aspiring baseball star, meets Jillian, a girl who makes him reevaluate all his priorities.
Jubilee Journey -- Carolyn Meyer
Emily Rose has always been comfortable with her biracial family background, until she visits her great-grandmother in Texas.
Julie of the Wolves -- Jean Craighead George
While running away from home and an unwanted marriage, a thirteen-year-old Eskimo girl becomes lost on the North Slope of Alaska and is befriended by a wolf pack.
The Jumping Tree -- Rene Saldana
Rey, a Mexican American living with his close-knit family in a Texas town near the Mexican border, describes his transition from boy to young man.
Katie.com: My Story -- Katherine Tarbox
Katherine Tarbox's true story of how a man in his forties with a history of pedophilia used the Internet to manipulate and molest her. She discusses how she fought back by prosecuting him under the Communications Decency Act of 1996 and by sharing her experiences so that other teens might avoid a similar situation.
Keeper of the Night -- Kimberly Willis Holt
Isabel, a thirteen-year-old girl living on the island of Guam, and her family try to cope with the death of Isabel's mother who committed suicide.
The Keeper -- Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Junior high school student Nick must face the fact that his father is plunging fast into serious mental illness.
Keeping Christina -- Sue Ellen Bridgers
When she befriends Christina, the new girl in school, Annie does not suspect that there is more to her than meets the eye and that Christina will have a huge impact on Annie's family and her oldest friends.
Keeping You a Secret -- Julie Anne Peters
As she begins a very tough last semester of high school, Holland finds herself puzzled about her future and intrigued by a transfer student who wants to start a Lesbigay club at school.
The Kidnapping of Suzie Q -- Martin Waddell
Panicked robbers of a supermarket in Northern Ireland seize Suzie Quinn in their rush to flee. She must use all her cunning and courage to escape.
The Killer's Cousin -- Nancy Werlin
After being acquitted of murder, seventeen-year-old David goes to stay with relatives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he finds himself forced to face his past as he learns more about his strange young cousin Lily.
Killing Mr. Griffin -- Lois Duncan
A teenager casually suggests playing a cruel trick on the English teacher, but did he intend it to end with murder?
Kissing Kate -- Lauren Myracle
Sixteen-year-old Lissa's relationship with her best friend changes after they kiss at a party and Lissa does not know what to do, until she gets help from an unexpected new friend.
L
Lady: My Life as a Bitch -- Melvin Burgess
In Manchester, England, when a seventeen-year-old girl who hasn't been acting like herself lately is turned into the very creature she has personified, she isn't sure that the change is all bad.
The Land -- Mildred Taylor
After the Civil War, Paul, the son of a white father and a black mother, finds himself caught between the two worlds of colored folks and white folks as he pursues his dream of owning land of his own.
Lark in the Morning -- Nancy Garden
Gillian's family arrives at their summer home to find it has been burglarized, and Gillian is horrified to discover that her diary is one of the stolen items.
Lasso the Moon -- Dennis Covington
When April Hunt moves to St. Simon Island, Georgia, to live with her father, a recovering alcoholic, she becomes involved with an illegal alien from El Salvador and learns about his life and country.
Last Safe Place on Earth -- Richard Peck
Fifteen-year-old Todd sees his perfect suburban world start to unravel when his little sister has her mind poisoned by a member of a fundamentalist sect, and he begins to notice signs of censorship in his community.
The Late Great Me -- Sandra Scoppettone
Having thought that drinking would help her make and keep friends, a sixteen-year-old comes to realize that she is no longer in control and seeks help.
Learning How to Fall -- Norma Klein
Seventeen-year-old Dustin, who lives with a recovering alcoholic father divorced from his lesbian mother, experiences problems in dealing with his girlfriends and feelings of being unable to cope, as he learns how to fall and land on his feet.
Learning to Swim -- Ann Turner
A series of poems convey the feelings of a young girl whose sense of joy and security at the family's summer house is shattered when an older boy who lives nearby sexually abuses her.
Leaving Fishers -- Margaret Peterson Haddix
After joining her new friends in the religious group called Fishers of Men, Dorry finds herself immersed in a cult from which she must struggle to extricate herself.
Lena -- Jacqueline Woodson
Thirteen-year-old Lena and her younger sister Dion mourn the death of their mother as they hitchhike from Ohio to Kentucky while running away from their abusive father.
Leslie's Journal -- Allan Stratton
Leslie endures a harmful relationship with an abusive boyfriend. She finds solace by writing in her journal.
Letters from a Slave Girl -- Mary E. Lyons
A fictionalized version of the life of Harriet Jacobs, told in the form of letters that she might have written during her slavery in North Carolina and as she prepared for escape to the North in 1842.
Letters in the Attic -- Bonnie Shimko
Lizzy McMann's life is chaotic and lonely until she makes friends with an older, eighth grader named Eva. Lizzie finds herself dealing with her feelings of shame, confusion and jealousy as she comes to realize that she is in love with Eva.
Life in the Fat Lane -- Cherie Bennett
Sixteen-year-old Lara, winner of beauty pageants and Homecoming Queen, is distressed and bewildered when she starts gaining weight and becomes a fat girl.
Life Without Friends -- Ellen Emerson White
After the drug-overdose death of a fellow student, Beverly breaks away from the fast crowd but finds herself friendless and full of guilt until she meets Derek who helps her come to terms with the past and look with some hope to the future.
Little Chicago -- Adam Rapp
An eleven-year-old boy tries to cope with being sexually abused, neglected, and treated cruelly at school.
Loch -- Paul Zindel
Fifteen-year-old Loch and his younger sister join their father on a scientific expedition searching for enormous prehistoric creatures sighted in a Vermont lake, but it soon becomes obvious that the expedition's leaders aren't interested in preserving the creatures.
Locked Inside -- Nancy Werlin
After she is kidnapped from the exclusive boarding school she attends, heiress Marnie Skyedottir must rethink her idealized relationship with her mother, her own sense of who she is, and her relationships with others.
Lockie Leonard, Scumbuster -- Tim Winton
When Lockie Leonard wipes out on a huge wave, he's thrown into a friendship with a weird but extremely intelligent Metal Head, Geoff Eggleston, who joins Lockie in his crusade to clean up the harbor in his coastal Australian town.
Long Live the Queen -- Ellen Emerson White
The President's teenage daughter is a victim of kidnapping by terrorists.
Long Night of Leo and Bree -- Ellen Wittlinger
On the anniversary of his sister's murder, Leo, tormented by his mother's insane accusations and his own waking nightmares, kidnaps a wealthy girl intending to kill her, but instead their long night together helps them both face their futures.
Look for Me by Moonlight -- Mary Downing Hahn
While staying at the remote and reputedly haunted Maine inn run by her father and pregnant stepmother, sixteen-year-old Cynda feels increasingly isolated from her father's new family and finds solace in the attentions of a charming but mysterious guest.
Lord of the Flies -- William Golding
The classic study of human nature which depicts the degeneration of a group of schoolboys marooned on a desert island.
Losing Louisa -- Judith Caseley
Sixteen-year-old Lacey worries about the effect of her parents' divorce on her family, especially her mother, and about her older sister's sexual activity, which may have made her pregnant.
Love Among the Walnuts -- Jean Ferris
Born and raised in isolation in a wealthy, eccentric family, Sandy is shocked when he, his parents, and their servants become victims of a vicious plot by his greedy uncles to incapacitate them and take their money.
Love and Other Four Letter Words -- Carolyn Mackler
When she and her mother move to an apartment in New York City after her parents decide on a trial separation, sixteen-year-old Sammie learns to deal with her mother's fragile mental state, her best friend's self-centeredness, several new friendships, and her own budding sexuality.
Love is Not Enough -- Marilyn Levy
A visit to her boyfriend's ritzy beachfront home becomes an eye-opening occasion for Delphi, a seventeen-year-old half-African-American, half-Greek who is comfortable with herself until she meets Nick's parents.
Loves Me, Loves Me Not -- Anilu Bernardo
While trying to win the attention of a high school basketball star who already has a girlfriend, Maggie, a Cuban American, learns painful lessons about romantic young love.
Lucas -- Kevin Brooks
On an isolated English island, fifteen-year-old Caitlin McCann makes the painful journey from adolescence to adulthood through her experiences with a mysterious boy, whose presence has an unsettling effect on the island's inhabitants.
Lucy Peale -- Colby Rodowsky
Failing to get sympathy from her strict fundamentalist father when a rape leaves her pregnant, Lucy flees her home on Maryland's Eastern Shore and attempts to find self-reliance in nearby Ocean City.
Lucy the Giant -- Sherri L. Smith
Fifteen-year-old Lucy, the largest girl in her school, leaves her small Alaska town and her alcoholic father and discovers hardship--and friendship--posing as an adult aboard a commercial fishing boat.
M
Make Lemonade -- Virginia Euwer Wolff
In order to earn money for college, fourteen-year-old LaVaughn babysits for a teenage mother of two. Written in 66 chapters, with text lines that break at natural speaking phrases.
The Man Without a Face -- Isabelle Holland
A fatherless 14-year-old boy develops an unusual relationship with the man living near his summer home who helps him prepare his entrance exams to boarding schools.
Many Stones -- Carolyn Coman
Berry Morgan's divorced father returns to tell her that her sister has been murdered in South Africa.
Marked by Fire -- Joyce Carol Thomas
Abby, born in an Oklahoma cotton field in the wake of a tornado, learns the secrets of folk medicine from the healer Mother Barker as she grows up.
Memory -- Margaret Mahy
On the fifth anniversary of his older sister's death, nineteen-year-old Jonny Dart, troubled by feelings of guilt and an imperfect memory of the event, goes in search of the only other witness to the fatal accident and, through a chance meeting with a senile old woman, finds a way to free himself of the past.
Mick -- Chris Lynch
His friendship with two Latino students offers 15-year old Mick an alternative to the drunken savagery of his brother and the narrow thinking of his Irish-American neighborhood in Boston.
The Midwife's Apprentice -- Karen Cushman
In medieval England, a nameless, homeless girl is taken in by a sharp-tempered midwife, and in spite of obstacles and hardship, eventually gains the three things she most wants: a full belly, a contented heart, and a place in this world.
Millicent's Gift -- Ann Rinaldi
Like all her brothers and sisters, Millicent has received a special gift from her magical family, but she quickly learns that a gift can also be a burden.
Miracle's Boys -- Jacqueline Woodson
Twelve-year-old Lafayette's close relationship with his older brother Charlie changes after Charlie is released from a detention home and blames Lafayette for the death of their mother.
Miriam's Well -- Lois Ruby
When Miriam develops bone cancer, a battle follows over whether or not she must be treated.
Missing Pieces -- Norma Fox Mazer
As she watches her friends with their fathers, fourteen-year-old Jessie decides the family she shares with her mother and her great-great-aunt is not enough, so she sets out to learn more about the father who left when she was just a baby.
Missing the Piano -- Adam Rapp
When Mike's mother and sister go on tour with "Les Miserables," Mike's father and his new wife enroll Mike in St. Matthew's Military Academy where, facing brutality and ignorance, he learns to survive.
Mississippi Trial, 1955 -- Chris Crowe
In Mississippi in 1955, a sixteen-year-old finds himself at odds with his grandfather over issues surrounding the kidnapping and murder of a fourteen-year-old African American from Chicago.
Money Hungry -- Sharon G. Flake
All thirteen-year-old Raspberry can think of is making money so that she and her mother never have to worry about living on the streets again.
Monster -- Walter Dean Myers
While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the form of a film script as he tries to come to terms with the course his life has taken.
The Monument -- Gary Paulsen
Thirteen-year-old Rocky, self-conscious about the braces on her leg, has her life changed by the remarkable artist who comes to her small Kansas town to design a war memorial.
The Moonlight Man -- Paula Fox
Fifteen-year-old Catherine and her father take their first joint vacation in Nova Scotia and finally get to know each other.
The Moves Make the Man -- Bruce Brooks
A 13-year-old Black boy and an emotionally troubled white boy in North Carolina form a precarious friendship.
Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones -- Ann Head
Two teenagers must leave high school to meet the challenges of marriage and parenthood.
My Brother Sam is Dead -- James and Christopher Collier
Recounts the tragedy that strikes the Meeker family during the Revolution when one son joins the rebel forces while the rest of the family tries to stay neutral.
My Crooked Family -- James Lincoln Collier
Living with irresponsible parents in a seedy part of a big city in 1910, thirteen-year-old Roger falls in with a gang of murderous burglars and discovers an unpleasant secret about his father.
My Darling, My Hamburger -- Paul Zindel
Four high school seniors struggle with the responsibilities of growing up, particularly the problems of an intimate relationship.
My Father, the Nutcase -- Judith Caseley
When her father becomes clinically depressed, fifteen-year-old Zoe worries that his illness will engulf the entire family.
My Father's Scar -- Michael Cart
As he enters into his first relationships as a gay man, a college freshman recalls the aching loneliness of life with his alcoholic physically abusive father in a community prejudiced against homosexuals.
My Heartbeat -- Garrett Freymann-Weyr
As she tries to understand the closeness between her older brother and his best friend, fourteen-year-old Ellen finds her relationship with each of them changing.
N - P
Necking with Louise -- Rick Book
Depicts key events in the life of Eric Anderson, a Saskatchewan farm boy, in 1964 and 1965, the year he turns sixteen.
Night Kites -- M.E. Kerr
Seventeen-year-old Erick's comfortable and well-ordered life begins to fall apart when he is forced to keep two secrets: the identity of his new girlfriend and the nature of his brother's debilitating disease.
No Condition is Permanent -- Christina Kessler
When shy fourteen-year-old Jodie accompanies her anthropologist mother to live in Sierra Leone, she befriends a local girl but encounters a cultural divide that cannot be crossed.
No Laughter Here -- Rita Williams-Garcia
In Queens, New York, ten-year-old Akilah is determined to find out why her closest friend, Victoria, is silent and withdrawn after returning from a trip to her homeland, Nigeria.
Nobody Else Has to Know -- Ingrid Tomey
Fifteen-year-old Webber must either live with guilt or tell the truth about who was driving his grandfather's car when it struck and seriously injured a little girl.
November Ever After -- Laura Torres
In the aftermath of her mother's death, sixteen-year-old Amy finds solace in the company of her best friend Sara, but then she is shocked to discover that Sara is romantically involved with another girl and has kept it a secret from her.
Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep -- Lurlene McDaniel
Carrie Blake, whose leukemia is in remission and whose parents are divorced, turns to her friendship with Keith for support until his own illness worsens.
The Obsession (The Power, Book 8) -- Jesse Harris
McKenzie Gold's friendship with Sharon Roderick, the new girl in town, turns deadly when Sharon starts to abuse McKenzie's psychic powers.
Of Mice and Men -- John Steinbeck
The tragic story of two itinerant ranch hands on the run--one is the lifelong companion to the other, a developmentally disabled man.
Olive’s Ocean -- Kevin Henkes
On a summer visit to her grandmother’s cottage by the ocean, twelve-year-old Martha gains perspective on the death of a classmate, on her relationship with her grandmother, on her feelings for an older boy, and on her plans to be a writer.
On Fire -- Ouida Sebestyen
Involved in a dangerous strike in a frontier mining town in 1911, twelve-year-old Sammy finds his feelings changing toward the older brother he has always idolized.
One Bird -- Kyoko Mori
After her mother leaves the family, fifteen-year-old Megumi tries to understand her father's need for his mistress while dealing with her own aching isolation.
One Fat Summer -- Robert Lipsyte
An overweight fourteen-year-old boy experiences a turning-point summer in which he learns to stand up for himself.
Out of Control -- Norma Fox Mazer
After joining his two best friends ina spontaneous attack on a girl at their school, sixteen-year-old Rollo finds that his life is changed forever.
Out of the Dust -- Karen Hesse
In a series of poems, fourteen-year-old Billie Jo relates the hardships of living on her family's wheat farm in Oklahoma during the dust bowl years of the Depression.
The Outsiders -- S. E. Hinton
Three brothers struggle to stay together after their parents' death, as they search for an identity among the conflicting values of their adolescent society in which they find themselves "outsiders."
Overnight Sensation -- Scott Johnson
Having acquired a new image over the summer and been accepted by the in crowd at school, seventeen-year-old Kerry finds herself being led into trouble and away from her real values.
Pardon Me, You're Stepping on My Eyeball -- Paul Zindel
Two alienated teenagers learn to cope with their personal problems by being honest with each other.
Past Forgiving -- Gloria D. Miklowitz
Fifteen-year-old Alexandra finds that her boyfriend Cliff demands all her time, isolates her by his jealousy, and finally becomes physically abusive.
Peeling the Onion -- Wendy Orr
Following an automobile accident in which her neck is broken, a teenage karate champion begins a long and painful recovery with the help of her family.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower -- Stephen Chbosky
A series of letters to an unknown correspondent reveals the coming-of-age trials of a high-schooler named Charlie.
Permanent Connections -- Sue Ellen Bridgers
Forced to spend a semester in his father's small hometown up in the mountains, seventeen-year-old Rob finds his feelings of alienation and self-hatred diminishing as he forges relationships with relatives and new friends.
Peter -- Kate Walker
An ordinary fifteen-year-old Australian kid, who enjoys riding his dirt bike and wants to be a photographer, becomes confused about his sexuality when he finds he is attracted to a gay friend of his older brother.
Phoenix Rising: Or How to Survive Your Life -- Cynthia D. Grant
Helen's death at eighteen from cancer shatters the lives of her parents and siblings, especially younger sister Jessie who tries to cope with her feelings of pain and confusion by reading pages from Helen's diary.
The Pigeon -- Jay Bennett
Responding to his former girlfriend's plea for help, 17-year-old Brian goes to her Greenwich Village apartment only to find her dead and himself framed for her murder. He vows to find her killers and the reason for her death.
The Pigman -- Paul Zindel
A teenage boy and girl, high school sophomores from unhappy homes, tell of their bizarre relationship with an old man.
Prank -- Kathryn Lasky
Birdie Flynn, a gifted Irish Catholic teenager living in East Boston, struggles with the consequences of her brother's part in vandalizing a synagogue.
Prep -- Jake Coburn
One-time tag-artist, Nick tries to come to terms with the death of a friend, to protect the brother of his would-be girlfriend, to escape the violence of wealthy New York City prep school hoods, and to figure out who he really is.
Princess Ashley -- Richard Peck
In her new high school, where her mother has taken a job as counselor, Chelsea experiences joys and sorrows as she makes choices about new friends and learns they are not always what they seem.
Q - R
The Rag and Bone Shop -- Robert Cormier
Trent, an ace interrogator from Vermont, works to procure a confession from an introverted twelve-year-old accused of murdering his seven-year-old friend in Monument, Massachusetts.
The Raging Quiet -- Sherryl Jordan
Suspicious of sixteen-year-old Marnie, a newcomer to their village, the residents accuse her of witchcraft when she discovers that the village madman is not crazy but deaf and she begins to communicate with him through hand gestures.
Rainbow Boys -- Alex Sanchez
Three high school seniors, a jock with a girlfriend and an alcoholic father, a closeted gay, and a flamboyant gay rights advocate, struggle with family issues, gay bashers, first sex, and conflicting feelings about each other.
Rats Saw God -- Rob Thomas
Steve, a high school senior, has only one hope of graduating on time--writing a 100-page paper.
Ready? (Love Trilogy No. 1) -- Kate Cann
Intrigued by a gorgeous boy she sees at the swimming pool, sixteeen-year-old Coll begins a relationship with him and is dismayed to find him both more experienced and more forceful than she is.
Remembering Mog -- Colby Rodowsky
Annie Fitzhugh, about to graduate high school, struggles to live without her murdered sister and yet remember her.
Remembering the Good Times -- Richard Peck
Trav, Kate, and Buck make up a trio during their first year in high school, but their special friendship may not be enough to save Trav as he pressures himself relentlessly to succeed, in his own eyes as well as in the eyes of his parents and the world.
Rescue! An African Adventure -- Victor Kelleher
After freeing two ailing baboons from a research station in Africa, David and Jess are unexpectedly caught up in a struggle for survival in the bush.
Revolting Rhymes -- Roald Dahl
Humorous retellings in verse of six well-known fairy tales featuring surprise endings in place of the traditional happily-ever-after.
Ripples -- William Hazelgrove
A coming-of-age novel in which the "two main characters, Brenton and Christian, grapple with the boundaries of friendship, the responsibilities of relationships, and the meaning of what it is to be one's own man" --LJ.
Road to Memphis -- Mildred D. Taylor
Sadistically teased by two White boys in 1940's rural Mississippi, a Black youth severely injures one of the boys with a tire iron and enlists Cassie's help in trying to flee the state.
Robodad -- Alden Carter
Fourteen-year-old Shar struggles to live a normal life as her father's mental instability, caused by an aneurysm of the brain, makes him more and more difficult as a family member.
Romiette and Julio -- Sharon Draper
An African-American girl and a Latino boy fall in love after meeting on the Internet, but they are harassed by a gang who objects to their interracial dating.
Rooster -- Beth Nixon Weaver
On a small Florida orange grove in the 1960s, fourteen-year-old Kady Palmer is burdened with housework and caring for her senile grandmother and mentally handicapped neighbor, so when a rich, handsome boy from school becomes interested in her she devises a plan to spend time with him.
The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold -- Francesca Lia Block
Nine fairy tales are turned "inside out".
Rundown -- Michael Cadnum
A sixteen-year-old girl who is desperate for attention fakes an attack by a rapist which gains her a lot of sympathy but produces pangs of guilt.
Run, Shelley, Run -- Gertrude Samuels
Sixteen-year-old Shelley runs from and alcoholic mother, intolerable training schools, and bizarre situations, searching for a place to live in dignity.
Running Loose -- Chris Crutcher
Louie, a high school senior in a small Idaho town, learns about sportsmanship, love, and death as he matures into manhood.
S
The Sacred Circle of the Hula Hoop -- Kathy Kennedy Tapp
In the early 1960's, thirteen-year-old Robin tries, in a variety of ways, to unravel the mystery behind her older sister's dramatic change of personality and attempted suicide.
Sarny: A Life Remembered -- Gary Paulsen
Continues the adventures of Sarny, the slave girl Nightjohn taught to read, through the aftermath of the Civil War during which time she taught other Blacks and lived a full life until age ninety-four.
Satellite Down -- Rob Thomas
Selected to be an anchor on "Classroom Direct", seventeen-year-old Patrick Sheridan finds his journalistic idealism and his own self-image challenged when he leaves high school in Doggett, Texas, for the glamorous life in Los Angeles.
Saturnalia -- Paul Fleischman
In 1681 in Boston, fourteen-year-old William, a Narragansett Indian captured in a raid six years earlier, leads a productive and contented life as a printer's apprentice but is increasingly anxious to make some connection with his Indian past.
Saying It Out Loud -- Joan Abelove
With the help of her best friend, sixteen-year-old Mindy sorts through her relationships with her solicitous mother and her detached father as she tries to come to terms with the fact that her mother is dying from a brain tumor.
Second Helpings -- Megan McCafferty
"As the time to graduation ticks down, Jessica discovers she knows less about Bridget, Marcus, and the other people who surround her than she thought she did." -- BL
Second Summer of the Sisterhood -- Ann Brashares
When teenager Carmen and her three friends discover that a pair of worn jeans from a thrift shop provides an uncanny fit for all four of them, they decide to form a sisterhood, with the pants as the symbolic bond of friendship among them, and embark on a sweet-sixteen summer.
Secrets Not Meant to be Kept -- Gloria D. Miklowitz
Her three-year-old sister's changing behavior unleashes many long-suppressed disturbing memories from Adrienne's own days at a highly respected local preschool.
Send Me Down a Miracle -- Han Nolan
A sleepy, God-fearing southern town erupts in chaos when a flamboyant artist from New York City returns to her birthplace for an artistic experiment.
Seventeen Against the Dealer -- Cynthia Voigt
Dicey struggles to make a go of a boatbuilding business while facing family concerns, romantic problems, and the uncertainties of a drifter who offers to help her in her work.
Sex (Love Trilogy, No. 2) -- Kate Cann
Having finally given in and had sex with her boyfriend, sixteen-year-old Coll finds that the decision has drastically changed their relationship.
Sex Education -- Jenny Davis
As a project for an unusually open class in sex education, Livvie and her boyfriend David learn to care for a pregnant young neighbor, and as they become deeply involved with her and with each other, they learn about love and caring and eventually about pain and courage.
Shade's Children -- Garth Nix
In a city of the future, nonhuman creatures keep children until the age of fourteen, at which time their brains are harvested.
The Shadow Brothers -- A. E. Cannon
High school junior Marcus feels his entire world changing around him as Henry, the Navajo foster brother who has lived with him since the age of seven, starts to change his personality and wonder if he should return to his family's reservation in another state.
Shadow Club -- Neal Shusterman
A junior high school boy and his friends decide to form a club of "second bests" and play anonymous tricks on each other's arch rivals. When the harmless pranks become life-threatening, however, no one in the club will admit responsibility.
Shadow Man -- Cynthia Grant
Charming but reckless eighteen-year-old Gabe, drunk as usual, smashes his truck into a tree and dies, sending waves of shock and grief through his small town.
Shadow People -- Joyce McDonald
When his family moves to a secluded area in western New Jersey after his brother is murdered, Gabriel finds himself involved with three other teenagers, each with his or her own problems, in a series of increasingly violent acts.
Shattering Glass -- Gail Giles
When Rob, the charismatic leader of the senior class, turns the school nerd into Prince Charming, his actions lead to unexpected violence.
Sheila's Dying -- Alden R. Carter
Just as high school junior Jerry Kincaid is considering breaking up with his girlfriend, he discovers that she has a terminal case of cancer.
Shiva's Fire -- Suzanne Fisher Staples
In India, a talented dancer sacrifices friends and family for her art.
Silent to the Bone -- E.L. Konigsburg
When he is wrongly accused of gravely injuring his baby half-sister, thirteen-year-old Branwell loses his power of speech and only his friend Connor is able to reach him and uncover the truth about what really happened.
Silver -- Norma Fox Mazer
Despite their different backgrounds, Sarabeth, a teenager living with her mother in a trailer and transferring to a new school, makes friends with Grant and her affluent friends, including troubled Patty who shares a painful secret about her uncle.
The Silver Kiss -- Annette Curtis Klause
A mysterious teenage boy harboring a dark secret helps Zoe come to terms with her mother's terminal illness.
Simon Pure -- Julian Thompson
A fifteen-year-old college frosh finds true love, gets over his first hangover, and uncovers a plot to overthrow the school administration.
Singing the Dogstar Blues -- Alison Goodman
In a future Australia, the saucy eighteen-year-old daughter of a famous newscaster and a sperm donor teams up with a hermaphrodite from the planet Choria in a time travel adventure that may significantly change both of their lives.
Singularity -- William Sleator
Sixteen-year-old twins Harry and Barry stumble across a gateway to another universe, where a distortion in time and space causes a dramatic change in their competitive relationship.
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants -- Ann Brashares
Four best girlfriends spend the biggest summer of their lives enchanted by a magical pair of pants.
Six Pack and a Fake ID -- Daniel Cohen
Discusses the role of drinking in our society, the various reasons people drink, the physiological effects of alcoholic beverages, popular misconceptions about alcohol, the differences between drunkenness and alcoholism, and other aspects of the issue about which teenagers need to make an informed decision.
Slam! -- Walter Dean Myers
Seventeen-year-old "Slam" Harris is counting on his basketball talents to get him out of the inner city and give him a chance to succeed in life, but his coach sees things differently.
Slap Your Sides -- M.E. Kerr
Life in their Pennsylvania hometown changes for Jubal Shoemaker and his family when his older brother witnesses to his Quaker beliefs by becoming a conscientious objector during World War II.
Slave Day -- Rob Thomas
Relates the events of a southern high school's "Slave Day" auction and fund raiser, which leads students, teachers, and even community members to rethink their approaches to their lives.
Sleeping Dogs -- Sonya Hartnett
The misanthropic, sadistic father of five children, ages 12 to 25, Griffin Willow runs a trailer park on his dilapidated farm in rural Australia. Isolated from all outside influences, even the neighboring small town, the Willow family has created its own oppressive, sheltered, and decaying world.
Sloppy Firsts -- Megan McCafferty
Devastated when her best friend moves away, sixteen-year-old Jessica Darling feels isolated at school and at home, as she struggles to deal with her father's obsession with her track meets, her boy-crazy peers, and her own nonexistent love life.
Slot Machine -- Chris Lynch
When overweight thirteen-year-old Elvin Bishop is sent to camp at St. Paul's Seminary Retreat Center, he and his two best friends are forced to try out various sports in order to find out where they belong.
Slumber Party -- Christopher Pike
When a ski weekend reunites a group of teenage girls eight years after a fire at a slumber party disfigured one of them and killed her sister, new fire-related accidents suggest that one of them may have been responsible.
Smack -- Melvin Burgess
In many different voices, from the addicts to the people around them, this book tells the story of a group of young people addicted to drugs.
Someone Like You -- Sarah Dessen
Halley's junior year of high school includes the death of the boyfriend of her best friend Scarlett, the discovery that Scarlett is pregnant, and Halley's own first serious relationship.
Soul Daddy -- Jacqueline Roy
Life for fifteen-year-old Hannah, her twin sister Rosie, and their White mother changes drastically when her father, a Black reggae star, and his daughter by a second marriage move into their home in a London suburb.
Speak -- Laurie Anderson
A traumatic event in the summer has a devastating effect on Melinda's freshman year of high school.
Spellbound -- Janet McDonald
Raven, a teenage mother and high school dropout living in a housing project, decides, with the help and sometime interference of her best friend Aisha, to study for a spelling bee which could lead to a college preparatory program and four-year scholarship.
The Spirit House -- William Sleator
Fifteen-year-old Julie investigates the suspicious behavior of the Thai exchange student staying with her family and comes to believe in the wish-granting power of a spirit that appears to have followed him across the ocean.
Squashed -- Joan Bauer
As a sixteen-year-old pursues her two goals--growing the biggest pumpkin in Iowa and losing twenty pounds herself--she strengthens her relationship with her father and meets a young man with interests similar to her own.
Star Split -- Kathryn Lasky
In 3038, thirteen-year-old Darci uncovers an underground movement to save the human race from genetic enhancement technology.
Stargirl -- Jerry Spinelli
In this story about the perils of popularity, the courage of nonconformity, and the thrill of first love, an eccentric student named Stargirl changes Mica High School forever.
Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes -- Chris Crutcher
The daily class discussions about the nature of human-kind, the existence of God, abortion, organized religion, suicide and other contemporary issues serve as a backdrop for a high-school senior's attempt to answer a friend's dramatic cry for help.
Steffie Can't Come Out to Play -- Fran Arrick
Fourteen-year-old Stephanie runs away from her dreary industrial Pennsylvania town to be a model in New York. Instead she meets an expensively-dressed man who puts her to work for him.
Stotan! -- Chris Crutcher
A high school coach invites members of his swimming team to a memorable week of rigorous training that tests their moral fiber as well as their physical stamina.
Stranger with My Face -- Lois Duncan
A seventeen-year-old senses she is being spied on and probably impersonated, but when she discovers what actually is occurring, it is more unbelievable than she ever imagined.
Strays Like Us -- Richard Peck
When her drug-addict mother can no longer care for her, twelve-year-old Molly comes to stay with her great-aunt and slowly begins to realize that others in the small town also feel like they don't belong.
Stuck in Neutral -- Terry Trueman
Fourteen-year-old Shawn McDaniel, who suffers from severe cerebral palsy and cannot function, relates his perceptions of his life, his family, and his condition, especially as he believes his father is planning to kill him.
The Subtle Knife -- Philip Pullman
As the boundaries betweens worlds begin to dissolve, Lyra and her daemon help Will Parry in his search for his father and for a powerful, magical knife.
Summer of Fear -- Lois Duncan
Soon after the arrival of cousin Julia, insidious occurrences begin that convince Rachel she is a witch and must be stopped before her total monstrous plan can be effected.
Summer of My German Soldier -- Bette Greene
Sheltering an escaped prisoner of war is the beginning of some shattering experiences for a twelve-year-old girl in Arkansas.
Summer Rules -- Robert Lipsyte
A teenage boy has to deal with an unwanted camp job, his first love and some crucial decisions.
Sweet Bells Jangled Out of Tune -- Robin Brancato
Fifteen-year-old Ellen wants to do something to help her dead father's mother, an eccentric old lady she has been forbidden ever to speak to or visit.
T - V
Taking It -- Michael Cadnum
Seventeen-year-old Anna Charles, who has turned shoplifting into an art form and a way to vent frustration, feels her confidence crumbling when she begins finding things she does not remember stealing.
Tall, Thin, and Blonde -- Dylan Sheldon
During her first year in high school, Jenny finds out what true friends are when her best friend deserts her for the sake of belonging to a clique of pretty and popular girls.
Taming the Star Runner -- S.E. Hinton
Sent to live with his uncle after a violent confrontation with his stepfather, sixteen-year-old Travis, an aspiring writer, finds life in a small Oklahoma town confining until he meets an eighteen-year-old horse trainer named Casey.
Tangerine -- Edward Bloor
Twelve-year-old Paul, who lives in the shadow of his football hero brother Erik, fights for the right to play soccer despite his near blindness and slowly begins to remember the incident that damaged his eye sight.
Target -- Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson
After being brutally raped, Grady finally goes to a new high school where he meets an outgoing African American and several other students who try to help him deal with the horrible secret that is robbing him of his life.
Tears of a Tiger -- Sharon M. Draper
The death of high school basketball star Rob Washington in an automobile accident affects the lives of his close friend Andy, who was driving the car, and many others in the school.
Tell Me Everything -- Carolyn Coman
After her mother dies in a rescue mission on a snowy mountain, twelve-year-old Roz wonders if talking to God, and to the boy for whom her mother died, can help her understand what happened.
Tell Us Your Secret -- Barbara Cohen
A group of aspiring teenage authors attend a two week writers conference where they not only learn about each other but begin to reveal their secret selves.
Tender -- Valerie Hobbs
After her beloved Gran dies, fifteen-year-old Liv goes to California to live with the father she has never known and must adjust to his gruff ways and his life as an abalone diver, so different from her life in New York City.
Tenderness -- Robert Cormier
A psychological thriller told from the points of view of a teenage serial killer and the runaway girl who falls in love with him.
The Terrorist -- Caroline B. Cooney
Sixteen-year-old Laura, an American living in London, tries to find the person responsible for the death of her younger brother Billy, who has been killed by a terrorist bomb.
That Summer -- Sarah Dessen
During the summer of her divorced father's remarriage and her sister's wedding, fifteen-year-old Haven comes into her own by letting go of the myths of the past.
This Lullaby -- Sarah Dessen
Raised by a mother who's had five husbands, eighteen-year-old Remy believes in short-term, no-commitment relationships until she meets Dexter, a rock band musician.
Those Other People -- Alice Childress
Bigotry surfaces at Minitown High when a popular male teacher sexually assaults a delinquent fifteen-year-old girl and the only witnesses are a Black boy and a gay student teacher
Three Clams and an Oyster -- Randy Powell
During their humorous search to find a fourth player for their flag football team, three high school juniors are forced to examine their long friendship, their individual flaws, and their inability to try new experiences.
Tiger Eyes -- Judy Blume
Resettled in Los Alamos, New Mexico with her mother and brother, Davey Wexler recovers from the shock of her father's death during a holdup of his 7-Eleven store in Atlantic City.
The Tiger Orchard -- Joyce Sweeney
Zack has always felt like an outsider in his family but doesn't quite know why until he begins having nightmares which reach back for long-hidden childhood memories.
Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright -- Ron Koertge
Worried that his mother will send his beloved grandfather to a nursing home "for his own good," Jesse and some of his eighth-grade classmates accompany Pappy into the mountains near their small California town to look for the tiger tracks he claims to have seen.
Tomorrow Wendy -- Shelley Stoehr
Seventeen-year-old Cary seems to have it all -- gorgeous body, cool boyfriend, wealthy family, and a great sense of style, but she also has a serious problem.
Toughing It -- Nancy Springer
Sixteen-year-old Shawn must deal with his loss and anger after witnessing his older brother's murder.
The Traitor (Golden Mountain Chronicles) -- Laurence Yep
In 1885, a lonely illegitimate American boy and a lonely Chinese American boy develop an unlikely friendship in the midst of prejudices and racial tension in their coal mining town of Rock Springs, Wyoming.
The Trouble with Liberty -- Kristin Butcher
Liberty, the new girl in school whom many befriend, makes an accusation against a teacher that keeps her fellow classmates wondering about her honesty.
Troubling a Star -- Madeleine L'Engle
As she tries to stay alive after being left on an iceberg in the Antarctic, sixteen-year-old Vicky recalls the series of events that brought her to the bottom of the world and involved her in a dangerous mystery.
True Believer -- Virginia Euwer Wolff
Living in the inner city amidst guns and poverty, fifteen-year-old LaVaughn learns from old and new friends, and inspiring mentors, that life is what you make it--an occasion to rise to.
True Confessions of a Heartless Girl -- Martha Brooks
A confused seventeen-year-old girl, a single mother and her young son, two elderly women, and a sad and lonely man, with their own individual tragedies to bear, come together in a small Manitoba town and find a way to a better future.
The True Meaning of Cleavage -- Mariah Fredericks
When Jess and Sari, best friends since seventh grade, begin their freshman year of high school and Sari becomes obsessed with a senior boy, Jess wonders if their friendship will survive.
The Truth about Forever -- Sarah Dessen
The summer following her father's death, Macy plans to work at the library and wait for her brainy boyfriend to return from camp, but instead she goes to work at a catering business where she makes new friends and finally faces her grief.
The Truth Trap -- Frances A. Miller
Following the death of their parents in an automobile accident, 15-year-old Matthew and his younger, deaf sister run away to Los Angeles where he becomes the only suspect in her brutal beating and murder.
Trying Hard to Hear You -- Sandra Scoppetone
A close-knit summer theater group learns that two of its members are gay.
Tunnel Vision -- Fran Arrick
After 15-year-old Anthony hangs himself, his family, friends, girlfriend, and a teacher must deal with their feelings of guilt and bewilderment.
TTYL -- Lauren Myracle
Chronicles, in "instant message" format, the day-to-day experiences, feelings, and plans of three friends, Zoe, Maddie, and Angela, as they begin tenth grade.
Twelve Days in August -- Liza Ketchum Murrow
Twelve days in August change a sixteen-year-old soccer player's perceptions of himself, his family, girls, and gays.
Twist of Gold -- Michael Morpurgo
With only the mythical luck of a golden torc, the necklace of their ancestors, to protect them, Sean and Annie O'Brien leave famine-stricken Ireland to search for their father in a strange land called America.
Unfinished Portrait of Jessica -- Richard Peck
A trip to Mexico to visit the divorced vagabond father whom she idolizes cures fourteen-year-old Jessica of certain illusions and helps her reconstruct her relationship with her mother.
Until Whatever -- Martha Humphreys
Seventeen-year-old Karen persists in renewing an old friendship with her classmate Connie when Connie comes down with AIDS, despite pressure from other students, her mother, and her best friends.
Up Country -- Alden R. Carter
When his mother's drinking problem causes him to spend several months with country relatives in upstate Wisconsin, sixteen-year-old Carl begins to build a new life for himself, only to see it threatened by a serious mistake from his painful past.
Up in Seth's Room: a Love Story -- Norma Fox Mazer
A 15-year-old's first love is bittersweet as she defies her parents and tries to assert her sexual values.
Violet and Clare -- Francesca Lia Block
In search of material for a screenplay they are developing, seventeen-year-old Violet and her new friend Claire try to make life a movie as they chase their dreams through dangerously beautiful Los Angeles.
W - Z
Waiting for Christopher -- Louise Hawes
Shortly after moving with her mother to Florida, a lonely, fourteen-year-old bibliophile is reminded of her infant brother who died and decides to care for an abused, abandoned child with help from a new friend.
Wannabe -- Shelley Stoehr
Catherine's dream of someday moving beyond her life in Little Italy is jeopardized by her older brother's ambition to join the local mobsters and her own involvement with some unsavory characters, leading them both into using cocaine.
War Between the Pitiful Teacher and the Splendid Kids -- Stanley Kiesel
After years of persecution school children led by Skinny Malinky finally declare war on their teachers and the system they represent.
The War of Jenkins' Ear -- Michael Morpurgo
Toby Jenkins' friendship with an unusual new boy who claims to be Jesus makes life at boarding school somewhat more tolerable, even when conflict arises between the students and the boys from town.
The War Within: a Novel of the Civil War -- Carol Matas
In 1862, after Union forces expel Hannah's family from Holly Springs, Mississippi, because they are Jews, Hannah reexamines her views regarding slavery and the war.
Wart, Son of Toad -- Alden R. Carter
Sixteen-year-old Steve's adjustment to high school is made more difficult by the unpopularity of his strict father, a biology teacher known as Toad.
The Watcher -- James Howe
As she sits watching a seemingly perfect family and a handsome lifeguard on the beach, a lonely, troubled girl projects herself into the fantasy lives she has created for them.
A Way of Love, Way of Life : A Young Person's Introduction to What it Means to Be Gay -- Frances Hanckel and John Cunningham
Discusses how to tell if you're gay, how to meet gay people, relationships with families and friends, and the legal position of gays. Profiles the lives of 12 gay people.
We All Fall Down -- Robert Cormier
As The Avenger searches for the teenage boys who trashed a house in his neighborhood, Buddy one of the trashers, increases his drinking in order to cope with his parents' separation and his obsession with the daughter of the owner of the vandalized house.
Weeping Willow -- Ruth White
Despite all the problems she faces at home, Tiny Lambert's experiences at Virginia's Black Gap High School help her begin to feel good about herself--until the day that she is raped by her stepfather.
Weetzie Bat -- Francesca Lia Block
Follows the wild adventures of Weetzie Bat and her Los Angeles punk friends, Dirk, Duck-Man, and Secret-Agent-Lover-Man.
Weird on the Outside -- Shelley Stoehr
Deciding that she cannot stand to live with either of her estranged parents, teenage Tracey flees to New York City and finds work as a topless dancer in a series of sleazy bars.
Whale Talk -- Chris Crutcher
Intellectually and athletically gifted, TJ, a multiracial, adopted teenager, shuns organized sports and the gung-ho athletes at his high school until he agrees to form a swimming team and recruits some of the school's less popular students.
What About Grandma? -- Hadley Irwin
Caught between her grandmother's fierce independence and her mother's solution of a nursing home, Rhys grows up during a summer while experiencing her first love.
What Became of Her -- M.E. Kerr
Edgar Tobbit meets Neal Kraft at a group session arranged by their psychotherapist and their friendship ends up thwarting the plans of an eccentric widow to get revenge on the town where she was mistreated as a young girl.
What Happened to Lani Garver -- Carol Plum-Ucci
Sixteen-year-old Claire is unable to face her fears about a recurrence of her leukemia, her eating disorder, her need to fit in with the popular crowd on Hackett Island, and her mother's alcoholism until the enigmatic Lani Garver helps her get control of her life at the risk of his own.
What My Mother Doesn’t Know -- Sonya Sones
A series of poems reflect the thoughts and feelings of Sophie, a fifteen-year-old-girl, as she describes her relationships with a series of boys and as she searches for Mr. Right.
What's Happening to My Body? Book for Girls: A Growing Up Guide for Parents and Daughters -- Lynda Madaras
Discusses the changes that take place in a girl's body during puberty, including information on the body's changing size and shape, pubic hair, breasts, the reproductive organs, the menstrual cycle, and puberty in boys.
What's Happening to My Body? Book for Boys: A Growing Up Guide for Parents and Sons -- Lynda Madaras
Discusses the changes that take place in a boy's body during puberty, including information on the body's changing size and shape, the growth spurt, reproductive organs, pubic hair, beards, pimples, voice changes, wet dreams, and puberty in girls.
When Heroes Die -- Penny Raife Durant
Devastated that his hero uncle, Rob, is dying of AIDS, twelve-year-old Gary, in need of advice and guidance in his life, draws strength from Rob himself.
When Jeff Comes Home -- Catherine Atkins
Sixteen-year-old Jeff, returning home after having been kidnapped and held prisoner for three years, must face his family, friends, and school and the widespread assumption that he engaged in sexual activity with his kidnapper.
When She Hollers -- Cynthia Voigt
Tish, a teenager who has been enduring abuse from her adoptive stepfather since she was a small child, finally decides she must do something to stop him.
When the Phone Rang -- Harry Mazer
When their parents are killed in an airplane crash, three siblings try to keep the family together in the face of overwhelming personal and financial problems.
Where it Stops, Nobody Knows -- Amy Ehrlich
Nina and her mother move from place to place, never revealing anything of themselves, and causing Nina to wonder if they will ever stop hiding.
Whirligig -- Paul Fleischman
While traveling to each corner of the country to build a whirligig in memory of the girl whose death he caused, sixteen-year-old Brian finds forgiveness and atonement.
The White Horse -- Cynthia D. Grant
In her writing for a concerned teacher, sixteen-year-old Raina reveals her troubles with a dysfunctional family, life on the streets, drug abuse, and finally an unplanned pregnancy.
White Lilacs -- Carolyn Meyer
In 1921 in Dillon, Texas, twelve-year-old Rose Lee sees trouble threatening her Black community when the Whites decide to take the land there for a park and forcibly relocate the Black families to an ugly stretch of territory outside the town.
The White Mercedes -- Philip Pullman
Seventeen-year-old Chris, living and working in Oxford, falls in love with an elusive girl and while searching for her discovers the devastating consequences of placing his trust in the wrong person.
A White Romance -- Virginia Hamilton
As her all-Black high school becomes more racially mixed, Tally befriends a White girl who shares her passion for running and becomes romantically involved with a drug dealer.
Who Will Tell My Brother? -- Marlene Carvell
During his lonely crusade to remove offensive mascots from his high school, a Native American teenager learns more about his heritage, his ancestors, and his place in the world.
Winning -- Robin Brancato
"Superjock" senior Gary Madden, hero of the football team with prospects as limitless as his own imagination, finds himself the victim of a freak accident that's left him completely paralyzed.
Witch Baby -- Francesca Lia Block
Witch Baby comes to live with Weetzie Bat and My-Secret-Agent-Lover-Man and has wild adventures in Los Angeles as she tries to understand where she belongs.
Witches (The Weird and Horrible Library) -- Nancy Garden
Traces the history of witchcraft throughout the world from ancient times to the present.
With Every Drop of Blood -- James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
Fourteen-year-old Johnny is on a bold mission to supply the Rebel troops with his family's mules and wagon when he is captured by a Yankee--Cush, a runaway slave.
Witness -- Karen Hesse
A series of poems express the views of various people in a small Vermont town, including a young black girl and a young Jewish girl, during the early 1920s when the Ku Klux Klan is trying to infiltrate the town.
Wolf Rider -- 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.
Words by Heart -- Ouida Sebestyen
A young black girl struggles to fulfill her papa's dream of a better future for their family in the southwestern town where, in 1910, they are the only blacks.
Year of the Gopher -- Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
In his senior year of high school, seventeen-year-old George begins to seriously question his parents' plans and assumptions about his future and decides to try to find his own way.
Year of the Griffin -- Diana Wynne Jones
When Elda, the griffin daughter of the great Wizard Derk, arrives for schooling at the Wizards' University, she encounters new friends, pirates, assassins, worry, sabotage, bloodshed, and magic misused.
The Year They Burned the Books -- Nancy Garden
While trying to come to terms with her lesbianism, a high school senior finds herself in the middle of a battle with a group of townspeople over the new health education curriculum.
The Year Without Michael -- Susan Beth Pfeffer
The changes sixteen-year-old Jody's parents, sister, and herself go through over a year's time are seen through Jody's eyes as they try to cope with her fourteen-year-old brother's disappearance.
You Don't Know Me -- David Klass
Fourteen-year-old John creates alternative realities in his mind as he tries to deal with his mother's abusive boyfriend, his crush on a beautiful, but shallow classmate and other problems at school.
Zazoo -- Richard Mosher
Amid old secrets revealed and rifts healed, a thirteen-year-old Vietnamese orphan raised in rural France by her aging "Grand-Pierre" learns about life, death, and love.
Zero at the Bone -- Michael Cadnum
When eighteen-year-old Anita fails to return home from work, her parents and younger brother try to understand and cope with her disappearance.
