VSBA 7-12 List divided by Middle and High School

Middle School Interest

*Bennett, Cherie and Jeff Gottesfeld.  A Heart Divided.  Delacorte, 2004.
New Jersey girl, Kate Pride, moves to a small town near Nashville, Tennessee and dives right into a school flag controversy.

Choldenko, Gennifer.  Al Capone Does My Shirts.  G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2004.
 In 1935, Moose and his family move to Alcatraz Island so that his father can work as a prison guard and his sister can attend a special school.

*Dessen, Sarah.  The Truth About Forever.  Viking, 2004.
 Sixteen-year-old Macy gets a job with a local catering company and realizes that her neat and tidy life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

LaFaye, A.  The Strength of Saints.  Simon & Schuster, 2002.
 The opening of a sweet potato canning factory brings Yankees to a small Louisiana town in 1936.

*Lowry, Lois.  Messenger.  Houghton Mifflin, 2004.
 While witnessing the gradual disintegration of his utopian community, a young boy simultaneously discovers his own unique gift of healing.

Martin, Ann M.  Here Today.  Scholastic, 2004.
 In 1963, eleven-year-old Ellie Dingman has to take charge of her younger siblings when her flamboyant mother abandons the family to pursue her dreams of becoming an actress.

*McDonald, Joyce.  Devil on My Heels.  Delacorte, 2004.
 In 1959, the daughter of a prosperous orange grower discovers that there are escalating acts of violent racism in her small town of Benevolence, Florida.

*Osa, Nancy.  Cuba 15.  Delacorte, 2003.
 Violet Paz, a child of a Cuban father and Polish mother, spends the better part of a year planning her quinceanera.

Peck, Richard.  The Teacher’s Funeral: A Comedy in Three Parts.  Dial, 2004.
 Fifteen-year old Russell Culver and his pals think they have been relieved of school forever when their teacher dies.

Rabin, Staton.  Betsy and the Emperor.  Margaret K. McElderry, 2004.
 In 1815, fourteen-year-old Betsy Balcombe returns from her London boarding school to the remote island of St. Helena to find Napoleon Bonaparte living in her home.

*Schmidt, Gary.  Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy.  Clarion, 2004.
 Turner Buckminster moves to Phippsburg, Maine in the early 1900s and finds solace in Lizzie Bright, an African-American girl from a poor island community.

*Sones, Sonya.  One of those hideous books where the mother dies.  Simon & Schuster, 2004.
 Fifteen-year-old Ruby Milliken moves in with her father, a famous movie star, after the death of her mother.

*Woods, Brenda.  Emako Blue.  G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2004.
 Emako Blue changes the lives of several young Los Angeles teens when she joins their school’s chorus group.
 

*Book included on both Middle and High School Interest
 

High School Interest

Anderson, Laurie Halse.  Prom.  Viking, 2005.
 After a teacher steals the money for her senior prom, eighteen-year old Ashley is persuaded into saving the dance from cancellation.

*Bennett, Cherie and Jeff Gottesfeld.  A Heart Divided.  Delacorte, 2004.
New Jersey girl, Kate Pride, moves to a small town near Nashville, Tennessee and dives right into a school flag controversy.

*Dessen, Sarah.  The Truth About Forever.  Viking, 2004.
Sixteen-year-old Macy gets a job with a local catering company and realizes that her neat and tidy life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Deuker, Carl.  High Heat.  Houghton Mifflin, 2003.
 When high school baseball star Shane Hunter’s father is sent to jail, his family must move from their enormous suburban Seattle home into public housing.

Frost, Helen.  Keesha’s House.  Frances Foster, 2003.
 A group of troubled teens find shelter at a home in their inner city neighborhood.

Hautman, Pete.  Godless.  Simon & Schuster, 2004.
 Bored with Catholicism, sixteen-year-old Jay Bock and a group of friends form a cult called Chutengodians who worship the local water tower.

Johnson, Maureen.  The Key to the Golden Firebird.  HarperCollins, 2004.
 After the death of their father, three teen sisters must come to terms with growing up fast and grieving through their loss.

*Lowry, Lois.  Messenger.  Houghton Mifflin, 2004.
 While witnessing the gradual disintegration of his utopian community, a young boy simultaneously discovers his own unique gift of healing.

Mackler, Carolyn.  Vegan Virgin Valentine.  Candlewick, 2004.
 Mara Valentine is an overachieving senior whose life is turned into total chaos when her wild sixteen-year-old niece moves into her home.

McCafferty, Megan.  Second Helpings: A Novel.  Three Rivers, 2003.
 Super-cynical and hyper-observant Jessica Darling struggles through her senior year of high school.

*McDonald, Joyce.  Devil on My Heels.  Delacorte, 2004.
In 1959, the daughter of a prosperous orange grower discovers that there are escalating acts of violent racism in her small town of Benevolence, Florida.

Myers, Walter Dean.  Shooter.  Amistad/HarperCollins, 2004.
 A tragic school shooting is investigated through interviews, journal entries, and reports.

*Osa, Nancy.  Cuba 15.  Delacorte, 2003.
 Violet Paz, a child of a Cuban father and Polish mother, spends the better part of a year planning her quinceanera.

Powell, Randy.  Three Clams and an Oyster.  Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002.
 Flint McCallister tries to find a replacement for his four-man flag football team after one of the players dies in a freak accident.

Qualey, Marsha.  Too Big a Storm.  Dial, 2004.
 During the Vietnam War, recent high school graduate Brady Callahan returns to her job at the local church center.

Saenz, Benjamin Alire.  Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood.  Cinco Puntos, 2004.
 Living in the poor barrio of Hollywood, New Mexico during the tumultuous 1960s, Sammy has to deal with the death of his girlfriend and the troubled life of his neighborhood.

*Schmidt, Gary.  Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy.  Clarion, 2004.
 Turner Buckminster moves to Phippsburg, Maine in the early 1900s and finds solace in Lizzie Bright, an African-American girl from a poor island community.

*Sones, Sonya.  One of those hideous books where the mother dies.  Simon & Schuster, 2004.
 Fifteen-year-old Ruby Milliken moves in with her father, a famous movie star, after the death of her mother.

Westerfeld, Scott.  So Yesterday.  Razorbill, 2004.
 Hunter Braque is a high school teen who is hired by big-named companies to find the next cool trends in merchandise.

*Woods, Brenda.  Emako Blue.  G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2004.
 Emako Blue changes the lives of several young Los Angeles teens when she joins their school’s chorus group.
 

*Book included on both Middle and High School Interest