Bird by Angela Johnson
Thirteen-year-old Bird follows her stepfather from Cleveland to Alabama in hopes of convincing him to come home, and along the way helps two boys cope with their difficulties.

So B. It by Sarah Weeks
Heidi lives with her mother, who is severely mentally handicapped, in Reno, Nevada. Next door in the apartment house is a loving woman, Bernadette, who takes care of them but suffers from agoraphobia and cannot leave the apartment. Many years ago, Bernadette found the infant Heidi and her bewildered young mother on her doorstep, neither one able to explain who they are....

Scorpia by Anthony Horowitz
Alex Rider is in Venice looking for secrets buried in the past. The truth lies with a shadowy organization called Scorpia. Fifth book in the series.

Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathon Stroud
Eleven-year-old Nathaniel, a magician's apprentice, summons a 5000 year old djinni, Bartimaeus, to help him seek revenge against a ruthless and ambitious magician, but when the djinni steals the Amulet of Samarkand, Nathaniels finds himself caught up in a whirlwind of magical espionage, murder and rebellion.

The Conch Bearer by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
In India, a healer invites twelve-year-old Anand to join him on a quest to return a magical conch to its safe and rightful home, high in the Himalayan mountains.

Outlaws of Moonshadow Marsh: Sign of the Qin by L. G. Bass
In long-ago China, Prince Zong, the mortal young Starlord chosen to save humankind from destruction, joins the twin outlaws, White Streak and Black Whirlwind, to fight the Lord of the Dead and his demon hordes

Fever, 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson,
In 1793 Philadelphia, fourteen-year-old Matilda Cook, separated from her sick mothers, learns about perseverance and self-reliance when she is forced to cope with the horrors of a yellow fever epidemic.

Girl 15 Charming But Insane by Sue Limb
Fifteen-year-old Jess, living with her mum, separated from her father in Cornwall, and with a best friend who seems to do everything perfectly, finds her own assets through humor.

After by Francine Prose
In the aftermath of a nearby school shooting, a grief and crisis counselor takes over Central High School and enacts increasingly harsh measures to control students, while those who do not comply disappear.

Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve
In the distant future, when cities move about and consume smaller towns, a fifteen-year-old apprentice is pushed out of London by the man he most admires and must seek answers in the perilous Out-Country, aided by one girl and the memory of another.

City of Ember by Jeanne Dupray
In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions. Sequel to People of Sparks.

Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes
Martha receives a page from the journal of a classmate, Olive, who has died in an accident. Olive's entry about a desire to be Martha's friend, to see the ocean, and to become a writer propels Martha into a journey from childhood to the brink of adolescence.

Aleutian Sparrow by Karen Hesse
During World War II the government relocated the residents of the Aleutian Islands after invasion by the Japanese. Vera, the teen narrator, tells this heartbreaking story in free verse.

Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata
Chronicles the close friendship between two Japanese-American sisters growing up in rural Georgia during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and the despair when one sister becomes terminally ill.

The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place by E. L. Konigsburg
Margaret Rose is rescued from summer camp by her eccentric uncles and, in turn, saves their splendid, artistically sculptured towers.

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
Matt, a cabin boy aboard a luxury airship, saves a dying balloonist whose ship has been damaged. The balloonist’s last words are about beautiful, winged creatures. One year later, the granddaughter of the balloonist takes passage on the airship, hoping to find the mysterious creatures.

Run Boy Run by Uri Orlev
Based on the true story of a nine-year-old boy who escapes the Warsaw Ghetto and must survive throughout the war in the Nazi-occupied Polish countryside.

The Teacher’s Funeral: A Comedy in Three Parts by Richard Peck
Russell, growing up in 1904, doesn't like school, and he's delighted when his teacher, Miss Myrt Arbuckle, dies. But when his older sister Tansy becomes the new teacher, Russell finds himself facing all kinds of new troubles.

The Young Man and the Sea by Rodman Philbrick
After his mother's death, twelve-year-old Skiff Beaman decides that it is up to him to earn money to take care of himself and his father, so he undertakes a dangerous trip alone out on the ocean off the coast of Maine to try to catch a huge bluefin tuna.

A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett
Young Tiffany Aching, two years removed from saving the world with an iron skillet, returns to face two new challenges: formal education in witchcraft and an identity-eating monster. It’s the Feegles to the rescue in a humorous sequel to The Wee Free Men. Read any of the Discworld Series.

Becoming Naomi León by Pam Muñoz Ryan 
Ryan presents an endearing, unforgettable character in Naomi Soledad León Outlaw, who faces many challenges with courage and conviction. A book filled with humor and poignancy.

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D.Schmidt 
Set in Maine in 1912, this powerful, haunting novel, propelled by a tragic historical event, probes a forbidden friendship between a preacher's son and a dark-skinned girl from a nearby island. Steeped in imagery and laced with surprising humor, the story explores powerlessness, possibility, and the difference individuals can make.

The Boy Who Couldn’t Die by William Sleator
When his best friend dies in a plane crash, sixteen-year-old Ken has a ritual performed that will make him invulnerable, but soon learns that he had good reason to be suspicious of the woman he paid to lock his soul away.