Crossing Jordan
by Adrian Fogelin

Twelve-year-old Cassie narrates the dramatic events that unfold when Jemmie, an African-American girl, and her family move in next door. Despite their parents' deeply held prejudice against each other's family, the girls find they share more similarities than differences. Mutual interests in reading and running draw them together, and their wariness of each other disappears. But when their parents find out about the burgeoning friendship, each girl is forbidden to see the other. A family crisis and celebration provide opportunities for the families to reach an understanding.

Dork in Disguise
by Carol Gorman

Last year, Jerry Flack was a dork. So this year, at a new school in a new town, he's decided to start a new life altogether--as a Cool Kid. He's been preparing all summer: studying teen magazines, acquiring hair gel, and distressing his jeans. Things get off to a good start, and before you know it, Jerry's in, rollerblading with the pros. But soon, Jerry finds himself tangled up in a complicated web of lies; and what's more, he's battling a terrible urge to put his glasses back on and join the science team. Does he really want to be a dork in disguise forever?

Flying Solo
by Ralph Fletcher

When the substitute for Mr. "Fab" Fabiano never shows up and his sixth-grade students are on their own, they set out to prove that they can run the class by themselves. With a little ingenuity and some careful planning, they might just succeed. But when a fight breaks out between Bastian Fauvell and Rachel White over a classmate, Tommy Feathers, who died six months earlier, everything begins to fall apart. Can Rachel deal with the anxieties that plunged her into silence the day Tommy died? Inventive and uniquely constructed, "Flying Solo" follows Mr. Fab's students hour by hour as they tackle the challenges of an unusual school day.

Francie
by Karen English

Francie Weaver, almost thirteen years old, has one thing on her mind: getting out of Noble, Alabama. For a year her father, who's been working up North for the railroad as a Pullman porter, has been promising to move the family to Chicago. Meanwhile, there is life in Noble: doing day work alongside her mother; avoiding Augustine Butler, the school bully who's out to get Francie for no good reason; holding her own against Holly Grace, the daughter of one of her mother's employers. And there's Jesse. One day he walks into the schoolyard, a sixteen-year-old determined to learn to read, and he becomes Francie's special project. But when events take a turn for the worse for Jesse, Francie, the tutor, finds herself in the position of being Jesse's proud protector, even though it puts her and her family in serious danger.

Gracie's Girl
by Ellen Wittlinger

Sixth grade is about to begin, and Bess Cunningham is gearing up to be cool. With a bunch of wild new outfits and an important job in the school play, Bess is convinced she'll get a lot of attention--at least more than she gets from her overbooked parents. With a lawyer dad and a teacher mom, both of whom are passionate about volunteering for a soup kitchen, Bess sometimes feels like she would have to eat out of a dumpster before they'd notice her. But when she meets an elderly woman named Gracie who actually does eat other people's discarded food, she begins to realize there are real human faces on the scruffy people her parents serve at the soup kitchen. Soon she and her best friend, Ethan, are deeply entrenched in Gracie's life, and in helping establish a shelter for homeless women. Bess is amazed to discover that even without her crazy wardrobe, she has managed to make new friends and make a difference.

Holes
by Louis Sachar

Following a miscarriage of justice, the ever-unlucky Stanley Yelnats is sentenced to imprisonment at a boys' juvenile detention center known as Camp Green Lake. There's just one thing about Camp Green Lake--there's no lake, just a dried-up lake bed. Every day, each boy must dig a hole in the dried-up lake bed: a hole five feet deep and five feet across. The sadistic warden claims that digging the holes helps the boys build character but Stanley soon discovers the real reason for all the digging--the warden and his cohorts are using the prisoners to search for a long-lost buried treasure.

The Lost Flower Children
by Janet Taylor Lisle

Great Aunt Minty seems the wrong person to look after nine-year-old Olivia and her demanding little sister, Nellie, in the wake of their mother's death. She's white-haired and creaky, speaks hardly above a chirp, and knows almost nothing about children. What Aunt Minty does know about is the big horseshoe-shaped garden off her side porch, though it's so wild an overgrown the sisters avoid it. Then a blue teacup turns up in the dirt, and Olivia finds an old story about a party of children transformed into flowers by a fairy spell. Only someone discovering two lost children's eight cups can bring them back. Now, the two sisters know what they must do.

Mister and Me
by Kimberly Willis Holt

When Leroy Redfield starts taking her momma dancing, Jolene won't call him anything but Mister. Without a name, he can't really be a whole person to her. The last thing she wants is somebody coming along trying to fill the space her daddy left when he died. But then Jolene learns that big, loud Mister wants to marry Momma, and when she gets the chance to hurt him, she acts. What will Momma do when she finds out? And will she marry Mister anyway? Kimberly Willis Holt has written a poignant, humorous story about change and acceptance, and a little girl who ultimately gives name to what she wants most.

My Brother Made Me Do It
by Peggy Kehret

Hi. I'm Julie Welsh. My nine-year old brother is always cooking up schemes...and I get blamed. Because I'm older. Eleven, to be exact. But Frankie has his good points too, as I told Mrs. Kaplan, my 89-year-old pen pal, who lives in Kansas. I write Mrs. Kaplan about everything. Even my secrets. She was the first one I told about my juvenile arthritis. Mrs. Kaplan understands. She has arthritis too. I was feeling tired and achy all the time, and discouraged. Then Mrs. Kaplan gave me ideas about running for student council, and though I could barely lift my legs, Frankie made me want to compete in a fun run. Just when I thought my life was a permanent time-out, you'll never believe what happened....

Not My Dog
by Colby Rodowsky

Ellie Martin's Parents have been promising for years that they will buy her a puppy when she turns nine. Now that she is eight, Ellie can hardly contain her excitement. But then Great-aunt Margaret moves into an apartment house that doesn't allow dogs, and Ellie becomes responsible for her fully-grown mutt, Preston. Thanks to him, she'll probably never get her puppy! Ellie refuses to accept Preston as her dog, no matter how charming and smart he might be. As far as Ellie is concerned, she's just putting up with him until she can figure out what to do. And figure it out Ellie does in a solution she never would have expected.

The Power of UN
by Nancy Etchemendy

Gib begins the tale throwing spitballs in math class with his science lab partner, Rainy. Rainy is supposed to baby-sit Roxy, Gib's spirited little sister, while Gib's parents go dancing and Gib and his best friend, Ash, go to the carnival on a long-planned excursion. But things go wrong, and Gib finds himself in the woods near his house with a strange, yet oddly familiar old man who smells like lightning. The man hands him an "unner," a rather badly made machine that can send Gib back in time. Gib thinks this is a great idea, especially after the trip to the carnival goes horribly wrong.

The School Story
by Andrew Clements

Twelve-year-old Natalie has written a book--a book her best friend Zoe and her English teacher think is good enough to be published. This shouldn't be a problem for Natalie because her mother is an editor at a children's publishing house. However, Natalie wants the book published, if it is to be published, on its own merits--not just because she happens to be the daughter of an editor. Then Zoe comes up with a plan--they'll submit the book under a pseudonym and Zoe will pretend to be Natalie's literary agent. Interwoven within this story about Zoe and Natalie is the plot of Natalie's book--a novel about a girl who gets caught cheating in school and is defended by her loving father--a story which is especially close to Natalie's heart as her own father recently died.

Star in the Storm
by Joan Harlow

All non-sheepherding dogs have been outlawed from the rocky coastal village where Maggie lives. Unwilling to give up her beloved Newfoundland, Sirius, Maggie defies the law and hides Sirius away. But when a steamer crashes into the rocks during a violent storm and starts to sink with a hundred passengers on board, Maggie faces a difficult choice. She knows Sirius can help rescue the people trapped on the ship, but bringing him out of hiding would put his own life in jeopardy. Is Maggie's brave dog a big enough hero to save the desperate passengers ­ and himself?

Surviving Brick Johnson
by Laurie Myers and Dan Yaccarino

Fifth-grader Alex believes he has run afoul of the new kid, Brick Johnson, whose name says it all. Brick is a lot taller and bigger than the other kids in the class, and in Alex's mind, he's a terrifying bully. To protect himself, Alex decides to sign up for karate classes, and when Brick also signs up, Alex fears the worst. As the novel unfolds, however, Alex learns Brick is not what he thought: Would a class bully spend part of his time reading stories to first-graders, using funny voices for added effect? What's going on?

Williwaw!
by Tom Bodett

Here is an exciting middle-grade adventure novel set in rural Alaska. Ivan and September Crane, ages 12 and 13, are left alone for a couple of weeks while their fisherman Dad is away at sea. In typical adolescent fashion, they quickly proceed to ignore his only two instructions--donšt run down the batteries on the portable short-wave radio, their only means of communication, and don't cross the bay to town. Through a series of bad decisions they find themselves crossing Bag Bay in their skiff when they are suddenly overtaken by a sudden and fierce autumn storm known as a williwaw. Ivan and September must use every ounce of strength, courage, and ingenuity they posses to keep themselves afloat until help comes.