Youth All Stars 2007: For All Ages

Selected Stars - under construction . . .

The list includes both fiction and nonfiction books. Titles are arranged alphabetically by author. The edition listed is the trade book, library bindings are not listed unless that is the only available format.

Titles received starred reviews from Booklist, The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, School Library Journal, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Horn Book. The theme information is derived from cataloging information and is not comprehensive.

Age designations are approximate, parental judgement should be used. Not all books are suitable for all readers/listeners.

Annotations are from Advance, the Ingram Book Magazine or the Library of Congress CIP description.

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• The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio
  Author: Alexander, Lloyd
  Publisher: Holt $ 18.95 ISBN: 9780805083330 Date: 2007
  Booklist Horn Book PW
  Newbery Medalist Alexander weaves a magnificent "Arabian Nights"-hued adventure in this glorious tale of a young man who is mistaken for a mighty warrior and then for a crown prince.
  Ages: 10-14 Category: Fiction | Action & Adventure
  Updated 10.31.07
  
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
  Author: Alexie, Sherman
  Publisher: Little Brown $ 16.99 ISBN: 9780316013680 Date: 2007
  Horn Book Kirkus PW SLJ
  Based on the authors own experiences, this first young adult novel by bestselling author Alexie features poignant drawings by acclaimed artist Ellen Forney that reflect the characters art as it chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy attempting to break away from the life he was destined to live.
  Ages: 12-17 Category: Fiction
  Updated 10.31.07
  
• Jack Plank Tales
  Author: Babbitt, Natalie
  Publisher: Scholastic $ 15.95 ISBN: 9780545004961 Date: 2007
  BooklistBulletin Horn Book Kirkus PW
  The author of the Newbery Honor Book Tuck Everlasting delivers a new adventure about a young man who started out to be a pirate, but just didn't seem to have the knack for it and seeks a new career.
  Ages: 9-12 Category: Fiction
  Updated 11.6.07
  
• Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood
  Author: Barakat, Ibtisam
  Publisher: FSG $ 15.95 ISBN: 9780374357337 Date: 2007
  Booklist Kirkus SLJ
  "When a war ends it does not go away," my mother says."It hides inside us . . . Just forget!""
  " But I do not want to do what Mother says . . . I want to remember."
  In this groundbreaking memoir set in Ramallah during the aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War, Ibtisam Barakat captures what it is like to be a child whose world is shattered by war. With candor and courage, she stitches together memories of her childhood: fear and confusion as bombs explode near her home and she is separated from her family; the harshness of life as a Palestinian refugee; her unexpected joy when she discovers Alef, the first letter of the Arabic alphabet. This is the beginning of her passionate connection to words, and as language becomes her refuge, allowing her to piece together the fragments of her world, it becomes her true home.
  Transcending the particulars of politics, this illuminating and timely book provides a telling glimpse into a little-known culture that has become an increasingly important part of the puzzle of world peace. -Publisher Marketing
  Ages: 12+ Category: Nonfiction
  Updated 11.6.07
  
• The Entertainer and the Dybbuk
  Author: Fleischman, Sid
  Publisher: Greenwillow $ 16.99 ISBN: 9780061344459 Date: 2007
  Booklist Kirkus SLJ
  The Newbery Medal-winning author of The Whipping Boy tells a moving and distinguished story set in post-World War II Europe about an American soldier possessed by the spirit of a dybbuk, who sets out to find the Nazi officer who murdered his family.
  Ages: 9-14 Category: Fiction | Historical
  Updated 11.6.07
  
• I Am Not Joey Pigza
  Author: Gantos, Jack
  Publisher: FSG $ 16 ISBN: 9780374399412 Date: 2007
  Booklist Bulletin Kirkus PW
  In this rocket-paced new chapter in Joey Pigzas life, a favorite hero discovers what identity and forgiveness really mean, and how to cook a delicious turkey burger.
  Ages: 10-14 Category: Fiction
  Updated 11.6.07
  
• An Inconvient Truth: The Crisis of Global Warming
  Author: Gore, Albert
  Publisher: Viking $ 16 ISBN: 9780670062720 Date: 2007
  Booklist Kirkus SLJ
  Gore's bestselling book is now adapted for perhaps the most important audience of all: today's youth, who have no choice but to confront the planetary emergency head-on. Bursting with color photos, this book clearly explains global warming.
  Ages: 9-12 Category: Nonfiction | Science & Nature
  Updated 11.6.07
  
• Evil Genius
  Author: Jinks, Catherine
  Publisher: Harcourt $17 ISBN: 9780152059880 Date: 2007
  BooklistBulletin Kirkus PW SLJ
  Cadel Piggott is a 14-year-old genius studying for his World Domination degree with criminal mastermind Dr. Phineas Darkkon. But at heart he's a lonely kid. When he falls for the mysterious and brilliant Kay-Lee, he begins to wonder if it is too late to stop Dr. Darkkon from carrying out his evil plot.
  Ages:12+ Category: Fiction| Mystery & Suspense | Action & Adventure
  Updated 11.6.07
  
• Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat
  Author: Jonell, Lynne
  Publisher: Holt $ 17.95 ISBN: 9780805081503 Date: 2007
  Booklist PW SLJ
  Hilarious, inventive, and rodent-friendly, this fantastic first novel by acclaimed picture book author Jonell features a lonely girl, a cantankerous talking rat, and a nanny who is doing very, "very" bad things. Includes a fun flip-book feature.
  Ages: 9-12 Category: Fiction
  Updated 11.6.07
  
• Epic
  Author: Kostick, Conor
  Publisher: Viking $ 17.99 ISBN: 9780670061792 Date: 2007
  Booklist PW SLJ
  Generations ago, violence was banned on New Earth. Society is governed and conflicts are resolved in the arena of a fantasy computer game, Epic. Everyone plays. If you win, you have the chance to go to university, get more supplies for your community, and fulfill your dreams; if you lose, your life both in and out of the game is worth nothing.

  When Erik, seeking revenge for the unjust treatment of his parents, dares to subvert the rules of Epic, he and his friends find themselves up against with the ultimate masters of the game: the Committee. If Erik and his friends win, they may have the key to destroying Epics tyranny over New Earth. But if they lose . . . - Publisher Marketing
  Ages: 12-17 Category: Speculative Fiction
  Updated 11.6.07
  

• Good Masters, Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village
  Author: Schiltz, Laura Amy
  Publisher: Candlewick $ 19.99 ISBN: 9780763615789 Date: 2007
  Booklist Bulletin Kirkus PW
  Step back to an English village in 1255, where life plays out in dramatic vignettes illuminating 22 unforgettable characters. Inspired by an illuminated poem from 13th-century Germany, this witty, historically accurate, and utterly human collection forms an exquisite bridge to the people and places of medieval England
  Ages: 10-14 Category: Fiction | Historical
  Updated 11.6.07
  
• The Wednesday Wars
  Author: Schmidt, Gary D.
  Publisher: Clarion $ 16 ISBN: 9780618724833 Date: 2007
  Booklist Bulletin Horn Book Kirkus PW
  The Newbery and Printz honor-winning author of Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy delivers a wonderfully witty and compelling novel about a teenage boy's mishaps and adventures over the course of the 1967-68 school year.
  Ages: 10-14 Category: Fiction | Historical
  Updated 11.6.07
  
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures
  Author: Selznick, Brian
  Publisher: Scholastic $ 22.95 ISBN: 9780439813785 Date: 2007
  BooklistBulletin Horn Book Kirkus PW SLJ
  Orphan, clock keeper, thief: Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. Combining elements of picture book, graphic novel, and film, Caldecott Honor artist Selznick breaks open the novel form to create an entirely new reading experience in this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.
  Ages: 9-12 Category: Fiction | Mystery & Suspense
  Updated 11.6.07
  
• The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtian
  Author: Sis, Peter
  Publisher:FSG $ 18 ISBN: 9780374347017 Date: 2007
  Booklist Horn Book Kirkus PW SLJ
  In his most personal work to date, award-winning author Peter Sis offers a brilliant graphic memoir, taking readers on an extraordinary journey as he recalls his youth growing up in Czechoslovakia in the 1960s, when his country was on the Communist side of the Iron Curtain.
  Ages: 8-12 Category: Nonfiction | Autobiography
  Updated 11.6.07
  
• Freak Show
  Author: St, James, James
  Publisher: Dutton $ 18.99 ISBN: 9780525477990 Date: 2007
  Bulletin Kirkus PW SLJ
  Inspired by his own experience, adult author (Disco Bloodbath) and media personality James St. James makes his YA debut with this novel about a young drag queen who makes a grand entrance into a conservative high school.
  Ages: 12+ Category: Fiction
  Updated 11.6.07
  
• The Mysterious Benedict Society
  Author: Stewart, Trenton Lee
  Publisher: Megan Tingley $ 16.99 ISBN: 9780316057776 Date: 2007
  BooklistBulletin PW SLJ
  A first-time novelist takes readers on a dazzling adventure that puts friends, family, and foe to the test, as four children go on a secret mission that only the most intelligent and inventive children can complete.
  Ages: 8-12 Category: Fiction | Action & Adventure
  Updated 11.6.07
  
• The Arrival
  Author: Tan, Shaun
  Publisher: Levine $ 19.99 ISBN: 9780439895293 Date: 2007
  Booklist Kirkus PW SLJ
  In this wordless graphic novel, Tan captures the struggles and joy of the immigrant experience through clear, mesmerizing images which tell the story of a man who leaves his homeland and his family to build a better life.
  Ages: 12-17 Category: Graphic Novel
  Updated 11.6.07
  
• The New Policeman
  Author: Thompson, Kate
  Publisher: Greenwillow $ 16.99 ISBN: 9780061174278 Date: 2007
  Booklist Bulletin Horn Book Kirkus PW SLJ
  Who knows where the time goes? There is never enough of it in Kinvara, or anywhere else in Ireland for that matter. When J.J. Liddy's mother says that what she really wants for her birthday is more time in her day, J.J. decides to find her some.
  Ages: 12-17 Category: Fiction | Speculative
  Updated 11.6.07
  
• Robot Dreams
  Author: Varon, Sara
  Publisher: First Second $ 16.95 ISBN: 9781596431089 Date: 2007
  Booklist PW SLJ
  This moving, charming, and wordless graphic novel about a dog and a robot shows in poignant detail how powerful and fragile relationships are, as it depicts 12 months in dreams and quiet moments in the life of a dog and a robot
  Ages: 8+ Category: Graphic Novel
  Updated 11.6.07
  
• Red Moon at Sharpsburg
  Author: Wells, Rosemary
  Publisher: Viking $ 16.99 ISBN: 9780670036387 Date: 2007
  Booklist Bulletin Kirkus PW SLJ
  An award-winning author lays bare the senseless devastation of war in this stunning novel that tells the story of one brave Southern girl's struggle to survive the Civil War.
  Ages: 12-17 Category: Fiction | Historical
  Updated 11.6.07