YA Stars 2005

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. Books are suggested for ages 12 and older. Age and grade designations are approximate, parental judgement should be used.

Notable book information is added as time allows: BBYA= Best Books for Young Adults (ALA/YALSA)

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

• The Diary of Pelly D
  Author: Adlington, L.J.
  Publisher: Greenwillow $ 15.99 ISBN: 0060766158 Date: 2005
  BooklistBulletin
  This provocative first novel challenges readers to think about ethics, personal freedom, the role of government, genetic engineering, bigotry, and race in this story of rich and popular Pelly D, whose diary is found among the rubble of a ruined city.
  Grades: 8+ Category: Speculative Fiction | Action & Adventure
  
• Gilda Joyce, Psychic Investigator
  Author: Allison, Jennifer
  Publisher: Dutton $ 10.99 ISBN: 0525473750 Date: 2005
  BooklistBulletinSLJ
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction | Mystery | Ghost
  
• The Perfect Shot
  Author: Alphin, Elaine Marie
  Publisher: Carolrohoda $ 16.95 ISBN: 1575058626 Date: 2005
  SLJ
  Brian uses basketball to block out memories of his girlfriend and her family who were gunned down a year ago, but the upcoming murder trial and a high school history assignment force him to face the past and decide how far he should go to see justice served.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Peaches
  Author: Anderson, Jodi Lynn
  Publisher: HarperCollins $ 15.99 ISBN: 0060733055 Date: 2005
  PW
  Three unforgettable heroines, who have nothing in common but the troubles that have gotten them sentenced to a summer of picking peaches in a Georgia orchard, are introduced in this entirely original and provocative story with a lush, captivating setting.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Prom
  Author: Anderson, Laurie Halse
  Publisher: Viking $ 16.99 ISBN: 0670059749 Date: 2005
  BulletinBooklistKliattKirkus
  Containing everything she's known for, this latest novel by the award-winning author of Speak and Catalyst describes the angst surrounding an American teenage rite of passage: the senior prom.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• The Real Revolution: The Global Story of the American Revolution
  Author: Aronson, Marc
  Publisher: Clarion $ 21 ISBN: 0618181792 Date: 2005
  BooklistBulletinSLJ | SLJ Best Books
  Packed with dramatic events, battles, and memorable figures such as George Washington and Tom Paine in America and Robert Clive in India, this insightful narrative provides a multi-layered portrait of how our nation came to be, while discovering anew the themes, images, and fascinating personalities that run through our entire history. Cast of characters, maps, endnotes and bibliography, Internet resources, timeline, index. - Publisher Marketing
  Grades: 9-12 Category: Nonfiction | History
  
• Funny Little Monkey
  Author: Aueson, Andrew
  Publisher: Harcourt $ 17 ISBN: 0152053344 Date: 2005
  BulletinPW
  Meet Arty, a tiny teen with big problems--and an even bigger mouth. Whether he's dodging the fists of his hulking twin brother, dealing with the other misfits in school, or falling in love for the first time, Arty gives readers an unusual perspective on becoming a man.
  Grades: 9-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Tiger, Tiger
  Author: Banks, Lynne Reid
  Publisher: Delacorte $ 15.95 ISBN: 0385732406 Date: 2005
  PW
  Two tiger cub brothers are torn from the jungle and taken to Rome. The stronger cub is trained as a killer at the Coliseum. Emperor Caesar makes a gift of the smaller cub to his beautiful daughter, Aurelia. She adores her cub, Boots. Julius, a young animal keeper, teaches Aurelia how to earn Boots's trust. Boots is pampered while his brother, known as Brute, lives in the cold and darkness, let out only to kill. Caesar trusts Julius to watch Aurelia and her prized pet. But when a prank backfires, Boots temporarily escapes and Julius must pay with his life. Thousands watch as Julius is sent unarmed into the arena to face the killer Brute.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Historical
  
• Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow
  Author: Bartoletti, Susan Campbell
  Publisher: Scholastic $ 19.95 ISBN: 0439353793 Date: 2005
  BooklistHorn BookKirkusPW
  "I begin with the young. We older ones are used up . . . But my magnificent youngsters! Look at these men and boys! What material! With them, I can create a new world." --Adolf Hitler, Nuremberg 1933 By the time Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, 3.5 million children belonged to the Hitler Youth. It would become the largest youth group in history. Susan Campbell Bartoletti explores how Hitler gained the loyalty, trust, and passion of so many of Germany's young people. Her research includes telling interviews with surviving Hitler Youth members.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Nonfiction | History
  
• Running With the Reservoir Pups
  Author: Bateman, Colin
  Publisher: Delacorte $ 15.95 ISBN: 0385732449 Date: 2005
  BulletinPWSLJ
  Eddie has a bad habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Otherwise, he never would have gotten mixed up with the Reservoir Pups, the scrappy gang of boys that rules the streets in his new town. Breaking into the hospital his mom works at for his initiation, Eddie stumbles upon some twisted baby-snatchers.
  Grades: 5-9 Category: Fiction
  
• Rise of a Hero
  Author: Bell, Hilari
  Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 16.95 ISBN: 0689854153 Date: 2005
  Kirkus
  The war between Farsala and the Hrum has begun. Now in this second installment, Jiaan and Kavi begin separate resistance movements that hinder the Hrum's victory. Meanwhile, Soraya, disguised as a servant, becomes privy to important strategic information.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Speculative Fiction | Action & Adventure
  
• Boy 2 Girl
  Author: Blacker, Terence
  Publisher: FSG $ 16 ISBN: 0374309264 Date: 2005
  PW
  Matthew's American cousin, Sam, has come to London to live with the family. Sam is a charismatic kid, but can he be trusted to be a reliable friend? Matthew and his "mates" decide that Sam must undertake a challenge in order to prove himself: he must start off his new year at their school posing as a girl.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Naughts & Crosses
  Author: Blackman, Malorie
  Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 15.95 ISBN: 1416900160 Date: 2005
  BooklistBulletin
  In this tightly plotted thriller, UK sensation Blackman (Hacker) offers a modern-day Romeo and Juliet set in a world where black and white mean right and wrong--and life and death. Named as one of the BBC's Big Read Top 100 Books of All Time.
  Grades: 9-12 Category: Fiction | Suspense
  
• Second Sight
  Author: Blackwood, Gary
  Publisher: Dutton $ 16.99 ISBN: 0525474811Date: 2005
  BulletinKirkus
  Rich in Dickensian flavor and packed with fascinating historical details, this compelling alternate-history novel by the author of The Year of the Hangman takes readers into the plot to assassinate President Lincoln.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Historical | Action & Adventure
  
• Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood
  Author: Brashares, Ann
  Publisher: Delacorte $ 16.95 ISBN: 0385729359 Date: 2005
  BulletinBooklistKliatt
  It's been two summers since the Traveling Pants first worked their magic on four young friends, who are now facing their last summer together. The girls will be leaving to attend four different colleges in four different cities. They plan to gather to launch the Pants on their summer voyage and begin the time of their lives.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Candy
  Author: Brooks, Kevin
  Publisher: Chicken House $ 16.95 ISBN: 0439683270 Date: 2005
  PW
  When Joe meets Candy, it seems like a regular boy-meets-girl scenario. But then Joe is drawn into Candy's world--a world of drugs, violence, and desperation. As the dark truth about Candy's life emerges, Joe finds himself facing real danger at every twist and turn.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two
  Author: Bruchac, Joseph
  Publisher: Dial $ 16.99 ISBN: 0803729219 Date: 2005
  BulletinBooklistKirkus
  Bruchac brings to life for young adults the stories of some of the unsung heroes of World War II--the young Navajo men who were a crucial part of the American effort in sending and receiving messages that used their native language.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Historical
  
• Sugar Rush
  Author: Burchill, Julie
  Publisher: Avon Tempest $ 16.99 ISBN: 0060776196 Date: 2005
  PW
  Known as the "bad girl of British journalism" for her adult novels and biographies, Burchill pens this young adult novel about two girls from two very different worlds who fall in love.
  Grades: 9-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Wild Roses
  Author: Caletti, Deb
  Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 15.95 ISBN: 0689867662 Date: 2005
  BulletinSLJ
  

  Seventeen-year-old Cassie Morgan has a secret: She's living with a time bomb (a.k.a. her stepfather, Dino Cavalli). To the public, Dino is a world-renowned violinist and composer. To Cassie, he's an erratic, self-centered bully. - Publisher Marketing.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  

• The Tequila Worm
  Author: Canales, Viola
  Publisher: Wendy Lamb $ 15.95 ISBN: 0385746741 Date: 2005
  Booklist
  Sofia comes from a family of storytellers. When she's singled out to receive a scholarship to boarding school, she longs to explore life beyond the barrio, even though it means leaving her family to navigate a strange world of rich, privileged kids.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Ten Thousand Days of Thunder: A History of the Vietnam War
  Author: Caputo, Philip
  Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 22.95 ISBN: 0689862318 Date: 2005
  BulletinSLJPW
  This Pulitzer-winner served as a lieutenant with the third marine regiment near Da Nang. He delves into the rise of Communism in Vietnam, the roles that women played on the battlefield and at home, the participation of Vietnamese villagers in the war, and the war's impact.
  Grades: 5-7 Category: Nonfiction | History
  
• Kalpana's Dream
  Author: Clarke, Judith
  Publisher: Front Street $ 16.95 ISBN: 1932425225 Date: 2005
  BooklistBulletin
  Neema's and Kate's first day at Wentworth High gets worse when they find out that their English teacher, Ms. Dallimore, is notorious for challenging essay assignments. Ms. Dallimore assigns an essay with the topic "Who am I?" and gives the class six weeks. For Neema, the extended stay of her Indian great grandmother, Kalpana, complicates the question.
  Grades: 3-7 Category: Fiction
  
• Before Hollywood: From Shadow Play to the Silver Screen
  Author: Clee, Paul
  Publisher: Clarion $ 22 ISBN: 0618445331Date: 2005
  BulletinKirkus
  Illustrated with black-and-white archival prints, drawings, and photographs, Clee delivers an intriguing story of invention and showmanship that explains how today's movies--as well as photos, special effects, and animation--came to be.
  Grades: 5-7Category: Nonfiction
  
• Shrimp
  Author: Cohn, Rachel
  Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 15.95 ISBN: 0689866127 Date: 2005
  BulletinKirkusPW
  The long-awaited sequel to Gingerbread finds Cyd Charisse, now home from her summer in New York, planning to reclaim her true love: Shrimp, the hottest pint-size artist-surfer in San Francisco. Cyd's now grown up, and isn't going to let Shrimp get away this time.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Code Orange
  Author: Cooney, Caroline
  Publisher: Delacorte $ 15.95 ISBN: 0385902778 Date: 2005
  BooklistPW
  Walking around New York City was what Mitty Blake did best. He loved the city, and even after 9/11, he always felt safe. Mitty was a carefree guy-he didn't worry about terrorists or blackouts or grades or anything, which is why he was late getting started on his Advanced Bio report.
  Mitty does feel a little pressure to hand something in-if he doesn't, he'll be switched out of Advanced Bio, which would be unfortunate since Olivia's in Advanced Bio. So he considers it good luck when he finds some old medical books in his family's weekend house that focus on something he could write about. But when he discovers an old envelope with two scabs in one of the books, the report is no longer about the grade-it's about life and death. His own.
  This edge-of-your-seat thriller will leave you breathless.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Thriller
  
• Summer's End
  Author: Couloumbis, Audrey
  Publisher: Putnam $ 16.99 ISBN: 0399235558 Date: 2005
  BooklistBulletin
  In the summer of 1965, teenaged cousins Grace, Dolly, and Theo are dealing with the fact their family has been torn apart by the Vietnam War. The idyllic days they used to enjoy are now marred by uncertainty and tension in this powerful novel by the Newbery Honor author.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Historical
  
• The Naming: The First Book of Pellinor
  Author: Croggon, Alison
  Publisher: Candlewick $ 17.99 ISBN: 0763626392 Date: 2005
  BulletinKirkusSLJ
  In the classic spirit of epic fantasy comes this saga of a young girl who learns she possesses an uncanny gift and is destined to use it to save her world from evil. Presented as a new translation of an ancient text.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Speculative
  
• Love: Selected Poems
  Author: cummings, e.e.
  Publisher: Jump at the Sun $ 16.99 ISBN: 0786807962 Date: 2005
  PW
  This collection of poems by e.e. cummings explores all the terrains of love, lust, romance, and seduction. Accompanied by electrifying artwork, this volume of verse speaks to the heart and makes an ideal gift for a romantic love interest.
  Grades: All Category: Nonfiction | Poetry
  
• Ball Don't Lie
  Author: De La Pena, Matt
  Publisher: Delcorte $ 16.95 ISBN: 0385732325 Date: 2005
  BulletinSLJ
  Sticky, a beat-around-the-head foster kid, discovers that basketball may be his way out in this novel that takes place where the street and the court meet and where a boy can be anything if he puts his mind to it.
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Fiction
  
• The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming: The Brotherhood of the Conch: Book Ii
  Author: Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee
  Publisher: Roaring Brook $ 16.95 ISBN: 1596430672 Date: 2005
  PW
  Set in contemporary India, as well as several hundred years in the past, thistitle continues the adventures of Anand and his quest to become a full memberof the Brotherhood of the Conch.
  Grades: 6-8 Category: Fiction
  
• Burning City
  Author: Dorfman, Ariel & Joaquin Dorfman
  Publisher: Random $ 15.95 ISBN: 0375832033 Date: 2005
  BulletinHorn Book
  During the summer of 2001, Heller is the youngest employee of a New York City messenger service where a message is not handed over but told to the recipient. Heller soon finds himself drawn into the lives of a wildly diverse cast of characters, accidentally falling in love, and relating to people in a whole new way.
  Grades: 5-9 Category: Fiction | Action & Adventure
  
• Chicken Boy
  Author: Dowell, Frances O'Roark
  Publisher: Atheneum $ 15.95 ISBN: 0689858167 Date: 2005
  BooklistBulletinKirkusSLJ
  The bestselling author of Dovey Coe introduces an unforgettable new character--seventh-grader Tobin McCauley, whose life in a very dysfunctional household is compounded by his only friend's belief that the study of chickens will reveal the meaning of life.
  Grades: 5-9 Category: Fiction
  
• Gifted
  Author: Evangelista, Beth
  Publisher: Walker $ 16.95 ISBN: 0802789943 Date: 2005
  Booklist
  This witty novel provides a different perspective on bullying and the battle of brains versus brawn.
  Grades: 5-7 Category: Fiction
  
• Invisible Allies: Microboes That Shape Our Lives
  Author: Farrell, Jeanette
  Publisher: FSG $ 17 ISBN: 0374336083 Date: 2005
  BooklistBulletinHorn BookSLJ
  Microbes are everywhere, and humans could not survive without them. To emphasize their amazing ubiquity, Farrell considers the invisible bugs essential to an everyday event: the eating of a light lunch consisting of a cheese sandwich and a chocolate bar.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Nonfiction | Science
  
• The Sphere of Secrets
  Author: Fisher, Catherine
  Publisher: Greenwillow $ 16.99 ISBN: 0060571616 Date: 2005
  BulletinKirkus
  Everything has gone wrong. The drought should have ended, but the land is still parched. In the midst of such chaos, The Two Lands should collapse. But an ancient map carved into a silver sphere may be enough to make things right and save the world.
  Grades: 5+ Category: Fiction | Speculative
  
• The Legend of the Wandering King
  Author: Garcia, Laura Gallego
  Publisher: Arthur Levine $ 16.95 ISBN: 0439585562 Date: 2005
  Kirkus
  Walid was a model prince: handsome, intelligent, skilled in the arts of warfare and poetry. But the kingdom boasted one greater poet than he, and out of jealousy Walid cursed the man to create an impossible work of art: a carpet showing the history of the entire human race. The poet died weaving it. Men went mad seeing it. And when it is stolen, Walid discovers his life's quest: to recover the carpet and earn forgiveness for his mistakes. Inspired by the story of a real king of pre-Muslim Arabia, Legend is a magical fantasy, a meditation on destiny, and an utterly thrilling adventure.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction | Historical
  
• Storky: How I Lost My Nickname and Won the Girl
  Author: Garfinkle, Debra
  Publisher: Putnam $ 16.99 ISBN: 0399242848 Date: 2005
  PW
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Good Brother, Bad Brother: The Story of Edwin Booth and John Wilkes Booth
  Author: Giblin, James Cross
  Publisher: Clarion $ 22 ISBN: 0618096426 Date: 2005
  BooklistBulletinKirkusSLJ
  An award-winning author draws on firsthand accounts of family members, friends, and colleagues to create vivid images of famous 19th-century actor Edwin Booth and his brother John Wilkes, who shot President Lincoln. Illustrated with archival photographs.
  Grades: 5-9 Category: Nonfiction | History
  
• Blood Red Horse
  Author: Grant, K.M.
  Publisher: Walker $ 16.95 ISBN: 0802789609 Date: 2005
  BooklistBulletin
  This enchanting new adventure story, set in medieval England, is the tale of two brothers, called by King Richard to fight in the Crusades; the fair maiden they both love; and the small stallion that binds them together.
  Grades: 5+ Category: Fiction | Historical | Action & Adventure
  
• Looking for Alaska
  Author: Green, John
  Publisher: Dutton $ 15.99 ISBN: 0525475060 Date: 2005
  BulletinBooklistKirkusSLJ
  In a stunning debut novel, Miles "Pudge" Halter befriends some fellow boarding school students whose lives are everything but boring. Pudge falls in love with Alaska, the razor-sharp and self-destructive nucleus. But when tragedy strikes, Pudge then discovers the value of loving unconditionally.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Where I Want to Be
  Author: Griffin, Adele
  Publisher: Putnam $ 15.99 ISBN: 0399237836 Date: 2005
  BulletinBooklistKirkus
  The National Book Award nominee for Sons of Liberty has crafted a spellbinding book, told in the alternating voices of two very different sisters dwelling on opposite sides of life and death, and who are bravely trying to overcome the void and bring light to each other.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• The Witch's Boy
  Author: Gruber, Michael
  Publisher: Avon $ 17.89 ISBN: 0060761652 Date: 2005
  BooklistBulletin
  In this stunning fantasy debut, Michael Gruber has created a world that is at once deceptively familiar and stunningly original, a world of cruelty, beauty, legend, truth, and above all, wonder. Readers will delight in the author's ingenious retelling of classic fairy tales and will marvel at the stunning new tale of a boy raised by a witch, a cat, a bear, and a demon. - Publisher Marketing
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction | Speculative
  
• The Princess Academy
  Author: Hale, Shannon
  Publisher: Bloomsbury $ 16.95 ISBN: 1582349932 Date: 2005
  BulletinKirkus SLJ
  All the teenage girls from a small mountain village must attend the academy to learn how to become a princess. Miri soon finds herself confronted with a harsh academy mistress, bitter competition among the girls, and her own conflicting desires to be chosen.
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Fiction | Fantasy
  
• The Treasure of Savage Island
  Author: Hart, Lenore
  Publisher: Dutton $ 17.99 ISBN: 0525470921 Date: 2005
  SLJ
  Memorable characters and nonstop action bring history alive in this rousing historical tale of shipwrecks, pirates, treasure, and an unlikely friends hip between an escaped slave and a penniless island girl who rescues him.
  Grades: 5-7 Category: Fiction | Historical
  
• Invisible
  Author: Hautman, Pete
  Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 15.95 ISBN: 0689868006 Date: 2005
  BulletinHorn BookPWSLJ
  In this chilling look inside the mind of a teenage loner, Hautman, a National Book Award finalist for Godless, crafts a compelling new novel. As Doug Hanson tries to keep his long-buried secrets hidden, the inner world he has carefully constructed threatens to crumble.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• The Minister's Daughter
  Author: Hearn, Julie
  Publisher: Atheneum $ 16.95 ISBN: 0689876904 Date: 2005
  BulletinHorn BookKirkusPW
  Set during the tumultuous era of the Civil War in England, this stunning debut by a student of Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials) captures the superstition, passion, madness, and magic of a vanished age.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Historical
  
• I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree: A Memoir of Schindler's List Survivor
  Author: Hillman, Laura
  Publisher: Atheneum $ 16.95 ISBN: 0689869800 Date: 2005
  Booklist
  This amazing true story of love and survival is one woman's incredible tale of finding courage, strength, and love during one of the most horrific times of the modern era.
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Nonfiction | Biography
  
• New Boy
  Author: Houston, Julian
  Publisher: Houghton $ 16 ISBN: 0618432531 Date: 2005
  BooklistPW
  A young African-American boy discovers the world--and himself--when he integrates an all-white boarding school in the 1950s.
  Grades: 6-9 Category: Fiction | Historical
  
• I Am the Wallpaper
  Author: Hughes, Mark Peter
  Publisher: Delacorte $ 15.95 ISBN: 0385732414 Date: 2005
  BulletinSLJ
  Thirteen-year-old Floey Packer decides it's her time to shine. Armed with her trusty diary, some books on Zen philosophy, and a jar of violet hair dye, Floey embarks on a self-improvement mission. People finally notice her, especially the boy who really counts. But then disaster strikes.
  Grades: 5-7 Category: Fiction
  
• Stained
  Author: Jacobson, Jennifer Richard
  Publisher: Atheneum $ 16.95 ISBN: 068986745x Date: 2005
  Horn BookKirkusPW
  Set in the spring of 1975, this story of a teenage girl in love with two boys, and the priest who is the link between the three of them, is filled with suspense as these characters, and the lives they've touched in their small town, intermingle with an unforgettable force.
  Grades: 9-12 Category: Fiction
  
• The New World Order
  Author: Jeapes, Ben
  Publisher: David Fickling $ 15.95 ISBN: 0385750137 Date: 2005
  BulletinKirkus
  Only the completely original and unalloyed Jeapesian imagination could think of launching a full-scale alien invasion right into the middle of the English Civil War. Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army, as well as a young King Charles II, face the full might of the powerful Holekhors as alien airships fly in the skies over 17th-century London.
  This is an extraordinary and thrilling novel, entirely original, and based in one of the most interesting periods of English history. Read about what might have happened in the 17th century--life could have been very different for us all. . . .
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Speculative
  
• Pagan's Scribe: Book 4 of the Pagan Chronicles
  Author: Jinks, Catherine
  Publisher: Candlewick $ 16.99 ISBN: 076362022x Date: 2005
  BulletinKirkus
  In this much-anticipated final chapter of the Pagan Chronicles, Pagan Kidrouk is now older, wiser, and the Archdeacon of Carcassonne. Impressed by the bookish Isidore, he hires the boy as his scribe, and leads him out of the world of books to brave the real-life dangers of a papal crusade.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Historical
  
• Dumb Love
  Author: Johnson, Kathleen Jeffrie
  Publisher: Roaring Brook $ 16.95 ISBN: 1596430621 Date: 2005
  BulletinPW
  What's funnier than true love? Dumb love, that's what. Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson offers an exuberant romp -- somewhere between a screwball comedy of errors and a modern fairy tale. - Publisher Marketing.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction
  
• 13 Little Blue Envelopes
  Author: Johnson, Maureen
  Publisher: HarperCollins $ 15.99 ISBN: 0060541415 Date: 2005
  BulletinPW
  Everything about Ginny will change this summer, and it's all because of the 13 Little Blue Envelopes. - Publisher Marketing.
  Grades: 7+Category: Fiction | Romance
  
• Talk
  Author: Koja, Kathe
  Publisher: FSG $ 16 ISBN: 0374373825 Date: 2005
  Horn Book
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Where the Great Hawk Flies
  Author: Ketchum, Liza
  Publisher: Clarion $ 16 ISBN: 0618400850 Date: 2005
  Booklist
  Grades: 5-7 Category: Fiction | Historical
  
• Boy Girl Boy
  Author: Koertge, Ron
  Publisher: Harcourt $ 16 ISBN: 0152053255 Date: 2005
  BooklistBulletin
  The witty and wrenching tale of three best friends in their final weeks of high school.
  Grades: 9-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Heavy Metal and You
  Author: Krovatin, Christopher
  Publisher: Push $ 16.95 ISBN: 043973648X Date: 2005
  Booklist
  Boy listens to lots of loud music and hangs with his friends. Boy meets girl. Boy falls dippy-happy-scared-as-hell in love with girl. Friends meet girl -- and aren't impressed. Girl meets friends -- and isn't impressed. Boy meets big dilemma. Boy plays music even louder. Big dilemma meets big, complicated resolution.With humor and heartfelt observations, debut author Christopher Krovatin strikes some very loud chords about life, love, sex, and friendship.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Black Juice
  Author: Lanagan, Margo
  Publisher: Eos $ 15.99 ISBN: 0060743905 Date: 2005
  BulletinHorn BookSLJ
  Previously available only in Australia, this haunting short story collection by the acclaimed author contains ten wholly realized fantasy worlds that exist just beyond the realm of everyday life--so familiar and so surreal, they will not be forgotten.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Speculative | Short Stories
  
• The Orpheus Obsession
  Author: Lane, Dakota
  Publisher: Avon Tempest $ 17.89 ISBN: 0060741740 Date: 2005
  BulletinSLJ
  Dakota Lane's tantalizing, allegorical tale follows a teen's obsession as it transforms into empowering self-discovery.
  - Publisher Marketing.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Magic of Madness
  Author: Larbalestier, Justine
  Publisher: Sleuth Razorbill $ 16.99 ISBN: 1595140220 Date: 2005
  BooklistBulletinSLJ
  For 15 years, Reason Cansino has lived a life on the run in the Australian countryside with her mother. When her mother falls ill, Reason is forced to move in with her grandmother, a dangerous woman who believes in magic. Reason soon learns that magic is real.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Speculative
  
• Absolutely Positively Not
  Author: Larochelle, David
  Publisher: Arthur Levine $ 16.95 ISBN: 0439591090 Date: 2005
  BooklistBulletin
  Steven's a 16-year-old boy with two obsessions: sex and getting his driving license. The problem is, Steven's not thinking girls when he's thinking sex. Could he be -- don't say it -- gay? Steven sets out to get in touch with his inner he-man with Healthy Heterosexual Strategies such as "Start Hanging Out with the Guys," and "Begin Intensive Dating." But are Steven's tactics going to straighten him out, or leave him all twisted up?Absolutely hilarious. Positively sidesplitting. But absolutely, positively NOT GAY!
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• The Ancient Romans
  Author: Lassieur, Allison
  Publisher: Franklin Watts $ 9.95 ISBN: 0531167429 Date: 2005
  Booklist
  Readers can journey back to ancient times in this series which introduces the people and cultures of specific time periods. Here, readers explore the legacy of art, literature, architecture, and traditions left by the Romans that lay the foundation for future civilizations.
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Nonfiction | History
  
• The Convicts
  Author: Lawrence, Iain
  Publisher: Delacorte $ 15.95 ISBN: 038573087x Date: 2005
  KirkusPW
  After seeing his father hauled off to debtor's prison in London, Tom Tin sets out to take revenge on Mr. Goodfellow, the man responsible for his family's misfortunes. Tom soon comes up against the cruel hand of the law when he's accused of murder.
  Grades: 5-9 Category: Fiction | Historical | Action & Adventure
  
• Upsteam
  Author: Lion, Melissa
  Publisher: Wendy Lamb $ 15.95 ISBN: 0385746431 Date: 2005
  BulletinSLJ
  Marty's small town in Alaska is the most beautiful place in the world. There she and her beloved boyfriend, Steven, can walk through fields of fireweed and explore the wild. But when she starts her senior year, Marty must return to school by herself. Something happened during the summer that has changed things forever.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• The Boyfriend List: 15 Guys, 11 Shrink Appointments, 4 Ceramic Frogs, and Me, Ruby Oliver
  Author: Lockhart, E.
  Publisher: Delacorte $ 15.95 ISBN: 0385732066 Date: 2005
  PW
  Ruby Oliver is 15 and has a shrink. She knows it's unusual, but she's had a rough ten days. Ruby lives to tell the tale and make more lists in this new YA novel.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Sleeping Freshman Never Lie
  Author: Lubar, David
  Publisher: Dutton $ 16.99 ISBN: 0525473114 Date: 2005
  BulletinSLJ
  This hilarious novel chronicles Scott's freshman year, as he decides that high school would be a lot less overwhelming if it came with a survival manual. Here Scott records his first year of bullies, romance, honors, classes, and brotherhood.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Inexcuseable
  Author: Lynch, Chris
  Publisher: Atheneum $ 16.95 ISBN: 0689847890 Date: 2005
  KirkusPWSLJ | SLJ Best Books | National Book Award Finalist
  Told in flashbacks and present-day narrative, this novel from Printz Honor winner Lynch is a riveting tale of guilt, innocence, and responsibility. When his childhood friend--and love of his life--accuses him of rape, a young man is convinced he's innocent.
  Grades: Category:
  
• Stealing Henry
  Author: MacCullough, Carolyn
  Publisher: Roaring Brook $ 16.95 ISBN: 1596430451 Date: 2005
  Booklist
  Fleeing from her stepfather, Savannah and her half brother, Henry, travel to the childhood home of their mother, Alice. As the kids make their journey, another story unfolds: glimpses of a teenage Alice, caught in first love and unaware of its consequences.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction
  
• Pretty Things
  Author: Manning, Sarra
  Publisher: Dutton $ 15.99 ISBN: 0525475222 Date: 2005
  BooklistBulletin
  Grades: 9-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Dough Boy
  Author: Marino, Peter
  Publisher: Holiday House $ 16.95 ISBN: 0823418731 Date: 2005
  BulletinPW
  Overweight, 15-year-old Tristan, who lives happily with his divorced mother and her boyfriend Frank, suddenly finds that he must deal with intensified criticism about his weight and other aspects of his life when Frank's popular but troubled, nutrition-obsessed daughter moves in.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• What I Believe
  Author: Mazer, Norma Fox
  Publisher: Harcourt $ 16 ISBN: 0152014624 Date: 2005
  PW
  An honest look at one girl's response to her family's financial and personal crises, this narrative is told through an inventive mix of poems and journal entries revealing the teen's curiosity, spirit, and loss.
  Grades: 5-7 Category: Fiction
  
• All Rivers Flow to the Sea
  Author: McGhee, Alison
  Publisher: Candlewick $ 15.99 ISBN: 0763625914 Date: 2005
  BulletinPW
  When a car accident leaves a teenage girl in a coma, her younger sister struggles with grief and guilt as she faces the inevitability of moving on--and letting go.
  Grades: 9-12 Category: Fiction
  
• The Secret Under My Skin
  Author: McNaughton, Janet
  Publisher: Eos $ 15.99 ISBN: 006008989x Date: 2005
  BulletinKliattSLJ
  This award-winning futuristic tale--a bestseller in Canada--captures a chilling vision of an environmentally scarred Earth in the year 2368, and tells the story of an orphaned teen girl who's chosen for a special mission by a guardian of the environment.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Speculative
  
• The Hunter's Moon
  Author: Melling, O.R.
  Publisher: Abrams $ 16.95 ISBN: 0810958570 Date: 2005
  BooklistSLJ
  This Canadian bestseller is a romantic and atmospheric tale of two teenage girls caught in the world of Faerie. Arriving in Ireland to visit her cousin, American Gwen expects a fun backpacking trip to sites of the fairy lore. What neither cousin knows is that it's the summer of the Hunter's Moon, a dangerous time for mortals to meddle in the kingdom of Faerie.
  Grades: 4-7 Category: Fiction | Speculative
  
• Marie Dancing
  Author: Meyer, Carolyn
  Publisher: Gulliver $ 17 ISBN: 0152051163 Date: 2005
  PW
  This moving, historically based account examines the life of Marie van Goethem, a 14-year-old ballet dancer in the famed Paris Opera who was the model for Edgar Degas's most famous sculpture, Little Dancer Aged Fourteen.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction | Historical
  
• The Water Mirror
  Author: Meyer, Kai
  Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 15.95 ISBN: 0689877870 Date: 2005
  PWSLJ
  

  Kai Meyer's bold, original fantasy conjures up a land of magic and menace as Merle and Serafin begin a journey to unimagined realms in the extraordinary world of Dark Reflections.
  Grades: 5-7 Category: Fiction | Speculative

• Twilight
  Author: Meyer, Stephanie
  Publisher: Megan Tingley $ 17.99 ISBN: 0316160172 Date: 2005
  PWSLJ
  Isabella Swan's move to Forks, a perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. When she meets the mysterious, alluring Edward Cullen--a vampire--her life takes a thrilling and terrifying romantic turn.
  Grades: 9-12 Category: Fiction | Speculative
  
• The Lioness and Her Knight
  Author: Morris, Gerald
  Publisher: Houghton $ 16 ISBN: 0618507728 Date: 2005
  Kirkus
  Filled with broken promises, powerful enchantresses, unconventional sword fights, fierce and friendly lionesses, mysterious knights, and damsels in and out of distress, this tale proves itself as witty and adventuresome as the rest of Morris's tales from King Arthur's court.
  Grades: 6-8 Category: Fiction | Arthurian
• 47
  Author: Mosley, Walter
  Publisher: Little Brown $ 16.99 ISBN: 0316110353 Date: 2005
  BulletinPW
  In his first book for young adults, the bestselling author weaves a powerful narrative about the nature of freedom. The life of a young slave named 47 seems doomed until he meets a mysterious runaway slave and finds himself swept up in a struggle for his own liberation.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Speculative
  
• Autobiography of My Dead Brother
  Author: Myers, Walter Dean
  Publisher: Amistad $ 15.99 ISBN: 006058291x Date: 2005
  BulletinKirkusSLJ
  Printz Award winner Walter Dan Myers and Caldecott Honor artist Christopher Myers join forces to deliver a gripping and brutally honest novel about friendship, loss, and loyalty, told in a sketchbook/comic-book style.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• A Wreath for Emmett Till
  Author: Nelson, Marilyn
  Publisher: Houghton $ 17 ISBN: 0618397523 Date: 2005
  BooklistKirkusPWSLJ
  Newbery Honor-winning poet Nelson offers an evocative tribute to a 14-year-old boy whose lynching in 1955 helps spark the civil rights movement.
  Grades: 7-9 Category: Poetry
  
• You & You & You
  Author: Nilsson, Per
  Publisher: Front Street $ 16.95 ISBN: 1932425195 Date: 2005
  PW
  Anon gets teased mercilessly at school. Someone has been peeing on the toilets at school and he gets blamed for it. He's just a daydreaming kid, lost in his own world, ad the teasing really doesn't bother him. he hardly notices it. He's more caught up in his daydreaming world about a girl named Sara that he doesn't know but imagines in great detail) and about his father who does not live with him). Zarah has more serious trouble. Her boyfriend, Victor, is turning out to be trouble, and a new friendship at her place of work is getting complicated. Meanwhile, Nils is having an existential crisis. He spends a lot of time thinking about death and life. When Nils finds Zarah, his life takes on new meaning. In watching Anon be so lost in his daydreams, Nils rediscovers the happiness he knew as a daydreaming kid. - Publisher Marketing.
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Going Going
  Author: Nye, Naomi Shihab
  Publisher: Greenwillow $ 15.99 ISBN: 0688161855 Date: 2005
  Kirkus
  From the author of Habibi comes this effervescent, timely, and romantic novel by one of the nation's most beloved poets. On her 16th birthday, Florrie makes a wish that changes not only her but her family as well.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction
  
• A Maze Me: Poems for Girls
  Author: Nyue, Naomi Shihab
  Publisher: Greenwillow $ 16.99 ISBN: 0060581891 Date: 2005
  BooklistKirkusSLJ
  First love, friendships, family, hopes, and dreams are among the topics addressed in the 72 original poems written exclusively for this collection, accompanied by five full-color prints.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Poetry
  
• Sexy
  Author: Oates, Joyce Carol
  Publisher: Avon $ 16.99 ISBN: 0060541490 Date: 2005
  BulletinPW
  In this compelling, masterfully written novel by the acclaimed author, a young teen searches for identity in a complex, deceiving world and finds answers in the most unexpected places.
  Grades: 9+ Category: Fiction
  
• Sexy
  Author: Oates, Joyce Carol
  Publisher: Avon Tempest $ 16.99 ISBN: 0060541490 Date: 2005
  PW
  In this compelling, masterfully written novel by the acclaimed author, a young teen searches for identity in a complex, deceiving world and finds answers in the most unexpected places.
  Grades: 9-12 Category: Fiction
  
• White Girl
  Author: Olsen, Sylvia
  Publisher: Sono $ 8.95 ISBN: 155039147x Date: 2005
  BooklistBulletinSLJ
  Until she was fourteen, Josie was pretty ordinary. Then her Mom meets Martin, a real ponytail Indian, and before long, Josie finds herself living on a reserve outside town, with a new stepfather, a new stepbrother, and a new name.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction
  
• Skybreaker
  Author: Oppel, Kenneth
  Publisher: Eos $ 16.99 ISBN: 0060532270 Date: 2005
  Kirkus
  

  In this thrilling sequel to Airborn, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book, Kenneth Oppel evokes the classic storytelling of Robert Louis Stevenson and Jules Verne, creating a world in which a new discovery can have unimagined consequences -- on earth and miles above it. - Publisher Marketing.
  Grades: 5-9 Category: Fiction | Speculative
  

• John Lennon: All I Want Is the Truth
  Author: Partridge, Elizabeth
  Publisher: Viking $ 24.99 ISBN: 0670059544 Date: 2005
  BooklistHorn BookKirkusPW
  Partridge chronicles the emotional highs and paralyzing lows John Lennon transformed into brilliant, evocative songs. With photos spanning his entire life, this is the unforgettable biography of one of rock's biggest legends.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Nonfiction
  
• Criss Cross
  Author: Perkins, Lynne Rae
  Publisher: Greenwillow $ 17.89 ISBN: 0060092734 Date: 2005
  BooklistBulletinHorn BookSLJ
  Grades: 5+ Category: Fiction
  
• The Will of the Empress
  Author: Pierce, Tamora
  Publisher: Scholastic $ 17.99 ISBN: 0439441714 Date: 2005
  
  "New York Times" bestselling author Pierce brings back four mages from the Winding Circle saga. Sandry, Daja, Tris, and Briar have all grown up and grown apart. But they come together when Sandry's cousin, the brutal Empress of Namorn, has set a cunning trap.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Speculative
  
• Alone in the World: Orphans and Orphanages in America
  Author: Reef, Catherine
  Publisher: Clarion $ 18 ISBN: 0618356703 Date: 2005
  SLJ
  An award-winning nonfiction author uncovers the true history of orphanages, revealing what it was like to live in such institutions, why children were sent to live there in the first place, what happened to them after they left, and more. Illustrated with archival photographs and prints.
  Grades: 6-9 Category: Nonfiction
  
• Dickens: His Work and His World
  Author: Rosen, Michael
  Publisher: Candlewick $ 19.99 ISBN: 0763627526 Date: 2005
  Booklist
  Award-winning author, critic, and anthologist Michael Rosen takes readers on a spirited tour of the life and work of Charles Dickens, offering a lively look at how his legacy continues to shape today's literature.
  Grades: 6-10 Category: Nonfiction
  
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
  Author: Rowling, J.K.
  Publisher: Arthur Levine $ 29.99 ISBN: 0439784549 Date: 2005
  BulletinBooklistPW
  Grades: 4-7+ Category: Fiction | Speculative
  
• Eyes of the Emperor
  Author: Salisbury, Graham
  Publisher: Wendy Lamb $ 15.95 ISBN: 0385729715 Date: 2005
  BooklistKirkusPW
  In this riveting companion to Under the Blood-Red Sun, Eddy Okubo lies about his age and joins the army in his hometown of Honolulu only weeks before the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. Suddenly Americans see him as the enemy.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Historical
  
• The Truth-Tellers Tale
  Author: Shinn, Sharon
  Publisher: Viking $ 16.99 ISBN: 0670060003 Date: 2005
  BooklistBulletin
  This sequel to the acclaimed The Safe-Keeper's Secret continues the story of the "mirror twins" Adele (a Safe-Keeper) and Eleda (a Truth-Teller). When the twins are 17, a handsome dancing-master and his apprentice come to stay at the inn, and thus begins a chain of romances and mistaken identity.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Speculative
  
• Fake ID
  Author: Sorrells, Walter
  Publisher: Dutton $ 10.99 ISBN: 0525475141 Date: 2005
  Booklist
  On the night of Chastity's 16th birthday, her mother disappears. Police find blood matching her mother's DNA, but Chass doesn't believe her mother is dead. If Chass can't find her mother in six days, she'll be placed in foster care--or murdered first.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Mystery & Suspense
  
• Kipling's Choice
  Author: Spillebeen, Geert
  Publisher: Houghton $ 16 ISBN: 0618431241 Date: 2005
  BulletinKirkusSLJ
  This moving fictionalized account follows the true story of John Kipling, the teenage son of famed author Rudyard Kipling, who entered the British Army during World War I and was killed during his first battle.
  Grades: 7-9 Category: Fiction | Historical
  
• Quicksilver
  Author: Spinner, Stephanie
  Publisher: Knopf $ 15.95 ISBN: 0375826386 Date: 2005
  BulletinKirkus
  Hermes--also known as Mercury and Wayfinder--is an entertaining and ideal narrator on a fast-paced journey through ancient Greek mythology, from Medusa's cave to Trojan War battlefields to the mysterious Underworld. Spinner brings the famous messenger to life with high action and spare, powerful prose
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Speculative | Mythology
  
• Under the Persimmon Tree
  Author: Staples, Suzanne Fisher
  Publisher: FSG $ 17 ISBN: 0374380252 Date: 2005
  BooklistBulletinPW
  Intertwined portraits of courage and hope in Afghanistan and Pakistan Najmah, a young Afghan girl whose name means "star," suddenly finds herself alone when her father and older brother are conscripted by the Taliban and her mother and newborn brother are killed in an air raid. An American woman, Elaine, whose Islamic name is Nusrat, is also on her own. She waits out the war in Peshawar, Pakistan, teaching refugee children under the persimmon tree in her garden while her Afghan doctor husband runs a clinic in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. Najmah's father had always assured her that the stars would take care of her, just as Nusrat's husband had promised that they would tell Nusrat where he was and that he was safe. As the two look to the skies for answers, their fates entwine. Najmah, seeking refuge and hoping to find her father and brother, begins the perilous journey through the mountains to cross the border into Pakistan. And Nusrat's persimmon-tree school awaits Najmah's arrival. Together, they both seek their way home. Known for her award-winning fiction set in South Asia, Suzanne Fisher Staples revisits that part of the world in this beautifully written, heartrending novel. - Publisher Marketing.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Historical
  
• Center of the World
  Author: Steinhofel, Andreas
  Publisher: Delacorte $ 16.95 ISBN: 038572943x Date: 2005
  BooklistBulletin
  The winner of the Buxtehuder Bulle Award for the Best Young Adult Novel in Germany, this powerful, literary work introduces 17-year-old Phil, who falls overwhelmingly in love with the distant Nicholas--until he faces the ultimate betrayal and must finally find his worth and place in the world.
  Grades: 9-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Billy the Kid
  Author: Taylor, Theodore
  Publisher: Harcourt $ 17 ISBN: 0152049304 Date: 2005
  BulletinPW
  In this fictional account of real-life legend Billy the Kid, Taylor imagines the fate William Bonney (his real name) had his life of crime taken a very different turn. Includes an Author's Note about the real outlaw.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Historical | Western
  
• Singer
  Author: Thesman, Jean
  Publisher: Viking $ 17.99 ISBN: 0670059374 Date: 2005
  BulletinPW
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Ariel
  Author: Tiffany, Grace
  Publisher: Avon Tempest $ 17.89 ISBN: 0060753285 Date: 2005
  Booklists
  Shakespeare scholar Grace Tiffany looks at the dark side of Shakespeare's The Tempest, investing a female Ariel with tremendous strength. "The Tempest takes on new meaning for new readers, as Tiffany explores the imagination's power to transform grief into dangerous dreams. A tour de force by the author of My Father Had a Daughter and Will. - Publisher Marketing.
  Grades: 6+ Category: Fiction | Speculative
  
• Cubanita
  Author: Triana, Gaby
  Publisher: HarperCollins $ 15.99 ISBN: 0060560207 Date: 2005
  Booklist
  This is the story of Isabel D'az, a Cuban-American who would rather just be an American, period. A funny and romantic summer read, and a touching story about discovering roots, this novel proves that limits are imposed, not ordained.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• The Book of Mordred
  Author: Vande Velde, Vivian
  Publisher: Houghton $ 18 ISBN: 061850754x Date: 2005
  BulletinKirkus
  In the long tradition of Arthurian legend, Mordred has been characterized as a buffoon, a false knight, and a bloodthirsty traitor. The Book of Mordred reveals a mysterious man through the eyes of three women who love him. - Publisher Marketing.
  Grades: 7-9 Category: Fiction | Speculative | Arthurian
  
• Trick of the Mind
  Author: Waite, Judy
  Publisher: Atheneum $ 16.95 ISBN: 0689870140 Date: 2005
  PW
  From the author of Shopaholic comes a gripping tale of love, betrayal, and magic. Erin is in love with Matt, and wants him to see her as more than a friend. But when the object of Matt's affection winds up dead, a brokenhearted Erin puts all the wrong pieces together.
  Grades: 9-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Full Service
  Author: Weaver, Will
  Publisher: FSG $ 17 ISBN: 0374324859 Date: 2005
  Horn BookKirkus
  With richly developed characters and a flair for arresting imagery, Weaver tells the story of the end of one boy's innocence, unfolding at a time when the country as a whole is undergoing a difficult, deeply disturbing coming-of-age during the Vietnam Era.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction | Historical
  
• Uglies
  Author: Westerfield, Scott
  Publisher: Simon Pulse $ 6.99 ISBN: 0689865384 Date: 2005
  BulletinBooklistSLJ
  In Tally's world, a 16th birthday brings an operation, transforming one from a repellent Ugly to an attractive Pretty. Turning Pretty is all Tally has ever wanted. Her friend Shay would rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally must make a terrible choice.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Speculative | Action & Adventure
  
• Touching Darkness
  Author: Westerfield, Scott
  Publisher: Eos $ 15.99 ISBN: 0060519541 Date: 2005
  BulletinKirkusVOYA
  The Midnighters are unprepared for a new threat that stalks them in the daylight. This time, Jessica Day is not the only Midnighter in danger in this second volume of Westerfeld's mesmerizing trilogy.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction | Speculative
  
• Black Storm Comin': Gallop Most Out of My Skin
  Author: Wilson, Diane Lee
  Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry $ 16.95 ISBN: 0689871376 Date: 2005
  Booklist
  Grades: 5-9 Category: Fiction | Historical
  
• The Illustrated Man
  Author: Wilson, Jacqueline
  Publisher: Delacorte $ 15.95 ISBN: 0385732376 Date: 2005
  PW
  Covered from head to toe with one-of-a-kind tattoos, Marigold has an unconventional relationship with her daughter, Dolphin, who is more parent to Marigold than child. This emotionally charged and insightful story of an untraditional but loving family won the Children's Book of the Year Award in England.
  Grades: 5-9 Category: Fiction
  
• What I Call Life
  Author: Wolfson, Jill
  Publisher: Holt $ 16.95 ISBN: 0805076697 Date: 2005
  Booklist
  On "just a temporary detour from what I call life," Cal finds herself in a group home watched over by a strange old woman called the Knitting Lady. Cal can think of nothing but how to get out of this nuthouse, but it turns out that they all have more in common than they imagined.
  Grades: 4-7 Category: Fiction
  
• Poison
  Author: Wooding, Chris
  Publisher: Orchard $ 16.99 ISBN: 0439755700 Date: 2005
  BulletinKirkus
  In this spirited anti-fairy tale, Poison seeks out the Phaerie Lord in order to rescue her sister. Finding him isn't easy, and the quest leads Poison into a murderous world of intrigue, danger, and deadly storytelling.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction | Speculative
  
• A Thief in the House of Memory
  Author: Wynne-Jones, Tim
  Publisher: FSG $ 17 ISBN: 0374374783 Date: 2005
  KirkusPWSLJ
  In this masterful new novel, Wynne-Jones explores with wit, compassion, and humor the fictional territory he knows best--the prickly ties that bind families, the murky connections between imagination and real life.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Knopf
  Author: Yancey, Richard
  Publisher: Bloomsbury $ 16.95 ISBN: 1582346933 Date: 2005
  PW
  Alfred is trying to survive high school when his guardian convinces him to steal the legendary sword of King Arthur. After Alfred unwittingly delivers the sword to a man with enormously evil intentions, he sets off on an unlikely quest to try to right his wrong.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction | Action & Adventure
  
• When I Was a Soldier: A Memoir
  Author: Zenatti, Valerie
  Publisher: Bloomsbury $ 16.95 ISBN: 1582349789 Date: 2005
  BooklistBulletin
  What is it like to be a young woman in a war? At a time when Israel is in the news every day and politics in the Middle East are as complex as ever before, this story of one girl's experience in the Israeli national army is both topical and fascinating.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Nonfiction
  
• Elsewhere
  Author: Zevin, Gabrielle
  Publisher: FSG $ 16 ISBN: 03734320918 Date: 2005
  BooklistBulletinPWSLJ
  Elsewhere is where 15-year-old Liz Hall ends up, after she has died. It is a place so like Earth, yet completely different. Here Liz will age backward from the day of her death until she becomes a baby again and returns to Earth. However, Liz wants to turn 16, not 14 again in this moving, often funny book about grief, death, and loss.
  Grades: 6+ Category: Fiction
  
• I am the Messenger
  Author: Zusak, Markus
  Publisher: Knopf $ 16.95 ISBN: 0375830995 Date: 2005
  BulletinBooklistPWSLJ
  Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver, pathetic cardplayer, and useless at romance. When Ed inadvertently stops a bank robbery, that's when he becomes the messenger. Winner of the 2003 Children's Book Council Book of the Year Award in Australia.
  Grades: 9-12 Category: Fiction
  

More Overbooked Best Books Reading Lists:

• Young Adult/Teen Stars Lists