Publisher: Schwartz & Wade Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 07/08/2008
ISBN-13: 9780375839146
ISBN-10: 0375839143

Frightened by everything out in the world and so completely quiet at school, Asian-American second-grader Alvin Ho becomes a force to be reckoned with at home when he transforms himself into the loud, talented, and fearless Firecracker Man!.

Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/01/2001
ISBN-13: 9780060294601
ISBN-10: 0060294604

As their family faces hard times, sisters Amber and Essie know they have to help their mother and work together to get things moving in the right direction once again.

Table of Contents  

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/09/2010
ISBN-13: 9781416995005
ISBN-10: 1416995005

Jason, a twelve-year-old autistic boy who wants to become a writer, relates what his life is like as he tries to make sense of his world.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Candlewick Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/01/2000
ISBN-13: 9780763607760
ISBN-10: 0763607762

Upon receiving a special dog from her father, Opal's life greatly changes as the magic of his presence causes old pains to heal and new friendships to form.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Scholastic Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/01/2004
ISBN-13: 9780439269698
ISBN-10: 0439269695

Happily living with Gram and her little brother at the Avocado Acres Trailer Rancho, talented soap carver Naomi Soledad Leon Outlaw, labelled by her classmates as "nothing special," finds her life forever changed by the return of her mother, who has been gone for seven years.

Publisher: Harper
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/23/2010
ISBN-13: 9780061944345
ISBN-10: 0061944343

Supremely confident middle-school student Nate Wright manages to make getting detention from every one of his teachers in the same day seem like an achievement. 100,000 first printing.

Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/24/2009
ISBN-13: 9780385906395
ISBN-10: 0385906390

Although his mother has given him a great deal of responsibility as "the man of the house," fourth-grader Calvin has a hard time living up to her expectations, especially since he is having so much fun with his friends and working hard to avoid the bully of the school, in this exciting middle reader set in the tropical landscape of Oahu.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/01/2006
ISBN-13: 9780786838820
ISBN-10: 0786838825

Armed with attitude, individuality, and a penchant for disaster, Clementine, a wonderfully wacky girl who is the inventor of the world's first pair of bologna glasses, makes her first appearance in this hilarious chapter book.

Publisher: Harcourt
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/01/2007
ISBN-13: 9780152060077
ISBN-10: 0152060073

Upset when her dreams of becoming a grand pianist are squashed when her father returns from the store with an old organ, ten-year-old Zoe Elias tries to make the best of it and so practices hard in order to get her moment in the spotlight at the annual Perform-O-Rama organ contest. Jr Lib Guild. 20,000 first printing.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/10/2005
ISBN-13: 9780374308476
ISBN-10: 0374308470

While vacationing in the country, eleven-year-old Toby Steiner, a cancer patient, learns some important lessons about living and dying from Pearl, an elderly poet, and Blossom her cow.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Scholastic Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/01/2005
ISBN-13: 9780439523226
ISBN-10: 0439523222

Despite his own personal dramas and insecurities, middle-grader Charles Harrisong makes the best of a bad situation living in the not-so-normal town of Normal, but when his sister is treated cruelly by her fellow classmates while running for class president, Charlie is only more than happy to leave the whole works behind and start anew.

Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/01/2007
ISBN-13: 9780803731646
ISBN-10: 0803731647

Having always lived as the outsider of the social circle at school, Emma-Jean decides to use the logic her brilliant mathematician father taught her to fix the problem, but when her logical approach doesn't work, Emma-Jean realizes that she will need to use a new approach to implement the changes she so eagerly wants.

Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 04/04/2001
ISBN-13: 9780374322366
ISBN-10: 0374322368

Forced to live with her uncle after her mother and father are lost at sea, Primrose's only source of friendship and support comes from the owner of a local restaurant who always provides her with practical advice with a dash of comfort on the side.

Table of Contents  

Publisher: Joanna Cotler Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/01/2003
ISBN-13: 9780060292904
ISBN-10: 0060292903

With the help of her wise old grandmother, twelve-year-old Rosie manages to work out some problems in her relationship with her best friend, Bailey, the boy next door.

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/18/2008
ISBN-13: 9780374399375
ISBN-10: 0374399379

When some unexpected guests arrive at her Sleepy Time Motel in the Great Smoky Mountains, Aggie, a lonely widow, forms powerful friendships with these strangers that forever change her life--and the lives of those around her. 12,500 first printing.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Clarion Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 06/28/2010
ISBN-13: 9780547251288
ISBN-10: 0547251289

The approach of Sophie's birthday is challenged by her teenaged sister's decision to move out of their shared bedroom into the attic, Sophie's friend's noisy shrieking and growing doubt that Sophie will receive the pet gorilla she requested for a birthday gift.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 06/01/1994
ISBN-13: 9780374329099
ISBN-10: 0374329095

Jack, a sixth grader who has been at five schools in the past six years, keeps a diary in which he records all of his trials and tribulations, including a pesky brother, a wacko teacher, and alligators in the canal out back.

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/28/2006
ISBN-13: 9780689876783
ISBN-10: 0689876785

When Brenton builds a homework machine, four unlikely friends delight in using it to lighten their load and get very good grades, but when the machine becomes more powerful than any of them ever imagined it could, the group has to find a way to stop it before they all get caught by the teacher! 25,000 first printing.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Knopf
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/01/2001
ISBN-13: 9780375902154
ISBN-10: 0375902155

Miguel embarks on a journey of self-discovery when Tfa Lola, his eccentric aunt from the Dominican Republic--who paints their house purple, drapes her lace mantilla across the windows, and puts meatballs in his lunch--comes to live with them after his Mami gets divorced.

Table of Contents  

Publisher: Harcourt
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/01/2007
ISBN-13: 9780152057534
ISBN-10: 0152057536

Kirsten and Walker, seventh-graders at an elite private school, alternate telling how race, wealth, weight, and other issues shape their relationships as they and other misfits stand up to a mean but influential classmate, even as they are uncovering a long-kept secret about themselves. 60,000 first printing.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/14/1998
ISBN-13: 9780374336646
ISBN-10: 0374336644

Joey Pigza is a nice kid who happens to get into a lot trouble, from sticking his finger in the pencil sharpener and swallowing his house key, to running with scissors, but when he ends up in the district special-ed program, he knows he must stop making bad choices.

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 04/23/2007
ISBN-13: 9780618646425
ISBN-10: 0618646426

Seven-year-old Grace prides herself on being empathetic, but when she tries to help a neighbor feel better, her good intentions backfire, and it may take the help of a boy she doesn't like to make things right again.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 06/12/2007
ISBN-13: 9780385746861
ISBN-10: 0385746865

After he is given his grandfather's old lawnmower and begins mowing lawns to earn a bit of money, a twelve-year-old boy is greatly changed as his business grows, he meets a financial adviser, and he makes a good investment in a prizefighter named Joey Pow.

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 04/23/2007
ISBN-13: 9780618750436
ISBN-10: 0618750436

Evan Treski, who is people-smart, and his younger sister Jesse, who is math-smart, battle it out through competing lemonade stands, each trying to be the first to earn one hundred dollars.

First Chapter  

Publisher: HarperCollins
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 04/01/2006
ISBN-13: 9780060579357
ISBN-10: 0060579358

While learning to walk again after a horrific accident, twelve-year-old Charley is having a hard time coping with the physical and emotional stresses involved, yet when she sees a dog on the other side of the lake, a special bond is suddenly formed between the two that changes everything in ways in which they could have never imagined.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Joanna Cotler Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 05/01/2002
ISBN-13: 9780060001933
ISBN-10: 0060001933

Zinkoff is unlike other kids in school and so doesn't worry about coming in last place or always having the wrong answers, despite the teasing and comments he gets from those around him, in a tale about maintaining individuality amidst pressures of fitting in with the crowd. 75,000 first printing.

Publisher: Little, Brown
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 04/02/1990
ISBN-13: 9780316807227
ISBN-10: 0316807222

After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life becomes legendary, as he accomplishes athletic and other feats which awe his contemporaries.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 07/01/2004
ISBN-13: 9780439425209
ISBN-10: 0439425204

In a series of journal entries, eleven-year-old child prodigy Millicent Min records her struggles to learn to play volleyball, tutor her enemy, deal with her grandmother's departure, and make friends over the course of a tumultuous summer. Reprint.

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 06/26/2007
ISBN-13: 9781416909835
ISBN-10: 1416909834

With the boys and girls of Laketon Elementary at definite odds, Dave's single insult to Lynsey is the final straw that leads to a competition of silence between the two groups, causing a quiet chaos within the school and a confused principal who has no idea how to get things back to normal. 100,000 first printing.

Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/01/2003
ISBN-13: 9780060535445
ISBN-10: 006053544X

On a summer visit to her grandmother's cottage by the ocean, twelve-year-old Martha Boyle gains perspective on the death of a classmate, on her relationship with her grandmother, on her feelings for an older boy, and on her plans to be a writer.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Scholastic Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/01/2007
ISBN-13: 9780439873628
ISBN-10: 0439873622

Held prisoner in her Grandmother's house in California, Maya, forbidden to have any friends, creates an imaginary world in her mind where a tobiano paint horse named Artemisia runs free and holds the key to unlocking the secrets to Maya's past. 75,000 first printing.

Publisher: Knopf
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 06/14/2005
ISBN-13: 9780375831430
ISBN-10: 0375831436

While visiting the estate of Arundel during their summer holiday, the Penderwick girls bask in the lush and beautiful environment where they explore a treasure-filled attic, play in a wondrous garden, dine on tasty homemade cookies, and make a new friend with the handsome owner’s son.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Clarion Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 04/18/2005
ISBN-13: 9780618477869
ISBN-10: 0618477861

While working on a project for an after-school club, Julia Song, a Korean-American girl, and her friend Patrick learn not just about silkworms, but also about tolerance, prejudice, friendship, patience, and more.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Scholastic Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 04/01/2006
ISBN-13: 9780439443821
ISBN-10: 0439443822

Having always tried to manage her autistic brother's embarrassing behavior, Catherine is excited about her new relationship with Jason and friendship with the girl next door, but when the pressures from home take their toll on her, Catherine acts out badly and so begins to consider reviewing and revising her own coping skills.

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 01/01/2003
ISBN-13: 9780399231155
ISBN-10: 0399231153

Having lost his parents in a fire and been placed in a foster home away from his little sister, Lili, Lonnie is forced to adjust to his new surroundings while coping with his loss on his own, thus, with the encouragement and help of a special teacher, he turns to poetry to help him express his feelings and make sense of it all.

Publisher: Philomel Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 04/15/2010
ISBN-13: 9780399252648
ISBN-10: 0399252649

Possessing an absolute view of the world that categorizes everything as good or bad, Caitlin, an 11-year-old with Asperger's syndrome, relies on her older brother to explain in-between things until his death forces her to cope with confusing feelings and develop greater self-reliance. 20,000 first printing.

Publisher: Scholastic Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/01/2008
ISBN-13: 9780545039475
ISBN-10: 0545039479

Forced to move into an ancient Victorian home a good distance away from her friends and the modern life she once lived and loved, nine-year-old Allie Finkle must learn to deal with the unhappy transition, the creepiness of her new room, and the reality that she is now "the new girl" at school. 200,000 first printing.

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/09/2010
ISBN-13: 9781416971702
ISBN-10: 141697170X

Possessing a photographic memory in spite of an inability to walk or speak, Melody is mistaken as mentally challenged by those who cannot see beyond her cerebral palsy, impelling her to discover a way to communicate. By the two-time Coretta Scott King-winning author of Copper Sun. 40,000 first printing.

Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/01/2002
ISBN-13: 9780385326551
ISBN-10: 0385326556

A troublesome twelve-year-old orphan, staying with an elderly artist who needs her, remembers the only other time she was happy in a foster home, with a family that truly seemed to care about her.

Publisher: Joanna Cotler Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/01/2005
ISBN-13: 9780060540197
ISBN-10: 0060540192

While preparing for a role in the school play, twelve-year-old Leo finds an autobiography that his father wrote as a teenager and ponders the ways people change as they grow up, in a story which includes the text for the play, Rumpopo's Porch.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 05/01/2002
ISBN-13: 9780689849336
ISBN-10: 0689849338

Wondering why she is the only child in the family who hasn't been named after a color, Saffron discovers that she is adopted and sets out to find the special stone angel that she remembers from her childhood, while her sisters Indigo, Cadmium, and Rose deal with their own problems, in a heartwarming and hilarious tale of an unforgettable family.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 05/09/2006
ISBN-13: 9781416903628
ISBN-10: 1416903623

When her mother, while recovering from a serious car accident, takes her and her mute brother to Maine, where she encounters the beach for the very first time, twelve-year-old Lise learns past secrets about her mother that threaten her safe world.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 01/13/2009
ISBN-13: 9780375834868
ISBN-10: 0375834869

Although a strange note was left behind that explained her sudden absence from school, Nick and Marta are still doubtful about the whereabouts of their teacher, Mrs. Bunny Starch, since she went missing from a field trip to Black Vine Swamp, and so they set out together to discover the truth!.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 05/11/2010
ISBN-13: 9780385735674
ISBN-10: 0385735677

Eleven-year-old Poppy Ray longs to be a veterinarian and goes to spend a month during the summer with her uncle Sanjay, a veterinarian and owner of the Furry Friends Animal Clinic on an island off the Washington coast.

Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/01/2005
ISBN-13: 9780439622479
ISBN-10: 0439622476

After flunking sixth-grade English, basketball prodigy Stanford Wong must struggle to pass his summer-school class, keep his failure a secret from his friends, and satisfy his academically demanding father.

Publisher: Front Street
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 04/01/2001
ISBN-13: 9781886910584
ISBN-10: 1886910588

Young Ju Park is unhappy with her journey to America as her family suffers with financial difficulties and hard times upon their arrival, yet when her father suddenly becomes violent, Young Ju is thankful when he leaves so that their family can start over and make their dream a reality.

Publisher: HarperCollins
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/01/2002
ISBN-13: 9780066236025
ISBN-10: 0066236029

Having been thrown out of every school in his home state, Jake Semple arrives at the Creative Academy, a special school run by an unusual and outspoken family, where he is soon befriended by a girl who helps him cope with the wackiness of his new surroundings.

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/01/1996
ISBN-13: 9780689809934
ISBN-10: 068980993X

Mrs. Olinski has prepared her team, The Souls, for The Academic Bowl State Finals and, in the process, has learned a lot about the personal life of the team members, discovering their diverse personalities and backgrounds.

First Chapter  

Publisher: Little, Brown
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 12/20/2005
ISBN-13: 9780316060004
ISBN-10: 0316060003

As Pacy celebrates the Chinese Year of the Dog with her family, she finds out that this is the year she is supposed to "find herself," in a debut novel that addresses the universal themes of friendship, family, and finding one's passion in life.

First Chapter