Garth Nix.  Abhorsen

Abhorsen-In-Waiting Lirael and Prince Sameth, a Wallmaker, must confront and bind the evil spirit Oranis before it can destroy all life.  Narrated by Tim Curry.

Susan Juby.  Alice, I Think

Fifteen-year-old Alice has been homeschooled for a decade. Now she's about to enter tenth grade at the high school. She keeps a diary as she struggles to cope with the embarrassments and trials of family, dating, school, work, small town life, and a serious case of "outcastitis."  Narrated by Angela Goethals.

Catherine Atkins.  Alt Ed

Shy, overweight Susan Calloway knows she has nothing in common with the five other students in the after school group counseling sessions she's forced to attend to avoid expulsion. But as they verbally attack one another and defend their own viewpoints, they begin to understand that none of their lives are as simple and straightforward as they appear on the surface.  Narrated by Johannna Parker.

Johathan Stroud.  The Amulet of Samarkand

Nathaniel, a magician's apprentice, summons up the djinni Bartimaeus and instructs him to steal the Amulet of Samarkand from the powerful magician Simon Lovelace.  Read by Simon Jones.

Kevin Crossley-Holland.  At the Crossing Places

In medieval England, a boy receives a special stone as a gift. In it, he can see the pageant of King Arthur. As the story unfolds, the boy finds his own life caught up with the events in the stone as he goes to begin his new life as squire to Lord Stephen at Holt, where crusaders ready themselves.  Read by Michael Maloney.

Dai Sijie.  Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

At the height of Mao's Cultural Revolution, two teenage boys are among thousands exiled to the countryside for "re-education." The narrator and his best friend find themselves in a remote village where their only distractions are a violin and the beautiful daughter of the local tailor. But it is when they discover a hidden stash of Western classics in Chinese translation that their re-education takes its most surprising turn.  Read by B. D. Wong.

David  Metzenthen.  Boys of Blood and Bone

Read by Francis Greenslade.

Deborah Ellis.  Breadwinner

In Afghanistan, a country controlled by the Taliban, a courageous young woman pretends to be a boy in war-torn Kabul in order to support her family.  Read by Rita Wolf.

Polly Horvath.  Canning Season

Narrated by Julie Dretzin.

Chaim Potok.  The Chosen

Read by Jonathan Davis.

Charles Dickens.  A Christmas Carol

A miser learns the true meaning of Christmas when three ghostly visitors review his past and foretell his future.  Read by Jim Dale.

Anne McCaffery and Todd McCaffrey.  Dragon's Kin

This is the first new Dragonriders of Pern adventure since "The Skies of Pern." Young Kindan joins his father at a coal mining settlement protected by dragons.  Read by Dick Hill.

David Lubar.  Dunk

While hoping to work as the clown in an amusement park dunk tank on the New Jersey shore the summer before his junior year in high school, Chad faces his best friend's serious illness, hassles with police, and the girl that got away.  Read by Matt Golden.

Christopher Paolini.  Eragon

In Alagaesia, a fifteen-year-old boy of unknown lineage called Eragon finds a mysterious stone that weaves his life into an intricate tapestry of destiny, magic, and power, peopled with dragons, elves, and monsters.  Read by Gerard Doyle.

K.L. Going.  Fat Kid Rules the World

Seventeen-year-old Troy, depressed, suicidal, and weighing nearly 300 pounds, gets a new perspective on life when a homeless teenager who is a genius on guitar wants Troy to be the drummer in his rock band.  Read by Matthew Lillard.

M. T. Anderson.  Feed

In a future where most people have computer implants in their heads to control their environment, a boy meets an unusual girl who is in serious trouble.  Read by David Aaron Baker.

J. K. Rowling.  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter, now a fifth-year student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, struggles with a threatening teacher, problematic house elf, the dread of upcoming final exams, and haunting dreams that hint toward his mysterious past.  Read by Jim Dale.

Jack Gantos.  Hole in My Life

The author relates how, as a young adult, he became a drug user and smuggler, was arrested, did time in prison, and eventually got out and went to college, all the while hoping to become a writer.  Read by Jack Gantos.

Robert Newton Peck.  Horse Thief

In 1938, with the help of a doctor and her elderly, horse-thieving father, a seventeen-year-old orphan steals thirteen horses from Chickalookee, Florida's doomed rodeo and finds a family in the process.  Read by Tom Stechschulte.

Cornelia Funke.  Inkheart

Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father, who repairs and binds books for a living, can "read" fictional characters to life when one of those characters abducts them and tries to force them into service.  Read by Lynn Redgrave.

Philip Pullman.  Lyra's Oxford

Lyra and Pantalaimon (now a pine-marten) are back at Oxford. But, their peace is shattered by Ragi, the daemon of the witch Yelena, who is searching for a healing elixir to cure his witch.  Read by Philip Pullman.

Patricia Reilly Giff.  Maggie's Door

In the mid-1800s, Nory and her neighbor and friend Sean, set out separately on a dangerous journey from famine-plagued Ireland, hoping to reach a better life in America.  Read by Fionnula Flanagan.

Jerry Spinelli.  Milkweed

In Nazi-occupied Poland, a young orphan boy learns about the harsh treatment of being Jewish.  Narrated by Ron Rifkin.

Garrett Freymann-Weyr.  My Heartbeat

Narrated by Chrsity Carlson Romano.

Jennifer Donnelly.  A Northern Light

In 1906, sixteen-year-old Mattie, determined to attend college and be a writer against the wishes of her father and fiance, takes a job at a summer inn where she discovers the truth about the death of a guest.  Read by Hope Davis.

Donald Davis.  A Room of My Own

Sometimes, a kid just isn't ready for some little squirt to come along and invade his space--his own room.  Told by Donald Davis.

Gail Giles.  Shattering Glass

Read by Scott Brick.

Bruce Coville.  Song of the Wanderer

Having jumped into Luster, the land of unicorns, Cara makes a perilous journey to bring back her grandmother, The Wanderer, in order to release the Queen of the unicorns and allow her to die.   Read by Bruce Coville.

Ron Kortge.  Stoner and Spaz

A troubled youth with cerebral palsy struggles toward self-acceptance with the help of a drug-addicted young woman.  Read by Josh Hamilton.

Ruth White.  Tadpole

For the four Collins girls, life is about as predictable as the fading curls on their dollar perms. But things get interesting when their cousin Tadpole comes to town, bringing a talent for playing his old guitar and a knack for finding fun, even in chores.  Read by Kate Forbes.

Brian Jacques.  Taggerung

A young otter, kidnapped in his infancy and raised as a warrior-thief by a band of vermin, leaves the tribe and goes off to seek adventures of his own.  Read by Brian Jacques.

Cornelia Funke.  The Thief Lord

Two brothers, having run away from the aunt who plans to adopt the younger one, are sought by a detective hired by their aunt, but they have found shelter with--and protection from--Venice's " Thief Lord ." Welcome to the magical world of Venice, Italy, where hidden canals and crumbling rooftops shelter runaways and children with incredible secrets.  Narrated by Simon Jones.

Eoin Colfer.  Wish List

Meg Finn is in trouble. She's dead, but not at peace--she's in limbo, her good deeds perfectly balanced against her bad deeds; Heaven or Hell wait, a tip of the scale away. So she's back on Earth trying to tip the scale to the good by helping her last victim, and her former "partner" is also back, trying to force her to tip the scale to the bad.  Read by James Wilby.

Michael Dorris.  A Yellow Raft in Blue Water

Read by Barbara Rosenblat.