Steve Almond.  Candyfreak:  A Journey through the Chocolate

Underbelly of America   After confessing to being a lifelong chocoholic, the author traces the history and bittersweet business practices of the companies producing those addictive candy bars. He includes relevant Web sites.

Lynn Cox.  Swimming to Antarctica:  Tales of a Long-Distance

Swimmer    Cox was inducted into the Swimming Hall of Fame in 2000, and between her plunges, has written extensively about her adventures. Some of the two dozen essays here have appeared in The New Yorker or The Los Angeles Times.

Brendan Halpin.  Donorboy

Rosalind had two mommies. Now, thanks to a tragic accident involving foodstuffs, she has none. And Sean, the sperm donor responsible for half her DNA (and nothing else), is taking custody. Rosalind finds herself adjusting to a new life that seems both hateful and surreal-she's an orphan with a new father, surrounded by friends she is beginning to despise and well-meaning adults who succeed only in annoying her.

Robert Kurson.  Shadow Divers

The true adventure of two Americans who risked everything to solve one of the mysteries of World War II.

Ann Patchett.  Truth & Beauty:  A Friendship

Author Ann Pratchett relates the story of her friendship with fellow writer Lucy Grealy, and of Lucy's zest for life despite a long struggle with a disfiguring childhood cancer.

Jodi Picoult.  My Sister's Keeper

Written with grace, wisdom, and sensitivity, this novel is about a teen who was conceived as a bone marrow match for her sister Kate, and what happens when she begins to question who she really is.

Kit Reed.  Thinner Than Thou

Tomorrow, today's cult of the body, which says we must he thin, young, and perfect, has become the only religion. Reverend Earl preaches the heaven of the Afterfat and promises to personally supervise the fat congregants at his luxurious spa, Sylphania. Health clubs have replaced houses of worship. "Convents" hold anorexic, bulimic, and obese teens who are learning the "right" ways to eat--and think. Middle-aged Jeremy succumbs to Sylphania's siren song, only to discover that the glamorous brochures conceal a concentration camp. Annie, an anorexic, and her massive friend vow to escape from their convent-prison.

Jim Shepard.  Project X

Below the sign welcoming the new eighth-grade class to school is one that promises to Leave No Child Unsuccessful and a handout that offers Eight Ways of Being Smart. For Edwin Hanratty, at times as hilarious as he is miserable, this is part of what makes junior high pretty much a relentless nightmare. And so, with Flake, his only friend, he contends with clique upon clique - the jocks who pummel them, the girls who ignore or taunt them - as well as the dogged and disconcerting attentions of a sixth-grader who's even more ferociously disaffected than they are.

Robert Sullivan.  Rats:  Observations on the History and Habitat of

the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants   Rats live in the world precisely where humans do; they survive on the effluvia of human society; they eat our garbage. While dispensing gruesomely fascinating rat facts and strangely entertaining rat stories, Sullivan gets to know not just the beast but its friends and foes: the exterminators, the sanitation workers, the agitators and activists who have played their part in the centuries-old war between human city dweller and wild city rat.