Elaine Alphin.  Picture Perfect

When his best friend vanishes, Ian sets out to discover what happened.

E. D. Baker.  The Frog Princess

After reluctantly kissing a frog , an awkward, fourteen-year-old princess suddenly finds herself a frog , too, and sets off with the prince to seek the means--and the self-confidence--to become human again.

Rachel Cohn.  The Steps

Over Christmas vacation, Annabel goes from her home in Manhattan to visit her father, his new wife, and her half- and step-siblings in Sydney, Australia.

Carl Deuker.  High Heat

When sophomore Shane Hunter's father is arrested for money laundering at his Lexus dealership, the star pitcher's life of affluence and private school begins to fall apart.

Jeanne DuPrau.  The City of Ember

In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city , perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions.

Daniel Ehrenhaft.  The Last Dog on Earth

Logan Moore hates everyone except his dog , Jack. Then, when a mysterious disease starts turning dogs into vicious, raging animals, Logan decides to runaway to keep his dog safe.

Jean Ferris.  Once Upon a Marigold

A young man with a mysterious past and a penchant for inventing things leaves the troll who raised him, meets an unhappy princess he has loved from afar, and discovers a plot against her and her father.

Sharon Flake.  Begging for Change

Teenaged Raspberry Hill tries to sort out her confused feelings of disgust, shame, and love for her homeless, drug addicted father and worries that she may have inherited his lying and stealing ways.

Gayle Friesen.  Losing Forever

For Jes, normal life is slipping away. Her mother is getting married again and is totally preoccupied with planning the perfect wedding. And if one fool in love is not enough, Jes's best girlfriend has fallen for a complete jerk. To make matters worse, Jes also has to deal with her soon-to-be stepsister, Angela.

Shannon Hale.  The Goose Girl

On her way to marry a prince she's never met, Princess Anidori is betrayed by her guards and her lady-in-waiting and must become a goose girl to survive until she can reveal her true identity and reclaim the crown that is rightfully hers.

Michael Hoeye.  The Sands of Time

Despite fierce opposition from mouse supremacists and other residents of Pinchester, three mice team up with an old chipmunk to prove that there existed, long before the time of mice, a Cat Kingdom.

Anthony Horowitz.  Skeleton Key

Reluctant teenage-spy Alex Rider, on a routine mission at the Wimbledon tennis championships, gets caught up in Chinese gangs, illegal nuclear weapons, and the suspect plans of his Russian host, General Sarov.

Ron Koertge.  Shakespeare Bats Cleanup

When a fourteen-year-old baseball player catches mononucleosis, he discovers that keeping a journal and experimenting with poetry not only helps fill the time, it also helps him deal with life, love, and loss.

Christopher Paolini.  Eragon

In Aagaesia, 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.

Gary Paulsen.  How Angel Peterson Got his Name

Author Gary Paulsen relates tales from his youth in a small town in northwestern Minnesota in the late 1940s and early 1950s, such as skiing behind a souped-up car and imitating daredevil Evel Knievel.

John H. Ritter.  The Boy Who Saved Baseball

The fate of a small California town rests on the outcome of one baseball game, and Tom Gallagher hopes to lead his team to victory with the secrets of the now disgraced player, Dante Del Gato.

Tor Seidler.  Brainboy and the Deathmaster

When Darryl, a twelve-year-old orphan, is adopted by a technology genius, he finds himself the star of his very own life-threatening video game.

Neal Shusterman.  Full Tilt

When sixteen-year-old Blake goes to a mysterious, by-invitation-only carnival he somehow knows that it could save his comatose brother, but soon learns that much more is at stake if he fails to meet the challenge presented there by the beautiful Cassandra.

Stephanie S. Tolan.  Surviving the Applewhites

Jake, a budding juvenile delinquent, is sent for home schooling to the arty and eccentric Applewhite family's Creative Academy, where he discovers talents and interests he never knew he had.

Vivian Vande Velde.  Heir Apparent

While playing a total immersion virtual reality game of kings and intrigue, fourteen-year-old Giannine learns that demonstrators have damaged the equipment to which she is connected, and she must win the game quickly or be damaged herself.