Joan Bauer.  Hope Was Here

When sixteen-year-old Hope and the aunt who has raised her move from Brooklyn to Mulhoney, Wisconsin, to work as waitress and cook in the Welcome Stairways diner, they become involved with the diner owner's political campaign to oust the town's corrupt mayor.

Marlene Carvell.  Who will Tell My Brother?

During his lonely crusade to remove offensive mascots from his high school, a Native American teenager learns more about his heritage, his ancestors, and his place in the world.

Christopher Paul Curtis.  Bucking the Sarge

Deeply involved in his cold and manipulative mother's shady business dealings in Flint Michigan, fourteen-year-old Luther keeps a sense of humor while running the Happy Neighbor Group Home for Men, all the while dreaming of going to college and becoming a philosopher.

Cynthia DeFelice.  Lostman's River

In the early 1900s, thirteen-year-old Tyler encounters vicious hunters whose actions threaten to destroy the Everglades ecosystem, and as a result joins the battle to protect that fragile environment.

Paul Fleischman.  Seedfolks

One by one, a number of people of varying ages and backgrounds transform a trash-filled inner-city lot into a productive and beautiful garden, and in doing so, the gardeners are themselves transformed.

Beth Goobie.  Sticks and Stones

Jujube is thrilled when Brent asks her out. She is not so happy when the rumors start flying at school. Pretty soon her name is showing up on bathroom walls and everyone is snickering and sniping. When her mother gets involved, Jujube's reputation takes another hit. Deciding that someone has to take a stand, Jujube gathers all the other girls who are labelled sluts - and worse -- and tries to impress on her fellow students the damage that can be done by assigning a label than reduces a person to an object.

Carl Hiaasen.  Flush

With their father jailed for sinking a river boat, Noah Underwood and his younger sister, Abbey, must gather evidence that the owner of this floating casino is emptying his bilge tanks into the protected waters around their Florida Keys home.

Carl Hiaasen.  Hoot

Roy, who is new to his small Florida community, becomes involved in another boy's attempt to save a colony of burrowing owls from a proposed construction site.

Valerie Hurley.  St. Ursula's Girls Against the Atomic Bomb

Raine Rassaby is a senior at St. Ursula's Academy in New York City, but rather than study, she rescues wounded birds, arranges pilgrimages to nuclear missile silos, befriends street people, gets arrested, and organizes a group called St. Ursula's Girls Against the Atomic Bomb.

David Klass.  California Blue

When seventeen-year-old John Rodgers discovers a new sub-species of butterfly which may necessitate closing the mill where his dying father works, they find themselves on opposite sides of the environmental conflict.

Henning Mankell.  Secrets in the Fire

Based on a real-life land mine victim, this middle reader novel tells a story of recovery, hope and coming of age of an African girl who loses her legs to a land mine.

Harry Mazer.  The Last Mission

In 1944 a 15-year-old Jewish boy tells his family he will travel in the West but instead, enlists in the United States Air Corps and is subsequently taken prisoner by the Germans.

Adele Minchin.  The Beat Goes On

The winner of the Branford Boase Award for fiction in the United Kingdom, this coming-of-age novel recounts a young girl's struggle when her 16-year-old cousin is diagnosed with HIV. Includes a resource directory highlighting guidance, counseling, and testing facilities.

Michael Morpurgo.  Private Peaceful

When Thomas Peaceful's older brother is forced to join the British Army, Thomas decides to sign up as well, although he is only fourteen years old, to prove himself to his country, his family, his childhood love, Molly, and himself.

Anna Myers.  Tulsa Burning

In 1921, fifteen-year-old Noble Chase hates the sheriff of Wekiwa, Oklahoma, and is more than willing to cross him to help his best friend, a black man, who is injured during race riots in nearby Tulsa.

Jerry Spinelli.  Wringer

As Palmer comes of age, he must either accept the violence of being a wringer at his town's annual Pigeon Day or find the courage to oppose it.

Allan Stratton.  Chanda's Secrets

A girl's struggle amid the African AIDS pandemic, Chanda, is an astonishingly perceptive girl living in the small city of Bonang, a fictional city in Southern Africa. When her youngest sister dies, the first hint of HIV/AIDS emerges, Chanda must confront undercurrents of shame and stigma. Not afraid to explore the horrific realities of AIDS, Chanda's Secrets also captures the enduring strength of loyalty, friendship and family ties. Above all, it is a story about the corrosive nature of secrets and the healing power of truth.

Janet Tashjian.  The Gospel According to Larry

Seventeen-year-old Josh, a loner-philosopher who wants to make a difference in the world, tries to maintain his secret identity as the author of a web site that is receiving national attention.

Janet Tashjian.  Vote for Larry

Not yet eighteen years old, Josh, a.k.a. Larry, comes out of hiding and returns to public life, this time to run for President as an advocate for issues of concern to youth and to encourage voter turnout.

Ann Turnbull.  No Shame, No Fear

In England in 1662, a time of religious persecution, fifteen-year-old Susanna, a poor country girl and a Quaker, and seventeen-year-old William, a wealthy Anglican, meet and fall in love against all odds.

Markus Zusak.  I Am the Messenger

Ed Kennedy is a nineteen-year-old cab driver who doesn't think much of his life. He inadvertently helps stop a bank robbery, and that is when his life starts to change. He begins to receive mysterious messages that instruct him to go to addresses where people need help. Ed becomes the messenger, but who is behind the messages?

Bitches, Bimbos, and Ballbreakers:  The Guerrilla Girls'

Illustrated Guide to Female Stereotypes  Whatever life a woman leads, from Biker Chick to Society Girl, there's a stereotype she'll have to live up to - or live down. The Guerilla Girls, notorious for their outrageous take on culture and politics, now take on the maze of stereotypes that follow women from cradle to grave.

Melba Pattillo Beals.  Warriors Don't Cry:  A Searing Memoir of the

Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High   Using news accounts and the diary she kept as a teenager, Beals relives the harrowing year when she was selected as one of the first nine students to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957.

Andrea Davis Pinkney.  Let It Shine!  Stories of Black Women

Freedom Fighters   Tells the stories of ten African-American women freedom fighters.

Mikki Halpin.  It's Your World -- If You Don't Like It, Change It!: 

Activism for Teenagers   It's Your World will show you how to act on your beliefs, no matter what they are, and make a difference.Whether at home, in school, or in your community, you have the power and the ability to create change, even if you aren't old enough to vote. Don't wait until you're eighteen to flex your political muscles-start right now!

Thomas A. Jacobs.  Teens on Trial:  Young People Who Challenged

the Law -- and Changed Your Life   Examines legal cases about privacy, visitation and divorce, search and seizure, dress code, drug testing, free speech in school newspapers and yearbooks, sexual harassment at work, transfer to adult court, and the death penalty.

Jana Abrams Karam.  Into the Breach:  A Year of Life and Death

With EMS  Into the Breach is the true story of paramedics, emergency medical technicians, and heavy-rescue specialists fighting to control trauma and medical emergencies in one of America's toughest and most violent cities: Newark, New Jersey.

Barbara A. Lewis, ed.  The Kid's Guide to Social Action:  How to

Solve the Social Problems You Choose -- and Turn Creative Thinking Into Positive Action   Resource guide for children for learning political action skills that can help them make a difference in solving social problems at the community, state, and national levels.

Patricia C. McKissak and Frederick L. McKissack.  Black Hands, White

Sails:  The Story of African-American Whalers  A history of African-American whalers between 1730 and 1880, describing their contributions to the whaling industry and their role in the abolitionist movement.

Patricia C. McKissack and Frederick L. McKissack.  Rebels Against

Slavery:  American Slave Revolts  This meticulously researched book pays tribute to heroes such as Cinque, an African captive who was defended before the Supreme Court by John Quincy Adams, Nat Turner and Harriet Tubman.

Donna Nebenzahl.  Womankind:  Faces of Change Around the

World  Womankind began when journalist Donna Nebenzahl and photographer Nance Ackerman became inspired by the work of women activists in their own communities -- in particular, by how these women often did the unglamorous work, the work that kept body and soul together. They decided to seek out women who were guiding similar initiatives around the world. They travelled to every continent to find, write about and photograph these remarkable activists.

Susan K. Perry.  Catch the Spirit:  Teen Volunteers Tell How They

Made a Difference:  Stories of Inspiration From 20 Remarkable Recipients of Prudential Spirit of Community Award   Individual teenagers relate their experiences in various types of volunteer activities.

Edward Averett.  The Rhyming Season

A senior basketball-player shoulders the hopes of a dying mill town and her bereaved family when she and an eccentric English teacher-coach try to lead their team to state basketball history.

Joseph Bruchac.  Sports Shorts

A collection of eight semi-autobiographical stories about the authors' experiences with sports while growing up. They range from the game "Bombardment" over the lunch hour, sports from gym class, karate, ballet, wrestling, to baseball, basketball and football.

Evelyn Coleman.  Born in Sin

Despite serious obstacles and setbacks, fourteen-year-old Keisha pursues her dream of becoming an Olympic swimmer and medical doctor.

Chris Crutcher.  Athletic Shorts:  Six Short Stories

A collection of short stories featuring characters from earlier books by Chris Crutcher.

Chris Crutcher.  Stotan!

A high school coach invites members of his swimming team to a memorable week of rigorous training that tests their moral fiber as well as their physical stamina.

Matt De la Pena.  Ball Don't Lie

Seventeen-year-old Sticky lives for basketball and plays at school and at the Lincoln Rec Center in Los Angeles but he is unaware of the many dangers--including his own past--that threaten his dream of playing professionally.

Sharon M. Draper.  Double Dutch

Three eighth-grade friends, preparing for the International Double Dutch Championship jump rope competition in their home town of Cincinnati, Ohio, cope with Randy's missing father, Delia's inability to read, and Yo Yo's encounter with the class bullies.

L. D. Harkrader.  Airball:  My Life in Briefs

Uncoordinated Kansas seventh-grader Kirby Nickel braves his coach's ire and becomes captain of the basketball team in order to help him prove that NBA star Brett McGrew is the father he has never known.

Robert Lipsyte.  The Contender

A Harlem high school dropout escapes from a gang of punks into a boxing gym, where he learns that being a contender is hard and often discouraging work, but that you don't know anything until you try.

Robert Lipsyte.  The Brave

Having left the Indian reservation for the streets of New York, seventeen-year-old boxer Sonny Bear tries to harness his inner rage by training with Alfred Brooks, who has left the sport to become a policeman.

Robert Lipsyte.  The Chief

On the verge of having a shot at the heavyweight boxing championship, nineteen-year-old Sonny Bear finds himself with conflicting loyalties when trouble erupts on his reservation over the construction of a new gambling casino. Sequel to "The Brave."

Chris Lynch.  Iceman

Fourteen-year-old Eric, a ruthless hockey player prone to violence on the ice, tries to reconcile his own needs with those of his parents

Sue Macy, ed.  Girls Got Game:  Sports Stories and Poems

A collection of short stories and poems written by and about young women in sports.

Walter Dean Myers.  Slam!

Sixteen-year-old "Slam" Harris is counting on his noteworthy basketball talents to get him out of the inner city and give him a chance to succeed in life, but his coach sees things differently.

Wendy Orr.  Peeling the Onion

Following an automobile accident in which her neck is broken, a teenage karate champion begins a long and painful recovery with the help of her family.

Jerry Spinelli.  Maniac Magee

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

Jerry Spinelli.  There's a Girl in My Hammerlock

Thirteen-year-old Maisie joins her school's formerly all-male wrestling team and tries to last through the season, despite opposition from other students, her best friend, and her own teammates.

Cynthia Voigt.  The Runner

As a dedicated runner, a teenage boy has always managed to distance himself from other people until the experience of coaching one of his teammates on the track team gradually helps him see the value of giving and receiving.

Alexandra Powe Allred.  'Atta Girl!  A Celebration of Women in

Sports

Lance Armstrong.  It's Not About the Bike:  My Journey Back to Life

Champion cyclist Lance Armstrong's near fatal encounter with cancer and his astounding victory at the 1999 Tour de France race are recounted in this compelling memoir.

Daniel J. Boyn.  The Red Rose Crew:  A True Story of Women,

Winning, and the Water  A heroic story of women rowers who fought the tide of sexual prejudice to gain international glory.

Lynne Cox and Martha Kaplan.  Swimming to Antarctica:  Tales of a

Long-Distance Swimmer   At Age Sixteen, legendary swimmer Lynne Cox reached her lifetime goal of setting a new world record for an English Channel swim. So she set her goals even higher: She became the first to swim the Strait of Magellan, narrowly escaped a shark attack off the Cape of Good Hope, and was cheered across the twenty-mile Cook Strait of New Zealand by dolphins. Her daring eventually led her to the thirty-eight-degree waters of the Bering Strait, which she crossed in her usual out-fit-just a swimsuit, cap, and goggles. She even swam a mile in the iceberg-choked seas of the Antarctic. With a poet's eye for detail, Cox shares the beauty of her time in the water in this new classic of sports memoir.

Katharine Davis Fishman.  Attitude!:  Eight Young Dancers Come of

Age at the Alley School   In This Fascinating Exploration of how artistic talent emerges and endures in the lives of teenagers, Katharine Davis Fishman follows eight young dancers through a year of study at one of our nation's premier dance schools. At an age when many kids flounder, what does it actually mean to follow a passion? Fishman reveals how, at the Ailey School, it's about attitude - a ballet term that dates back several hundred years, but also a reference to that precious mettle we all need a little bit of in order to survive but had better not have too much of in order to succeed.

Mia Hamm.  Go for the Goal:  A Champion's Guide to Winning in

Soccer and Life  American soccer superstar Mia Hamm shares the secrets of her extraordinary rise from shy, six-year old recreational league player to the dynamic athlete she is today.

Tony Hawk.  Tony Hawk:  Professional Skateboarder

There's a lot about Tony Hawk's life that might surprise you. He didn't skate out of the crib landing every trick he attempted. He had tons of ups and downs on and off his skateboard -- sometimes he landed and sometimes he slammed. Here he takes you behind the scenes of the skateboard world and describes what it's like to be Tony Hawk: Professional Skateboarder.

Kathy Kaehler and Connie Church.  Teenage Fitness:  Get Fit, Look

Good, and Feel Great!  Reflecting on her own body image and eating problems as a teenager, Kathy will show you how to have a healthy respect for your body. She offers essential fitness techniques necessary to look and feel your absolute best.

Jesse Martin.  Lionheart:  A Journey of the Human Spirit

First-hand account of the author's experiences, when as a 17-year-old Melbourne schoolboy, he became the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world. Recounts Martin's thoughts and experiences throughout the journey, occasionally drawing on diary entries and emails.

David Lee Morgan, Jr.  LeBron James:  The Rise of a Star

The odds were against LeBron from the start. Born in poverty to a 16-year-old, drug-addicted single mom, without a father, raised by various family and neighbors . . . he could have become just another scarred product of a rough childhood in the projects. Instead, he's the darling of the sports world--and he plays the part well. An unusual inside look at the rise of sport's hottest young prospect, now poised at the brink of superstardom.

Michelle H. Nagler.  Get Fit!  Eat Right!  Be Active!  Girls' Guide to

Health and Fitness   Explains how girls can achieve total fitness and health by focusing on three broad areas--physical fitness (exercise), nutrition (food), and mental state (having a healthy outlook and being a positive, active person).

Jake Steinfeld.  Get Strong!  Teenage Guys Guide to Building

Confidence, Muscles, and a Great Future  Get Strong! is the first guide to not only getting in shape, but also getting your life in gear. Fitness motivator Jake Steinfeld, better known to the world as "Body by Jake," helps you learn the basic steps to a more confident, more powerful, and healthier life. From bicep curls to life evaluations, Jake takes a whole new look at how to make it through your teenage years, and not just as another peg on the totem pole, but as the Big Man on Campus.

Scott Anderson.  Distant Fires

Describes the author's three month canoe adventure, which started at Duluth, Minnesota and ended at York Factory on the shores of Hudson Bay.

Liv Arnesen and Ann Bancroft.  No Horizon is So Far:  Two Women

and Their Extraordinary Journey Across Antarctica  This riveting true-life adventure of suspense, danger, and endurance chronicles the extraordinary journey of American Ann Bancroft and Norwegian Liv Arnesen, two former schoolteachers, as they set out to become the first women to cross the continent of Antarctica on foot.

Rigel Crockett.  Fair Wind and Plenty of It:  A Modern-Day Tall Ship

Adventure  On November 25th, 1997, the barque Picton Castle, a three-masted, square-rigged tall ship, headed out from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, on a voyage around the world. Aboard ship a crew of thirty professional sailors and paying passengers would travel for over a year and a half, calling at ports as exotic and varied as Aruba, Samoa, Bali, and Zanzibar.

Timothy Ferris.  Seeing in the Dark:  How Backyard Stargazers Are

Probing Deep Space and Guarding Earth from Interplanetary Peril  Ferris offers an authoritative and engaging report on what's out there to be seen -- what Saturn, the Ring nebula, the Silver Coin galaxy, and the Virgo supercluster really are and how to find them. The appendix includes star charts, observing lists, and a guide on how to get involved in astronomy. Ferris takes us inside a major revolution sweeping astronomy, as lone amateur astronomers, in global networks linked by the Internet, make important discoveries that are the envy of the professionals.

Mark Pfetzer and Jack Galvin.  Within Reach:  My Everest Story

The author describes how he spent his teenage years climbing mountains in the United States, South America, Africa, and Asia, with an emphasis on his two expeditions up Mount Everest.

Aron Ralston.  Between a Rock and a Hard Place

"Icebound" meets "Into Thin Air" in this astonishing, day-by-day account of Ralston's terrible accident, self-amputation, and subsequent rescue and recovery.

Frances A. Karnes and Suzanne M. Bean.  Girls and Young Women

Entrepreneurs:  True Stories About Starting and Running a Business, Plus How You Can Do It Yourself   Profiles girls who have successfully started and run businesses, such as making and selling cheesecakes, inventing and marketing a kiddie stool, making and selling watercolor paintings. Includes a section on how to be an entrepreneur, and historical information about women in business.

Jon Katz.  Geeks:  How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of

Idaho  Geeks describes this brave and difficult journey, as two self-described social misfits use the resources of the Internet to try to construct a new future for themselves, escape the boundaries of their dead-end lives, and find a community they could belong to. Geeks explores a growing subculture about which many of us know little, a world with its own language, traditions, and taboos. In telling the stories of Jesse, Eric, and others like them, Geeks is a story about the very human face of technology.

Caroline Kettlewell.  Electric Dreams:  One Unlikely Team of Kids

and the Race to Build the Car of the Future  "Electric Dreams" offers drama built on marvelous small-town characters, and a story of never-say-die invention which would make North Carolina's other pioneers, the Wright Brothers, proud.

Sydney Lewis.  Help Wanted:  Tales From the First Job Front

Twenty-five young people discuss their first forays into the real world of work. Each first-person account tells a tale of learning the written and unwritten rules of life on the job: dealing with difficult coworkers, tough bosses, criticism, deadlines, dress codes and harassment. The stories offer tips for surviving the first months of any job including advice not normally found in career guides. The five sections, introduced by the editor, focus on specific themes: getting started, finding a passion, harsh realities, getting a foot in the door, and creating careers.

Stephanie H. Meyer, ed.  Teen Ink:  What Matters

A collection of stories and poems by teenage writers, arranged in such categories as "Challenging matters," "Family matters," and "World matters."

Stephanie H. Meyer, ed.  Teen Ink 2:  More Voices, More Visions

A collection of stories and poems by teenage writers, arranged under the categories "Family," "Friends," "Challenges," "Love," "Imagination," "School Days," "Fitting in," "Milestones," and "Memories."