The Boy Who Saved Baseball by John H. Ritter

Sports fans will be happy to see that there is finally a Maud Hart Lovelace nominee for them. You don't have to love baseball to like this book, but I'm sure it helps. It is the saga of a small town steeped in baseball history that is about to lose its field, and it's heart and soul, when developers start building huge suburban homes where the field has stood for years and years. The kids of the town are given one last chance to save their field and their town, but they have to win a difficult baseball game, and they know they are not up to the challenge. But a boy from the country shows up in town, and he knows how to convince a reclusive baseball legend to be their coach, and he also has a theory about how to master the art of hitting. The story has some twists and turns, but primarily it is the story of a group of kids working hard to take on the world. As I said, baseball lovers will be happy.

Isaac Newton by Kathleen Krull

This chatty, gossipy biography of Sir Isaac Newton gives an interesting introduction to one of the greatest scientists of all time. Biographies by Kathleen Krull are never dull, which can't be said for most middle school biographies! I didn't really know anything about Newton, and now I know what a strange, disagreeable man he was. I don't remember as much about the science as I do about his ridiculous feuds with other scientists and his strange behaviors. I would say that if you're interested in the history of science, you should definitely read this book (and Krull's others in this series about Leonardo da Vinci and Sigmund Freud). And if you need to read a biography for a school project, this is a great choice because is moves quickly and is actually fun to read.

Search and Destroy by Dean Hughes

Guys who want to know what it was like to fight in Vietnam will want to read this book. It is about a teenager who enlists in the army in order to escape his dead-end future and to "experience life." What he finds out is that war is horrible, and this one is particularly awful because he can't find any reason for the U.S. to be at war with the Vietnamese. He discovers many of his fellow soldiers to be heavy-drinking and cruel, and the only one who befriends him seems to be a strange religious nut. Guys will particularly like the descriptions of how the soldiers moved through the jungle and worked together under terrifying circumstances. As an adult, I just found it incredibly sad that we sent so many young men off to kill and be killed. I wouldn't say it was the most fluid plot and dialogue I've ever read, but it's a good fit for middle school guys.

I am the Wallpaper by Mark Peter Hughes

Have you ever felt like wallpaper, like you are there in the background but nobody notices you? Floey is ordinary, and she's tired of being overlooked. She confides to her diary all of her attempts to be the new and improved Floey Packer. However, her worst nightmare comes true when she finds her personal and private diary on the Internet for all the neighborhood boys to see. There's lots more to this book, including horrible cousins, a small training bra, a crush on a best friend, a disastrous poetry reading, and some elderly people skinny dipping. This book is fun to read, but also contains some serious thoughts about being true to yourself, sticking up for yourself, and getting along with your friends. Recommended especially for 7th and 8th grade girls.