Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr

Deanna lives in a small town and she feels trapped by her reputation. As an eighth grader her father caught her in the backseat of a car with Tommy, a teenage boy. Since then her father and everyone else think of her as promiscuous. Now Deanna is 17 years old and she's trying to break out of that stereotype. Deanna must deal with family, friends, and her new job as she tries to make the emotional journey toward a new self.

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

I will start by saying that this book deals with sexual abuse and while it is not graphic, it is intended for mature readers. It's a chilling look at the life of a girl who was kidnapped at age 5 by a sexual predator. She is now 15 years old and has endured 5 years of physical and emotional abuse. She lives in fear of her captor, Ray, who keeps her in line by threatening to kill her family if she disobeys him in any way. Ray calls her Alice, and has told her that the last "Alice" he kidnapped was killed when she was 15 years old. Ray is trying to keep Alice childlike by depriving her of food and dressing her in girl's clothing, but she is maturing and he is thinking about finding a new girl. Even worse, he wants Alice to help him find the new girl and train her to what Ray wants her to do. As I said, it's not a happy topic but it's well-written and will be very engrossing for some readers.

Seer of Shadows by Avi

Fourteen-year-old Horace Carpantine, an apprentice to a photographer, does not believe in ghosts but that doesn't stop a ghost from finding him. His employer, Mr. Middleditch, involves Horace in a "spirit photo" scam. It is Horace's job to take photographs of pictures of a dead girl named Eleanora. These photos will then be superimposed into a photo of the dead girl's grieving guardian. To Horace's surprise, his photos contain real pictures of Eleanora's ghost and his photos seem to be drawing her back into the world to take revenge on the guardians who killed her. With the help of a servant girl named Pegg, Horace now must try to stop the revenge-set ghost from committing murder. Readers who like history and spooky stories will like this book. Recommended for 4th-6th grade readers.