The Loser List by H.N. Kowitt

Doug Shine is a middle school geek who loves comics and drawing. When his name shows up on the "loser list" in the girls' bathroom his effort to erase it get him after school detention. There he has a run in with the toughest bullies in school who take him in and make him inadvertently part of a crime. Doug only wants to do what's right but can he win back his best friend and get the stolen goods back to their owner without getting beat up by "The Skulls"? This book is very much like the Wimpy Kids and Big Nate books. It has lots of drawings and an underdog for a hero. It didn't stand out to me as better than those books but it is entertaining if you're looking for something fun and easy to read.

Bruiser by Neal Shusterman

Neal Shusterman is one of my very favorite authors for teenagers and, while very different from his other books, Bruiser was a real treat. I didn't know what to expect because all of the reviews I read tried so hard not to give away what the book is really about. I couldn't even tell if it was realistic or a fantasy until I read it (and I'm still not so sure how I could classify it now that I've read it!) Four characters narrate this book: Brewster aka "Bruiser," a high school boy with no friends and a reputation for being dangerous and violent, Bronte, the nice, normal girl who falls in love with Brewster, Tennyson, Bronte's twin brother who at first is adamantly against his sister dating "Bruiser," and Cody, Brewster's 8-year-old brother. Brewster and Cody live with a sometimes-cruel uncle who forces them to keep to themselves and to form no relationships. Once Bronte and Brewster find each other, though, Brewster begins forging relationships with people with disastrous consequences for himself. SPOILER ALERT—don't read more if you don't want to know why. The truth is that Brewster has a gift (or a curse, depending on how you look at it). He takes away the pain of those he cares about—both physical and emotional. His body is a wreck and getting worse with every injury those around him sustain. The deeper he gets involved with Bronte's family the harder the toll is on his body and spirit. It's a good story with complex characters, and, as always with Neal Shusterman's books, there's a whole other deeper layer to talk about and think about. Recommended for 8th-12th grades.

Bloody Times by James L. Swanson

I am a huge fan of Chasing Lincoln’s Killer, by the same author. It’s one of my all-time favorite nonfiction books for middle school boys because it reads just like a fiction story with an incredible amount of action and intrigue. Bloody Times is in many ways a companion to Chasing Lincoln’s Killer. It details the days following Lincoln’s assassination from two perspectives—the long, drawn-out funeral train journey that took Lincoln home to rest in Springfield, Illinois, and the actions of Jefferson Davis in the days and weeks immediately following Lincoln’s death. Both stories were mostly unknown to me and are quite interesting from my adult point of view. I don’t think this book will be quite as fascinating to kids as it was to me, though. The stories lack the drama (and violence) of the manhunt for John Wilkes Booth which made the first book so compelling. It’s still definitely worth reading, though, and I would recommend it especially to history teachers and students with an interest in history.

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

This book wins the prize for the most original book I read this summer. Libba Bray takes what sounds like a cheesy concept—a plane full of teenage beauty pageant contestants crashes on a mysterious island —and turns it into a satirical statement about corporate greed, pop culture, and the objectification of women. She manages to do this in the context of an action-packed, hilarious story with a cast of many multifaceted beauty qreen wannabees. The girls practice dance routines, build a functional society, flirt with pirates, and thwart an evil plot that would kill the girls off and blame it on a crazy dictator of a rogue state. The language and sexuality, as well as the sophisticated tone make this appropriate for high school, college, and even adult readers looking for something completely different.

Smile by Raina Telgemeier

This autobiographical graphic novel is about a pre-teen girl, Raina, who trips and falls and winds up with horrible dental troubles. Her front teeth are pushed up into her gums and she endures years of braces and dental procedures to get her smile looking good again. Along the way she struggles with friendships and cliques and making friends that support her rather than bring her down. Kids will relate to Raina's struggles, and the fact that it all really happened to the author makes it even more interesting. It's quick and easy to read and the illustrations really fit the mood of the story. It will not take any convincing to get girls (4th-6th grade) reading Smile.

Gimme a Call by Sarah Mlynowski

This was a fun summer read about a teenager who gets the opportunity to change the course of her life. Devi, a high school senior, has spent the last four years dating Bryan at the exclusion of studying or keeping up with other friendships. When they break up she is devastated and wishes she could go back in time and change her behavior. When her cell phone falls into a mall fountain she gets her wish--she is only able to call one number--her own. When her 14-year-old self answers she realizes it is her chance to do things differently. The rest of the book is fun, if a bit predictable. Unlike many YA books, this one is wholesome and clean and would be a great choice for middle school girls who want a glimpse of high school life.

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

This is one of those books that you sink deeply into and when you finish you wish there were more. It's a modern story of a bright girl who is struggling with her younger brother's death. Andi is a musician and must write a paper about a French musician to graduate from high school. Her dad takes her to Paris over the winter holidays where she finds a diary of a girl that cared for the king's son during the French Revolution. Andi (and the reader) become engrossed in Alexandrine's story and their stories combine at the end. I enjoyed the story on several levels and learned some French history at the same time. I would recommend this to good readers (8th-up) who are willing to invest in a complex but rewarding story.

Kingdom Keepers by Ridley Pearson

Having just returned from Disney World and just hosting Ridley Pearson at my school, I can't help but be excited about The Kingdom Keepers series. Five middle schoolers who get modeled for hologram characters at the Magic Kingdom find themselves waking up at night in the park in the form of holograms. An old man named Wayne tells them that the evil witches and villains in the park are trying to take control and the only way to stop them is to solve Walt Disney's old puzzle called the Stonecutter's Quill. The action takes the kids into Disney rides at night where Small World dolls swim after them, audio animatronic pirates chase them, and the witch Maleficent is on their trail. Don't look to this book for in-depth characterization—that's not the point. But the action and the inside scoop on Disney rides and tunnels and behind the scenes secrets make it irresistible to Disney fans. And Ridley Pearson is a fascinating speaker with great stories and advice about becoming a writer.

Crocodile Tears by Anthony Horowitz

I love that Anthony Horowitz can take Alex Rider and put him in situation after situation in which he must save the world and eight times I have come back to read the next story. He keeps coming up with new villains and new plots that only our favorite teenage spy can overcome. This time Alex finds out that a wealthy philanthropist is using genetically modified wheat to release a poison that will kill thousands, maybe millions of people in Kenya. His motive is to collect millions of dollars in donations then disappear with the money. Alex survives near-death disasters at least four times in the course of this book while MI6 and other authorities bumble around and his guardian anxiously awaits his return. Crocodile Tears doesn't break any new ground but it is every bit as fun as the other Alex Rider books. And now there is just one more book to go in this series guaranteed to captivate middle school boys.

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Nailer is a teenager trying to survive in a cruel future world. He lives on the Gulf Coast in the wake of environmental destruction. Beached oil tankers just offshore provide a living for desperate children who scavenge them for wires and copper and anything else they can sell. Just when Nailer thinks he has made a lucky strike by finding a newly beached luxury ship he finds a half dead girl on board. His choice to keep her alive leads him toward the possibility of new opportunities but also great danger. This dystopian adventure moves at a fast pace and navigates the reader through a depressing and dark future—one in which the divide between rich and poor seems insurmountable. The theme of loyalty shapes Nailer and those around him. I did not connect with this book as much as I did with Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeiffer or Unwind by Neal Shusterman but it has gotten a lot of acclaim and certainly is entertaining and thought provoking. Fans of dystopian novels will definitely want to read this.

Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson

This is the sequel to Chains and the story begins several months after Isabel and Curzon escape from New York City. This time Curzon is the narrator and he and Isabel have separated—she to go south to find her sister and he to join the Continental Army. Curzon thinks joining the army will guarantee him food and shelter for the winter but unfortunately this is the winter that the army spends in absolute misery at Valley Forge. In the beginning I felt like the book was a vehicle for describing the awful conditions the soldiers faced at Valley Forge. But the plot picked up when Curzon and Isabel are reunited (now both back in bondage) and begin once again to plan an escape. By the end I was fully engaged in Curzon and Isabel's story and also thinking about the contradictions inherent in the founding of our country. A must-read for those who read and enjoyed Chains.

Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham

Imagine what it would be like if almost everyone in the world suddenly went blind. What would happen to society? Could human beings survive? Then add to this scenario a new breed of plant that can pull up its roots, move around, and kill people with a deadly whip-like stinger. That's the premise of this sci fi classic written in 1951. It sounds almost ridiculous but I could not put this book down. The main character, Bill, has his sight spared because he happened to have bandages over his eyes during the meteor shower that blinds most of the human race. He wakes to a strangely quiet world where no cars, buses, trucks or airplanes are operating and where people are staggering around trying to acquire food. He quickly realizes that nothing will ever be the same and that it will be pointless to try to save the lives of all the newly blinded people. He finds a handful of other people who were not blinded and together they must figure out how the human race can continue. I recommend this book to kids or adults who like to ponder what the future could bring.

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

I confess that I had a lot of trouble getting into this story. I listened to the audiobook and at first it was hard to follow some of the language about Clankers and Darwinists and boffins. But it did turn out to be a really good book with some extremely cool technological ideas. It is the dawn of World War I and, as in real life, the Archduke Ferdinand is murdered, which sets all of Europe on the course toward war. In this fantasy world the Archduke has a son named Alek, whose advisors try to whisk him off to safety in nearby Switzerland. They travel in a Stormwalker—a huge walking armored vehicle created by the Clankers (the German-Austrian-Hungarian faction of the war). Meanwhile, in England a young girl named Daryn is disguising herself as a boy in order to enlist in the British air force. She gets a position on the Leviathan—a huge airship made of genetically modified creatures. (The British are Darwinists and they can manipulate DNA in amazing ways.) The crews of the Leviathan and the Stormwalker meet in the mountains of Switzerland and the lines between enemies and allies blur as Alek and Daryn form a tentative friendship. The story was good and the world of Clankers and Darwinists was also pretty fascinating. If you like this kind of story (often called steampunk) you should also try Airborn by Kenneth Oppel and Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve.

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.