101 Books for the Secondary MEMO Fall Conference October 2007 : 101 Books for the Secondary MEMO Fall Conference October 2007 Presented by Rachelle Weinand, Beth Gray and Melissa Weinand Sept. 24, 2007
Guy Reads : Guy Reads
Runner by Carl Deuker : Runner by Carl Deuker Living with his alcoholic father on a broken-down sailboat on Puget Sound has been hard on seventeen-year-old Chance Taylor, but when his love of running leads to a high-paying job, he quickly learns that the money is not worth the risk.
Swear to Howdy by Van Draanen : Swear to Howdy by Van Draanen Two thirteen-year-old boys share neighborhood adventures, complaints about their older sisters, family secrets, and even guilt that bind them together in a special friendship.
Sledding Hill by Crutcher : Sledding Hill by Crutcher Billy, recently deceased, keeps an eye on his best friend, fourteen-year-old Eddie, who has added to his home and school problems by becoming mute, and helps him stand up to a conservative minister and English teacher who is orchestrating a censorship challenge.
Vampire High by Rees : Vampire High by Rees When his family moves from California to New Sodom, Massachusetts and Cody enters Vlad Dracul Magnet School, many things seem strange, from the dark-haired, pale-skinned, supernaturally strong students to Charon, the wolf who guides him around campus on the first day.
Rats by Zindel : Rats by Zindel When mutant rats threaten to take over Staten Island, which has become a huge landfill, fourteen-year-old Sarah and her younger brother Mike try to figure out how to stop them.
Full Service by Weaver : Full Service by Weaver The summer that Paul turns sixteen his mother pushes him to take a job in town instead of just working on the family farm. You need to meet the public, she says, which is saying a lot for a woman deeply committed to the tightly knit religious community to which they belong. And meet the public Paul does: He meets Kirk, the angry gas station manager; Harry, a reclusive and kindly gangster; and a family of hippies passing in a yellow peace van to San Francisco. He also meets beautiful Peggy, a high school sensation, and dark-haired Dale, her on-the-side boyfriend who is headed to Vietnam.
Amazing Life of Birds by Paulsen : Amazing Life of Birds by Paulsen As twelve-year-old Duane endures the confusing and humiliating aspects of puberty, he watches a newborn bird in a nest on his windowsill begin to grow and become more independent, all of which he records in his journal.
Rewind by Sleator : Rewind by Sleator Not long after learning that he was adopted, eleven-year-old Peter is hit by a car and then given several chances to alter events that could lead to his death.
The Trap by Smelcer : The Trap by Smelcer In alternating chapters, seventeen-year-old Johnny Least-Weasel, who is better known for brains than brawn, worries about his missing grandfather, and the grandfather, Albert Least-Weasel, struggles to survive, caught in his own steel trap in the Alaskan winter.
Alabama Moon by Key : Alabama Moon by Key After the death of his father, ten-year-old Moon Blake is removed from the Alabama forest where he was raised and sent to a boy's home, where, for the first time, he has contact with the outside world and learns about friendship, love, and humanity.
Chick-lit : Chick-lit
Sharing Sam by Applegate : Sharing Sam by Applegate Alison Chapman has always believed she'd fall in love hard. And she does - with Sam Cody, a new guy with a gorgeous face and brooding eyes, a guy who's impossible to resist. When Sam asks her to the Valentine's Day dance, Alison is elated ... until she finds out that her best friend, Isabella Cates-Lopez, has fallen for Sam too...
Bras & Broomsticks by Mlynowski : Bras & Broomsticks by Mlynowski Love spells run amok in New York City when high school freshman Rachel asks her younger sister, who is a witch, for magical help in winning the affection of heartthrob Raf Kosravi.
Girl, 15, Charming but Insane : Girl, 15, Charming but Insane Fifteen-year-old Jess, living with her mum, separated from her father in Cornwall, and with a best friend who seems to do everything perfectly, finds her own assets through humor.
Girl, (nearly 16, Absolute Torture
Girl, going on 17, Pants on Fire
Tell it to Naomi by Ehrenhaft : Tell it to Naomi by Ehrenhaft In a harebrained scheme concocted by his neurotic older sister to forge a romantic relationship with the girl of his dreams, fifteen-year-old Dave Rosen pretends to be a female advice columnist for his school newspaper.
Harmless by Reinhardt : Harmless by Reinhardt Anna, Emma and Mariah concoct a story about why they're late getting home one night, a story that will replace their parents' anger with concern. They just have to stand by it. No matter what. Suddenly the police are involved, and the town demands that someone be punished. And then there is the man who is arrested and accused of a crime that never happened.
Just Listen by Dessen : Just Listen by Dessen Isolated from friends who believe the worst because she has not been truthful with them, sixteen-year-old Annabel finds an ally in classmate Owen, whose honesty and passion for music help her to face and share what really happened at the end-of-the-year party that changed her life.
Anything by Jodi Picoult : Anything by Jodi Picoult
Hanging on to Max by Bechard : Hanging on to Max by Bechard When his girlfriend decides to give their baby away, seventeen-year-old Sam is determined to keep him and raise him alone.
The Earth, my Butt, and other Big, Round Things by Mackler : The Earth, my Butt, and other Big, Round Things by Mackler Feeling like she does not fit in with the other members of her family, who are all thin, brilliant, and good-looking, fifteen-year-old Virginia tries to deal with her self-image, her first physical relationship, and her disillusionment with some of the people closest to her.
Chicks with Sticks: it a purl thing by Lenhard : Chicks with Sticks: it a purl thing by Lenhard Four teenage girls from very different social cliques at their progressive Chicago high school become friends after forming a knitting club.
Feathers by Woodson : Feathers by Woodson When a new, white student nicknamed "The Jesus Boy" joins her sixth grade class in the winter of 1971, Frannie's growing friendship with him makes her start to see some things in a new light.
Summer Sherman Loved Me by St. Anthony : Summer Sherman Loved Me by St. Anthony In addition to coping with her changing relationship with her mother, twelve-year-old Margaret spends her summer trying to sort out her feelings for the boy next door who claims to love her.
Key to the Golden Firebird by Johnson : Key to the Golden Firebird by Johnson As three teenaged sisters struggle to cope with their father's sudden death, they find they must reexamine friendships, lifelong dreams, and their relationships with each other and their father.
Fantasy/Science Fiction : Fantasy/Science Fiction
Life as we Knew It by Pfeffer : Life as we Knew It by Pfeffer Through journal entries sixteen-year-old Miranda describes her family's struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.
Lightning Thief by Riordan : Lightning Thief by Riordan Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson learns he is a demigod, the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, god of the sea. His mother sends him to a summer camp for demigods where he and his new friends set out on a quest to prevent a war between the gods.
Sea of Monsters
Titan’s Curse
Everlost by Shusterman : Everlost by Shusterman When Nick and Allie are killed in a car crash, they end up in Everlost, or limbo for lost souls, where although Nick is satisfied, Allie will stop at nothing--even skinjacking--to break free.
Elsewhere by Zenin : Elsewhere by Zenin After fifteen-year-old Liz Hall is hit by a taxi and killed, she finds herself in a place that is both like and unlike Earth, where she must adjust to her new status and figure out how to "live."
Hell Phone by Sleator : Hell Phone by Sleator Seventeen-year-old Nick buys a used cell phone only to call his girlfriend, but strange and desperate people keep calling --one of them a denizen of Hell -- begging for or demanding his help.
Uglies by Westerfeld : Uglies by Westerfeld In Tally's world, a 16th birthday brings an operation, transforming one from a repellent Ugly to an attractive Pretty. Turning Pretty is all Tally has ever wanted. Her friend Shay would rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally must make a terrible choice.
Twilight by Meyer : Twilight by Meyer When seventeen-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington, she meets an exquisitely handsome boy at school for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and who she comes to realize is not wholly human.
Oh my Goth by Showalter : Oh my Goth by Showalter A fierce nonconformist, Jade faces her worst nightmare when she's trapped in a virtual reality game where everyone is goth and she's just one of the crowd.
Alice Hoffman : Alice Hoffman Growing up the daughter of an Amazon queen who shuns her, Rain rebels against the ways of her tribe through her sister-like relationship with Io and her feelings for a boy from a tribe of wanderers.
Haunted by grief and by her past after losing her family in a fire, fifteen-year-old Green retreats into her ruined garden as she struggles to survive emotionally and physically on her own. During the Spanish Inquisition, sixteen-year-old Estrella, brought up a Catholic, discovers her family's true Jewish identity, and when their secret is betrayed by Estrella's best friend, the consequences are tragic.
Dust by Slade : Dust by Slade Eleven-year-old Robert is the only one who can help when a mysterious stranger arrives, performing tricks and promising to bring rain, at the same time children begin to disappear from a dust bowl farm town in Saskatchewan in the 1930s.
Mystery : Mystery
Undercurrents by Roberts : Undercurrents by Roberts Fourteen-year-old Nikki has trouble accepting her new stepmother Crystal, and the problem grows worse when they visit the Northern California house where Crystal lived as a child and experienced some horrible event that she is trying to keep secret.
Shades of Simon Gray by Mc Donald : Shades of Simon Gray by Mc Donald Seventeen-year-old Simon lies in a coma, finding his space and time overlapping with that of a man who was lynched over 200 years ago, while a member of the cheating ring he has been helping wonders if their actions have caused the plagues assaulting their New Jersey town.
Magic Hour by Hannah : Magic Hour by Hannah Julia Cates establishes a tender trusting bond with an abandoned mute girl she calls Alice. Dr. Max Cerasin becomes involved in Alice's case, and Julia is drawn to the handsome, talented physician--yet wary of his mysterious past. When Alice's hopeful future is threatened, Julia and Max must fight for the girl who has taught them what matters most: trust and love.
Invisible by Hautman : Invisible by Hautman Doug and Andy are unlikely best friends--one a loner obsessed by his model trains, the other a popular student involved in football and theater--who grew up together and share a bond that nothing can sever.
Black Taxi by Moloney : Black Taxi by Moloney When teenaged Rosie agrees to take care of her grandfather's Mercedes while he is in jail, she gets more than she bargained for, including being thrust into the middle of a jewel heist mystery and being attracted to a dangerous boy.
Northern Light by Donnelly : Northern Light by Donnelly In 1906, sixteen-year-old Mattie, determined to attend college and be a writer against the wishes of her father and fiance, takes a job at a summer inn where she discovers the truth about the death of a guest. Based on a true story.
Boy Who Couldn’t Die by Sleator : Boy Who Couldn’t Die by Sleator Sixteen-year-old Ken loses his best friend in a plane crash and now he wants to be invulnerable. He finds a psychic who claims she can make him immortal for $50--if he gives up his soul. Ken agrees, but soon realizes that the psychic may be exacting a more sinister payment.
Calling the Swan by Thesman : Calling the Swan by Thesman When Skylar goes to summer school and tentatively begins to make some friends, she finally starts to get over the loss of her older sister and its terrible effects on the whole family.
Missing Abby : Missing Abby As the last one to see thirteen-year-old Abby, Emma is determined to discover the truth about her mysterious disappearance, spurred in part by her feelings of guilt over ending their friendship in order to ensure popularity at her new school.
Sports : Sports
Dairy Queen by Murdock : Dairy Queen by Murdock After spending her summer running the family farm and training the quarterback for her school's rival football team, sixteen-year-old D.J. decides to go out for the sport herself, not anticipating the reactions of those around her.
John Feinstein : John Feinstein
Whale Talk by Crutcher : Whale Talk by Crutcher Intellectually and athletically gifted, TJ, a multiracial, adopted teenager, shuns organized sports and the gung-ho athletes at his high school until he agrees to form a swimming team and recruits some of the school's less popular students. …or anything else by Crutcher.
Mike Lupica : Mike Lupica
Billy Baggs Novels by Weaver : Billy Baggs Novels by Weaver
Edgy : Edgy
Friction by Frank : Friction by Frank When a new girl at the private school Alex attends starts rumors about Alex's favorite teacher, Alex and her eighth-grade classmates are not sure how to act around him or with each other.
Swallowing Stones by McDonald : Swallowing Stones by McDonald Dual perspectives reveal the aftermath of seventeen-year-old Michael MacKenzie's birthday celebration during which he discharges an antique Winchester rifle and unknowingly kills the father of high school classmate Jenna Ward.
When She Hollers by Voight : When She Hollers by Voight Tish, a teenager who has been enduring abuse from her adoptive stepfather since she was a small child, finally decides she must do something to stop him.
Claws by Weaver : Claws by Weaver Jed and Laura, two popular Minnesota high school students, find their seemingly perfect lives suddenly in chaos when they discover that each has a parent who is having an affair with the other
Playing in Traffic by Giles : Playing in Traffic by Giles Multi-pierced, multi-tattooed Skye Colby, a sexy, weird Goth Girl, singles out shy, unremarkable Matt Lathrop. Matt is flattered until he discovers why.
Shattering Glass by Giles : Shattering Glass by Giles When Rob, the charismatic leader of the senior class, turns the school nerd into Prince Charming, his actions lead to unexpected violence.
You Don’t Know Me by Klass : You Don’t Know Me by Klass Fourteen-year-old John creates alternative realities in his mind as he tries to deal with his mother's abusive boyfriend, his crush on a beautiful, but shallow classmate and other problems at school.
Historical Fiction : Historical Fiction
The Grave by Heneghan : The Grave by Heneghan A thirteen-year-old foster child, drawn mysteriously to the site of a mass grave, suddenly finds himself in Ireland in 1847 in the midst of the Potato Famine.
Daniel’s Story by Matas : Daniel’s Story by Matas Follows Daniel, who is fourteen as this story begins, and whose family suffers as the Nazis rise to power in Germany, and as he describes his imprisonment in a concentration camp and his eventual liberation.
Black Duck by Lisle : Black Duck by Lisle Years afterwards, Ruben Hart tells the story of how, in 1929 Newport, Rhode Island, his family and his best friend's family were caught up in the violent competition among groups trying to control the local rum-smuggling trade.
Private Peaceful by Morpurgo : Private Peaceful by Morpurgo 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.
Legend of Bass Reeves by Paulsen : Legend of Bass Reeves by Paulsen Being the true and fictional account of the most valiant marshal in the west.
Boxer by Karr : Boxer by Karr Having learned how to box while in prison, fifteen-year-old Johnny sets out to discover if he can make a decent living as a fighter in late nineteenth-century New York City.
Flames of a Tiger by Wilson : Flames of a Tiger by Wilson As a boy growing up in Germany during Hitler's rise to power, Dieter has been seduced by the pomp and the circumstance of war. But as global hostilities intensify, Dieter is called upon to fight for his country in a conflict that he doesn't fully understand.
Fever 1793 by Anderson : Fever 1793 by Anderson In 1793 Philadelphia, sixteen-year-old Matilda Cook, separated from her sick mother, learns about perseverance and self-reliance when she is forced to cope with the horrors of a yellow fever epidemic.
Copper Sun by Draper : Copper Sun by Draper Two fifteen-year-old girls--one a slave and the other an indentured servant--escape their Carolina plantation and try to make their way to Fort Moses, Florida, a Spanish colony that gives sanctuary to slaves.
Ashes of Roses by Auch : Ashes of Roses by Auch Sixteen-year-old Margaret Rose Nolan, newly arrived from Ireland, finds work at New York City's Triangle Shirtwaist Factory shortly before the 1911 fire in which 146 employees died.
Day of Tears by Lester : Day of Tears by Lester Emma has taken care of the Butler children since Sarah and Frances's mother, Fanny, left. Emma wants to raise the girls to have good hearts, as a rift over slavery has ripped the Butler household apart. Now, to pay off debts, Pierce Butler wants to cash in his slave "assets", possibly including Emma.
Hitch by Ingold : Hitch by Ingold To help his family during the Depression and avoid becoming a drunk like his father, Moss Trawnley joins the Civilian Conservation Corps, helps build a new camp near Monroe, Montana, and leads the other men in making the camp a success .
Truth About Sparrows by Hale : Truth About Sparrows by Hale Twelve-year-old Sadie promises that she will always be Wilma's best friend when their families leaves drought-stricken Missouri in 1933, but once in Texas, Sadie learns that she must try to make a new home--and new friends, too.
Soldier Boys by Hughes : Soldier Boys by Hughes Two boys, one German and one American, are eager to join their respective armies during World War II, and their paths cross at the Battle of the Bulge.
Eyes of the Emperor by Salibury : Eyes of the Emperor by Salibury Following orders from the United States Army, several young Japanese American men train K-9 units to hunt Asians during World War II.
Girl with the Pearl Earring by Chevalier : Girl with the Pearl Earring by Chevalier A maid becomes a model for the 17th century Dutch painter, Vermeer. The woman, an artisan's daughter with a strong power of observation, describes his manner of work, his household and life of the day, including the rigid class system and religious bigotry.
Nonfiction that reads like Fiction : Nonfiction that reads like Fiction
How Angle Peterson Got His Name by Paulsen : How Angle Peterson Got His Name by Paulsen 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.
Smashed: a story of a drunked girlhood by Zailckas : Smashed: a story of a drunked girlhood by Zailckas Koren Zailckas's first person narrative of how "drinking warped her self-image and teenage development," Smashed is "an informed rant against a consumer culture that idealizes the effects of alcohol."
A Brother’s Journey: Surviving a Childhood of Abuse by Pelser : A Brother’s Journey: Surviving a Childhood of Abuse by Pelser The brother of the bestselling author of "A Child Called "It"" reveals the full story of his unspeakable parental abuse.
Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls : Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls Jeannette Walls tells the story about her childhood. She talks about living like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Retreating to the dismal West Virginia mining town--and the family-- her father, Rex Walls, had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents' betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.
I Have Lived 1,000 Years by Jackson : I Have Lived 1,000 Years by Jackson The author describes her experiences during World War II when she and her family were sent to the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz.
I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree by Hillman : I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree by Hillman Hannelore's father is killed in a concentration camp, and her mother and brothers receive notice of their own deportation. Hannelore bravely leaves her Berlin school to join her family, where they endure the hardship of eight labor and concentration camps. Along the way, Hannelore falls in love with Dick Hillman, a Polish prisoner of war, who helps the two of them become part of Oskar Schindler's list of 1,100 Jews taken to safety. However, weeks later Hannelore is alone and facing the crematorium.
Hana’s Suitcase by Levine : Hana’s Suitcase by Levine A biography of a Czech girl who died in the Holocaust, told in alternating chapters with an account of how the curator of a Japanese Holocaust center learned about her life after Hana's suitcase was sent to her.
Caught by the Sea by Paulsen : Caught by the Sea by Paulsen Gary Paulsen, author of Hatchet and other adventure novels, tells about his lifelong love of sailing, boats he has owned, and the storms, sharks, and peaceful lagoons he has experienced on his voyages.
King of the Mild Frontier by Crutcher : King of the Mild Frontier by Crutcher Chris Crutcher, author of young adult novels such as "Ironman" and "Whale Talk," as well as short stories, tells of growing up in Cascade, Idaho, and becoming a writer.
Bad Boy by Myers : Bad Boy by Myers From bad boy to role model, Myers recalls growing up in Harlem in the 1940s and 1950s, when seeing Langston Hughes and Sugar Ray Robinson on the street was the norm and Jackie Robinson ruled the baseball field.
Poetry Fiction : Poetry Fiction
Shakespeare Bats Clean Up by Koertge : Shakespeare Bats Clean Up by Koertge 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.
Almost Forever by Testa : Almost Forever by Testa In a ballad, a prose poem, a young girl describes what she, her brother, and their mother do during the year that her doctor father is serving in the Army in Vietnam.
Worlds Afire by Janeczko : Worlds Afire by Janeczko In this collection of eyewitness poems, the excitement and anticipation of attending the circus on July 6, 1944 in Hartford, Connecticut, turns to horror when a fire engulfs the circus tent, killing nearly 170 people, mostly women and children.
Things Left Unsaid by Hemphill : Things Left Unsaid by Hemphill After a lifetime of conforming to the image of what her parents and high school friends want her to be, Sarah must come to terms with her own identity when her destructive best friend tries to commit suicide. Told in the form of free-verse poems.
Sonya Sones : Sonya Sones
A Day in the Life of a Teen : A Day in the Life of a Teen
Sleeping Freshman Never Lie by Lubar : Sleeping Freshman Never Lie by Lubar While navigating his first year of high school and awaiting the birth of his new baby brother, Scott loses old friends and gains some unlikely new ones as he hones his skills as a writer.
Overboard by Fama : Overboard by Fama Escaping from a sinking ferry in the waters off Sumatra, fourteen-year-old Emily fights for survival for herself and a young Indonesian boy, who draws courage from his quiet but firm Islamic faith.
Oddballs by Strasser : Oddballs by Strasser A collection of stories based on experience from the author's youth and peopled with an unusual assortment of family and friends.
Birdland by Mack : Birdland by Mack Fourteen-year-old, tongue-tied Jed spends Christmas break working on a school project filming a documentary about his East Village, New York City, neighborhood, where he is continually reminded of his older brother, Zeke, a promising poet who died the year before.
The Wave by Strasser : The Wave by Strasser Presents a fictionalization of a real experiment at a California high school in which a history teacher started a fascist youth movement in an effort to show his students that the Holocaust could indeed happen again.
Seeing Emily by Lee Wong : Seeing Emily by Lee Wong Relates in free verse the experiences of sixteen-year-old Emily, a gifted artist and the daughter of immigrants to the United States, as she tries to reconcile her American self with her Chinese heritage.