1)
Anderson, Laurie Halse. The
Impossible Knife of Memory. Viking Juvenile. 978-0670012091. After being on
the road for five years, Hayley Rose Kincaid and her father Andy have finally
settled in a small town where Hayley will attend school full time and hopes to
find a normal life, but both Hayley and her war hero father live with the
constant pain of PTSD. Hayley says,
"It was enough to make me want to flee into the mountains and live out my
life as a hermit, as long as I could find a hideaway that had a decent public library
within walking distance.
2)
Bascomb, Neal. The Nazi Hunters.
2013. Arthur A. Levine Books. 9780545430999. The hunt for Adolf Eichmann, Nazi
leader responsible for organizing the deportation and extermination of millions
of Holocaust victims. Includes
background information about Eichmann and the establishment of Israel and the
Israeli Mosad. Winner of the 2014 Excellence in Nonfiction Award.
3)
Binns, Barbara A. Minority of One. AllTheColorsofLove Press. 9780988182127.
Sheila
is the new kid in town while is Neill is an openly gay orphan with an
ex-boyfriend who has gone straight.
Sheila’s father ran an international Ponzi scheme that cheated hundreds
of their money. While Neil wants to become a teacher, Neill’s brother wants him
to become a doctor like him. Both Sheila and Neill are struggling to find
happiness—and then they are confronted with a mystery that will break them or
make them stronger. Barbara Binns is one
of the featured authors at this year’s OELMA conference. GLBTSA (Gay, Lesbian,
Bi-sexual, Transgender, and Straight Alliance). Reluctant readers.
4)
Casella, Jody. Thin Space.
Simon
Pulse/Beyond Words. 978-1582703923. Marshall Windsor is devastated over the
loss of his twin brother in a car accident where Marsh was the driver. Marsh has been trapped in a foggy haze of
grief and remorse since that fateful night. The tension builds as Marsh
frantically searches for that sliver of space between the living and the dead
to meet up with Austin once again and make things right. Identical twins often switch places so all
Marsh has to do is convince Austin to switch places with him one more
time. Buy multiple copies of this
supernatural thriller! Jody Casella is one of the Ohio authors featured at this
year’s OELMA conference.
5)
Chan, Crystal. Bird. Bound
Galley. 9781442478794. Nothing matters
but Bird, the five year old brother who died on her birth date. Twelve year old
Jewel constantly lives in the shadow of Bird in a house filled with anger,
superstition, emotional pain, and personal demons, Jewel must try to find her
place in the world. When she suddenly
meets a boy who is visiting his uncle and coincidentally has her dead brother’s
name, the world crashes in. Readers will empathize with the constant
bewilderment and heartbreaking loss felt by Jewel who just wants a normal
family.
6)
Chiaverini, Jennifer. Mrs. Lincoln’s
Rival. Dutton. 978-0-525-95428-6.
Kate Chase is the beautiful, well-educated, and politically savvy daughter of
the Presidential hopeful and member of Lincoln’s cabinet, Salmon P. Chase.
Described as the “most brilliant woman of her day,” Kate established a salon in
their home to rival all others, becoming the queen of Washington political
society, but gaining the jealousy and enmity of the infamous Mrs. Mary Todd
Lincoln. Kate married William Sprague, the governor of Rhode Island, only to
courageously divorce him after 20+ years of his alcoholic abuse and
infidelities, even legally reclaiming the Chase name. Historical fiction.
7)
Culbertson, Kim. Catch A Falling Star. Point (Scholastic) 978-0-545-62704-7. During the summer before her senior year,
Carter Moon expects to spend a relaxing summer hanging out with her friends and
working at her parents’ restaurant. Her
plans are disrupted by the arrival of a movie company with star and teenage
heart throb Adam Jakes. When she is hired by the company to act as Adam’s
girlfriend during the shoot to help clean up Adam’s nightmare image, Carter
must decide what’s real and what’s for the rolling cameras. Released on April
29, 2014.
8)
Fantaskey, Beth. Buzz Kill. HMH
Books. 9780547393100. While investigating a story for her high school paper Millie
stumbles upon a dead body, the head football coach and her dad the mayor is the
main suspect. Millie, a Nancy Drew fan, decides she is going to solve who
really murdered the coach. Fun, light mystery.
9)
Ford, Gabrielle with Sarah Thomson. Gabe & Izzy: Standing Up For America’s
Bullied. Puffin Books.
978-0-8037-4062-4. Gabrielle Ford lived
a normal until the age of 13 when she was diagnosed with the rare Friedreich’s
Ataxia, a life-threatening disease of the nervous system. This book is for the
bullied, the bully, a witness to bullying, or dog lovers in general as Gabe
takes her story on the road.
10)
Grant, AnnaLisa. The Lake. Layla has been orphaned twice and is once
again relocating, this time from Florida to North Carolina to live with her
unknown aunt and uncle. Although the main character, Layla Weston, is a 17 year
old senior, the content and the situations of this book are very appropriate
for a freshman. She falls in love with the first boy she meets in this simple
romance. First book in the Lake Trilogy. Reluctant readers. FREE DOWNLOAD FROM
AMAZON.
11)
Johnson, Jaleigh. The Mark of the
Dragonfly. Delacorte Books. 9780385376150. A new steampunkish fantasy set
in an alternate world. Piper is trying to survive and save as much money as she
can to get out of the Meteor Fields and move to Dragonfly territory to revenge
her dad’s death. The last meteor storm brings her more trouble than she ever
bargained for and now she is on the run with a young woman who can’t remember
who she is or how she got to the fields.
12)
Kerr, Philip. The Winter Horses. Alfred A. Knopf. 978-0-385-75544-3. Kalinka’s entire family has been killed by
the Nazis; she has barely survived the horrors and the dangers of 1941 as she
wanders through the Ukraine trying to keep one step ahead of the Germans. On
her way, she is befriended by two Przewalski’s horses, a rare and almost
extinct breed of wild horse from Mongolia, who are also being hunted by the
Nazis. Middle school girls who love
horses will especially appreciate this story. Holocaust literature.
13)
Longshore,
Katherine. Manor of Secrets. Point Press. 9780545567589. Charlotte is
bored with tea parties and banal talk about the weather. Janie is fine with her
position downstairs in the kitchen. Their lives intersect when Charlotte
challenges the boundaries between the upstairs and the downstairs.
14)
Miranda, Megan. Vengeance. Bloomsburyteens.
978-0-8027-3503-4. Falcon Lake is not one to forgive and forget or give up its
dead. In Fracture, Delaney was
rescued from Falcon Lake; the Lake had reluctantly given her up but grabbed
another. Now the Lake is searching for another. When Decker’s dad dies and
Decker realizes that Delaney knew but did not tell him, he can’t seem to
forgive her. Language.
15)
Oppel, Kenneth. Boundless. Simon
& Schuster Books. 9781442472884. Will and his father take the maiden voyage
on the biggest train ever built, Boundless. As the train heads west across
Canada Will witnesses a murder and to stop the next murder, his own, he hooks
up with the circus troupe hooked to train.
16)
Patterson, James. First Love.
Little, Brown, and Co. 9780316239998. Axi is a good girl. She doesn’t skip
class or cheat but she also knows she is running out of time with her best
friend Robinson. Axi decides it is time to take the trip of a lifetime with
Robinson and out they head on the next great adventure. Will it be her last and
will Robinson ever find out she is in love with him?
17)
Philbrick, Rodman. Zane and the
Hurricane: a story of Katrina. Blue Sky Press. The very first time Zane
visits his long lost Great Grandmother, Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans. He
and his dog Bandy are stranded in Ward Nine when the wind and rain kick in.
Short quick chapters. Middle school appropriate.
18)
Prestsater, Julie. So I’m A Double
Threat. Freshman Megan Miller and her three best buddies are super excited
to start high school and experience everything it offers, especially when they
make it into the IN crowd by being both smart and popular. Unfortunately, they
hadn’t figured on the daily angst involved in high school life. Language and realistic situations. Reluctant
readers. (First book in Double Threat Series) FREE DOWNLOAD FROM AMAZON.
19)
Ross, Elizabeth. Belle Epoque.
2013. Delacorte Books for Young Readers. 9780385741460. Maude wants to escape
her small village for a new life in Paris but once she arrives she finds that
it is not as easy to make a living as she thought. To survive Maude answers an
ad for a position at the Durandeau Agency and ends up chosen to be the “plain
friend” to a young woman of society.
20)
Scott, Victoria. Fire & Flood.
Scholastic. 978-0-545-53746-9. Hoping to improve her brother’s failing health
from a mysterious illness, Tella Holloway’s family moves from Boston to the
middle of nowhere in Montana. But someone has found Tella in the middle of
nowhere and sent her a mysterious blue box with an invitation to be a Contender
in the three month Brimstone Bleed, a race through the four ecosystems of the desert,
ocean, mountains, and jungle. Tella would give anything to see her brother
healthy again and now she has that chance as the winner will receive a cure for
any disease for any one single person. For
fans of The Hunger Games.
Released March 25, 2014.
21)
Sheinkin, Steve. The Port Chicago 50:
Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights. Roaring Brook Press.
9781596439832. During World War II,
African American soldiers were allowed to be in the military, but they weren’t
allowed to have jobs other than in the kitchen. They were not allowed in
combat, though their bravery had been proven over and over again. After a
disastrous explosion in Port Chicago (in California) killed more than 300 servicemen
and when survivors were transferred to a new base, 244 servicemen refused to
work unless unsafe and unfair conditions were addressed. The Navy called
this mutiny. 194 backed down. 50 did not. Descendants are
still trying to clear their ancestors’ names. Impeccably researched and
sourced.
22)
Smith, Lindsay. Sekret. Roaring
Brook Press/Macmillan Children's. 9781596438927. It is the 1960s the Cold War
is as cold as ever. Kennedy is in office. Khrushchev is head of the Soviet
Union and the space race is on. One day Yulia comes back from trading at the
market to find her mother and brother have vanished and the KGB wants to use
her for her psychic skills. She along with a small group of teens with psychic
ability are thrust into the world of espionage, betrayal and devastating power. First book in the Sekret trilogy.
23)
Strasser, Todd. No Place. Simon
& Schuster. 9781442457218. Dan seems to have it all. He is a star on the
high school baseball team, has a popular girlfriend and some great friends. His
life turns upside down when his family loses their house and end up homeless
living in the town’s tent city, Dignityville. High school readers.
24)
Tougias, Michael J. & Casey Sherman. The Finest Hours: The True Story of a
Heroic Sea Rescue. Henry Holt &
Co. 978-0-8050-9764-1. In 1952, two oil tankers collided off the coast of New
England. In a tiny rowboat, four members of the Coast Guard set out to rescue
anyone they can find in one of the worst storms of the century. They end up rescuing 30 people in a death-defying
struggle. This middle school adaptation of the original nonfiction book will be
made into a major motion picture by Disney Studios. Middle school readers.
25)
Winters, Cat. In the Shadow of
Blackbirds. 2013. Amulet Books. 9781419705304. Mary Shelley Black’s world
is in chaos; her father has been arrested for treason, her childhood sweetheart
is in Europe fighting in WWI, the Spanish Flu has already taken thousands of
lives and now she is on her way to San Francisco to stay with her aunt. Mary’s
life in San Francisco is filled with ghosts, séances and possible murder. The
black and white photos included in the book are haunting.
26)
Yocum, Robin. The Essay. Arcade Publishing. 978-1-61145-766-7. James
Leland Hickam comes from a long line of social outcasts known for their
exploits on the wrong side of the law. Because of that history, Jimmy Lee is so
low in the social strata that he’s not considered “white trash.” He’s a dogger,
a resident of Red Dog Road that leads to the county’s dump. Raised by parents who
are appallingly nonchalant in their neglect, Jimmy Lee only has hopes of being
the first of his family to possibly graduate from high school and finding a
steady job in the mines of Vinton County. School is not important because it
leads nowhere, just like his life and the lives of everyone around him.
Students who liked The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman
Alexie will be mesmerized by this tautly written, powerful, and insightful
book. Language. Highly recommended. Robin Yocum is one of
Ohio’s featured authors at this year’s OELMA conference.
