My Side by Norah McClintock

My Side by Norah McClintock

This book was impossible to put down.  Told from both Addie and Neely's point of view, this is a mean girl story.  Addie is shy and quiet.  Neely is her only friend.  Until they reach high school, the girls do a lot together.  Once in high school, Neely is trying to impress the popular girls. Addie becomes the butt of a cruel and damaging prank.  Once the video is emailed to everyone, Addie struggles to come back to school.  Great read and less than 130 pages!

White Zone by Carolyn Marsden

White Zone by Carolyn Marsden

Two cousins, Nouri and Talib, are tangled in the religious strife in Iraq in 2008 between the Sunnis and the Shiites.  The cousins are torn in this war, dealing with normal teen issues of bullying and fitting in. When one of the boys has to move away, the cousins look toward an Iraq where they were both were equal and friends. The story, based on true events, relays the strength of family and the bonds of loyalty to your roots. Marsden tells the story from each boys' perspective, allowing readers inside the character to know how each one feels.

Sure Signs of Crazy by Karen Harrington

Sure Signs of Crazy by Karen Harrington

Sarah Nelson and her father have spent the past decade moving from place to place.  When people find out about their past, it is difficult for Sarah and her father to face the public.  Sarah's mother, locked in a psychiatric facility, attempted to kill both Sarah and her twin brother when they were three years old.  Successful in drowning her brother, Sarah's mother is deemed mentally unfit.  Sarah is fearful she will "become crazy" like her mother.  As she comes of age, she bonds with her "babysitter" for the summer, a college student home for the summer, and comes to reconcile her fears about being discovered as the child who survived.

Boys Without Names by Kashmira Sheth

Boys Without Names by Kashmira Sheth

In the struggle to survive, Gopal and his family must leave their Indian Village.  By promising their farm to the loan shark of the village, Gopal's father becomes indebted to the man with no way out.  Fleeing the village in the middle of the night, the family becomes separated from their father.  Finally in Mumbai, Gopal leaves his uncle's house to find a way to help out his family financially and to find his missing father. Tricked into a job in which he is locked down in an attic with other boys who have been sold into child slavery. Forbidden to talk or tell each other their names, the boys wonder if they will be able to get out and see their families again?  

Bystander by James Preller

Bystander by James Preller

Eric is the new kid in 7th grade.  When you are the new kid, it is hard to know who to make friends with. Eric begins to hang out with a group of friends led by cool and confident, Griffin. Griffin seems to be in the middle of all the bad things. Tangled in this web, Eric sees Griffin for who he is and what he can do. Eric uncovers the truth about Griffin, a liar and bully, but will he discover it too late?

Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher

Sarah Byrnes has issues.  Her friend Eric also has issues.  Sarah was burned when she was a little girl leaving her with horrible scars.  Eric has emotional scars from his childhood of being a "fat kid".  Thrown together because of their "issues", Eric and Sarah are truly the best of friends.  After her mother up and leaves, Sarah lives with her father.  The novel begins with Eric visiting Sarah in a hospital where she is refusing to speak to anyone.  A swim team member, Eric works out on a daily basis, losing his extra weight.  Sarah on the other hand cannot lose her scars.  Eric, a journalist of the high school's underground newspaper, must uncover the truth behind Sarah's refusal to speak, why her father doesn't want her to speak, and the true reasons behind her mother's disappearance.  Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher not only highlights the friendship between these two characters, but also keeps the reader in suspense not knowing the turn of events at the novel.  This novel is young adult due to mature content and violence.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Peer pressure can make you do crazy things.  In Speak, the main character, Melinda, attends the 8th grade end of the year party where her friends are drinking.  Melinda calls the cops, says nothing, and they trace the call, breaking it up.  Oblivious to the reasons behind the call, her friends refuse to speak to her because they think she ratted them out.  But that's okay.  Melinda isn't talking at all--to anyone. She has built up her walls and walks around school, aching for her friends, unable to face the reality of what has happened.  Melinda's parents are concerned while her teachers are both concerned and frustrated.  In this realistic fiction novel, Laurie Halse Anderson delivers a reality of secrets, shame and coping strategies.  Not only should students read this book, but teachers, counselors, parents, EVERYONE should read this book.  We all know a Melinda.  Readers will be shocked at the ending.  Speak is classified as young adult for mature content and mild language.  Made for t.v. movie complete with Kristen Stewart, lead actress in Twilight and comedic actor, Steve Zahn.