J Fiction

The Dunderheads
Paul Fleischman; illustrated by David Roberts
J FIC FLE

When Miss Breakbone confiscates Junkyard's crucial find, Wheels, Pencil, Spider, and the rest of the Dunderheads plot to teach her a lesson.

subjects: teachers

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
Jacqueline Kelly
J FIC KEL

In central Texas in 1899, eleven-year-old Callie Vee Tate is instructed to be a lady by her mother, learns about love from the older three of her six brothers, and studies the natural world with her grandfather, the latter of which leads to an important discovery.

subjects: nature, family life, grandfathers, Texas--history--19th century--fiction

Heart of a Shepherd
Roseanne Parry
J FIC PAR

Ignatius "Brother" Alderman, nearly twelve, promises to help his grandparents keep the family's Oregon ranch the same while his brothers are away and his father is deployed to Iraq, but as he comes to accept the inevitability of change, he also sees the man he is meant to be.

subjects: ranch life--Oregon, responsibility, Christian life, Iraq War, 2003

Invisible Lines
Mary Amato
J FIC AMA

Coming from a poor, single-parent family, seventh-grader Trevor must rely on his intelligence, artistic ability, quick wit, and soccer prowess to win friends at his new Washington, D.C. school, but popular and rich Xander seems determined to cause him trouble.

subjects: social classes, middle schools, moving, single-parent families

The Lost Conspiracy
Frances Hardinge
J FIC HAR

When a lie is exposed and their tribe turns against them, Hathin must find a way to save her sister Arilou--once considered the tribe's oracle--and herself.

subjects: sisters, fantasy

Love, Aubrey
Suzanne LaFleur
J FIC LAF

While living with her Gram in Vermont, eleven-year-old Aubrey writes letters as a way of dealing with losing her father and sister in a car accident, and then being abandoned by her grief-stricken mother.

subjects: abandoned children, grief, letters, grandmothers, friendship

Mike Stellar: Nerves of Steel
K.A. Holt
J SCF HOL

Mike is suspicious when his family joins an expedition to Mars at the last minute, and his fears are confirmed when all of the adults on the colonizing mission, including his parents, begin to act strangely.

subjects: space flight to Mars, cyborgs, Planets--Environmental engineering--Fiction, space colonies, family life

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg
Rodman Philbrick
J FIC PHI

Twelve-year-old Homer, a poor but clever orphan, has extraordinary adventures after running away from his evil uncle to rescue his brother, who has been sold into service in the Civil War.

subjects: adventures, brothers, orphans, United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Fiction

The Red Blazer Girls: The Ring of Rocamadour
Michael D. Beil
J M BEI

Catholic-schooled seventh-graders Sophie, Margaret, Rebecca, and Leigh Ann help an elderly neighbor solve a puzzle her father left for her estranged daughter twenty years ago.

subjects: puzzles, friendship, mystery and detective stories

Return to Sender
Julia Alvarez
J FIC ALV

After his family hires migrant Mexican workers to help save their Vermont farm from foreclosure, eleven-year-old Tyler befriends the oldest daughter, but when he discovers they may not be in the country legally, he realizes that real friendship knows no borders.

subjects: farm life, friendship, migrant workers, illegal aliens

Slob
Ellen Potter
J FIC POT

Picked on, overweight genius Owen tries to invent a television that can see the past to find out what happened the day his parents were killed.

subjects: overweight persons, grief, brothers and sisters, inventions

The Small Adventure of Popeye & Elvis
Barbara O'Connor
J FIC OCO

In Fayette, South Carolina, the highlight of Popeye's summer is learning vocabulary words with his grandmother until a motor home gets stuck nearby and Elvis, the oldest boy living inside, joins Popeye in finding the source of strange boats floating down the creek.

subjects: Friendship, adventure, grandmothers, dogs

The Well Between the Worlds
Sam Llewellyn
J FIC LLE

Eleven-year-old Idris Limpet, living with his family in the once noble but now evil and corrupt island country of Lyonesse, finds his life taking a dramatic turn when, after a near-drowning incident, he is accused of being allied to the feared sea monsters and is rescued from a death sentence by a mysterious and fearsome stranger.

subjects: Fantasy

When You Reach Me
Rebecca Stead
J FIC STE

As her mother prepares to be a contestant on the 1980s television game show, "The $20,000 Pyramid," a twelve-year-old New York City girl tries to make sense of a series of mysterious notes received from an anonymous source that seems to defy the laws of time and space.

subjects: Space and time, New York (NY)

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
Grace Lin
J FIC LIN

Minli, an adventurous girl from a poor village, buys a magical goldfish, and then joins a dragon who cannot fly on a quest to find the Old Man of the Moon in hopes of bringing life to Fruitless Mountain and freshness to Jade River.

subjects: fairy tales, dragons, moon