Bodett, Tom Norman Tuttle On The Last Frontier {GL 7-12} -- Alfred A. Knopf : 11/2004, 192p 0679890319 $15.95
Episodes in the life of Alaskan teenager, Norman Tuttle, as he grows from ages thirteen to fifteen, falls in love for the first time, and deepens his relationship with his father.
Boyce, Frank Cottrell Millions {GL 3-7,-Fic-} -- HarperCollins : 8/2004, 144p 0060733314 $16.88
First published in the U.K.: London : Macmillan Children's Books, 2004. It was a one-in-a-million chance--bag of cash falls out of the air right at Damian's feet. Suddenly the Cunningham brothers can buy anything they want but they have only seventeen days to spend all the money before it becomes worthless.
Choldenko, Gennifer Al Capone Does My Shirts {GL 6-9,-Fic-} -- G.P. Putnam's Sons : 3/2004, 240p 0399238611 $15.99
A twelve-year-old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 when guards' families were housed there, and has to contend with his extraordinary new environment in addition to life with his autistic sister.
Colfer, Eoin The Legend Of Spud Murphy{GL 2-6,-Fic-} -- Hyperion Press : 9/2004, 96p 0786855010 $12.95
When their mother starts dropping them off at the library several afternoons a week, nine-year-old William and his brother dread boredom and the overbearing librarian, but they are surprised at how things turn out.
Creech, Sharon Heartbeat {GL 3-7,-Fic-} -- HarperCollins : 3/2004, 192p
0060540222 $15.99
Twelve-year-old Annie ponders the many rhythms of life during the year that her mother becomes pregnant, her grandfather begins faltering, and her best friend becomes distant.
Curtis, Christopher Paul Bucking The Sarge{GL 7-12,-Fic-} -- Wendy Lamb Books : 9/2004, 144p 0385323077 $15.95
If Luther wins the science fair this year, he'll be on track for college and a future as America's best-known and best-loved philosopher. All he's got to do is beat Shayla Patrick, archrival and love of his life.
Farmer, Nancy The Sea Of Trolls {GL 5-8,-Fic-} -- Atheneum : 9/2004, 480p
0689867441 $17.95
In A.D. 793 Jack and his sister Lucy are enslaved by Olaf One-Brow and swept into a hilarious adventure-quest involving a willful mother dragon, a giant spider, a troll-bear, a shape-shifting half-troll, and several full-time trolls.
Gutman, Dan Miss Daisy Is Crazy{GL 2-5,-Fic-} -- Harpertrophy : 7/2004, 96p 0060507012 $15.89
Miss Daisy's unusual teaching methods surprise her second grade students, especially reluctant learner A.J.
Gutman, Dan Mr. Klutz Is Nuts! {GL 2-5,-Fic-} -- Harpertrophy : 7/2004, 112p <My Weird School; v.2> 0060507039 $15.89
A skateboarding principal offers unusual incentives to his students to motivate them to learn more.
Gutman, Dan Mrs. Roopy Is Loopy! {GL 2-5,-Fic-} -- Harpercollins: 9/2004, 96p <My Weird School; v.3> 0060507055 $15.89
A. J. and his classmates are convinced that new school librarian, Mrs. Roopy, has multiple personality disorder because she keeps pretending to be famous people.
Hannigan, Katherine Ida B: . . .And Her Plans To Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, And (Possibly) Save The World{GL 4-6,-Fic-} -- Greenwillow : 9/2004, 176p
0060730250 $16.89
In this debut novel, Hannigan introduces readers to Ida B, a feisty, free-spirited fourth grader who must face her mother getting cancer, having to forego home-schooling, and getting new neighbors all in one year.
Ibbotson, Eva The Star Of Kazan {GL 6-12,-Fic-} -- Dutton : 10/2004, 336p
0525473475 $16.99
Map on endpapers. After twelve-year-old Annika, a foundling living in late nineteenth-century Vienna, inherits a trunk of costume jewelry, a woman claiming to be her aristocratic mother arrives and takes her to live in a decrepit mansion in Germany.
Juby, Susan Miss Smithers{GL 8 and up,-Fic-} -- HarperTempest : 5/2004, 336p
0060515465 $15.99
Sixteen-year-old Alice MacLeod's life as an outcast begins to change when she experiments with being friends with different sorts of people, tries drinking alcohol and eating meat, and competes in the Miss Smithers beauty pageant.
Kelly, Katy Lucy Rose: Here's The Thing About Me{GL 3-7,-Fic-} -- Delacorte : 9/2004, 144p 0385732031 $12.95
Eight-year-old Lucy Rose keeps a diary of her first year in Washington, D.C., her home since her parents' separation. There she spends time with her grandparents and makes new friends.
Konigsburg, E. L. The Outcasts Of 19 Schuyler Place {GL 4-8,-Fic-} -- Atheneum : 2/2004, 304p 0689866364 $16.95
Margaret Rose Kane from SILENT TO THE BONE tells the story of the summer she was twelve and, while staying with her great uncles, fought to preserve three giant towers of scrap metal that the two brothers had been building for 45 years.
Limb, Sue Girl, 15, Charming But Insane{GL 5-12,-Fic-} -- Delacorte Press : 8/2004, 224p 0385732147 $15.95
First published: Great Britain : Bloomsbury, 2004. 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.
Marchetta, Melina Saving Francesca{GL 7-12,-Fic-} -- Alfred A. Knopf : 10/2004, 240p 0375829822 $15.95
Originally published: Australia : Penguin Books Australia, 2003. Francesca has enough trouble trying to adjust to her new school when her mother becomes too depressed to get out of bed. Francesca realizes how much she depends on her mother, but then she starts to rely on herself.
Mass, Wendy Leap Day{GL 8-12,-Fic-} -- Little Brown : 2/2004, 224p
0316537284 $16.99
On her fourth Leap birthday, when she turns sixteen, Josie has a number of momentous experiences, including taking her driver's test, auditioning for a school play, and celebrating with her family and friends.
Mc Kay, Hilary Indigo's Star {GL 3-7,823.914} -- McElderry : 9/2004, 272p
0689865635 Sequel to: Saffy's angel. First published: Great Britain : Hodder Children's Books, 2003. In this sequel to SAFFY'S ANGEL, Saffy's brother Indigo is returning to school after missing an entire term due to illness. He dreads having to deal with the school bullies again but hadn't counted on having an ally in new student Tom
Mercado, Nancy Ed. Tripping Over The Lunch Lady And Other School Stories {GL 5-8,-Fic-} -- Dial Books : 7/2004, 192p 0803728735 $16.99
This title is an anthology of ten humorous short stories about life in school, written by well-known authors of children's books.
Moriarty, Jaclyn The Year Of Secret Assignments{GL 7-12,-Fic-} -- Arthur A. Levine : 1/2004 0439498813 $16.95
*Diary entries, rude graffiti, hate mail, love letters, revenge plots, date plans, notes between friends, and famous last words. A high school pen pal program designed to bring together students from two different schools does not go quite as planned. The secrets and lies of the pen pals set off a war between the schools.
Peck, Richard The Teacher's Funeral: A Comedy In Three Parts {GL 5-12,-Fic-} -- Dial : 10/2004, 208p 0803727364 $16.99
In rural Indiana in 1904, fifteen-year-old Russell's dreams of quitting school and joining a wheat-threshing crew are disrupted when his older sister takes over the teaching at his one-room schoolhouse after mean old Myrt Arbuckle dies.
Philbrick, Rodman The Young Man And The Sea {GL 4-7,-Fic-} -- Blue Sky : 1/2004, 160p 0439368294 $16.95
After his mother's death, twelve-year-old Skiff Beaman decides that it is up to him to earn money to take care of himself and his father. He undertakes a dangerous trip alone out on the ocean to try to catch a huge bluefin tuna.
Schmidt, Gary D. Lizzie Bright And The Buckminster Boy{GL 6-12,-Fic-} -- Clarion : 5/2004, 224p 0618439293 $15.00
No one in town lets Turner Buckminster forget that he's a minister's son, even if he doesn't act like one. But then he meets Lizzie Bright Griffin, a smart and sassy girl from a nearby island community founded by former slaves.
Shusterman, Neal The Schwa Was Here {GL 6-12} -- Dutton : 10/2004
0525471820 $15.99
A Brooklyn eighth-grader nicknamed Antsy befriends the Schwa, an "invisible-ish" boy who is tired of blending into his surroundings and going unnoticed by nearly everyone.
Weeks, Sarah So B. It{GL 5-12,-Fic-} -- HarperCollins : 6/2004, 256p
0066236223 $15.99
After spending her life with her mentally handicapped mother and agoraphobic neighbor, twelve-year-old Heidi sets out from Reno, Nevada, to New York to find out who she is.
Westerfeld, Scott So Yesterday {GL 7-12,-Fic-} -- Razorbill : 9/2004, 256p
159514000X $16.99
Hunter Braque, a New York City teenager who is paid by corporations to spot what is "cool," combines his analytical skills with girlfriend Jen's creative talents to find a missing person and thwart a conspiracy directed at consumers.
Selected by Sue Rokos, Youth Services Consultant, MVLS
Annotations courtesy of BWI TitleTales, www.bwibooks.com