Sam is almost 11 when he discovers a locked box in the attic above his grandfather Mack's room, and a piece of paper that says he was kidnapped. There are lots of other words, but Sam has always had trouble reading.
From the day a horse stepped on her tiny foot and crippled her, Oyuna's life has been intertwined with these animals.
For older, horror-loving teens: a blank-verse horror tale about werewolves in Los Angeles.
This slight novel tells of near 13-year-old Georgia, still grieving the loss of her mother six years before. An anonymous benefactor gives her a museum membership, hoping that her love of art will be the cure for her sadness.
At-risk teenagers congregate at a safe house, and we gradually learn what brought each of them there—an unplanned pregnancy, harassment about sexual orientation, and an unloving foster parent.
Mexican-American poet Herrera wrote one of the first novels in verse for the teen audience. Sixteen-year old Cesar is the son of migrant workers, and he shares his coming-of-age experiences.
Hopkins has become the leading author of novels in verse, mainly due to her gritty, unflinching subject matter. Crank, her first novel, deals with Kristina/Bree and her addiction to crystal meth.
When Ruby's mother dies, she must move to California to live with her movie-star father, who she doesn't really know. Though, she's determined to hate her rich famous father and she misses her old life in Boston, she comes to accept her new life.
Studious LaVaughn, 14, decides to earn extra money by babysitting for a child whose mother, Jolly, is only a bit older than LaVaughn herself. LaVaughn gradually comes to respect Jolly and eventually the two become friends.
This ripped-from-the-headlines story tells of a teenage surfer girl whose arm gets bitten off by a shark. As she recovers, she finds she doesn't like being identified as "the shark girl" and just wants to resume her normal life.