Nonfiction
Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad
By M. T. Anderson
An account of the Siege of Leningrad reveals the role played by Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich and
his Leningrad Symphony in rallying and commemorating their fellow citizens
We Will Not Be Silent: the White Rose Student Resistance Movement that Defied Adolf Hitler
By Russell Freedman
Russell Freedman tells the story of Austrian-born Hans Scholl and his sister Sophie. They belonged to Hitler
Youth as young children, but began to doubt the Nazi regime. As older students, the Scholls and a few friends
formed the White Rose, a campaign of active resistance to Hitler and the Nazis. Risking imprisonment or
even execution, the White Rose members distributed leaflets urging Germans to defy the Nazi government.
Their belief that freedom was worth dying for will inspire young readers to stand up for what they believe in.
Spies of the Civil War: an Interactive History Adventure
By Michael Burgan
The United States has been torn in half by the war between North and South. It is vital for an army to know
what the enemy is doing-and perhaps spread false information as well. Spying is risky if you are caught. Still,
it is worth it to help win the war. Will you: *Become a member of the Pinkerton Detective Agency to spy for
the North? *Be a wealthy Southern woman spying for the Confederacy in Washington D.C.' *Be a free black
man traveling into the South to spy for the Union? You Choose offers multiple perspectives on history
In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives
By Kenneth Davis
Six criminal outcasts are tasked with rescuing a missing scientist from an impenetrable fortress in the frozen
north. If they succeed, they will be rich beyond imagining. If they fail, they die.
The Port Chicago 50
By Steve Sheinkin
Some black sailors who joined the military to fight in WWII were relegated to moving equipment and
explosives instead. After 320 of their fellow servicemen died in an explosion, 50 sailors faced harsh
treatment and racism when they refused to work until safety conditions were improved.
Samurai Rising: The Epic Life of Minamoto Yoshitsune
By Pamula Turner
Chronicles the life and career of samurai Minamoto Yoshitsune, discussing his exile as a child, running away
as a teenager, becoming a military genius and more.
Biography/Autobiography
Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen
By Jazz Jennings
An autobiography of Jazz Jennings in which she shares her experiences of transitioning for male to female
and becoming an advocate for transgender youth.
Laughing at My Nightmare
By Shane Burcaw
Shane Burcaw describes the challenges he faces as a twenty-one-year-old with spinal muscular atrophy.
From awkward handshakes to having a girlfriend and everything in between, Shane handles his situation
with humor and a "you-only-live-once" perspective on life.
Historical & Realistic Fiction
Paper Hearts
By Meg Wiviolt
Amid the brutality of Auschwitz during the Holocaust, a forbidden gift helps two teenage girls find hope,
friendship, and the will to live in this novel in verse that's based on a true story
Salt to the Sea
By Ruta Sepetys
World War II is drawing to a close in East Prussia and thousands of refugees are on a desperate trek toward
freedom, many with something to hide. Among them are Joana, Emilia, and Florian, whose paths converge
en route to the ship that promises salvation, the Wilhelm Gustloff. Forced by circumstance to unite, the
three find their strength, courage, and trust in each other tested with each step closer to safety. Just when it
seems freedom is within their grasp, tragedy strikes. Not country, nor culture, nor status matter as all ten
thousand people aboard must fight for the same thing: survival.
Jake, Reinvented
By Gordon Korman
Rick becomes friends with the popular new boy, Jake Garrett, football player and host of superlative parties,
and in the process discovers the true nature of his schoolmates and uncovers the mystery of Jake's past.
Everything, Everything
By Nicola Yoon
The story of a teenage girl who's literally allergic to the outside world. When a new family moves in next
door, she begins a complicated romance that challenges everything she's ever known. The narrative unfolds
via vignettes, diary entries, texts, charts, lists, illustrations, and more.
All American Boys
By Jason Reynolds
When sixteen-year-old Rashad is mistakenly accused of stealing, classmate Quinn witnesses his brutal
beating at the hands of a police officer who happens to be the older brother of his best friend.
Watched
By Marina Budhos
Far from the "model teen," Naeem moves fast to outrun the eyes of his hardworking Bangladeshi parents,
their gossipy neighbors, and the other forms of surveillance in his immigrant neighborhood in Queens, but
when his mistakes catch up with him and the police offer a dark deal, will Naeem be a hero or a traitor?
The Lovely Reckless
By Kami Garcia
Veda is a dance prodigy until an accident takes one of her legs. Many of her "friends" turn their backs on
her, but with the support of her family and new dance teacher she finds the strength to dance again.
The Haters
By Jesse Andrews
A road trip adventure about a trio of jazz-camp escapees who, against every realistic expectation, become a
band.
Can’t Look Away
By Donna Cooner
Sixteen-year-old Torrey Grey's YouTube videos on fashion and beauty for teenagers were famous, but when
her younger sister is killed by a drunk driver during a filming her world falls apart--cyber bullies are attacking
her, her father moves them to Texas, and she does not know who to trust at her new school or whether her
cousin is really a friend.
In Real Life
By Jessica Love
How can your life change when you break the rules every now and then? Hannah Cho is about to find out
when she impulsively decides to road trip to Las Vegas, her older sister and BFF in tow, to surprise Nick
Cooper and finally declare her more-than-friend feelings for him
Kill the Boy Band
By Goldy Moldavsky
Four fan-girls of The Ruperts, sneak away to a hotel in Manhattan to see their favorite boy band, but when
one of them literally drags Rupert Pierpont to their room and they tie him up, things get complicated--and
when Rupert is killed things go from bad to worse.
The Memory of Light
By Francisco Stork
When Victoria Cruz wakes up in the psychiatric ward of a Texas hospital after her failed suicide attempt, she
still has no desire to live, but as the weeks pass, and she meets Dr. Desai and three of the other patients, she
begins to reflect on the reasons why she feels like a loser compared with the rest of her family, and to see a
path ahead where she can make a life of her own.
Holding Up the Universe
By Jennifer Niven
A boy with face blindness and a girl who struggles with weight fall in love.
Trashed
By Derf Backderf
Every week we pile our garbage on the curb and it disappears—like magic! The reality is anything but, of
course. Trashed follows the raucous escapades of three 20-something friends as they clean the streets of
pile after pile of stinking garbage, while battling annoying small-town bureaucrats, bizarre townsfolk,
sweltering summer heat, and frigid winter storms. Trashed is fiction, but is inspired by Derf’s own
experiences as a garbage man. Interspersed are nonfiction pages that detail what our garbage is and where
it goes. Hop on the garbage truck named Betty and ride along with Derf on a journey into the vast, secret
world of garbage.
The Hate You Give
By Angie Thomas
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the
fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr
witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was
unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug
dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil's name. Some cops and the local drug
lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that
night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. But what Starr does-or does not-say could
upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
Wolf by Wolf
By Ryan Graudin
It's 1956, and the Axis powers are celebrating their victory in WWII. Yael was a Jewish prisoner and test
subject in a concentration camp. The painful experiments gave her the ability to change her physical
appearance to look like anyone. Now she has entered an annual continent crossing motorcycle race
disguised as the only female winner in history. She has two goals: win the race and kill Hitler.
Horror, Mystery, Science Fiction, & Fantasy
Extremities
By David Lubar
A group of high school girls takes revenge on their sadistic gym teacher in the most fitting way possible. Two
stowaways find themselves on a ship for the dead. An ancient predator stalks the wrong victim. Here are
thirteen tales of death, murder, and revenge.
Anna Dressed in Blood
By Kendare Blake
Cas Lowood, armed with his late father's mysterious athame, sets out to kill a ghost known as Anna Dressed
in Blood, but what he believes will be a routine task turns deadly when he discovers Anna is unlike any ghost
he has ever encountered before.
Fake ID
By Lamar Giles
A teen in the Witness Protection Program moves to a new town and finds himself trying to solve a murder
mystery when his first friend is found dead
I Am the Weapon (Alternate Title: Boy Nobody)
By Allen Zadoff
Sixteen-year-old Boy Nobody, an assassin controlled by a shadowy government organization, The Program,
considers sabotaging his latest mission because his target reminds him of the normal life he craves.
I Hunt Killers
By Barry Lyga
Seventeen-year-old Jazz learned all about being a serial killer from his notorious "Dear Old Dad." Believing he
can fight his own urges and right some of his father's wrongs, Jazz helps the police catch the town's newest
murderer, "The Impressionist," but, in doing so, he discovers he may have more in common with his father
than he thought.
Burn Baby Burn
By Meg Medina
Nora Lopez is seventeen during the infamous New York summer of 1977, when the city is besieged by arson,
a massive blackout, and a serial killer named Son of Sam who shoots young women on the streets. Nora's
family life isn't going so well either: her bullying brother, Hector, is growing more threatening by the day, her
mother is helpless and falling behind on the rent, and her father calls only on holidays. All Nora wants is to
turn eighteen and be on her own. And while there is a cute new guy who started working with her at the
deli, is dating even worth the risk when the killer likes picking off couples who stay out too late?
Court of Fives
By Kate Elliott
Jessamy's life is a balance between acting like an upper-class Patron and dreaming of the freedom of the
Commoners. But away from her family she can be whoever she wants when she sneaks out to train for The
Fives, an intricate, multilevel athletic competition that offers a chance for glory to the kingdom's best
contenders. Then Jes meets Kalliarkos, and an unlikely friendship between two Fives competitors--one of
mixed race and the other a Patron boy--causes heads to turn. When Kal's powerful, scheming uncle tears
Jes's family apart, she'll have to test her new friend's loyalty and risk the vengeance of a royal clan to save
her mother and sisters from certain death.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone
By Laini Taylor
Seventeen-year-old Karou, a lovely, enigmatic art student in a Prague boarding school, carries a sketchbook
of hideous, frightening monsters--the chimaeras who form the only family she has ever known.
Dorothy Must Die
By Danielle Paige
Amy Gumm, the other girl from Kansas, has been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked to stop
Dorothy who has found a way to come back to Oz, seizing a power that has gone to her head -- so now no
one is safe!
Snow White: A Graphic Novel
By Matt Phelan
Once upon a time, an evil queen possessed a powerful mirror. It spoke only the truth, which often pleased
the queen. But when the mirror reveals that the queen is no longer the fairest lady in the land, her heart
grows cold. She seeks revenge against the beautiful maiden, vowing to destroy the lovely Snow White.
A Dog’s Purpose
By Bruce Cameron
Bailey is a dog who lives multiple lives with different humans as she tries to understand her purpose.
Quarantine: The Loners
By Lex Thomas
When a virus deadly to adults infects their high school, brothers David and Will and the other students soon
break into gangs that fight each other for survival and the hope of escaping their quarantine.
Ready Player One
By Ernest Cline
In the year 2044, Wade Watts, like the rest of humanity, chooses to escape reality and spends his waking
hours in the limitless, utopian virtual world of the OASIS, but when Wade stumbles upon the first of the
fiendish puzzles set up by OASIS creator James Halliday he finds he must compete with thousands of others-including those willing to commit murder--in order to claim a prize of massive fortune.
Need
By Joelle Charbonneau
When Kaylee discovers a new social networking site called NEED, she thinks her problems will be solved.
The site promises to give users whatever they need in exchange for completing a small task, but she
becomes suspicious when a classmate is found dead.
Exo
By Fonda Lee
For a century now, Earth has been a peaceful colony of an alien race, and Donovan Reyes is a loyal member
of the security forces, while his father is the Prime Liaison--but when a routine search and seizure goes bad
Donovan finds himself a captive of the human revolutionary group, Sapience, terrorists who seem to prefer
war to alien rule, and killing Donovan just might be the incident they are looking for.
Scythe
By Neal Shusterman
In a world where disease has been eliminated, the only way to die is to be randomly killed ('gleaned') by
professional reapers ('scythes'). Two teens must compete with each other to become a scythe--a position
neither of them wants. The one who becomes a scythe must kill the one who doesn't.
Carve the Mark
By Veronica Roth
Cyra is the sister of the brutal tyrant who rules the Shotet people. Cyra's current gift gives her pain and
power--something her brother exploits, using her to torture his enemies. But Cyra is much more than just a
blade in her brother's hand: she is resilient, quick on her feet, and smarter than he knows. Akos is from the
peace-loving nation of Thuvhe, and his loyalty to his family is limitless. Though protected by his unusual
current gift, once Akos and his brother are captured by enemy Shotet soldiers, Akos is desperate to get his
brother out alive--no matter what the cost. When Akos is thrust into Cyra's world, the enmity between their
countries and families seems insurmountable. They must decide to help each other to survive--or to destroy
one another.