Bruchac, Joseph

Bearwalker

HarperCollins, 2007

208 pages

5.5MG

In another fine book especially aimed at younger readers, Bruchac tells of Baron, a young boy who goes on a trip with friends to a camp in the Adirondacks.  There he begins to wonder if the legend he has heard about so often from his Mohawk family about the monster, half human and half bear, is really merely a legend.  Perhaps the monster really is roaming the forests of the Adirondacks, as strange events at the camp would seem to suggest.  This is a wonderful suspense and adventure story for young adolescents, filled with the essence of Native American tradition.  Joseph Bruchac's story of Baron, a member of the Mohawk Bear Clan, rings true.  Readers will enjoy the mystery and suspense and learn something of the Mohawk culture along the way.

 

Bunting, Eve

Blackwater

Thorndike, 1999

141 pages

3.6 MG

Brodie swims out to a rock and tugs on Pauline to pull her into the water because he has a crush on her and she is with Otis, of whom Brodie is jealous.  It is just a joke, but Otis tries to pull Pauline back and both Otis and Pauline drown in the raging river.  Brodie is termed a hero for trying to save them, and he gets caught up in the web of his own lies and can't live with the guilt.

 

Cooney, Caroline

Code Orange

Delacorte, 2005

208 pages

6.2 MG

 

Mitty Blake finds a smallpox scab in an old medical textbook while doing research for a homework assignment.  He is afraid that he has been exposed to the disease which no longer is a vaccination requirement.  He begins to do research on the internet about the symptoms of the disease and his messages are intercepted by terrorists who wish to use the live spores for their own sinister purposes.

 

Cooney, Caroline B.

Diamonds in the Shadow

Waterbrook, 2007

228 pages

5.1MG

 

Jared and Martha (Mopsy) Finch live in Connecticut in a well-to-do suburb.  Their parents decide to take in a refugee family from Africa, which has different effects on each member of the Finch family.  Jared is irritated that he has to share his room with Mattu.  Mopsy is thrilled at the prospect, as she is with everything, much to the disgust of her brother Jared.  Mrs. Finch is busily trying to work out the details, and Mr. Finch has his mind on other problems.  Then the family finds out that the refugees are not really who they claim to be, and that smuggled diamonds are a part of their immigration story.  Cooney has written another book filled with suspense and action which will appeal to all young readers.

 

Cummings, Priscilla

Red Kayak

Dutton, 2004

208 pages

4.9 MG 

Brady is having serious problem with his conscience.  He and his friends see a Red Kayak going towards dangerous tides and do nothing to warn it because they know that it belongs to a rich man who has recently thrown them off of his property.  Then they find out that the man's wife and young son were in the kayak and were capsized because they didn't warn them.  Brady is consumed with guilt.

 

Deuker, Carl

Runner

Houghton Mifflin, 2005

224 pages

4.3 MG

Chance's father is an alcoholic and the two of them live on a boat in Shilshoal Bay near Seattle.  He goes to a school where all the kids except him are wealthy, even the girl he would like to date.  When he is offered a job running packages from one place to another for lots of money, he takes it, even though he knows it is probably illegal.

 

Haddix, Margaret Peterson

Double Identity

Simon & Schuster, 2005

224 pages

5.0MG

 

Bethany is confused about why her parents have moved so much.  Now they are moving again.  They have taken her out of school suddenly, her father is very upset, and her mother is sobbing in the front seat of the car as they travel into the night to who knows where.  They drop her at an aunt's house, an aunt she never even knew existed!  Then they leave and make it clear they probably won't ever, can't ever, return for her.  Bethany, her aunt, and her aunt's daughter, who is a minister, try to solve the mystery surrounding the strange appearance of Bethany and disappearance of her parents.  This is a fast moving, quick read which should appeal to reluctant readers and others who have enjoyed Haddix novels which have a science fiction slant.

 

Hobbs, Will

Leaving Protection  

HarperCollins, 2004 

192 pages

5.2 MG 

Sixteen year old Robbie gets his dream job in Alaska working on a fishing boat for Tor, a captain.  But Tor has more on his mind than salmon.  He is hunting buried treasure and Robbie thinks that he may know to much to ensure his own survival.

 

Hobbs, Will

Wild Man Island

HarperCollins, 2002

192 pages

5.1 UG 

14-year-old Andy Galloway is a boy on a sea kayaking trip in Alaska. After sneaking away from his group to visit the site of his father's accidental drowning 9 years earlier, Andy is blown off course by a gale and is washed up onto a remote island where he must face cold, wild animals, and an old hermit.

 

Horowitz, Anthony

Ark Angel

Philomel, 2006

326 pages

5.0 MG 

 

Hokenson, Terry

The Winter Road

Front Street, 2006

175 pages

5.8 UG 

Willa is a troubled 16 year old from a troubled family.  Her mom and dad have not been the same since Ray, her older brother, died in a Skidoo accident five years before.  They are not around much.  Her uncle Jordy has taught her how to be a pilot.  One day she takes his plane on a run when she finds him too hung over to do the regular run.  The plane goes down and she is stranded in the Canadian wilderness in the middle of winter.

 

Horowitz, Anthony

Ark Angel

Philomel, 2006

326 pages

5.0 MG 

Alex Rider is swept into another adventure upon which the fate of the world depends. The two sinister groups operating in this Rider exploit are Force Three and Nikolai Drevin and his pet project, Ark Angel, a hotel built in outer-space. On the opposing side are M16 Special Operations, the British intelligence agency for which Alex works, and its American counterpart, the CIA.

 

Horowitz, Anthony

Scorpia

Philomel, 2005

336 pages

5.0 MG 

Alex Rider is back again, this time dealing with a top criminal organization called Scorpia. M16 sends him into the organization as a spy to stop the threat they have made to kill hundreds of thousands of British children.

 

Lawrence, Iain

The Convicts

Delacorte, 2005

190 pages

4.7 MG

Tom Tin's mother is having mental troubles since his sister died.  His father is out of a job and is debtor's prison.  This is an adventure in 19th century London to rival Dickens, but easy to read and much shorter. 

 

Mikaelsen, Ben

Red Midnight

Rayo, 2002

224 pages

4.3 MG 

When guerrilla soldiers strike Santiago's village, they shoot at everyone in their path. Take the cayuco and sail to the United States of America."" Santiago's uncle Ramos tells him, and Santiago, twelve, and his four-year-old sister, Angelina, flee. With a map, a machete, and very little food, Santiago and Angelina set sail in their uncle Ramos's sea kayak. Santiago heads for the United States on a voyage that will take them through narrow channels guarded by soldiers, shark, infested waters, and days of painful heat and raging storms. Santiago knows that he and Angelina probably will die trying to make the voyage, but it is their only chance.

 

Mikaelsen, Ben

Touching Spirit Bear

Collins, 2001

256 pages

5.3 MG

Cole is an angry teen whose parents are wealthy and usually able to get him out of his scrapes. He beats in the face of a fellow student doing brain damage and comes before the "Circle of Justice" as a last resort. He is sent to a remote island off the coast of Alaska where he meets and is mauled by a legendary white bear.

 

Morpurgo, Michael

Kensuke's Kingdom

Scholastic, 2003

176 pages

4.7 MG 

Michael, his parents, and his dog, Stella, are sailing around the world. In a fierce storm, Michael and his dog are washed overboard and end up on a beach on an island. The gibbons howl, the mosquitos are fierce, and the sun is unbearable. He soon comes to realize he is not alone on the island; he meets Kensuke, an elderly Japanese man who has been providing him with food and water.

 

Patterson, James

Maximum Ride:  The Angel Experiment   

Little Brown, 2001 

464 pages

4.6 MG 

Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel are kids who are pretty normal-except that they're 98% human, 2% bird. They grew up in cages, living like rats, and now they're free-but being chased by the wicked, wolf-like Erasers, who've kidnapped Angel. Led by Max, the "Flock" embarks on a quest to find Angel, infiltrate a secret facility to track down their parents, get revenge on an evil traitor, and try to save the world-if there's time. (Amazon Book Description)

 

Paulsen, Gary

Hatchet

Paulsen, Gary

Atheneum, 2000 (reissue)

208 pages

5.7 MG 

Brian is on his way to visit his father in the Canadian wilderness when the pilot has a heart attack and the small plane crashes into a lake. All Brian has to survive is a small hatchet and his wits, as no one knows where he is or if he has even survived.

 

Paulsen, Gary

River, The

Delacorte, 1991

144 pages

5.5 MG 

This is the sequel to Hatchet. It has been two years since Brian was stranded in the wilderness. His psychologist accompanies him to the exact spot of his struggle for survival. The psychologist wants to study the characteristics which brought Brian through. Brian scoffs at the relative ease which they are enjoying this time around, until the psychologist gets hit by lightening and Brian must raft him to the nearest medical facility.

 

Philbrick, Rodman

The Young Man and The Sea

Blue Sky, 2004

192 pages

4.5 MG

Skiff's dad has been lying on the couch drinking since his mom died.  All he wants is to go fishing on their boat off the Maine coast.  But then the boat sinks from lack of repair.  Can Skiff repair the boat and land the big one that will save his family?

 

Rees, Celia

Pirates!

Bloomsbury, 2003

380 pages

5.4 UG

Nancy and Minerva, a white girl and a former slave, sign on as pirates in the early part of the 18th century.  Both are trying to avoid complications in their lives on land and find that adventure on the high seas gives them a sense of freedom they never found withinin the confines of society. 

Sachar, Louis

Holes

Scholastic, 1999

240 pages

4.6 MG 

Stanley Yelnats has the bad luck of ending up at Camp Greenlake digging holes as punishment for stealing a pair of gym shoes which he did not actually steal. Sachar actually weaves three plots together here, that of Stanley at the camp, his family's history, and the old Wild West story of how the treasure got buried, which is the real reason for the holes being dug in the middle of Texas.

 

Schmidt, Gary

First Boy

Schmidt, Gary

Henry Holt, 2005

208 pages

5.5 MG

When Cooper Jewett's grandfather, who has raised him, dies, he is very alone.  Suddenly strange things start to happen on his New Hampshire dairy farm which he loves so much.  Strange men start to show up, things catch on fire, and the farm is ransacked.  Soon he is whisked away to see the president of the United States and the first gentleman (the president is a woman).

 

Smelcer, John

The Trap

Holt, 2006

170 pages

6.2 MG

Albert Least-Weasel is nearly 80 and knows he shouldn't be out trapping alone any more in the unforgiving Arctic wilderness.  Yet he has his pride and goes, becoming caught in one of his own traps as the temperature continues to fall dangerously low.  His grandson, Johnny, finally becomes concerned and sets out to find him. 

 

Smith, Roland

Cryptid Hunters

Hyperion, 2005

352 pages

4.9 MG 

Marty and Grace are in boarding school in Switzerland when they learn their scientist parents are missing in a plane which is down in the Amazon. They are sent to stay with an uncle they have never heard of in Washington State; he lives on a mysterious island off the coast and investigates cryptids, creatures which science cannot prove the existence of. Suddenly they are off to an adventure to look for a lost dinosaur in the Congo.

 

Smith, Roland

Elephant Run

Hyperion, 2007

318 pages

Nick is sent to lives with his father on a teak plantation in Burma because his mother feels it is too dangerous in London with the Blitz.  However, the Japanese invade Burma and Nick and his father find themselves in a struggle for survival. 

 

Smith, Roland

Jack's Run

Hyperion, 2005

256 pages

4.8 MG 

Jack and his family have been in the witness protection program. Jack comes to L.A. to live with his sister only to discover that she has blown their cover. They are kidnapped and flown to Argentina where they undergo a series of frightening adventures.

 

Smith, Roland

Peak

Harcourt, 2007

246 pages

5.0 MG

Peak is in trouble for climbing skyscrapers in New York City.  Then his father, whom he hardly knows, shows up to make a deal with the judge and take custody for a period.  Peak goes to Thailand with his dad where it is revealed that dad wants him on a climb of Everest. 

 

Smith, Roland

Zach's Lie

Hyperion, 2001

212 pages

4.3 MG 

Jack's father was arrested for drug trafficing. In order to stay out of jail, he testified against the drug lords and he and his family had to go into the witness protection program. Jack had to move away from his friends to a small town in Nevada and become Zach.

 

Torrey, Michele

Voyage of Plunder

Knopf, 2005

182 pages

5.5 MG

Daniel, his father, and his father's new pregnant wife Faith, set sail for Jamaica from Boston in 1696.  Daniel hates to leave Boston and he hates Faith because she has changed his life.  Then they are set upon by pirates and life only gets much worse for Daniel. 

 

Wilson, N.D.

Leepike Ridge

Random House 2007

224 pages

4.8 MG

Tom runs away from home, drifting down a creek on a big piece of styrofoam.  He gets more than he bargained for when he runs into rapids and then gets lost in underground caves deep within the bowels of a mountain.

 

Woodson, Jacqueline

Hush

Putnam, 2002

181 pages

4.2 MG 

Toswiah Green's father testifies against two fellow police officers and puts his entire family in danger. They must go into the witness protection program. She reinvents herself as Evie Thomas. The lies are difficult, but more difficult is the fragmentation of her family.

 

Yancey, Rick

The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp

Bloomsbury, 2005

339 pages

4.9 MG

Alfred's life has not been optimal up to the time he turned fifteen.  His dad left before he remembers, his mom died of cancer, he lived in a series of foster homes, then his uncle Farrell claimed him.  Now Uncle Farrell wants him to help steal a valuable sword from the building where he is the night security guard or he'll send him back into foster care.  A delightful book about a magical sword, knights of old and new, and a boy who becomes a hero in spite of his misgivings.