A Separate Peace
Author: John Knowles
Publisher: Harvill Secker, Random House
Recommended Age Range: 14+
Awards: Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award from the National Institute of Arts and Letters; William Faulkner Award for the most promising first novel of 1960; nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’ The Great American Read
Brooklyn Bridge
Author: Karen Hesse
Publisher: Square Fish, an imprint of Macmillan (Pbk.)
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 14
Awards: A Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year; A Sydney Taylor Award Winner
Echo
Author: Pam Munoz Ryan
Illustrator: Dinara Mirtalipora
Publisher: Scholastic
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 14
Awards: Newbery Honor Book, 2016; ALA Notable Book; The Kirkus Prize; National Parenting Publications Gold Award; New York Times Editors’ Choice; New York Historical Society Book Prize; Washington Post Best Books of the Year; Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year; New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing; NPR 2015 Great Reads; New York Times Notable Book; NCTE Notable Book in the Language Arts; SCIBA Middle Grade Book of the Year; International Literacy Association Notable Book for a Global Society; ILA/CBC Children’s Choice; The Audie Award; Booksource Scout Award; The Americas Award
Website
Fever 1793
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (Pbk.)
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 14
Awards: ALA Best Books for Young Adults; Junior Library Guild Selection; International Reading Association Teacher’s Choice; Children’s Book-of-the-Month Club Selection; Parent’s Guide to Children’s Media Award; The New York Public Library’s Best Books for the Teenager, 2001; Rebecca Caudill Award (IL); MA Children’s Book Award Honor Book; Great Lakes’ Great Books Award (MI); Tayshas High School Reading List (TX); Bank Street College of Education’s The Best Children’s Books of 2001 (starred review); American Bookseller Pick of Lists
Website
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
Author: Gary D. Schmidt
Publisher: Clarion Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Recommended Age Range: 10+
Awards: Newbery Honor Book, 2005; Printz Honor Book, 2005
Lucky Broken Girl
Author: Ruth Behar
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group
Recommended Age Range: 10+
Awards: 2018 Pura Belpre Author Award
Website
Midnight Without Moon
Author: Linda Williams Jackson
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 12
Awards: New York Public Library Best Books for Kids; Washington Post 2017 Kids Post Summer Book Club Selection
One Came Home
Author: Amy Timberlake
Publisher: Yearling (Pbk.)
Recommended Age Range: 10+
Awards: Newbery Honor Book; Edgar Award Winner for Best Mystery; China Times Best Book Award (Taiwan); A 2013 Junior Library Guild Selection; A Washington Post Best Book of the Year; A National Public Radio Best Book of the Year; A Bank Street Best Book of the Year; A New York Public Library’s “100 Titles for Reading and Sharing;” ALSC Notable Children’s Book; 2013 Bulletin Blue Ribbon from The Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books; A 2014 Notable Social Studies Trade Book; The Horn Book’s Recommended Summer Reading; Winner of the Society of Midland Authors Award; A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year; A Scholastic Book Clubs Selection; A Bookpage Best Book of the Year; One of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s “10 Favorite Books of 2013;” Ingrams’ ‘Top Ten Novels for Kids in 2013;’ An Outstanding Book by a Wisconsin Author; A 2014 Illinois Reads Book; A Maine Student Book Award List 2014-2015; Louisiana Young Readers Choice Award List, 2016; A Judy Lopez Memorial Honor Book; Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award List, 2014-2015 (VT); A South-West Iowa Middle School Battle of the Book Selection, 2014-2015; BirdWatching Magazine’s ‘Best New Bird Books;’ 2014 Texas Lone Star Reading List Book; James Patterson’s ‘Read Kiddo Read:’ A ‘Great Pageturner!’
Website
Out of the Dust
Author: Karen Hesse
Publisher: Scholastic
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 14
Awards: 1998 Newbery Medal; Scott O’Dell Award; ALA Notable Children’s Book; ALA Best Book; School Library Journal Best Book of the Year; Booklist Editor’s Choice Award; Book Links Lasting Connection; Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year; New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
Paperboy
Author: Vince Vawter
Publisher: Dell Publishing
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 14
Awards: A Newbery Honor Book; A Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year; A BookPage Best Children’s Book; A National Parenting Publications Award Honor Book; A Junior Library Guild Selection; An ALA-ALSC Notable Children’s Book; An IRA Teachers’ Choice; An IRA Children’s and Young Adults’ Choice;
A Newbery Honor Award Winner; Amazon Best Books of the Year 2013: Ages 9-12; An ABC New Voices Pick; An ALA-YALSA Amazing Audiobook; An ALA-ALSC Notable Children’s Recording
Website
Tallgrass
Author: Sandra Dallas
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Awards: Spur Award for Best Western Novel
Website
The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had
Author: Kristin Levine
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 14
Awards: An ALA Best Book for Young Adults; Honor Book for the Judy Lopez Memorial Award for Children’s Literature 2010; Kansas State Reading Circle Catalog, 2010; Virginia Readers’ Choice Award Master List, 2010-2011; Pennsylvania School Library Association’s Young Adult Top Forty, 2010; Garden State Teen Book Award, 2012; Alabama Camellia Children’s Choice Book Award, 2010-2011; Land of Enchantment Book Award Master List, 2011-2012; Utah Beehive Award, 2012
Website
The Book Thief
Author: Marcus Zusak
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Recommended Age Range: 12+
Awards: Book Sense Book of the Year Award for Children’s Literature; National Jewish Book Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Author: John Boyne
Publisher: David Fickling Books
Recommended Age Range: 12+
Awards: Irish Book Award Children’s Book of the Year (winner); Irish Book Award People’s Choice Book of the Year (winner); Bisto Book of the Year (winner); Que Leer Award Best International Novel of the Year (Spain) (winner); Orange Prize Readers Group Book of the Year (winner); longlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the International IMPAC Literary Award
Website
The Fountains of Silence
Author: Ruta Sepetys
Publisher: Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
Recommended Age Range: 12+
Website
The Hired Girl
Author: Laura Amy Schlitz
Publisher: Candlewick
Recommended Age Range: 10 to 14
Awards: ALA Notable Children’s Books, Older Readers; 2016 Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction Winner; Winner of the 2016 National Jewish Book Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature; A 2016 Association of Jewish Libraries Sydney Taylor Award Winner
The Librarian of Auschwitz
Author: Antonio Herbert (trans. by Lilit Thwaites)
Publisher: Godwin Books, Henry Holt and Company
Recommended Age Range: 13+
Awards: Rhode Island Teen Book Award
The Lions of Little Rock
Author: Kristin Levine
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Recommended Age Range: 10+
Awards: New York Historical Society Children’s History Book Prize; Capitol Choices Noteworthy Titles, 2012-2013 (WDC); New York Public Library’s 100 Books for Reading and Sharing, 2012-2013; Illinois Children’s Choice Award, 2012-2013; 2013 Texas Lonestar Reading List; 2013 Black-Eyed Susan Book Award (MD); Teen Nutmeg Book Award, 2012-2013 (CT); Keystone to Reading Book Award, 2013-2014 (PA); Kentucky Bluegrass Award, 2013-2014 (KY); Pennsylvania Young Readers Choice Awards, 2013-2014; Maine Student Book Awards 2013-2014; William Allen White Children’s Book Award, 2013-2014 (KS); South Carolina Book Awards, 2013-2014 (SC); Grand Canyon Reader Award, 2014-2015 (AZ); 2015 Children’s Sequoyah (OK); 2015 Young Hoosier Book Awards (IN); Chicago Public School Battle of the Books, 2014-2015 (IL); 2015 Georgia Children’s Book Award
Website
The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963
Author: Christopher Paul Curtis
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Recommended Age Range: 10+
Awards: A Newbery Honor Book; An ALA Top Ten Best Book; A New York Times Book Review Best Book; An IRA Young Adults Choice
Website
Wonderstruck
Author: Brian Selznick
Illustrator: Brian Selznick
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Recommended Age Range: 10+
Awards: Schneider Family Book Award – Middle School Winner; Amazon Best Books of the Month, September 2011; New York Times Notable Children’s Book; ALA Notable Children’s Book; Publishers Weekly Best Book; Parents’ Choice Gold Winner
Website