Fiction For Young Adults

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SOME PEOPLE CALL ME MAURICE

by Joyce Sweeney

Michael (aka Maurice in French Club) has a thing for Amelia (aka Angelique)–but no nerve to tell her so. Until he becomes French for one blissful afternoon…

NOT MUCH TO IT

by Rene Saldana, Jr.

Chela and the cool girls let Becky into their circle because she was so good with their hair. Now she’s working at a salon. Has she changed? Has Chela?

BEDHEAD RED, PEEKABOO PINK

by Marilyn Singer

Can an ugly guy finally get a date? Well, maybe–if she’s blind and he lies a lot.. But even then things aren’t so simple for Tom who has a little thing called a conscience.

VISION QUEST

by Peni Griffin

Elizabeth sets out on a quest to find herself and her totem animal in the wilds of San Antonio, Texas with surprising results.

WABI’S EARS

by Joseph Bruchac

Can a young owl find happiness with a beautiful, but finicky Native American girl? Stranger things have happened!

HONESTLY, TRUTHFULLY

by Terry Trueman

One morning Kyle decides to make himself over from a liar to…well…NOT a liar–a path that lands him in more trouble he’d ever thought possible.

THE RESURRECTION 

by Jess Mowry

Corey’s life and his neighborhood change dramatically when Sniffles, a street kid, moves in and the old funeral home next door reopens for business.

BAZOOKA JOE AND THE CHAOS KID

by Norma Howe

Chaos rules in Frank Marvelli’s house. Then along come Jenna and Mr. Shreve’s photography class. How long can disorder continue to reign?

THE PLAN

by Marina Budhos

Victor’s mother is constantly changing jobs and homes, and taking Victor along for the ride. But when she moves them to L.A. and has them pose as show biz siblings, it is the last straw.

LUCKY SIX

by Evelyn Coleman

Weekdays, Jamillah is a student. Weekends, she sings in the church choir. But at night, she’s an exotic dancer. She’s saving up money for a new makeover for herself and her five homeless siblings. Can she do it?

BUTTERFLIES

by Margaret Peterson Haddix

When Anna’s village is destroyed, she makes her way across the ocean to Ellis Island and to a childhood friend whom she may or may not marry.

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PHAT ACCEPTANCE

by Jess Mowry

Brandon’s got that cool white surfer-dude look–even if he isn’t a surfer. He’s worried about fitting in at his new school when his day is turned upside down by the arrival of the one, the only, the fattest black classmate he’s ever seen.

SKINS

by Joseph Bruchac

Mitch, a football player of Native American and Scandinavian heritage, finds his strategy of “hanging back” challenged by the two new kids in town: Randolph, clearly African American, and Jimmy T., purely American Indian. Or are they?

SNOW

by Sherri Winston

When Noelle, a budding journalist, decides to fight against the mistreatment of Haitian students by fellow African-American classmates, she faces a dangerous enemy: the school principal.

THE HEARTBEAT OF THE SOUL OF THE WORLD

by Rene Saldana Jr.

PD was a promising Latino trumpet player. Now, he’s dead. But oh, what he left behind!

HUM

by Naomi Shihab Nye

Sami and his family are haunted by what they left behind in the Middle East, but hopeful about their new life in Texas. Then comes the day that changes everything: September 11, 2001.

EPIPHANY

by Ellen Wittlinger

Pining for her best friend Epiphany, DeMaris dares to ask: Why can’t a white girl sit with the black kids in the cafeteria?

BLACK AND WHITE

by Kyoko Mori

Born in Japan and growing up in rural Wisconsin, Asako wonders if being the misunderstood “foreigner” excuses her act of Halloween vandalism.

HEARING FLOWER

by M.E. Kerr

Bianca, rich and white, falls for Esteban, a handsome, hardworking Latino. What happens to their romance when her father hires him to fix the roof?

GOLD

by Marina Budhos

Jemma’s father was Indian. Her mother is black. In Trinidad that wasn’t a problem. So why, in N.J., does Mama disapprove of African-American boys?

MR. RUBEN

by Rita Williams-Garcia

No one can tell what race Mr. Ruben is. But poor Myra, she just can’t have a crush on the man unless he’s black–and she’ll drive herself and her friend Dee crazy until she finds out if he is or not.

NEGRESS

by Marilyn Singer

Vonny’s insistance that Beth participate in a school assembly performance of the Hottentot Venus–a woman exhibited as a sexual freak throughout Europe in the early nineteenth century–threatens to destroy their longtime friendship.

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THE BOY WHO CALLED GOD SHE

by Nancy Springer

Tough kid Mitch has got to laugh. Is that new kid at school kidding–God is no lady. Or is she?

CHATTERBOX

by Gregory Maguire

Mitch isn’t a chatterbox, that’s for sure. But maybe his words are getting through anyway–to the girls at Friendly’s, to Ma O’Shea, and, to God.

RELIGION: FROM THE GREEK RE LEGIOS, TO RE-LINK

by Virginia Euwer Wolff

Deborah, Zhandra, Riva–three girls with different beliefs, but one thing in common: they’re all pregnant.

FABULOUS SHOES

by Marilyn Singer

Can you lead on a boy and still be a good Jewish girl? Natalie needs to know.

ON EARTH

by Jacqueline Woodson

With her mother cast out of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Carlene questions the very meaning of “paradise.”

GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS

by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Jake has left a religious cult. Is Caitlyn still a member? Is she trying to draw Jake back in?

FORTY-NINE DAYS

by Kyoko Mori

After her father’s death, Shinobu struggles to harmonize the Zen and Christian religions of her parents and finds her own view of mercy.

THE MARTYRDOM OF MONICA MACALLISTER

by Jennifer Armstrong

Monica’s not Catholic, but she’s still sure she’d make a darn good saint.

HANDLING SNAKES

by Joyce Carol Thomas

It’s time for Letitia to follow her church’s ritual of handling snakes. How will she survive?

GRACE

by M.E. Kerr

Ted’s dad is the most boring minister in town. But when he gets rock star Taylor Train to appear at church, Ted learns the truth about glamor vs. integrity.

ESU’S ISLAND

by Jess Mowry

On Cayes Squellette, Pogo, Laurent, and Randy will soon become men–with the help of a playful and stern boy-god.

WHAT IS THE DICKENS?

by Naomi Shihab Nye

Christianity, Islam, Unitarianism, Sufism–Leslie’s background includes them all. But when Daddy Jack lies dying, what can she believe in but water.

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TAKING TOLL

by Marion De Booy Wentzien

Miranda has gotten rid of all of Mom’s boyfriends, but Albert C. Cooksley is more of a challenge.

BUILDING BRIDGES

by Andrea Davis Pinkney

Bebe wants to spend the summer working on the Brooklyn Bridge, but Mama Lil thinks she should be helping out at a hairdresser’s instead.

GUESS WHO’S BACK IN TOWN, DEAR?

by M.E. Kerr

Tory and Horacio defy convention and family to find happiness.

GOING FISHING

by Norma Fox Mazer

Big-footed, big-voiced, big-herself Grace gets a glimpse of future independence.

THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF CINDY R.

by Anne Mazer

Cinderella, as you’ve never seen her before.

CRAZY AS A DAISY

by Rita Williams-Garcia

Marguerite’s a dancing fool–who’s no fool at all!

THE PALE MARE

by Marian Flandrick Bray

At the charreada corral, Consuela takes a stand for a horse–and for herself.

THE TRUTH IN THE CASE OF ELIZA MARY MULLER, BY HERSELF

by Peni Griffin

Eliza Mary confrontation with her abusive brother-in-law has tragic results.

THE STATUE OF LIBERTY FACTORY

by Jennifer Armstrong

Her parents reneged on a promised trip to Paris. Now Monica’s protesting!

STAY TRUE

by Drew Lamm

Growing up drives Molly-be-Gone and Stick-Person-Girl apart. Can they save their friendship?

THE MAGIC BOW

by Marilyn Singer

Can a princess find a husband who’s really her equal?

(excerpt from Chapter 6)

She walked around to the other side of the building, where 513, the music room, was.  The shades were drawn, but she could see a light behind them.  “All right!” she breathed, relieved.  Someone was still there.  One window was partly open.  It had been stuck that way for weeks.  Mr. Benson hadn’t gotten around to repairing it yet. Through it she could hear the piano, muffled and hesitant, as though someone was trying to pick out a melody.

Deal raised her hand to rap on the glass. But then she wavered.  The would-be piano player was weeping.  For a moment Deal weighed courtesy versus need.  Need won.  She knocked on the window.  The piano plunking and the crying grew louder. She knocked again, and they were louder still.  Concerned now, she tried to open the other windows.  They were all locked.  Cursing loudly, she jerked roughly at the one that was stuck, and suddenly it slid up as smoothly as if it had been oiled.

The piano was crashing and discordant now; the weeping had changed to wailing.  The sounds rattled Deal’s teeth, rippled icily over her skin. She hesitated again, then bravely hoisted herself up onto the sill, raised the shade and jumped into the room.  She got just a hazy glimpse of the figure at the piano – a slight figure all in white bathed in a misty glow – before it vanished, plunging the room into darkness.