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	August 2008 Book of the Month	The Perfect Shot Written by: Elaine Marie Alphin Brian uses basketball to block out memories of his girlfriend and her family who were murdered; however, the upcoming trial and a high school history assignment forces him to face the past.

	May 2008 Book of the Month	Sharing Sam Written by: Katherine Applegate When Sam asks Alison to the Valentine's Dance she is elated, until she finds out that her best friend Isabella also likes Sam and Izzy only has three months to live.

	April 2008 Book of the Month	Twilight Written by: Stephanie Meyer When seventeen-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington, she meets an exquisitely handsome boy at school for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and who she comes to realize is not wholly human.

	March 2008 Book of the Month	Wait for Me Written by: An Na As her senior year in high school approaches, Mina yearns to find her own path in life, but working at the family business, taking care of her little sister, and dealing with her mother's impossible expectations are as stifling as the southern California heat until she falls in love with Ysrael, a young migrant worker with dreams of becoming a musician, who offers a way out.

	February 2008 Book of the Month	Lush Written by: Natasha Friend Samantha has a secret... It's hard enough being a thirteen year-old girl, but when your dad can't stop drinking and you're not allowed to tell, life gets even harder. Add to the mix a yoga-obsessed mother, a gym teacher who hates you, and you really need someone to talk to. When Sam picks a random high-school girl in the library and starts sending her notes asking for advice, a mysterious friendship develops. But who is A.J.K., really? And will she be able to help Sam help her father, before it's too late? Samantha has a secret...

	January 2008 Book of the Month	The Devil's Arithmetic Written by, Jane Yolen This novel begins with the main character, Hannah, in modern times at Passover with her family. She is apathetic toward her grandfather's stories about his time spent in a concentration camp. However, when she opens the door to symbolically greet Elijah, she is whisked away to a rural village in Poland during WWII. After some feeble attempts to explain who she is, she gives up and accepts that she is now Chaya, a Jewish peasant girl. As her adventure continues, she realizes she is in the year 1942 and about to be taken to a concentration camp. After many trials, she ends up offering her life to save another girl. In the next instant, she finds herself back at home staring blankly out the door she had opened for Elijah. She now understands the heartache and pain her grandfather had experienced.

	December 2007 Book of the Month	Whale Talk Written by, Chris Crutcher T. J. gathers a group of misfits into a team consisting of what he calls "one swimmer of color, a representative from each extreme of the educational spectrum, a muscle man, a giant, a chameleon, and a one-legged psychopath." T. J. himself is part-black, part-Japanese and adopted. His ultimate goal is that every member of the team will earn a Cutter High School varsity letter. Needless to say, T. J. faces angry opposition from the athletic establishment, and he and his coach spend much of the season maneuvering the politics of high school athletics. Meanwhile, during their daily workouts and long bus rides to swim meets, the guys on the team slowly come out from behind the labels their peers have forced them to hide behind.

	November 2007 Book of the Month	Extras Written by, Scott Westerfield "It's a few years after rebel Tally Youngblood took down the uglies/pretties/specials regime. Without those strict roles and rules, the world is in a complete cultural renaissance. "Tech-heads" flaunt their latest gadgets, "kickers" spread gossip and trends, and "surge monkeys" are hooked on extreme plastic surgery. And it's all monitored on a bazillion different cameras. The world is like a gigantic game of American Idol. Whoever is getting the most buzz gets the most votes. Popularity rules. As if being fifteen doesn't stink enough, Aya Fuse's rank of 451,369 is so low, she's a total nobody. An extra. But Aya doesn't care; she just wants to lie low with her drone, Moggle. And maybe kick a good story for herself. Then Aya meets a clique of girls who pull crazy tricks, yet are deeply secretive of it. Aya wants desperately to kick their story, to show everyone how intensely cool the Sly Girls are. But doing so would propel her out of extra-land and into the world of fame, celebrity...and extreme danger. A world she's not prepared for."

	October 2007 Book of the Month	The Girl with the Pearl Earring Written by, Tracy Chevalier Through the eyes of 16-year-oldGriet, the daughter of a local tile painter, seventeenth-century Delft, Hollandcomes to life. After an accident leaves her father blind and unable to work,Griet becomes a maid in the home of Vermeer. For a simple Protestant girl, beingthrown into a Catholic home full of riches and elegance is intimidating. Each dayshe must work for her condescending mistress, Catharina, or the rather uncivilmaid Tenneke, but despite these hardships she must earn her wages. It is onlywhen she cleans her master's studio that she finds any enjoyment, for that iswhere his paintings are created. It is there also that the drama of her lifeunfolds.

	September 2007 Book of the Month	Specials Written by, Scott Westerfield Tally's third incarnation is thrillingly unsettling. When readers left her, she was about to be surgically altered from a Pretty to a carefully engineered military Special. Now her body is weaponized, her teeth, fingernails and reflexes razor-sharp. Westerfeld deftly conveys Tally's new perspective: Edges look extra sharp, the world is maniacally beautiful and Dr. Cable's pursuit of the New Smoke rebels is inherently justified, especially because the New Smoke's irresponsible medical experimentation damaged Tally's boyfriend Zane and made him repulsive. Tally and Shay are Cutters, elite Specials who slice their skin to stay hyper-focused. As they track runaways to find the New Smoke, the previously two-sided fight expands into a war with multiple stances and complications, on a far broader scale than Tally could have guessed. Tally's in constant motion, the action nonstop, all the way until-paralleling the stunning end of Uglies-Tally makes an unromantic, pragmatic and desperate final decision. A splendid, provocative conclusion to a terrific series.

	May 2007 Book of the Month	Pretties Written by, Scott Westerfield Tally has finally become pretty. Her looks are beyond perfect, her clothes are awesome, her boyfriend is totally hot, and she's completely popular. It's everything she's ever wanted. And more. But beneath all the fun, the nonstop parties, the high-tech luxury, the total freedom is a nagging sense that something's wrong. Something important. Then a message from Tally''s ugly past arrives. Reading it, Tally remembers what's wrong with pretty life, and the fun stops. Now she has to choose between fighting to forget what she knows and fighting for her life. Because the authorities don't intend to let anyone with this information survive. Can Tally give up what she's always wanted for what's right? This amazingly fantastic sequel to Uglies provokes deep thought. What would you do if you were Tally? Make sure to put Specials where you can reach it, because the cliffhanger ending made me scream in frustration. You have to read the next one.

	April 2007 Book of the Month	Uglies Written by, Scott Westerfield Tally, the main character of the book, is just weeks away from her sixteenth birthday and she wants nothing more than to join her friend Peris in New Pretty Town where all the recently-made Pretties party nonstop. (Uglyville is high school, New Pretty Town is that 'totally awesome' party school you can't wait to get into.) Before then, though, she meets Shay who has the same birthday and who isn't quite as keen on being Pretty as Tally is; Shay is quite happy with they way she looks. With just days away from their birthday, Shay decides to run away to The Smoke, where Uglies go to live a different life. Tally turns down Shay's offer to come along. On the day of her operation, Tally is taken to the Special Circumstances office and is told that unless she finds Shay and The Smoke, she won't be getting her operation. Desperate to join in the fun, Tally makes the difficult decision to be a spy. She finds The Smoke and a deep dark secret about her own world of Uglies and Pretties. Tally, the main character of the book, is just weeks away from her sixteenth birthday and she wants nothing more than to join her friend Peris in New Pretty Town where all the recently-made Pretties party nonstop. (Uglyville is high school, New Pretty Town is that 'totally awesome' party school you can't wait to get into.) Before then, though, she meets Shay who has the same birthday and who isn't quite as keen on being Pretty as Tally is; Shay is quite happy with they way she looks. With just days away from their birthday, Shay decides to run away to The Smoke, where Uglies go to live a different life. Tally turns down Shay's offer to come along. On the day of her operation, Tally is taken to the Special Circumstances office and is told that unless she finds Shay and The Smoke, she won't be getting her operation. Desperate to join in the fun, Tally makes the difficult decision to be a spy. She finds The Smoke and a deep dark secret about her own world of Uglies and Pretties.

	March 2007 Book of the Month	Sharing Sam Written by, Katherine Applegate Sharing Sam is a novel that shows how close love and friendship are. It all starts when Alison falls for Sam Cody, the notorious school bad boy. In the same time frame her best friend, Izzy, is dying of brain cancer and just let Alison know. Alison has always proved to be a great friend, so when Izzy shows interest in Sam Alison decides to do the impossible. She convinces herself and Sam to put aside their love for each other so Izzy can live her last days happier than she's ever been. But what if making Izzy happy for a few days means throwing away the realest thing Alison has ever felt?

	February 2007 Book of the Month	For One More Day Written by, Mitch Albom For One More Day is the story of a mother and a son, and a relationship that lasts a lifetime and beyond. it explores the question: What would you do if you could spend one more day with a lost loved one? As a child, Charley Benetto is told by his father, "You can be a mama's boy or you can be a daddy's boy, but you can't be both." So he chooses his father, and he worships him -- right up to the day the man disappears. An eleven-year-old Charley must then turn to his mother, who bravely raises him on her own, despite Charley's embarrassment and yearnings for a complete family. Decades later, Charley is a broken man. His life has been crumbled by alcohol and regret. He loses his job. He leaves his family. He hits bottom after discovering his only daughter has shut him out of her wedding. And he decides to take his own life. He makes a midnight ride to his small hometown, with plans to do himself in. But upon failing even to do that, he staggers back to his old house, only to make an astonishing discovery. His mother -- who died eight years earlier -- is still living there, and welcomes him home as if nothing had ever happened. "Simply told, sentimental, and profoundly true, this is a contemporary American fable that will be cherished by a vast readership." -- Publishers Weekly

	January 2007 Book of the Month	A Corner of the Universe Written by, Ann M. Martin Set in the summer of 1960, this is the story of 12-year-old Hattie Owen and the relationship she forges with her mentally ill Uncle Adam. Up until this summer, Hattie has never even known that Uncle Adam existed, because he has been living at a special school in Chicago. When that school closes, Uncle Adam moves in with Hattie and her parents. Hattie quickly warms up to her uncle, a childlike man who loves quoting from episodes of I LOVE LUCY but who also suffers from serious mood swings and is a constant source of embarrassment to his parents, Hattie's grandparents. Hattie, however, accepts the joy she finds in her Uncle Adam, and her friendship with him changes her life. Named one of the Best Children's Books 2002 by Publishers Weekly A 2003 Newbery Honor book.

	December 2006 Book of the Month	The Cay Written by, Theodore Taylor The Cay is the story of Phillip, a boy living on the island of Curacao off the island of Venezuela during World War II. As he and his mother are trying to escape the war and head back to their home in Virginia. The ship they are riding on sinks. Phillip survives the boat accident only to be trapped on an island with a black man and a cat. The accident leaves Phillip blind. Not only does he have to learn adjust to his blindness, but he must learn to survive on the barren island in the Caribbean Sea. Phillip is also faced with other challenges including a hurricane. This book gives the reader a better understanding of how to survive. "I had no interest in a sequel. I said I'd never do it because it's seldom that you'd do a second book as good as the first," he said. "After the first book got 11 awards, I didn't have the guts, didn't have the courage to write it." But two years ago, at his 70th birthday party, his son badgered him to complete the story, to tell Timothy's tale. That, combined with the hundreds of thousands of letters from young readers asking for a sequel and the publisher's six-figure offer convinced him. The Cay, winner of 11 literary awards, including the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, "...of which I'm the proudest, since the book was deemed worthy of being on a shelf with Alice In Wonderland...", was a Universal film presentation starring James Earl Jones. Now in print in 14 foreign countries, the story of young "Phe-leep" and old "Timothy" has passed 4,000,000 copies in publication, worldwide.

	November 2006 Book of the Month	Perfect Written by, Natasha Friend Isabelle Lee is a typical, wisecracking, middle-of-the-pack girl who happens to be dealing with some big issues. Her father has died and no one--especially her mother--wants to talk about it. Meanwhile, Isabelle's sister, who "used to be nine and charming," has messed everything up by ratting Isabelle out to their mom about her eating disorder. Isabelle can't bribe her to stay quiet and ends up in "Eating Disorder and Body Image Therapy Group." Trapped in a room with no air circulation and orange carpet, Isabelle is amazed when Ashley Barnum, the prettiest, most popular girl in school--a.k.a. Royalty--walks through the door. In a world where appearances are all that matter, coping takes some interesting and potentially harmful turns. Milkweed Prize for Children's Literature Book Sense "Winter Picks" 2005

	October 2006 Book of the Month	So Be It Written by, Sarah Weeks Heidi is on a quest. She doesn't know when her birthday is or who her father is. In fact, everything about Heidi and her mentally disabled mother's past is a mystery. When a strange word in her mother's vocabulary begins to haunt her, Heidi sets out on a cross-country journey in search of the secrets of her past. Far away from home, pieces of her puzzling history come together. But it isn't until she learns to accept not knowing that Heidi truly arrives. ALA Best Book for Young Adults ALA Booklist Editors' Best Choice IRA/CBC Young Adults' Choice Notable Children's Book in Language Arts (NCTE) Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee

	September 2006 Book of the Month	Crispin the Cross Lead Written by, AVI Asta's son, a poor peasant in 14th Century England, was only 13 when his mother died and his whole world crumbled. His mourning was soon replaced by inexplicable terror when, it seemed, the whole world was suddenly determined to see him dead! On the advice of his priest, Crispin escaped from the only home he had ever known, he ran into a world he had never known. With him, he carried his only possession, a cross of lead. Having no skills, no friends, no family, and no experience in finding food, Crispin's problems began to multiply. Winner of the 2003 Newbery Award

	May 2006 Book of the Month	Five People You Meet in Heaven Written by, Mitch Albom Eddie is a grizzled war veteran who feels trapped in a meaningless life of fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. As the park has changed over the years -- from the Loop-the-Loop to the Pipeline Plunge -- so, too, has Eddie changed, from optimistic youth to embittered old age. His days are a dull routine of work, loneliness, and regret. Then, on his 83rd birthday, Eddie dies in a tragic accident, trying to save a little girl from a falling cart. With his final breath, he feels two small hands in his -- and then nothing. He awakens in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a lush Garden of Eden, but a place where your earthly life is explained to you by five people who were in it. These people may have been loved ones or distant strangers. Yet each of them changed your path forever. One by one, Eddie's five people illuminate the unseen connections of his earthly life. As the story builds to its stunning conclusion, Eddie desperately seeks redemption in the still-unknown last act of his life: Was it a heroic success or a devastating failure? The answer, which comes from the most unlikely of sources, is as inspirational as a glimpse of heaven itself. Sincere . . . A book with the genuine power to stir and comfort its readers." --Janet Maslin, The New York Times "Transcendent. . . . Albom has aimed high here, and there's a whiff of paradise as a result." --Atlanta Journal Constitution "There's much wisdom here . . . An earnest meditation on the intrinsic value of human life."--Los Angeles Times

	April 2006 Book of the Month	Surviving the Applewhites Written by, Stephanie S. Tolan Jake Semple is a scary kid. Word has it that he burned down his old school and then was kicked out of every other school in home state. Only weeks into September, the middle school in Taybridge, North Carolina, has thrown him out too. Now there's only one place left that will take him -- a home school run by the most outrageous, forgetful, chaotic, quarrelsome family you'll ever meet. Each and every Applewhite is an artist through and through -- except E.D., the smart, scruffy girl with a deep longing for order and predictability. E.D, and Jake, so nearly the same age, are quickly paired in the family's first experiment in "cooperative education". The two clash immediately , of course. The only thing they have in common is the determination to survive the family's eccentricities. In Stephanie S. Tolan's hilarious tale, a local production of The Sound of Music -- directed, stagecrafted, choreographed, and costumed by Applewhites -- brings the family together and shows E.D. and Jake the value of the special gifts they've had all along.

	March 2006 Book of the Month	Milkweed Written by, Jerry Spinelli Captures the hardships and cruelty of life in the ghettos of Warsaw during the Nazi occupation of World War II, through the eyes of a Jewish orphan who must use all his wits and courage to survive unimaginable events and circumstances. Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli takes us to one of the most devastating settings imaginable-- Nazi-occupied Warsaw -- and tells a tale of heartbreak, hope, and survival through the bright eyes of a young orphan.

	February 2006 Book of the Month	Flush Written by, Carl Hiaasen You know it's going to be a rough summer when you spend Father's Day visiting your dad in the local lockup. Noah's dad is sure that the owner of the Coral Queen casino boat is flushing raw sewage into the harbor-which has made taking a dip at the local beach like swimming in a toilet. He can't prove it though, and so he decides that sinking the boat will make an effective statement. Right. The boat is pumped out and back in business within days and Noah's dad is stuck in the clink. Now Noah is determined to succeed where his dad failed. He will prove that the Coral Queen is dumping illegally . . . somehow. His allies may not add up to much-his sister Abbey, an unreformed childhood biter; Lice Peeking, a greedy sot with poor hygiene; Shelly, a bartender and a woman scorned; and a mysterious pirate-but Noah's got a plan to flush this crook out into the open. A plan that should sink the crooked little casino, once and for all.

	January 2006 Book of the Month	Wringer Written by, Jerry Spinelli In Palmer LaRue's hometown of Waymer, turning ten is the biggest event of a boy's life. It marks the day when a boy is ready to take his place as a wringer at the annual Family Fest. It's an honor and a tradition. But for Palmer, his tenth birthday is not something to look forward to, but something to dread. Because -- although he can't admit this to anyone -- Palmer does not want to be a wringer. But he can't stop himself from getting older, any more than he can stop tradition. Then one day, a visitor appears on his windowsill, and Palmer knows that this, more than anything else, is a sign that his time is up. Somehow, he must learn how to stop being afraid and stand up for what he believes in. "Deeply felt. Presents a moral question with great care and sensitivity." - The New York Times *Multiple Award Winner:* *1998 Newbery Honor Book* *Best Book of 1997 (School Library Journal)* *Notable Children's Books of 1998 (ALA)* *1997 Books for Youth Editor' Choice (ALA Booklist)* *1998 Fanfare Honor List (The Horn Book)* *1997 Pick of the Lists (American Booksellers Association)*

	December 2005 Book of the Month	Turnabout Written by, Margaret Peterson Haddix In the year 2000 Melly and Anny Beth were old and ready to die. but when offered the chance to be young again by participating in a top-secret experiment called Project Turnabout, they agreed. They received injections that made them grow younger, and it seemed like a miracle. But when the injections that were supposed to stop the unaging process turned out to be deadly, Melly and Anny Beth decided to run for their lives. Now it is 2085, Melly and Anny Beth are teenagers. They have no idea what will happen once they are babies again, but they do know they will soon be too young to take care of themselves. They need to find someone to help them before time runs out, once and for all... *An American Booksellers Association Pick of the List* *"Intriguing, thought-provoking, and certainly original..."* *Kirkus Reviews "Gripping..."* *Bulletin of the Center for Children's Book* *"The suspense is unflagging...Recommend this one to fans of Michael Crichton and Robin Cook."* *School Library Journal*

	November 2005 Book of the Month	The Watson's Go To Birmingham Written by, Christoher Paul Curtis Enter the hilarious world of then-year-old Kenny and his family, the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan. There's Momma, Dad, little sister Joetta, and brother Byron, who's thirteen and an "official juvenile delinquent." When Momma and Dad decide it's time for a visit to Grandma, Dad comes home with the amazing Ultra-Glide, and the Watsons set out on a trip like no other. They're heading South. They're going to Birmingham, Alabama, toward one of the darkest moments in America's history. Multiple Award Winner! Newberry Honor Book Coretta Scott King Honor Book An ALA Best Book for Young Adults An ALA Notable Book "An exceptional first novel." - review, Publisher Weekly "Superb ... a warmly memorable evocation of an African-American Family." The Horn Book Magazine "Marvelous ... both comic and deeply moving." The New York Times Book Review

	October 2005 Book of the Month	A Northen Light Written by, Jennifer Donnelly The widely acclaimed, award-winning story of a young women who find her voice. Sixteen-year-old Mattie Gokey has big dreams but little hope of seeing them come true. Desperate for money, she takes a job at the Glenmore, where hotel guest Grace Brown asks her to burn a bundle of secret letters. But when Grace's drowned body is fished from the lake, Mattie discovers the letters reveal the grim truth behind a murder. Set in 1906 against the backdrop of the murder that inspired Theodore Drieser's An American Tragedy, this astonishing novel weaves romance, history, and a murder mystery into something moving, real and wholly original. "Donnelly has written a gripping coming-of -age story." USA Today "A breathtaking tale." School Library Journal "Inspiring." Booklist "Riveting." Publishers Weekly

	September 2005 Book of the Month	Freak the Mighty Written by, Rodman Philbrick "I never had a brain until Freak came along..." That is what Max thought. All is life he'd been called stupid. Dumb. Slow. It didn't help that his body seemed to be growing faster than his mind. It didn't help that people were afraid of him. So Max learned how to be alone. At least until Freak came along. Freak was weird, too. He had a little boy body -- and a really big brain. Together Max and Freak were unstoppable. Together, they were Freak the Mighty. "...mesmerizing suspenseful...poignant...an intriguing and unusual story." -- Kirkus Reviews, pointed review "A wonderful story...memorable and luminous...somewhat different and very special." -- School Library Journal, starred review *"...riveting and poignant, with solid characters, brisk pacing, and ...a little humor to carry us along."-- Booklist, boxed review*

	May 2005 Book of the Month	Flipped Written by,Wendelin Van Draanen The first time she saw him, she flipped. The first time he saw her, he ran. That was the second grade, but not much has changed by the seventh. She says: "My Bryce. Still walking around with my first kiss." He says: "It's been six years of strategic avoidance and social discomfort." But in the eighth grade everything gets turned upside down. And just as he's thinking there's more to her than meets the eye, she's thinking that he's not quite all he seemed. This is a classic romantic comedy of errors told in alternating chapters by two fresh, funny new voices. Wendelin Van Draanen is at her best here with a knockout cast of quirky characters and a hilarious series of misunderstandings and missed opportunities. But underlying the humor are two teens in transition. They are each learning to look beyond the surface of people, both figuring out who they are, who they want to be, and who they want to be with. *A School Library Journal Best Book* *An IRA-CBC Children's Choice* *An IRA-CBC Teacher's Choice* *A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age* *A Judy Lopez Memorial Award Honor Winner*

	April 2005 Book of the Month	Fever 1793 Written by, Laurie Halse Anderson During the summer of 1793, Mattie Cook lives above the family coffee shop with her widowed mother and grandfather. Mattie spends her days avoiding chores and making to plans to turn the family business into the finest Philadelphia has ever seen. But then the fever breaks out. Disease sweeps the streets, destroying everything in its path and turning Mattie's world upside down. At her feverish mother's insistence, Mattie flees the city with her grandfather. But she soon discovers that the sickness is everywhere, and Mattie must learn quickly how to survive in a city turned frantic with disease. "The plot rages like the epidemic itself" --The New York Times Review "Readers will be drawn in by in by the characters and will emerge with a sharp and graphic picture of another world."--School Library Journal

	March 2005 Book of the Month	The House of Scorpion Written by, Nancy Farmer In the future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as a young clone of El Patron, the 142 year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between the United States and Mexico. "Like Louis Sachar's HOLES or Lois Lowry's THE GIVER, the suspense in this book will surprise readers at many turns. Scary, evil people are all around Matt. Farmer is a gifted writer who makes this sort of science fiction seem eerily real. No reader will be untouched by this work that won several 2002 awards, including the National Book Award, a Newbery Honor Award, and a Printz Honor Award. Both teens and adults will be quickly drawn into THE HOUSE OF THE SCORPION." --- Reviewed by Amy Alessio

	February 2005 Book of the Month	Speak Written by, Laurie Halse Anderson The tough, tender, and darkly funny story of a teenage outcast! "Anderson perfectly captures the harsh conformity of high-school cliques and one teen's struggle to find acceptance from her peers. Melinda's sarcastic wit, honesty, and courage make her a memorable character whose ultimate triumph will inspire and empower readers." -- Booklist, starred review *A 2000 Prinz Honor Book* *A 1999 National Book Award Finalist* *An Edgar Allen Poe Award Finalist*