Books That Don't Make You Blush, Criminal Elements, What Ails You?, GLBTQ
Abbott, Hailey. The Bridesmaid. 2005. Delacorte, paper, $7.95. (0-385-73220-1). Can Abby train the dreaded Bridezilla?
Bauer, Joan. Backwater. 2000. Putnam, paper, $6.99. (0-698-11865-0). Ivy battles the family legal tradition and a treacherous blizzard.
Bruchac, Joseph. The Warriors. 2003. Darby Creek, paper, $4.99. (1-58196-022-0). Jake, a star lacrosse player, enters a boarding school only to find that his Iroquois heritage is misunderstood.
Cabot, Meg. All-American Girl. 2003. HarperTrophy, paper, $6.99. (0-06-447277-9). Being a hero isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Cappo, Nan Willard. Cheating Lessons. 2003. Simon Pulse, paper, $4.99. (0-689-86018-8). Even if you’re smart, you don’t have all the answers.
Carlson, Melody. It's My Life: Diary of a Teenage Girl. 2000. Multnomah Publisher, paper, $12.99. (1-57673-735-7). Caitlin O’Connor’s journal tells about the ways her Christian faith is affected by everyday happenings.
Ferris, Jean. Love Among the Walnuts. 1998. Harcourt, paper, $5.99. (0-14-131099-5). Two parents, a girlfriend, and a chicken fall into comas after being poisoned.
Hilgartner, Beth. Murder for Her Majesty. 1992. Houghton Mifflin, paper, $5.95. (0-395-61619-0). The newest star of the Yorkshire Cathedral’s boys’ choir has a secret – she’s a girl.
Hobbs, Will. Leaving Protection. 2005. HarperCollins, paper, $5.99. (0-380-73312-9). Fishing for salmon off the coast of Alaska and hooked by danger.
Karr, Kathleen. The Boxer. 2004. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, paper, $6.95. (0-374-40886-6). Will chasing the American dream make the Chopper a champion or a chump?
Lubar, David. Dunk. 2002. Clarion Books, paper, $6.99. (0-618-43909-9). Step right up and take your best shot at dunking Chad the Bozo! Experience a summer on the Jersey shore as Chad learns there’s more to humor than being funny.
Oppel, Kenneth. Airborn. 2005. HarperEos, paper, $6.99. (0-06-053182-7). "Pirates of the Caribbean" meets "Where the Wild Things Are."
Rabb, M. E. The Rose Queen. 2004. Penguin, paper, $ 6.99. (0-14-250041-0). Lost and found: Two orphaned sisters flee New York to become Midwestern crime solvers.
Rallison, Janette. All's Fair in Love, War, and High School. 2005. Walker & Company, paper, $6.95. (0-8027-7725-2). Can head cheerleader Samantha tame her tongue during a student body election?
Schindler, Nina (translator, Rob Barrett). An Order of Amelie, Hold the Fries. 2004. Annick Press, paper, $8.95. (1-55037-860-0). Do u like me? Plz rite back soon.
Shaw, Tucker. Flavor of the Week. 2005. Hyperion, paper, $5.99. (0-7868-5698-X). If food is the way to a woman’s heart, then Cyril should be Prince Charming.
Sheldon, Dyan. Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. 2005. Candlewick Press, paper, $7.99. (0-7636-2827-1). All the world’s a stage and all Lola’s friends and enemies are merely players.
Smith, Greg Leitich. Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo. 2005. Little, Brown and Company, paper, $6.99. (0-316-01181-9). Who knew a science experiment could cause so much heartache?
Takaya, Natsuki. Fruits Basket Vol. 1. 2004. Tokyopop, paper, $9.99. (1-591826-039-8). Tohru Honda finds a home with a family who has a most unusual secret.
Trottier, Maxine. Sister to the Wolf. 2004. Kids Can Press, paper, $6.95. (1-55337-520-3). Lesharo, a Pawnee slave, swears to protect a young woman and her father on a dangerous journey.
Van Draanen, Wendelin. Flipped. 2003. Knopf, paper, $8.95. (0-375-82544-4). She loves him, he loves her not. Wait! Isn’t it the other way around?
Vaughan, Brian K. Runaways Vol. 1: Pride & Joy. Illustrated by Adrian Alphona. 2004. Marvel, paper, $7.99. (0-7851-1379-7). Six teens find out that their parents are evil. No, really, really evil.
Weaver, Will. Memory Boy. 2003. HarperTrophy, paper, $5.99. (0-06-440854-x). Miles invents a fantastic vehicle to escape with his family from a worldwide ecological disaster.
Westerfeld, Scott. Uglies. 2005. Simon Pulse, paper, $6.99. (0-689-86538-4). In Tally’s world everyone is an Ugly, until they’re turned into a Pretty on their sixteenth birthday.
Brooks, Kevin. Martyn Pig. 2003. Scholastic, paper, $6.99. (0-439-50752-9). When his father dies accidentally, Martyn gets deeper and deeper in trouble as he tries to cover it up.
Cormier, Robert. Rag and Bone Shop. 2003. Laurel Leaf, paper, $6.50. (0-440-22971-5). Sociopath, or coerced victim?
Ewing, Lynne. Drive-By. 1998. HarperCollins, paper, $4.95. (0-06-440649-0). When Tito’s older brother is killed in a gang-related drive-by, Tito must keep his family safe – no matter what it takes.
Ferris, Jean. Bad. 2001. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, paper, $5.95. (0–374-40475-5). Life behind bars changes tough Dallas’s life and her attitude.
Flinn, Alex. Nothing to Lose. 2004. HarperCollins, paper, $6.99. (0-06-051752-2). The Tilt-a-whirl could never be half as thrilling as Michael’s dark secret.
Foon, Dennis. Skud. 2004. Groundwood, paper, $6.95. (0-88899-549-0). Hidden lives of bullies.
Gantos, Jack. Hole in My Life. 2004. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, paper, $8.00. (0-374-43089-6). Breaking the law is a bad idea, but it doesn’t have to ruin your life.
Hartinger, Brent. Last Chance Texaco. 2005. HarperCollins, paper, $6.99. (0-06-050914-7). Lucy’s last chance before prison is a group home that could bring her a future, romance, mystery – or total disaster.
Hinton, S.E. The Outsiders. 1997. Puffin, paper, $7.99. (0-14-038572-x). It’s the rich kids vs. the greasers.
Jacobs, Thomas A. They Broke the Law, You Be the Judge: true cases of teen crime. 2003. Free Spirit, paper, $15.95. (1-57542-134-8). What’s it like to be arrested and go through the legal system?
Koertge, Ron. The Brimstone Journals. 2001. Candlewick Press, paper, $6.99. (0-7636-1742-3). Boyd’s list of his classmates is one list you never want to see your name on.
Kyi, Tanya Lloyd. Truth. 2003. Orca Soundings, paper, $7.95. (1-55143-265-X). Jen learns quickly that, when it comes to solving a murder, you’re either part of the solution or part of the problem.
McClintock, Norah. Snitch. 2005. Orca Books, paper, $7.95. (1-55143-484-9). A dog teaches obedience to an angry boy.
Mikaelsen, Ben. Touching Spirit Bear. 2002. HarperTrophy, paper, $5.99. (0-380-80560-x). Prison, or a year on a remote island? Which will Cole choose? Which would you?
Myers, Walter Dean. Monster. 2001. HarperTempest, paper, $6.99. (0-06-440731-4). Steve’s movie will be a surefire success, if he isn’t sentenced to life in prison first.
Picoult, Jodi. The Pact: A Love Story. 1998. Harper Trade, paper, $14.00. (0-688-17052-8). It was the perfect relationship – but did it end in murder?
Sachar, Louis. Holes. 2003. Random House, paper, $6.50. (0-440-41946-8). Welcome to Camp Green Lake! Did we mention that it’s not a camp, it’s not green, and there’s no lake?
Sanchez, Reymundo. My Bloody Life: The Making of a Latin King. 2001. Chicago Review Press, paper, $16.95. (1-55652-427-7). Inside the life of a Latin King gangster.
Shakur, Sanyika. Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member. 2004. Grove Press, paper, $14.00. (0-8021-4144-7). "Monster" Kody shares his story of 16 years spent growing up as a gangbanger in South Central.
Shepard, Jim. Project X: A Novel. 2005. Vintage, paper, $12.00. (1-4000-3348-9). Even guys next door can become killers.
Sikes, Gini. 8 Ball Chicks: A Year in the Violent World of Girl Gangsters. 1998. Anchor, paper, $14.95. (0-385-47432-6). Inside the lives of girl gangbangers.
Strasser, Todd. Give A Boy A Gun. 2000. Simon & Schuster, paper, $5.99. (0-689-84893-5). Behind the scenes of a high school shooting rampage.
Weber, Lori. Klepto. 2004. Lorimer, paper, $4.99. (1-55028-836-9). Hannah is the bad sister, but Kat seems to be following in her footsteps.
Whitney, Kim Ablon. See You Down the Road. 2005. Laurel Leaf, paper, $5.99. (0-440-23809-9). Bridget’s family was good at being like everyone else except when it came to one thing: Obeying the law.
Williams, Stanley "Tookie" with Barbara Cottman Becnel. Life in Prison. Illus. by D. Stevens and others. 2001. SeaStar Books, paper, $4.95. (1-58717-094-9). Crips founder Tookie Williams tells it like it is about life on Death Row.
Anderson, Laurie Halse. Fever 1793. 2002. Aladdin, paper, $5.99. (0-689-84891-9). When Yellow Fever consumes Philadelphia, Matilda struggles to survive.
Armstrong, Lance and Sally Jenkins. It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life. 2001. Penguin, paper, $14.00. (0-425-17961-3). Lance Armstrong is going to kick cancer’s butt!
Benson, Ann. The Plague Tales. 1997. Dell, paper, $6.99. (0-440-22510-8). When the Black Death breaks out in the modern London, the past holds the cure.
Bull, Emma. Finder: A Novel of the Borderlands. Ed. by Nicola Griffith and Stephen Pagel. Illus. by Elmer Damaso. 2003. Tor Teen, paper, 6.99. (0-7653-4777-6). Is it a drug? Is it a disease? Can Orient find out the truth before it’s too late?
Cook, Karin. What Girls Learn: A Novel. 1998. Random House, paper, $13.00. (0-679-76944-7). Breast cancer will change their lives forever, but love will pull them through.
Ehrenhaft, Daniel. The Last Dog on Earth. 2003. Yearling Books, paper, $5.99. (0-440-41950-6). A good dog is the best friend a person could have, right? Not anymore.
Golden, Christopher & Rick Hautala. Throat Culture. 2005. Simon & Schuster, paper, $5.99 (0-689-86527-9). Everyone on campus is getting sick. Don’t eat the crab cakes!
Gottleib, Lori. Stick Figure: A Diary of My Former Self. 2000. Berkley Trade, paper, $12.00. (0-425-17890-0). Lori believes you can never be too rich or too thin.
Gregory, Julia. Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen by Proxy Childhood. 2004. Bantam, paper, $12.00. (0-553-38197-0). Julie is always at the doctor, but it’s her mom who really needs one.
Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. 2004. Vintage, paper, $12.00. (1-4000-3271-7). Autistic math genius Christopher Boone must solve the mystery of his neighbor's murdered poodle.
Harrar, George. Not as Crazy as I Seem. 2003. Houghton Mifflin, paper, $6.99. (0-618-49480-4). Devon has obsessive compulsive disorder. Devon has obsessive compulsive disorder. Devon has obsessive compulsive disorder. Devon has obsessive compulsive disorder.
Hart, Tony. Microterrors: The Complete Guide to Bacterial, Viral and Fungal Infections. 2004. Firefly Books Ltd, paper, $19.95. (1-55297-970-9). Worried about catching something? Wait ‘til you read this!
Hautman, Pete. Hole in the Sky. 2005. Simon & Schuster, paper, $5.99. (0-689-84428-X). Ceej and his family battle a mutant flu virus and a cult of violent survivors.
Hautman, Pete. Sweetblood. 2005. Simon Pulse, paper, $5.99. (0-689-87324-7). Where the first vampires diabetics?
Hesser, Terry Spencer. Kissing Doorknobs. 1998. Laurel-Leaf, paper, $5.99. (0-440-41314-1). Tara just can’t stop.
Hooper, Mary. At the Sign of the Sugared Plum. 2005. Bloomsbury, paper, $6.95. (1-58234-695-X). Candy, herbs, dried flowers - can anything protect Hannah from the Black Death as it worms its way through the streets of London?
It Happened to Nancy: By an Anonymous Teenager, A True Story from Her Diary. Ed. by Beatrice Sparks. 1994. Avon, paper, $5.99. (0-380-77315-5). In this retro view of AIDS, Nancy is a happy-go-lucky teen until one horrible night ruins her life.
King, Stephen. The Stand. 1980. Random House, paper, $12.99. (0-517-21901-8). A flu like no other has arrived.
Mass, Wendy. A Mango-Shaped Space. 2003. Little, Brown, paper, $6.99. (0-316-05825-4). Mia is stunned to learn her friends don’t see words and numbers in color.
McDaniel, Lurlene. Six Months to Live. 2003. Darby Creek, paper, $4.99. (1-58196-003-4). Dawn leaves her teddy bear collection, cheerleading, and her friends behind in order to beat cancer.
Napoli, Donna Jo. Breath. 2005. Simon Pulse, paper, $5.99. (0-689-86177-X). Salz has always been the sick one, until a strange disease breaks out in his medieval village and it’s up to him to save the day.
Picoult, Jodi. My Sister's Keeper. 2005. Simon and Schuster, paper, $14.00. (0-7434-5453-7). What if you were born just to save your sister’s life?
Preston, Richard. The Hot Zone. 1995. Random House, paper, $7.99. (0-385-47956-5). Ebola. There is no cure. Ninety percent of its victims die. Welcome to the Hot Zone.
Vaughn, Brian K. Y the Last Man: Unmanned. 2003. DC Comics, paper, $12.95. (1-56389-980-9). Yorick discovers that being the last man left in a world full of women is not exactly a dream come true.
Werlin, Nancy. Double Helix. 2005. Puffin, paper, $5.99. (0-14-240327-X). Eli needs to escape his own genes.
Acito, Marc. How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship, and Musical Theater. 2005. Broadway Books, paper, $9.95. (0-7679-1854-1). Poor Edward – he’s juggling a girlfriend, a jock boy crush, and need for funds for Julliard. What’s a confused teen to do?
Bend, Don't Shatter : Poets on the Beginning of Desire. Ed. by T. Cole Rachel and Rita Costello. 2004. Soft Skull Press, paper, $11.95. (1-932360-17-4). Poems by gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and questioning teens.
Boyer, David. Kings and Queens: Queers at the Prom. 2004. Soft Skull Press, paper, $24.95. (1-932360-24-7). Proms, love ‘em or hate ‘em, are remembered here. Cheesy prom photos included!
Boylan, Jennifer Finney. She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders. 2004. Broadway, paper, $14.95. (0-7679-1429-5). Funny account of being transgendered before, during, and after gender reassignment surgery.
De Oliveira, Eddie, Lucky. 2004. Scholastic, paper, $6.99. (0-439-54655-9). It’s not just Toby’s fast feet that keep Sam coming back to the soccer field.
Freymann-Weyr, Garret. My Heartbeat. 2003. Puffin, paper, $7.99. (0-14-240066-1). A sister, a brother – and the boy they both love.
Hear Me Out: True Stories of Teens Educating and Confronting Homophobia. 2004. Second Story Press, paper, $9.95. (1-896764-87-8). Real-life stories in many voices about teens confronting narrow-mindedness and finding themselves along the way.
Huegel, Kelly. GLBTQ*: The Survival Guide for Queer and Questioning Teens *(Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning). 2004. Free Spirit, paper, $15.95. (1-57542-126-7). A very helpful look at challenges and issues facing GLBTQ teens.
Johnson, Maureen. The Bermudez Triangle. 2005. Razorbill, paper, $7.99. (1-59514-033-6). Nina, Mel, and Avery are best girlfriends, but a romance between two of them threatens to shatter the triangle.
Kannagi, Satoru and Odagiri, Hotaru. Only the Ring Finger Knows. 2004. Digital Manga, paper, $12.95. (1-56970-980-7). You’ll recognize your soul mate because you wear matching rings. But what if your match is another boy?
Lackey, Mercedes. Magic's Pawn : Last Herald Mage Trilogy Book 1. 1994. DAW Books, paper, $6.99. (0-88677-352-0). A young exile almost loses his life while finding his destiny as one of the legendary Herald-Mages of Valdemar.
Levithan, David. Boy Meets Boy. 2005. Knopf, paper, $8.95. (0-375-83299-8). Paul’s high school may only exist over the rainbow. Why, then, oh why can’t it be everywhere?
Loukes, Keith. Ask Dr. Keith: Candid Answers to Queer Questions. 2004. Whitecap Books, paper, $16.95. (1-55285-607-0). All kinds of gay sex questions are answered frankly, explicitly, and in a positive manner.
Moore, Terry. Strangers In Paradise: Pocket Book 1. 2005. Abstract Studios, paper, $17.95. (1-892597-26-8). Katchoo is in love with Francine. David is in love with Katchoo. Francine is…confused!
Peters, Julie Anne. Keeping You a Secret. 2005. Megan Tingley, paper, $7.99. (0-316-00985-7). Holland finds falling in love complicated because her true love is a lesbian.
Peters, Julie Anne. Luna. 2005. Little Brown, paper, $7.99. (0-316-01127-4). Not everyone is born in the right body.
Revoyr, Nina. The Necessary Hunger: A Novel. 1998. St. Martin's Press, paper, $14.95. (0-312-18142-6). Nancy’s crush on Rania, a fellow basketball player, accelerates when her Japanese-American father falls in love with Raina’s African-American mother.
Rucka, Greg. Gotham Central Vol 2: Half a Life. Illustrated by Michael Lark. 2005. DC Comics, paper, $14.99. (1-40120-438-4). Gotham Detective Renee Montoya is outed and must deal with the fallout while fighting super villains.
Sanchez, Alex. Rainbow Boys. 2003. Simon Pulse, paper, $7.99. (0-689-85770-5). The misadventures of three guys coming out in their senior year.
When I Knew. Ed. by Robert Trachtenberg. Illus. by Tom Bachtell. 2005. Regan, paper, $22.95. (0-06-057146-2). When did you first realize that you were gay?
Winick, Judd. Green Lantern: Brother’s Keeper. 2003. DC Comics, paper, $12.95. (1-40120-078-8). When his best friend is brutally gay-bashed, Kyle Rayner, a.k.a. the Green Lantern, comes to terms with the fact that his powers can’t change anything.
Woodson, Jacqueline. The House You Pass on the Way. 2003. Puffin, paper, $5.99. (0-14-250191-3). Staggerlee wonders if she could be a lesbian after her cousin comes to visit.