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Reading Circle Program

SENIOR 9-12

Senior, 9-12

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, illustrated by Ellen Forney. Little, Brown and Co., ©2007. Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white school in a farm town where the only other Native American is the school mascot. Fiction. (SLJ starred)

American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China, by Matthew Polly. Penguin, ©2007. Matthew Polly recounts his experiences during the two years he spent living and studying in China with the Shaolin monks, who taught Matthew important lessons about life and his place in the universe. [796.815]

The Arrival, written and illustrated by Shaun Tan. Scholastic, ©2007. In this wordless graphic novel, a man leaves his homeland and sets off for a new country, where he must build a new life for himself and his family. Fiction. (SLJ starred, Booklist starred)

Before I Die, by Jenny Downham. Random House, ©2007. A terminally ill teenage girl makes and carries out a list of things to do before she dies. Fiction. (Kirkus starred)

Boot Camp, by Todd Strasser. Simon and Schuster, ©2007. After ignoring several warnings to stop dating his teacher, Garrett is sent to Lake Harmony, a boot camp that uses unorthodox and brutal methods to train students to obey their parents. Fiction.

Born on a Blue Day: A Memoir: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant, by Daniel Tammet. Simon and Schuster, ©2007. Daniel Tammet, an autistic savant, offers an inside look at his life. He describes how his rare condition, which gives him incredible mental powers and a compulsive need for order and routine, has influenced every aspect of his life. He describes the challenges he has faced while trying to be independent. [362.196]

Busted, by Phil Bildner. Simon and Schuster, ©2007. Interweaves stories of students at a high school with a "zero-tolerance" policy as they get caught doing things they are pretty sure are wrong. Offenses include drinking, organizing a gambling ring, bullying and honor students behaving dishonorably. Fiction.

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy, by Ally Carter. Hyperion, ©2007. Genius Cammie Morgan begins the spring semester of her sophomore year with many questions about her ex-boyfriend, her mother and the last term. She intends to use her spying abilities to have them answered. From the Gallagher Girls series. Fiction.

Dangerously Alice by Phyllis Naylor. Simon and Schuster, ©2007. During the fall semester of her junior year of high school, Alice decides to change her good-girl image, while major remodeling begins at home and some important relationships begin to change. Fiction.

Dream Factory, by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler. Penguin, ©2007. Alternating chapters present the viewpoints of two teenagers who find summer employment as costumed cartoon characters at an amusement park and try to resist falling in love. Fiction.

Eclipse, by Stephenie Meyer. Little, Brown and Co., ©2007. Bella feels she must choose between her friendship with Jacob, a werewolf, and her relationship with Edward, a vampire. When a mysterious string of killings ravages Seattle, the three of them must decide whether their personal lives are more important than the wellbeing of an entire city. Book three of the Twilight Saga. Fiction.

Extras, by Scott Westerfeld. Simon and Schuster, ©2007. Fifteen-year-old Aya Fuse lives in a civilization where the social status of each person is monitored and rated, and anyone can drop from celebrity to nobody. Aya's popularity ranking is so low her only chance of moving up is to find a good story. When she meets a group of girls who hide an explosive secret, Aya decides to expose the group and unknowingly puts her own life in danger. Book four of the Uglies series. Fiction.

Genesis Alpha, by Rune Michaels. Simon and Schuster, ©2007. When 13-year-old Josh's beloved older brother, Max, is arrested for murder, the victim's sister leads Josh to evidence of Max's guilt — and her own — hidden in their favorite online role-playing game. Josh, who was conceived to save Max's life years earlier, must consider whether he shares that guilt. Fiction.

Goddess Games, by Niki Burnham. Simon and Schuster, ©2007. Three high school girls from different social backgrounds deal with their problems and learn how to get along while working at a mountain resort for the summer. Fiction.

The Great Adventure: Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of Modern America, by Albert Marrin. Penguin, ©2007. Describes the life of American President Theodore Roosevelt, exploring his experiences as a scholar, cowboy and war hero. His domestic and foreign policies, and his impact on world history are also discussed. [973.91]

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling, illustrated by Mary GrandPré. Scholastic, ©2007. Follows the journey of Harry Potter as he attempts to bring an end to his archenemy, Lord Voldemort. Book seven of the Harry Potter series. (Publishers Weekly starred) Fiction.

Hero, by Perry Moore. Hyperion, ©2007. Thom, the teenage son of a fallen superhero who seems to be linked to his mother's disappearance, joins the League and finds himself dealing with confusing sexual feelings for the hero Uberman. While he learns to use his powers, he moves toward the truth about his mother's disappearance. Fiction.

How to Take the Ex Out of Ex-Boyfriend, by Janette Rallison. Penguin, ©2007. Giovanna rashly breaks up with her boyfriend, Jesse, when he refuses to help her twin brother with his campaign for student-council president, but fixing her mistake may be more difficult than she realizes. Fiction.

Huge, by Sasha Paley. Simon and Schuster, ©2007. Wilhelmina and April find themselves roommates at a fat camp, but they have very different goals. They find they have little in common until they are humiliated by the same person. Fiction.

I'm Exploding Now, by Sid Hite. Hyperion, ©2007. The summer he turns 17, Max Whooten is feeling off his game with no job and nothing to do. After hanging out in Manhattan, thinking about life, writing his thoughts and visiting his aunt in Woodstock, N.Y., things turn around when he develops a personal philosophy called "coolism." Fiction.

Ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale, by Holly Black. Simon and Schuster, ©2007. As the possessor of Roiben's true name, 16-year-old Kaye returns to Faeryland to try to complete a nearly impossible quest that will release Roiben from the spell of the faery queen who holds him in thrall. Sequel to Tithe and Valiant. Fiction.

Knife Edge, by Malorie Blackman. Simon and Schuster, ©2007. Following Callum's death, the people who loved him relate how their lives have been changed, especially in reference to his girlfriend, Sephy, and their mixed-race child. Sequel to Naughts and Crosses. Fiction.

The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family, by Martha Raddatz. Penguin, ©2007. Chronicles the events of an April 2004 surprise attack on American troops in Sadr City, Iraq, and provides personal accounts of soldiers in battle and their families and friends waiting for news at home. [956.7044]

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, by Ishmael Beah. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, ©2007. Ishmael Beah describes his experiences after he was driven from his home by war in Sierra Leone and picked up by the government army at the age of 13, serving as a soldier for three years before being removed from fighting by UNICEF and eventually moving to the United States. [966.404] (Publishers Weekly starred)

Missouri Caves in History and Legend, by H. Dwight Weaver. University of Missouri Press, ©2008. This book documents facts and relates stories associated with Missouri's vast number of caves. The information retrieved from caves extends back to prehistoric bones of extinct animals, early Native American artifacts, various cultural uses over time, and the wide variety of commercial uses and abuses of caves. Missouri author and subject

Mister Pim, by Lloyd Jones. Random House, ©2007. On a remote tropical island where villages are overrun by rebel fighting, 13-year-old Matilda is introduced to the Charles Dickens classic Great Expectations by her white schoolteacher. She becomes enthralled with the story's main character, with whom she feels a connection. Fiction.

The Mother-Daughter Book Club, by Heather Vogel Frederick. Simon and Schuster, ©2007. When the mother of four sixth-grade girls with different personalities pressures them into forming a book club, the reading and discussion of Little Women leads them to realize they have more in common than they could have imagined. Fiction.

My Mother the Cheerleader, by Robert Sharenow. HarperCollins, ©2007. Thirteen-year-old Louise uncovers secrets about her family and her neighborhood during the violent protests over school desegregation in 1960 New Orleans. Fiction. (Booklist starred)

The Night Tourist, by Katherine Marsh. Hyperion, ©2007. Fourteen-year-old Jack Perdu, a prodigy of classical mythology, suffers a near-fatal accident after which he meets Euri, a young ghost who introduces him to New York's underworld eight levels below Grand Central Station, where he decides to look for his mother who disappeared years earlier. Fiction.

The Opposite of Love, by Helen Benedict. Penguin, ©2007. When 17-year-old Madge, a biracial girl living in a small Pennsylvania town populated by bigots, decides to change the world for the better, she starts by "adopting" a four-year-old boy she finds abandoned in New York City. Fiction.

Peak, by Roland Smith. Harcourt, ©2007. Fourteen-year-old Peak Marcello is invited by his father to climb Mount Everest with him. If Peak reaches the top before his birthday, he would be the youngest person ever to reach the summit. Fiction. (Booklist starred)

Rhiannon, by Vicki Grove. Penguin, ©2007. Rhiannon, a 14-year-old girl in 12th-century England, lives on the bluff of Clodaghcombe with her healer mother and grandmother. She enlists the aid of a handsome young monk, a mysterious French pirate and a ghostly little girl in an attempt to solve the murder of a stranger whose body was found close to home, and to clear her friend of suspicion. Fiction. Missouri author

Schooled, by Gordon Korman. Hyperion, ©2007. Cap lives in isolation with his grandmother, a former hippie. When she falls from a tree and breaks her hip, Cap is sent to a foster home, where he has his first experience in a public school. Fiction. (Booklist starred)

The Shadow Speaker, by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu. Hyperion, ©2007. Fourteen-year-old "shadow speaker" Ejii sets off across the Sahara in 2070 in search of her father's killer. She discovers a greater purpose to her life and to the mystical powers she possesses. Fiction.

Sight, by Adrienne Maria Vrettos. Simon and Schuster, ©2007. Dylan uses her psychic abilities to help police solve crimes against children, but keeps her extracurricular activities secret from her friends at school. Fiction.

Skin Hunger, by Kathleen Duey. Simon and Schuster, ©2007. In alternate chapters, Sadima travels from her farm home to the city and becomes assistant to a heartless man who is trying to restore knowledge of magic to the world. A group of boys fights to survive in the academy that has resulted from his efforts. Book one of the A Resurrection of Magic series. Fiction.

Skulduggery Pleasant, by Derek Landy. HarperCollins, ©2007. Skulduggery Pleasant is a well-dressed ace detective, sorcerer and fire-throwing skeleton. He is charged with protecting Stephanie Edgley, an unusual and darkly talented 12-year-old. Fiction.

Summer Ball, by Mike Lupica. Penguin, ©2007. Thirteen-year-old Danny must prove himself all over again for a disapproving coach and against new rivals at a summer basketball camp. Sequel to Travel Team. Fiction.

Tamar: A Novel of Espionage, Passion, and Betrayal, by Mal Peet. Candlewick Press, ©2007. In England in 1995, 15-year-old Tamar, grief-stricken by the puzzling death of her beloved grandfather, slowly begins to uncover the secrets of his life in the Dutch resistance during the last year of the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, and the climactic events that forever cast a shadow on his life and that of his family. Fiction. (SLJ starred, Booklist starred, Carnegie Medal winner)

Touching Snow, by M. Sindy Felin. Simon and Schuster, ©2007. Karina, 13, is the middle daughter of a Haitian family living in suburban New York. Her dreams of education are thwarted by an abusive stepfather and the struggle to survive in a new country and culture. Fiction.

Unwind, by Neal Shusterman. Simon and Schuster, ©2007. Three teens embark upon a cross-country journey in order to escape from a society that salvages body parts from children ages 13 to 18. Fiction.

Uprising, by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Simon and Schuster, ©2007. In 1927, at the urging of 20-year-old Harriet, Mrs. Livingston reluctantly recalls her experiences at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Her tale includes the story of immigration, the struggle for women's rights, tales of miserable working conditions and a deadly fire. Fiction.

Useful Fools, by C.A. Schmidt. Penguin, ©2007. A 15-year-old Peruvian boy, whose mother runs a clinic for poor village children, becomes caught up in the war after Senderistas bomb the clinic, killing his mother and throwing his family into turmoil. Fiction. (Booklist starred)

The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain, written and illustrated by Peter Sís. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, ©2007. Artist Peter Sís describes growing up in a communist country and discusses how Western culture influenced his life. [943.7] (Publishers Weekly starred, Booklist starred, Caldecott Honor)

What Happened, by Peter Johnson. Boyds Mills Press, ©2007. A 16-year-old boy tries to come to grips after he and his brother go for a joyride that ends in a hit-and-run. Fiction. (Booklist starred)

What They Found: Love on 145th Street, by Walter Dean Myers. Random House, ©2007. Fifteen interrelated stories explore different aspects of love, including a dying father's determination to help start a family business and the relationship of two teens who plan to remain celibate until they marry. Fiction. (SLJ starred, Booklist starred, Kirkus starred)

Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath, by Stephanie Hemphill. Random House, ©2007. A series of poems that provide a chronological portrait of the life of Sylvia Plath are told in the voices of family members, friends, associates and others who knew her. [811.6] (Booklist starred)