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Reading Circle Program

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 One kind word can warm three winter months. 

-- Japanese proverb

Reading Circle Program

TRUMAN READERS AWARD NOMINEES (Grades 9-12)

Alabama Moon, by Watt Key. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, ©2006. After the death of his father, 10-year-old Moon leaves their forest home and is sent to an Alabama institution. He becomes entangled in the outside world he has never known, makes good friends, a relentless enemy and, finally, a new life.

All of the Above, by Shelly Pearsall. Little, Brown and Co., ©2006. Four urban middle school students, their teacher and other community members relate how a school project to build the world's largest tetrahedron affects the lives of everyone involved.

The Beast of Noor, by Janet Lee Carey. Simon and Schuster, ©2006. Fifteen-year-old Miles Ferrell uses the rare and special gift he is given to break the curse of the Shriker, a murderous creature reportedly brought to Shalem Wood by his family's clan centuries before.

Black Duck, by Janet Lisle. Penguin, ©2006. Years afterwards, Ruben Hart tells the story of how, in 1929 Newport, Rhode Island, his family and his best friend's family were caught up in the violent competition among groups trying to control the local rum-smuggling trade.

Heat, by Mike Lupica. Penguin, ©2006. Pitching prodigy Michael Arroyo is on the run from social services after being banned from Little League baseball because rival coaches doubt he is only 12 years old and he has no parents to offer proof.

Hurt Go Happy, by Ginny Rorby. Tom Doherty Associates, ©2006. Thirteen-year-old Joey Willis is used to being left out of conversations. Though she's been deaf since the age of 6, Joey's mother has never allowed her to learn sign language.

Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City, by Kirsten Miller. Bloomsbury, ©2006. Life becomes more interesting for Ananka Fishbein when, at the age of 12, she discovers an underground room in the park across from her New York City apartment and meets a mysterious girl called Kiki Strike who claims that she, too, wants to explore the subterranean world.

Life As We Knew It, by Susan Pfeffer. Harcourt, ©2006. Through journal entries, 16-year-old Miranda describes her family's struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Rash, by Pete Hautman. Simon and Schuster, ©2006. In a future society that has decided it would "rather be safe than be free," 16-year-old Bo's anger-control problems land him in a tundra jail, where he survives with the help of his running skills and an artificial intelligence program named Bork.

Runaway, by Wendelin Van Draanen. Random House, ©2006. After running away from her fifth foster home, 12-year-old Holly travels across the country, keeping a journal of her experiences and struggle to survive.

Sand Dollar Summer, by Kimberly K. Jones. Simon and Schuster, ©2006. Twelve-year-old Lise spends the summer on an island in Maine with her self-reliant mother and bright — but oddly mute — younger brother. Her formerly safe world is complicated by an aged Indian neighbor, her mother's childhood friend and a hurricane.