Ansary, Tamim. West of Kabul, East of New York.  2002

Ansary, son of an Afghan father and American mother, describes his life in Afghanistan where he was born in 1948, and in America where he has lived since the age of sixteen, and discusses the impact of an E-mail he sent to friends on Sept. 12, 2001 to express his feelings about the Taliban.

Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850. 2001 

Draws from letters, diaries, and other documents to chronicle the Irish potato famine of 1845-50, describing the political and personal impact it had on Ireland and its people, with illustrations from contemporary newspapers.

Carlson, Lori M., ed. Cool Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Growing up Latino in the United States. 1994

These poems represent the perspectives of young Latinos growing up throughout the United States.

Fletcher, David. Hunted: A True Story of Survival. 2002

The author recounts his harrowing ten days in Alaska during which he was hunted by an enraged mother grizzly after he accidentally killed her cub.

Friel, John. The 7 Best Things (Smart) Teens Do. 2000

Offers teenagers advice on how to deal with the issues they face and grow up to become competent, successful adults.

Gantos, Jack. Hole in My Life. 2002

The author relates how, as a young adult, he became a drug user and smuggler, was arrested, did time in prison, and eventually got out and went to college, all the while hoping to become a writer.

Giblin, James. The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler. 2002

Chronicles the life of Adolf Hitler and describes the consequences his quest for German dominance and his hatred of the Jews brought upon the entire world.

Jargodzki, Christopher. Mad About Physics: Braintwisters, Paradoxes, and Curiosities. 2001

Presents nearly four hundred thought-provoking situational questions involving physics, with explained answers.

Katz, Jon. Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho. 2000

Tells the true story of Jesse and Eric, nineteen-year-old roommates in the small town of Caldwell, Idaho who changed their lives and built a new future for themselves with the power of the Internet.

Krakauer, Jon. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster. 1998

The author relates his experience of climbing Mount Everest during its deadliest season and examines what it is about the mountain that makes people willingly subject themselves to such risk, hardship, and expense.

Latifa. My Forbidden Face: Growing Up Under the Taliban: A Young Woman’s Story. 2001

Latifa, a young woman who was sixteen in 1996 when the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, tells about her family's experiences under the repressive regime, focusing on the lives of women and girls who were abruptly denied the freedom to work, go to school, or even leave their homes without a male escort.

Philbrick, Nathaniel. Revenge of the Whale: The True Story of the Whaleship Essex. 2002

Survivor accounts provide the basis for a harrowing account of the 1820 voyage of the whaleship Essex, which was attacked and sunk by a sperm whale.

Anderson, M.T.  Feed. 2002

In a future where most people have computer implants in their heads to control their environment, a boy meets an unusual girl who is in serious trouble.

Cisneros, Sandra. Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories. 1992 

A collection of stories about women, their lives, and relationships from both sides of the Mexican Border.

Cormier, Robert. The Rag and Bone Shop. 2001

Trent, an ace interrogator from Vermont, works to procure a confession from an introverted twelve-year-old accused of murdering his seven-year-old friend in Monument, Massachusetts.

Crutcher, Chris. Ironman. 1995

While training for a triathlon, seventeen-year-old Bo attends an anger management group at school which leads him to examine his relationship with his father.

Farmer, Nancy. The House of the Scorpion. 2002

In a future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as the young clone of El Patrón, the 142-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between Mexico and the United States.

Frank, E.R.  America. 2002 

America, a runaway boy who is being treated at Ridgeway, a New York hospital, finds himself opening up to one of the doctors on staff and revealing things about himself that he had always vowed to keep secret.

Guterson, David. Snow Falling on Cedars. 1994

When a newspaper journalist covers the trial of a Japanese American accused of murder, he must come to terms with his own past.

Kidd, Sue Monk. The Secret Life of Bees. 2002

14-year-old Lily Owen, neglected by her father and isolated on their South Carolina peach farm, spends hours imagining a blissful infancy when she was loved and nurtured by her mother, Deborah, whom she barely remembers.

Koertge, Ron. Stoner & Spaz. 2002

A troubled boy with cerebral palsy struggles toward self-acceptance with the help of a drug-addicted young woman.

Korman, Gordon. Son of the Mob. 2002

Seventeen-year-old Vince's life is constantly complicated by the fact that he is the son of a powerful Mafia boss, a relationship that humorously threatens to destroy his romance with the daughter of an FBI agent.

Myers, Walter Dean.  Fallen Angels. 1988

Seventeen-year-old Richie Perry, just out of his Harlem high school, enlists in the Army in the summer of 1967 and spends a devastating year on active duty in Vietnam.

Oates, Joyce Carol. Big Mouth & Ugly Girl. 2002 

When sixteen-year-old Matt is falsely accused of threatening to blow up his high school and his friends turn against him, an unlikely classmate comes to his aid.

Sebold, Alice. The Lovely Bones: a Novel. 2002

14-year-old Susie Salmon recounts her rape and murder and watches her family from heaven as they cope with their grief.

Wolff, Virginia. True Believer. 2001

Living in the inner city amidst guns and poverty, fifteen-year-old LaVaughn learns from old and new friends, and inspiring mentors, that life is what you make it--an occasion to rise to.

Yolen, Jane.  Girl in a Cage. 2002

As English armies invade Scotland in 1306, eleven-year-old Princess Marjorie, daughter of the newly crowned Scottish king, Robert the Bruce, is captured by England's King Edward Longshanks and held in a cage on public display.