Puppet

Puppet by Eva Wiseman
The year is 1882. A young servant girl named Esther disappears from a small Hungarian village. Several Jewish men from the village of Tisza Eszvar face the ‘blood libel’ — the centuries-old calumny that Jews murder Christian children for their blood. A fourteen-year-old Jewish boy named Morris Scharf becomes the star witness of corrupt authorities who coerce him into testifying against his fellow Jews, including his own father, at the trial.

Earthgirl

Earthgirl by Jennifer Cowan
Earthgirl follows the eco-evolution of sixteen-year-old Sabine Solomon, who is thrown into the fray one afternoon when she's riding her bike downtown to join her friends, and an idling minivan driver carelessly tosses leftovers from McDonald's out the car window, blindsiding Sabine and leaving her covered in plum sauce. When Sabine tosses the garbage back at the offensive driver, an altercation ensues that is captured on the videophones of her friends. In a technological blink, footage is posted on YouTube, and Sabine finds herself at the center of a heated eco-debate. A crusader is born.

Starclimber

Starclimber by Kenneth Oppel
As members of the first crew of astralnauts, Matt Cruse and Kate De Vries journey into outer space on the Starclimber and face a series of catastrophes that threaten the survival of all on board. Visit Kenneth Oppel's website here.

Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet

Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet by Joanne Proulx
When seventeen-year-old Luke Hunter foretells the death of his friend with freakish accuracy, his life gets complicated. Everyone in Stokum, Michigan, his rank little pinprick of a hometown, knows about the premonition and wants to know more. But Luke holds everyone-the local news crew, his parents, his buddy Fang-at arm's length, telling no one that the death premonitions keep happening. Terrified, he lurches through a personal minefield studded with previously unconsidered existential ponderings, Christian fundamentalists, and a dream girl who his dead friend left behind. Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet is a darkly comic coming-of-age novel that nails contemporary youth culture. Read it then enrich the linger with this website and suggested music.

Sister Wife

Sister Wife by Shelley Hrdlitschka
In a remote polygamist community, Celeste struggles to accept her destiny while longing to be free to live her life her way.

Libertad

Libertad by Alma Fullerton
With their father gone to America to make money for his family, Libertad, his little brother Julio and their mother scrape a living out of a dump in Guatemala City. Although it is too late for him, Libertad is determined that his little brother should go to school. Taught to play the marimba by his father, Libertad uses his talent as a street musician to raise enough money for his brother's school supplies. But his dreams for their future are destroyed when their mother is killed in a freak accident. Libertad must face the inevitable truth; they cannot survive on the streets of Guatemala City alone. There is only one thing to do. They must set out on the long and lonely journey to the Rio Grande River, where they plan to cross the water and enter the United States to find their father.

Can You Spell Revolution?

Can You Spell Revolution? by Matt Beam
Between dull assemblies, tyrant teachers, and a handbook full of rules, life at Laverton Middle School can be summed up in one word: B-O-R-I-N-G. In this novel, five fed-up students borrow from the pages of history books and, seeking inspiration from revolutionary leaders, get a twisty lesson in the excitement and perils of repeating history.

What World Is Left

What World Is Left by Monique Polak
Anneke, a Dutch Jewish teenager, and her family are sent to Theresienstadt, a "model" concentration camp, where she confronts great evil and learns to do what it takes to survive.

Mattland

Mattland by Hazel Hutchins, Gail Herbert, Dusan Petricic (Illustrator)
Matt's new subdivision is nothing but rocks and mud, but with help from his imagination and friends he maps out a new world. This artist might inspire you, check out Dusan Petricic on Google Images.

Zorgamazoo

Zorgamazoo by Robert Paul Weston, Victor Rivas Villa (Illustrator)

Imaginative and adventurous Katrina eludes her maniacal guardian to help Morty, a member of a vanishing breed of zorgles, with his quest to uncover the fate of the fabled zorgles of Zorgmazoo as well as of other creatures that seem to have disappeared from the earth.

Katrina Katrell Occupation: Plucky Heroine Bio: Katrina believes in the fanciful things, in pirates and gadgets and creatures and kings. She’s clever, observant; she loves to explore. Her dream is to go on adventures galore!

Li'l Kids: An original graphic novel collecting three webcomic short stories

Li'l Kids: An original graphic novel collecting three webcomic short stories by Von Allan (Illustrator)
Three short stories that feature the whimsy and wonder of being a young girl. From meeting new friends, dealing with an ill mom, or triumphing over a nasty super villain in a dream, "Li'l Kids" shows a unique side of being a child. A short story collection told in comics form, the stories all feature Marie, the protagonist from the original graphic novel "the road to god knows." Visit the Von Allen studio here. You can download the entire "Li'l Kids" and read it on your computer!

My One Hundred Adventures

My One Hundred Adventures by Polly Horvath
Jane is 12 years old, and she is ready for adventures, to move beyond the world of her siblings and single mother and their house by the sea, and step into the “know-not what.” And, over the summer, adventures do seem to find Jane, whether it’s a thrilling ride in a hot-air balloon, the appearances of a slew of possible fathers, or a weird new friendship with a preacher and psychic wannabe. Most important, there’s Jane’s discovery of what lies at the heart of all great adventures: that it’s not what happens to you that matters, but what you learn about yourself.

The Apprentice's Masterpiece: A Story of Medieval Spain

The Apprentice's Masterpiece: A Story of Medieval Spain by Melanie Little
In this novel set in 15th-century Spain at the time of the Inquisition, prejudice, bigotry, and ignorance destroy the peaceful coexistence of Christians, Jews, and Muslims. The effects of this dismal history are dramatized in this story of two teens—Ramon, a Converso or converted Jew, and Amir, a Muslim who has been brought as a slave to Ramon's family.

Dog Lost

Dog Lost by Ingrid Lee
11-year-old Mackenzie has got one friend in the whole world: Cash, his brown-eyed pit bull. His dad won the runt after a long night of drinking and gambling--ever since Mac's mom died, that's all he seems to do, and soon he erupts in a rage at the innocent pup, takes her away in the trunk of his car, and dumps her in the middle of nowhere. Mac vows to find Cash and bring her back home--he has to: All strays are about to be outlawed! Little does he know that while he searches for Cash, she's surviving her own adventures and proving in the process that all dogs--even pit bulls--are born good.

Escape the Mask: Grassland Trilogy Book One

Escape the Mask: Grassland Trilogy Book One by David Ward
Six young friends, tortured by the Spears and forced to work as slaves in the harsh fields of Grassland, vow to escape to find the freedom that was stolen from them long ago, and their opportunity arises when Outsiders come and wage war against the Spears.

The Séance

The Séance by Iain Lawrence
In 1926, magician Harry Houdini arrives in the city to perform magic and to expose fraudulent mediums but thirteen-year-old Scooter King, who works for his mother making her séances seem real, needs Houdini's help to solve a murder.

Afrika

Afrika by Colleen Craig

For thirteen-year-old Kim, travel to South Africa with her journalist mother will mark the end of her childhood and the beginning of a remarkable journey. Expecting nothing more than three months in her mother’s homeland, Kim comes to terms with the country’s diverse and often shocking history. The Truth and Reconciliation Hearings in post-apartheid South Africa open her eyes to the tragedy and brutality of its segregationist policies. Kim’s first meeting with her relatives, her contact with schoolmates and cousins, bring her face-to-face with the realization that she is not as removed from this powerful story as she thought.