Speak, published in 1999, is a young adult novel by Laurie Halse Anderson that tells the story of high school freshman Melinda Sordino. After Melinda is raped at an end of summer party, she calls the police, who break up the party. Melinda is then ostracized by her peers because she will not say why she called the police. Unable to verbalize what happened, Melinda nearly stops speaking altogether, expressing her voice through the art she produces for Mr. Freeman's class. This expression slowly helps Melinda acknowledge what happened, face her problems, and recreate her identity.
The Truth About Forever is a novel by Sarah Dessen. It's her sixth novel and was published in hardcover on May 11, 2004, and in paperback on April 6, 2006.
Lord of the Nutcracker Men is a novel by Canadian author Iain Lawrence that takes place in England during the first year of World War I. The book was first published in October 2001 by the Delacorte Press, and it was later reprinted in May 2003 by Dell-Laurel Leaf, an imprint of a division of Random House, Inc. The book has become a bestseller, and is included in the required reading lists of many American high schools.
The Princess Diaries Volume II: Princess in the Spotlight, released in the United Kingdom as Princess Diaries: Take Two, is the second book in the series The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot and was published in 2001. The book is not related to the film released with the title The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, where the heroine Mia is awaiting coronation, but can only be queen if she marries within thirty days.
The Tulip Touch is a children's novel written by Anne Fine and published in 1996. The book raises questions of morality and accountability, as well as exploring the question of nature versus nurture. It won the Whitbread Award and was Highly Commended for the Carnegie Medal.
The Crossroads is the first children's novel by author Chris Grabenstein.
Sprout is a young adult gay novel by American author Dale Peck first published in May 2009. The novel depicts an openly gay teenage boy who moves to Kansas after his mother dies from cancer. While he struggles with harassment at school and two potential boyfriends, he has to decide if he will hide his sexual orientation in order to win a statewide essay-writing contest. An act of betrayal leads to the book's climax.
Bring Me the Head of Oliver Plunkett is the second novel of the Eddie & the Gang with No Name trilogy by Northern Irish author, Colin Bateman, published on 13 May 2004 through Hodder Children's Books.
We Were Here is a 2009 young adult novel by Matt de la Peña. It follows the story of Miguel, a teenager who rebels against the law. We Were Here was recognized as an ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Adults, an ALA-SALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, and a Junior Library Guild Selection. It was also featured in the 2010 NYC Public Library Stuff for the Teenage list.
Ashley Little is a Canadian author of both adult and young adult literature.
The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom is a verse novel set in Cuba, written by Margarita Engle and published in 2008. It received the award of a John Newbery Honor in 2009.
Out of My Mind is a 2010 novel by Sharon M. Draper, a New York Times bestselling author. The cover illustration of the fifth edition is by Daniel Chang, and the cover photography is by Cyril Bruneau/Jupiter Images. A reading group guide is enclosed. The book is recommended for ages 10-14 and for grades 5–8. The story was written in first person, featuring Melody Brooks, a girl with cerebral palsy.
The Knife and the Butterfly is a young adult novel by Ashley Hope Pérez, published in 2011 by Carolrhoda Books. The novel, which explores the lives of two teenage gang members in Houston, a Hispanic boy named Azael and a White girl named Lexi, is based on a 2006 gang-related death in that city.
Henry and Mudge and the Great Grandpas, the 26th book in the Henry and Mudge series, is a 2005 beginning reader's children's book written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Suçie Stevenson. The book was well reviewed and won the inaugural Geisel Award in 2006.
So Loud a Silence is a 1996 young adult novel by Lyll Becerra de Jenkins. It is about a teenager, Juan Guillermo, who leaves Bogotá to live with his grandmother on a farm in the Colombian countryside.
Hazel's Theory of Evolution is a young adult novel by Lisa Jenn Bigelow. In 2019 HarperCollins published the book, which received the Lambda Literary Award in 2020.
Hold Still is a young adult novel by Nina LaCour, published October 20, 2009, by Dutton Children's Books.
Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea is a middle grade fiction written by Ashley Herring Blake and published on May 25, 2021, by Little, Brown. It tells the story of Hazel Bly and her family as they arrive at Rose Harbor, Maine, having moved towns several times prior. In this coastal town, Bly learns how to deal with the pain of having lost one of her mothers.
Chickadee is a 2012 historical fiction novel by American author Louise Erdrich, the fourth book in The Birchbark House series. Moving the story fourteen years into the future, the novel follows Omakaya's twin sons, Chickadee and Makoons, as the family moves further into the Great Plains. When Chickadee is kidnapped, he embarks on a journey to reunite with his family against a backdrop of American westward expansion.
Tyrell is a 2006 young adult novel by Coe Booth. The novel follows the titular character Tyrell, a 15-year-old African-American boy living in a roach-infested shelter in The Bronx. He dropped out of school to help care for his 7-year-old brother, and his mom wants him to sell drugs to help get them into an apartment, but Tyrell doesn't want to, especially because he doesn't want to go to prison like his dad. Instead, Tyrell plans a neighborhood party to help raise money.
