Lunch-Box Dream by Tony Abbott

Lunch-Box Dream by Tony Abbott
Farrar Straus Giroux
2011
178p.

Told from multiple points of view, a white family on a 1959 road trip between Ohio and Florida, visiting Civil War battlefields along the way, crosses paths with a black family near Atlanta, where one of their children has gone missing.

Dancing Home by Alma Flor Ada

Dancing Home by Alma Flor Ada
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
2011
147p.

When Margie's cousin Lupe comes from Mexico to live in California with Margie's family, Lupe must adapt to America, while Margie, who thought it would be fun to have her cousin there, finds that she is embarrassed by her in school and jealous of her at home.

Elephant Scientist by Caitlyn O'Connell

Elephant Scientist by Caitlyn O'Connell
Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
2011
70p.

Journey to the Namibian desert with Caitlin O'Connell, an American scientist, and witness one of nature's largest, most complex, and most intelligent mammals living today on this earth.

Missing on Superstition Mountain by Elise Broach

Missing on Superstition Mountain by Elise Broach
Henry Holt
2011
262p.

When brothers Simon, Henry, and Jack move with their parents to Arizona, they are irresistably drawn to explore the aptly named Superstition Mountain, in spite of warnings that it is not safe.

William's Midsummer Dreams by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

William's Midsummer Dreams by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
2011
209p.

Now permanently settled with Aunt Fiona, who has adopted him and his siblings, thirteen-year-old William gets the chance to play Puck in a professional production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Bootleg by Karen Blumenthal

Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine and the Lawless Years by Karen Blumenthal
Roaring Brook Press
2011
154p.

For more than a decade starting in 1920, millions of regular Americans ignored the law of the land. Parents became bootleggers, kids smuggled illegal alcohol, and outlaws became celebrities. It wasn't supposed to be that way, of course. When Congress passed the Eighteenth Amendment, prohibiting the sale and manufacture of alcohol in the United States, supporters believed it would create a better, stronger nation. Instead it began an era of lawlessness, when famous gangsters like Al Capone rose to fame, and many reconsidered their concept of right and wrong. This is the story of those years in American history-- the story of prohibition.

Can I See Your ID? by Chris Barton

Can I See Your I.D. : True Stories of False Identities by Chris Barton
Dial Books for Young Readers
2011
121p.

Stories of ten impostors-- many of them teenagers-- push questions of identity, deception, and gullibility to the extreme.

Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy

 Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy
Arthur A. Levine
2011
266p.

Lucky for Good by Susan Patron

Lucky for Good by Susan Patron
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
2011
208p.

The residents of Hard Pan, California, come together to help Brigitte and Lucky when the County Health Department threatens to close down the café, and meantime Miles's life is complicated by his mother's return.

Mysterious Bones by Katherine Kirkpatrick

Mysterious Bones: The Story of Kennewick Man by Katherine Kirkpatrick
Holiday House
2011
60p.

Presents the story of Kennewick Man, one of the oldest and most complete skeletons found in America near the Columbia River in Washington.

R My Name Is Rachel by Patricia Reilly Giff

R My Name Is Rachel by Patricia Reilly Giff
Wendy Lamb Books
2011
166p.

Three city siblings, now living on a farm during the Great Depression, must survive on their own when their father takes a construction job miles away.

Sparrow Road by Sheila O'Connor

Sparrow Road by Sheila O'Connor
GP Putnam Sons
2011
247p.

Twelve-year-old Raine spends the summer at a mysterious artists colony and discovers a secret about her past.

Waiting for the Magic by Patricia MacLachlan

Waiting for the Magic by Patricia MacLachlan
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
2011

When Papa goes away for a little while, his family tries to cope with the separation by adopting four dogs and a cat.

Grand Plan to Fix Everything by Uma Krishnaswami

Grand Plan to Fix Everything by Uma Krishnaswami
Atheneum Books For Young Readers
2011
266p.

Eleven-year-old Dini loves movies, and so when she learns that her family is moving to India for two years, her devastation over leaving her best friend in Maryland is tempered by the possibility of meeting her favorite actress, Dolly Singh.

The Girl is Murder by Kathryn Miller Haines

The Girl is Murder by Kathryn Miller Haines

Roaring Brook Press

2011

342p.

In 1942 New York City, fifteen-year-old Iris grieves for her mother who committed suicide and for the loss of her life of privilege, and secretly helps her father with his detective business since he, having lost a leg at Pearl Harbor, struggles to make ends meet.

The Wikkeling by Steven Arntson

The Wikkeling by Steven Arntson
RP Kids
2011
234p.

Henrietta and her pals Gary and Rose all have headaches with an unknown cause and experience other strange incidents--including the appearance of a threatening creature called the Wikkeling--and are hopeful that an ancient bestiary can help solve these mysteries.

Absolute Value of Mike by Kathryn Erskine

Absolute Value of Mike by Kathryn Erskine
Philomel Books
2011
237p.

Fourteen-year-old Mike, whose father is a brilliant mathematician but who has no math aptitude himself, spends the summer in rural Pennsylvania with his elderly and eccentric relatives Moo and Poppy, helping the townspeople raise money to adopt a Romanian orphan.

Eight Keys by Suzanne LaFleur

Eight Keys by Suzanne LaFleur
Wendy Lamb Books
2011
216p.

When twelve-year-old Elise, orphaned since age three, becomes disheartened by middle school, with its bullies, changing relationships, and higher expectations, keys to long-locked rooms and messages from her late father help her cope.

Flyaway by Lucy Christopher

Flyaway by Lucy Christopher
Chicken House/Scholastic
2011
314p.

While visiting her father in hospital, thirteen-year-old Isla meets Harry, the first boy to understand her and her love of the outdoors. But Harry is ill, and as his health fails, Isla is determined to help him in the only way she knows how. Together they watch a lone swan struggling to fly on the lake outside Harry's window.

The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch

The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch
Scholastic Press
2011
287p.

Twenty years after the start of the war that caused the Collapse, fifteen-year-old Stephen, his father, and grandfather travel post-Collapse America scavenging, but when his grandfather dies and his father decides to risk everything to save the lives of two strangers, Stephen's life is turned upside down.