Center of Everything, The by Linda Urban - 2014

The Center of Everything by Linda Urban

Harcourt
197p.

 Summary:  For Ruby Pepperdine, the center of everything is on the rooftop of Pepperdine Motors, stargazing from the circle of her grandmother Gigi's hug. That's how everything is supposed to be--until it goes spinning out of control. Now Ruby's best friend, Lucy, is mad at her. Her new friendship with Nero is pretty bumpy too. Worst of all, Ruby regrets what happened with Gigi. How Ruby didn't listen. And now it's too late to make things right. But Ruby has one last hope. It all depends on what happens on Bunning Day, when the entire town will hear her read her winning essay. And it all depends on her twelfth birthday wish-- unless she messes that up too.

One Came Home by Amy Timberlake - 2014

One Came Home by Amy Timberlake
Alfred Knopf
257p


Summary:  In 1871 Wisconsin, thirteen-year-old Georgia sets out to find her sister Agatha, presumed dead when remains are found wearing the dress she was last seen in, and before the end of the year gains fame as a sharpshooter and foiler of counterfeiters.

Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead

Liar & Spy
Rebecca Stead
Wendy Lamb Books
180 pgs.

Seventh-grader Georges adjusts to moving from a house to an apartment, his father's efforts to start a new business, his mother's extra shifts as a nurse, being picked on at school, and Safer, a boy who wants his help spying on another resident of their building.

Same Sun Here by Silas House

Same Sun Here by Silas House and Neela Viswani
Candlewick
297 pgs


A twelve-year-old Indian immigrant in New York City and a Kentucky coal miner's son become pen pals, and eventually best friends, through a series of revealing letters exploring such topics as environmental activism, immigration, and racism.