Synopsis: Richard's cousin is missing, and his best hope of finding her rests with the wily, one-eyed, ex-governor of Florida. Carl Hiaasen introduces his iconic character Skink to a younger audience in this nail-biting adventure!A National Book Award Longlist SelectionClassic Malley: her parents are about to ship her off to boarding school, so she takes off with some guy she met online... Poor Richard: he's less of a rebel than Malley, and a lot less…

Synopsis: Martin Luna's world is crumbling. A fight threatens to end his sophomore year at Bluford High School. But at home, things are even worse. Frankie, the most feared homeboy from his neighborhood, is hunting him. Alone and with time running out, Martin makes a desperate choice. Will it save or destroy him?

Synopsis: The breakthrough modern sports novel The Contender shows readers the true meaning of being a hero.This acclaimed novel by celebrated sportswriter Robert Lipsyte, the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in YA fiction, is the story of a young boxer in Harlem who overcomes hardships and finds hope in the ring on his path to becoming a contender.Alfred Brooks is scared. He’s a high-school dropout, and his grocery…

Synopsis: Because of a bet, Billy is in the uncomfortable position of having to eat fifteen worms in fifteen days. The worms are supplied by his opponent, whose motto is "The bigger and juicier, the better!" At first Billy's problem is whether or not he can swallow the worm placed before him, even with a choice of condiments from peanut butter to horseradish. But later it looks as if Billy will win, and the challenge becomes getting to the worm to eat it…

Synopsis: This book focuses on Roylin Bailey, a Bluford sophomore who appears in A Matter of Trust. Roylin makes a terrible mistake: he steals money to buy a gift for the girl of his dreams and finds himself in a nightmare he cannot escape.

Synopsis: she was elusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest secnt of a cavtus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl. We did not know what to make of her. In our minds we tried to pin her to corkboard like a butterfly, but the pin merely went through and away she flew.

Synopsis: Swan SongLike the rest of his family, Louis is a trumpeter swan. But unlike his four brothers and sisters, Louis can't trumpet joyfully. In fact, he can't even make a sound. And since he can't trumpet his love, the beautiful swan Serena pays absolutely no attention to him.Louis tries everything he can think of to win Serena's affection -- he even goes to school to learn to read and write. But nothing seems to work. Then his father steals him a…

Synopsis: 2013 Laura Ingalls Wilder AwardMeli Lleshi is positive that her drawing of her teacher with his pelican nose started it all. The Lleshis are Albanians living in Kosovo, a country trying to fight off Serbian oppressors, and suddenly they are homeless refugees. Old and young alike, they find their courage tested by hunger, illness, the long, arduous journey, and danger on every side. Then, unexpectedly, they are brought to America by a church…

Synopsis: The second book in Lois Lowry's Giver Quartet, which began with the bestselling and Newbery Medal-winning The Giver.Left orphaned and physically flawed in a civilization that shuns and discards the weak, Kira faces a frighteningly uncertain future.Her neighbors are hostile, and no one but a small boy offers to help. When she is summoned to judgment by The Council of Guardians, Kira prepares to fight for her life.But the Council, to her surprise…

Synopsis: Charity Meyers has only 12 hours to live.By 2035 the rich have gotten richer, the poor have gotten poorer, and kidnapping has become a major growth industry in the United States. The children of privilege live in secure, gated communities and are escorted to and from school by armed guards.But the security around Charity Meyers has broken down. On New Year’s morning she wakes and finds herself alone, strapped to a stretcher, in an ambulance that…

Synopsis: Two boys, separated by the canyons of time and two vastly different cultures, face the challenges by which they will become men.Coyote Runs, an Apache boy, takes part in his first raid. But he is to be a man for only a short time.More than a hundred years later, while camping near Dog Canyon, 15-year-old Brennan Cole becomes obsessed with a skull that he finds, pierced by a bullet. He learns that it is the skull of an Apache boy executed by…

Synopsis: The Newbery Award-winning author of Up a Road Slowly presents the unforgettable story of Jethro Creighton—a brave boy who comes of age during the turbulent years of the Civil War.In 1861, America is on the cusp of war, and young Jethro Creighton is just nine-years-old. His brother, Tom, and his cousin, Eb, are both of fighting age. As Jethro's family is pulled into the conflict between the North and the South, loyalties are divided, dreams are…

Synopsis: This giftable hardcover box set contains Lois Lowry's Newbery Medal-winning The Giver plus the acclaimed three companion books in the series.This set includes the complete Giver Quartet series: The Giver, Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son. In addition, it includes an exclusive map of the Giver world.Enter this dystopian, futuristic world through all four of these hardcovers on a page-turning dystopian journey. A great deal and the perfect gift…

Synopsis: "Guess how much I love you," says Little Nutbrown Hare. Little Nutbrown Hare shows his daddy how much he loves him: as wide as he can reach and as far as he can hop. But Big Nutbrown Hare, who can reach farther and hop higher, loves him back just as much. Well then Little Nutbrown Hare loves him right up to the moon, but that's just halfway to Big Nutbrown Hare's love for him.

Synopsis: Darcy Wills is desperate. A painful secret is ruining her closest friendships at Bluford High School. And an even deeper lie is tearing her family apart. Unwilling to lose the people she loves, Darcy must confront her past and the truth. What she discovers will change her world forever.

Synopsis: There is no escape for Ben McKee. For weeks, he's covered the bruises on his body. He's even lied to his teachers and new friends at Bluford High School. But the trouble in Ben's house isn't going away. And if he doesn't act soon, it could swallow him and his mother forever.

Synopsis: Bluford High freshman Harold Davis is trapped. Medical bills for his sick grandmother are piling up, and a social worker has threatened to put him in a foster home. Desperate for money, he reluctantly agrees to work for Londell James, a neighborhood drug dealer. The choice leads him into a world of dangerous streets where no one is safe. Will Harold escape the violence that surrounds him, or will he become its next victim?