Transitions
Summer Reading 2011
Behind the Curtain by Peter Abrahams (YA)
The sequel to Down the Rabbit Hole in which eighth grader Ingrid Levin-Hill, an avid Sherlock Holmes fan, learns that mysterious things are happening in her town and she is kidnapped while investigating them.
Enclave by Ann Aguirre (YA)
New York City has been decimated by war and plague, and most of civilization has migrated to underground enclaves, where life expectancy is no more than the early 20’s. When Deuce turns 15, she takes on her role as a Huntress and it is her duty to provide meat for her loveless enclave deep beneath the streets of the ruined city.
Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson (YA)
Separated from his friend Isabel after their daring escape from slavery, fifteen-year-old Curzon serves as a free man in the Continental Army at Valley Forge until he and Isabel are thrown together again, as slaves once more. This is the sequel to Chains.
Ashes of Roses by Mary Jane Auch (YA)
Sixteen-year-old Rose Nolan is determined to make it in America after part of her family is sent back to Ireland but the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911 brings tragedy.
The Printer’s Devil by Paul Bajoria (J)
A printer’s devil is entangled in mistaken identities, thefts, a hunt for a murderer, and mysterious comings and goings aboard a docked ship from India, in this adventure set in 18th century London.
The Wright 3 by Blue Balliett (J)
In this sequel to Chasing Vermeer, supersleuth sixth-graders Petra, Caler and Tommy lead their classmates in an attempt to keep Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous Robie House from being demolished.
The Lost Years of Merlin by T. A. Barron (YA)
A young boy who has no memory of his past, washes ashore in Wales and discovers who he is after a series of fantastic adventures. This is the first title in the series.
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall (J)
Four lovable sisters, ages four through twelve, vacation with their widowed father at an estate in the Berkshire Mountains and have many adventures with the son of the estate’s owner.
The Prophecy of the Stones by Flavia Bujor (YA)
In a magical world, three teenage girls are chosen to fulfill an ancient prophecy in an effort to save an enchanted land called Fairytale from evil.
Heist Society by Ally Carter (YA)
Teen Katarina Bishop and her co-conspirator friends track down some priceless paintings that have been stolen from a mobster who wants them back. The teenage crew has to plan the perfect heist.
Sweetgrass Basket by Marlene Carvell (YA)
Using alternating voices, two Mohawk sisters describe their lives at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, established in 1879 to educate Native Americans into the white culture.
Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko (J)
Twelve-year-old Moose moves with his family to Alcatraz Island in 1935 and has to get used to life there so his father can work as a guard and his sister can attend a special school for autistic children.
Things Hoped For by Andrew Clements (YA)
Seventeen-year-old Gwen, living with her grandfather in Manhattan while she attends music school, practices for her music audition, tries to find out what happened to her grandfather, and meets Robert, another musician, who seems to be having a strange man following him. This is a follow-up to the book Things Not Seen.
Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech (J)
Thirteen-year-old fraternal twins Dallas and Florida have grown up in a terrible orphanage but their lives change forever when an eccentric but sweet older couple invites them each on an adventure, beginning in an almost magical place called Ruby Holler.
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech (J)
After her mother leaves home suddenly, thirteen-year-old Sal and her grandparents take a car trip retracing her mother's route. Along the way, Sal recounts the story of her friend Phoebe, whose mother also left.
Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet by Erin Dionne (J)
Hamlet's attempts to be a "normal" eighth grader become increasingly difficult when her genius seven-year-old sister and her eccentric Shakespeare scholar parents both begin to attend her school.
City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau (J)
The city of Ember was built as a last refuge for the human race. Two hundred years later, the great lamps that light the city are beginning to flicker. When Lina finds part of an ancient message, she's sure it holds a secret that will save the city. She and her friend Doon must decipher the message before the lights go out on Ember forever! This is the first title in the Ember series.
My Last Skirt by Linda Durrant (YA)
After having emigrated to the United States from Ireland, Jennie Hodgers dresses as a boy so that she can serve in the 95th Illinois Infantry as Private Albert Cashier, a Union soldier in the American Civil War.
The Ear, the Eye and the Arm: A Novel by Nancy Farmer (YA)
In the year 2194 in Zimbabwe, the three children of General Matsika are kidnapped and put to work in a plastic mine.
Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher (YA)
Marjan, a thirteen-year-old crippled girl living in ancient Persia, joins the Sultan’s harem and gathers stories for Shahrazad, stories which will save her life.
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (J)
Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father can bring characters in a book to life when she and her father are abducted by one of his creations. (Sequel is Inkspell)
Reckless by Cornelia Funke (J)
Jacob and Will Reckless have looked out for each other ever since their father disappeared, but when Jacob discovers a magical mirror that transports him to a warring world populated by witches, giants, and ogres, he keeps it to himself until Will follows him one day, with dire consequences.
Nory Ryan’s Song by Patricia Reilly Giff (YA)
A terrible blight attacks Ireland’s potato crop, and twelve-year-old Nory Ryan courageously helps her family and neighbors survive. The saga of the famine plagued Ireland is continued in Maggie’s Door.
The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez (J)
In 1961 after Castro has come to power in Cuba, fourteen-year-old Lucia and her seven-year-old brother are sent to the United States when her parents, who are not in favor of the new regime, fear that the children will be taken away from them.
Among the Brave by Margaret Peterson Haddix (J)
In a society that allows families to have only two children, a group of third-borns tries to save themselves and other like them. This is the fifth title in the Shadow Children series that began with Among the Hidden.
Claim To Fame by Margaret Peterson Haddix (YA)
Sixteen-year-old Lindsay, a former child star, finds out that she can hear what anyone says about her. She hides from this ability until she sees it as an asset, especially when she learns that she is not alone.
Hoot by Carl Hiaasen (YA)
Roy, who is new to Florida, becomes involved in another boy’s attempt to save a colony of burrowing owls from a proposed site of a pancake restaurant.
By Royal Command: a James Bond Adventure by Charlie Higson (YA)
Piecing together information gained while skiing in the Alps, teenaged James Bond returns to Eton College and foils an assassination attempt, then goes on the run across Europe with a beautiful and dangerous Irish girl, Roan. This is book 5 in the Young Bond series.
Alex Rider (series) by Anthony Horowitz (YA)
An adventure series featuring teen spy Alex Rider.
Pagan’s Vows by Catherine Jinks (YA)
Book three of the Pagan chronicles, this story follows the adventures of Pagan, squire to Lord Roland, through the years 1188 to 1189, as he accompanies his master, now determined to be a monk, to the French monastery of St. Martin and uncovers a dangerous blackmail plot.
Death Cloud by Andrew Lane (YA)
In 1868, with his army officer father suddenly posted to India, and his mother mysteriously "unwell," fourteen-year-old Sherlock Holmes is sent to stay with his eccentric uncle and aunt in their house in Hampshire, where he uncovers his first murder.
The Wreckers by Iain Lawrence (YA)
Fourteen-year-old John Spencer is shipwrecked after a vicious storm and he has to try to save himself and his father while dealing with an evil secret about the English coastal town where they are stranded.
Rules by Cynthia Lord (J)
Frustrated with living with an autistic brother, twelve-year-old Catherine longs for a normal existence. Her attempt becomes more complicated when she meets a young man in a wheelchair.
Messenger by Lois Lowry (YA)
Matty, a young member of a utopian community from Gathering Blue conceals an emerging healing power that he does not understand.
The Soldiers of Halla by D.J. MacHale (YA)
Each of the Travelers returns home to learn the truth about their origins before being reunited for a final, inevitable confrontation with Saint Dane. This is book 8 in the Pendragon series.
Corner of the Universe by Ann Martin (J)
The summer that Hattie turns twelve, she meets the childlike uncle that she didn’t know she had and her life becomes complicated with the issues of his disabilities.
Thirteen Plus One by Lauren Myracle (J)
Winnie Perry is 14 years old now, and the countdown to high school is shaping up to be quite eventful.
Fire In the Hills by Donna Jo Napoli (YA)
Fourteen-year-old Roberto, after having escaped from a Nazi labor camp, becomes a member of the resistance fighting against the Nazi occupiers in Italy. This is the sequel to Stones In Water.
Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye (YA)
Fourteen-year-old Liyana Abboud and her Arabic family move to Jerusalem from the United States and find out first hand the tensions between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
Bread and Roses, Too by Katherine Paterson (J)
Jake and Rosa, two children living in Lawrence, Massachusetts, are sent to Vermont for safety while the women of the textile industry strike during the 1912 Bread and Roses strike of mill workers.
The Transall Saga by Gary Paulsen (YA)
While thirteen-year-old Mark is backpacking in the desert, he falls into a tube of light and is transported to a primitive world where it is necessary to use his knowledge and skills.
Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck (J)
Eleanor “Peewee” McGrath, a 14 year old tomboy and automobile enthusiast, has her life turned upside down when four young librarians arrive in her small Indiana town.
Protector of the Small series, the Trickster series, Beka Cooper series by Tamora Pierce
A series of stories that all take place in the land of Tortall. Follows the The Song of The Lioness series and The Immortals Quartet.
Truckers by Terry Pratchett (YA)
Torrit, Dorcas and the other gnomes have never been outside the department store in which they live, but they are forced outside when the store goes out of business.
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (YA)
Lyra Belacqua and her daemon set out to prevent kidnapped children from becoming experiments in the Far North. (The first title in His Dark Materials series)
Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan (J)
Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave the life of wealth and privilege of Mexican high society and go to work in the labor camps of Southern California.
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary Schmidt (YA)
In Maine in 1911, Turner Buckminster, the son of a minister, meets Lizzie Bright Griffen, an African American girl from a poor nearby island community founded by former slaves. The town fathers want to change the community into a tourist spot.
Bella At Midnight by Diane Stanley (J)
Bella, who thought that she was the daughter of peasants, discovers that, in fact, she is a daughter of a knight who abandoned her in infancy. Her life as she has known it changes radically and she is caught up in a plot that will destroy her kingdom.
Under the Persimmon Tree by Suzanne F. Staples (YA)
The lives of Najmah, a young Afghan girl, and Nusrat, an American-Muslim teacher waiting for her Afghan doctor husband to return from a clinic, intersect during the Afghanistan and Pakistan War in 2001 – 2002.
Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie Tolan (YA)
Juvenile delinquent Jake Semple is sent to live with the artistic and eccentric members of the Applewhite family. A local production of the Sound of Music brings the family together as well as brings out talents that Jake didn’t know he had.
Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool (J)
Twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker is the daughter of a drifter who, in the summer of 1936, sends her to stay with an old friend in Manifest, Kansas, where he grew up, and where she hopes to find out some things about his past.
Countdown by Deborah Wiles (YA)
It's 1962 and it seems that everyone is living in fear. Eleven-year-old Franny Chapman lives with her family in Washington, DC, and can feel the fear of the nation in the days surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman by Ben Winters (J)
Spurred by a special project from her social studies teacher, seventh-grader Bethesda Fielding uncovers the secret identity of her music teacher, which leads to a most unusual concert performance.
Bat 6 by Virginia Wolff (YA)
Bigotry mars the story, told by 21 sixth grade girls, of a softball game that took place after World War II in Oregon.