Grade: 7

Hollywood actor Dayne Matthews and Katy Hart are married and living in Bloomington, Ind., where Dayne has found a solution to his on-camera love scenes-he wants Katy to star in his next film. Katy wins the part and is cast opposite her super-star husband. The story of a small town girl’s dream come true is too much for the press to resist, and in an effort to appease them, the couple agrees to a 12. It seems like the perfect compromise but by the time they finish filming the movie, they feel cracks around the edges of their marriage. Now they face an uncertain future, and possibly the end of everything that truly matters to them.

The Baxter family learns that Ashley and Kari are both pregnant, but an ultrasound reveals that something is wrong with one of the babies. As the summer progresses, the sisters pray for a miracle while trying to face the unthinkable. It’s in this trying season that they must all learn the lesson God has been trying to teach them-He is still in control, and He will be with them regardless of the outcome.

The Flanigans continue to draw closer to their only daughter, yet Bailey struggles to find her way amidst the turmoil of adolescence. She has always made good decisions, but she wants to experience more of life. Her friendship with Cody Coleman-the young border staying with the Flanigans-continues to blossom in this summer after his graduation. But when Cody decides to enlist in the Army, he’ll have to say goodbye to the family he’s come to love and the girl he’ll never forget.

This is a compelling chronicle about black American writers. It’s told by a man to his granddaughter after she says, “Please tell me a story. Write it down so I can put it in my pocket and carry it around. Tell me about the people from Africa who came before me.” Bold oil paintings and inspiring quotes tell the history of African American storytellers, writers, and orators beginning with slaves. Featured authors range from Phillis Wheatley, the first published African American poet, to Toni Morrison, the first African American to win the Nobel Prize for literature.

As children, Jennifer Harris and Cameron Quick were both social outcasts. They were also one another’s only friend. So when Cameron disappears without warning, Jennifer thinks she’s lost the only person who will ever understand her. Now in high school, Jennifer has been transformed. Known as Jenna, she’s popular, happy, and dating, everything “Jennifer” couldn’t be—but she still can’t shake the memory of her long-lost friend. When Cameron suddenly reappears, they are both confronted with memories of their shared past and the drastically different paths their lives have taken.

President Carter’s highly accessible book for teenagers helps them understand the causes and cures for conflicts. It’s helpful not only to find solutions to the large political process of peace, but to work through the daily conflicts often found in a teenager’s life. To learn more about Jimmy Carter and his projects for peace, visit www.jimmycarter.org

Colonial America comes to life in this short novel inspired by an actual meeting in 1777 between Quakers and Native Americans. To Stands Straight, a young Abenaki Indian scouting for British soldiers, all Americans are enemies; Americans killed his mother and brother. Then Stands Straight and his scouting party come upon a Quaker meetinghouse, where they encounter Americans who carry no weapons, value peace, and greet them as friends. The result? The Abenaki decide to remain neutral in the clash between the British and the colonists who are fighting for independence. Bruchac skillfully develops his characters and wins sympathy for the conflicts they face by telling the story from alternating viewpoints–Stands Straight and that of fourteen-year-old Quaker Samuel Russell. An afterward by the author provides more historical information along with personal anecdotes about how the writer became interested in this story and his surprise in learning that the Indians described in his research were probably Abenaki–his own native heritage.

Percy isn’t expecting his freshman orientation to be any fun. But when a mysterious acquaintance reappears, followed by demon cheerleaders, things quickly move from bad to worse.

In this fourth installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out as war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near. Even the safe haven of Camp Half-Blood grows more vulnerable by the minute as Kronos’s army prepares to invade its once impenetrable borders. To stop them, Percy and his demigod friends will set out on a quest through the Labyrinth — a sprawling underground world with stunning surprises at every turn. Full of humor and heart-pounding action, this fourth book promises to be their most thrilling adventure yet.

Ben Hunter received two oddly connected gifts for his 12th birthday. One was a room given to him by his parents — to use as an art studio — and the other was a letter from his uncle inviting him to visit. The last time he and his Uncle Ian (also an artist) were together, Ben was injured in a woodworking accident and lost his little finger. When Ben and his mother arrive at Uncle Ian’s home in Oregon, the relatives work hard at reconstructing relationships and crafting new ones with Uncle Ian’s pregnant wife and some local kids. When Ben feels responsible for one child’s accidental fall, he builds him a tree house as a gift (inspired by one of his uncle’s sketches). After he returns home, Ben starts renovating his “birthday room” into a guest room as a “gift” to his reconciled relatives.

Dead men don’t tell tales. But their bones do! Lively text and color photos — in combination with the subject of solving crimes through the bones of the victim — is a sure way to whet the appetite of pre-adolescent readers. Dr. Michael Charney, a forensic anthropologist, takes the reader on a step-by-step investigation that shows how a person’s sex, race, age, height, and weight can be determined from studying his or her bones and teeth.