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Language Arts Journal of Michigan L A JM Resources: 100+ Recent Novels that Can Work in the Classroom Recommended Citation Diana Mitchell - Article 9 Follow this and additional works at: LAJM RESOURCES: 100+ RECENT NOVELS THAT CAN WORK IN THE CLASSROOM. Diana Mitchell Editor's Note The books listed below have been coded as follows: --Suggested grade levels are represented by the numbers 6 to 12; --college prep or general classes = cp or gen.; --whole class use suggested w; --s71Ulll group/individual use suggested = sli. GOODBYE PINK PIG. Avon Books, 1986. Amanda would rather live in a fantasy world of her imagination than go to her middle school, where the custodian is the grandmother she has never met. Beautifully depicts fears and uncertainties of a 12-year-old while it illus­ trates a mother trying to impose her expectations and her rather materialistic values on a child who only wants acceptance.

THE SHELL LADY'S DAUGHTER. Coward-McCann Inc., 1983. When fourteen-year-old Kelly is sent off to Florida after her mother's nervous breakdown to stay with her rigid grandparents, she learns the meaning of love and support. Beautifully written and exquisitely characterized. Mental illness, family problems, grandparents. Ames, Mildred.

ANNA TO THE INFINITE POWER. Anna Hart, a gifted student in the 1890's, learns that she is part of an evil master plan for her future.

Family relationships, cloning. Anderson, Margaret, J. THE MISTS OF TIME. In the twenty-second century in a land that was once Scotland, a group of gentle people who believe in love, trust and sharing, encounter several people from the twentieth century and are also invaded by the Barbaric Ones from the South.

Gives us another way to look at societies. (9-12, (p, sli). Angell, Judie. DEAR LOLA OR HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN FAMILY.

Six runaways from an orphanage show grit, determination, and an amaz­ ing sensitivity to each other as they try to make it on their own. Arrick, Fran. Dell,1983 Chernowitz is the scapegoat in this modem story of bigotry in action.

Arrick, Fran. In part, this powerful novel explores the conflict between fundamental­ ism and humanism; however, the novel's outstanding achievement is its depic­ tion of a teenager caught in the middle of a clash of beliefs. The Gables have recently moved from Syracuse to the home of the Stafford Hill Baptist Church in the foothills of the Appalachians. The transition is not easy for 15-year-old Roxie.

'Everybody pushes me in a different direction all the time.' She tells her older sister. ) Arrick, Fran. TUNNEL VISION. Dell,1980 Teen-age suicide is a tragic dilemma, as this story relates. Why has a young boy unexplainably taken his own life? Bauer, Marion Dane.

Clarion, 1986. A young boy has to deal with guilt and panic after he witnesses the drowning death of his friend. Sensitively done. Belden, Wilana Schneider.

Atheneum, 1981. Following a disastrous earthquake, a group of exceptionally bright, pre­ cognitive youngsters must outwit several dangerous relatives under unusual circumstances before their future is assured. Sci-fi, extrasensory perception, self-reliance.

Benjamin, Carol Lea. NOBODY'S BABY NOW. MacMillan, 1984. A movingly told story about a teen girl's struggles to find herself while her family is dealing with placing her much-loved grandmother in a nursing home. Bethancourt, T.

THE TOMORROW CONNECTION. Holiday House, 1984. Two teen musicians, finding themselves stranded in 1906, enlist Harry Houdini to help them find a gate to the future and travel across the country on the vaudeville circuit, arriving in San Francisco just in time for the great earth­ quake. Time travel, social life and customs of the early 1900's. Great way to get kids into the early 1900's and see discrimination, living conditions, etc.

A PLACE TO COME BACK TO. Atheneum, 1984.

When Charlotte's friend Oliver's life is shattered by the death of his eighty-two-year-old great-uncle and guardian, Oliver turns to Charlotte with urgent demands she finds herself unprepared to meet. Warm teen friend­ ships shown. Charlotte has a supportive family while Oliver feels very removed from both his divorced parents.

Death, friendship, family problems. Brancato, Robin F. Scholastic, 1984. Good friends both care about the same girl. Then a dark night and a slick road change everything. Good male characterization, told from male point of view.

Some sexual references. Bridgers, Sue Ellen. NOTES FOR ANOTHER LIFE. Bantam, 1981. A teenage boy and his sister live with loving grandparents but still hope for the day that their free-spirited mother will want them to live with her. They also yearn for the time their emotionally ill father will be well enough to func­ tion and care for them.

(9-12, cp)~ Brodeur, Ruth Wallace. STEPS IN TIME. Atheneum, 1986. Spending the summer on an island off the coast of Maine, 16-year-old Evangeline grows closer to her grandmother and gains new maturity and self­ confidence. Refreshing story that not only shows the uncertainty of a grand­ mother/granddaughter relationship but also the multitude of concerns that occupy a 16-year-old.

Brooks, Bruce. THE MOVES MAKE THE MAN. Harper & Row, 1984. A black basketball player and an emotionally troubled white shortstop in North Carolina form a precarious friendship. Males especially will like this book.

Slow start and seems a bit too hard as a whole class novel but it would certainly be appropriate as one. Jerome's insights are especially helpful--his family is wonderful. Friendship, family problems, discrimination, growing up. Brooks, Bruce. MIDNIGHT HOUR ENCORES. Harper & Row, 1986.

A sixteen-year-old cellist and musical prodigy travels cross-country with her father, a product of the 1960's, to meet her mother, who abandoned her as a baby. (9-12, cp, sli). Byars, Betsy. CRACKER JACKSON. Viking Kestral, 1985. Cracker Jackson, a charming adolescent, attempts to save his ex-babysit­ ter from wife abuse. Carter, Alden R.

SHEILA'S DYING. Putnam, 1987. Just as high school junior Jerry Kinkaid is considering breaking up with his girlfriend, he discovers that she has a terminal case of cancer. (9-12, sli, cp ) Carter, Alden R. WART, SON OF TOAD. Pacer Books, 1985. Sixteen-year-old Steve's adjustment to high school is made more difficult by the unpopularity of his strict father, a biology teacher known as Toad.

Pre­ sents a vivid, believable picture of why school is such a struggle for some kids. Steve is still dealing with the death of his mother and sister, has real problems with his father, and he is still fighting for who he is. A powerful book. Rich in all kinds of themes such as death, identity, father/son relationships.

Cohen, Barbara. Lothrup, 1985. To prolong starting college, Metz goes to New York for 'the experience,' where he finds both lonellness and a sense of responsibility, and renews a rela­ tionship with a girl named Maddy. Excellent deSCription and involvement with male main character. Corcoran, Barbara.

Atheneum, 1983. A teacher's strike upsets the life of a high school student who has good friends among the teachers and a father on the school board. Told from male point of view, it deals realistically with a situation in which the father's goals for the son are not the ones the son chooses for himself. (9-12., sli). Cormier, Robert. THE BUMBLEBEE FLIES ANYWAY. Pantheon, 1983.

Another psychological thriller in which a young boy slowly realizes that he is part of the experiments in a hospital for the terminally ill. (9-12, cp, w). Cooper, Susan.

Atheneum, 1983. West and Cally, who speak different languages and come from different countries thousands of miles apart, are wrenched by catastrophe out of reality into a perilous world through which they must travel toward the sea. Fantasy, dealing with death, finding strength in oneself. Crutcher, Chris. RUNNING LOOSE. A high school coach invites members of his swimming team to a memo­ rable week of rigorous training that tests their moral fiber as well as their physical stamina. Excellent portrayal of male friendships, competition, will to excel, and even of coming to terms with a close friend's impending death.

Some language and talk of sex. Curry, Jane Louise. THE LOTUS CUP. Atheneum, 1986.

Though two boys are paying attention to her, a seventeen year old in East Liverpool, Ohio, is painfully shy until she discovers in herself the eye, hand, and heart of a potter. A beautifully written, engrossing book. DeClements, Barthe.

I NEVER ASKED YOU TO UNDERSTAND ME. Viking Kestral, 1986. Two teenage girls attending an alternative high school for problem stu­ dents find that their disintegrating family lives have pushed them to the edge. One girl's mother is dying, the other is sexually abused by her father.

Tastefully done. Really shows why young people become alienated. Mention of drug use and sex.

Duncan, Lois. LOCKED IN TIME. 17-year-old Nore goes to visit her newly-married father in Louisiana. There she learns a frightening secret about her young-looking stepmother and her two children that means danger for both Nore and her father.

Suspenseful, compelling. Duncan, Lois. THE TWISTED WINDOW. Delacorte, 1987. Tracy, a high school junior, becomes embroiled in the problems of a strange boy, who asks her assistance in 'snatching' his half-sister from her fa­ ther, who has allegedly kidnapped her. Emotional problems, mystery, han­ dling guilt.

Ferry, Charles. RASPBERRY ONE.

Houghton-Mifflin, 1983. Nick and Hildy, two young aircrewmen flying bombing support against Japan's Kamikaze offensive in the Pacific, are devastated but ultimately strengthened by their war experience. Really makes you understand how ex-soldiers become so disaffected. Would be wonderful for the decades approach in a literature class since it helps us understand the kind of literature that comes from war. (9-12, cp, wI.

Ferry, Charles. ONE MORE TIME! Houghton-Mifflin, 1985. Skeets Sinclair, the young tenor sax in Gene Markham's Orchestra, finds his life and the future of the band changing fast as they tour the United States 93 during World War II. Wonderful period piece. You're really there.

Good companion for the decades approach. (9-12, cp, sli). Forshay-Lunsford, Cin. WALK THROUGH COLD FIRE.

16-year-old Desiree is having trouble making sense of the painful things surrounding her: her mother's tragic death, her father's remarriage, the hate­ ful 'rules' of middle class life that hem her in. When she goes to spend the summer with her aunt, Desiree meets a gang of kids who call themselves the Outlaws and discovers a whole new world. She finds Billy and falls in love for the first time.

But she also learns about the dangerous edge of hatred--the line between the thrilling free world of the Outlaws and the disapproving town that wants to make them disappear. (9-12, gen, w). ONE-EYED CAT. Thirteen-year-old Ned is overcome with guilt when he thinks he is the one who shot a cat's eye out. His relationship with an elderly neighbor helps him get a sense of what's important. Garfield, Leon. Puffin, 1967.

He was called Smith, and was twelve years old. He lived in the slums around St.

Paul's in London and was a pickpocket. This is an adventurous story of magnificent proportions, full of vivid, strongly-drawn characters and over­ flowing with description and incident.

With this book Garfield has been called the children's Dickens. EXciting, fast-paced. Girion, Barbara. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RAINBOW.

Scribners, 1983. A high school senior in the happy throes of first love tries not to think about the fragility of rainbows. Wonderful story that not only captures the emotions of first love but also does not show the young girl putting her boyfriend above all else. Slight references to sex. Gordon, John.

THE EDGE OF THE WORLD. Atheneum, 1983. Two young people set out on a dangerous quest which takes them from their English countryside to a strange desert world.

Eerie and fascinating. (8-11, sfi)..

Greene, Bette. THEM THAT GLITTER AND THEM THAT DON'T. A young gypsy girl living in the rural South is convinced that she can use her singing talent to become someone really special.

Guest, Elissa Haden. OVER THE MOON.

William Morrow and Co, Inc., 1986. Over the protests from her family, 16-year-old Kate makes a difficult journey to see her beloved older sister, who ran away without explanation four years before. Compassionately and powerfully written story that shows the ef­ fect of an absent member on an already shattered family. (8-10, sli.) Hall, Lynn. IF WINTER COMES. Scribner'S, 1986.

As an escalating world crisis makes the threat of nuclear warfare immi­ nent, teenage Meredith and her boyfriend Barry draw closer to each other and to other people important to them during what could be the last weekend of their lives. Written from two points of view.

JUST ONE FRIEND. Scribner'S, 1985. Just as sixteen-year-old learning-disabled Doreen is about to be main­ streamed into a regular school, the loss of her best friend to another girl drives her to a desperate act. Wonderfully sensitive portrayal of the feelings of a learning disabled teen. Hamilton, Virginia. Though she has been raised lovingly by her grandparents, a black teenager leaves home to search for her father.

(9-12, sli) Holman, Felice. WILD CHILDREN. Scribner's, 1983. Alex falls in with a gang of homeless and desperate children during the Russian Revolution. Hughes, Monica. HUNTER IN THE DARK. Avon/Flare, 1982.

A teenage boy goes on a secret hunting trip alone in an effort to come to terms with his leukemia and to test his strength and resourcefulness in battling the elements and stalking the white-tailed deer that is his quarry. Cherry Lisa Shaw Rar Extractor. Hunting, dealing with death, self-reliance. Hyde, Dayton O. [SLAND OF THE LOONS.

McClelland and Stewart Ltd., 1984. During the year he is held prisoner by an escaped convict on an unin­ habited island in Lake Superior, a young boy watches his captor change from desperate criminal to a gentler man absorbed in the abundant wildlife of the island. Excellent story. Great for encouraging research on loons, beavers, wolves, and lots of other wildlife. Irwin, Hadley. WHAT ABOUT GRANDMA?

Signet, 1982. When 16-year-old Rhys and her mother go to care for her ailing but spir­ ited Grandma Wyn, a month turns into a summer full of the unexpected. Mother/daughter flare-ups occur, Rhys finds a young man she cares about, but mostly these three women begin to understand the bonds that connect them. Grandmother shown as independent, feisty, and having a private life which she has kept private. Johnston, Norma. THE WATCHER IN THE MIST.

Bantam Starfire, 1986. Cindy Clayborne is thrllled when she lands a summer job with her cousins at Rockcove Hall on the New England coast. But soon after her arrival, horrifying things begin to happen.

Then someone dies, and to complicate things a ghost-like Watcher seems to want to give her Inessages. I STAY NEAR YOU.

Three generations suffer from an ill-fated romance. Wonderful charac­ terizations. Harper & Row, 1986.

Seventeen-year-old Erick's comfortable and well-ordered life begins to fall apart when he is forced to keep two secrets: the identity of his new girl­ friend and the nature of his brother's debilitating illness (AIDS). Too much on a sexual relationship to use as whole class.

More is implied than is stated. Klass, Sheila Solomon. THE BENNINGTON STITCH.

Scribner's, 1985. As a young girl, Amy's mother had been denied the chance to attend Bennington College and now is determined that 17-year-old Amy will have that opportunity whether she wants it or not.

Great book on parental pressure and how teens react to it. Klass, Sheila Solomon. TO SEE MY MOTHER DANCE. Fawcett Juniper, 1981.

Jess always wanted to meet her real mother, especially when her father remarries. L'Engle, Madeleine. A RING OF ENDLESS LIGHT. Farrar, 1980. Vicki Austin lives a summer filled with romance, dealing with death, and learning about the remarkable dolphins. (9-12, cp, w).

L'Engle, Madeleine. Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1986.

The fourth book in the WRINKLE IN TIME series, this book focuses on the twins Sandy and Dennys. They suddenly find themselves in an unrecog­ nizable place, but later discover they are back in the time just before Noah's Ark. THE ROOT CELLAR. Scribner's, 1981.

Free Download Photo Editor For Java Mobile. Twelve-year-old orphan Rose, sent to live with unknown relatives on a farm in Canada, ventures into her aunt's root cellar and finds herself making friends with people who lived on the farm more than a century earlier. Fasci­ nating.

Gets students into the Civil War period. 98 Lunn, Janet. SHADOW IN HAWTHORN BAY. Lester and Orpen Dennys Limited, 1986. A heroine with second sight, a touch of romance, vividly drawn characters and wonderful evocation of the wilderness of the shores of Lake Ontario in 1815 make this a fine historical novel. MacDonald, Reby Edward.

THE GHOSTS OF AUSTWICK MANOR. Atheneum, 1982. Hilary and Heather find themselves entering the sixteenth century as a direct result of their older brother Don's inheritance. Will they be able to save Don, who is in grave danger from an ancient curse? An engrossing and fast­ paced book. Mystery, time travel. Magorian, Michelle.

GOOD NIGHT MR. Harper, 1981. A battered child learns to embrace life when he is adopted by an old man in the English countryside during the Second World War. POignant, beauti­ fully written.

Major, Kevin. Delacorte, 1980. Sent to live with relatives after his parents are killed, 14-year-old Michael finds his uncle intolerable. When he runs away, his cousin accompanies him Male narrator.

Compelling book but some strong language. Major, Kevin. THIRTY-SIX EXPOSURES. Deiacorte, 1984. The last months before high school graduation are a watershed for 17­ year-old Lome as he confronts an autocratic teacher, befriends the wild and daring Trevor, begins a relationship with a girl, and contemplates a future away from his native Newfoundland.

Language and sexual references but an ex­ cellent book for older students. (10-12, sli). Mayhar, Ardath. THE SAGA OF GRITTEL SUNDOTHA.

Atheneum, 1985. After rejecting her only likely proposal of marriage, seven-foot Grittel wanders the Kingdom using her strength and skills to right wrongs until she goes on a quest and finds her true destiny. Fantasy, si-fi, finding oneself. A bit bumpy; OK for all class use but probably isn't fast moving enough.

Mazer, Harry. THE ISLAND KEEPER. Cleo, overweight and grieving for her dead sister, runs away to a remote island where her courage and physical stamina are severely tested. An uncle called Ape who runs a dump, his junior high niece, and a fe­ male school custodian are the main characters in this wonderful book that shows the effects of junior high cruelty on 'the dump queen.' McKillip, Patricia.

Atheneum, 1984. Fascinating story of a young girl who lives in a very primitive society but who wants to know where the river ends. The adventures of her and her com­ panion in their search for the river's end is told beautifully. A fantasy that will intrigue the whole class.

McKillip, Patricia. THE MOON AND THE FACE. Atheneum, 1985. Kyreol's mission to another planet and Terje's trip to observe their old river home both meet with unexpected dangers and an eventual melding of very different cultures. Beautifully written, engrossing. McKinley, Robin.

THE HERO AND THE CROWN. Greenwillow, 1985. A young woman wins her birthright as the daughter of a king through many battles and trials. Mikowitz, Gloria D. THE DAY THE SENIOR CLASS GOT MARRIED.

Dela­ corte, 1983. Seventeen-year-old Lori is convinced that marrying Rick right after grad­ uation is what she most wants in the world and that participating in the simu­ lated marriage unit of their consumer economics class will only help them start their marriage on the right foot. Every student contemplating early marriage should read this. Murphy, Barbara & Wolkoff, Judie.

ACE HITS ROCK BOTTOM. Delacorte, 1985. Teenage movie actor Horace 'Ace' Hobart and his New York gang, the Purple Falcons, get involved in live theater and an arson plot when they take summer jobs at a home for retired actors.

Fast moving and fun. Naylor, Phyllis. THE DARK OF THE TUNNEL. Atheneum, 1985. Male main character, Craig Sheldon, is not only trying to deal with his mother's impending death but also the realities of the inadequacy of civil de­ fense in the face of a nuclear war.

Excellent book for dealing with acceptance of death. Craig has to deal with his 11-year-old brother and his fears and guilts about his mother's death. Newton, Suzanne. 1 WILL CALL IT GEORGIE'S BLUES. A Baptist minister's children have difficulty conforming to the roles their father wishes them to play. One son turns to music, one faces mental disorders, and the daughter rebels.

Beautifully written. Nixon, Joan Lowery. THE OTHER SIDE OF DARK.

Delacorte, 1986. Seventeen-year-old Stacy awakes from a four-year coma ready to iden­ tify, locate, and prosecute the young man who murdered her mother and wounded her. O'Neal, Zibby.

IN SUMMER LIGHT. Bantam, 1985. Another well written story by O'Neal.

17-year-old Kate must spend the summer with her family which includes her father, a very famous painter. She resents the way he seems to rule everyone's life. Then a mature graduate stu­ dent comes to the island to catalogue her father's paintings and Kate grows through the experience of having him there. Not a gooey love story but a story of a young woman's search for what is important in her life. A little strong lan­ guage.

Paulsen, Gary. Bradberry, 1985. A fourteen-year-old Eskimo boy who feels assailed by the modernity of his life takes a 1400 mile journey by dogsled across ice, tundra, and mountains seeking his own 'song' of himself. Peck, Richard.

REMEMBERING THE GOOD TIMES. DeIacorte, 1985. Three fifteen-year-olds have a special friendship that may not save one who is having trouble surviving the pressures of home and the world. Peck, Robert Newton. Pineapple Press, 1985. Sixteen-year-old Kenny's hike through the Adirondacks in search of a writer at Lost Pond becomes a fight for survival as he realizes he is not alone in the hostile wilderness. Hiking, survival, doing what you have to do.

Peterson, P.}. CORKY AND THE BROTHERS COOL. Delacorte, 1985. Thirteen-year-old Tim has never known anyone like Corky, a boy from the city who has just moved to Tim's small town in the California wine country, but Corky's practical jokes and pranks lead Tim into some uncomfortable situ­ ations. Zany, fun, kids will like it. Pevaner, Stella.

LINDSAY, LINDSAY, FLY AWAY HOME. Archway, 1983. Lindsay comes to America after living her whole life in India. Not only is the culture a shock but so are the things she finds out about her family. (8-11, s/i.) Phipson, Joan. Atheneum, 1985. Sixteen-year-old Roland's hit-and-run accident in a borrowed car sends him fleeing into the wild Australian countryside, where for the next few days he struggles for both survival and self-respect.

Pierce, Meredith Ann. THE DARK ANGEL. Little, Brown, and Co., 1982. The servant girl Aeriel must choose between destroying her vampire master for his evil deeds or saving him for the sake of his beauty and the spark of goodness she has seen in him. Wonderful, magical. For fantasy lovers of all ages. BEYOND THE HIGH WHITE WALL.

Scribners, 1986. A young Jewish girl in the Ukraine in 1903 witnesses a murder. This sets off a chain of events that eventually results in her family emigrating. Not a tear-jerker, but this book realistically depicts the pressures the Jews lived un­ der, how adults dealt with these pressures, and how the young people reacted to it all. THIS OLD MAN.

Houghton Mifflin, 1984. Wonderful story of 16-year-old Greta, who lives in a group home because her mother is a prostitute. References to this are very oblique. Tells of Greta's friendship to 15-year-old Wing and her feelings for his 90-year-old grandfather. Rylant, Cynthia.

A FINE WHITE DUST. Bradbury Press, 1986. The visit of the traveling Preacher Man to his small North Carolina town gives new impetus to 13-year-old Peter's struggle to reconcile his own deeply felt religious beliefs with the beliefs and non-beliefs of his family and friends.

A sensitive, gentle book. (6-10, siD, Salassi, Otto.

AND NOBODY KNEW THEY WERE THERE. Greenwillow, For reasons of its own, a squad of Marines disappears after a recruiting assignment at a Houston fairgrounds; but its discovery by two thirteen-year-old boys jeopardizes its plans. Scoppettone, Sandra. PLAYING MURDER. Harper & Row, 1983. When one of the players in a murder game is killed, 17-year-old Anna and her twin brother realize that their circle of friends may conceal a real mur­ derer. Sleator, William.

Bantam Starfire, 1983. Was Humphrey a musical genius ---or were his fingers possessed by a long-dead spirit? Very bizarre, intriguing, fast-paced story. Sleator, William. THE GREEN FUTURES OF 1YCHO. Dutton, 1981.

When he finds an egg-shaped object with which he travels back and forth in time, II-year-old Tycho grapples with several futures he sees for him­ self and his family. Sci-fi, space and time, sibling relationships. Sleator, William.

INTERSTELLAR PIG. Bantam Starfire, 1984. Wonderful story.

Barney thought the woman and her two handsome companions who had rented the beach cottage next door seemed more than a little strange. But somehow he couldn't resist joining them in their favorite ob­ session--a board game with the unlikely name of 'Interstellar Pig,' wherein ri­ val aliens wage a deadly battle to control the galaxy.

Then Barney discovered the truth. It wasn't a game.

Sleator, William. Dutton, 1985. Sixteen-year-old twins Harry and Barry stumble across a gateway to an­ other universe, where a distortion in time and space causes a dramatic change in their competitive relationship.

Suspenseful, fabulous. Great way to bring up topics of black holes and other scientific concepts. Slepian, Jan.

THE ALFRED SUMMER. Scholastic, 1982. A beautiful friendship develops between two handicapped boys. Hu­ morous but realistically portrays how people often respond to the handi­ capped. Sweeney, Joyce.

Delacorte, 1983. Five teenage brothers run away from their alcoholic father in Ohio to search for a new way to live. Sex and strong language, but kids really get involved in this one.

Synder, Zilpha. THE BIRDS OF SUMMER. Atheneum, 1983. The daughter of a flower child is torn by confused feelings and difficult relationships with friends, employers, and her mother. An excellent portrait of an adolescent coping with an irresponsible parent.

Thomas, Joyce Carol. THE GOLDEN PASTURE. The exquisite horse twelve-year-old Carl Lee finds on his grandfather's farm one summer helps him to understand his difficult father better.

Beauti­ fully written. Young black boy is the main character. Tolan, Stephanie. NO SAFE HARBORS. Scribners, 1981.

Teenage girl from the 'perfect' family fights to establish her own value system when she learns her father is involved in corruption. Tolan, Stephanie. A TIME TO FLY FREE. Scribners, 1983. Ten-year-old Josh, who finds his private school unbearable, joins forces with an elderly man in tending injured birds. Excellent view of why kids hate school.

Tolan, Stephanie. PRIDE OF THE PEACOCK. Scribners, 1986.

13-year-old Whitney is deeply effected by a book on nuclear destruction, but the terror she feels is not recognized or shared by her family. Whitney's relationship with her friend Paul and her growing friendship with a woman sculptress who is dealing with her own tragedies help all three of them to come to some realizations about life and living.

Doesnl try to provide easy answers to a difficult question. Voigt, Cynthia. DICEY'S SONG. Atheneum, 1982. Four abandoned children, settled in with their grandmother, find that their new beginnings require love, humor, and courage. Voigt, Cynthia.

Atheneum, 1981. Abandoned by their mother, four children begin a search for a home and an identity. VOigt, Cynthia. IZZY, WILLY-NILLY. Atheneum, 1986.

A car accident causes fifteen-year-old Izzy to lose one leg. Then she must start building a new life.

Another excellent book by Voigt, this story also deals with the discomfort people feel when they are around the disabled. Not sentimentalized, but handled in a very direct way. Voigt, Cynthia. Atheneum, 1985. A dedicated teenage long-distance runner learns the value of giving and receiving when he coaches a fellow teammate.

This is a prequel to HOME­ COMING, since the 'runner' is Dicey's uncle. Voigt, Cynthia. SOLlTARY BLUE. Atheneum, 1983. Jeff's mother, who deserted the family years before, reenters his life and widens the gap between Jeff and his father.

Voigt, Cynthia. SONGS FROM AFAR. Atheneum, 1987 Six years after coming to live with their grandmother, James and Sammy Tillerman go in search of their long-lost father. Learning about self, search for reasons for abandonment. Wonderful book in the tradition of the HOME­ COMING and DICEY'S SONG. Willey, Margaret. FINDING DAVID DOLORES.

Harper & Row, 1986. Thirteen-year-old Arly's private obsession with an older boy, the mysteri­ ous David Dolores, becomes complicated when she makes friends with an ec­ centric, demanding new girl in town. This book really gets into the interwork­ ings of two girls' relationship and shows what it's like to be thirteen.

Not a book with a slick ending, it made me remember how tough it was to be an adoles­ cent. (7-up, s/L) Yep, laurence. William Morrow and Co, 1983. Branded in the past as a liar, a teenaged boy trying to prove his friend's death in a car crash was no accident finds himself stalked by a seemingly re­ Zindel, Paul. HARRY AND HORTENSE AT HORMONE HIGH.

Bantam, 1984. Fast paced, zany story of two teenagers who meet Jason Rohr, a teenager who believes he is Icarus, son of Daedalus. Not as glib as the title might imply, since Jason is trying to help others see that each one of us is a 'hero.' Kids will like this one because of some of the capers Jason is involved in. Diana Mitchell teaches English at Sexton High School in Lansing.

Irwin, Hadley. ABBY, MY LOVE.

Atheneum, 1985. In love since junior high, Chip and Abby finally share Abby's secret: her father is sexually abusing her. Delicately handled.

Male narrator. PLAYING BEA7TIE BOW.

Atheneum, 1982. A lonely Australian girl is transported back to the Victorian Era. Excellent story. ( 8 - 11, w). Paterson, Katherine. JACOB HAVE I LOVED. Twin sisters' bitter rivalry is one of many themes in an outstanding New­ bery winner.

Paterson, Katherine. COME SING, JIMMY JO. When he and his family become successful country music stars, James must deal with many big changes. Peck, Robert Newton. JUSTICE LION.

Little, Brown, 1981. This story is set in Vennont during Prohibition and deals with the values of two different families. Male main character. WOULD YOU SETTLE FOR IMPROBABLE? Delacorte, 1982. An incorrigible boy hits a junior high school. Action packed.

Ents' divorce, father-son relationship. (8-IlP, s/i.).