The Carrollton Public Library recognizes the fact that every child learns to read and develops as a reader at his/her own unique pace. The following list is very general, and is in no way designed to be prescriptive.

Anderson, Janet. The last treasure.
Thirteen-year-old Ellsworth leaves his father to visit the relatives he has never met and eventually joins forces with Jess, his distant cousin, to uncover family secrets and search for their ancestor's hidden treasure.

Appelt, Kathi. Kissing Tennessee and other stories from the Stardust Dance.
Graduating eighth graders relate their stories of love and heartbreak that have brought them to Dogwood Junior High's magical Stardust Dance.

Bertrand, Diane Gonzales. Trino's choice.
Frustrated by his poor financial situation and hoping to impress a smart girl, seventh grader Trino falls in with a bad crowd led by an older teen with a vicious streak.

Billingsley, Franny. The Folk Keeper.
Orphan Corinna disguises herself as a boy to pose as a Folk Keeper, one who keeps the Evil Folk at bay, and discovers her heritage as a seal maiden when she is taken to live with a wealthy family in their manor by the sea.

Bunting, Eve. The Lambkins.
Kyle finds himself shrunk to the size of a doll and living with three other children in a dollhouse from which there seems to be no escape.

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Fisher-Staples, Suzanne. Shabanu: daughter of the wind.
When eleven-year old Shabanu, the daughter of a nomad in the Cholistan Desert of present-day Pakistan, is pledged in marriage to an older man whose money will bring prestige to the family, she must either accept the decision, as is the custom, or risk the consequences of defying her father's wishes. Sequel: Haveli.

Fleischman, Paul. Seedfolks.
One by one, a number of people of varying ages and backgrounds transform a trash-filled inner-city lot into a productive and beautiful garden, and in doing so, the gardeners are themselves transformed.

Flake, Sharon. The skin I’m in.
Thirteen-year-old Maleeka, uncomfortable because her skin is extremely dark, meets a new teacher with a birthmark on her face and makes some discoveries about how to love who she is and what she looks like.

Gaiman, Neil. Coraline.
Looking for excitement, Coraline ventures through a mysterious door into a world that is similar, yet disturbingly different from her own, where she must challenge a gruesome entity in order to save herself, her parents, and the souls of three others.

Howe, James, editor. 13 : thirteen stories that capture the agony and ecstasy of being thirteen.
Contains thirteen short stories in which the authors explore what it is like to be thirteen, including selections by Bruce Coville, Meg Cabot, James Howe, and others.

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Haddix, Margaret. Among the hidden.
In a future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on his family's farm, until another "third" convinces him that the government is wrong.

Hayes, Daniel. The trouble with lemons.
Tyler and Lymie, eighth grade misfits, discover a dead body in a quarry and work to uncover the mystery behind it.

Kindl, Patrice. Owl in love.
A fourteen-year-old girl, who can transform herself into an owl at will, discovers interesting new relationships with both humans and owls when she develops a crush on her science teacher.

Koss, Amy Goldman. The cheat.
When Sarah gets her hands on the answers to the eighth-grade geography midterm and decides to share them with some other students, the consequences are far-ranging.

Krisher, Trudy. Spite fences.
As she struggles with her troubled relationship with her mother during the summer of 1960, a young girl is also drawn into the violence, hatred, and racial tension in her small Georgia town.

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Lynch, Chris. Slot machine.
When overweight thirteen-year-old Elvin Bishop is sent to camp at St. Paul's Seminary Retreat Center, he and his two best friends are forced to try out various sports in order to find out where they belong.

Mass, Wendy. Jeremy Fink and the meaning of life.
Just before his thirteenth birthday, Jeremy Fink receives a keyless locked box-- set aside by his father before his death five years earlier--that purportedly contains the meaning of life.

Paolini, Christopher. Eragon.
In Alagaesia, a fifteen-year-old boy of unknown lineage called Eragon finds a mysterious stone that weaves his life into an intricate tapestry of destiny, magic, and power, peopled with dragons, elves, and monsters.

Paulsen, Gary. Nightjohn.
Twelve-year-old Sarny's brutal life as a slave becomes even more dangerous when a newly arrived slave offers to teach her how to read.

Pearsall, Shelley. All of the above.
Five urban middle school students, their teacher, and other community members relate how a school project to build the world's largest tetrahedron affects the lives of everyone involved.

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Shusterman, Neal. The Schwa was here.
A Brooklyn eighth-grader nicknamed Antsy befriends the Schwa, an "invisible-ish" boy who is tired of blending into his surroundings and going unnoticed by nearly everyone.

Spinelli, Jerry. Stargirl.
In this story about the perils of popularity, the courage of nonconformity, and the thrill of first love, an eccentric student named Stargirl changes Mica High School forever.

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