LOVERS

305.3 Oku pbk.

Okwu, Julian. Face Forward: Young African Men in a Critical Age. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, [1997].

Note: Okwu's photographic essay details the lives of 39 African-American males who have broken traditional stereotypes.

327.172 CAR

Carter, Jimmy. Talking peace : a vision for the next generation. New York:

Dutton, [1993].

Note: Discusses the various factors involved in peace negotiations and conflict

resolution; examines the effect of international relations on the living

conditions of citizens in peace and in war.

599.674 Mac

MacPherson, Malcolm. The Cowboy and his elephant. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, [2001].

Note: In the late 1980s, a female baby elephant was born on the plains of Southern Africa. In a "cull," her family was slaughtered. Only the newborn female's life was spared. Terrified and bewildered the young elephant was transported to America to be sold.
Bob Norris is a cowboy with an enormous empathy for animals. When the hurt, vulnerable little elephant, Amy, came into his life, an incredible bond between the most unlikely of friends was forged.
Bob adopted Amy and through close observation, gentle training, humor, and endless perseverance, this accomplished horseman gradually coaxed Amy into overcoming her mistrust of humans, and her fear of the world. Amy became a beloved member of the Norris family, and partner to the ranch hands, but Bob knew from the start that the ultimate goal was for Amy to regain her confidence and her independence - even, if it were possible, to go back to the savannahs of Africa.

791.32 Hel

Helfer, Ralph. Mosey: the remarkable friendship of a boy and his elephant. New York: Orchard, [2002].

Note: Tells the true story of a boy's devotion to a beloved circus elephant and the ordeals they endured to stay together.

920 Gol

Golenbock, Peter. Teammates. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace, [1990].

Note: Describes the racial prejudice experienced by Jackie Robinson when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers and became the first black player in Major League baseball and depicts the acceptance and support he received from his white teammate Pee Wee Reese.

970.1 PHI

Philip, Neil. In a sacred manner I live. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, [1997].

Note: A collection of Native American speeches and excerpts, from the 17th century to the present day.

B Bunch

Schraff, Ann. Ralph Bunch: Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Springfield, NJ: Enslow, [1999].

Note: This title begins with an account of the dramatic assassination in 1948 of Count Folke Bernadotte, the appointed U.N. mediator for Palestine. This event propelled Bunche into the world spotlight as a negotiator. For his work in achieving an armistice between Israel and its Arab neighbors, the statesman won the Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the first African American to receive this prestigious honor.

B Kin

Strazzabosco, Jeanne. Learning about dignity from the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Powerkids Press, [1997].

Note: A brief biography examining the value of dignity in the life of the Baptist minister and civil rights leader whose philosophy and practice of nonviolent civil disobedience helped African Americans win many battles for equal rights.

B SANDBURG

Meltzer, Milton. Carl Sandburg : a biography. Brookfield, Conn: Twenty-First

Century Books, [1999].

Note: A biography of the poet who became known for his ability to speak to the

common people, by shaping out of the plain English of ordinary Americans the

voice of their vast experience.

B WHITMAN

Meltzer, Milton. Walt Whitman : a biography. Brookfield, Conn: Twenty-First

Century Books, [2002].

Note: A biography of the nineteenth-century poet, which presents his life in the

context of his times, and includes samples of his writing.

Fic ALLANDE

Allende, Isabel. City of Beasts. New York: HarperCollins, [2002].

Note: When fifteen-year-old Alexander Cold accompanies his individualistic grandmother on an expedition to find a humanoid Beast in the Amazon, he experiences ancient wonders and a supernatural world as he tries to avert disaster for the Indians.

Fic AVI

Avi. The barn. New York: Orchard Books, [1994].

Note: In an effort to fulfill their dying father's last request, nine-year-old Ben and his brother and sister construct a barn on their land in the Oregon Territory.

Fic AVI

Avi. Crispin: The cross of lead. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, [2002].

Note: Falsely accused of theft and murder, an orphaned peasant boy in fourteenth-century England flees his village and meets a larger-than-life juggler who holds a dangerous secret.

Fic CAB

Cabot, Meg. The Princess Diaries. New York: HarperCollins [2000].

Note: Fourteen-year-old Mia, who is trying to lead a normal life as a teenage girl in New York City, is shocked to learn that her father is the Prince of Genovia, a small European principality, and that she is a princess and the heir to the throne.

Fic COONEY

Cooney, Caroline B. Whatever happened to Janie? New York: Delacorte Press,

[1993].

Note: The members of two families have their lives disrupted when a teenage girl who had been kidnapped twelve years earlier discovers that the people who raised her are not her biological parents. Sequel to "The Face on the Milk Carton."

Fic CRUTCHER

Crutcher, Chris. Staying fat for Sarah Byrnes : a novel. 1st ed. New York, N.Y:

Greenwillow Books, [1993].

Note: The daily class discussions about the nature of man, the existence of God,

abortion, organized religion, suicide and other contemporary issues serve as

a backdrop for a high-school senior's attempt to answer a friend's dramatic

cry for help.

Fic DAVIS

Davis, Deborah. My brother has AIDS. 1st ed. New York: Atheneum, [1994].

Note: When her older brother returns home because he is dying of AIDS, thirteen-year-old Lacy deals with changes in her family life, in relationships with classmates, and in her commitment to her swimming team.

Fic DeFelice

DeFelice, Cynthia. Nowhere to call home. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, [1999].

Note: When her father kills himself after losing his money in the stock market crash, twelve-year-old Frances, now a penniless orphan, decides to hop aboard a freight train and live the life of a hobo.

Fic DEUKER

Deuker, Carl. Heart of a champion. New York: Avon, [1993].

Note: Seth faces a strain on his friendship with Jimmy, who is both a baseball

champion and something of an irresponsible fool, when Jimmy is kicked off

the team.

Fic Hes

Hesser, Terry Spencer. Kissing doorknobs. New York: Delacorte Press, [1998].

Note: Fourteen-year-old Tara describes how her increasingly strange compulsions begin to take over her life and affect her relationships with her family and friends.

Fic Hes

Hesse, Karen. Phoenix Rising. New York: Puffin, [1995].

Note: Thirteen-year-old Nyle learns about relationships and death when fifteen-year-old Ezra, who was exposed to radiation leaked from a nearby nuclear plant, comes to stay at her grandmother's Vermont farmhouse.

Fic LEVOY

Levoy, Myron. A shadow like a leopard. 1st ed. New York: Harper & Row, [1981].

Note: A street-punk poet and an old painter form a friendship and confront their

fears.

Fic Maz

Mazzio, Joann. The one who came back. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, [1992].

Note: When his best friend Eddie Chavez disappears after they have spent the day together in the mountains of New Mexico, fifteeen-year-old Alex cannot get anyone to believe his story and is even suspected of murdering the missing boy.

Fic MYERS

Myers, Walter Dean. Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff. New York: Puffin Books,

[1988, 1975].

Note: New to 116th Street in New York, a young boy soon makes friends and begins

a year of unusual experiences.

Fic Nay

Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. Shiloh. New York: Aladdin, [2000].

Note: When he finds a lost beagle in the hills behind his West Virginia home, Marty tries to hide it from his family and the dog's real owner, a mean-spirited man known to shoot deer out of season and to mistreat his dogs.

Fic PAULSEN

Paulsen, Gary. Alida's song. New York: Delacorte Press, [1999].

Note: A fourteen-year-old boy who has been neglected by irresponsible parents spends a wonderful summer on a farm where his grandmother cooks for two elderly brothers.

Fic PAULSEN

Paulsen, Gary. Harris and me : a summer remembered. 1st ed. San Diego: Harcourt

Brace & Co, [1993].

Note: Sent to live with relatives on their farm because of his unhappy home

life, an eleven-year-old city boy meets his distant cousin Harris and is

given an introduction to a whole new world.

Fic PAULSEN

Paulsen, Gary. Soldier's heart : a novel of the Civil War. New York: Delacorte

Press, [1998].

Note: Eager to enlist, fifteen-year-old Charley has a change of heart after

experiencing both the physical horrors and mental anguish of Civil War

combat.

Fic Ren

Rennison, Louise. Angus, thongs and full-frontal snogging. New York: HarperCollins, [2000].

Note: Presents the humorous journal of a year in the life of a fourteen-year-old British girl who tries to reduce the size of her nose, stop her mad cat from terrorizing the neighborhood animals, and win the love of handsome hunk Robbie.

Fic Sal

Salisbury, Graham. Under the blood red sun. New York: Dell Yearling, [1995].

Note: Tomikazu Nakaji's biggest concerns are baseball, homework, and a local bully, until life with his Japanese family in Hawaii changes drastically after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

Fic TAYLOR

Taylor, Theodore. The cay. Avon, [1969].

Note: When the freighter on which they are traveling is torpedoed by a German

submarine during World War II, an adolescent white boy, blinded by a blow on

the head, and an old black man are stranded on a tiny Caribbean island where

the boy acquires a new kind of vision, courage, and love from his old

companion.

Fic Tru

Trueman, Terry. Stuck in neutral. 1st ed. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers,

[2000].

Note: Fourteen-year-old Shawn McDaniel, who suffers from severe cerebral palsy and cannot function, relates his perceptions of his life, his family, and his condition, especially as he believes his father is planning to kill him.

Fic VOIGT

Voigt, Cynthia. A solitary blue. 1st ed. New York: Atheneum, [1983].

Note: Jeff's mother, who deserted the family years before, reenters his life and

widens the gap between Jeff and his father, a gap that only truth, love, and

friendship can heal.

Fic WOLFF

Wolff, Virginia Euwer. Make lemonade. 1st ed. New York: H. Holt, [1993].

Note: In order to earn money for college, fourteen-year-old LaVaughn babysits for a teenage mother.

_________________________________________________________________

Other Titles Recommended but not available in the school library:

599.67 Hel

Helfer, Ralph. Modoc: The true story of the greatest elephant that ever lived. New York: HarperPerennial, [1998].

Note: Modoc is the joint biography of a man and an elephant born in a small German circus town on the same day in 1896. Bram was the son of an elephant trainer, Modoc the daughter of his prize performer. The boy and animal grew up devoted to each other. When the Wunderzircus was sold to an American, with no provision to take along the human staff, Bram stowed away on the ship to prevent being separated from his beloved Modoc. A shipwreck off the Indian coast and a sojourn with a maharajah were only the beginning of the pair's incredible adventures.

940 Sut

Sutin, Lawrence. Jack and Rochelle: A Holocaust story of love and resistance. St. Paul, MN: Graywold Press, [1996].

Note: Jack and Rochelle Sutin crossed paths in the winter of 1942-43, when, after separate escapes from Nazi ghetto labor camps, they discovered each other in the wooded lands of Poland. The forest where they remained in hiding was a place where many Jews and Russians, the so-called partisans, had fled to in an effort to escape Nazi persecution.

944 Arm

Armstrong, Carole. Lives and legends of the saints. New York: Simon & Schuster, [1995].

Note: From Joan of Arc to John the Baptist, here are the stories of twenty of the best-known and best-loved saints in Christian history as portrayed by the world's greatest artists.

Fic Hib

Nye, Naomi Shihab. Going Going. New York: Greenwillow, [2005].

Note: In San Antonio, Texas, sixteen-year-old Florrie leads her friends and a new boyfriend in a campaign which supports small businesses and protests the effects of chain stores.

Fic Hil

Hill, Ernest. A Life for a Life. New York: Simon & Schuster, [1998].

Note: Explores the unlikely relationship that develops between young D'Ray Reid and the father of another man he kills in a violent armed robbery gone bad.

Fic Koe

Koertge, Ron. Tiger, Tiger, burning bright: a novel. New York: Orchard, [1994].

Note: Worried that his mother will send his beloved grandfather to a nursing home "for his own good," Jesse and some of his eighth-grade classmates accompany Pappy into the mountains near their small California town to look for the tiger tracks he claims to have seen.

Fic Nau

Naughton, Jim. My Brother Stealing Second. New York: HarperCollins, [1989].

Note: After his older brother is killed in a car accident, sixteen-year-old Bobby tries to come to terms with some disturbing truths about his family and political corruption in their town as well as deal with his profound grief and the beginnings of first love.

Fic Ryl

Rylant, Cynthia. A Couple of kooks and other stories about love. New York: Orchard, [1990].

Note: A collection of eight short stories in which a variety of special characters experience the transfiguring power of love.

Fic Sot

Soto, Gary. The pool party. New York; Dell Yearling, [1995].

Note: Ten-year-old Rudy Herrera gets invited to a pool party at the home of a rich girl. With the help of his colorful family, he prepares to make a big splash at the party.

Fic Tho

Thomas, Rob. Rats saw God. New York: Aladdin, [1996].

Note: Steve, a high school senior, has only one hope of graduating on time--writing a 100-page paper.

All annotations are excerpts from Amazon.com and Novelist.

More information on each title is available at either website.