Al Capone Shines My Shoes by Gennifer Choldenko

At the end of the first book in this series gangster Al Capone has helped Moose's sister Natalie to finally be accepted at a special school that will help her. As this book begins Moose finds a new note in his laundry, "your turn". During his time on Alcatraz Moose has been warned by his father to stay away from the inmates and to never take anything from them or else he will find himself owing them favors. Now Moose is beholden to the biggest criminal of all time and he doesn't know what he might be asked to do or who he can trust.

Magickeepers by Erica Kirov

At age 13 Nick's grandfather informs him that he is part of an ancient family of magicians. Not illusionists who fool people into thinking they are seeing magic, but people who can actually perform magic. What's more, his family is at battle with the Shadowkeepers over a group of magical artifacts. Nick's mother died trying to keep the Eternal Hourglass away from the Shadowkeepers. The Eternal Hourglass gives the owner the ability to stop time for the rest of the world. For the evil Shadowkeepers this would give them the power to kill and steal without anyone even knowing that time had stopped. Now Nick is living with the family he never knew existed and learning how to read crystal balls and change a tiger into a girl. But he also has a secret key given to him by his grandfather that he knows must be part of a magical mystery.

The Sweetheart of Prosper County by Jill Alexander

Each year in Austin's hometown there is a Christmas parade and girls are chosen to be the "sweetheart" for their clubs. The club sweethearts get to ride on the hoods of fancy cars in the parade. Austin has been the perpetual target of a mean neighbor boy and she feels sure that if she can become a sweetheart then she will be too popular and self-confident to be the butt of his jokes anymore. So Austin sets her sites on the Future Farmers of America club knowing that she will be one of only two girls in the club. In order to be accepted by the FFA and have a chance at being the sweetheart, Austin has to raise a farm animal and have it win the blue ribbon at the county fair. She decides to raise a Bantam rooster that she names Charles Dickens. As Austin makes new friends and becomes more independent she struggles with her mom who is still reeling from the death of Austin's dad several years before. Her mother sees some of the same traits in Austin that led to her father's accident, although she never discusses her worries with Austin who is left trying to figure things out all by herself.

Donut Days by Lara Zielin

Krispy Dream donuts is opening a new store in Emma's hometown and she plans to camp out for two days before the opening. Emma needs to get a great story for the local newspaper in order to win a scholarship for the college of her choice. Although her parents have a college fund for her they will only let her use it to attend a Christian college. To add to Emma's stress, her best friend isn't talking to her anymore and her other good friend, Jake, has been absent since he told her he loves her a few months before. Emma's parents are both ministers at their church but they are fighting a battle with the church board to allow Emma's mom to continue to preach. A rich church member had a prophecy that it is against God's will for women to be ministers. Although Emma wants to help her family she feels that she is being left out of the loop by her parents. Now she has to find a story worthy of a scholarship, make up with her good friends, and prove that the "prophecy" was motivated by something other than the will of God.

Buddha Boy by Kathe Koja

When Jinsen comes to school he becomes an obvious target for the biggest bully in the class. Jinsen shaves his head, wears large t-shirts with dragons on them and begs for change during lunchtime just like a Buddhist monk. When Justin is forced to work with him for a class project he is determined to get the work done as quickly as possible and then distance himself from Jinsen to keep his own reputation intact. But Justin discovers that Jinsen is an amazing artist and finds himself fascinated by Jinsen's reactions to the bullies at school. He even starts to call Jinsen a friend and stands up for him. But the nonviolent approach isn't working and the attacks on Jinsen escalate until Justin can't remain silent anymore.

Killer Pizza by Greg Taylor

Toby is looking for a summer job and is thinking about being a chef. When he gets a job at Killer Pizza he thinks he has found the perfect place, even more so when he finds out that he will be working with Anabel who is one of the hottest girls in school. But just a few weeks after starting their jobs, Toby, Anabel and co-worker Strobe find out that Killer Pizza is just a front for a real life monster hunting organization. The owner wants his three newest employees to join his force of monster killers and help him take out a local infestation of Guttata before the next Gathering. Meek Toby is worried about his ability to help but joins up anyway and is soon learning how to shoot a crossbow and take out a monster from 30 yards away!

Stitches by David Small

Illustrator David Small tells about his childhood in graphic novel form. His father was a doctor who performed unnecessary medical tests including many x-rays. When David found a "growth" on his neck at age 10 his parents ignored it for four years because they didn't want to spend the money on a surgery to remove it. When he finally had the surgery the doctors discovered the growth was cancer and David woke up to find that half of his vocal cords were gone leaving him mute. What's more, his parents didn't tell him he'd had cancer until he found it out for himself. This book is a dark memoir of Small's life and his ability to recover from a horrible upbringing.