Possible Titles for Summer Reading 2010

The Adoration of Jenna Fox
Mary E. Pearson
MATURE
In the not-too-distant future, when biotechnological advances have made synthetic bodies and brains possible but illegal, a seventeen-year-old girl, recovering from a serious accident and suffering from memory lapses, learns a startling secret about her existence. (Novelist) (Multnomah County)

Airman
Eoin Colfer
In the 1890s on an island off the Irish coast, Conor Broekhart is falsely imprisoned and passes the solitary months by scratching designs of flying machines into the walls, including one for a glider with which he dreams of escape. (Novelist) (Multnomah County)

Alanna
Tamora Pierce

Eleven-year-old Alanna, who aspires to be a knight even though she is a girl, disguises herself as a boy to become a royal page, a learning many hard lessons along her path to high adventure. (Novelist) (Multnomah County)

Alchemyst
Michael Scott
While working at pleasant but mundane summer jobs in San Francisco, fifteen-year-old twins, Sophie and Josh, suddenly find themselves caught up in the deadly, centuries-old struggle between rival alchemists, Nicholas Flamel and John Dee, over the possession of an ancient and powerful book holding the secret formulas for alchemy and everlasting life. (NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

Anne of Green Gables
L. M. Montgomery

Anne, an eleven-year-old orphan, is sent by mistake to live with a lonely, middle-aged brother and sister on a Prince Edward Island farm and proceeds to make an indelible impression on everyone around her. (Novelist) (Multnomah County)

The Batboy (Hard Back only)
Mike Lupica
Even though his mother feels baseball ruined her marriage to his father, she allows fourteen-year-old Brian to become a bat boy for the Detroit Tigers, who have just drafted his favorite player back onto the team. (NoveList)

The Beekeeper's Apprentice
Laurie King
When Mary Russell meets famous detective Sherlock Holmes, she discovers that he is also a beekeeper. Soon she finds herself on the trail of kidnappers and discovers a plot to kill both Holmes and herself. (Novelist) (Multnomah County Library)

Book of a Thousand Days
Shannon Hale
Fifteen-year-old Dashti, sworn to obey her sixteen-year-old mistress, the Lady Saren, shares Saren's years of punishment locked in a tower, then brings her safely to the lands of her true love, where both must hide who they are as they work as kitchen maids.
(Novelist) (Multnomah County Library)

The Count of Monte Cristo
Alexander Dumas
After escaping from the island where he has been in prison, Dantes plots his revenge on the people responsible for his imprisonment. (Novelist) (Multnomah County Library)

The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm
Nancy Farmer
In 2194 in Zimbabwe, General Matsika's three children are kidnapped and put to work in a plastic mine, while three mutant detectives use their special powers to search for them.

(Novelist) (Multnomah County Library)

Ender's Game
Orson Scott Card
MATURE
A tale of the child-hero Ender Wiggin, who must fight a desperate battle against a deadly alien race if mankind is to survive. (Novelist) (Multnomah County Library)

Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp
Rick Yancey
MATURE
Through a series of dangerous and violent misadventures, teenage loser Alfred Kropp rescues King Arthur's legendary sword Excalibur from the forces of evil. (Novelist) (Multnomah County Library)

Heart of a Shepherd
Rosanne Parry
Ignatius "Brother" Alderman, nearly twelve, promises to help his grandparents keep the family's Oregon ranch the same while his brothers are away and his father is deployed to Iraq, but as he comes to accept the inevitability of change, he also sees the man he is meant to be. (NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

His Majesty's Dragon
Naomi Novik
After capturing a French frigate and seizing its precious cargo, Captain Will Laurence of the HMS "Reliant" befriends the dragon Temeraire and uses his new friend to help defend his country from other airborne dragon forces.
(Novelist) (Multnomah County Library)

Keeper
Mal Peet
MATURE
In an interview with a young journalist, World Cup hero, El Gato, describes his youth in the Brazilian rain forest and the events, experiences, and people that helped make him a great goalkeeper and renowned soccer star. (NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

The Lightning Thief
Rick Riordan
After learning that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea, Percy Jackson is transferred from boarding school to Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp for demigods, and becomes involved in a quest to prevent a war between the gods. (NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)
Little Women
Louisa May Alcott
Chronicles the joys and sorrows of the four March sisters as they grow into young ladies in nineteenth-century New England. (Novelist) (Multnomah County Library)

The Old Man and the Sea

Ernest Hemingway
Santiago is a Cuban fisherman who encounters a giant marlin in the Gulf Stream and the battle for his catch becomes one of survival against a band of marauding sharks.(Novelist) (Multnomah County Library)

The Real Benedict Arnold

Jim Murphy
Brilliant military strategist Benedict Arnold, although maligned and branded 'traitor,' was a man for whom honor meant a great deal. (Multnomah County Library)

Red Pyramid (Hard Back only)
Rick Riordan
Brilliant Egyptologist Dr. Julius Kane unites his children, Sadie and Carter, for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, hoping to set things right for his family after the death of the children's mother--instead, he awakens the gods of Egypt and unleashes the worst of them, the god Set, who banishes Julius to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives.
(Novelist) (Multnomah County Library)

Ruby In the Smoke
Philip Pullman
In nineteenth-century London, sixteen-year-old Sally, a recent orphan, becomes involved in a deadly search for a mysterious ruby. (Novelist) (Multnomah County)

Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and The Endurance
Jennifer Armstrong
In August 1914, Ernest Shackleton and 27 men sailed from England in an attempt to become the first team of explorers to cross Antarctica from one side to the other. Five months later and still 100 miles from land, their ship, Endurance, became trapped in ice. The expedition survived another five months camping on ice floes, followed by a perilous journey through stormy seas to remote and unvisited Elephant Island. In a dramatic climax to this amazing survival story, Shackleton and five others navigated 800 miles of treacherous open ocean in a 20-foot boat to fetch a rescue ship. (Multnomah County Library)

The Three Musketeers
Alexandre Dumas
A young Gascon nobleman, d'Artagnan, sets off for Paris in hopes of joining the Musketeers. He proves himself fighting with them and earns a place in their ranks. With d'Artagnan the three preserve the honor of the king and thwart the schemes of Cardinal Richelieu. (Novelist) (Multnomah County Library)

Trickster's Choice
Tamora Pierce
Alianne must call forth her mother's courage and her father's wit in order to survive on the Copper Isles in a royal court rife with political intrigue and murderous conspiracy. (Novelist) (Multnomah County LIBRARY))


True North
Kathryn Lasky
Because of the strong influence which her grandfather, an abolitionist, has in her life, fourteen-year-old Lucy assists a fugitive slave girl in her escape. (Novelist) (Multnomah County Library)

Waiting for Normal
Leslie Connor
Twelve-year-old Addie tries to cope with her mother's erratic behavior and being separated from her beloved stepfather and half-sisters when she and her mother go to live in a small trailer by the railroad tracks on the outskirts of Schenectady, New York. (NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

Westing Game
Ellen Raskin
The mysterious death of an eccentric millionaire brings together an unlikely assortment of heirs who must uncover the circumstances of his death before they can claim their inheritance. (Novelist) (Multnomah County Library)

When You Reach Me
Rebecca Stead
As her mother prepares to be a contestant on the 1980s television game show, "The $20,000 Pyramid," a twelve-year-old New York City girl tries to make sense of a series of mysterious notes received from an anonymous source that seems to defy the laws of time and space.
(Novelist) (Multnomah County Library)

White House
Roland Smith
In this follow-up to "Book One: Independence Hall," Q and Angela continue their quest to uncover the truth behind the supposed death of Angela's real mother, a former Secret Service agent, while trying to differentiate the "good guys" from the "bad guys." (NoveList)

A Wrinkle in Time
Madeleine L'Engle
Meg Murry and her friends become involved with unearthly strangers and a search for Meg's father, who has disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government. (Novelist) (Multnomah County Library)

Zen and the Art of Faking It
Jordan Sonnenblick
When thirteen-year-old San Lee moves to a new town and school for the umpteenth time, he is looking for a way to stand out when his knowledge of Zen Buddhism, gained in his previous school, provides the answer -- and the need to quickly become a convincing Zen master. (NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

THIS IS THE END OF THE LIST OF POSSIBLE BOOKS (SO FAR) FOR THE SUMMER OF 2010.


3 Willows -- Summer 2009 Option

SUMMER 2009 CHOICE
3 Willows by Anne Brashares (HB)
Ama, Jo, and Polly, three close friends from Bethesda, Maryland, spend the summer before ninth grade learning about themselves, their families, and the changing nature of their friendship.
(NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)



1984

1984 by George Orwell (Mature)
Portrays life in a future time when a totalitarian government watches over all citizens and directs all activities. (NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

Absolutely, Positively Not

Absolutely, Positively Not by David LaRochelle (Mature)
Chronicles a teenage boy's humorous attempts to fit in at his Minnesota high school by becoming a macho, girl-loving, "Playboy" pinup-displaying heterosexual. (NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Huck is a young, naive white boy fleeing from his drunken, dangerous Pa; and Jim is a runaway slave longing to be reunited with his family. Flung together by circumstance, they journey down the Mississippi together on a log raft, each in search of his own definition of freedom. Their daring adventures along the way provide both entertainment and a satirical look at the moral values of the Deep South of the 1800s. (Vintage Classics)
(NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

The Alchemist

The Alchemist by Paul Coelho
A fable about undauntingly following one's dream, listening to one's heart, and reading life's omens features dialogue between a boy and an unnamed being.
(NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

All of the Above

All of the Above by Shelley Pearsall
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. (NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

Boy's Life

NO LONGER AVAILABLE
Boy's Life by Robert McCammon
(Mature)
Twelve-year-old Cory Mackenson's father finds a dead man handcuffed to a car's steering wheel that has plunged into Zephyr's Lake in 1964, and they realize that all is not as it
seems in their quiet town. (NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

Call of the Wild

Call of the Wild by Jack London
Life is good for Buck in Santa Clara Valley, where he spends his days eating and sleeping in the golden sunshine. But one day a treacherous act of betrayal leads to his kidnap, and he is forced into a life of toil and danger. Dragged away to be a sledge dog in the harsh and freezing cold Yukon, Buck must fight for his survival. Can he rise above his enemies and become the master of his realm once again? (Puffin Classics -- no reviews) (Multnomah County Library)

Chasing Vermeer

Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett
When
seemingly unrelated and strange events start to happen and a precious Vermeer painting disappears, eleven-year-olds Petra and Calder combine their talents to solve an international art scandal. (NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

The Chocolate War

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (Mature)
A high school freshman discovers the devastating consequences of refusing to join in the school's annual fund raising drive and arousing the wrath of the school bullies. (NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

Criss Cross

Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins
Teenag
ers in a small town in the 1960s experience new thoughts and feelings, question their identities, connect, and disconnect as they search for the meaning of life and love. (NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

Dealing With Dragons

Dealing With Dragons by Patricia Wrede
Bored with traditional palace life, a princess goes off to live with a group of dragons and soon becomes involved with fighting against some disreputable wizards who want to steal away the dragons' kingdom. (NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

The Devil's Arithmetic

The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
Hannah resents the traditions of her Jewish heritage until time travel places her in the middle of a small Jewish village in Nazi-occupied Poland.(NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

Dog Sense

Dog Sense by Sneed Collard (available in paperback)
After he and his mother move from California to Montana to live with his grandfather, thirteen-year-old Guy gradually adjusts to the unfamiliar surroundings, makes a friend, and learns to deal with a bully, with the help of his Frisbee-catching dog, Streak. (NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

Fellowship of the Ring

Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
Frodo the hobbit and his companions set out to deliver the One Ring of Power to the dark land of Mordor in order to destroy the ring in the forge of its creation. (NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Chronicles the journeys, notions, and acquaintances of reluctant galactic traveler Arthur Dent. (NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

Little Brother

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (HB, Mature)
After being interrogated for days by the Department of Homeland Security in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco, California, seventeen-year-old Marcus, released into what is now a police state, decides to use his expertise in computer hacking to set things right. (NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

Mind Gym

NO LONGER AVAILABLE
Mind
Gym by Gary Mack In Mind Gym, noted sports psychology consultant Gary Mack
exp
lains how your mind influences your performance on the field or on the court as much as your physical skill does, if not more so. Through forty accessible lessons and inspirational anecdotes from prominent athletes--many of whom he has worked with--you will learn the same techniques and exercises Mack uses to help elite athletes build mental "muscle." Mind Gym will give you the "head edge" over the competition. (Powell's -- no reviews) (Multnomah County Library)

The Mysterious Benedict Society

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Steward
After passing a series of mind-bending tests, four children are selected for a secret mission that requires them to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules. (NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

Outsiders

NO LONGER AVAILABLE
Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Three brothers struggle to stay together after their parents' death, as they search for an identity among the conflicting values of their adolescent society in which they find themselves "outsiders." (NoveList -- no review)
(Multnomah County Library)

Peak

Peak by Roland Smith
A fourteen-year-old boy attempts to be the youngest person to reach the top of Mount Everest. (NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

Schooled

Schooled by Gordon Korman After his hippie grandmother ends up in the hospital, Cap Anderson is forced to leave the commune where he is homeschooled and attend Claverage Middle School, where his odd looks and behavior make him the target of bullies. (NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

So Yesterday

So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld
Hunter Braque, a New York City teenager who is paid by corporations to spot what is "cool," combines his analytical skills with girlfriend Jen's creative talents to find a missing person and thwart a conspiracy directed at the heart of consumer culture.
(NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

Summer Ball

Summer Ball by Mike Lupica
Thirteen-year-old Danny must prove himself all over again for a disapproving coach and against new rivals at a summer basketball camp. (NoveList)(Multnomah County Library)

A Thief of Time

A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman (Mature)
Chilling discoveries unearthed at a dig for Navajo clay pots bring Lt. Joe Leaphorn and Officer Jim Chee of the Navajo Police to the site and put them on the trail of stolen artifacts, a missing woman, and bizarre and mystifying murders. (NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)


This Full House

This Full House by Virginia Euwer Wolff (HB, Mature)
As she readies for college to get herself out of the projects and into nursing school, high-school-senior LaVaughn?s perceptions and expectations of her life begin to change as she learns about the many unexpected connections between the people she loves best.
(NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)


Three Cups of Tea Young Readers Edition

NO LONGER AVAILABLE
Three Cups of Tea Young Readers Edition by Greg Mortensen, adapted by Sarah L. Thomson
This young readers edition of the worldwide bestseller Three Cups of Tea has been specially adapted for younger readers and updated by Greg Mortenson to bring his remarkable story of humanitarianism up to date for the present. Includes new photos and illustrations, as well as a special interview by Gregas twelve-year-old daughter, Amira, who has traveled with her father as an advocate for the Pennies for Peace program for children. (Powell's -- no reviews)
(Multnomah County Library)

Under the Baseball Moon

Under the Baseball Moon by John H. Ritter
Andy and Glory, two fifteen-year-olds from Ocean Beach, California, pursue their respective dreams of becoming a famous musician and a professional softball player.
(NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)


Wee Free Men

Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
A young witch-to-be named Tiffany teams up with the Wee Free Men, a clan of six-inch-high blue men, to rescue her baby brother and ward off a sinister invasion from Fairyland.
(NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)

Zen and the Art of Faking It

Zen and the Art of Faking It (HB)by Jordan Sonnenblick
When thirteen-year-old San Lee moves to a new town and school for the umpteenth time, he is looking for a way to stand out when his knowledge of Zen Buddhism, gained in his previous school, provides the answer--and the need to quickly become a convinciing Zen master. (NoveList) (Multnomah County Library)