Non-fiction

The Skull in the Rock: How a Scientist, a Boy, and Google Earth Opened a New Window on Human Origins, by Lee R. Berger & Marc Aronson (see related website: http://scimania.org/)
Chronicles the story behind one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of all time, explaining its significance for understanding human evolution and how it is shaping the thinking of the scientific community.

Daisy to the Rescue: True Stories of Daring Dogs, Paramedic Parrots, and Other Animal Heroes, by Jeff Campbell
Collects over fifty true stories of heroic animals rescuing people, including a pot-bellied pig, parrot, dolphin, and half-breed wolf, with current scientific research about the human-animal bond.

Mission Control, This is Apollo: The Story of the First Voyages to the Moon, by Andrew Chaikin
Chaikin covers each of the twelve missions in a separate, detail-filled chapter, carefully outlining the objectives for each mission, showing how earlier failures or advances made by the Soviets prompted later technical adjustments, and providing thrilling play-by-plays of the space flights and moon landings. The chapters flow seamlessly, allowing readers to see the missions' progression. In addition to historical photographs and technical diagrams, Apollo-astronaut-turned-artist Bean lends his accomplished paintings.

Phineas Gage: A Gruesome But True Story About Brain Science, by John Fleischman
Phineas Gage was truly a man with a hole in his head. Phineas, a railroad construction foreman, was blasting rock near Cavendish, Vermont, in 1848 when a thirteen-pound iron rod was shot through his brain. Miraculously, he survived to live another eleven years and become a textbook case in brain science. At the time, Phineas Gage seemed to completely recover from his accident. He could walk, talk, work, and travel, but he was changed. Gage “was no longer Gage,” said his Vermont doctor, meaning that the old Phineas was dependable and well liked, and the new Phineas was crude and unpredictable. His case astonished doctors in his day and still fascinates doctors today. What happened and what didn’t happen inside the brain of Phineas Gage will tell you a lot about how your brain works and how you act human.

Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy, by Albert Marrin
On March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City burst into flames. The factory was crowded. The doors were locked to ensure workers stayed inside. One hundred forty-six people—mostly women—perished; it was one of the most lethal workplace fires in American history until September 11, 2001. But the story of the fire is not the story of one accidental moment in time. It is a story of immigration and hard work to make it in a new country, as Italians and Jews and others traveled to America to find a better life. It is the story of poor working conditions and greedy bosses, as garment workers discovered the endless sacrifices required to make ends meet. It is the story of unimaginable, but avoidable, disaster. And it is the story of the unquenchable pride and activism of fearless immigrants and women who stood up to business, got America on their side, and finally changed working conditions for our entire nation, initiating radical new laws we take for granted today.

Remembering September 11, 2001: What We Know Now, by Mara Miller
Examines the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, including the events that led to the attack; the attack on the World Trade Center Towers, the Pentagon, and United Flight 93; and the aftermath of the attacks.

The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain, by Peter Sis (biography)
Annotated illustrations, journals, maps, and dreamscapes take readers on an extraordinary journey of how the artist-author's life was shaped while growing up in Czechoslovakia during the Cold War, as well as the influence of western culture through the influx of banned books, music, and news, in a powerful graphic memoir.

Fiction

The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Eighth Grade Bites, by Heather Brewer OR sequel, Ninth Grade Slays
For thirteen years, Vlad, aided by his aunt and best friend, has kept secret that he is half-vampire, but when his missing teacher is replaced by a sinister substitute, he learns that there is more to being a vampire, and to his parents' deaths, than he could have guessed.

Anya's Ghost, by Versa Brogsol (graphic novel) (eBook available)
Anya could really use a friend. But her new BFF isn't kidding about the "Forever" part. Of all the things Anya expected to find at the bottom of an old well, a new friend was not one of them. Especially not a new friend who’s been dead for a century.

Perfect, by Natasha Friend (audio available) or Lush
Eighth-grader Isabelle Lee describes her not-so-perfect life. She is dealing with her father's death and her grieving mother by bingeing and purging. On the surface, everything is fine until Isabelle's younger sister catches her in the bathroom making herself throw up. "Eating Disorder and Body Image Therapy Group" is the consequence. Isabelle is amazed when she discovers that the most popular girl in her grade is also at the first session.

That Was Then, This Is Now, by S.E. Hinton (audio available)
Sixteen-year-old Mark and Bryon have been like brothers since childhood, but now, as their involvement with girls, gangs, and drugs increases, their relationship seems to gradually disintegrate.

Heat, by Mike Lupica (audio available)OR one of the following sports books by the author: The Big Field, Miracle on 49th Street, Summer Ball, Travel Team, Two-Minute Drill
Pitching prodigy Michael Arroyo is on the run from social services after being banned from playing Little League baseball because rival coaches doubt he is only twelve years old and he has no parents to offer them proof.

Swallowing Stones, by Joyce McDonald   (audio available)
The lives of four teenagers are drastically changed by a freak Fourth of July accident. When 17-year-old Michael discovers that he has accidentally killed the father of a schoolmate, he wrestles with his own guilt until he can no longer keep his terrible secret.

Maximum Ride: The Manga. 1 by James Patterson (graphic novel) OR any other titles in the series
Fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride knows what it's like to soar above the world. She and all the members of her "flock" - Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, and Angel - are just like ordinary kids, except they have wings and can fly! It may seem like a dream come true to some, but for the flock it's more like a living nightmare. When the mysterious lab known as the "School" turns up and kidnaps their youngest member, it's up to Max to organize a rescue, but will help come in time?

Divergent, by Veronica Roth OR other books in the series (audio CD, eAudio, & eBook available) In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

The Schwa Was Here, by Neal Shusterman OR the sequel, Antsy Does Time (audio available)
Eighth-grader "Antsy" Bonano recounts how his accidental relationship with three quirky characters winds up being mutually beneficial. The catalyst in this social collision is Calvin Schwa, a classmate who has an almost supernatural knack for going completely unnoticed. Amidst their antics, Antsy and the Schwa come to the aid of a cranky and rich old man with a beautiful blind granddaughter, start national graffiti trends, and explore the Schwa's (quite interesting!) paperclip collection. It's all fun and games until friendships dissolve. Will the mysterious Night Butcher provide the Schwa with clues to his unwanted invisibility? The presence of stock characters and subplots doesn't detract from the cleverness and humor of this tall tale.

Elsewhere, by Gabrielle Zevin (audio CD and eBook available)
After fifteen-year-old Liz Hall is hit by a taxi and killed, she finds herself in a place that is both like and unlike Earth, where she must adjust to her new status and figure out how to "live".