Holiday Reading 2001

Fiction for young adults

Ashley, Bernard Playing against the odds
The startlingly honest and touching story of a boy falling in love with a new arrival in his class. The new arrival then goes on to become the chief suspect for a spate of thefts.
Bagdasarian, Adam Forgotten fire
Twelve-year-old Vahan Kenderian, the son of an influential Armenian family in Turkey, struggles to survive alone after witnessing the deaths of many of his family and friends during the Armenian massacres of the early twentieth century.
Bateson, Catherine The year it all happened
A verse novel detailing a year in the life of four friends as they finish high school and try to find places for themselves in the "real" world. Sequel to A dangerous girl.
Bauer, Joan Hope was here
When sixteen-year-old Hope and the aunt who has raised her move from Brooklyn to Mulhoney, Wisconsin, to work as waitress and cook in the Welcome Stairways diner, they become involved with the diner owner's political campaign to oust the town's corrupt mayor.
Blackman, Malorie Noughts & crosses
Tackles the issues of racism and prejudice in a world set in an alternate historical reality.
Block, Francesca Lia The rose and the beast: fairy tales retold
Nine classic fairy tales set in modern, magical landscapes and retold with a twist.
Brashares, Ann The sisterhood of the traveling pants
Four best girlfriends spend the biggest summer of their lives enchanted by a magical pair of trousers.
Brooks, Bruce All that remains
Three novellas explore the effects of death on young lives.
Brugman, Alyssa Finding Grace
Rachel gets a live-in job looking after Grace who is brain-damaged and has a lovely house, greedy relatives, a life of unfinished business - and a lot to teach Rachel.
Burgess, Melvin Lady: my life as a bitch
A flirtatious, confident and rebellious teenager is transformed into an understandably confused and frightened dog by a tramp with magical powers. Sandra has a lot of growing up to do, quickly, to survive as a scrounging stray in a competitive and rough dog's world.
Cadnum, Michael Raven of the waves
On his first Viking raid, seventeen-year-old Lidsmod sails on the ship Raven, joining his comrades as they destroy and plunder villages in medieval England and take an Anglo-Saxon boy as captive.
Coman, Carolyn Many stones
After her sister Laura is murdered in South Africa, Berry and her estranged father travel there to participate in the dedication of a memorial in her name.
Cormier, Robert Rag and bone shop
Cormier's last novel, largely completed before his death last year.
Crutcher, Chris Whale talk
Intellectually and athletically gifted, TJ, a multiracial, adopted teenager, shuns organized sports and the gung-ho athletes at his high school until he agrees to form a swimming team and recruits some of the school's less popular students.
Doherty, Berlie Holly Starcross
"… a beautiful, moving story with characters to believe in' (TES)
Enzensberger, Hans Magnus Where were you, Robert?
Fifteen-year-old Robert is a dreamer: one evening his eyes blur over and he literally disappears. Robert has become a time traveller, but with little control over his ability he seems doomed to wander forever - until he appears in 17th-century Amsterdam and finds a slim chance of returning home.
Fleischman, Paul Seek
Rob becomes obsessed with searching the airwaves for his long-gone father, a radio announcer.
Haddix, Margaret Peterson Among the impostors
In a future where the law limits a family to only two children, third-born Luke has been in hiding for the entire twelve years of his life, until he enters boarding school under an assumed name and is forced to face his fears. Sequel to Among the hidden.
Hicyilmaz, Gaye In flame
When Helen was seven, her big brother was killed in an accident. Seven years on, she meets a local girl, Sam, also recently bereaved, and begins to build up another picture of her brother's early life from Sam's own memories. Anxieties arise when Helen becomes attracted to Sam's brother Christian.
Horniman, Joanne Mahalia
Single teenage father Matt is 17 and looks after his baby, Mahalia. His girlfriend couldn't cope and has gone away, perhaps forever. This evocative novel explores the tensions in Matt's existence between the purposeful growth and demands of the baby and his own sense of drift.
I believe in water: twelve brushes with religion
edited by Marilyn Singer. This anthology of stories by award-winning authors explores religion, belief, and spirituality.
Jones, Diana Wynne Year of the griffin
When Elda, the griffin daughter of the great Wizard Derk, arrives for schooling at the Wizards' University, she encounters new friends, pirates, assassins, worry, sabotage, bloodshed, and magic misused. Sequel to The Dark Lord of Derkholm
Lawrence, Iain The buccaneers
In the eighteenth century sixteen-year-old John Spencer sails from England in his schooner, the Dragon, to the Caribbean, where he and the crew encounter pirates, fierce storms, fever, and a strange man who some fear may be cursed. Sequel to The smugglers and The wreckers.
Lawrence, Iain Ghost boy
Unhappy in a home seemingly devoid of love, a fourteen-year-old albino boy who thinks of himself as Harold the Ghost runs away to join the circus, where he works with the elephants and searches for a sense of who he is.
Na, An A step from heaven
A young Korean girl and her family find it difficult to learn English and adjust to life in America.
Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds Alice alone
Alice's first year in high school gets off to a difficult start when she and her boyfriend Patrick break up, but with the help of her father, older brother, and best friends, she gains a better sense of her own self-worth.
Nicholson, William Slaves of the Mastery
Fifteen-year-old Bowman uses his newly-discovered powers to join with his twin sister Kestrel in an attempt to liberate their people from the civilization which has enslaved them. Sequel to The wind singer.
Nix, Garth Lirael: daughter of the Clayr
When a dangerous necromancer threatens to unleash a long-buried evil, Lirael and Prince Sameth are drawn into a battle to save the Old Kingdom. Sequel to Sabriel.
Paulsen, Gary The beet fields: memories of a sixteenth summer
The author recalls his experiences as a migrant labourer and carnival worker after he runs away from home at age sixteen.
Price, Susan The wolf-sisters
Kenelm has always wanted to be a warrior, but his uncle, the King, has given him to the church to become a monk. When Kenelm is recalled because of sickness, he ventures into the woods to find the Wood-People. There he meets the beautiful Wolf-Sisters and is given the chance of freedom.
Rai, Bali (Un)arranged marriage
Set partly in the UK and partly in the Punjab region of India, (Un)arranged Marriage is a perceptive look at a young man's fight to free himself from family expectations and an arranged marriage he doesn't want.
Rubinstein, Gillian Terra-Farma
Sequel to Galax-Arena.
Savvides, Irini Willow tree and Olive
Olive travels to Greece to lay a traumatic episode in her past to rest.
Simoen, Jan And what about Anna?
Translated from the Dutch by John Nieuwenhuizen. Anna's family has gone through difficult times. One brother has died of AIDS, another, Michael, is missing, presumed dead, in Bosnia. Her father has left home. Left to pick up the pieces, Anna struggles to make sense of it all. When she discovers Michael may be alive, she's faced with an impossible dilemma.
Singer, Marilyn The Circus Lunicus
Solly's stepmother forbids him to go the Circus Lunicus, but gives him an inflatable lizard that turns into his fairy godmother and teaches him how to turn into a space lizard as well.
Sturtevant, Katherine At the sign of the star
In seventeenth-century London, Meg, who has little interest in cooking, needlework, or other homemaking skills, dreams of becoming a bookseller and someday inheriting her widowed father's book store.
Svendsen, Mark Nestor Poison under their lips
A story about the abuse of official power in Queensland during European settlement.
Taylor, Mildred D The land
After the Civil War Paul, the son of a white father and a black mother, finds himself caught between worlds as he pursues his dream of owning land of his own. An enthralling prequel to Newberry Medal Winner Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.
Things I have to tell you: poems and writing by teenage girls
edited by Betsy Franco A collection of poems, stories, and essays written by girls twelve to eighteen years of age and revealing how they overcame the challenges they faced.
Thomson, Sarah L The dragon's son
Based on the Mabinogion, a collection of medieval Welsh tales, as well as later legends, this story tells of family members and servants important in the life of King Arthur.
Wolff, Virginia Euwer True believer
When LaVaughn was little, the obstacles in her life didn't seem so bad. School was simple, boys were friends. Everything made sense. Now she's 15 and the obstacles aren't going away anymore, and the boy who's a miracle in her life acts as if he's in love with her. Only he's not. Sequel to Making lemonade.
Woodson, Jacqueline Miracle's boys
Twelve-year-old Lafayette's close relationship with his older brother Charlie changes after Charlie is released from a detention home and blames Lafayette for the death of their mother. Winner of the 2001 Coretta Scott King Award.
Wulffson, Don L Soldier X
In 1943 sixteen-year-old Erik experiences the horrors of war when he is drafted into the German army and sent to fight on the Russian front. Based on a true story.

Related pages