• The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman & Peter Sis

(Newbery Medal 1987) A bratty prince and his whipping boy have many adventures when they inadvertently trade places after becoming involved with dangerous outlaws.

• Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith

From eating too much chocolate, Henry breaks out in brown bumps that help him foil some hijackers and teach him a valuable lesson about self-indulgence.

• The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill

Ten-year-old Fred (short for Frederika) narrates the story of school and village life among the Athapascans in Alaska during 1948 when Miss Agnes arrived as the new teacher.

• Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

Wilbur, the pig, is desolate when he discovers that he is destined to be the farmer's Christmas dinner until his spider friend, Charlotte, decides to help him.

• Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

In 1687 in Connecticut, Kit Tyler, feeling out of place in the Puritan household of her aunt, befriends an old woman considered a witch by the community and suddenly finds herself standing trial for witchcraft.

• Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

The life of a ten-year-old boy in rural Virginia expands when he becomes friends with a newcomer who subsequently meets an untimely death trying to reach their hideaway, Terabithia, during a storm.

• My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

A young boy relates his adventures during the year he spends living alone in the Catskill Mountains including his struggle for survival, his dependence on nature, his animal friends, and his ultimate realization that he needs human companionship.

• The Giver by Lois Lowry

(Newbery Medal 1994) Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives.

• Number The Stars by Lois Lowry

(Newbery Medal 1990). In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis.

• Holes by Louis Sachar

(Newbery Medal 1999). Stanley Yelnats begins a journey of self-discovery when he is sent to a juvenile detention center in Texas and suspects the motives of a warden who forces him and the other boys to dig five-foot-deep holes as punishment.

• Where The Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

A young boy living in the Ozarks achieves his heart's desire when he becomes the owner of two redbone hounds and teaches them to be champion hunters.

• Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

After a plane crash, thirteen-year-old Brian spends fifty-four days in the wilderness, learning to survive with only the aid of a hatchet given him by his mother, and learning also to survive his parents' divorce.

• Roll Of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

(Newbery Medal, 1977). An African-American family living in Mississippi during the Depression of the 1930s is faced with prejudice and discrimination which its children do not understand.

• The Acorn People by Ron Jones

Relates the experiences of a group of children with severe physical disabilities during a summer spent at camp.

• The Outsiders by S.E.Hinton

The struggle of three brothers to stay together after their parent's death and their quest for identity among the conflicting values of their adolescent society.

• Taking Sides by Gary Soto

Fourteen-year-old Lincoln Mendoza, an aspiring basketball player, must come to terms with his divided loyalties when he moves from the Hispanic inner city to a white suburban neighborhood.

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