New YA Books

The Sixty-Eight Rooms - Marianne Malone
Ruthie thinks nothing exciting will ever happen to her until her sixth-grade class visits the Art Institute of Chicago, where she and her best friend Jack discover a magic key that shrinks them to the size of gerbils and allows them to explore the Thorne Rooms--the collection of sixty-eight miniature rooms from various time periods and places--and discover their secrets.

Finnikin of the Rock - Melina Marchetta
Now on the cusp of manhood, Finnikin, who was a child when the royal family of Lumatere was brutally murdered and replaced by an imposter, reluctantly joins forces with an enigmatic young novice and fellow-exile, who claims that her dark dreams will lead them to a surviving royal child and a way to regain the throne of Lumatere.

Falling In - Frances O'Roark Dowell
Middle-schooler Isabelle Bean follows a mouse's squeak into a closet and falls into a parallel universe where the children believe she is the witch they have feared for years, finally come to devour them.

Star in the Forest - Laura Resau
After eleven-year-old Zitlally's father is deported to Mexico, she takes refuge in her trailer park's forest of rusted car parts, where she befriends a spunky neighbor and finds a stray dog that she nurses back to health and believes she must keep safe so that her father will return.

The Book of Dragons - E. Nesbit
A collection of tales which shows how dragons can shape the fates of princes, queens, and ordinary children.

Anastasia's Secret - Susanne Dunlap
As world war and the looming Russian Revolution threaten all they hold dear, Anastasia, the youngest daughter of Czar Nicholas II, and her family are being held in captivity, where she falls in love with one of their captors, a young man who has espoused the ideals of Lenin.

Freefall - Roderick Gordon
As fourteen-year-old archaeologist Will and his friends plummet down a subterranean pore, they face deadly creatures and discover a strange fungal shelf, which not only reveals artifacts from ancient civilizations, but clues to a lost land at the end of the Earth.

Dragons of Darkness - Antonia Michaelis
Two boys from very different backgrounds are thrown together by magic, mayhem, and a common foe as they battle deadly dragons in the wilderness of Nepal.

This World We Live In - Susan Beth Pfeffer
When the moon's gravitational pull increases, causing massive natural disasters on earth, Miranda and her family struggle to survive in a world without cities or sunlight, and wonder if anyone else in still alive.

Faith, Hope, and Ivy June - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
During a student exchange program, seventh-graders Ivy June and Catherine share their lives, homes, and communities, finding that although their lifestyles are total opposites, they still have a lot in common.

Ostrich Boys - Keith Gray
After their best friend Ross dies, English teenagers Blake, Kenny, and Sim plan a proper memorial by taking his ashes to Ross, Scotland, an adventure-filled journey that tests their loyalty to each other and forces them to question what friendship means.

The Maze Runner - James Dashner
Sixteen-year-old Thomas wakes up with no memory in the middle of a maze and realizes he must work with the community in which he finds himself if he is to escape.

Lone Wolf - Kathryn Lasky
Abandoned by his pack, a baby wolf with a mysterious mark on his deformed paw survives and embarks on a journey that will change the world of the wolves of the Beyond.

A Conspiracy of Kings - Megan Whalen Turner
Kidnapped and sold into slavery, Sophos, an unwilling prince, tries to save his country from being destroyed by rebellion and exploited by the conniving Mede empire.

Borderline - Allan Stratton
Despite the strained relationship between them, teenaged Sami Sabiri risks his life to uncover the truth when his father is implicated in a terrorist plot.