New YA Books

Whirlwind - David Klass
Jack finds himself embroiled in another dangerous adventure when, after a six-month absence, he returns to the Hudson River town where he grew up to find his girlfriend PJ only to discover that she is missing and everyone believes him to be responsible for her disappearance and the death of his family.

Climbing the Stairs - Padma Venkatraman
In India, in 1941, when her father becomes brain-damaged in a non-violent protest march, fifteen-year-old Vidya and her family are forced to move in with her father's extended family and become accustomed to a totally different way of life.

The Missing Girl - Norma Fox Mazer
In Mallory, New York, as five sisters, aged eleven to seventeen, deal with assorted problems, conflicts, fears, and yearnings, a mysterious middle-aged man watches them, fascinated, deciding which one he likes the best.

The Empty Kingdom - Elizabeth Wein
Telemakos, imprisoned on the upper levels of Abreha's, ruler of Himyar, twelve-story palace and lacking any way to communicate his predicament to his family in far-away Aksum, tries to find a subtle and effective way to regain his freedom.

Me, the Missing, and the Dead - Jenny Valentine
When a series of chance events leaves him in possession of an urn with ashes, sixteen-year-old Londoner, Lucas Swain, becomes convinced that its occupant, Violet Park, is communicating with him, initiating a voyage of self-discovery that forces him to finally confront the events surrounding his father's sudden disappearance.

Keeping Score - Linda Sue Park
In Brooklyn in 1951, a die-hard Giants fan teaches nine-year-old Maggie, who is a "Bums" (Dodgers) fan, how to use a technique to keep score of a baseball game which creates a special friendship between them.

How to Build a House - Dana Reinhardt
Seventeen-year-old Harper Evans hopes to escape the effects of her father's divorce on her family and friendships by volunteering her summer to build a house in a small Tennessee town devastated by a tornado.

Keeping the Night Watch - Hope Anita Smith
A thirteen-year-old African American boy chronicles what happens to his family when his father, who temporarily left, returns home and they all must deal with their feelings of anger, hope, abandonment, and fear.

Something to Sing About - C.C. Payne
Ten-year-old Jamie Jo's fear of bees keeps her inside most of the time, but a series of events that begins when her mother is excluded from the church choir brings about many changes, including new friendships and greater trust in God.

The Dead and the Gone - Susan Beth Pfeffer
After a meteor hits the moon and sets off a series of horrific climate changes, seventeen-year-old Alex Morales must take care of his sisters alone in the chaos of New York City.

Elephant Run - Roland Smith
Nick endures servitude, beatings, and more after his British father's plantation in Burma is invaded by the Japanese in 1941, and when his father and others are taken prisoner and Nick is stranded with his friend Mya, they plan a daring escape on elephants, risking their lives to save Nick's father and Mya's brother from a Japanese prisoner of war camp.