GO AND COME BACK: A NOVEL
by Joan Abelove
DK Ink;ISBN: 0789424762;$16.95;1998

By turns funny and poignant, this unusual novel explores life in an Amazon rainforest village from the point of view of a local teenager observing two visiting anthropologists.

Suggested for ages 14 - 16
Subjects: Amazon | Fiction | Indians | Isabo

THE GAWGON AND THE BOY
by Lloyd Alexander
Dutton;ISBN: 0525466770;$17.99;2001

David’s formidable, imaginative aunt, whom he thinks of as The Gawgon, tutors him during his year of convalescence from pneumonia. Marvelous humor and delightful storytelling abound in this novel set in Philadelphia just at the beginning of the Great Depression.

Suggested for ages 10 - 14
Subjects: 1920's | Families | Fiction | Historical | Imagination

SKELLIG
by David Almond
Delacorte;ISBN: 038532653X;$15.95;1999

In this mysterious, poetic novel, two children form an unlikely friendship as they seek to protect a strange cobweb-covered creature—could it be an angel?—which they find in a crumbling garage.

Suggested for ages 11 - 14
Subjects: Angels | Death | England | Fantasy | Fiction | Moving | Strangers

HEAVEN EYES (AUDIO)
by David Almond
narrated by Amanda Plummer
Listening Library;ISBN: 0807261971;$22;2001

A mystical reading brings to life the haunting story of three “damaged” children who set out in search of a better life only to find a mysterious girl who helps them discover happiness by looking at the world through a different lens.

Suggested for ages 10 - 14
Subjects: Audio Book | England | Fiction | Great Britain | Magic | Orphanage | Orphans

HOW TÍA LOLA CAME TO VISIT/STAY
by Julia Alverez
Knopf;ISBN: 0375802150;$15.95;2001

When Aunt Lola visits from the Dominican Republic, she creates a whirlwind in a small Vermont town and proves to Miguel that “everything done with love is magic.” A warm family story that weaves together two cultures and leaves readers laughing and wishing that they had their own Tía Lola.

Suggested for ages 9 - 12
Subjects: Aunts | Divorce | Dominican Americans | Family Life | Fiction | Humor | Spanish Language | Vermont

A STEP FROM HEAVEN
by  An Na
Listening Library;ISBN: 0807207217;$25;2002

Fine prose is matched with a profound understanding of the struggles of immigrants in this deeply touching story of Young Ju and her family, who leave their homeland of Korea in search of their dream in America.

Subjects: Asian Americans | Emigration | Family Life | Fiction | Immigration | Korean Americans | Printz Award

THE UGLY DUCKLING
by Hans Christian Andersen
illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
Morrow;ISBN: 068815932X;$16;1999

The American countryside is the setting for this new edition, illustrated with beautifully composed watercolors that convey all the action and drama of the duckling's quest for a place he belongs

Suggested for ages 6 - 8
Subjects: Caldecott Honor | Fairy Tales | Fiction | Swans

SPEAK
by Laurie Halse Anderson
narrated by Mandy Siegfried
Listening Library;ISBN: 0807282642;$22;2000

Melinda Sorvino has become almost mute and increasingly isolated as the result of a traumatic event at an end-of-summer party and the shunning by her peers. Mandy Siegfried's flat rendering of Melinda's interior voice, filled with sardonic humor, makes this a compelling listening experience.

Suggested for ages 12 - 16
Subjects: Fiction | Rape