| Hot Stuff |
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Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast
Author: Robin McKinley
This is a wonderfully romantic retelling of the classic fairy tale in which the plain and awkward Beauty consents to live in the Beast's enchanted castle inorder to spare the life of her father.
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Feeling Sorry for Celia
Author: Jaclyn Moriarty
Readers will love this zany story which follows the dramatic and hilarious events in the life of Australian teenager Elizabeth Clarry who realizes that it isn't her job to come to the rescue of her flighty best friend, Celia.
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Leslie's Journal
Author: Allan Stratton
Jason may be cool and gorgeous, but he's got Leslie trapped in a frightfully abusive relationship. Can she escape this manipulative monster before it's too late?
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Owl in Love
Author: Patricia Kindl
Owl is aptly named. By day she is a quiet, quirky student and by night she hunts prey. But what about the strange boy lurking in the woods? Who or what is he?
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Seven for a Secret
Author: Mary Sheppard
The summer of 1960 becomes the turning point in the lives of three cousins, when a chance to leave their isolated village reveals skeletons in the family closet and forces some tough decisions.
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Summer of My German Soldier
Author: Bette Greene
During World War II, Patty Bergen, a young Jewish girl, befriends a German soldier who escapes from a local Arkansas POW camp. Through this friendship, Patty experiences love, acceptance and the dire consequences of her action.
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The Raging Quiet
Author: Sheryl Jordan
In a time of witches, magic and madness a young widow named Marnie and her love - the young, strangely silent Raven - must defend themselves against the rage of the ignorant, vengeful townsfolk.
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True Confessions of a Heartless Girl
Author: Martha Brooks
Noreen - seventeen and pregnant - recounts how she has gotten herself into such a mess. A girl with big attitude, no self-respect and no future, her eventual salvation rests with the good townsfolk of Pembina Lake.
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Zel
Author: Donna Jo Napoli
In this retelling of Rapunzel, Zel meets a young nobleman and begins to have thoughts of living her own life. Fearful of losing her daughter, Zel's mother resorts to locking the girl in a remote tower.
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| Laughing Out Loud |
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Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson
Author: Louise Rennison
A year in the life of fourteen-year old Georgia Nicolson is chronicled in this hysterically funny journal. Details include her quest to win Sex God Robbie's love and her thoughts on such topics as thong underwear.
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The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4
Author: Sue Townsend
Adrian Mole's diary presents a hilarious portrait of day-to-day ruminations on the world as he sees it. Townsend captures the self-absorbed angst of a teen's life and presents it with perfect deadpan humour.
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The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants
Author: Ann Brashares
Four good friends must separate for the summer but each will return with a fascinating story, thanks in part to a shared pair of mysteriously flattering, second-hand jeans.
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| Nightmares |
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Coram Boy
Author: Jamilla Gavin
Many unwanted babies were sent to the Coram orphanage in London, but few ever arrived. Thanks to a most unlikely protector, one special boy survives in this horrific epic of devotion and intrigue.
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Tangerine
Author: Edward Bloor
A rough new school, tough new friends and success on the soccer field give Paul the courage to face down his bullying older brother, confront his parents about an horrifying family secret and solve a grisly murder.
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The Body in the Basement
Author: Norah McClintock
Tasha Scanlan - a modern Nancy Drew - is out to prove that the authorities have the wrong man; her father is not guilty of murdering her mother.
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The Boy in the Burning House
Author: Tim Wynne-Jones
Jim Hawkins' dad has disappeared. "Crazy" Ruth Rose tells him that his dad has actually been murdered, but Ruth Rose also has serious psychological problems so he can hardly be expected to believe her - can he?
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The Dark Garden
Author: Margaret Buffie
In this supernatural thriller, sixteen-year-old Thea returns home to her dysfunctional family after suffering from traumatic amnesia. With the help of a kind neighbour, Thea begins to remember her troubled past which involved murder, romance and a madman.
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The Dark Light
Author: Mette Newth
Young Tora contracts leprosy and is sent to die in a leper's hospital. Despite living in deplorable conditions and coping with growing physical deterioration, Tora learns to read, and is mentally able to travel beyond the hospital's walls.
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The Killer's Cousin
Author: Nancy Werlin
Acquitted of murder, David is plagued by guilt, ghostly shadows and escalating harassment from his dangerously disturbed young cousin, in this tense and terrifying psychodrama.
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The Wreckers
Author: Iain Lawrence
John, a fourteen-year-old shipwreck survivor, realizes he is still in terrible danger when he learns that the rescuing villagers are actually "wreckers" - criminals who lure ships ashore in order to loot their remains.
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| Out of This World |
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A Wizard of Earthsea
Author: Ursula LeGuin
Peasant-child Sparrowhawk is taken from the only home he knows, ventures far and wide, and becomes Ged, Earthsea's greatest wizard. The story continues with The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore and Tehanu.
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Alanna: the First Adventure
Author: Tamora Pierce
Disguised as a boy, Alanna trains to become a knight at the king's palace. This is an action-packed fantasy of magic, mystery and intrigue, and the first in the Song of the Lioness quarter.
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Dragonflight
Author: Anne McCaffrey
This first book in the Dragonriders Trilogy introduces readers to the world of Pern, a planet populated by people and dragons who work together to protect their homes from the dire threat of Thread.
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The Golden Compass
Author: Philip Pullman
Terrible things are happening to children and their daemons. Lyra, in grave danger, begins the adventure of her life. Part one of His Dark Materials is followed by The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.
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The Lost Years of Merlin
Author: T.A. Barron
A boy with no memory, no name and no family sets out to discover his true identity, to master his blossoming magical powers and to fulfill his legendary destiny. This is the first in the Lost Years of Merlin saga.
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The Secret Under My Skin
Author: Janet McNaughton
Choosing the Tablelands of Gros Morne National park for her novel's stark setting, McNaughton offers a chilling glimpse of a future society in a degraded environment. Despite all odds, Blay Raytee will utimately be the salvation of her people.
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Arthur: the Seeing Stone
Author: Kevin Crossley-Holland
In this, the first instalment of the events of the Arthur Trilogy, Arthur peers into the amazing stone, and is facinated to witness the events of King Arthur's life as they unfolded four hundred years ago. Why is Merlin showing him this?
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The Third Magic
Author: Welwyn Wilton Katz
Canadian teen Morgan Lefevre visits an ancient English site connected with King Arthur. She is drawn into one world and then another to play a special role in healing the past.
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Tuck Everlasting
Author: Natalie Babbitt
When Winnie meets the unusual Tuck family, she becomes embroiled in their predicament, and learns that they have found the fountain of youth. When she is offered the "gift" of everlasting life, Winnie must make a hard decision.
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| Real Life |
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Charlie Wilcox
Author: Sharon E. McKay
Charlie has stowed away on a Newfoundland sealing ship only to find that it is actually a troop ship bound for the trenches of Europe, taking Charlie into the horror of World War One.
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Go Ask Alice
Author: Anonymous
A confessional about a drug addict out of control, this classic diary is now over 25 years old and it is still a page-turner!
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Habibi
Author: Naomi Shihab Nye
Liyana, a half-American, half-Palestinian girl, moves to Jerusalem from the U.S. when she is fourteen. Feeling an outsider in her new home, and amid generations of misunderstandings between Israelis and Palestinians, Liyana befriends a Jewish boy.
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Mercy's Birds
Author: Linda Holeman
Outwardly, Mercy seems able to cope with a depressed mother, a helpless aunt, school and her job, but when her mother attempts suicide and her aunt's scary boyfriend returns, Mercy can no longer hold it together.
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Nothing but the Truth: a Documentary Novel
Author: Avi
It all begins when student Philip Malloy decides to hum along with the national anthem. Using memos, diary entries, letters and dramatic dialogue, Avi explores how the truth is distorted by people's perceptions.
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Parvana's Journey
Author: Deborah Ellis
In this sequel to The Breadwinner, twelve-year-old Parvana sets off alone across Afganistan disguised as a boy, desperately looking for the family lost during the Taliban take-over of Kabul.
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The Outsiders
Author: S.E. Hinton
Written when the author was sixteen, this is a compelling and sympathetic account of gang life. When his best friend kills a rival gang member, the nightmare begins for tough yet sensitive Ponyboy and his gang of "Greasers".
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To Dance at the Palais Royale
Author: Janet McNaughton
Aggie travels to Canada from Scotland in 1928. In Toronto's Rosedale, she works for the Stockwoods whose handsome son Rodney befriends her, with disastrous results. So much is different from her home...will she survive?
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Zack
Author: William Bell
The son of a mixed marriage, Zack drives from Ontario to Mississippi to find the grandfather his mother refused to talk about, and to uncover the family secret that has kept them apart.
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| Summer Reads |
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Becoming Ruby
Author: Kathy Stinson
At age 15, nan Larkin decides to become Ruby - a name that expresses her developing independence as well as her growing feelings for her boyfriend, Blake.
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The Canning Season
Author: Polly Horvath
When emotionally abused Ratchet is sent to stay with her eccentric great aunt a half a continent away, she discovers love, laughter and trust for the first time in her life.
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The First Stone
Author: Don Aker
Reef could never envision the path his life takes when the stones he throws from a bridge cause an accident and send Leeza to a rehabilitation centre. But the losses in their lives draw them together, and provide healing for both.
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The Invitation
Author: Cyndy Baskin
Three friends, one Aboriginal, one Metis and one Anglo-Saxon, all addicted to alcohol, regain their self-esteem and control of their lives through native healing powers and traditional teachings. Young adults will love this book for its humour and wisdom. An insight into addiction and recovery!
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Messenger
Author: Virginia Frances Schwartz
Based on the life stories of the author's mother and grandmother, a widowed immigrant, it is a vivid portrayal of the struggles faced in mining towns of northern Ontario in the nineteen twenties.
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Monster
Author: Walter Dean Myers
This book is written from a young man's point of view, largely as a screenplay of his trial. Steve, a 16 year old black teen, has been arrested for a robbery that turned into a murder. His trial and his feelings are powerfully written, in a book both suspensful and emotional.
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Shoulder the Sky
Author: Lesley Choyce
Martin's method of coping with his mother's death is to create a popular website which deals with other people's problems. Is this really enough for him or should he take his therapist's advice and become overtly rebellious? Very philosophical, this book for older teens presents the dilema of morals and ethics in a readable and approachable way.
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Skud
Author: Dennis Foon
A story about four boys and the violence in their lives. An absorbing and thought-provoking novel by the author of Dirt Eaters and many plays.
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Theories of Relativity
Author: Barbara Haworth-Attard
Dylan is 16, living on the streets of Toronto, kicked out of his miserable home. In his attempts to make some sense of his life, he develops some theories of life: keep to yourself, hustle on your own turf, don't become friends with the beautiful Jenna. Vulture, Twitch, Brad and others share his street life, until he learns to trust a new friend and find a new life.
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Waiting for Sarah
Author: James Heneghan and Bruce McBay
Mike loses his parents and his sister in a car accident - but also loses his legs. Bitter and restless, Mike is assigned to a historical project, and meets Sarah. Both Mike and Sarah are seeking peace - in different ways.
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Zee's Way
Author: Kristin Butcher
Teenager Zee uses his artistic talent to paint graffiti on the walls of his gang's local mall. Confrontations with the merchants result in Zee painting a mural instead, and greater understanding develops between the merchants and the teens.
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