"IF"

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Books

Fiction

• Bauer, Joan Hope Was Here
  When sixteen-year-old Hope and the aunt who has raised her move from Brooklyn to Mulhoney, Wisconsin, to work as waitress and cook in the Welcome Stairways diner, they become involved with the diner owner’s political campaign to oust the town’s corrupt mayor.
• Choldenko, Gennifer Notes From a Liar and Her Dog
  Eleven-year-old Ant, stuck in a family that she does not like, copes by pretending that her “real” parents are coming to rescue her, by loving her dog Pistachio, by volunteering at the zoo, and by bending the truth and telling lies.
• Clements, Andrew Things Not Seen
  When fifteen-year-old Bobby wakes up and finds himself invisible, he and his parents and his new blind friend Alicia try to find out what caused his condition and how to reverse it. Sequel: Things hoped for.
• Crutcher, Chris The Sledding Hill
  Billy, recently deceased, keeps an eye on his best friend, fourteen-year-old Eddie — who has added to his home and school problems by becoming mute — and helps him stand up to a conservative minister and English teacher who is orchestrating a censorship challenge.
• Cummings, Patricia Red Kayak
  Living near the water on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, thirteen-year-old Brady and his best friends J.T. and Digger become entangled in a tragedy which tests their friendship and their ideas about right and wrong.
• Gallego Garcia, Laura The Legend of the Wandering King
  Motivated by jealousy and the desire to receive acclaim as a great poet, Walid ibn Huyr, a prince of ancient Arabia, commits acts which completely change the course of his life.
• Greene, Bette Summer of my German soldier
  When German prisoners of war are brought to her Arkansas town during World War II, twelve-year-old Patty, a Jewish girl, befriends one of them and must deal with the consequences of that friendship.
• Griffin, Adele My Almost Epic Summer
  Stuck babysitting during the summer while her friends take glamorous vacations, fourteen-year-old Irene learns some lessons about life after meeting a beautiful, yet troubled, girl.
• Hale, Shannon Princess Academy
  While attending a strict academy for potential princesses with the other girls from her mountain village, fourteen-year-old Miri discovers unexpected talents and connections to her homeland.
• Hobbs, Valerie Defiance
  When Toby, an eleven-year-old cancer patient, starts spending time with Pearl, a spunky old woman who lives on a nearby farm, and Blossom, her broken-down cow, he sees all the more reason to keep the new lump on his side a secret from his parents. From Pearl he discovers the beauty of poetry, and from Blossom he just might uncover the meaning of life.
• Holt, Kimberly Willis When Zachary Beaver Came to Town
  During the summer of 1971 in a small Texas town, thirteen-year-old Toby and his best friend Cal meet the star of a sideshow act, 600-pound Zachary, the fattest boy in the world.
• Howe, Norma The Adventures of the Blue Avenger
  On his sixteenth birthday, still trying to cope with the unexpected death of his father, David Schumacher decides — or does he — to change his name to Blue Avenger, hoping to find a way to make a difference in his Oakland neighborhood and in the world. Sequels: Blue Avenger cracks the code and Blue Avenger and the theory of everything
• Key, Watt Alabama Moon
  After the death of his father, ten-year-old Moon leaves their forest shelter home and is sent to an Alabama institution, becoming entangled in the outside world he has never known and making good friends, a relentless enemy, and finally a new life.
• Koja, Kathe Buddha Boy
  Justin spends time with Jinsen, the unusual and artistic new student whom the school bullies torment and call Buddha Boy, and ends up making choices that impact Jinsen, himself, and the entire school.
• Konigsberg, E.L. The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place
  Upon leaving an oppressive summer camp, twelve-year-old Margaret Rose Kane spearheads a campaign to preserve three unique towers her grand uncles have been building in their back yard for over forty years.
• Le Guin, Ursula Very Far Away From Anywhere Else
  Owen Griffiths, a seventeen-year-old outsider, learns to find his own way to a future in science through a friendship with a girl whose life is dedicated to music.
• Levine, Gail Carson Dave at Night
  When orphaned Dave is sent to the Hebrew Home for Boys where he is treated cruelly, he sneaks out at night and is welcomed into the music— and culture—filled world of the Harlem Renaissance.
• Mikaelsen, Ben Touching Spirit Bear
  After his anger erupts into violence, Cole, in order to avoid going to prison, agrees to participate in a sentencing alternative based on the Native American Circle Justice, and he is sent to a remote Alaskan Island where an encounter with a huge Spirit Bear changes his life.
• Myers, Walter Dean Monster
  While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the form of a film script as he tries to come to terms with the course his life has taken.
• Nuzum, K.A. A Small, White Scar
  Fifteen-year-old Will Bennon leaves his family and begins life as a cowboy, but his mentally retarded twin brother follows him and joins the journey.
• Paulsen, Gary Hatchet
  After a plane crash, thirteen-year-old Brian spends fifty-four days in the Canadian wilderness, learning to survive with only the aid of a hatchet given him by his mother, and learning also to survive his parents’ divorce.
• Paver, Michelle Wolf Brother
  Six thousand years in the past, twelve-year-old Torak and his guide, a wolf cub, set out on a dangerous journey to fulfill an oath the boy made to his dying father — to travel to the Mountain of the World Spirit seeking a way to destroy a demon-possessed bear that threatens all the clans. Sequel: Spirit walker.
• Perkins, Lynne Rae Criss Cross
  Teenagers in a small town in the 1960s experience new thoughts and feelings, question their identities, connect, and disconnect as they search for the meaning of life and love.
• Ray, Delia Singing Hands
  In the late 1940s, twelve-year-old Gussie, a minister’s daughter, learns the definition of integrity while helping with a celebration at the Alabama School for the Deaf — her punishment for misdeeds against her deaf parents and their boarders.
• Ryan, Pam Munoz Becoming Naomi Leon
  When Naomi’s absent mother resurfaces to claim her, Naomi runs away to Mexico with her great-grandmother and younger brother in search of her father.
• Sachar, Louis Holes and Small Steps
  Holes: As further evidence of his family’s bad fortune which they attribute to a curse on a distant relative, Stanley Yelnats is sent to Camp Green Lake, a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself.
  Small Steps: Three years after being released from Camp Green Lake, Armpit is trying hard to keep his life on track, but when his old pal X-Ray shows up with a tempting plan to make some easy money scalping concert tickets, Armpit reluctantly goes along.
• Salisbury, Graham The Lord of the Deep
  Working for his stepfather on a charter fishing boat in Hawaii teaches thirteen-year-old Mikey about fishing, and about taking risks, making sacrifices, and facing some of life’s difficult choices.
• Swallow, Pamela Curtis It Only Looks Easy
  On the first day of seventh grade when Kat “borrows” a bicycle to go see her dog who was hit the day before by a woman with Alzheimer’s disease, she learns about the serious consequences of impetuous actions and manages to make some new friends in the process.
• Winthrop, Elizabeth Counting on Grace
  It’s 1910 in Pownal, Vermont. At twelve, Grace and her best friend Arthur must go to work in the mill, helping their mothers work the looms. Together Grace and Arthur write a secret letter to the Child Labor Board about underage children working in the mill. A few weeks later, Lewis Hine, a famous reformer arrives undercover to gather evidence.
• Wolff, Virginia Euwer Make Lemonade and True Believer
  Make Lemonade : Fourteen-year-old LaVaughn accepts the job of baby-sitting Jolly’s two small children but quickly realizes that the young woman, a seventeen-year-old single mother, needs as much help and nurturing as her two neglected children. The four become something akin to a temporary family, and through their relationship each makes progress toward a better life.
  True Believer: Living in the inner city amidst guns and poverty, fifteen-year-old LaVaughn learns from old and new friends, and inspiring mentors, that life is what you make it — an occasion to rise to.
• Woodson, Jacqueline Hush
  Twelve-year-old Toswiah finds her life changed when her family enters the witness protection program.

Non-Fiction

• Barron, T.A. A Hero’s Trail: A Guide to a Heroic Life
  Explores how to lead a heroic life, facing challenges with courage, strength of character, and wisdom, much as a hiker uses those qualities on a challenging trail.
• Bijlefeld, Marjolijn Food and Aou: A Guide to Healthy Habits for Teens
  A multicourse repast on good eating habits, this book covers everything from basic nutrition to vegetarianism, fast food, exercise, weight loss, and eating disorders.
• Crump, Marguerite Don’t Sweat It: Every Body’s Answers to Questions You Don’t Want to Ask
  This frank, reassuring, humorous book covers the physical changes boys and girls experience during puberty and offers tips on caring for oneself from head to toe.
• Douglas, Ann Body Talk: The Straight Facts on Fitness, Nutrition and Feeling Good About Yourself
  Body Talk arms girls with the information and tools needed to make healthy decisions, including tips for getting active, staying motivated, planning a balanced diet, and how to take care of themselves — inside and out.
• Hoose, Phillip It’s Our World, Too! Young People Who Are Making a Difference: How They Do It — How YOU Can, Too!
  A collection of essays about children who have made notable achievements, arranged in the categories Taking a Stand, Reaching Out to Others, Healing the Earth, and Creating a Safer Future, accompanied by a handbook for young activists.
• Luba, Thia Yoga for Teens: How to Improve Your Fitness, Confidence, Appearance and Health
  Explains the philosophy and benefits of yoga to teenagers, and provides photographs and step-by-step instructions for a variety of poses.
• Perry, Cheryl, et al The Vegetarian Manifesto
  Written by three health experts who have done extensive research on teenage vegetarianism, this manifesto offers the support you need, as it features advice from others just like you — those who have made a commitment to vegetarian living, and guidance on going vegetarian the “right” way.
• Robinson, Sharon Promises To Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America
  A biography of baseball legend Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play in the major leagues, as told by his daughter.
• Schlosser, Eric Chew On This: Everything You Don’t Want To Know About Fast Food
  The author of Fast Food Nation shares with kids the fascinating and sometimes frightening truth about what lurks between those sesame seed buns, what a chicken “nugget” really is, and how the fast food industry has been feeding off children for generations.
• The Storm: Students of Biloxi, Mississippi Remember Hurricane Katrina
  Students, teachers, and administrators from the Biloxi Public Schools share their stories from the days preceding Hurricane Katrina to those first days of recovery after the storm. And even while their city lay in ruins, one remarkable lighthouse survived, serving as a beacon of hope. Their powerful images and moving personal accounts pay tribute to the resilience of the human spirit.
• Sundem, Garth The Doggy Dung Disaster and Other True Stories: Regular Kids Doing Heroic Things Around the World
  With the right role models, any child can be a hero. More than 40 true stories profile kids who used their heads, their hearts, their courage, and sometimes their stubbornness to do extraordinary things and help others.
• Youngs, Bettie B. A Teen’s Guide To Living Drug-Free
  As most teens know, drugs and alcohol are everywhere; pretending they don’t exist could be dangerous. In A Teen’s Guide To Living Drug-Free, there’s advice from experts, as well as stories and tips about living a drug- and alcohol-free life from teens who have “been there.”

Websites

• BAM! Body and mind
  From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, BAM! tells youth” all they need to know about the stuff that matters.”
• Children’s PressLine
  Children’s PressLine is an online news source reported by young people, an oral journalism process. By relying on the spoken word rather than the written word, this methodology facilitates the participation of children of all ages and literacy levels. CPL enables kids to be trained quickly and easily, empowering them with their work and in the media.
• eHealth for teens
  Created by local high school students and supported by the Multnomah County Health Department’s School-Based Health Center Program, eH4T provides a variety of information on health topics, local activities, and important resources and referral lines.
• Health and Human Services pages for kids
  Links of interest to kids and teens from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
• It’s my life - PBS Kids GO!
  It’s My Life deals with life and the stuff they deal with every day, organized into six topics: friends, family, school, body, emotions and money; because “whatever problem they’re dealing with, believe it or not, other kids and teens have gone through the same thing.”
• Media smart youth: Eat, think and be active!
  A website designed to help teach young people ages 11 to 13 about the complex media world around them, and how it can affect their health - especially in the areas of nutrition and physical activity.
• Multnomah County Library’s teen lounges
  At your local library, a place to hang out with friends, surf the Internet, play games, eat, listen to music, and get your homework done.
• Plastic fork diaries
  Follow six middle school students as they experience first-hand the relationship between food and their changing bodies, cultural differences, the vanishing family meal, nutrition and athletic performance.
• The power of choice: Helping youth make healthy eating and fitness decisions
  The Leader’s Guide to this afterschool program designed to help build decision-making skills that promote healthier eating and activity choices in real-life settings.
• Teens R It
  The teen page from the Children, Youth and Families Education and Research Network (CYFERNet) offers links to websites on getting involved, teens’ futures, current events and health.
• Youth taking action
  Youth Taking Action inculcates social awareness amongst youth and provides them with opportunities to make positive changes in the world. Its purpose is to add global citizenship to the charter of today’s youth and thereby to that of tomorrow’s leaders as well.