Cracker! The Best Dog in Vietnam by Cynthia Kadohata

When Willie Stetson finds out he can't keep his beloved German shepherd in his new apartment, he decides to give Firecracker to the United States Army. Cracker is paired with Rick Hanski, her handler, and together they train to become part of the Scout Dog platoon destined for Vietnam. After a slow start Cracker and Rick become a great team, pass their training and ship out to Vietnam. In Vietnam, Cracker and Rick head out on different missions where Cracker alerts the team of booby-traps and the enemy. Both Rick and Cracker experience the intensity of warfare but they help each other through.

Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams

Ingrid's parents are always running late. Unlike most students, she doesn't have a cell phone to check to see where they are. If she misses soccer practice, she'll be benched for the next game, so she decides to run to practice. On her way to practice she gets turned around and ends up lost in the Flats, a neighborhood in her Echo Falls community. Cracked-Up Katie, a woman who has seen a lot of hard times, helps Ingrid out by inviting her into her home and calling her a cab. The next day, to her horror, Ingrid sees Cracked-Up Katie's picture plastered across the front page of The Echo. Katherine Kovac was murdered! Ingrid, whose idol is Sherlock Holmes, launches her own investigation into Kate's background to discover why someone would want to kill her. Will Kate's killer feel that Ingrid is discovering too much?

The Convicts by Iain Lawrence

Tom Tim's father, Captain Tim, has been taken to debtor's prison in London because of the debt he owes to the calculating Mr. Goodfellow. His mother has been paralyzed with grief from the loss of his sister, Kitty, in a drowning accident years before and isn't much help. It is up to Tom to find a way to pay the family's debt. So Tom leaves home to find away to make things right for his family. Tom finds himself down by the river while contemplating what he should do next, he notices a blind man poking his cane in the mud to find coins. Tom decides to do the same and while walking barefoot in the mud finds a large diamond. The blindman laying claim to the area goes after Tom to get the treasure. Tom fights off the blindman and loses him on the streets. There he meets Worms who gives him a ride in exchange for some help with a job and a small payment. Worms is a grave robber and he needs help stealing a body. A body that turns out to be a dead ringer for Tom. In a rush to escape being caught at the grave, Tom leaves his coat with the diamond in the pocket. Events in the story escalate with Tom getting accused of murder and continually getting mistaken for someone called "Smasher". Who is Smasher and why won't anyone believe his story? How will he get out of this mess?

The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley

The Fairy-Tale Detectives is the first book in a series about the Sisters Grimm. Sabrina and Daphne Grimm have been shuffled around from foster home to foster home and back and forth to an orphanage after their parents just disappeared. Ms. Smirt, their caseworker, delivers the girls to a woman claiming to be Grandma Grimm. Sabrina, the eldest, is skeptical that this woman is her grandmother because her father never talked about her. Daphne likes the kind but strange old woman who takes them to live with her, Mr. Canis (her assistant) and a Great Dane named Elvis. The town of Ferryport Landing isn't like most towns and Grandma Grimm has lots of rules, secrets and locked rooms in her home, weird things happen around the house, and odd people keep visiting Relda Grimm. Grandma Grimm informs the girls that they are the descendants of the Brothers Grimm, the ones who wrote the fairy-tales and they are not tales but true incidents. Now Sabrina believes that the old woman is crazy and decides to run away from Ferryport Landing the first chance they get.

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

Pretties continues the story of Tally whom Scott Westerfeld introduced in Uglies. Tally is a pretty and she hopes to join the Crims. The Crims are a group of Pretties who plan and execute edgy tricks to make themselves feel "bubbly". Her friends, Shay and Peris, are Crims. Does Zane think she has what it takes to become a Crim? Zane plans to let her know at the masquerade bash at the Valentino mansion. While searching for Zane in the mansion, Tally notices she is being followed by someone dressed as a Special. The lurker appears again right as Zane is about let Tally know if she made it into the Crims. Tally leaves Zane in mid sentence and chases after the lurker who has a message for Tally. A message from her ugly past.

Pretties is part of the Uglies series. Read Uglies, Pretties, Specials and Extras to find out about all of Tally's adventures.

Blizzard! by Jim Murphy

On Sunday afternoon , March 11, 1888 the Great Blizzard hit the East Coast. Snow and wind whipped through cities and farms for four days dumping 40-50 inches of snow. Winds swept through the cities at up to 45 miles an hour snapping powerlines. Snowdrifts, some up to 50 feet high, blocked buildings. Transportation was shut down when trains could not move along the blocked tracks. Big cities like New York looked like ghost towns. Jim Murphy relates first person accounts of how different people experienced the storm that confined people to their homes for a week and froze the East River solid for a short period. If you find natural disasters intriguing, you should enjoy reading Blizzard!

The Great Fire by Jim Murphy

On Sunday night, October 8, 1871, a small fire broke out in the O'Learys' barn in Chicago, Illinois. Due to weather conditions and human error the fire became a roaring inferno that burned for 31 hours causing 100,000 people to flee the deadly flames. Through Jim Murphy's skillful writing, the reader experiences the confusion and terror of four characters as they flee the great fire. Illustrations, photos and maps enhance this Newberry Honor Book.

The Old Willis Place by Mary Downing Hahn

Diana and Georgie watch from the shadows of the woods as the new caretaker, his daughter and dog move into the trailer on Oak Hill Manor. Diana knows that caretakers never stay long because the Old Willis Place, as Oak Hill Manor is more commonly known, is haunted. But Diana decides to make friends with Lissa Morrison, the caretaker's daughter, even if means breaking all the rules.

Stormwitch by Susan Vaught

Ruba senses something wicked is coming to Pass Christian, Mississippi. Something that will take all her courage, strength and knowledge of magic to fight. After the death of her Grand-mere Ruba Cleo in a violent storm in Haiti, Ruba has left the world she knows and understands to live with her Grandmother Jones in Mississippi in 1969. Tensions between the blacks and whites in the small coastal town are high, and the fact that some of the "dangerous" whites in the town see Ruba as a "juju" girl intensifies emotions. Grandmother Jones has forbidden Ruba to use any of the old ways Grand-mere Ruba Cleo has taught her. Without using the magic that has been passed down to her from generations, how will Ruba fight the Stormwitch?