Choldenko, Gennifer. Al Capone Does My Shirts. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2004. ISBN 0399238611. Ages 9-12.

It’s 1935, and one of the country’s most infamous mob bosses, Al Capone, is behind bars on Alcatraz Island. 12-year-old Moose Flanagan and his family move from Santa Monica to the island where his dad gets a job at the prison so they can send his older autistic sister Natalie to a special school in San Francisco. But when Natalie doesn’t get into the school, Moose has to give up baseball and after school activities in order to take care of her, and her eccentric and occasional difficult ways make life hard for Moose. But when he befriends the warden’s troublemaking daughter and the other children living on the island, he soon finds himself involved in an elaborate moneymaking scheme that has some surprising results.

Meyer, Stephenie. New Moon. Little, Brown and Company, 2006. ISBN 0316160199. Ages 12-14.

When the Cullens, including her beloved Edward, leave Forks rather than risk revealing that they are vampires, it is almost too much for eighteen-year-old Bella to bear. But she finds solace in her friendship with Jacob; that is until he is drawn into a "cult" and changes in terrible ways. In the author's second book in the series, we find Bella falling apart after the loss of her true love, but picked up and put back together by a new love interest, Jacob Black. This installment introduces the werewolves, and forces older tweens to choose between their loyalty to Edward and their interest in Jacob. Tweens will also be intrigued by the introduction of the Volturi and be further drawn into the world of vampires.

Brashares, Ann. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Delacorte Press, 2001. ISBN 0385730586. Ages 12-14.

During their first summer apart, four teenage girls, best friends since earliest childhood, stay in touch through a shared pair of secondhand jeans that magically adapts to each of their figures and affects their attitudes to their different summer experiences. The book follows different storylines of four friends and their journeys of self-discovery. While each of the four friends is unique and deals with their own unique situations, tween readers will identify with aspects of each of their stories as they experience circumstances that especially speak to tween girls, including death, illness, sex, relationships, divorce, and friendship.

Barker, Clive. Abarat. Joanna Cotler Books, 2002. ISBN 0060280921. Ages 9-14.

Candy Quackenbush of Chickentown, Minnesota, one day finds herself on the edge of a foreign world that is populated by strange creatures, and her life is forever changed. Candy's story is like many other fantasy novels involving young children--it is a story of a young girl desperate to escape the cruel realities of her world and submerge herself into another world that is the complete opposite. Tweens will relate to Candy because of this as she flees an alcoholic father and depressed mother, striking out on her own in a strange world in order to make some kind of difference.

DiTerlizzi, Tony, and Black, Holly. The Spiderwick Chronicles Book 1: The Field Guide. Simon & Schuster, 2003. ISBN 978-0689859366. Ages 9-12.

When Jared, Simon and Mallory Grace move into the old Spiderwick Estate, they are unprepared for the magical and fantastic occurrences they experience. Eager to explore and learn more about their surroundings, they stumble upon an old book detailing the existence of fairies and other creatures. Readers eager to move on to chapter books will enjoy the simple books in the Spiderwick series, as they join the Grace children on adventure after adventure in the world of Arthur Spiderwick. Readers will not be satisfied with reading just this first volume, as it merely introduces the characters and setting for what is sure to be a wild adventure.

Waters, Mark. (Director). (2008). The Spiderwick Chronicles [Motion picture]. United States: Paramount Pictures. Ages 9-12.

When the Grace family moves into the old Spiderwick Estate, strange things begin to happen. Jared is blamed early on because of his anger issues, but after discovering Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide in a secret room in the house, Jared slowly convinces his sister Mallory and twin brother Simon of the secret world of fantastical creatures that lies hidden within their own. So when the evil ogre Mulgarath gets wind of the field guide’s existence, the Grace family puts aside their differences and fights the ogre army in order to protect the book and its secrets, as well as their fragile family. Based on the beloved series by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black.

Lasky, Kathryn. Chasing Orion. Candlewick Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0763639822. Ages 10-14.

In the summer of 1952, polio has spread throughout Indiana, causing a widespread panic. With pools closed and camps cancelled, Georgie is stuck at home all summer in a new neighborhood with nothing to do. That is, until she discovers that her next-door neighbor is a beautiful young teenage girl stuck in an iron lung. Fascinated by Phyllis’s eighty-seven cubic centimeters of air, Georgie vows to help Phyllis and works to bring her and her brother Emmett together. But Georgie realizes that Phyllis has other plans in store for Emmett, and soon Georgie must save Emmett from Phyllis's deception before it is too late.

In this coming-of-age story, Georgie is facing life in a new part of town, having to go to a new school and make all new friends. In addition, most of the things she loves to do that enable her to make friends are forbidden now due to the polio outbreak. Her only human contacts besides her family are Evelyn (the quirky girl she meets at the library) and Phyllis. Georgie first becomes entranced by the romanticism of Phyllis’s life in the iron lung, but her childlike innocence eventually enables her to see through all the lies and deception. There she finds a family who is determined to hang on to what little of their daughter they have left, and a daughter who wants so desperately to be freed from her iron prison, even if it means death. While Georgie’s situation is unique, the feelings she experiences are ones that tweens can relate to—trying to fit in, finding a purpose, living vicariously through older siblings, and wanting what she cannot have.

Kwapis, Ken. (Director). (2005). The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants [Motion picture]. United States: Alcon Entertainment. Ages 11-14.

When a single pair of jeans fits four lifelong friends (who couldn’t be more different) perfectly, it must be magic. So the girls form their sisterhood on the eve of going their separate ways for the summer—the pants being the perfect way to keep in touch and chronicle each of their experiences. While Carmen faces a new stepfamily in the states, Lena travels to Greece to meet her extended family and finds love as well. And as Tibby witnesses a young girl’s brave fight with leukemia, Bridget battles her own demons while making trouble at soccer camp. But in the end, the pants bring them back together, where they are there for each other after a summer none of them will forget. Based on the first book in the bestselling series by Ann Brashares.

Marsh, Katherine. The Night Tourist. Hyperion Books for Children, 2007. ISBN 978-1423106890. Ages 9-14.

After getting hit by a car Jack Perdu starts seeing things, so his father sends him to a special doctor in New York City. There he meets Euri, a ghost girl his age who leads him down below Grand Central Station into the New York Underworld. Having left the city eight years before after his mother died, Jack realizes that this is the chance for him to see his mother again. So they travel through the ghostly world together, their mission unearthing both the truth about Euri’s intentions and the truth about Jack’s mother.

Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me. Wendy Lamb Books, 2009. ISBN 978-0385737425. Ages 9-12.

Miranda is your average latchkey child growing up in 1978, and navigating the streets of New York City. But her world starts to turn upside down when her best friend refuses to talk to her, and then she begins receiving anonymous notes talking about things that haven’t even occurred yet. Suddenly, all the pieces begin to fall into place and Miranda sees the big picture. But is it too late to help her anonymous friend accomplish his mission?

Though the book is set in a time period that few tweens will identify with, they most certainly will identify with the central issues addressed by Stead. This remarkable story manages to keep you guessing to the very end, weaving in fantastic ideas of time travel with the everyday relationships of a tween girl. Each of these relationships are dynamic on their own—the partnership she shares with her mother, the curious bond that grows between her and Marcus, the budding friendship with Annemarie, and the seemingly bitter rivalry with Julia—but together they encompass what it truly means to be a tween. Tweens will no doubt identify with this story, traveling through time themselves as they discover the importance of making things right.

Bloor, Edward. London Calling. Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. ISBN 978-0375836350. Ages 10-14.

If anyone has something to be depressed about, it’s Martin Conway. His father is a drunk and a disgrace to the family. His family worships his late grandfather, whom he was named after. And his mother insists on making him attend All Souls Preparatory in order to live up to that namesake. But all Martin really wants to do is sleep. So when he receives his grandmother’s old radio and through it a young boy reaches out to him from the past, Martin is sure he’s going crazy. But fact by fact, every “dream” he experiences checks out. And as the story unfolds, he is asked the all-important question—What did you do to help?

This powerful and moving book not only chronicles a heartbreaking story set in WWII London, but also the story of a young boy who is battling his own demons on several fronts. Besides suffering through the everyday battles of being in middle school, he is dealing with real issues of alcoholism and depression in his family, and surviving a war in his dreams. Martin is a dynamic character, struggling to make sense of the world around him. Bloor does so by illustrating his struggles through vivid flashbacks, where you can almost feel the bombs dropping and smell the fires burning. Together with Martin, tweens will struggle to figure out his purpose, and perhaps walk away from the book wondering what they can do to help as well.

Griffin, Adele. Amandine. Hyperion, 2001. ISBN 0786806184. Ages 12-14.

Delia Blaine is the new girl in town, her weight issues and insecurities made worse by her parents’ insistence that she make friends and not “play the loner.” So when she meets the over-the-top, larger-than-life Amandine, her parents couldn’t be happier. And neither can Delia—at least a first. But as Amandine drags Delia down into her crazy world of fantasy and games, Delia begins to see the cracks in the character that is Amandine. She begins to see her for what she truly is—damaged and disturbed. Amandine is a product of an unstable environment, one that begins to frighten Delia away. But when Delia finally decides to distance herself from Amandine, it is then that the true Amandine rears her ugly head. Now Delia must face her fears and stand strong as the world she and Amandine have built up around them comes crashing down. Amandine is a story like no other, addressing everyday tween issues while juxtaposing them with serious mental and personality disorders. She is the epitome of the damage that can be done by one young girl with a vivid imagination and a need for revenge.