Markus Zuzak | The Book Thief
An international bestseller for four years, Markus Zusak's The Book Thief takes place under the bomb-red skies of dismal Germany during World War II. Inspired by the true-to-life childhood stories of his German mother and Austrian father, the novel is globally celebrated for its moving narrative of cruelty and kindness, its poetic historic portrayals, and its testament to the necessity of books. The New York Times deemed it a "brilliant and ambitious" story of "hard-won hope" needed by children and adults alike. Zusak is the author of four previous young adult novels, including The Underdog, Fighting Ruben Wolfe, Getting the Girl, and I Am the Messenger, winner of a 2006 Printz Honor for excellence in young adult literature.

A.S. King | Everybody Sees the Ants
Printz Award Honoree A.S. King is known for her heartfelt, witty stories and insightful characters; her writing has been described as "deeply suspenseful and profoundly human" (Publishers Weekly). Her first novel, Dust of 100 Dogs, about a 17th century teenage pirate cursed to one hundred lives as a dog, was called a "remarkable and compelling story for readers seeking something out of the ordinary" (VOYA). Her edgy novel Please Ignore Vera Dietz received multiple awards, including Indie Next List Pick for Teens and Kirkus Reviews Best Book for Teens. In Everybody Sees the Ants, King blends magic and realism in telling the story of Lucky Linderman, who dreams his way out of his mundane life and dysfunctional family and into the shrapnel-ridden jungles of the Vietnam War that his grandfather never escaped.

Renée Watson | What Momma Left Me
Renée Watson's uplifting debut novel, What Momma Left Me, about thirteen-year-old Serenity and her suitcase full of secrets, earned her the New Voice for 2010 award by The Independent Children's Booksellers Association. Despite the difficulties of a new school, a new church, and a new neighborhood, Serenity gains strength from her family and new friends and her own careful optimism. A graduate of The New School, Watson has facilitated poetry and theatre workshops with young girls who are recovering from abuse and have witnessed violence, and with children who relocated to New York City after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. She is also the author of the children's picture book, A Place Where Hurricanes Happen, which dealt with the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina.

Holly Goldberg Sloan | I'll Be There
Holly Goldberg Sloan has written and directed a number of popular family feature films, including Angels in the Outfield, starring Danny Glover and Tony Danza, Made in America with Whoopi Goldberg and Ted Danson, and The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course. Her debut novel, I'll Be There is the story of two brothers with an unstable father who keeps the family constantly on the move. While Sam Border dreams of escape, he'd never abandon his younger brother Riddle, who doesn't speak but makes sense of the world through his intricate drawings. When the magnetic Emily Bell enters the frame, a surprising path of human connection takes shape.

Cheryl Rainfield | Scars
Cheryl Rainfield's raw, realistic, and hopeful novel about a teen survivor of sexual abuse who uses self-harm to cope, Scars was the top choice in ALA's Top 10 Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers, and is on ALA's Rainbow List for LGBT recommended books. Kendra, fifteen, has not felt safe since she began to recall devastating memories of childhood sexual abuse, especially because she still can't remember the most important detail—her abuser's identity. Since her mother is too self-absorbed to hear her cries for help, Kendra finds support in others instead: from her therapist and her art teacher; from Sandy, the close family friend who encourages her artwork; and from Meghan, the classmate who is becoming a friend and maybe more.

Francisco X. Stork | Marcelo in the Real World
Seventeen-year-old Marcelo Sandoval—called "the bravest, most original hero" by Robert Lipsyte in the New York Times—sleeps in a treehouse, hears inaudible music, and has always attended a special school where his differences are appreciated. When he leaves this protective haven for a summer job in a law firm's mailroom, he connects with the "real world" in ways that his autism-like condition prevented—experiencing friendship and jealousy, anger and competition, suffering and unfairness. Named one of ALA's Top Ten Books for Young Adults and a VOYA Perfect Ten, Marcelo in the Real World is Francisco Stork's fourth novel. He won the Chicano/Latino Literary Prize for The Way of the Jaguar, a story of murder and lost love in Mexico.