1. Grade 7 Battle of the Books
Dr. Knox Middle School

2. The City of Ember
Ember, a 241-year-old, ruined domed city surrounded by a dark unknown, was built to ensure that humans would continue to exist on Earth, and the instructions for getting out have been lost and forgotten.
On Assignment Day, 12-year-olds leave school and receive their lifetime job assignments. Lina Mayfleet becomes a messenger, and her friend Doon Harrow ends up in the Pipeworks beneath the city, where the failing electric generator has been ineffectually patched together.
Both Lina and Doon are convinced that their survival means finding a way out of the city, and after Lina discovers pieces of the instructions, she and Doon work together to interpret the fragmented document before the lights go out on Ember forever!
TAGS: dystopia, fantasy, adventure
(First of 4)
1:34

3. The Unwanteds
Every year in Quill, thirteen-year-olds are sorted into categories: the strong intelligent Wanteds go to university, and the artistic Unwanteds are sent to their deaths
Alex tries his hardest to be stoic when his fate is announced as Unwanted, even while leaving behind his twin, Aaron, a Wanted.
However, upon arrival at the "death farm" where he expects to be eliminated, Alex discovers a stunning secret instead – a place called Artime.
TAGS: dystopia, fantasy, magic
(First of 4)
1:14

4. Coraline
In Coraline's family's new flat are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close.
The fourteenth is locked, and on the other side is only a brick wall, until the day Coraline unlocks the door to find a passage to another flat in another house just like her own.
Only it's different.
TAGS: fantasy, horror, paranormal
1:40

5. The Supernaturalist
Unwanted by his parents, Cosmo Hill is put to work by the state, testing highly dangerous products.
Cosmo realizes he must get away, and escapes with the help of the Supernaturalists, a group of kids who have the same special abilities as Cosmo--they can see supernatural Parasites, creatures that feed on the life force of humans.
The Supernaturalists patrol the city at night, hunting the Parasites in hopes of saving what is left of humanity in Satellite City.
But soon they find themselves caught in a web far more complicated than they'd imagined, and they discover a horrifying secret that will force them to question everything they believe in.
TAGS: dystopia, science fiction, fantasy
1:12

6. Camp X
It's 1943, and nearly-12-year-old George and his older brother Jack are spending a restless wartime summer in Whitby, Ontario.
One afternoon, the boys stumble across Canada's top-secret spy camp-and so begins an exciting and terrifying adventure as George and Jack get caught up in the covert activities of Camp X.
Unable to resist the camp's allure, the boys keep going back to find out more details of what's going on.
They also attract the attention of someone who is determined to use George and Jack's knowledge against the Allies, no matter the consequences or the casualties.
TAGS: historical fiction, Canada, Second World War
(First of 6)

7. The Alchemyst
The records show that he died in But his tomb is empty: Nicholas Flamel lives.
But only because he has been making the elixir of life for centuries. The secret of eternal life is hidden within the book he protects—the most powerful book that has ever existed. In the wrong hands, it will destroy the world. That's exactly what Dr. John Dee plans to do when he steals it.
If the prophecy is right, Sophie and Josh Newman are the only ones with the power to save the world as we know it.
Sometimes legends are true. And Sophie and Josh are about to find themselves in the middle of the greatest legend of all time.
TAGS: fantasy, magic, mythology
(First of 6)
1:31

8. Ungifted
When one of Donovan’s thoughtless pranks accidentally destroys the school gym during the Big Game he knows he's in for it.
But through a strange chain of events, his name gets put on the list for the local school for gifted students.
Donovan knows he's not a genius, but he can't miss this chance to escape.
Now, he has to figure out a way to stay at Academy of Scholastic Distinction and fit in with the kids there..
TAGS: realistic fiction, humor, middle school
1:00

9. Iqbal
When young Iqbal is sold into slavery at a carpet factory, his arrival changes everything for the other overworked and abused children there.
It is Iqbal who explains to them that despite their master's promises, he plans on keeping them as his slaves indefinitely.
But it is also Iqbal who inspires the other children to look to a future free from toil...and is brave enough to show them how to get there.
TAGS: realistic fiction, historical fiction, Pakistan, child labor

10. The Girls
Maya has been part of the group ever since the day Candace asked her if she wanted to "do lunch" in the cafeteria. Yet when Candace suddenly deems her unworthy, Maya's so-called friends just blow her off.
While Maya just wants the girls back like they used to be, she knows that can never happen- because whatever Candace wants, Candace gets, no matter who gets hurt.
Maya isn't sure exactly where things went wrong for her, but she knows she has to find out who her real friends are, and who among the girls she can trust.
TAGS: realistic fiction, friendship

11. Among the Hidden
In a future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke, an illegal third child, has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on his family's farm in this start to the Shadow Children series from Margaret Peterson Haddix.
Luke has never been to school. He's never had a birthday party, or gone to a friend's house for an overnight. In fact, Luke has never had a friend.
Luke is one of the shadow children, a third child forbidden by the Population Police. He's lived his entire life in hiding, and now, with a new housing development replacing the woods next to his family's farm, he is no longer even allowed to go outside.
Then, one day Luke sees a girl's face in the window of a house where he knows two other children already live. Finally, he's met a shadow child like himself. Jen is willing to risk everything to come out of the shadows -- does Luke dare to become involved in her dangerous plan? Can he afford not to?
TAGS: dystopia, adventure, fantasy

12. The Nest Kenneth Oppel’s most haunting story yet . . .
She was very blurry, not at all human looking. There were huge dark eyes, and a kind of mane made of light, and when she spoke, I couldn't see a mouth moving, but I felt her words, like a breeze against my face, and I understood her completely.
"We've come because of the baby," she said. "We've come to help."
an anxious boy becomes convinced that angels will save his sick baby brother. But these are creatures of a very different kind, and their plan for the baby has a twist. Layer by layer, he unravels the truth about his new friends as the time remaining to save his brother ticks down.
TAGS: HORROR

13. Gone
In the blink of an eye, everyone disappears. Gone. Except for the young. There are teens, but not one single adult. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened.
Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day.
It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: on your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else
While Maya just wants the girls back like they used to be, she knows that can never happen-because whatever Candace wants, Candace gets, no matter who gets hurt.
TAGS: DYSTOPIAN, THRILLER , SCIENCE FICTION

14. Stormbreaker
In the first book in the number one bestselling Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz, fourteen-year- old Alex is forcibly recruited into MI6.
Armed with secret gadgets, he is sent to investigate Herod Sayle, a man who is offering state-of-the-art Stormbreaker computers to every school in the country.
But the teenage spy soon finds himself in mortal danger.
TAGS: Action, adventure , adrenaline