by Bruce Coville
Conditional Recommendation: An epic and complex weaving of story lines to conclude the series, the fate of Luster, its creators and all its creatures.
Genre: Fantasy
Unconditional Recommendation: 11-year-old Melody overcomes the limitations of her cerebral palsy to communicate with others and finally share the thoughts and smarts that have been locked away inside her mind.
Genre: Contemporary
Conditional Recommendation: 16-year-old orphan Hattie Brooks travels to Montana to try her hand at homesteading and prove up a claim of land so that she can have a place to call home.
Awards: Newbery Medal (2007), Vermont Golden Dome Book Award (2008), Montana Book Award (2006), California Young Readers Medal for Middle School/Junior High (2009), Missouri Gateway Readers Award (2009)
Unconditional Recommendation: Thrust into another world, young Cara must make friends with fantastical creatures in order to keep a magical amulet out of evil hands and fulfill her grandmother’s request.
Genre: Fantasy
Conditional Recommendation: 12-year-old Addie perseveres in her optimism and hope for a normal life while living in a little trailer with an unreliable mom who keeps abandoning her.
Award: Schneider Family Book Award for Middle School Book (2009)
Conditional Recommendation: Sunny the SandWing discovers the secrets of her home and the Dragonets of Destiny must reconcile the seven tribes to end the epic dragon war.
Genre: Fantasy
Conditional Recommendation: From the perspective of Glory the RainWing, the dragonets of destiny discover RainWings are disappearing from the Rainforest Kingdom and their search takes them through the Kingdom of Sand, the Ice Kingdom, and to the secret NightWing Kingdom.
Genre: Fantasy