Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie

by Jordan Sonnenblick

Steven Alper's 8th grade year isn't starting out so great. He's madly in love with a girl named Renee who barely notices he's alive, and his 5 year old brother Jeffrey is as annoying as ever. At least he made the All-Star Jazz Band where can play the drums, but keeping up with teachers and homework even makes that hard.

Things really take a turn for the worse when Jeffrey is diagnosed with a serious illness, and suddenly Steven's life is really turned upside down. His parents are worried about Jeffrey's illness, and the bills and hospital stays that go with it. Steven really falls behind in school, and suddenly needs a tutor, who turns out to be the girl of his dreams.

Donut Days

by Lara Zielin

Both of Emma's parents are pastors of their own church and both feel very strongly about Emma going to a Christian college. But the Christian college that her parents want her to attend does not have a program in journalism and Emma loves to write. To have a chance at winning the money to pay for her own college tuition, Emma has to cover the opening of a new donut store. People come from all over to camp out weeks in advance. At the same time she is struggling to make her parents understand how important writing is to her, she finds out about a conspiracy to have her mother fired and she uncovers an environmental scandal involving her parents' church. All she wants is to be a writer and for her parents to trust her, but those simple wishes don't seem so simple after all.

What momma left me

by Renee Watson

Serenity and her brother have to live with their grandparents after a terrible accident leaves them without their mother. Their father is no where to be found. Serenity is 13 and has many secrets that she is afraid to share: her mother's secrets; her father's secrets; even her brother's secrets. But keeping them inside is hurting her. How can she be happy and peaceful knowing what really happened to her mother? How can she prove to her brother that she loves him if she can't keep his secrets? Doing the right thing never seemed so hard before.

Bruiser

by Neal Shusterman

When Bronte and her brother, Tennyson, are with Brewster, the world is a better place. The constant fighting of their parents doesn't bother them. The cuts and scrapes seem to disappear. Even when sadness, disappointment, and anger are within their world, it just doesn't seem so bad, as long as Brewster is around. Maybe Brew knows what to say to make you feel better. Maybe Brew just knows how to cheer you up. But if Brewster were such a fun and great guy to be around, why doesn't he have any other friends? Why do all the other kids avoid him?

The impossible is suddenly possible, but at what cost?

You

by Charles Benoit

Kyle Chase is typical. He's the typical guy who likes to hang out with his typical friends, making the typical bad choices young adutls make. That is, until he meets the new kid in school. Could this new guy be for real? After sort-of making friends with Zack, Kyle's life is not so typical anymore and he finds himself making no-so-typical choices. Sometimes you can take back your mistakes or, at least, make up for them. Sometimes it's too late.

After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick

Have you ever known anyone who had cancer?  Do you ever wonder about how they go back to being "normal" after all the treatments, pain, strong drugs, and hair loss?

Jeffrey Alper and his best friend, Tad Ibsen know all too well.  Both still live with the effects of their cancer treatment, and the constant worrying about it happening again.  Now they are eighth graders, trying to pass both their classes and a state test to get into high school.  There's also their parents, girls, and teachers who want them to keep challenging themselves, even when Jeff is not sure he'll have the brains or the strength.

This book is the sequel to "Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie", which was about Jeff''s older brother Steven.  Now Steven, who Jeff has always leaned on for help with school and family, is in Africa and Jeff must find new ways to deal with all the hassles in his life.