Joey Pigza swallowed the key by Jack Gantos - To the constant disappointment of his mother and his teachers, Joey has trouble paying attention or controlling his mood swings when his prescription meds wear off and he starts acting wired

Wonder by R.J. Palacio - Ten-year-old Auggie Pullman, who was born with extreme facial abnormalities and was not expected to survive, goes from being home-schooled to entering fifth grade at a private middle school in Manhattan

The higher power of Lucky by Susan Patron - Fearing that her legal guardian plans to abandon her to return to France, ten-year-old aspiring scientist Lucky Trimble determines to run away

Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman - A number of people of varying ages and backgrounds transform a trash-filled inner-city lot into a productive and beautiful garden, and in doing so, the gardeners are themselves transformed

Turtle in paradise by Jennifer L. Holm - In 1935, when her mother gets a job housekeeping for a woman who does not like children, eleven-year-old Turtle is sent to stay with relatives she has never met in far away Key West, Florida

Holes by Louis Sachar - Stanley Yelnats is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli - After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life becomes legendary, as he accomplishes athletic and other feats which awe his contemporaries

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser - Told that they will have to move out of their Harlem brownstone just after Christmas, the five Vanderbeeker children, ages four to twelve, decide to change their reclusive landlord's mind

The view from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg - Four students develop a special bond and attract the attention of their teacher, a paraplegic, who chooses them to represent their sixth-grade class in the Academic Bowl competition

The Losers Club by Andrew Clements - Alec, a sixth-grade bookworm always in trouble for reading instead of listening and participating in class, starts a book club and discovers that real life can be as exciting as the stories in his favorite books