Crispin : the cross of lead by Avi - Falsely accused of theft and murder, an orphaned peasant boy in fourteenth-century England flees his village and meets a larger-than-life juggler who holds a dangerous secret

The war that saved my life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley - A young disabled girl and her brother are evacuated from London to the English countryside during World War II, where they find life to be much sweeter away from their abusive mother

The Watsons go to Birmingham--1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis - The ordinary routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963

Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan - Lost in the Black Forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and finds himself entwined in a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica--and decades later three children find themselves caught up in the same thread of destiny

Brother's keeper by Julie Lee - Twelve-year-old Sora and her eight-year-old brother, Youngsoo, must try to escape North Korea's oppressive Communist regime on their own in 1950

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis - In 1859, eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman, the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada, which is a haven for slaves fleeing the American south, uses his wits and skills to try to bring justice for his family

The Shakespeare stealer by Gary Blackwood - A young orphan boy is ordered by his master to infiltrate Shakespeare's acting troupe in order to steal the script of "Hamlet," but he discovers instead the meaning of friendship and loyalty

Heart of a samurai : based on the true story of Nakahama Manjiro by Margi Preus - In 1841, rescued by an American whaler, fourteen-year-old Manjiro, who dreams of becoming a samurai, becomes the first Japanese person to set foot in the United States