YA Stars 2004

The list includes both fiction and nonfiction books. Titles are arranged alphabetically by author. The edition listed is the trade book, library bindings are not listed unless that is the only available format. Titles received starred reviews from Booklist, The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, School Library Journal, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Horn Book.

The theme information is derived from cataloging information and is not comprehensive. Books are suggested for ages 12 and older. Age and grade designations are approximate, parental judgement should be used.

Notable book information is added as time allows: BBYA= Best Books for Young Adults (ALA/YALSA)

Annotations are from Advance, the Ingram Book Magazine or the Library of Congress CIP description, unless otherwise noted.

• Firmament
  Author: Bowler, Tim
  Publisher: Margaret K. Elderry $ 16.95 ISBN: 0689861613 Date: 2004
  Kirkus
  To prove he's part of the gang, Luke must climb into Mrs. Little's house and steal something. But inside the house, Luke encounters something so unexpected that it changes everything--something that unlocks secrets and helps Luke find out exactly who he is.
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Fiction | Action & Adventure
  
• Basilisk
  Author: Browne, N.M.
  Publisher: Bloomsbury $ 17.95 ISBN: 1582348766 Date: 2004
  Booklist
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction | Myths & Legends
  
• Doing It
  Author: Burgess, Melvin
  Publisher: Holt $ 15.95 ISBN: 0805075658 Date: 2004
  PW | BBYA
  Award-winning author Burgess pens a daringly honest and often hilarious account of contemporary teenage life, and the ups and downs that surround "doing it."
  Grades: 11+ Category: Fiction
  
• Black Gold
  Author: Cadnum, Michael
  Publisher: Viking $ 16.99 ISBN: 067005884x Date: 2004
  Booklist
  The rush to the gold fields of California is on in the lawless year of 1849. But Will Dwinelle is not in search of gold in California. He's out to find and bring home the man who betrayed the honor of a girl back home.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction | Historical
  
• Honey, Baby, Sweetheart
  Author: Caletti, Deb
  Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 15.95 ISBN: 0689867654 Date: 2004
  BulletinSLJ
  SLJ Best Books
  From the author of The Queen of Everything comes a lyrical, multigenerational story of love, loss, and redemption that speaks to everyone who has ever been in love and lived to tell the tale.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Fire in the Heart: A Spiritual Guide for Teens
  Author: Chopra, Deepak
  Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 14.95 ISBN: 0689862164 Date: 2004
  PW
  The world-renowned spiritual teacher pens his first book for teens in which he describes his own search for spirituality as a teen, pointing the way for others who want to begin the spiritual journey, as well as for parents who want a higher vision of life for their children.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Nonfiction
  
• The Singer of All Songs
  Author: Constable, Kate
  Publisher: Arthur Levine $ 16.95 ISBN: 0439554780 Date: 2004
  Booklist
  VOYA Best Science Fiction Fantasy & Horror
  Set in an utterly original world where enchantment is worked by singing, The Singer of All Songs is the first title in a new fantasy trilogy
  Grades: 5-9 Category: Fiction | Speculative Fiction
  
• Bucking the Sarge
  Author: Curtis, Christopher Paul
  Publisher: Wendy Lamb $ 15.95 ISBN: 0385323077 Date: 2004
  BooklistKirkusSLJ | BBYA
  The Newbery Award-winning author of Bud, Not Buddy and The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 gives readers a whole new angle on life and a world full of unforgettable and hilarious characters.
  Grades: 5-7 Category: Fiction
  
• The Faery Reel: Tales from the Twilight Realm
  Author: Datlow, Ellen (ed)
  Publisher: Viking $ 19.99 ISBN: 0670059145 Date: 2004
  Kirkus
  Some of today's best fantasists draw on the great wealth of world faery lore and classic faery literature in this companion anthology to the World Fantasy Finalist The Green Man. Authors include Tanith Lee, Holly Black, and Neil Gaiman.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction | Speculative
  
• Remember D-Day, The Plan, the Invasion, Survivor Stories
  Author: Drez, Ronald J.
  Publisher: National Geographic $ 17.95 ISBN: 0792266668 Date: 2004
  SLJ
  In honor of the 60th anniversary of D-Day, this volume combines compelling narrative, dramatic archival photographs, detailed maps, and a time line to give readers insight into the significance of the invasion and help them understand D-Day in the overall context of World War II.
  Grades: 5-9 Category: Nonfiction | History | Military & Wars
  
• The Sea of Trolls
  Author: Farmer, Nancy
  Publisher: Atheneum $ 17.95 ISBN: 0689867441 Date: 2004
  PWBooklistKirkusHorn BookBulletin
  SLJ Best Books | BBYA
  The three-time Newbery Honor-winning author and National Book Award recipient pens a new adventure set in A.D. 793 in the land of the Vikings, where two children are soon swept up in a quest on which they encounter a dragon, a giant spider, and trolls.
  Grades: 5-8 Category: Fiction | Myths | Speculative
  
• The Oracle Betrayed
  Author: Fisher, Catherine
  Publisher: Greenwillow $ 16.99 ISBN: 0060571578 Date: 2004
  KirkusPWBulletin | BBYA | Bram Stoker Award
  Timid Mirany is chosen to be a priestess to serve the High Priestess, who interprets the wishes of the god as conveyed through the Oracle. However, Mirany is unprepared for the dangers of her exalted position.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction | Speculative
  
• Nothing to Lose
  Author: Flinn, Alex
  Publisher: Avon Tempest $ 15.99 ISBN: 0060517506 Date: 2004
  Kirkus | BBYA
  This haunting novel from the acclaimed author of Breathing Underwater looks at one of the most devastating realities for teenagers today--domestic violence.
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Tending to Grace
  Author: Fusco, Kimberly Newton
  Publisher: Knopf $ 14.95 ISBN: 0375828621 Date: 2004
  SLJBooklist | BBYA
  Lenore is Cornelia's mother, but it's Cornelia who thrives on taking care of Lenore. When Lenore and her boyfriend take off for Vegas leaving Cornelia behind with eccentric Aunt Agatha, all Cornelia can do is wait for her to come back.
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Fiction
  
• The Legacy of Gloria Russell
  Author: Gilbert, Sheri L.
  Publisher: Knopf $ 15.95 ISBN: 0375828230 Date: 2004
  PW
  A poignant debut novel about a boy's struggle with the loss of his best friend--and the truth about his small town's ostracism of a lonely stranger.
  Grades: Category: Fiction
  
• Into the Land of Freedom: African Americans in Reconstruction
  Author: Greene, Meg
  Publisher: Lerner $ 25.26 ISBN: 0822546906 Date: 2004
  Booklist
  Grades: 4-7 Category: Nonfiction
  
• Taylor Five
  Author: Halam, Ann
  Publisher: Wendy Lamb $ 15.95 ISBN: 0385730942 Date: 2004
  Kirkus
  This gripping, deeply moving adventure raises startling questions about what it means to be human. Halam tests readers' emotional limits in this dramatic story that examines the timely issue of cloning in an original way.
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Fiction | Speculative Fiction | Action & Adventure
  
• Otto and the Flying Twins: The First Books of the Karmidee
  Author: Haptie, Charlotte
  Publisher: Holiday House $ 17.95 ISBN: 082341826x Date: 2004
  BulletinSLJ
  When Otto sees his father calming what looks like a purple dragon, he finds his life suddenly becoming very odd. He discovers that his family and his city are remnants of an ancient magical world now under threat from humans and that he must try to save it.
  Grades: 3-7 Category: Fiction | Speculative | Action & Adventure
  
• Godless
  Author: Hauptman, Pete
  Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 15.95 ISBN: 0689862784Date: 2004
  BulletinBooklistKirkus
  National Book Award | BBYA
  As a joke, agnostic-going-on-atheist Jason Bock invents his own religion: the worship of his town's water tower. But what starts as a loose congregation of Jason's friend Shin and some classmates soon takes on a power of its own.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction
  
• Love, Ghosts, & Facial Hair
  Author: Herrick, Steven
  Publisher: Simon Pulse $ 6.99 ISBN: 0689867107 Date: 2004
  Booklist
  From Australia's most popular poet for teens comes two linked novels of love, loss, and life on the road told in lyrical free verse. Sixteen-year-old Jack is obsessed with the beautiful Annabel, the ghost of his mother, and facial hair.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Poetry
  
• Worlds Afire: The Hartford Circus Fire of 1944
  Author: Janeczko, Paul B.
  Publisher: Candlewick $ 15.99 ISBN: 0763622354 Date: 2004
  SLJ | BBYA
  In his first full-length poetic work, the celebrated poetry anthologist creates a stirring fictional account of the 1944 circus fire in Hartford, Connecticut, which claimed the lives of 167 people and injured 500 more.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Nonfiction | Historical | Poetry
  
• The Key to the Golden Firebird
  Author: Johnson, Maureen
  Publisher: Harpercollins $ 15.99 ISBN: 0060541385 Date: 2004
  SLJBooklist | BBYA
  Told with humor and poignancy, Johnson's debut novel tells the story of three sisters who must cope with the sudden death of their father. It is a tale that speaks to girls everywhere about loss, love, and the freedom that comes with a single car key.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Miss Smithers
  Author: Juby, Susan
  Publisher: HarperCollins $ 15.99 ISBN: 0060515465 Date: 2004
  Kirkus
  In this delightful sequel to Juby's Alice, I Think, Alice enters the Miss Smithers pageant to claim the $400 clothing allowance, and comments on the whole experience in a zine.
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Fiction
  
• The Blue Mirror
  Author: Koja, Kathe
  Publisher: Frances Foster $ 16 ISBN: 0374308497 Date: 2004
  PW | BBYA
  Some guys are bad news. Sixteen-year-old Maggy's life consists of trying to be invisible at school, taking care of her alcoholic mother, and spending all the time she can at the Blue Mirror, a downtown cafe. She can lose herself there for hours with a cappuccino and her sketchbook, in which she creates a paper world she calls "The Blue Mirror." But everything changes when she meets Cole, a charismatic runaway. Maggy is intrigued by Cole's risky life on the streets and by the girls who follow him, childlike Jouly and strange Marianne. And when Cole says that he loves her, Maggy comes alive. As Maggy becomes more entwined with Cole and she looks at him with all her heart, she sees something far more dangerous than she may be capable of handling.
  In poetic and evocative language, Kathe Koja draws us into the haunting, passionate world of The Blue Mirror. - Publisher Marketing
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction
  
• The Thought of High Windows
  Author: Kositsky, Lynne
  Publisher: Kids Can $ 16.95 ISBN: 1553376218 Date: 2004
  BulletinKirkus
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Fiction | Historical
  
• B for Buster
  Author: Lawrence, Iain
  Publisher: Delacorte $ 15.95 ISBN: 0385730861 Date: 2004
  KirkusPWSLJ | BBYA
  In this gripping story, 16-year-old Kak dreams of flying with the Allied bombers in World War II. Underage but desperate to escape his abusive parents, he enlists in the Canadian Air Force and is soon sent to a squadron in England. But he does not expect the experience to be as harrowing as it becomes.
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Fiction | Historical | War & Military | Action & Adventure
  
• A Crack in the Line
  Author: Lawrence, Michael
  Publisher: Greenwillow $ 15.99 ISBN: 0060724773 Date: 2004
  BooklistBulletin | BBYA
  This gripping thriller about a boy and a girl who are the same person--but not quite--and who are living the same life takes readers on a journey into the shifting nature of identity, time, space, and the cracks that can appear in a train rail, a lifeline, or a family tree.
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Fiction | Speculative
  
• The Realm of Possibility
  Author: Levithan, David
  Publisher: Knopf $ 15.95 ISBN: 0375828451 Date: 2004
  Kirkus | BBYA
  In this new novel by the acclaimed author of Boy Meets Boy, readers meet a boy whose girlfriend is in love with a fictional character; a girl who loves the boy who wears all black; and a girl who writes love songs for a girl she can't have in a story about those ever-changing moments of love and heartbreak during high school.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction | Short Stories
  
• Follow the Blue
  Author: Lowry, Brigid
  Publisher: Holiday House $ 16.95 ISBN: 0823418278 Date: 2004
  Booklist
  Reliable fifteen-year-old Bec is sick of being sensible and good. This summer while her parents are away, she dyes her hair, throws her first party, and discovers the magic of boys, friendship, family, and the dazzling blue of one endless summer.
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Messenger
  Author: Lowry, Lois
  Publisher: Walter Lorraine $ 16.95 ISBN: 0618404414 Date: 2004
  BulletinBooklistKirkusPW
  Critically acclaimed and bestselling author Lowry returns with the eagerly anticipated companion to Gathering Blue and The Giver, winner of the Newbery Medal.
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Fiction | Speculative
  
• Sonny's House of Spies
  Author: Lyon, George Ella
  Publisher: Atheneum $ 16.95 ISBN: 0689851685 Date: 2004
  KirkusPWSLJ
  The acclaimed author of Borrowed Children pens this novel about a 13-year-old Alabama boy who aims to change the tightlipped atmosphere at his house and find out the truth.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction
  
• Guitar Girl
  Author: Manning, Sarra
  Publisher: Dutton $ 15.95 ISBN: 0525472347 Date: 2004
  SLJ
  Seventeen-year-old Molly Montgomery never planned on becoming famous. Starting a band with her best mates was just a way to have some fun. But when the group is joined by a charismatic bad-boy, things start happening.
  Grades: 9+ Category: Fiction
  
• The Year of Secret Assignments
  Author: Moriarty, Jaclyn
  Publisher: Arthur Levine $ 16.95 ISBN: 0439498813 Date: 2004
  BooklistHorn Book
  | BBYA
  From the author of Feeling Sorry for Celia comes this story of three girls and three boys, one of which is a total psycho. It's a story of teenage life as it really feels--only funnier.
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Shooter
  Author: Myers, Walter Dean
  Publisher: HarperCollins $ 15.99 ISBN: 0060295198 Date: 2004
  BulletinBooklistPW
  The Michael L. Printz Award-winning author of Monster unveils a bleak picture of what life can be like for a teenage misfit in this new novel of three loners told through a series of interviews, reports, newspaper articles, and journal entries.
  Grades: 8+ Category: Fiction
  
• Ttyl
  Author: Myracle, Lauren
  Publisher: Harry Abrams $ 15.95 ISBN: 0810948214 Date: 2004
  SLJ
  This funny, smart novel follows the friendship of three tenth-grade girls as they experience some of the typical pitfalls of adolescence: boys, queen-bee types, a flirty teacher, beer, crazy parents, and more.
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Airborn
  Author: Oppel, Kenneth
  Publisher: Eos $ 16.99 ISBN: 0060531800 Date: 2004
  SLJ | SLJ Best Books | BBYA
  The author of the Silverwing trilogy creates a new fantasy in which humans fly but the airplane has never been invented. In the early 20th century, a young orphan serves as a cabin boy aboard an airship and is witness to life-and-death battles in the sea and above land.
  Suggested Reading: Pirate Stars
  Grades: 3-7 Category: Fiction | Speculative
  
• Nobody Was Here: 7th Grade in the Life of Me, Penelope
  Author: Pollet, Alison
  Publisher: Orchard $ 15.95 ISBN: 0439583942 Date: 2004
  PW
  This brilliantly written, poignant portrayal of a young girl's mounting difficulties at her new school and at home, set in 1981 New York City, is written in the tradition of Judy Blume's Otherwise Knows as Sheila the Great.
  Grades: 5-7 Category: Fiction
  
• How I Live Now
  Author: Rosoff, Meg
  Publisher: Wendy Lamb $ 16.95 ISBN: 0385746776 Date: 2004
  PWBooklistSLJ
  Newbery Honor Book | Printz Honor Book | BBYA | SLJ Best Books
  In a riveting debut, Rosoff pens a novel told from the point of view of 15-year-old Daisy, an American girl who is sent to her aunt's farm in England. When London is attacked and war breaks out, Daisy forges an extraordinary bond with her cousins.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction
  
• Lizzie Bright and the Buckminister Boy
  Author: Schmidt, Gary D.
  Publisher: Clarion $ 15 ISBN: 0618439293 Date: 2004
  BooklistKirkusSLJ | BBYA
  Set in 1912 Maine, this historical novel is based on the true story of a community's destruction. No one in town will let Turner Buckminster forget that he's a minister's son. But then he meets Lizzie Bright Griffin, a smart and sassy girl from a poor nearby island community founded by former slaves, he enters a whole new world.
  Grades: 4-7 Category: Fiction | Historical
  
• The Safe-Keeper's Secret
  Author: Shinn, Sharon
  Publisher: Viking $ 16.99 ISBN: 0670059102 Date: 2004
  KirkusBulletin | BBYA
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Fiction | Speculative
  
• One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies
  Author: Sones, Sonya
  Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 15.95 ISBN: 0689858205 Date: 2004
  BooklistSLJ | BBYA
  After her mother's death, Ruby moves to Los Angeles to live with her father whom she's never met: actor Whip Logan. Ruby hates her new glamorous life, but a tragic incident helps Ruby and Whip be honest with each other. Written in free verse poems.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Poetry
  
• Vote for Larry
  Author: Tashjian, Janet
  Publisher: Holt $ 16.95 ISBN: 0805072012 Date: 2004
  PW
  In this follow-up to The Gospel According to Larry, Larry is back, and this time he wants to affect change in the government. Tashjian brings the political world to the forefront and explores it from many different points of view in this smart and witty novel.
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Fiction
  
• Wishing Moon
  Author: Tunnell, Michael O.
  Publisher: Dutton $ 17.99 ISBN: 0525471936 Date: 2004
  Kirkus
  Grades: 4-7 Category: Fiction | Speculative
  
• So Yesterday
  Author: Westerfeld, Scott
  Publisher: Razorbill $ 16.99 ISBN: 159514000x Date: 2004
  KirkusBulletin | BBYA
  In this ultra-hip conspiracy thriller by Philip K. Dick honoree Scott Westerfeld, a shadowy group dedicated to the downfall of consumerism draws a street savvy 17-year-old into its web of brand-name intrigue.
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Fiction | Thriller
  
• Chu Ju's House
  Author: Whelan, Gloria
  Publisher: HarperCollins $ 15.99 ISBN: 0060507241 Date: 2004
  BulletinPW
  The bestselling author of the National Book Award-winning Homeless Bird transports readers to modern-day China, where present-day law conspires with age-old tradition to rob a young woman of her home.
  Grades: 4+ Category: Fiction
  
• See You Down the Road
  Author: Whitney, Kim Ablon
  Publisher: Knopf $ 15.95 ISBN: 0375824677 Date: 2004
  Booklist | BBYA
  Tautly written, with a riveting storyline and sympathetic characters coping with universal themes of family and social pressure, this novel offers a fascinating glimpse into the lives of Irish Travelers in America.
  Grades: 8-12 Category: Fiction
  
• No Laughter Here
  Author: Williams-Garcia, Rita
  Publisher: Amistad $ 15.99 ISBN: 0688162479 Date: 2004
  BooklistKirkus | BBYA
  In this groundbreaking novel, Coretta Scott King Honor winner Williams-Garcia explores a widespread practice--female circumcision.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction
  
• The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray
  Author: Wooding, Chris
  Publisher: Orchard $ 16.95 ISBN: 0439546567 Date: 2004
  BooklistKirkusSLJ
  SLJ Best Books | BBYA
  At just 17, Thaniel is a wych-hunter. Together, he and Cathaline, his friend and mentor, track down the fearful creatures that lurk in the Old Quarter of London. It is on one of these hunts that he first encounters Alaizabel Cray, who is half-crazed, lovely, and possessed.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction | Speculative
  
• Behind You
  Author: Woodson, Jacqueline
  Publisher: Putnam $15.99 ISBN: 039923988x Date: 2004
  SLJ | BBYA
  This beautiful sequel to If You Come Softly explores the experiences of those left behind after tragedy. It is a novel in which through hope, understanding and love, healing begins.
  Grades: 7+ Category: Fiction
  

More Overbooked Best Books Reading Lists:

• Young Adult/Teen Stars Lists