2002 YA Sequoyah Masterlist

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1999. 198 p. (Grades 8+) A high-school freshman becomes a social outcast after she calls the police during an end-of-summer party, and her trauma prevents her from sharing the real reason for the call. The shocking truth causes her to withdraw from everyone and to gradually cease speaking at all. (BL*; HB*, SLJ, BBYA)

Bodett, Tom. Williwaw! Knopf, 1999. 192 p. (Grades 5-8) In their father's absence, 13 year-old September and her younger brother Ivan attempt to earn the money to repair the radio set they damaged, facing great danger as they attempt to cross the Alaskan bay alone. (BL, HB, SLJ,)

Cooper, Susan. King of Shadows. Simon & Schuster, 1999. 186 p. (Grades 6-9) A boy actor who is readying for his role as Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream awakens to find himself transported through time to Shakespeare's London where he is taken under the playwright's wing and guided through rehearsals and a performance of the play at the original Globe Theater. (BL*, HB*)

Dessen, Sarah. Keeping the Moon. Viking, 1999. 244 p. (Grades 6-9) While her mother tours Europe promoting her aerobics infomercial, newly-thin Colie spends the summer in a quiet North Carolina town where she finds self-confidence, friendship and love with the help of her eccentric aunt, two wisecracking college-age waitresses, and a shy and artistic boy named Norman. (BL, SLJ)

Grove, Vicki. The Starplace. Putnam, 1999. 208 p. (Grades 5-8) Thirteen year-old Frannie learns hard lessons about prejudice and segregation when she befriends Celeste, a young black girl who moves into a small Oklahoma town in 1961. Together, they uncover the mysteriously hidden truths that connect Celeste's family to the people and history of the town. (BL, HB, SLJ)

Hobbs, Will. Jason's Gold. Morrow, 1999. 192 p. (Grades 5-9) Drawn by headlines announcing the discovery of gold in Canada's Yukon in 1897, 15-year-old Jason embarks on a 5,000-mile journey to strike it rich. (BL, HB, SLJ)

Hoobler, Dorothy & Thomas. The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn. Putnam/Philomel, 1999. 224 p. (Grades 5-8) Seikei is a 14-year-old merchant's son in eighteenth-century Japan who secretly wishes to become a samurai. When he sees a ghost steal a samurai's jewel, the famous Judge Ooka hires him to investigate the crime and solve the mystery. (BL, SLJ)

Lubar, David. Hidden Talents. Tor, 1999. 224 p. (Grades 6-9) Martin Anderson has been kicked out of every school he has ever attended; now he has landed in alternative school where he fits in with all the other misfits. He discovers that he and some of the others have psychic powers that turn out to be awesome hidden talents! (BL, SLJ)

McNeal, Tom & Laura. Crooked. Knopf, 1999. 224 p. (Grades 8+) The crooked path of life leads 9^th-grade students Clara and Amos into a dangerous situation involving the two worst bullies in the town. (BL, HB, SLJ, BBYA)

Myers, Walter Dean. Monster. HarperCollins, 1999. 281 p. (Grades 9+) While on trial as an accomplice to murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon tries to understand the direction his life has taken by recording his trial as a film script and his prison experiences in a personal diary. (BL, HB*, SLJ, VOYA, BBYA)

Rottman, S. L. Head Above Water. Peachtree, 1999. 192 p. (Grades 9+) Faced with the dilemma of finding time to care for her older brother who has Down's Syndrome, to compete for a state swimming medal, to hang-out with friends, and to maintain her straight-A average, Skye, a high-school junior, must make some difficult choices. When the school's football star asks her for a date, these choices require a re-examination of her priorities and values. (BL, SLJ)

Sheldon, Dyan. Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. Candlewick, 1999. 272 p. (Grades 6-9) Lola Cep, dragged from the City to the Suburbs against her will, matches wits with Carla, the most popular and vicious girl in school. Can Lola win the lead in the school play and follow through on her boast to attend a private party for a famous rock band? (BL, SLJ)

Shusterman, Neal. Downsiders. Simon & Schuster, 1999. 208 p. (Grades 6-9) Two cultures collide beneath sidewalks, sewer grates and manholes when the Downside world comes into contact with that of the Topside. Fourteen-year-old Talon enlists the help of Topsider Lindsay to help save the Downsiders' subterranean culture which has evolved in the long abandoned subway tunnels of New York City. (SLJ, VOYA)

Thomas, Rob. Green Thumb. Simon & Schuster, 1999. 192 p. (Grades 6-9) Grady Jacobs, 13 years old and two-time winner of the National Science Fair, is chosen to be an assistant to a renowned botanist in Brazil. While there, Grady discovers that the research team is damaging the ecosystem and he must rely on his own powers of logic and wit in an attempt to save the rain forest and himself. (BL, SLJ)

Tolan, Stephanie. Ordinary Miracles. Morrow, 1999. 160 p. (Grades 6-9) When Mark Filkins spends some time away from his twin brother, he befriends a Nobel-prize winning scientist who is dying of cancer. Mark, a fundamentalist Christian, believes that faith can heal and launches a prayer campaign to save his friend, testing both his faith and his family as he searches for an extraordinary miracle. (BL, SLJ)

Vande Velde, Vivian. Never Trust a Dead Man. Harcourt, 1999. 194 p. (Grades 6-9) Wrongly convicted of murder, Selwyn tries to uncover the true killer with the help of a cranky witch, the murdered victim who is resurrected as a talking bat, and a series of hilarious magical disguises in this comedic medieval mystery. (BL, HB, SLJ)