READ/WRITE Novel Selection Unit

A Fate Totally Worse Than Death

In Paul Fleischman's hilarious parody of teenage horror novels, Danielle and her friends from Cliffside High's cruelest clique — the Huns — set out to crush a ravishing exchange student from Norway. Will they go as far as murder? They have before. But as they plot and plan, they start to realize that something ghastly has started to happen to them, something they would no doubt describe as a fate totally worse than death!

Interstellar Pig

Sixteen-year-old Barney is resigned to another boring vacation at his parents' summer rental, reading science-fiction novels and keeping out of the sun. The summer starts to get interesting when Barney learns their rental once belonged to a Captain whose insane brother had been locked up for twenty years in the bedroom where Barney now slept. Then the neighbors move in, bringing with them the game they call Interstellar Pig.

The Last Book in the Universe

In a future where civilization has been destroyed, one old man named Ryter has a crazy idea to write a book, even though he may be punished by death for doing so, in a chilling and inspiring story.

Walk Two Moons

As Sal entertains her grandparents with Phoebe's outrageous story, her own story begins to unfold--the story of a thirteen-year-old girl whose only wish is to be reunited with her missing mother.

Joey Pigza Loses Control

When Joey Pigza meets his dad, Carter, for the first time in years, he meets a grownup version of his old hyperactive self - the way he was before his stint in special ed, the way he was before he got his new meds. During their summer visit together, Carter is eager to make up to his son for past wrongs. He wants to teach Joey how to be a winner. He wants to show Joey how to take control of his own life. And Joey is willing to do whatever his dad says, even though he fears it will do him more harm than good.

Maniac Magee

Jeffrey Lionel “Maniac” Magee might have lived a normal life if a trolley accident hadn’t made him an orphan. After living with his unhappy and uptight aunt and uncle for eight years, he decides to run- and not just run a way, but run. And this is where the myth of Maniac Magee begins, as he changes the lives of a racially divided small town with his amazing and legendary feats.

The Watsons Go To Birmingham

The year is 1963, and self-important Byron Watson is the bane of his younger brother Kenny's existence. Constantly in trouble for one thing or another, from straightening his hair into a "conk" to lighting fires to freezing his lips to the mirror of the new family car, Byron finally pushes his family too far. Before this "official juvenile delinquent" can cut school or steal change one more time, Momma and Dad finally make good on their threat to send him to the deep south to spend the summer with his tiny, strict grandmother. Soon the whole family is packed up, ready to make the drive from Flint, Michigan, straight into one of the most chilling moments in America's history: the burning of the Sixteenth Avenue Baptist Church with four little girls inside.