First Part Last by Angela Johnson

The story of Bobby and Nia, 16, and pregnant. The story is told in flashbacks from Bobby's viewpoint. He ends up taking care of the baby when Nia has eclampsia and brain death. He loves the baby, Feather, more than anything in his life, but he finds out how hard it is to be a high school student with a baby. His old life (then) is far different than his new life (now).

Red Glass by Laura Resau

Sophie's family adopts a five year old Mexican immigrant boy who is without any family. They eventually discover that he still has grandparents there. Sophie and her Aunt Dika, from Bosnia, Aunt Dika's boyfriend, and his grandson Angel set off on a cross country journey to return Pablo to his relatives. Sophie is a worrier and afraid of everything, so this is a courageous adventure for her. On the trip, she and Angel fall in love. Lorenzo, Aunt Dika's boyfriend, and Angel return to Guatamala to try and recover some jewelry of Angel's mothers. When they do not return, Sophie realizes they are in trouble and manages through many very dangerous circumstances to find them and bring them home.

Nation by Terry Pratchett

Mau, an island boy, is completing his manhood experience on another island when a tidal wave wipes out his entire community. He returns home to nothing and no one. Daphne, a sheltered English girl, is shipwrecked on the same island from the same storm. Together they must cooperate to survive. As other people from neighboring islands arrive, they learn to work together to establish a new Nation. They discover a long lost architectural find which changes their entire way of thinking about their gods.

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis

Elijah is an eleven year old boy living in a free settlement of former slaves in Canada. Many of the people living there are saving money to buy the rest of their family from slavery. One of the resident, Mr. Leroy does get the money to buy his family. One of the other residents, the Right Reverend Deacon Doctor Zephariah Connerly the Third, who is not always trustworthy, volunteers to take the money to American and buy Mr. Leroy's family through an abolitionist friend. Another resident of the community volunteers to go with him to be sure everything goes smoothly. Zephariah shoots his companion and takes the money to gamble. Mr. Leroy kidnaps Elijah and takes him to America to find Zephariah and get his money back. Mr. Leroy dies, but Elijah does find Zephariah and also a slave stable where he finds a family that has been captured and chained. What can he do to help?