Here Lies Arthur by Phillip Reeve

Gwyna is a young girl serving as a slave in the castle of The Irishman in Medieval England AD 500. She runs away and is found by Myrddin (Merlin). He convinces her to be the "Lady of the Lake" and give Arthur his sword (Caliburn). He keeps her as a boy to be his servant and traveling companion. She learns that Arthur's feats are legends that Myrddin has created. Myrddin is hoping that if he can make Arthur strong enough through legend that there will be peace again in England. Gwyna (Gwyn) enjoys being a boy and riding with the men, but eventually reaches a point that she can no longer be disguised as a boy and must become a girl. On one of their visits, she meets Peredur (Peri), a young man whose mother has raised him as a girl. They become friends. Eventually, Peredur joins Arthur's forces as a boy. The story reveals that Arthur is not the great legend that we have read about. Many of the stories are manipulated by Myrddin who is actually Arthur's leader. Myrddin and Arthur die and Gwyna and Peredur continue Myrddin's legacy of telling stories about Arthur.

Beanball by Gene Fehler

Luke "Wizard" Wallace is a great baseball player. He is popular, good looking, and talented. The team plays better when Luke is there. Life is good for him until the day he is hit in the face by a fastball. The ball crushes his eye and knocks him unconscious. He loses the sight in his left eye. This novel in verse relates how Luke's injury affects him and the people around him, his coach, the team, his friends, his family, the students at his school, the other team, the other coach, the players on the other team. It reads quickly and has a good ending. Luke decides he will try to play ball again. He becomes friends with a girl who cares about him and is an inspiration to his team.

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

Isabel and Ruth Finch are promised their freedom when Miss Mary Finch dies, but instead they are sold to a wealthy English couple, Anne and Elihu Lockton. They are taken to New York where conflict is high between the Loyalists and the Patriots. Isabel finds herself spying for the patriots. Her sister Ruth has epilepsy and when she has a seizure, Anne sells her. Isabel runs away but is captured and branded I for Insolance. Lady Seymour, the master's aunt, befriends Isabel and nurses her back to health, but then returns her to Madam Lockton. Curzon, a young slave boy about Isabel's age, befriends her and helps her when he can. There is a terrible fire and Lady Seymour's house burns. Isabel rescues her and takes her to the Locktons. Curzon is captured along with other rebel soldiers and put into jail. Isabel brings him scraps of food from the Lockton house. Isabel continues passing messages for the rebels, but is caught and put into the potato bin. She decides to run. She manages to get Curzon out of jail by offering to clean the cells and carrying him out in a wheelbarrow as a dead body. They find a boat and escape to Jersey. Sequel will be Forge.

Hero by S.L. Rottman

Sean is a 15 year old boy who has no parent support at home and is always getting in trouble at school. He lives with his mother who is always drunk. His father has been gone for two years. When he gets in trouble at school again, he is sent for community service to Mr. Hassler's farm. Mr. Hassler has a reputation for helping teenage boys who are in trouble. He takes Sean and with responsibility and caring gets him on the right track. The first night he is there, Manda, one of the mares, gives birth to a colt. Sean has to help with the delivery and becomes Knickers friend. Manda doesn't want her baby and even tries to harm him. Sean identifies with the colt and is angry with Manda, just as he is angry with his own mother for the abuse he has suffered at her hand. When his mother ends up in critical condition at the hospital because her liver is failing, Mr. Hassler agrees to keep Sean even though his father shows up and tries to take him. One of Sean's assignments at school is to write an essay, "My Hero Is.."
He and Mr. Hassler have several discussions about heroes. Mr. Hassler has received several medals from his WWII service. In the climax to the story, Sean's enemy, King shows up at the ranch and threatens to shoot Sean, Mr. Hassler, and Knickers, the colt. Sean is shot, but recovers. His essay expresses his frustration at the world he has to live in and the fact that in his life, he has no heroes, no one he can look up to, but he hopes one day to find one. Mrs. Walker, his English teacher, is another support that he realizes he has at school. James is a farm worker who is older than Sean. Mr. Hassler is an older man - grandfather age. Most of the setting is Mr. Hassler's farm, although the beginning of the book takes place at Sean's school.

Before I Die by Jenny Downham

Seventeen year old Tess is dying from Leukemia. She has started a list of things she wants to do before she dies.
1. Have sex
2. Say “Yes” to everything
3. Do drugs
4. Break the law
5. Drive
6. Have fame
7. Travel the World - traded for Getting Mom and Dad back together again
8. Love
9. Adam moving in
10. Lauren Tessa Walker - Zoey’s baby
11. A cup of tea
12. Instructions to Dad
13. To hold my brother as dusk settles on the window ledge
14. A joke
15. To get out of bed and go downstairs and its all a joke
Tessa does get to do the things on her list. She meets the young man next door and they fall in love. She helps her friend Zoey who is pregnant and gets to hold her baby. Her parents get back together and she loves her brother. All but her last wish - it’s not a joke. She dies peacefully at the end of the story.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

In a science fiction novel that takes place in the future, Jenna Fox has been in a very severe car accident. She has just awakened from a coma and has no memory. Her parents start showing her movies of her life to help her remember. As her memory starts to return she learns that her body is not her own. She is a robot made of bio-gel, a substance created by her father. Only 10 percent of her brain remains. All the rest of her body is artificial. The bio-gel contains chemical neurotransmitters. They learn from her brain and become smarter. Her memories have all been uploaded from her brain. She and the other two teenagers who were in the car with her have all had their memories stored in computers for future use. The FSEB, which controls all medical procedures, has outlawed the overuse of antibiotics and human organ reproduction. Jenna is illegal. If anyone finds out that she exists, her parents and the scientists who have helped them will be in trouble. Jenna must remain hidden, but she wants her freedom. She wants to be human. She wants friends and the human part of being a terminal being.

This is a great thought provoking science fiction book. It could lead to discussions about what makes us human and how far scientists and doctors should go in saving human life. It would be good to compare to Jules Verne and other classic science fiction novels that were written about things that actually later came to pass, like submarines. Will medical science eventually be able to create human beings from very small particles of actual human beings and what will be the repercussions of these advances? Would you really want to live forever?

The Naming by Alison Croggon

Maerad, a slave in Gilman's Cot is found by Cadvan, a Bard and rescued. They escape and Cadvan discovers that Maerad is the daughter of Pellinor, a school of Bardom that was ransacked and burned. Cadvan believes that Maerad is the Foretold who is come to save the kingdoms. He must take her to Norloch to be trained in her magical powers. On their travels they meet terrible monsters from the Dark and are almost killed. Along the way, they find Hem, who turns out to be Maerad's brother. Although the First Circle of Bards won't accept her, Norloch makes her a Bard and Cadvan and Maerad escape just in time before the city is burned.
This is the first book in the series of The Books of Pellinor. Although it is long, it is a good story. Sometimes too much description, but it leaves you wanting to read the next book.
The books in the series are: The Naming, The Riddle, The Crow, The Singing.