Lois Lowry

The Giver (copyright 1993): Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives. Gathering blue (copyright 2000): Lame and suddenly orphaned, Kira is mysteriously removed from her squalid village to live in the palatial Council Edifice, where she is expected to use her gifts as a weaver to do the...

Taking her overprotected young charge to the public park to broaden his horizons, fourteen-year-old baby sitter Enid enjoys unexpected friendships with a black saxophonist and a bag lady until she is charged with kidnapping.

When her second-grade classmates are envious of the three students who are going away on winter vacation, the creative and ingenious Gooney Bird Greene thinks of a geography activity to cheer them all up.

Anastasia's seventh-grade science project becomes almost more than she can handle, but her brother Sam, age three, and a bust of Freud, aid her nobly.

Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonás becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives.

When young Elana unexpectedly joins the team leaving the spaceship to study the planet Andrecia, she becomes an integral part of an adventure involving three very different civilizations, each one centered on the third planet from the star in its own solar system.

"Best-selling and award-winning authors take on the brave new world of middle school in this remarkable collection, brimming with humor and heart. Subjects range from peer pressure, homework, family issues, and cultural barriers to the unexpected saving graces of music, art, friendship, and reading. This engaging anthology, filled with texts, emails, formal letters, stories in verse, first-person narratives, and even a short graphic novel, shines...