Wolfner :: Recommended Readings :: Bibliographies of Missouri Books :: Youth Missouri Books

Youth Missouri Books

(Updated August 6, 2018)

Clicking on a link below will take you to a listing of books on that topic.

For Grades 6-9

13 Gifts by Wendy Mass

Shortly before her thirteenth birthday, shy and withdrawn Alyssa is sent to stay with her aunt, uncle, and cousin in her parents' hometown of Willow Falls, where she makes friends and becomes involved with an elderly buyer and seller of collectibles, who seems to be trying to give Alyssa some kind of mysterious message. Mark Twain Award Nominee, 2013-2014. For grades 6-9. 2011.

Beneath by Roland Smith

DBC09620

Pat O'Toole has always idolized his older brother, Coop, right up until the day Coop ran away from their home just outside Washington, D.C. -- now a year later he has received a package containing a digital voice recorder and a cryptic message from his brother, which will lead Pat on a strange and dangerous journey to the mysterious Community living beneath the streets of New York. Mark Twain Award Nominee, 2017-2018. For grades 6-9. 2015.

Call Me by My Name by John Ed. Bradley

DBC06495

Growing up in Louisiana in the late 1960s, where segregation and prejudice still thrive, two high school football players, one white, one black, become friends, but some changes are too difficult to accept. Gateway Book Award Nominee, 2016-2017. For grades 6-9. 2014.

Chomp by Carl Hiaasen

DBC01437

When the difficult star of the reality television show "Expedition Survival" disappears while filming an episode in the Florida Everglades using animals from the wildlife refuge run by Wahoo Crane's family, Wahoo and classmate Tuna Gordon set out to find him while avoiding Tuna's gun-happy father. Mark Twain Award Nominee, 2014-2015. For grades 6-9. 2012.

Cloaked by Alex Flinn

DBC05766

Seventeen-year-old Johnny is approached at his family's struggling shoe repair shop in a Miami, Florida, hotel by Alorian Princess Victoriana, who asks him to find her brother who was turned into a frog. Truman Award Nominee, 2013-2014. For grades 6-9. 2011.

Crossing the Tracks by Barbara Stuber

DBC06464

In Missouri in 1926, fifteen-year-old Iris Baldwin discovers what family truly means when her father hires her out for the summer as a companion to a country doctor's invalid mother. Contains some violence. For grades 6-9. 2010.

Elemental by Antony John

DBC01417

In a dystopian colony of the United States where everyone is born with powers of the elements, water, wind, earth, and fire, sixteen-year-old Thomas, the first and only child born without an element seems powerless, but is he? Truman Award Nominee, 2014-2015. For grades 6-9. 2012.

Forget Tomorrow by Pintip Dunn

DBC09588

After being imprisoned for a crime she has yet to commit, Callie, with the help of her childhood crush Logan, escapes in hopes of running from the government and her future. Truman Award Nominee, 2017-2018. For grades 6-9. 2015.

Grounded by Kate Klise

DBC09720

After her father, brother, and sister are killed in a plane crash, twelve-year-old Daralynn's mother gets a job as hairstylist at the local funeral parlor, while Daralynn comes up with the idea of a "living funeral", where people can hear their own eulogy and have a chance to thank family and friends. For grades 6-9. 2010.

Hidden by Helen Frost

DBC05698

When fourteen-year-olds Wren and Darra meet at a Michigan summer camp, both are overwhelmed by memories from six years earlier when Darra's father stole a car, unaware that Wren was hiding in the back. Mark Twain Award Nominee, 2013-2014. For grades 6-9. 2011.

Invisible Lines by Mary Amato

DBC05771

Coming from a poor, single-parent family, seventh-grader Trevor must rely on his intelligence, artistic ability, quick wit, and soccer prowess to win friends at his new Washington, D.C. School, but popular and rich Xander seems determined to cause him trouble. Truman Award Nominee, 2011-2012. For grades 6-9. 2009.

Jump the Cracks by Stacy DeKeyser

DBC05742

On the way to visit her father in New York City, fifteen-year-old Victoria finds an apparently abused child in the train's bathroom and soon finds herself branded a kidnapper and on the run while trying to fulfill her promise to protect the boy at all costs. Truman Award Nominee, 2010-2011. For grades 6-9. 2007.

Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz

DBC01475

Based on the life of Jack Gruener, this book relates his story of survival from the Nazi occupation of Krakow, when he was eleven, through a succession of concentration camps, to the final liberation of Dachau. Some violence. Truman Award Nominee, 2015-2016. For grades 6-9. 2013.

The Raft by Stephanie A. Bodeen

DBC01393

Robbie's last-minute flight to the Midway Atoll proves to be a nightmare when the plane goes down in shark-infested waters, but the real terror begins when the co-pilot Max pulls her onto the raft. Truman Award Nominee, 2014-2015. For grades 6-9. 2012.

Rapunzel Untangled by Cindy C. Bennett

DBC06426

Living inside the mysterious Gothel Mansion, Rapunzel, a girl with hair fifteen feet long, sets out on a quest to discover her real identity after meeting a boy named Fane through Facebook. Truman Award Nominee, 2015-2016. For grades 6-9. 2013.

Rogue by Lyn Miller-Lachmann

DBC01476

An eighth-grade girl with Asperger's syndrome tries to befriend her new neighbor, facing many challenges along the way. Truman Award Nominee, 2015-2016. For grades 6-9. 2013.

Scrawl by Mark Shulman

DBC05773

When eighth-grade bully Tod gets caught committing a crime on school property, his penalty is to write in a journal during detention. He reveals aspects of his life that he would prefer to keep hidden. Some violence and some strong language. Truman Award Nominee, 2012-2013. For grades 6-9. 2010.

See You at Harry's by Johanna Knowles

DBC01420

Twelve-year-old Fern feels invisible in her family, where grumpy eighteen-year-old Sarah is working at the family restaurant, fourteen-year-old Holden is struggling with school bullies and his emerging homosexuality, and adorable, three-year-old Charlie is always the center of attention, and when tragedy strikes, the fragile bond holding the family together is stretched almost to the breaking point. Truman Award Nominee, 2014-2015. For grades 6-9. 2012.

The Shifter by Janice Hardy

DBC05765

Nya, a young woman who can take pain from people simply by touching their skin, keeps secret the fact that she can transfer the pain to others for fear she will be set to work as an assassin, but her hidden talent comes in handy when her sister goes missing and her search reveals dangerous events on her island home. Truman Award Nominee, 2011-2012. For grades 6-9. 2009.

Soccerland by Beth Choat

DBC06075

Flora Dupre has a chance to fulfill a life-long dream and keep the promise she made to her mother before losing her to cancer when Flora receives an invitation to try out for the Under-15 US Girls' National Soccer Team at the International Sports Academy, but a family tragedy forces Flora to reexamine her priorities and determine what soccer means to her. Truman Award Nominee, 2012-2013. For grades 6-9. 2010.

Unhappy Medium by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

DBC06034

Kat accompanies her best friend Jac to a musicians' conference at the Whispering Pines Mountain House, where she works to free the spirit of a dead medium and helps Jac resolve a serious conflict. For grades 6-9. 2009.