Book recommendations

Please note: If you don't see a book listed here, it's either because I simply haven't read it yet or because I read it and didn't consider it a four or five star book. 

A.

The Actual & Truthful Adventures of Becky Thatcher by Jessica Lawson
A Diamond in the Desert by Kathryn Fitzmaurice
Al Capone Does My Homework by Gennifer Choldenko
All Four Stars by Tara Dairman
Alone by Megan E. Freeman
The Ancient One by T.A. Barron
A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus
Appleblossom the Possum by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Auggie & Me by R.J. Palacio





B.

The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan
Beholding Bee by Kimberly Newton Fusco
Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk
The Big Book of Superheroes by Bart King
Bigger Than a Breadbox by Laurel Snyder
Blackbird Fly by Erin Entrada Kelly
Blue Birds by Caroline Starr Rose
Bone Jack by Sara Crowe
The Book of Boy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Boom! by Mark Haddon
The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
By the Grace of Todd by Louise Galveston


C.

The Cabinet of Earths by Anne Nesbet
Catching a Story Fish by Janice N. Harrington
Centaur's Daughter by Ellen Jensen Abbott
Chains and Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle by Janet Fox 
Chronicles of Ancient Darkness by Michelle Paver
A Clatter of Jars by Lisa Graff
Clayton Byrd Goes Underground by Rita Williams-Garcia
Clues to the Universe by Christina Li
Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey
Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Counting Thyme by Melanie Conklin
Cracked by K.M. Walton
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
Curiosity by Gary Blackwood




D.
Dairy Queen trilogy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin by Josh Berk
Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr
Darth Paper Strikes Back by Tom Angleberger
Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
Dear America The Diary of Lydia Amelia Pierce by Lois Lowry
Devine Intervention by Martha Brockenbrough
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (series) by Jeff Kinney
Divergent by Veronica Roth
A Dragon's Guide to the Care and Feeding of Humans by Laurence Yep and Joanne Ryder
The Drake Equation by Bart King

E.

Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan
El Deafo by Cece Bell
11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass
The Eighth Day by Dianne Salerni
The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya
Every Day After by Laura Golden
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
Everybody Sees the Ants by A. S. King

F.

Falcon in the Glass by Susan Fletcher
The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Far Away by Lisa Graff
Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve
Finally by Wendy Mass
The Flame in the Mist by Kit Grindstaff
The Fledgling by Jane Langton
Flip by Martyn Bedford
Flying the Dragon by Natalie Dias Lorenzi
Flying Lessons & Other Stories, edited by Ellen Oh
The Fourteen Fibs of Gregory K. by Greg Pincus
The Fortune of Carmen Navarro by Jen Bryant
Free Verse by Sarah Dooley
The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson
Full Cicada Moon by Marilyn Hilton
Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm



G.
The Gallery by Laura Marx Fitzgerald
Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities by Mike Jung
Ghost Hawk by Susan Cooper
Gimme a Call by Sarah Mlynowski
The Girl with More than One Heart by Laura Geringer Bass
Glass Heart by Amy Garvey
The Goblin's Puzzle by Andrew S. Chilton
Going Bovine by Libba Bray
Going Where It's Dark by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Gold Medal Winter by Donna Freitas
Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead
The Great Hamster Massacre by Katie Davies
The Great Wall of Lucy Wu by Wendy Wan-Long Shang



H.
Hamster Princess: Harriet the Invincible by Ursula Vernon
Hattie Ever After by Kirby Larson
Hiding Out at the Pancake Palace by Nan Marino
Hokey Pokey by Jerry Spinelli
Hope is a Ferris Wheel by Robin Herrera
Hope Springs by Jaime Berry
Hound Dog True by Linda Urban
How I Became a Ghost by Tim Tingle
How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor



I.

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Maryrose Wood
The Inquisitor's Mark (Eighth Day, Bk 2) by Dianne Salerni
The Inquisitor's Tale by Adam Gidwitz
In Search of Goliathus Hercules by Jennifer Angus
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
In Your Shoes by Donna Gephart
Island's End by Padma Venkatraman


J.
Jake and Lily by Jerry Spinelli
Jasper and the Riddle of Riley's Mine by Caroline Starr Rose
Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass
Josephine Against the Sea by Shakirah Bourne
Jump Into the Sky by Shelley Pearsall
Just Under the Clouds by Melissa Sarno



K.
Kaspar the Titanic Cat by Michael Morpurgo
Keeping Safe the Stars by Sheila O'Connor




L.
The Land of Forgotten Girls by Erin Entrada Kelly
The Last Last-Day-of-Summer by Lamar Giles
Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson
The Last Shadow Warrior by Sam Subity
The Lemonade Crime by Jacqueline Davies
Lemons by Melissa
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Libertad by Alma Fullerton
Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver
The Life of Glass by Jillian Cantor
Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard
Listen, Slowly by Thanhha Lai
Loki's Wolves by K. L. Armstrong and M. A. Marr
The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd
A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
The Luck Uglies by Paul Durham
Lug, Blast from the North by David Zeltser
Lug, Dawn of the Ice Age by David Zeltser
Lulu and the Dog From the Sea by Hilary McKay
Lulu and the Duck in the Park by Hilary McKay



M.

The Magic Half by Annie Barrows
Malcolm at Midnight by W.H. Beck
Manhunt by Kate Messner
May B. by Caroline Starr Rose
Me and Marvin Gardens by Amy Sarig King
The Mennyms by Sylvia Waugh
Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina
Midnight Without a Moon by Linda Williams Jackson
The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
The Monster in the Mudball by S.P. Gates
The Morrigan's Curse (Eighth Day #3) by Dianne Salerni
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick
Motor Girls by Sue Macy
Mudshark by Gary Paulsen
My Life as a Book by Janet Tashjian
My Near-Death Adventures (99% True!) by Alison DeCamp
My Not-So-Still Life by Liz Gallagher 
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George


N.
Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
Nightbird by Alice Hoffman
The Nightmare Thief by Nicole Lesperance
Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
Nightshade City  by Hilary Wagner
Nooks & Crannies by Jessica Lawson
No Passengers Beyond This Point by Gennifer Choldenko
Now or Never! 54th Massachusetts Infantry's War to End Slavery by Ray Anthony Shepard


O.
Odessa Again by Dana Reinhardt
Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
One Shadow On the Wall by Leah Henderson
The Only Road by Alexandra Diaz



P.
Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne Birdsall
The Penderwicks at Last by Jeanne Birdsall
Pie by Sarah Weeks
A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus
Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
The Popularity Papers by Amy Ignatow
P.S. Be Eleven by Rita Williams-Garcia


Q.


R.
The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez
Remarkable by Lizzie K. Foley
The Resisters by Eric Nylund
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
The Runaway King by Jennifer Nielsen
The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen



S.
Samantha Sutton and the Labyrinth of Lies - Jordan Jacobs
Sapphique by Catherine Fisher
Screaming at the Ump by Audrey Vernick
Season of Gifts by Richard Peck
Secrets at Sea by Richard Peck
The Secret Underground by Natalie Bahm
Second Fiddle by Rosanne Parry
Seeing Red by Kathryn Erskine
See What I See by Gloria Whelan
Seven Tales of Trinket by Shelley Moore Thomas
The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall
Shadow Children Sequence by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Shadow of a Bull by Maia Wojciechowska
The Shakespeare Stealer and Shakespeare's Scribe by Gary Blackwood
Sharks and Boys by Kristen Tracy
The Shifter by Janice Hardy
The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox
Small As An Elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson
A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd
Solace of the Road by Siobhan Dowd
Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly
Sounder by William H. Armstrong
The Sound of Life and Everything by Krista Van Dolzer
Sparrow Road by Sheila O'Connor
Squirm by Carl Hiaasen
Starfish by Lisa Fipps
Stella by Starlight by Sharon Draper
The Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan
Strings Attached by Judy Blundell
The Summer I Learned to Fly by Dana Reinhardt
Switch by Ingrid Law


T.

Take Back the Block by Chrystal D. Giles
A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine
Tending to Grace by Kimberly Newton Fusco
There's a Girl in My Hammerlock by Jerry Spinelli
The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin
The Third Mushroom by Jennifer L. Holm
13 Gifts by Wendy Mass
A Thunderous Whisper by Christina Diaz Gonzalez
A Time Traveler's Theory of Relativity by Nicole Valentine
Time Traveling With a Hamster by Ross Welford
Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made by Stephan Pastis
Touching the Surface by Kimberly Sabatini
The Trilogy of Two by Juman Malouf
Trouble With a Tiny t by Merriam Sarcia Saunders
True Colors by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock
The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois
Two Naomis by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich and Audrey Vernick
Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Holm


U.

The Uncommoners by Jennifer Bell
Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald
Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
Ungifted by Gordon Korman
Unidentified Suburban Object by Mike Jung
The Unlikely Adventures of Mabel Jones by Will Mabbitt
Unsettled by Reem Faruqi


V.

The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates: X Marks the Spot by Caroline Carlson

W.

Wake Up Missing by Kate Messner
Wanderville by Wendy McClure
The Warden's Daughter by Jerry Spinelli
Warp Speed by Lisa Yee
We Hear the Dead by Dianne K. Salerni
What Came From the Stars by Gary D. Schmidt
What the Dog Said by Randi Reisfeld
White Rose by Kip Wilson
The Wig in the Window by Kristen Kittscher
Will Sparrow's Road by Karen Cushman
Winterling by Sarah Prineas
The Witches by Roald Dahl
Wither by Lauren DeStefano
Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk
Wonder by R. J. Palacio
The Wonder of Charlie Anne by Kimberly Newton Fusco
Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy
Written in Stone by Rosanne Parry

 X.

 Y.
 You'll Like It Here (Everybody Does) by Ruth White

 Z.