Duxbury Free Library Non-required Summer Reading List 2010

Click here to order from the Duxbury Free Library catalog

The Kane Chronicles series: The Red Pyramid , by Rick Riordan

Since their mother's death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane. One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives

The Hunger Games series: The Hunger Games , Catching Fire , Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
A gripping series set in a post-apocalyptic world where a replacement for the United States demands a tribute from each of its territories: two children to be used as gladiators in a televised fight to the death.

Alex Rider series: Crocodile Tears , by Anthony Horowitz

A wealthy villain schemes to make millions by creating disasters and then pocketing the money from false relief agencies. Alex discovers the bad guy's plan to cause famine in Africa, but he is able to expose the fake philanthropist, although he is nearly fed to hungry crocs in the process.   You don't have to have read the previous books to fall right into this one!

The Five Ancestors series: Tiger , Monkey , Snake , Crane , Eagle , Mouse , Dragon , by Jeff Stone

The heroes are hidden in a water barrel during a raid on their temple. The emperor's army, under the command of their former brother, Ying, the Eagle, is out to destroy the Cangzhen Monastery, kill the grandmaster, and steal the sacred scrolls. Impetuous Fu rescues the scrolls, but his own rash act leads to imprisonment in a remote village. Although set in 1650 China, this is a kung fu novel, not historical fiction, and despite the grandmaster's peace-seeking Buddhist philosophy,   this series is not for the squeamish.

The Mortal Instruments series: City of Bones , City of Ashes , City of Glass , by Cassandra Clare

When Clary Fray witnesses three tattoo-covered teenagers murder another teen, she is unable to prove the crime because the victim disappears right in front of her eyes, and no one else can see the killers. She learns that the teens are Shadowhunters (humans who hunt and kill demons), and Clary, a mundie (i.e., mundane human), should not be able to see them either. Shortly after this discovery, her mother, Jocelyn, an erstwhile Shadowhunter, is kidnapped. Jocelyn is the only person who knows the whereabouts of The Mortal Cup, a dangerous magical item that turns humans into Shadowhunters.

Cosmic , by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Liam is a big lad. So big that strangers mistake the 12-year-old for an adult. Even his teachers seem to conflate tall with old. So heaven forbid he should ever make a mistake. Then it's all, “You should know better, big lad like you.” Life sure is hard for poor, burdened Liam — until, that is, he decides to enter the Greatest Dad Ever Contest and in short order finds himself on a rocket ship that is off course and 200,000 miles above the earth. Yes, quite a few things—some of them cosmic and all of them extremely funny—do happen in between.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

When he ditches school one Friday morning, 17-year-old Marcus is hoping to get a head start on the Harajuku Fun Madness clue, part of a citywide scavenger hunt. But after a terrorist attack in San Francisco, he and his friends are swept up in the extralegal world of the Department of Homeland Security.

My Most Excellent Year: A Story of Love, Mary Poppins and Fenway Park , by Stephen Kluger

Boston teens T. C. and Augie are such close friends that their families acknowledge them as brothers. Alejandra has recently arrived from Washington, D.C., where her father served as a Mexican ambassador to the U.S. Written in multiple voices and nontraditional formats, including instant messages and school assignments, Kluger's crowded, exuberant novel follows the three high-school freshman through an earth-shaking year.

Red Glass , The Indigo Notebook by Laura Resau

One night, Sophie and her parents are called to a hospital where Pedro, 6-year-old Mexican boy, is recovering from dehydration. Crossing the border into Arizona with a group of Mexicans and a coyote, or guide, Pedro and his parents faced such harsh conditions that the boy is the only survivor. Pedro comes to live with Sophie, her parents, and Sophie's Aunt Dika, a refugee of the war in Bosnia. But after a year, Pedro's surviving family in Mexico makes contact, and Sophie, Dika, Dika's new boyfriend, and his son must travel with Pedro to his hometown so that he can make a heartwrenching decision.

Marcelo in the Real World , The Last Summer of the Death Warriors , both by Francisco Stork

Go inside the head of a boy with Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autisim , while he processes life and deals with a summer job in the mail room of his father's law firm.

Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian , Sherman Alexie

Arnold Spirit, a goofy-looking dork with a decent jumpshot , spends his time lamenting life on the Spokane Indian reservation, drawing cartoons and laughing those laughs over anything and nothing.. When a teacher pleads with Arnold to want more, to escape the hopelessness of the rez , Arnold switches to a rich white school and immediately becomes as much an outcast in his own community as he is a curiosity in his new one.

Antsy does time  by Neal Shusterman

When classmate Gunnar Ümlaut announces that he is going to die in six months from a rare disease, Antsy Bonnano prints up a formal contract that signs over a month of his own life to his gloomy buddy. This impulsive gesture of comfort unexpectedly nets Antsy a series of dates with Gunnar's hot older sister Kjersten —but also takes on a life of its own when everyone who finds out about the good deed wants to get into the act.

Disreputable history of Frankie Landau  by E. Lockhart

Frankie Landau-Banks:
No longer the kind of girl to take "no" for an answer. Especially when "no" means she's excluded from her boyfriend's all-male secret society.Not when her ex-boyfriend shows up in the strangest of places. Not when she knows she's smarter than any of them. When she knows Matthew's lying to her. And when there are so many, many pranks to be done.

The Truth about Forever by Sarah Dessen

Macy Queen is looking forward to a long, boring summer. Her boyfriend is going away. She's stuck with a dull-asdishwater job at the library. And she'll spend all of her free time studying for the SATs or grieving silently with her mother over her father's recent unexpected death. But everything changes when Macy is corralled into helping out at one of her mother's open house events, and she meets the chaotic Wish Catering crew.

Happyface , by Stephen Emonds

Happyface is a shy, artistic sophomore, awkwardly coping with life from the sidelines. When horrific tragedy tears his family apart, he finds himself living in a ratty apartment with his newly sober mom and attending a new high school. Bottling up his grief and fear, he pastes a big smile on his face and makes a fresh start as the class clown. It works for a while and, surrounded by popular friends who know nothing of his real story.

Zen and the Art of Faking It by Jordan Sonnenblick

When eighth-grader San Lee moves to a new town and a new school for the umpteenth time, he doesn't try to make new friends or be a loner or play cool. Instead he sits back and devises a plan to be totally different. When he accidentally answers too many questions in World History on Zen (only because he just had Ancient Religions two schools ago) all heads turn and San has his answer: he's a Zen Master. And just when he thinks everyone (including the cute girl he can't stop thinking about) is on to him, everyone believes him . . . in a major Zen way.

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

In the spring of 1776, Isabel, a teenage slave, and her sister, Ruth, are sold to ruthless, wealthy loyalists in Manhattan. While running errands, Isabel is approached by rebels, who promise her freedom (and help finding Ruth, who has been sent away) if she agrees to spy. Using the invisibility her slave status brings, Isabel lurks and listens as Master Lockton and his fellow Tories plot to crush the rebel uprisings, but the incendiary proof that she carries to the rebel camp doesn't bring the desired rewards.  

The DeGranville Trilogy : Blood Red Horse , Green Jasper , Blaze of Silver by K.M. Grant

Ever wonder what the Crusades where like? Here's a story of loyalty, honor, and nobility and centers around the lives of two brothers, Gavin and William; the fair maiden Eleanor whom they leave behind; and Will's beloved red horse. The battle of Jafna in the Holy Land is told with chilling authenticity.

Cat Royal Adventures: Diamond of Drury Lane, Cat Among the Pigeons, Den of Thieves by Julia Golding

The Drury Theater, where she was abandoned as a baby, is the only home Catherine Royal has ever known. When she learns the theater owner has a deposited a diamond somewhere on the premises, she vows to help keep it safe. The whereabouts of the diamond is a thread that runs through a story with as many cliff-hangers as there are chapters in the book.