A Long Road Home

Have you ever fantasized about what it would be like to live on your own, and not have to follow parental rules? In A Door Near Here by Heather Quarles, 15 year-old Katherine Donovan has assumed the daily responsibility for the care and well-being of her three younger siblings when their mother becomes lost in a haze of depression and alcoholism and refuses to leave her room. As Katherine stubbornly tries to hold the family together and pretend that everything is normal, insurmountable obstacles develop: money runs out, food becomes scarce, and Alisa, the youngest sibling, who is obsessed with the books of C.S. Lewis, runs away to find the door to the imaginary land of Narnia. When a compassionate teacher suspects that something is drastically wrong and takes steps to intervene, Katherine, in fear of the family being split up by Social Services, makes a decision that will change everyone's lives forever. This beautifully written, powerful novel, which provides no easy solutions, won the annual Delacorte Prize for Best First Young Adult Novel.    

Wandering Spirits

Down A Dark Hall by Lois Duncan is an absorbing and suspenseful book that masterfully combines well-defined characters, a supernatural mystery, and a chilling sense of dread that fills every page. Independent and resourceful fourteen year-old Kit Gordy is sent to Blackwood, an exclusive school for carefully selected, gifted students, while her mother and new stepfather take a long honeymoon trip. When Kit sees the mansion for the first time, one word echoes in her mind: evil. As she begins her studies and tries to adjust to her new surroundings, she discovers that her initial impression of Blackwood is correct. Kit begins to hear rumors that the school is haunted, has frightening dreams at night, sees a shadowy man following her down the corridors, and discovers that the letters to her family have been intercepted. In addition, why do students who have never shown talent in music, writing, and art suddenly produce great masterpieces? When the truth about the school is finally revealed in a shocking twist,  Kit wonders if escape is possible. Lois Duncan is a unique writer who takes readers to the edge of their seats and keeps them thinking long after the story's conclusion.