WINNER: If You Come Softly

 After meeting at their private school in New York, fifteen-year-old Jeremiah, who is black and whose parents are separated, and Ellie, who is white and whose mother has twice abandoned her, fall in love and then try to cope with people's reactions. 

Being with Henry 

 Forced out of his home by a disagreeable and bullying stepfather, sixteen-year-old Laker moves to another town and strikes up an unexpected friendship with a frail but determined old man. 

Ender's Shadow 

 "Taken from the streets of Rotterdam and sent to Battle School to learn the skills necessary to defeat the alien race called the Buggers, the child prodigy known only as Bean soon arouses the curiosity of the military leaders, who suspect him of being something other than human." Library Journal, September 15, 1999

A parallel novel to Ender's Game. 

Night Hoops

 While trying to prove that he is good enough to be on his high school's varsity basketball team, Nick must also deal with his parents' divorce and erratic behavior of a troubled classmate who lives across the street. 

Dirty Laundry

 A collection of eleven short stories by various authors dealing with situations which a family or family member tries to keep secret because of an underlying problem. 

Adventures of Blue Avenger

 On his sixteenth birthday, still trying to cope with the unexpected death of his father, David Schumacher decides--or does he--to change his name to Blue Avenger, hoping to find a way to make a difference in his Oakland neighborhood and in the world. 

In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer

 Recounts the experiences of the author who, as a young Polish girl, hid and saved Jews during the Holocaust. 

Close to a Killer

 Seventeen-year-old Barrie finds herself involved in a string of murders that are somehow connected to her mother's hair salon. 

Breaking Rank

Seventeen-year-old Casey has some of her preconceived notions challenged when she begins to tutor Baby, a member of a ganglike non-conformist society called the Clan. 

Hard Love

 After starting to publish a zine in which he writes his secret feelings about his lonely life and his parents' divorce, sixteen-year-old John meets an unusual girl and begins to develop a healthier personality.