The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

Ember, a 241-year-old, ruined domed city surrounded by a dark unknown, was built to ensure that humans would continue to exist on Earth, and the instructions for getting out have been lost and forgotten. On Assignment Day, 12-year-olds leave school and receive their lifetime job assignments. Lina Mayfleet becomes a messenger, and her friend Doon Harrow ends up in the Pipeworks beneath the city, where the failing electric generator has been ineffectually patched together. Both Lina and Doon are convinced that their survival means finding a way out of the city, and after Lina discovers pieces of the instructions, she and Doon work together to interpret the fragmented document.
 

Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech

Thirteen-year-old twins Dallas and Florida are continually in trouble for breaking the many rules of the Boxton Creek Home for Children. When an elderly couple, Tiller and Sairy, invite Dallas and Florida to stay with them in nearby Ruby Holler and travel with them beyond it, the twins are wary. Previous foster placements have been disasters. Tiller and Sairy, however, treat the children like their own, talking with them, teaching them, trusting them, loving them, outwitting them, and even letting them save face.

Ghost Soldier by Elaine Marie Alphin

First Alexander would feel a cold chill in the air, and then he would smell bitter orange, “almost like someone had cut open a ripe orange and spurted juice all over”. Whenever this happens, Alexander knows he is in the midst of ghosts. He and his father take a road trip through the South during Spring Break, to allow him to meet his father’s new girlfriend and her children. When they visit a reenactment of the Battle of Fort Stedman, Alexander encounters the ghost of Richeson, a young soldier who needs help finding the family he left behind. Eventually, the two become friends. Richeson is certain that his sister Louise left a message for him in a metal box in the hollow of a tree. Unfortunately, since he is a ghost, he is unable to open the box. Will Alexander be able to lead Richeson to the metal box and other clues about what happened to his family after the war?

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

When ten-year-old India Opal Buloni moves to Naomi, Florida with her preacher father, she feels lonely and friendless. But little does she know that the friendly dog she adopts will help her find the friends and acceptance she wants so badly.

Cliff-Hanger by Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson

This is not the first time Jack and Ashley's parents have agreed to take care of a foster child. However, some things don't seem to add up with this girl, who is thirteen, very pretty and says her name is Lucky Deal. Then a cougar attacks a visitor at Mesa Verde National Park. Jack and Ashley's mother, a wildlife veterinarian, is called in to evaluate the situation; so, the entire family goes to stay at the park. Lucky can't or won't explain some things that happen at the park. Jack isn't sure he can trust her, but he knows he is on her side.

Small Steps by Peg Kehret

How would you react if one day you were normal and the next you were stricken with polio? This is exactly what happens to Peg Kehret when, at the age of twelve, she gets polio and is paralyzed from the neck down. She is sent to a special hospital, miles away from her parents. Thus begins her battle to regain use of her body and return home.

Saving Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Judd Travers is still recovering from the truck accident he had at the end of Shiloh Season. He seems to be making some effort to reform his evil ways. Marty would like to believe in him, but still worries that Judd might want to reclaim or hurt Marty's dog, Shiloh. Most people in the community are quick to think the worst about Judd. Could he be the reason a man is missing?