Inside Out

Author: Terry Trueman
Summary courtesy of: myshelf.com/author review

Publisher: Harper Tempest / HarperCollins
Release Date: August 1, 2003
ISBN: 0066239621 


 Zach suspects that things might not be going well when two armed teens burst into the coffee shop where he is waiting for his mother. When their attempted hold-up goes wrong, the teens take everyone in the shop hostage, including the confused Zach. What the robbers don’t realize is that Zach suffers from paranoid adolescent schizophrenia. This condition has left the boy, even with proper medication, in a state of never really knowing the motivations behind other people’s emotions and actions. It also means that if he doesn’t get his medicine on time, two of his worst mental projections, Dirtbag and Rat, may come and torment him to the point of suicide. And time is running out…

Getting It

Author: Alex Sanchez
Summary courtesy of: alexsanchez.com

Published on: 2007-10-09
240 pages
ISBN13: 9781416908982

It's embarrassing enough that Carlos Amoroso is fifteen and the only virgin among his friends, but he's never even really kissed a girl. The object of Carlos's desire, Roxy Rodriguez, is popular and hot--and has no idea that Carlos is alive. But watching a TV show one night gives Carlos an idea: What if he got a makeover from Sal, the guy at school everyone thinks is gay? Asking Sal to do him a favor is harder than it seems, because Carlos is worried that if any of his friends see him with Sal, they'll think that he's gay too.

The Skin Im In

Author: Sharon G. Flake
Summary courtesy of: Sharongflake.com

Paperback, 176 pages

Published January 3rd 2000 by Jump At The Sun (first published 1998)

more details...

ISBN: 0786813075 (ISBN13: 9780786813070)

Literary awards:John Steptoe New Talent Author Award for Author (1999)

Thirteen-year old Maleeka Madison is tall, skinny, and dark-skinned.  That's a problem for her, because it's such a problem for everyone else at school, it seems.  To make her life easier, Maleeka befriends the toughest girl in school.  Only bullies force you to pay more than you’d like, so life for Maleeka just gets harder, until she learns to stand up for herself and love the skin she's in.

Sahara Special

Publisher::	Hyperion Books For Children,
Pub date::	c2003.
Pages::	175 p.
ISBN::	0786807938

There are two files on Sahara Jones. The one the school counselor keeps is evidence that she is a fifth grader who needs special education. The other is the book Sahara is secretly writing, her Heart-Wrenching Life Story and Amazing Adventures.
The latest chapter in her book unfolds when her mother insists that she be taken out of special ed. So Sahara is facing fifth grade in the regular classroom, again. But why even try to do work, Sahara wonders, if everything she does just winds up in the counselor's file?
Enter Miss Pointy, the new fifth-grade teacher. With her eggplant-colored lipstick and strange subjects, such as "Puzzling" and "Time Travel," she's like no other teacher Sahara has ever known. When she passes out writing journals to the class, Sahara begins to have fresh hope for the school year. Through Miss Pointy's unusual teaching, storytelling and quiet support, Sahara finds the courage to overcome her fears and prove which file shows her true self.
Laugh-out-loud dialogue and unforgettable characters distinguish Esme Raji Codell's debut novel about a troubled but talented student, and the inspiring teacher whose belief in her changes her life.

The Man Who Loved Clowns

Wood, June Rae THE MAN WHO LOVED CLOWNS New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1992. IL YA ISBN 0399218882
In this potent debut, Wood displays a prodigious writing and storytelling talent. Delrita, 13, has recently moved to a small Missouri town with her parents and Punky, an uncle who has Down's syndrome. Delrita adores Punky, yet is also embarrassed by him. She easily accepts his childish ways at home, but avoids having visitors, and attending church in her new community causes the girl considerable anguish. Always a loner, Punky is befriended by the persistent Avanelle Shackleford (``a name that was almost bigger than she was''), a classmate who also has familial shame--and a fabulous older brother. When disaster tears Delrita's life apart, her new friends' support fortifies her as does Punky's enduring love. The skillfully crafted work, based on the author's memory of a brother who had Down's syndrome, is enriched by humorous touches and Delrita's involving, simply told narrative. This close-up view of a prevalent disease is more than a one-note novel: the author also artfully interweaves issues of loneliness, first romance and parental death. Both Delrita and Punky are complex, realistically drawn characters worthy of attention and admiration. Ages 10-14. (Oct.)

Chrysanthemum

Book by: Kevin Henkes

Summary provided by Hub Pages Childrens Book Review

Kevin Henkes' title character is a cute little mouse with a very big name. Chrysanthemum loves her name, and can even spell it, but when she goes to school, she is mercilessly teased by a group of nasty little mouselets who use her name as an excuse to pick on her. Chrysanthemum goes home each night to her caring and concerned parents, who tell her she is winsome and winning, and although Chrysanthemum is reassured that she is the center of her parents' universe, her parents' concern doesn't solve the problem. Finally, at school, Chrysanthemum meets a fabulous new music teacher whom all of the mouse children adore. Ms. Twinkle is a ray of sunshine, and when she produces a musical play, Chrysanthemum is chosen to be a daisy.
When Chrysanthemum confides in her teacher about the way the other children are teasing her, Mrs. Twinkle restores Chrysanthemum's confidence, and makes her the envy of all her peers.

A Red Polka Dot in a World Full of Plaid

Author: Varian Johnson

Summary courtesy of Google books

Maxine Phillips is a walking oxymoron. She'd rather spend her Saturday nights reading comic books and eating burritos than going on dates like other eighteen-year-olds. She hasn't been to church or even attempted to pray in the last three years, yet her best friend, Deke, is a devout Christian. And while Deke claims her caramel complexion, wild cherry-brown hair, and gray eyes make her look exotic, she thinks she looks like a freak of nature. Maxine's life gets even stranger when she learns the father she thought dead is alive, and that her mother has been lying about his death for all of Maxine's life. On impulse, Maxine decides to drive from her hometown in South Carolina to the small town in Oklahoma where her father lives. In typical Maxine fashion, she leaves without her mother's permission, and when her car breaks down en route, she convinces Deke to pick her up and take her the rest of the way. Maxine arrives in Oklahoma, expecting Jack Phillips to be the father of her dreams. Instead, she finds that her father, among other things, is a white ex-convict. Upon learning the truth about him, Maxine does the only thing she can do.