Amedeo has a dream. He is going to discover treasure that no one else has even realized exists. It isn't important to him what it is he discovers, just that he make the discovery and have a story. For the first time he is the new kid in school, nothing special in a town home to a number of navy families for whom moving is a way of life. In this small Florida town, no one seems to be aware or care that he's new, from New York City, separated form the world of art and artists where he's grown up and feels destined to be friendless all year. This all changes when he befriends the eccentric old lady next door and becomes involved in a project with William Wilcox, possibly the best known boy in school, which leads both boys into a story involving a sketch, an old man's memoirs of his youth, and a painful secret dating back to the occupation of Holland by the Nazis. The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World is an intriguing story of unlikely friendships, discoveries, history's ability to impact lives decades later, the power of truth, and a must-read for all E.L. Konigsburg fans. Recommended by Kris

Agnes and Honey have grown up together as best friends, but as they approach adolescence, they seem to be going in very different directions. Living in a religious commune, Agnes is very happy and truly wants to live her life to become a saint. Honey hates the commune and wants more than anything to leave, though she has no idea how to do that. All that changes when Agnes’s grandmother comes to visit unexpected, Agnes’s little brother is seriously injured and Emmanuel, the commune’s founder and leader refuses to let him go to the hospital for treatment. Nana Pete takes things into her own hands, taking all three children from the commune and setting out on a journey that challenges their beliefs, values, choices and concepts of family, friendship. Although this is not her personal story, Cecilia Galante draws on her experiences growing up in a religious commune to present carefully balanced, respectful insights into a religious community which has chosen to isolate itself from mainstream society.

Recommended by Kris