ANIMALS - companionship, loyalty and the love of an animal friend.
ESPN - sports fiction
FOR REAL - realistic fiction
GRAPHIC NOVELS
GROWING UP IS HARD TO DO - coming of age books
HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD - books made into movies
IN YOUR DREAMS - Fantasy
KNIGHT'S READING - medieval fiction
LOOKING BACK - historical fiction
MUG SHOTS - autobiographies and biographies
NEVER TO FORGET - books on the Holocaust
NO FEAR - adventure books
ONE WORLD - multicultural books
THE OLD STANDARDS - classics
OUR NATIONAL HISTORY - books about the U.S., past and current
OUT AND ABOUT - fiction featuring gay and lesbian characters
PAGE TURNERS - suspense
RHYME TIME - poetry
SHIVERS - horror books
SOME SAY YOU CAN'T READ THESE - banned books
SOUL QUEST - faithful fiction
TICKLE YOUR FUNNY BONE - humorous books
TWILIGHT ZONE - science fiction 
WHO DONE ITS - mysteries

A DAY NO PIGS WOULD DIE
by Robert Peck
To a thirteen-year-old Vermont farm boy whose father slaughters pigs for a living, maturity comes early as he learns "doing what's got to be done," especially regarding his pet pig who cannot produce a litter.
BSS, BSA, BAU and BBC – Teen Area
ANIMAL FARM
by George Orwell
A group of barnyard animals who overthrow and chase off their human masters and set up an egalitarian society of their own. Eventually the animals' intelligent and power loving leaders, the pigs, subvert the revolution and form a dictatorship even more oppressive and heartless than that of their former human masters.
BSS, BSA, BBK, BAU, BBC and BPI – Teen Area
BEARDANCE
by Will Hobbs
While accompanying an elderly rancher on a trip into the San Juan Mountains, Cloyd, a Ute Indian boy, tries to help two orphaned grizzly cubs survive the winter and, at the same time, completes his spirit mission. Sequel to Bearstone.
BSA and BAU - Teen Area
BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE
by Kate DiCamillo
Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni describes her first summer in the town of Naomi, Florida, and all the good things that happen to her because of her big ugly dog Winn-Dixie.
BSS, BSA, BAU, BBC and BPI - J
BLACK HORSES FOR THE KING
by Anne McKaffrey
Galwyn, son of a Roman Celt, escapes from his tyrannical uncle and joins Lord Artos, later know as King Arthur, using his talent
with languages and way with horses to help secure and care for the Libyan horses that Artos hopes to use in battle against the Saxons.
BSA –Teen Area
BLITZCAT
by Robert Westall
During World War II a black cat journeys all across war ravaged England in an effort to track down her beloved master.
BSS, BSA, BAU and BPI – Teen Area
BORIS
by Cynthia Rylant
A series of poems describes a pet cat Boris, and the companionship between Boris and his owner.
CALIFORNIA BLUE
by David Klass
When seventeen-year-old John Rodgers discovers a new sub-species of butterfly which may necessitate closing the mill where his dying father works, they find themselves on opposite sides of the environmental conflict.
BSA, BAU, BBC and BPI – Teen Area
CALL OF THE WILD
by Jack London
The adventures of an unusual dog, part St. Bernard, part Scotch shepherd, forcibly taken to the Klondike gold fields where he
eventually becomes the leader of a wolf pack.
BSS, BSA, BAU, BBC and BPI – Teen Area
THE CAT WHO COULD READ BACKWARDS
by Lillian Jackson Braun
Former award winning news reporter Jim Qwilleran is assigned to the art world as his new news beat. When a murderer sticks a knife in the neck of a local gallery owner and goes berserk among the works on show, Qwilleran gets help from his Siamese cat solving the mystery.
BSS, BSA, BBK, BAU, BBC and BPI - Fiction
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT TIME
by Mark Hadden
Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old
boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor's dog and uncovers secret information about his mother.
BSS, BSA, BAU and BBC - Fiction
EVA
by Peter Dickinson
After a terrible accident, a young girl wakes up to discover that she has been given the body of a chimpanzee.
BSA, BAU and BBC – Teen Area
THE GOOD DOG
by Avi
McKinley, a malamute, is torn between the domestic world of his human family and the wild world of Lupin, a wolf that is trying
to recruit dogs to replenish the dwindling wolf pack.
BSA, BAU and BBC - J
HAYMEADOW
by Gary Paulsen
Fourteen-year-old John comes of age and gains self-reliance during the summer he spends up in the Wyoming mountains tending his father's herd of sheep.
BSS, BSA, BAU and BBC – Teen Service
HOOT
by Carl Hiaasen
Roy, who is new to his small Florida community, becomes involved in another boy's attempt to save a colony of burrowing owls from a proposed construction site.
BBK and BBC - Teen Area BSS, BSA and BAU - J
HORSE HUNTERS
by Robert Westall
In 1932 in Florida, despite his older brother's objections, fifteen-year-old Ladd finds himself, through a series of unforeseen
circumstances, traveling alone more than 100 miles to bring back wild horses for the rodeo and for breeding.
BBC – Teen Area
THE HOSTAGE
by Theodore Taylor
Fourteen-year-old Jamie has second thoughts about harboring a killer whale that his father and he captured off the coast of Vancouver, British Columbia and plan to sell to a sea amusement park.
BBC – Teen Area
THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY
by Sheila Bunford
A Siamese cat, an old bull terrier, and a young Labrador retriever travel together 250 miles through the Canadian wilderness to find their family.
BSS – Teen Area BSA, BBK, BAU, BBC and BPI – J
JULIE OF THE WOLVES
by Jean Craighead George
While running away from home and an unwanted marriage, a thirteen-year-old Eskimo girl becomes lost on the North Slope of
Alaska and is befriended by a wolf pack.
BPI - J
MUSIC OF DOLPHINS
by Karen Hesse
After rescuing an adolescent girl from the sea, researchers learn she has been raised by dolphins and attempt to rehabilitate her to the human world.
BSA and BAU – Teen Area BBC - J
THE NIGHT THE WHITE DEER DIED
by Gary Paulsen
A teenage girl and an Indian warrior are brought together by the same haunting dream, that of a white doe.
BSS, BSA, BAU, BBC and BPI – Teen Area
REDWALL
by Brian Jacques
When the peaceful life of ancient Redwall Abbey is shattered by the arrival of the evil rat Cluny and his villainous hordes, Matthias, a young mouse, determines to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior which, he is convinced, will help Redwall's inhabitants destroy the enemy. BSA, BAU, BBC and BPI – Teen Area
Mossflower
BSA, BAU, BBC and BPI – Teen Area
Mattimeo
BSA, BAU and BBC – Teen Area
Mariel of Redwall
BSA, BAU, BBC and BPI – Teen Area
Salamandastron
BSA, BAU, BBC and BPI – Teen Area
Martin the Warrior
BAU, BBC and BPI – Teen Area
The Bellmaker
BAU, BBC and BPI – Teen Area
Outcasts of Redwall
BSA, BAU, BBC and BPI – Teen Area
The Pearls of Lutra
BSA, BAU, BBC and BPI – Teen Area
The Long Patrol
BSA, BAU, BBC and BPI – Teen Area
Marlfox
BSA, BAU, BBC and BPI – Teen Area
The Legend of Luke
BSA, BAU, BBC and BPI - Teen Area
Lord Brocktree
BSA, BAU, BBC and BPI – Teen Area
The Taggerung
BSA, BAU, BBC and BPI - Teen Area
Triss
BSS, BSA, BAU, BBC and BPI - Teen Area
Loamhedge
BBC an BPI - Teen Area
Rakkety Tam
BBC - Teen Area BPI - SciFi
High Rhulain
BSA and BBC - Teen Area
STRAYDOG
by Kathe Koja
Rachel, a teenager with a healthy dose of both aptitude and attitude, begins to feel at home volunteering at an animal
shelter.
BSA and BBC - Teen Area
TAILCHASER’S SONG
by Tad Williams
A ginger tomcat of rare courage and curiosity, embarks on a quest to rescue his cat friend, Hushpad.
BAU, BBC and BPI - Fiction THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX: BEING THE STORY OF A MOUSE, A PRINCESS, SOME SOUP & A SPOOL OF THREAD
by Kate DeCamillo
The adventures of Desperaux Tilling, a small mouse of unusual talents, the princess that he loves, the servant girl who longs
to be a princess, and a devious rat determined to bring them all to ruin.
BSS, BSA, BAU, BBC and BPI - J
TEX
by S.E. Hinton
The love between two teenage brothers helps to alleviate the harshness of their usually parentless life as they struggle to grow up. His older brother Mace sold their horses to pay for expenses, but Tex swore nothing would stop him from getting his horse Negrito back.
BSA – Teen Area
WATERSHIP DOWN
by Richard Adams
Chronicles the adventures of a group of rabbits searching for a safe place to establish a new warren where they can live in peace.
BBC – Teen Area BSS and BPI - Fiction
WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS
by Wilson Rawls
A young boy living in the Ozarks achieves his heart's desire when he becomes the owner of two redbone hounds and teaches
them to be champion hunters.
BAU and BBC – Teen Area BSA - J
THE WILD ROAD
by Gabriel King
Secure in a world of privilege and comfort, the kitten Tag is happy as a pampered house pet--until the dreams come.
Dreams that pour into his safe, snug world from the wise old cat Majicou: hazy images of travel along the magical highways
of the animals, of a mission, and of a terrible responsibility that will fall on young Tag.
BSA and BPI – Science Fiction
YAXLEY’S CAT
by Robert Westall
After Yaxley disappears, the inhabitants of an English village fear that his ugly old cat will uncover the truth
about the secret they are hiding.
BBK and BAU – Teen Area
BSS - South Side Branch Library
BSA - Sage Branch Library
BBK - Bookmobile
BAU - Auburn Area Branch Library
BBC - Bay City Branch Library
BPI - Pinconning Branch Library

SPORTS FICTION

ATHLETIC SHORTS
by Chris Crutcher
A collection of short stories featuring characters from earlier books by Chris Crutcher.
BSS, BAU and BBC - Teen Area
BAT 6
by Virginia Euwer Wolff
In small town, post-World War Oregon, twenty-one 6th grade girls recount the story of an annual softball game, during which one girl's bigotry comes to the surface.
BBC - Teen Area BSA and BPI - J
BLACK AND WHITE
by Paul Volponi
Two star high school basketball players, one black and one white, experience the justice system differently after committing a crime together and getting caught.
BBC - Teen Area
THE BRAVE
by Robert Lipsyte
The sequel to The Contender. Having left the Indian reservation for the streets of New York, seventeen-year-old boxer Sonny Bear tries to harness his inner rage by training with Alfred Brooks, who has left the sport to become a policeman.
BSA, BAU BBC and BPI - Teen Area
BULL CATCHER
by Alden R. Carter
Pete and Jeff continue their friendship and love of baseball as they progress from ninth grade through high school in their
small Wisconsin town.
BSA, BBC and BPI - Teen Area
THE CONTENDER
by Robert Lipsyte
A Harlem high school dropout escapes from a gang of punks into a boxing gym, where he learns that being a contender is
hard and often discouraging work, but that you don't know anything until you try.
BSA and BBC - Teen Area
DANGER ZONE
David Klass
When he joins a predominantly black "Teen Dream Team" that will be representing the United States in an international
basketball tournament in Rome, Jimmy Doyle makes some unexpected discoveries about prejudice, racism, and politics.
BSA, BBK and BPI
EIGHT SECONDS
by Jean Ferris
Eighteen-year-old John must confront his own sexuality when he goes to rodeo school and finds himself strangely attracted
to an older boy who is smart, tough, complicated, gorgeous, and gay.
BSA - Teen Area
FARM TEAM
by Will Weaver
With his father in jail and his mother working full-time, fourteen-year-old Billy Baggs finds himself in charge of running
the family farm in northern Minnesota and having to give up the thing he loves most--baseball.
BSS, BSA, BAU, BBC and BPI - Teen Area
Billy's story continues in the following two books:
STRIKING OUT - BSA and BBC - Teen Area
HARD BALL - BSS, BSA and BBC - Teen Area
FROZEN RODEO
by Catherine Clark
High-school junior Peggy Fleming Farrell finds herself without a car, working at the Gas 'n Git, and fantasizing about a boyfriend during the hot summer her distracted parents are expecting yet another baby to join their ice-skating family.
BSS, BSA, BAU and BBC - Teen Area
HEAD ABOVE WATER
by S.L. Rotten
Sky, a high school junior, tries to find the time for both family obligations and personal interests, which include caring for her brother who has Down's Syndrome, dating her first boyfriend, and swimming competitively.
BSS, BSA, BAU and BBC - Teen Area
HEART OF A CHAMPION
by Carl Decker
Seth faces a strain on his friendship with Jimmy, who is both a baseball champion and something of an irresponsible fool, when
Jimmy is kicked off the team.
BSA, BAU and BBC - Teen Area
HOOPS
by Walter Dean Dyers
A teenage basketball player from Harlem is befriended by a former professional player who, after being forced to quit because of a point shaving scandal, hopes to prevent other young athletes from repeating his mistake.
BSS, BAU and BBC - Teen Area
ICEMAN
by Chris Lynch
Fourteen-year-old Eric, a ruthless hockey player prone to violence on the ice, tries to reconcile his own needs with those of his parents.
BBK - Teen Area
IN LANE THREE, ALEX ARCHER
by Tessera Udder
Sixteenyearold Alex struggles to overcome personal trauma and hardship as she competes with her arch rival for a place on the New Zealand swimming team participating in the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.
BSA and BAU - Teen Area
IRONMAN
by Chris Crutcher
While training for a triathlon, seventeen-year-old Bo attends an anger management group at school which leads him to examine his relationship with his father.
BSS, BSA, BAU, BBC and BPI - Teen Area
JUMP BALL
by Mel Glenn
Tells the story of a high school basketball team's season through a series of poems reflecting the feelings of students, their families, teachers, and coaches.
BSS and BBC - YA 811.54 Glenn
KEEPER
by Peet Mal
In an interview with a young journalist, World Cup Hero, El Gato, describes his youth in the Brazilian rain forest
and the events, experiences and people that helped make him a great goalkeeper and renowned soccer keeper.
BBC - Teen Area
LAST SHOT: A FINAL FOUR MYSTERY
by John Feinstein
After winning a basketball reporting contest, eight graders Stevie and Susan Carol are sent to cover the Final Four
tournament, where they discover that a talented player is being blackmailed into throwing the final game.
BBC and BPI - Teen Area
THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER
by Alan Sillitoe
A teenager held in an English reformatory turns out to be a champion runner with a chance to win the trophy for his team; but
as he trains, he plans a perfect way to defy those in power.
BBC - Teen Area
THE MOVES MAKE THE MAN
by Bruce Brooks
Brilliant Jerome Foxworthy knows the moves you need to survive in basketball and with people, but his fragile white friend Bix will learn only the athletic skills of the game, refuses to learn the fake moves.
BAU - Teen Area
THE NATURAL
by Bernard Malamud
An overage baseball player comes out of seemingly nowhere to become a legendary player with almost divine talent.
BSA - Fiction
NECESSARY ROUGHNESS
by Marie G. Lee
Sixteen-year-old Korean American Chan moves from Los Angeles to a small town in Minnesota, where he must cope not only with racism on the football team but also with the tensions in his relationship with his strict father.
BSA and BBC - Teen Area
ON THE DEVIL'S COURT
by Carl Deuker
Struggling with his feelings of inadequacy and his failure to make the basketball team in his new school, seventeen-year-old
Joe Faust finds himself willing to trade his soul for one perfect season of basketball.
BSA - Teen Area
OUTSIDE SHOT
by Walter Dean Myers
The sequel to Hoops. Recruited by a small midwestern college to play basketball, a Harlem boy has many new experiences,
including working with a child who needs physical therapy and dealing with corruption in college sports.
BBK - Teen Area
PAINTING THE BLACK
by Carl Deuker
When star athlete Josh Daniels moves in across the street, Remy Ward doesn't realize how much his life will change during his senior year at Seattle's Crown Hill High.
BBC and BPI - Teen Area
PINNED
by Alfred Martino
Dealing with family problesm, girls and their own competitive nature, high school seniors Ivan Korske and Bobby Zane face each other in the final match of the New Jersey State Wrestling Championship.
BBC - Teen Area
PLAYING WITHOUT THE BALL
by Rich Wallace
Feeling abandoned by his parents, who have gone their separate ways and left him behind in a small Pennsylvania town, seventeen-year-old Jay finds hope for the future in a church sponsored basketball team.
BSA, BAU, BBC and BPI - Teen Area
THE RUNNER
by Cynthia Voigt
As a dedicated runner, a teenage boy has always managed to distance himself from other people until the experience of
coaching one of his teammates on the track team gradually helps him see the value of giving and receiving.
BSA, BAUand BBC - Teen Area
RUNNING LOOSE
by Chris Crutcher
Louie, a high school senior in a small Idaho town, learns about sportsmanship, love, and death as he matures into manhood.
BSA and BAU - Teen Area
SAFE AT SECOND
by Scott Johnson
Paulie Lockwood's best friend Todd Bannister is destined for the major leagues until a line drive to the head causes him to lose an eye and they both must find a new future for themselves.
BSA - Teen Area
SHADOW BOXER
by Chris Lynch
After their father dies of boxing injuries, George is determined to prevent his younger brother, who sees boxing as his legacy,
from pursuing a career in the sport.
BAU - J
SHOTS ON GOAL
by Rich Wallace
While pursuing his goal of helping his soccer team win the league championship, fifteen-year-old Bones tries to deal with his resentment of his best friend, on whose girlfriend he has a crush.
BBC - Teen Area
SLAM!
by Walter Dean Myers
Sixteen-year-old "Slam" Harris is counting on his noteworthy basketball talents to get him out of the inner city and give him
a chance to succeed in life, but his coach sees things differently.
BSA, BAU and BBC - Teen Area
THE SQUARED CIRCLE
by James Bennett
Sonny, a university freshman and star basketball player, finds that the pressures of college life, NCAA competition, and an unsettling relationship with his feminist cousin bring up painful memories that he must face before he can decide what is important in his life.
BSA and BPI - Teen Area
STAYING FAT FOR SARAH BYRNE
by Chris Crutcher
The daily class discussions about the nature of man, the existence of God, abortion, organized religion, suicide and other contemporary issues serve as a backdrop for a high-school senior's attempt to answer a friend's dramatic cry for help.
BSA and BBC - Teen Area
STOTAN!
by Chris Crutcher
A high school coach invites members of his swimming team to a memorable week of rigorous training that tests their moral fiber as well as their physical stamina.
BSA, BAU and BBC - Teen Area
TANGERINE
by Edward Bloor
Twelve-year-old Paul, who lives in the shadow of his football hero brother Erik, fights for the right to play soccer despite
his near blindness and slowly begins to remember the incident that damaged his eyesight.
BSS, BSA, BAU, BBC and BPI - Teen Area
THERE'S A GIRL IN MY HAMMERLOCK
by Jerry Spinnelli
Thirteen-year-old Maisie joins her school's formerly all-male wrestling team and tries to last through the season, despite opposition from other students, her best friend, and her own teammates.
BSS, BSA, BBK, BAU, BBC and BPI - Teen Area
WARRIOR ANGEL
by Robert Lipsyte
Native American boxer of the Moscondaga Nation, Sonny Bear must fight to retain his heavyweight championship title.
BSA - Teen Area
WHISTLING TOILETS
by Randy Powell
While coaching tennis for a group of inner city "runts" as well as for his friend Ginny, a star player, sixteen-year-old Stan grows in understanding himself and others.
BBC - Teen Area
WRESTLING STURBRIDGE
by Rich Wallace
Stuck in a small town where no one ever leaves and relegated by his wrestling coach to sit on the bench while his best friend becomes state champion, Ben decides he can't let his last high school wrestling season slip by without challenging his friend and the future.
BSA and BBC - Teen Area
WRESTLING WITH HONOR
by David Klass
Champion high school wrestler Ron Woods faces a soul-searching season when he refuses to retake a mandatory drug test he has
failed. This decision affects every area of his life, including his feelings about his father, who died in Vietnam, and his first tentative romance.
BPI - Teen Area
BSS - South Side Branch Library
BSA - Sage Branch Library
BBK - Bookmobile
BAU - Auburn Area Branch Library
BBC - BAy City Branch Library
BPI - Pinconning Branch Library

Realistic Fiction

GROWING UP IS HARD TO DO

Movies Made from Books