Burn by Suzanne Phillips

Cameron Grady is a freshman in high school, has long hair and likes to run. He isn't a big guy, so when he and his mom are late to a sports meeting one evening the coach at the microphone mistakes him for a girl. The bullies of the football team pick up on it and a living hell ensues for Cameron at school thereafter. He is called Cameron Diaz and is physically and emotionally hazed on a daily basis. One other boy is equally targeted by the bullies. The other boy happens to be a witness to a horrible attack on Cameron one day. That event changes both of their lives. How much can one person take? How do they deal with the pain? Who knows? Who helps? What is the end result?
This is an intense story and as such is not for everyone...

Black Cat (vol.1) The Man Called Black Cat by Kentaro Yabuki

Train used to be known as the Black Cat when he worked for Chronos. He arranged his death two years ago to leave that life and is now a Sweeper, or bounty hunter. He works with a partner, Sven. The two of them find targets to hunt down, capture, and turn in for cash. When a notorious young woman thief, Rinslet Walker, confronts Train and Sven to ask for their assistance, they don't want to help at first. Then they realize they will only have to do what they always do as Sweepers. Train goes in alone unknown to Sven and discovers their target is creating the ultimate weapon, which is what Ms. Walker wants to steal.

Jake, Reinvented by Gordon Korman

Jake Garrett, new senior at F. Scott Fitzgerald High School, appears to have it all. He lands the position as long-snapper on the varsity football team, dresses right, looks right, and is a great student. He is the guy every girl wants and every guy wants to be like. After football games he throws "the" parties everyone wants to go to. Booze flows, rooms rock with anything and everything, and no parents are around to slow the action. Jake only has eyes for quarterback Todd Buckley's girlfriend, Didi. The kicker, Rick, is our narrator. He shows the progression of friendly and focused Jake, through the end to martyr Jake. Was Jake Garrett playing a role? Why? To what end? Does he get what he wants?

Blood Promise: a Vampire Academy Novel by Richelle Mead

Rose Hathaway is a dhampir (half human, half vampire) assigned to guardian her best friend Moroi Lissa Dragomir (mortal vampire), but she must honor a wish her love, Dimitri Belikov, made over a year before. He has recently been turned from a damphir into a Strigoi. Strigoi are evil immortal vampires. Dimitri did not want to live this way, so Rose leaves St. Vladimir's Academy and Lissa to find Dimitri and kill him for good. Will she find him? He was stronger and faster than her before he was Strigoi. Will she kill him? Or will he kill her, or worse, turn her as well.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

It is after the Second Civil War which was fought over the right to life. The compromise which people live by afterward was that no child could be terminated prior to being born, but between ages thirteen and eighteen, for any cause, parents could have their child "unwound." All of their body parts would be used to mend the living, so they would still be alive and productive members of society. Connor, a teen with an edge, crossed the line for the last time and his parents signed his unwinding papers. Connor runs away and along the way meets Risa and Levi. Risa is a ward of the state and an accomplished musician, but not good enough. They can't afford her any longer, so she is to be unwound as well. Lev is the tenth child of a religious family. He was always destined to be unwound. In his escape, Connor kidnaps Lev who was going to be unwound willingly. Follow their journey as Connor and Risa attempt to find a place to stay safe until they are eighteen.

The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon

Sam (14) and Stick (17) are brothers living through the racial unrest that was 1968 Chicago. Their father is a civil rights activist who works closely with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. leading peaceful demonstrations. Older brother Stick takes a different road becoming involved with the Black Panthers after one of his friends is badly beaten by white policemen and then accused of attacking them. This book is Sam's journey to self-determination. He loves and respects his father and his brother. Which path will he choose?
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The Ruby Key by Holly Lisle

Genna (14) and her brother Dan (12) are humans. Humans are only allowed to roam and work in the daylight. There is an agreement. There is an offering. The nightlings are the only creatures allowed to roam at night. But Genna and Dan's father is presumed dead, their mother is ill and their Uncle Banris is trying to marry her for his own gain. They go out at night to drain healing sap from a taandu tree for their mother and meet a nightling who talks them into coming with her. Underground where the nightlings live, they meet and are forced to make a bargain with the kai-lord to find and deliver up another nightling. So, their quest begins with the company of a talking cat and the nightling they first met. Will they find the one they seek in time? Will the kai-lord keep his word? Will Banris get what he wants? Time will tell, and it is running out.

The Mediator: Shadowland by Meg Cabot

Suze has moved from New York City to Carmel, California, because her mother just remarried a really nice man who happens to have three sons, Sleepy, Dopey and Doc, as Suze affectionately thinks of them. They live in a 19th century boardinghouse, which is not good for Suze, because she can see ghosts. She is a mediator, a living person whose job it is to help the dead let go and cross over. No one knows she can do this. And no one except Suze knows about the sexy ghost who says her room is his.... At her new private Catholic school Suze is confronted with the ghost of the girl whose place she now occcupies, and it isn't pretty.

Tears of a Tiger by Sharon M. Draper

Basketball captain and star center, Rob, is out after the game with three of his friends. Unfortunately, alcohol and cars don't mix and Rob is the only one who doesn't survive. Andy can't shake the guilt of being the driver that fateful night. He tries. He continues with basketball, moving to center and captain. He visits regularly with a psychologist. He has a great girlfriend who is always there to help him feel better when no one else can. But is all of this enough? What will it take for Andy to get past the guilt?