Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet by Kashmira Sheth

Growing up in a traditional family in Mumbai, India, sixteen-year-old Jeeta was taught that obedience and home-making skills were all that she needed for a happy future.  Her mother is consumed with the problems of arranging marriages for her three daughters and is sure that Jeeta's dark skin and smart mouth will turn off prospective grooms.  Then Jeeta becomes friends with Sarina, whose liberal, educated family and modern ideas open her eyes to other possibilities for her life.  Suddenly, she’s questioning the expectations of her society and her life becomes even more complicated when she falls in love with a mysterious (and forbidden) boy that she meets. Jeeta must now try to find a way to follow her heart without letting her family down and decide whether to respect or rebel against her traditional culture. ...

What books, movies, music and websites does Karly, age 13, recommend?

In the opening scene, Haley is busted riding BMX bikes in empty swimming pools with her goofy guy friends and sent back to gymnastic boot camp as punishment.

Check out these four new romantic getaways from Rachel Hawthorne. Each is full of fun and romance.The only thing you have to decide? Your destination.

Shakespeare’s secret by Elisa Broach is a nominee for the 2007-2008 William Allen White award.

Named after a character in a Shakespeare play, misfit sixth-grader Hero becomes interested in exploring this unusual connection because of a valuable diamond supposedly hidden in her new house, an intriguing neighbor, and the unexpected attention of the most popular boy in school....