Special Collections

High Interest Y. A. Novels

Description: High Interest, Low Vocabulary books are for teenagers looking to advance their reading capabilities. Perfect for emerging teen readers. #teens


Showing 201 through 225 of 375 results

Never to be Told

by Becky Citra

Asia has lived with elderly Ira and his wife Maddy on their farm for as long as she can remember. When Ira has a heart attack Asia's world is turned upside down. Faced with the possibility of losing the only family she has ever known, Asia is frightened but fascinated by the appearance of a ghost that only she can see and hear.

Date Added: 05/25/2017


New Blood

by Peter Mcphee

An edgy yet moving account of violence, bullying, recovery, and hope.

Date Added: 05/25/2017


Nightwalker

by K. V. Johansen

In this otherworld fantasy, Maurey receives hints of his true ancestry and must flee for the land of the Nightwalkers or burn in the philosophers' fire.

Date Added: 05/25/2017


Nine Doors

by Vicki Grant

When Richard suggests a game of "Nicky Nicky Nine Doors," Emery can't come up with a good excuse not to play. Emery's neighbor, Richard, is the kind of kid who gets under your skin. Using chocolate bars as "stunt poo," the boys start playing the classic prank of the burning bag on the doorstep, but this game has a modern twist. They record their neighbors' reactions. The naked guy and the man in the apron are highly entertaining, but Emery starts to get cold feet when another neighbor is reduced to tears. Emery wants out, but he's not sure how to stop the game without losing face. Soon the game gets serious, and Emery has a lot more to worry about than his reputation. This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for middle-grade readers who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don’t like to read! The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

Date Added: 05/25/2017


No Contact

by Sandra Diersch

If only Debbie's adoptive mother, Angie, could be more like Debbie's hockey coach. Coach Steph loves hockey, while Debbie's mother plays the piano and does yoga, two things that Debbie definitely doesn't understand.

Date Added: 05/25/2017


No More Pranks

by Monique Polak

Pete's pranks have gotten him in plenty of trouble, but they might be the only way to bring justice to a seaside town. Pete likes to play pranks. It doesn't matter what it is as long as it gets a laugh. When he impersonates his vice-principal on a radio call-in show, he goes too far and is suspended from school. Pete's parents send him to spend the summer working with his uncle, a whale-watching guide in a tourist town far from the city. When a whale is injured by a reckless tour guide, Pete struggles to save the animal. Then Pete has to pull the most important prank of his life to bring the guide to justice. The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

Date Added: 05/25/2017


No Problem

by Dayle Campbell Gaetz

Curt seems to have it all: a girlfriend, friends, a good summer job and a guaranteed position on the baseball team with the promise of a professional career. Then, one misstep causes his world to unravel and his life to plummet into the depths of depression and addiction. A bleak yet ultimately hopeful story about one teen's struggle with the pressures of growing up, fitting in and getting by.

Date Added: 05/25/2017


Northern Star

by Lorna Schultz Nicholson

It seems Peter Kuiksak's star just keeps rising. This young hockey hero from the Northwest Territories is the top player in his league, being pursued by agents, and becoming something of a celebrity. But being the centre of attention isn't all it is cracked up to be.

Date Added: 05/25/2017


The Odyssey (An Adapted Classic)

by Homer and Henry I. Christ

The most popular epic of Western culture springs to life in Henry I. Christ's adaptation. Homer's masterpiece tells the story of Odysseus, the ideal Greek hero, as he travels home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. Includes a list of Greek gods and goddesses, and their Roman equivalents, along with suggested activities and an extensive list of reading comprehension questions.

Date Added: 05/25/2017


Off Season

by Eric Walters

Readers of Hoop Crazy will remember Ned as the bug-loving beanpole who lives in an isolated national park out West, three hours from the nearest basketball court. But Ned's participation in the three-on-three tournament when he visited Nick has sparked his interest in the game and now he and his father have built their own basketball court in the wilderness. And Ned's hoop skills have improved considerably. Nick and Kia are just beginning to get the hang of life in the wilderness when disaster strikes. A raging forest fire threatens to destroy Ned's home and cut off their escape.

Date Added: 05/25/2017


Offside!

by Sandra Diersch

Alecia' s Vancouver soccer team, the Burrards, are a good, hard-fighting squad--her teammates are her friends and her coach is her loving step-dad.When Lexi, a new kid, joins the team, her bad attitude makes things fall apart fast. Alecia decides to find out what makes Lexi so difficult, and to hold the team together, on the field and off."Offside! shows how embracing unexpected change can make teams, and players, stronger.

Date Added: 05/25/2017


Off the Wall

by Camilla Reghelini Rivers

Indoor soccer is what Lizzie does best. At school other kids bug her and her teacher thinks she' s a troublemaker, but during a game she feels focused, free. Lately, however, her younger sister Shelby has taken up the game. Shelby' s a nice kid, but she leads a charmed life--she copies everything Lizzie does, then does it better. Soon Shelby is a soccer star and her team is challenging Lizzie' s in tournament play. When the girls are pitted against each other on the field, hurt feelings fuel a brutal competition, with dangerous results. "Off the Wall" shows the difficulty of acknowledging the best qualities in those we love, and in ourselves.

Date Added: 05/25/2017


Oil King Courage

by Sigmund Brouwer

When the Edmonton Oil Kings discover that Reuben Reuben has a hockey game as unforgettable as his name and his Inuit heritage, life changes in a hurry for him and his best friend Gear. A wealthy businessman sponsors a three-on-three pond-hockey tour across the western Arctic, and Reuben and Gear find out more than they ever bargained for about teamwork, about the North and about a dangerous family secret.

Date Added: 03/27/2018


One More Step

by Sheree Fitch

Fourteen-year-old Julian's parents separated when he was a baby and he is still angry and hurt. His mother has had relationships since -- all of which have ended disastrously -- but this time it seems serious. Jean-Paul looks like he might be the real thing. Julian is wary and critical as he comes to terms with the fact that he and his brother may have to let down their defences and allow their mother to find happiness. On a road trip with his mother and her new beau, Julian finds that love and happiness come in many guises. In the end, he realizes that it is not blood that determines true family, but the willingness to stand together.

Date Added: 05/25/2017


On the Game

by Monique Polak

There's nothing more exciting than being young and in love -- especially when the object of your affection is an older guy who showers you with gifts and attention. But when Yolande's new boyfriend, Etienne, asks her to go on a date with another guy, it becomes clear that his love comes at a terrible price. Inspired by true events, On the Game follows one ordinary girl on an extraordinary journey into the dark world of teenage prostitution.

Date Added: 05/25/2017


Out

by Sandra Diersch

After several shocking events, Alex must decide where his loyalties and beliefs lie.

Date Added: 05/25/2017


Out of Bounds

by Sylvia Gunnery

Jay Hirtle plays on the basketball team at Richmond Academy in a small rural Nova Scotian town. The team to beat is Centreville, where star player Mike Murphy is seen as Richmond's number one opponent. After the Hirtle house is destroyed by fire, Jay's family moves in with his grandfather and the kids must switch schools until the end of the school year. Jay has a choice: give up a basketball season, or play alongside his former enemy on the Centreville team.

Date Added: 05/25/2017


Out of Order

by Robin Stevenson

Fifteen-year-old Sophie sees her move to Victoria as a chance to start over and leave her old self behind. She is soon drawn into the orbit of the charismatic but troubled Zelia. As their friendship develops, and Zelia's behavior becomes increasingly self-destructive, Sophie struggles to maintain both the friendship and her own sense of self. Then Sophie meets Max. At first, Max seems to be Zelia's opposite: direct, straightforward and sure of herself. But this new friendship brings its own unexpected challenges and confusion, and Sophie slowly starts to realize that friendships are a place in which one can both lose and discover oneself.

Date Added: 05/25/2017


Out of Sight

by Robert Rayner

Linh-Mai has always admired the acrobatic moves of her soccer teams goalie -- Flyin' Brian. But her admiration becomes concern when an eye disease causes Brian to start losing his vision. She's determined to help Brian keep playing for as long as possible. But as his eyesight continues to deteriorate, it becomes clear that, to be a true friend, Linh-Mai must help Brian accept that some things are going to change.

Date Added: 05/25/2017


Out of Time

by Peter Mcphee

Members of Eileen's tight-knit circle of friends have made a suicide pact. When her best friend's body is discovered, it's a race against time to find another missing teen and prevent another tragedy. Eileen finds an unexpected ally in Ron, one of a gang of bullies at school who always victimized Eileen's group of "losers. " As Eileen and Ron frantically search, the reasons for the pact and its devastating consequences are revealed.

Date Added: 05/25/2017


Out of Tune

by Norah Mcclintock

When Alicia, a talented violinist at Riley Donovan's high school, is found bludgeoned to death in a field on the outskirts of town, suspicion immediately falls on Carrie, the teen's musical rival. But Riley isn't convinced of Carrie's guilt, and even though her police-officer aunt tells her to stay out of it, Riley goes searching for the truth. Did Carrie really kill Alicia in a fit of jealous rage, or is there another explanation for Alicia's death?

Date Added: 03/15/2018


Overdrive

by Eric Walters

A street race ends in a tragic accident. Jake's friends tell him to run, but he doesn't know if he can—or should—run from the truth. Jake has finally got his driver's license, and tonight he has his brother's car as well. He and his friend Mickey take the car out and cruise the strip. When they challenge another driver to a street race, a disastrous chain reaction causes an accident. Jake and Mickey leave the scene, trying to convince themselves they were not involved. Jake finds he cannot pretend it didn't happen and struggles with deciding on the right thing to do. Should he pretend he was not involved? Or should he go to the police? The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

Date Added: 05/25/2017


Pale

by Chris Wooding

The Lazarus Serum can bring you back from the dead - but when you come back you've changed - you're a Pale, an outcast. It's the last thing Jed wants, but an accident changes everything and Jed's forced to discover the true cost of living forever.

Date Added: 03/27/2018


Paralyzed

by Jeff Rud

Linebacker Reggie Scott is forced to deal with the repercussions of an incident that shakes his belief in the game he loves. When he is persecuted by angry fans for being a "dirty" player, Reggie is forced to confront his own guilt and decide whether he can continue to play his senior season and beyond.

Date Added: 05/25/2017


Payback

by Deb Loughead

This is the fourth story featuring Dylan O'Connor after The Snowball Effect, Caught in the Act, and Rise of the Zombie Scarecrows. Dylan O'Connor is in trouble again. While riding his bike home after dark, he has a run-in with a truck but doesn't give it a second thought until police show up at his door the next day. CCTV cameras put Dylan at the scene of a crime, and when the police question him, Dylan realizes he was an inadvertent witness. But he doesn't tell them the driver of the truck was Jeff Walker, a nasty piece of work. Dylan knows it's in his best interests to keep his mouth shut. Then he starts getting stalked by Jeff's weirdo sidekick, Eliot Barnes, a classmate of Dylan's. Is Eliot trying to protect Dylan, or is he making sure he stays silent? This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for middle-grade readers who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don’t like to read!

Date Added: 03/15/2018



Showing 201 through 225 of 375 results