Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus

From the Publisher: "In 1841, a Japanese fishing vessel sinks. Its crew is forced to swim to a small, unknown island, where they are rescued by a passing American ship. Japan’s borders remain closed to all Western nations, so the crew sets off to America, learning English on the way. Manjiro, a fourteen-year-old boy, is curious and eager to learn everything he can about this new culture. Eventually the captain adopts Manjiro and takes him to his home in New England. The boy lives for some time in New England, and then heads to San Francisco to pan for gold. After many years, he makes it back to Japan, only to be imprisoned as an outsider. With his hard-won knowledge of the West, Manjiro is in a unique position to persuade the shogun to ease open the boundaries around Japan; he may even achieve his unlikely dream of becoming a samurai."
Publisher: Abrams, 2010, 320 pp.

Chasing Orion by Kathryn Lasky

From the Publisher: "Eleven-year-old Georgie loves science-fiction movies, but she won’t be going to the theater anytime soon. It’s a hot Indiana summer in 1952, and public places from pools to camps are closing to slow the spread of polio. Despite all the headlines, Georgie never thought she’d come as close to the fearful disease as she does when she spies a silver glint in her neighbor’s yard. There she discovers a monstrous, hissing machine, and inside is Phyllis, a girl encased in an iron lung. "I have eighty-seven cubic centimeters of air, but you have the world," Phyllis tells her. Phyllis’s ability to breathe may be limited, but her strength to manipulate is boundless. As Georgie struggles to comprehend this once-gorgeous teenager’s life in a "coffin with legs," Phyllis slowly weaves a web of lies that snare all those around her, including Georgie’s quickly smitten brother. Can Georgie untangle the truth before Phyllis’s deception achieves its inevitable end?"
Publisher: Candlewick, 2010, 368 pp.

This Means War by Ellen Wittlinger

Juliet's longtime best  friend, Lowell has suddenly decided it is uncool to be friends with a girl.  Friendless, Juliet meets Patsy who suggests a series of tests to prove girls are far superior to boys.  Set in 1962 during the thirteen days of the Cuban Missile Crisis. 
Publisher, Simon and Schuster, 2010, 211 pp.

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm

From the Publisher: "Life isn't like the movies, and eleven-year-old Turtle is no Shirley Temple. She's smart and tough and has seen enough of the world not to expect a Hollywood ending. After all, it's 1935, and jobs and money and sometimes even dreams are scarce. So when Turtle's mama gets a job housekeeping for a lady who doesn't like kids, Turtle says goodbye without a tear and heads off to Key West, Florida, to stay with relatives she's never met.  Florida's like nothing Turtle has ever seen. It's hot and strange, full of wild green peeping out between houses, ragtag boy cousins, and secret treasure. Before she knows what's happened, Turtle finds herself coming out of the shell she has spent her life building,..."
 Random House, 2010, 208 pp.

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

From the Publisher: "Eleven-year-old Delphine has it together. Even though her mother, Cecile, abandoned her and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, seven years ago. Even though her father and Big Ma will send them from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to stay with Cecile for the summer. And even though Delphine will have to take care of her sisters, as usual, and learn the truth about the missing pieces of the past. When the girls arrive in Oakland in the summer of 1968, Cecile wants nothing to do with them. She makes them eat Chinese takeout dinners, forbids them to enter her kitchen, and never explains the strange visitors with Afros and black berets who knock on her door. Rather than spend time with them, Cecile sends Delphine
, Vonetta, and Fern to a summer camp sponsored by a revolutionary group, the Black Panthers, where the girls get a radical new education."  
Publisher: HarperCollins, 2010, 218 pp.

Daniel at the Siege of Boston 1776 by Laurie Calkhoven

 From the Publisher: "Twelve-year-old Daniel Prescott cheered when the Sons of Liberty dumped English tea into Boston Harbor. Then King George sent his soldiers to take over Boston and its port. Now Daniel's home is a city under siege. When his father slips away to join the rebels, Daniel works in the family tavern and eavesdrops on Redcoat officers. He soon learns how to slip across British lines and becomes a messenger and spy, bringing vital news of the enemy to his father, and even to General Washington. To do so puts Daniel's life in danger. But, to a Patriot, liberty is well worth any risk."  Publisher: Penguin, 2010, 160 pp.

Willowood by Cecilia Galante

From the Publisher: "There's nothing ten-year-old Lily Sinclair likes about her new life in the city with her single mom. She misses her best friend, who seems to have forgotten her and their secret place, Willowood. She never sees her mom, who's working long hours at her new job. She's managed to make an enemy of the class bully. Mrs. Hiller from across the hall, who takes care of Lily after school, keeps preparing yucky healthy snacks for her. And she can't get her mother to tell her anything about her absent father. Her only source of comfort is her beloved pet gecko, Weemis. Everything changes when Mrs. Hiller introduces Lily to the owner of the Pet Palace, a nearby pet store, and his adult Down's syndrome son, Nate Lily finds herself with an unofficial after school job—and forges a tentative friendship with Nate that's threatened by a dark secret about Nate Lily knows nothing about."
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2010,  272 pp.

Leaving Gee's Bend by Irene Latham

From the Publisher: "Ludelphia Bennett may be blind in one eye, but she can still put in a good stitch. Ludelphia sews all the time, especially when things go wrong. But when Mama goes into labor early and gets deathly ill, it seems like even quilting won't help. That's when Ludelphia decides to do something drastic—leave Gee's Bend for the very first time. Mama needs medicine that can only be found miles away in Camden. But that doesn't stop Ludelphia. She just puts one foot in front of the other. What ensues is a wonderful, riveting and sometimes dangerous adventure. Ludelphia weathers each challenge in a way that would make her mother proud, and ends up saving the day for her entire town.  Set in 1932 and inspired by the rich quilting history of Gee's Bend, Alabama, Leaving Gee's Bend is a delightful, satisfying story of a young girl facing a brave new world."  Publisher: Penguin, 2010, 240 pp.