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.

Center Field by Robert Lipsyte

From the Publisher: "Mike has his junior year well under control. He's got a solid group of friends. He's dating Lori, one of the hottest girls in school. And Coach Cody has all but given him the starting spot as the Ridgedale Rangers' varsity center fielder. And then Oscar Ramirez shows up. Oscar is an amazing ballplayer, as talented at the plate as he is in center field, and it's not long before Mike loses control. He's on the bench, he's getting into fights, and he finds himself in weekend detention with Katherine Herold, the most mysterious, abrasive, alluring girl in school. Mike is lost, confused, and looking to Coach Cody to help him get back on track. But the coach has his own set of rules for Mike to play by, and the decisions Mike makes are going to impact more than just the starting lineup."
Publisher: HarperCollins, 2010, 280 pp.

The Best Horse Ever by Alice DeLaCroix

From the Publisher: "For Abby, it's a dream come true. She's finally going to have her very own horse: Griffin, a beautiful bay. Abby can't wait to ride, brush, and feed him, and doesn't understand how her best friend, Devon, could be afraid of such a wonderful horse. She certainly could not have guessed that Devon would get so mad at her for saying so. Yet when Griffin arrives, he does seem so awfully big and hard to handle. Can Abby learn to manage her horse and her friendship? "
Publisher: Holiday House, 2010, 80 pp.

Keeper by Kathi Appelt

From the Publisher: "To ten-year-old Keeper, this moon is her chance to fix all that has gone wrong...and so much has gone wrong. But she knows who can make things right again: Meggie Marie, her mermaid mother who swam away when Keeper was just three. A blue moon calls the mermaids to gather at the sandbar, and that's exactly where she is headed — in a small boat, in the middle of the night, with only her dog, BD (Best Dog), and a seagull named Captain. When the riptide pulls at the boat, tugging her away from the shore and deep into the rough waters of the Gulf of Mexico, panic sets in, and the fairy tales that lured her out there go tumbling into the waves. Maybe the blue moon isn't magic and maybe the sandbar won't sparkle with mermaids."
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2010, 399 pp.

The Wide-Awake Princess by E.D. Baker

From the Publisher: "Princess Annie is the younger sister to Gwen, the princess destined to be Sleeping Beauty. When Gwennie pricks her finger and the whole castle falls asleep, only Annie is awake, and only Annie—blessed (or cursed?) with being impervious to magic—can venture out beyond the rose-covered hedge for help. She must find Gwen’s true love to kiss her awake. Joined by one of her father’s guards, Liam, who happened to be out of the castle when the sleeping spell struck, Annie travels through a fairy tale land populated with characters both familiar and new as she tries to fix her sister and her family . . . and perhaps even find a true love of her own."

Publisher: Bloomsbury, 2010, 272 pp.

The Popularity Papers by Amy Ignatow

"Research for the Social Improvement and General Betterment
of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Cheng."  The two girls reveal their findings in journal entries that are colorful and interesting.
Publisher: Abrams, 2010, 208 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.

Justin Case: School, Drool, and other Daily Disasters by Rachel Vail

With plenty of humor,worrywart Justin Krzeszewski, nicknamed Justin Case, shares the trails and good fortune of his year in third grade.  Written in diary format and generously peppered throughout with Matthew Cordell's sketches.Publisher: Feiwel & Friends, 2010, 256 pp.

Henrietta Hornbuckle's Circus of Life by Michael de Guzman

From the Publisher: "As far as twelve-year-old Henrietta Hornbuckle is concerned, she has the best existence on the planet.  She is a clown in a small traveling circus.  Everyone she knows, including her parents, are clowns.  What Henrietta doesn't know is that this summer big  changes are waiting in the wings."
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2010, 160 pp.