Animal/Human Relationships
Black horses for the king by Anne McCaffrey(1996)Galwyn, son of a Roman Celt, escapes from his tyrannical uncle and joins Lord Artos, later know as King Arthur, using his talent with languages and way with horses to help secure and care for the Libyan horses that Artos hopes to use in battle against the Saxons.
California Blue by David Klass(1994)When seventeen-year-old John Rodgers discovers a new sub-species of butterfly which may necessitate closing the mill where his dying father works, they find themselves on opposite sides of the environmental conflict.
The call of the wild by Jack London(1990)This is the story of Buck, a dog abducted from his home and thrust into the merciless world of an Arctic north consumed by a quest for gold.
The cry of the crow : a novel by Jean Craighead George(1980)While caring for a baby crow, Mandy begins to look at her family and herself in a different light.
A fast and brutal wing by Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson(2004)A series of journal entries, emails, stories, and newspaper articles reveals the strange events that led to the disappearance of a reclusive author on Halloween night and the involvement of a teenager and his friends--a brother and sister some say can transform into animals and back again.
Ghost boy by Iain Lawrence(2000)Unhappy in a home seemingly devoid of love, a fourteen-year-old albino boy who thinks of himself as Harold the Ghost runs away to join the circus, where he works with the elephants and searches for a sense of who he is.
Hoot by Carl Hiaasen(2002)Roy, who is new to his small Florida community, becomes involved in another boy's attempt to save a colony of burrowing owls from a proposed construction site. From the bestselling mystery novelish comes this story for younger readers. New to Florida, Roy is on the school bus when he spots the running boy--running away from the bus, carrying no books or wearing no shoes. Sensing a mystery, Roy sets himself on the boy's trail, which leads him to potty-trained alligators, a fake-fart champion, and a renegade eco-avenger.
The hostage by Theodore Taylor(1987)Fourteen-year-old Jamie has second thoughts about harboring a killer whale that his father and he captured off the coast of Vancouver, British Columbia and plan to sell to a sea amusement park.
Syndetics
Julie of the wolves by Jean Craighead George(1972)While running away from home and an unwanted marriage, a thirteen-year-old Eskimo girl becomes lost on the North Slope of Alaska and is befriended by a wolf pack.
Kite by Melvin Burgess(2000)Although the landowner for whom his father works as a gamekeeper hates all birds of prey, Taylor and his friend raise an endangered red kite in secret.
Straydog by Kathe Koja(2002)Rachel, a teenager with a healthy dose of both aptitude and attitude, begins to feel at home volunteering at an animal shelter.
Summer hawk by Deborah Savage(1999)When her rescue of a baby hawk takes fifteen-year-old Taylor to a raptor rehabilitation center in rural Pennsylvania, their offer of a summer public relations job seems a step toward her dream of becoming a journalist.
Taming the star runner by S.E. Hinton(1988)Sent to live with his uncle after a violent confrontation with his stepfather, sixteen-year-old Travis, an aspiring writer, finds life in a small Oklahoma town confining until he meets an eighteen-year-old horse trainer named Casey.
To race a dream by Deborah Savage(1994)In 1906, fifteen-year-old Theodora disguises herself as a boy to pursue her dream of becoming a race horse driver.
Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen(2001)After his anger erupts into violence, Cole, in order to avoid going to prison, agrees to participate in a sentencing alternative based on the native American Circle Justice, and he is sent to a remote Alaskan Island where an encounter with a huge Spirit Bear changes his life. This gripping, graphic survival story from an award-winning writer paints an unsparing picture of one violent teen and offers a poignant testimony to the power of pain that can destroy and may also heal.
The weirdo by Theodore Taylor(1991)Seventeen-year-old Chip Clewt fights to save the black bears in the Powhaten National Wildlife Refuge.
Whalesinger by Welwyn Wilton Katz(1990)A scientific field trip on the California coast, near the possible site of a sunken treasure ship from Francis Drake's expedition, brings together two teenagers, an emotionally isolated boy and a girl who is discovering she shares an empathic bond with two gray whales in the area.
Where the red fern grows : the story of two dogs and a boy. by Wilson Rawls(1961)A young boy living in the Ozarks achieves his heart's desire when he becomes the owner of two redbone hounds and teaches them to be champion hunters.
The yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings(1938)A young boy living in the Florida backwoods is forced to decide the fate of a fawn he has lovingly raised as a pet.
Animal/Human Relationships - Series
DJ's challenge by Lauraine Snelling(1995)Book 2 high Hurdles Series
A new job for her mother and a possible move to another city threaten to part DJ from her horse.
Eagle's wings by Lauraine Snelling(1991)Book 2 in Golden Filly Series
Because her father is ill, without telling her parents, horse-loving Trish earns money after school at the race track, where trouble begins when one of her mounts is in a mysterious accident.
Olympic dreams by Lauraine Snelling(1995)Book 1 in High Hurdles Series
Thirteen-year-old DJ needs God's help in achieving her dream of getting a horse and competing as a show jumper in the Olympics.
The race by Lauraine Snelling(1990)Book 1 of Golden Filly Series
Tricia learns to trust in God as she deals with the problems of her father's serious illness and her mother's disapproval of Tricia's involvement with horse racing.
Animals that Speak
The amazing Maurice and his educated rodents by Terry Pratchett(2001)A talking cat, intelligent rats, and a strange boy cooperate in a Pied Piper scam until they try to con the wrong town and are confronted by a deadly evil rat king.
Animal farm : a fairy story by George Orwell(1946)"Animal Farm" is the most famous by far of all twentieth-century political allegories. Its account of a group of barnyard animals who revolt against their vicious human master, only to submit to a tyranny erected by their own kind, can fairly be said to have become a universal drama. Orwell is one of the very few modern satirists comparable to Jonathan Swift in power, artistry, and moral authority; in animal farm his spare prose and the logic of his dark comedy brilliantly highlight his stark message. Taking as his starting point the betrayed promise of the Russian Revolution, Orwell lays out a vision that, in its bitter wisdom, gives us the clearest understanding we possess of the possible consequences of our social and political acts.
Syndetics
The chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis(1954)Tells the tales of Narnia, a magical, fantastic place where good and evil battle, children have adventures as kings and queens, and beasts and creatures can talk.
Fell by David Clement-Davies(2007)In Transylvania during the Middle Ages, Fell, a lone wolf with unusual abilities, learns that his destiny is entwined with that of one human, fifteen-year-old Alina, whose mysterious origins have villagers believing she is a changeling.
The good dog by Avi(2001)McKinley, a malamute, is torn between the domestic world of his human family and the wild world of Lupin, a wolf that is trying to recruit dogs to replenish the dwindling wolf pack.
The sight by David Clement-Davies(2007)In Transylvania during the Middle Ages, a pack of wolves sets out on a perilous journey to prevent their enemy--an embittered lone wolf named Morgra--from calling upon the legendary Evil One that will give her the power to control all animals.
A taste for rabbit by Linda Zuckerman(2007)Quentin, a rabbit who lives in a walled compound run by a militaristic government, must join forces with Harry, a fox, to stop the sinister disappearances of outspoken and rebellious rabbit citizens.
White Fang by Jack London(1934)In the desolate, frozen wilds of north-west Canada, a wolf-cub soon finds himself the sole survivor of the litter. Son of Kiche - half-wolf, half-dog - and the ageing wolf One Eye, he is thrust into a savage world where each day becomes a fight to stay alive.
Animals that Speak - Series
The amber spyglass by Philip Pullman(2000)Book 3 in His Dark Materials Series
Lyra and Will find themselves at the center of a battle between the forces of the Authority and those gathered by Lyra's father, Lord Asriel.
The capture by Kathryn Lasky(2003)Book 1 of The Guardians of Ga'Hoole Series
The reader is introduced to Soren, a barn owl and the centerpiece of the series. When Soren is pushed from his family's nest by his older brother, he is rescued from certain death on the forest floor by agents from a mysterious school for orphaned owls, St. Aggie's. When Soren arrives at St. Aggie's, he suspects there is more to the school than meets the eye. He and his new friend, the clever and scrappy Gylfie, find out that St. Aggie's is actually a training camp where the school's leader can groom young owls to help achieve her goal.
The chase by Zizou Corder(2004)Book 2 in Lionboy Series
After saving the lions from evil Maccomo, Charlie, a boy with the ability to speak the language of cats, goes to Venice to search for his parents and solve the mystery of their kidnapping with help from Bulgarian King Boris.
Dawn by Erin Hunter(2006)Book 3 in The New Prophecy Series
The questing cats return to a forest devastated by the Twolegs, where they must find a way to convince their Clans to leave in search of a new home, even though they have no idea where they are going.
The golden compass by Philip Pullman(1995)Book 1 in His Dark Materials Series
Accompanied by her daemon, Lyra Belacqua sets out to prevent her best friend and other kidnapped children from becoming the subject of gruesome experiments in the Far North
The Journey by Kathryn Lasky(2003)Book 2 in The Guardians of Ga'Hoole Series
It began as a dream, a quest for the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, a mythic place where each night an order of owls rises to perform noble deeds. There Soren, Gylfie, Twilight, and Digger hope to find inspiration to fight the evil that dwells in the owl kingdom.
Lion boy by Zizou Corder(2004)Book 1 of Lionboy Series
In the near future, Charlie Ashanti, a boy who can speak the language of cats, sets out from London to find his kidnapped parents and finds himself on a Paris-bound circus ship learning to train lions.
Mattimeo by Brian Jacques(1990)Book 3 of Redwall Series
Mattimeo, the son of the warrior mouse Matthias, learns to take up the sword and joins the other animal inhabitants of Redwall Abbey in resisting Slagar the fox and his band of marauders. Sequel to "Redwall."
Midnight by Erin Hunter(2005)Book 1 in The New Prophecy Series
Called by StarClan to fulfill a new prophecy, a group of young cats sets out on a long and dangerous journey, knowing only that trouble threatens the forest, as the adventures of the warrior clans continue.
The Mob by Clem Martini(2004)Book 1 in Feather and Bone Series
Drawing on Native American myths, this first book in a trilogy introduces the Kinaars, a family of crows facing troubled times. When the family converges for the annual Gathering, a mob mounts a revenge attack on a cat with disastrous consequences. Illustrations.Syndetics
Moonrise by Erin Hunter(2005)Book 2 in The New prophecy Series
As they journey home to warn their clans of the coming destruction, the six cats, guided by StarClan's prophecy, meet an unfamilar tribe of cats with their own set of beliefs--and their own mysterious prophecy.
Mossflower by Brian Jacques(1988)Book 2 in Redwall Series
Martin the warrior mouse and Gonff the mousethief set out to find the missing ruler of Mossflower, while the other animal inhabitants of the woodland prepare to rebel against the evil wildcat who has seized power.
The plague by Clem Martini(2005)Book 2 in Feather and Bone Series
Redwall by Brian Jacques(1986)Book 1 in Redwall Series
When the peaceful life of ancient Redwall Abbey is shattered by the arrival of the evil rat Cluny and his villainous hordes, Matthias, a young mouse, determines to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior which, he is convinced, will help Redwall's inhabitants destroy the enemy.
The subtle knife by Philip Pullman(2003)Book 2 in His Dark Materials Series
Lyra finds herself in a shimmering, haunted underworld-Citt̉gazze, where soul-eating Specters stalk the streets and wingbeats of distant angels sound against the sky. But she is not without allies: 12-year-old Will Parry, fleeing for his life after taking another's, has also stumbled into this strange new realm. On a perilous journey from world to world, Lyra and Will discover an object of devastating power. And with every step, they move closer to an even greater threat-and the shattering truth of their own destiny.
The truth by Zizou Corder(2005)Book 3 in Lionboy Series
The exciting "New York Times" bestselling trilogy concludes with this volume--an exhilarating, page-turning tale that brims with suspense and guarantees a satisfying finale to Charlie Ashanti's whirlwind adventure.
Syndetics
Animal Stories in YA Easy Reader Collection
17 kings and 42 elephants by Margaret Mahy(1987)Seventeen kings and forty-two elephants romp with a variety of jungle animals during their journey through a wild, wet night.
Bears make rock soup : and other stories by Liselotte Erdich(2002)A collection of stories inspired by paintings that depict the special relationships betweens the Plains Indians and such animals as bear, deer, moose, crows, and loons.
Bembo's zoo : an animal ABC book by Roberto De Vicq de Cumptich(2000)An alphabet book which uses the shape of the roman letters in the Bembo font style to create illustrations of animals.
Black cat by Christopher A. Myers(1999)A black cat wanders through the streets of a city.
Chato and the party animals by Gary Soto(2000)Chato decides to throw a "pachanga" for his friend Novio Boy, who has never had a birthday party, but when it is time to party, Novio Boy cannot be found.
The Elephant Hospital by Kathy Darling(2002)Describes the work done by veterinarians at the Elephant Hospital in Thailand, including helping pregnant and newborn elephants, elephants injured and abused in logging operations, and elephants with illnesses and infections.
Free lunch by J. Otto Seibold(1996)When a bad elephant takes over the bird seed company, Mr. Lunch tries to find a better source of food for his feathered friends.
Widget by Lyn Rossiter McFarland(2001)A small stray dog is accepted into a household full of cats by learning to "fit in", but when his mistress is hurt, he demonstrates that being a dog is not all bad.
The worrywarts by Pamela Duncan Edwards(1999)When Wombat, Weasel, and Woodchuck decide to wander the world, they wonder what worries they will encounter.
