Try one of these 2004-2005 Soaring Eagle Nominees:

• Shattered Mirror by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
  
  As seventeen-year-old Sarah, daughter of a powerful line of vampire-hunting witches, continues to pursue the ancient bloodsucker Nikolas, she finds herself in a dangerous friendship with two vampire siblings in her high school.
  
  
• Artemis Fowl: the Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer
  
  Ever the resourceful young criminal mastermind, Artemis has found a way to construct a supercomputer from stolen fairy technology. Called the "C Cube," it will render all existing human technology obsolete. Artemis then arranges a meeting with a Chicago businessman, Jon Spiro, to offer to suppress the Cube for one year in return for gold, his favorite substance. But the meeting is a trap, and Spiro steals the Cube and mortally injures Butler. Artemis knows his only hope to save Butler lies in fairy magic, so once again he is forced to contact his old rival, Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon fairy police. Miraculously, Butler is healed, but there is a catch: he has aged fifteen years. Thus, Butler's infamously ditzy sister, Juliet, is called in as Artemis's bodyguard. Together, they travel to Chicago to steal back the Cube and ensure that Jon Spiro is put out of business-permanently.
  
  
• House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
  
  Matteo Alacrán was not born; he was harvested. His DNA came from El Patrón, lord of a country called Opium -- a strip of poppy fields lying between the United States and what was once called Mexico. Matt's first cell split and divided inside a petri dish. Then he was placed in the womb of a cow, where he continued the miraculous journey from embryo to fetus to baby. He is a boy now, but most consider him a monster -- except for El Patrón. El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself, because Matt is himself.
  
  As Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by a sinister cast of characters, including El Patrón's power-hungry family, and he is surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards. Escape is the only chance Matt has to survive. But escape from the Alacr n Estate is no guarantee of freedom, because Matt is marked by his difference in ways he doesn't even suspect.
  
  
• Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
  
  Cornelia Funke, the enormously talented author of the international best-seller THE THIEF LORD, brings readers another spellbinding tale of adventure and magic. Meggie lives a quiet life alone with her father, a book-binder. But her father has a deep secret-- he posseses an extraordinary magical power. One day a mysterious stranger arrives who seems linked to her father's past. Who is this sinister character and what does he want? Suddenly Meggie is involved in a breathless game of escape and intrigue as her father's life is put in danger. Will she be able to save him in time?
  
  
• Among the Barons by Margaret Haddix
  
  As a third child in a society that allows only two children per family, Luke Garner was in hiding for the first twelve years of his life. Then he was given the freedom of an identity card that had belonged to Lee Grant, a Baron (a member of the highest class of society), and was sent to boarding school as Lee. But now, just when things are finally starting to go right, Lee's little brother, Smits, arrives at school, and Luke finds himself caught in a web of lies that gets more complex with every passing day -- and possibly even lethal. Can Luke trust the grief-stricken Smits to keep Luke's secret? And can he trust Smits's menacing bodyguard, Oscar?
  
  Luke finds that living among the Barons puts him in the deadliest danger he has ever faced.
  
  As she did in Among the Hidden and the other Shadow Children books, Margaret Peterson Haddix depicts one individual trying to make sense of a world in which nothing is what it seems.
  
  
• Point Blank by Anthony Horowitz
  
  When an investigation into a series of mysterious deaths leads agents to an elite prep school for rebellious kids, MI6 assigns Alex Rider, fourteen-year-old reluctant spy, to the case. Before he knows it, Alex is hanging out with the sons of the rich and powerful, and something feels wrong. Very wrong. These former juvenile delinquents have turned well-behaved, studious-and identical-overnight. It's up to Alex to find out who is masterminding this nefarious plot, before they find him. The clock is ticking-is Alex's luck about to run out?
  
  
• A Corner of the Universe by Ann Martin
  
  The summer she turns 12, Hattie Owen is steeped in the routines of her small town life until the startling arrival of an uncle no one has ever spoken about. Now that Uncle Adam's "school" - an institution for the mentally disabled - is closing, Hattie's family must deal with a childlike young man whose existence they've denied for years. Hattie suddenly experiences a summer in which she learns living life fully means facing both the good times and the bad.
  
  
• Eragon by Christopher Paolini
  
  When Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself. Overnight his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic, and power. With only an ancient sword and the advice of an old storyteller for guidance, Eragon and the fledgling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an Empire ruled by a king whose evil knows no bounds. Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands...
  
  
• Hangman's Curse by Frank Peretti
  
  The first in a new format of books targeted to tweens and teens, The Veritas Project: Hangman's Curse will keep readers enthralled. Frank Peretti introduces Nate Springfield, his wife Sarah, and their twin children Elijah and Elisha, who are part of the Veritas Project team. This group travels the country aiding the FBI and other organizations in breaking drug rings and solving mysteries. In Hangman's Curse, the family goes undercover at a small town high school - where a mysterious curse has turned several of the star football players into raving lunatics who can only be tied to their hospital beds while doctors are baffled by their symptoms. Elijah and Elisha must befriend the various cliques at school, and help their parents solve the mystery of Abel Frye (a name the sick kids mutter in their delirium).
  
  
• Dancing in My Nuddy Pants by Louise Rennison
  
  Georgia has finally put her red-bottomosity to rest and chosen Robbie the Sex God over Dave the Laugh. After all, with the Sex God she'll be a pop-star girlfriend and go on tour! Besides, Dave the Laugh is now dating her friend Ellen (although that didn't stop Georgia from snogging him at a party ... ).
  
  But when the Sex God is never around and Dave the Laugh breaks up with Ellen, Georgia doesn't know what to think! Is she doomed to be a pop-star widow, or will she take her own bottom firmly in hand and blow her cosmic horn? And will her cat, Angus (the size of a small Labrador, only mad), ever get over the shame of having his trouser snake addendums snipped? As always, in Georgia's life, nothing ever turns out as planned!
  
  
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
  
  I say to you all, once again--in the light of
  Lord Voldemort’s return, we are only as strong
  as we are united, as weak as we are divided.
  Lord Voldemort’s gift for spreading discord and
  enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing
  an equally strong bond of friendship and trust.
  
  So spoke Albus Dumbledore at the end of Harry Potter’s fourth year at Hogwarts. But as Harry enters his fifth year at wizard school, it seems those bonds have never been more sorely tested. Lord Voldemort’s rise has opened a rift in the wizarding world between those who believe the truth about his return, and those who prefer to believe it’s all madness and lies--just more trouble from Harry Potter.
  
  Add to this a host of other worries for Harry…
  A Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher with a personality like poisoned honey
  A venomous, disgruntled house-elf
  Ron as keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch team
  And of course, what every student dreads: end-of-term Ordinary Wizarding Level exams
  
  …and you’d know what Harry faces during the day. But at night it’s even worse, because then he dreams of a single door in a silent corridor. And this door is somehow more terrifying than every other nightmare combined.
  
  In the richest installment yet of J. K. Rowling’s seven-part story, Harry Potter confronts the unreliability of the very government of the magical world, and the impotence of the authorities at Hogwarts.
  
  Despite this (or perhaps because of it) Harry finds depth and strength in his friends, beyond what even he knew; boundless loyalty and unbearable sacrifice.
  
  Though thick runs the plot (as well as the spine), readers will race through these pages, and leave Hogwarts, like Harry, wishing only for the next train back.
  
  
• Cirque Du Freak: the Vampire's Assistant by Darren Shan
  
  Darren was just an ordinary schoolboy-until his visit to the Cirque du Freak. Now Darren joins the powerful vampire Mr. Crepsley. As he struggles with his new life as a vampire's assistant, Darren tries desperately to resist the one temptation that sickens him-the one thing that can keep him alive.
  
  
• Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
  
  Dear Reader,
  If you have picked up this book with the hope of finding a simple and cheery tale. I'm afraid you have picked up the wrong book altogether. The story may seem cheery at first, when the Baudelaire children spend time in the company of some interesting reptiles and a giddy uncle, but don't be fooled. If you know anything at all about the unlucky Baudelaire children, you already know that even pleasant events lead down the same road to misery.
  
  In fact, within the pages you now hold in your hands, the three siblings endure a car accident, a terrible odor, a deadly serpent, a long knife, a large brass reading lamp, and the reappearance of a person they'd hoped never to see again.
  
  I am bound to record these tragic events, but you are free to put this book back on the shelf and seek something lighter.
  
  With all due respect,
  Lemony Snicket
  
  
• Flipped by Wendelin Van Dranen
  
  The first time she saw him, she flipped. The first time he saw her, he ran. That was the second grade, but not much has changed by the seventh. She says: “My Bryce. Still walking around with my first kiss.” He says: “It’s been six years of strategic avoidance and social discomfort.” But in the eighth grade everything gets turned upside down. And just as he’s thinking there’s more to her than meets the eye, she’s thinking that he’s not quite all he seemed.
  
  This is a classic romantic comedy of errors told in alternating chapters by two fresh, funny new voices. Wendelin Van Draanen is at her best here with a knockout cast of quirky characters and a hilarious series of misunderstandings and missed opportunities. But underlying the humor are two teens in transition. They are each learning to look beyond the surface of people, both figuring out who they are, who they want to be, and who they want to be with.
  
  
• Surviving Hitler by Andrea Warren
  
  Caught up in Hitler's Final Solution to annihilate Europe's Jews, fifteen-year-old Jack Mandelbaum is torn from his family and thrown into the nightmarish world of the concentration camps. Here, simple existence is a constant struggle, and Jack must learn to live hour to hour, day to day. Despite intolerable conditions, he resolves not to hate his captors and vows to see his family again. But even with his strong will to survive, how long can Jack continue to play this life-and-death game?
  
  Award-winning author Andrea Warren has crafted an unforgettable true story of a boy becoming a man in the shadow of the Third Reich.