The Great Gilly Hopkins
by Katherine Paterson Published: New York: Crowell, c1978 This is the story of a spunky 11 year-old girl who spends her life going from foster home to foster home.
Maniac Magee
by Jerry Spinelli Published: Boston: Little, Brown, c1990. This is the story of a kid who losses both of his parents in a car accident. Not being able to tolerate his aunt and uncle, he decides it better for him to survive on his own.
Julie of the Wolves
by Jean Craighead George HarperCollins Publishers Inc., c1972 This is a story of how a young girl survives in an Alaskan wilderness.
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
by Mildred D. Taylor Published in Puffin Books, 1991 A black family demonstrate unity and courage as the confront Southern racism during the Depression.