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Nonfiction

D’orso, Michael. Eagle Blue: A Team, a Tribe, and a High School Basketball Season in Arctic Alaska. Bloomsbury, $23.95 (1-58234-623-2).

This fascinating, sensitive account follows an Alaskan high-school basketball team through its season in a town above the Arctic Circle. The sports narrative is as gripping as the intimate portraits of the teens and their changing community.

Erlbaum, Janice. Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir. Villard, $21.95 (1-4000-6422-8).

When she was 15, Erlbaum traded her dysfunctional home for a homeless shelter and months in New York City’s social welfare system. Her gritty memoir recounts her harrowing, sometimes self-destructive teens with insight and fierce humor.

Gonzalez, Rigoberto. Butterfly Boy: Memories of a Chicano Mariposa. Univ. of Wisconsin, $24.95 (0-299-21900-3).

In this eloquent, stirring memoir, a first-generation Mexican American describes his coming-of-age and coming out.

McCloud, Scott. Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga, and Graphic Novels. illus. HarperCollins/Harper, $22.95 (0-06-078094-0).

Every aspect of comics creation is covered in this enlightening, accessible guide presented in a comic-strip format.

Miller, Joe. Cross-X: A Turbulent, Triumphant Season with an Inner-City Debate Squad. Farrar, $26 (0-374-13194-5).

Journalist Miller details an inner-city high-school debate team’s season, moving from the squad’s wrenching personal stories to clear observations about how poverty affects us all.

Parrado, Nando and Rause, Vince. Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Journey Home to My Father. Crown, $25 (1-4000-9767-3).

After his plane crashed in the mountains of Uruguay, Parrado led some of the survivors over the Andes to rescue. Parrado recounts his story in graphic, unforgettable detail.

Fiction

Beagle, Peter S. The Line Between. Tachyon, paper $14.95 (1-892391-36-8).

Full of amusement, humanity, and wisdom, the short stories in this varied collection are the perfect introduction to legendary fantasy writer Beagle.

Furey, Leo. The Long Run. Shambhala/Trumpeter, $22.95 (1-59030-411-X).

At a Newfoundland orphanage in the 1960s, young Aidan and his cohorts combat daily grimness with rebellion in this winning first novel.

Gaiman, Neil. Fragile Things. Morrow, $26.95 (0-06-051522-8).

Full of darkness and grit, magic and love, the 31 pieces in Gaiman’s collection of short works will capture fans and new readers alike.

Guene, Faiza. Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow. Tr. by Sarah Adams. Harcourt, paper $13 (0-15-603048-9).

Doria, 15, a child of Muslim immigrants, describes her daily struggle in Paris’ rough housing projects in a contemporary narrative that’s touching, furious, and very funny.

Hamamura, John. Color of the Sea. St Martin’s, $24.95 (0-312-34073-7).

In this shimmering, provocative first novel, two young first-generation Japanese Americans fall in love on the eve of World War II.

Hernandez, Gilbert. Sloth. illus. DC Comics/Vertigo, paper $19.99 (1-4012-0366-3).

Troubled teen Miguel Serra reacts to his broken home and the vapidity of suburban life by willing himself into a coma. Dark comedy enhances the science fiction in this striking graphic novel.

Lansens, Lori. The Girls. Little, Brown, $23.95 (0-316-06903-5).

Lansens creates fully realized, vivid characters in conjoined twins Rose and Ruby, who tell their stories of growing up in alternating narratives.

McCandless, Sarah Grace. The Girl I Wanted to Be. Simon & Schuster, paper $12 (0-7432-8518-2).

At a family pig roast, 14-year-old Presley first notices the vibe between her sexy cousin and her young aunt. Small, perceptive, growing-up moments will impact readers as much as the story’s larger tragedies.

Mitchell, David. Black Swan Green. Random, $24.95 (1-4000-6379-5).

In a small English town in the 1980s, 13-year-old Jason lives in the wake of his brilliant sister and mediates between his feuding parents. Mitchell’s mesmerizing narrative captures Jason’s inner life with remarkable acuity.

Mosley, Walter. Fortunate Son. illus. Little, Brown, $23.95 (0-316-11471-5).

Mosley explores themes of race, destiny, and unconditional love in this moving contemporary story of two brothers—one black, one white—and their divergent lives.

Parkhurst, Carolyn. Lost and Found. Little, Brown, $23.95 (0-316-15638-8).

In this fast-paced, entertaining, over-the-top satire, Parkhurst offers a send-up of a reality TV show, in which the competing teams include a mother and teenage daughter.

Sherrill, Martha. The Ruins of California. Penguin, $24.95 (1-59420-080-7).

Set in California in the 1970s, this beautifully written novel tells the story of a girl, trapped in a theatrical family, who manages to transform herself from an observer into the star of her own life.

Vaughn, Brian K and Henrichon, Niko. Pride of Baghdad. DC Comics/Vertigo, $19.99 (1-4012-1059-7).

In comics format, Vaughn and Henrichon draw from true events in the current Iraqi conflict to create this graphic novel about a pride of lions who escape the Baghdad Zoo and confront the wreckage and violence of their city.