By the author of Little Women, a tale of a sweet and simple girl from the country who fights to retain her dignity and personal morality in gilded-age New York.

A psychological thriller about a poor teenage girl at an exclusive private boarding school, who must solve the mystery of her brother's death.

ALL of Katherine Patterson's books are marvelous. This book is about an adolescent girl who is wracked by envy for her talented and pretty twin sister, and confused by her own emotional turmoil as she leaves childhood behind.

A young widow in a country far from her home befriends a deaf boy, and draws upon herself the suspicion of her neighbors.

A retelling of a fairy tale about seven brothers transformed into swans by an evil stepmother. The book is about their sister, who must remain mute while weaving seven shirts from nettles.

A Science Fiction story about a dystopian civilization where adolescence has been unnaturally extended into a nearly endless period of meaningless hedonism, and one girl's quest to find meaning in the emptiness of her existence. Tanith Lee is a very hit or miss author, but this book and The silver Metal Lover are both great.

About a shy girl who must survive in a post-apocalyptic world.

Lois Lowry is another author I can't recommend highly enough. Thoughtful and provocative, her allegorical novels deal with themes such as the tension between safety and freedom. In Gathering Blue, a girl with a physical handicap struggles for survival and acceptance in an intolerant society.

Another sci-fi dystopia, where looks are everything.