Be sure to check last year's list
School Library Journal's 100 Best Children's Novels
The Dagger Quick by Brian Eames. An absolute must. Twelve-year-old Christopher "Kitto" Wheale, a clubfooted boy seemingly doomed to follow in the boring footsteps of his father as a cooper in seventeenth-century England, finds himself on a dangerous seafaring adventure with his newly discovered uncle, the infamous pirate William Quick.
Heart and Soul by Kadir Nelson. With his trademark breathtaking illustrations, Nelson examines the history of the United States, focusing on events that influenced African-Americans and how they advanced liberty and justice in America--in 100 pages. 
The Penderwicks at Point Moulette by Jeanne Birdsall. When the three younger Penderwick sisters go to Maine with Aunt Claire and are separated from oldest sister Rosalind for the first time in their lives, an uncertain Skye is left in charge as the OAP--oldest available Penderwick.
Falcon Quinn and the Crimson Vapor by Jennifer Finney Boylan. Born in the reality stream but with both the heart of a monster and the heart of a guardian, thirteen-year-old Falcon Quinn is not sure what path to follow until he fastens an amulet with a red jewel around his neck.
Jefferson's Sons by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. A fictionalized look at the last twenty years of Thomas Jefferson's life at Monticello through the eyes of three of his slaves, two of whom were his sons by his slave, Sally Hemings.
Absolute Value of Mike by Kathryn Erskine. Mike, 14 and with a math learning disability, is sent to rural Pennsylvania for the summer to work on an engineering project, and while his plans to impress his mathematician father fall flat when Mike discovers the project has nothing to do with engineering, he learns much more valuable lessons while working with his eccentric, elderly aunt, a homeless man, and a punk rock girl as part of a town-wide effort to adopt a Romanian orphan.
90 Miles to Havana by Enrique Flores-Galbis. Julian’s parents, hoping to protect him from the dangers of the turmoil in Cuba, send him to the United States in 1961 as part of Operation Pedro Pan, not realizing that life in a Miami refugee camp holds its own perils.
Belly Up by Stuart Gibbs. Twelve-year-old Teddy investigates when a popular Texas zoo’s star attraction--Henry the hippopotamus--is murdered.
The Red Umbrella by Cristian Diaz Gonzalez. In 1961 after Castro has come to power in Cuba, fourteen-year-old Lucia and her seven-year-old brother are sent to the United States when her parents, who are not in favor of the new regime, fear that the children will be taken away from them as others have been.
Fantasy Baseball by Alan Gratz. A twelve-year-old boy wakes up in Ever After, where he is recruited by Dorothy to play first base for the Oz Cyclones in the Ever After Baseball Tournament.
Sabotaged by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Thirteen-year-old Jonah, stolen from the past as an infant, teams up with his sister Katherine to help Virginia Dare, the first child born in America to English parents.
Fly Trap by Frances Hardinge. Adventurous orphan Mosca Mye, her savage goose, Saracen, and their sometimes-loyal companion, Eponymous Clent, become embroiled in the intrigues of Toll, a town that changes entirely as day turns to night.
Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Holm. In 1935, when her mother gets a job housekeeping for a woman who does not like children, eleven-year-old Turtle is sent to stay with relatives she has never met in far away Key West, Florida.
Scumble by Ingrid Law. Mibs’s cousin Ledge is disappointed to discover that his "savvy"--the magical power unique to each member of their family--is to make things fall apart, which endangers his uncle Autry’s ranch and reveals the family secret to future reporter Sarah.
Hero by Mike Lupica. Fourteen-year-old Zach learns he has the same special abilities as his father, who was the president’s globe-trotting troubleshooter until "the Bads" killed him, and now Zach must decide whether to use his powers in the same way at the risk of his own life.
The Candymakers by Wendy Mass. Four gifted twelve-year-olds, including Logan, the candymaker’s son, are set to be contestants in the Confectionary Association’s national competition to determine the nation’s tastiest sweet, but nobody anticipates that a friendship will form between them.
Ten by Lauren Myracle. Winnie Perry is certain that she will gain more courage and responsibilities with her tenth birthday and, with her best friend Amanda by her side, Winnie is determined to make the most of her last year of elementary school.
Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen. From his 1776 Pennsylvania homestead, thirteen-year-old Samuel, who is a highly-skilled woodsman, sets out toward New York City to rescue his parents from the band of British soldiers and Native Americans who kidnapped them after slaughtering most of their community.
Bird in a Box by Andrea Davis Pinkney. In 1936, three children meet at the Mercy Home for Negro Orphans in New York State, and while not all three are orphans, they are all dealing with grief and loss which together, along with the help of a sympathetic staff member and the boxing matches of Joe Louis, they manage to overcome.
The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan. A fictionalized biography of the Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who grew up a painfully shy child, ridiculed by his overbearing father, but who became one of the most widely-read poets in the world.
Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt. Fourteen-year-old Doug Swieteck faces many challenges, including an abusive father, a brother traumatized by Vietnam, suspicious teachers and police officers, and isolation, but when he meets a girl known as Lil Spicer, he develops a close relationship with her and finds a safe place at the local library.
Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick. Relates the stories of 12-year-old Ben, who loses his mother and his hearing in a short time frame and decides to leave his Minnesota home in 1977 to seek the father he has never known in New York City; and Rose, who lives with her father but feels compelled to search for what is missing in her life. Ben’s story is told in words; Rose’s in pictures.
The Silver Bowl by Diane Stanley. From the age of seven when she became scullery maid in a castle, Molly has seen visions of the future which, years later, lead her and friend Tobias on an adventure to keep Alaric, the heir to the throne, safe from a curse.
Under the Green Hill by Laura L. Sullivan. While staying with distant relatives in England, Americans Rowan, Meg, Silly, and James Morgan, with their neighbors Dickie Rhys and Finn Fachan, learn that one of them must fight to the death in the Midsummer War required by the local fairies.
Moon Over Manifest by Claire Vanderpool. Twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker is the daughter of a drifter who, in the summer of 1936, sends her to stay with an old friend in Manifest, Kansas, where he grew up, and where she hopes to find out some things about his past.
Small Acts of Amazing Courage by Gloria Whelan. In 1919, independent-minded fifteen-year-old Rosalind lives in India with her English parents, and when they fear she has fallen in with some rebellious types who believe in Indian self-government, she is sent "home" to London, where she has never been before and where her older brother died, to stay with her two aunts.
Countdown by Deborah Wiles. Franny Chapman just wants some peace. But that’s hard to get when her best friend is feuding with her, her sister has disappeared, and her uncle is fighting an old war in his head. Her saintly younger brother is no help, and the cute boy across the street only complicates things. Worst of all, everyone is walking around just waiting for a bomb to fall. It’s 1962, and it seems the whole country is living in fear.
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia. I know I put it up last December but since then it has one award after award. It's fabulous.In the summer of 1968, after traveling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.
And, just because I can -- and can't stop -- here's my own personal favorite list for this age group:
The Watsons Go To Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis.
A Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson.
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt.
The Giver and Number the Stars by Lois Lowry.
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman.
A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L'Engle.
The Secret of Platform 13 and anything else by Eva Ibbotson.
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor.
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle and anything else by Avi.
Holes by Louis Sachar.
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