The Hero and the Crown by 
Like Jake and Me by
Alex feels that he does not have much in common with his stepfather Jake until a fuzzy spider brings them together.
The Moves Make the Man by
A black boy and an emotionally troubled white boy in North Carolina form a precarious friendship. Brooks' fine first novel has a basketball theme and plenty of action, but sport is merely the vehicle for delivering a serious story of friendship and madness. Brilliant sportswriting and a trenchant examination of the friendship between (the) narrator and a white boy in trouble.
One-Eyed Cat by
An eleven-year-old shoots a stray cat with his new air rifle, subsequently suffers from guilt, and eventually assumes responsibility for it.