Al Capone Does My Shirts by Choldenko

Moose Flanagan is a twelve year old boy living on Alcatraz Island with his sister, who is not like other children. It's 1935 and the family has just moved here since their father works on the infamous island. Moose has to deal with taking care of his sister who has a disability, sharing a home on an island with convicts, and handling the warden's daughter Piper who is always thinking of a new scheme on how to meet Al Capone. That's right! I said Al Capone! At this time he has been sent to prison on Alcatraz for tax invasion and also because he has tried to swindle his way into better perks at every prison he has been sent to. All Moose wants to do is protect his sister, make some friends, and stay out of trouble but he soon discovers that he may need the help of the most notorious gangster to help him save his sister's education.
This is a great tween read with much excitement and many chapters that will pull on your heart strings. I would definitely recommend this book to older tweens as there are some issues in the book that come up with "coming of age," ideas.

If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan

This modern story is set in Iran and includes two young women, who love one another and must keep their relationship a secret or risk being punished to the extreme; death. The story is heartbreaking, as Nasrin and Sahar must hide their relationship especially because  Nasrin's family has promised her to a man for marriage. Sahar thinks of a perfect solution, she can undergo surgery to change into a man since this procedure is legal in Iran while homosexual relationships are not.While this is indeed drastic, Sahar needs to dig deep to find out if their love is worth such a transition.
I recommend this read to older teens and those in the LGBT community who are looking to read about characters who are not your regular run of the mill middle class type. It's nice to see an author take risks and invite us into a world we don't know a lot about.