These juvenile novels feature girls with gumption, guts and grit. Most of these stories are either hair-raising adventures or knock-you-out-of-your-chair funny!

Aiken, Joan. The Cuckoo Tree. 1971. 314p. As the result of an accident, a young girl is faced with the responsibility of foiling a Hanoverian plot to put St. Paul's Cathedral on Rollers and roll it into the River Thames during the coronation of James IV.

Alexander, Lloyd. The Illyrian Adventure. 1986. 132p. On a visit to a remote European kingdom in 1872, a fearless sixteen-year-old orphan, and her guardian research an ancient legend and become enmeshed in a dangerous rebellion. This is the first of many in a series.

Avi. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle . 1990. 243p. Reading Level 6.6.

Beatty, Patricia. By Crumbs, It's Mine! 1976. 254p. While stranded in the Arizona territory in the 1880's a thirteen-year-old girl finds herself the owner of a traveling hotel.

Clapp, Patricia. I'm Deborah Sampson: a Soldier in the War of the Revolution. 1977. 176p. Relates the experiences of the woman who disguised herself as a man in order to enlist and fight in the American Revolution.

Corcoran, Barbara. The Long Journey. 1970. 187p. A young girl rides alone across Montana to get help for her grandfather who is going blind.

Edwards, Sally. When the World's on Fire. 1972. 125p. During the Revolution a nine-year-old black slave girl is given the task of blowing up ammunition stored in the British barracks in Charleston.

Elmore, Patricia. Susannah and the Blue House Mystery. 1980. 164p. After the death of the kindly old man who lived in a blue house, Susannah and her friends attempt to piece elusive clues together in hopes of finding a treasure they thinkk he has left to one of them.

Finlayson, Ann. Rebecca's War. 1972. 280p. Left in charge of her brother and sister in occupied Philadelphia in 1777, 14-year-old Rebecca's life is further complicated when 2 British soldiers are billeted in her house.

Galbraith, Kathryn Osebold. Something Suspicious. 1985. 117p. Lizzie and her best friend try to track down a bank robber called the Green Pillowcase Bandit and end up with more mysteries than they can handle.

Gauch, Patricia Lee. This Time, Tempe Wick? 1974. 43p. Everyone knew Tempe Wick was a most surprising girl, but they found out just how surprising when two mutinous Revolutionary soldiers tried to steal her beloved horse.

Gorog, Judith. Scheherazade. 1991. 101p. Having been released from her position as a storyteller and doomed bride of the sultan, Scheherazade is propelled by a mysterious visitor into dangerous adventures in the desert.

Houston, James. Ghost Fox. 1977. 302p. Seventeen-year-old Sarah Wells is taken from a New Hampshire farm by a raiding party of Abnaki Indians and renamed "Ghost Fox." The beauty of nature contrasts with the savagery inherent in both Indian and white culture in this tale that boldly testifies to the indestructible human will for survival and freedom. Best for ages 12 and up.

Hughes, Monica. Invitation to the Game . 1991. 183p. Unemployed after high school in the highly robotic society of 2154, Lisse and seven friends resign themselves to a boring existence in their "Designated Area" until the government invites them to play The Game.

Hunter, Mollie. Cat, herself. 1985. 278p. Growing up in a family of wandering tinkers in Scotland, Cat McPhie fights for the right to be her own person and live the kind of life she wants. Best for 7th grade and up.

Hurmence, Belinda. A Girl Called Boy. 1982. 168p. A pampered young black girl who has been mysteriously transported back to the days of slavery, struggles to escape her bondage.

Jackson, Jacqueline. The Taste of Spruce Gum. 1966. 212p. Set in the early 1900's, Libby and her widowed mother move back East to Vermont where Mother marries Uncle Charles and they all learn to live together at the family's logging camp.

Jones, Diana Wynne. A Tale of Time City. 1987. 278p. In 1939 an eleven-year-old London girl is kidnapped to Time City, a place existing outside the stream of time and the history of humanity, where she finds the inhabitants facing their worst hour of crisis.

Lindbergh, Anne. The Worry Week. 1985. 131p. Left alone for a week in their family's summer house on a Maine island, Allegra and her two sisters scrounge for food and search for the treasure supposedly hidden somewhere on the premises.

Lindgren, Astrid. Pippi Longstocking. 1950. 158p. Escapades of a lucky little girl who lives with a horse and a monkey -- but without any parents -- at the edge of a Swedish village.

Lindgren, Astrid. Ronia, the robber's daughter. 1983. 176p. Ronia, who lives with her father and his band of robbers in a castle in the woods, causes trouble when she befriends the son of a rival robber chieftain.

Mathieson, David. Trial by wilderness. 1985. 171p. A girl survives a plane crash off the coast of British Columbia, and then faces survival in the wilderness, a feat which calls upon her courage, her endurance, and her skills. Best for ages 12 and up.

Meyer, Carolyn. The Luck of Texas McCoy. 1984. 183p. Sixteen-year-old Texas, in order to keep the ranch left to her by her grandfather, sells some acreage to a movie company as a location for western films, and finds herself becoming involved with a young actor. Best for 7th grade and up.

Nixon, Jean Lowery. Fat Chance, Claude. 1987. A zany couple, Shirley & Claude, grow up and meet out in the gold mining hills of Colorado. Shirley keeps Claude on his toes, and the rest of us in stitches. This is a funny series.

O'Dell, Scott. Sarah Bishop. 1980. 184p. Left alone after the deaths of her father and brother who take opposite sides in the War for Independence, and fleeing from the BRitish who seek to arrest her, Sarah Bishop struggles to shape a new life for herself in the wilderness.

Pierce, Tamora. Alanna: the First Adventure. 1983. 241p. Eleven-year-old Alanna, who aspires to be a knight even though she is a girl, disguises herself as a boy to become a royal page, and learninig many hard lessons along her path to high adventure. Librarian's note: This is the first of a 4 part series, the last two titles in the series are more suitable for young adult readers. Some parents may want to preview those two titles for younger children.

Roper, Robert. In Caverns of Blue Ice. 1991. 188p. A young mountaineer in love with another climber faces the ultimate test of her life in the blue ice of the Himalayas. Best for ages 12 and up.

Selfridge, Oliver G. Trouble with dragons. 1978. 86p. Three sisters take turns at slaying a dragon in order to win the hand of the prince.

Service, Pamela F. Being of Two Minds. 1991. 169p. Connie's ability to share "mental visits" with the prince of Thulgaria proves useful when he's mysteriously kidnapped.

Smith, Sherwood. Wren to the Rescue. 1990. 216p. With the help of a prince and an apprentice wizard, Wren strives to rescue her best friend, the Princess Tess, from the fortress of a wicked king. This is the first of a series. If you love the Harry Potter series, you'll probably like this series, too. Best for ages 12 and up.

Taylor, Theodore. Walking up a rainbow. 1986. 275p. In 1852, a fourteen-year-old orphan and her elderly guardian, accompanied by a tough drover and his crew, take several thousand sheep from Iowa to California, returning by ship through the Panama Canal, to raise money to save the girl's home from a villianous debt collector. Ages 12 and up.

Thiele, Colin. Jodie's Journey. 1988. 169p. Twelve-year-old Jodie, disabled by juvenile rheumatoid arthritis nd no longer able to ride her beloved horse, Monarch, faces a crisis when the two of them are alone at her remote Australian home and a devastating fire approaches.

Wechter, Nell Wise. Swamp Girl. 1971. 214p. A ten-year-old girl tries to prove the existence of a buried treasure from a clue in her great-great-grandfather's dying words.

Wrede, Patricia C. Dealing with Dragons. 1990. 212p. Bored with traditional palace life, a princess goes off to live with a group of dragons and soon becomes involved with fighting against some disreputable wizards who want to steal away the dragons' kingdom. This is the first book in a very funny series.