*Updated with new selections 1-28-11*

Bell, Clare. Ratha’s creature
Twenty-five million years in the past, a society of intelligent cats pushed close to extinction meets an enemy band of predatory cats in a decisive battle which will determine the future for both.

Burgess, Mel. Lady: my life as a bitch
In Manchester, England, when a seventeen-year-old girl who hasn't been acting like herself lately is turned into the very creature she has personified, she isn't sure that the change is all bad.

Caletti, Deb. The nature of jade
Seattle high school senior Jade's life is defined by her anxiety disorder and dysfunctional family, until she spies a mysterious boy with a baby who seems to share her fascination with the elephants at a nearby zoo.

Crane, E.M. Skin deep
When sixteen-year-old Andrea Anderson begins caring for a sick neighbor's dog, she learns a lot about life, death, pottery, friendship, hope, and love.

French, Jackie. Rover
Captured by Vikings, young Hekja is taken as a slave to Greenland by the sister of Erik the Red, and accompanied by no one from her homeland but her loyal dog, shares adventures with her new mistress, who is determined to make a name for herself as her father and brother have.

Goldblatt, Stact. Stray
Natalie's mother, a veterinarian with a dogs-only practice, has the sixteen-year-old on such a short leash that, when the teenaged son of her old school friend comes to stay with them for the summer, Natalie is tempted to break her mother's rules and follow her own instincts for a change.

Hale, Shannon. The goose girl
On her way to marry a prince she's never met, Princess Anidori is betrayed by her guards and her lady-in-waiting and must become a goose girl to survive until she can reveal her true identity and reclaim the crown that is rightfully hers.

Hartnett, Sonya. Surrender
A small, unforgiving town and distant, punitive parents ensure that 20-year-old Gabriel never forgets the horrific mistake he made as a child. He has only two friends--his dog, Surrender, and a wild boy, Finnigan. When a series of arson attacks grips the town, it becomes devastatingly clear that only the most extreme measures will rid Gabriel of Finnigan for good.

Koertge, Ron. Strays
Sixteen-year-old Ted prefers animals to humans; animals never lie, and unlike the kids at school, he understands them. When Ted loses his parents in a car accident, he particularly identifies with strays--after all, as a foster kid, that’s what he is. Ted lands in a new home, where his basic needs are met by fair but semi-dysfunctional foster parents and where he coexists with Astin, his older roommate, and C. W., who has had 19 placements in six years. Ted also starts a new school, and with Astin and C. W. at his back, he learns to express himself and to rely upon people as well as animals.

Lanagan, Margo. Tender morsels
A young woman who has endured unspeakable cruelties is magically granted a safe haven apart from the real world and allowed to raise her two daughters in this alternate reality, until the barrier between her world and the real one begins to break down.

L'engle, Madeleine. A ring of endless light
During the summer her grandfather is dying of leukemia and death seems all around, fifteen-year-old Vicky finds comfort with the pod of dolphin with which she has been doing research.

Lester, Alison. The snow pony
Prolonged drought has strained Dusty's ranching family to the breaking point, but she finds consolation with her wild and beautiful horse.

Monninger, Joseph. Hippie chick
After her sailboat capsizes, fifteen-year-old Lolly Emmerson is rescued by manatees and taken to a mangrove key in the Everglades, where she forms a bond with her aquatic companions while struggling to survive.

Oppel, Kenneth. Half brother
In 1973, when a renowned Canadian behavioral psychologist pursues his latest research project--an experiment to determine whether chimpanzees can acquire advanced language skills--he brings home a baby chimp named Zan and asks his thirteen-year-old son to treat Zan like a little brother.

Peyton, K. M. Blind beauty
Teenage Tessa's passion for riding and her love for an ugly horse named Buffoon help her endure an unhappy life in the English countryside with a hateful stepfather.

Pullman, Phillip. The golden compass
Booklist Review: In the first of a planned trilogy, Pullman has created a wholly developed universe, which is, as he states, much like our own but different in many ways--a world in which humans are paired with animal "daemons" that seem like alter egos, only with personalities of their own.

Rabe, Jean. The finest creation
Created to assist humans, one member of an intelligent and telepathic breed of horses is separated from its mentor and takes the charge of caring for two orphans, unaware that they may hold the key to the future of humankind.

Wilson, Diane L. Firehorse
Spirited fifteen-year-old horse lover Rachel Selby determines to become a veterinarian, despite the opposition of her rigid father, her proper mother, and the norms of Boston in 1872, while that city faces a serial arsonist and an epidemic spreading through its firehorse population.