For "kid" stuff, I've read a lot of Wendy Mass this summer. She's an author I somehow missed for a long time.

Gennifer Choldenko is another good author. She wrote Al Capone Does My Shirts. A great book set on Alcatraz when it was still a prison. The main character is dealing with issues brought on by having a mentally impaired older sister. One of my students gave me another book of hers - No Passengers Beyond This Point. It's about 3 siblings who need to work together to survive. There's a bit more to it than that.

Ingrid Law's Savvy and follow up Scumble are very good.

Veronica