How quickly end-of-school euphoria subsides into "I'm bored. I have nothing to do." The kid who only weeks earlier couldn't wait to escape the classroom now reacts to suggestions of "Why don't you go for a bike ride?" or "Mow the lawn" as if he's simply traded one jail for another. Diving into a good book alleviates summer malaise, but parents need to be sneaky. A straightforward "Here, read this" will likely result in eye rolls and avoidance. But place enticing-looking children's and young adult novels in strategic locales -- beside the Wii remote, underneath the snack cabinet -- and it could lead to a wonderful sound parents haven't heard since summer vacation began: silence, also known as the absence of complaints. This should last until the final page is read. Then it's time to spring for sleepover camp. Here are a few suggested boredom and complaint slayers: JULIA GILLIAN AND THE ART OF KNOWING

by Alison McGhee, illustrated by Drazen Kozjan (Scholastic Press, 288 pages, $15.99, ages 7-12)

Minneapolis writer Alison McGhee includes plenty of hometown landmarks in her perceptive, welcoming story of a 9-year-old girl dealing with her own summer doldrums. Julia Gillian's parents, both teachers, are working toward graduate degrees, leaving little time for picnics at the Lake Harriet rose garden and other typical family activities.

Their attempt to encourage their daughter to read more backfires when the book she chooses seems to be building to an unhappy ending (she suspects the "broken old dog" in the story isn't going to make it), and Julia decides she's better off hiding the anxiety-producing volume on the fire escape instead of finishing it. Readers will enjoy navigating Julia's colorfully described south Minneapolis neigh- borhood -- and will get an irresistible craving for Quang Restaurant strawberry bubble tea -- as she gradually learns to face her fears.

BIRD LAKE MOON

by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow, 179 pages, $15.99, ages 8-12)

Many readers know acclaimed author/illustrator Henkes only for his blanket-carrying, purple plastic purse-wielding picture-book mice. But Henkes is also a gifted novelist; this latest in his line of quiet, powerful fiction for middle graders involves two boys spending the summer at a Wisconsin lake. Twelve-year-old Mitch goes with his mother to live at his grandparents' lake house after his parents separate. Ten-year-old Spencer's family returns to their vacation home for the first time since his older brother drowned there six years earlier. The narrative's charged atmosphere, like a sky heavy with storm clouds, eloquently conveys the boys' emotions both before and after they meet and share what haunts them.

PRINCESS BEN

by Catherine Murdock (Houghton Mifflin, 344 pages, $16, ages 10-14)

Star Tribune, Star Tribune
Princess Ben

This novel-length fairy tale may seem like a departure for Murdock, whose previous books "Dairy Queen" and "The Off Season" featured Wisconsin farm girl D.J. trying out for -- and making -- her high school football team. But whether in a helmet and shoulder pads or velvet frocks, D.J. and Princess Ben (short for Benevolence) both cut similar sturdy, delightfully complex figures.

Unlike Disney's Snow White, 15-year-old Ben has never sat around hoping someday her prince will come. But after her parents die in a ruthless surprise attack, presumably orchestrated by a rival kingdom, Ben's aunt, Queen Sophia, decrees that her sloppy, free-spirited niece start acting like proper royalty and prepare to receive suitors. When the queen locks her away in a dungeonlike bedroom to break her will, it only serves to aid the recalcitrant princess's discovery of a magical tower, opening her to a world of possibilities beyond her aunt's narrow agenda.

WOULD YOU

by Marthe Jocelyn (Wendy Lamb Books/Random House, 176 pages, $15.99, ages 12 and up)

In this poignant young-adult drama, Natalie's languid summer of illicit nighttime pool-hopping and hanging out at the local diner changes in an instant when her older sister Claire is hit by a car and lies comatose in the hospital. Thus the game of hypothetical choices Natalie often plays with her friends ("Would you rather eat a rat with the fur still on or eat sewage straight from the pipe?") takes on real significance as the choices about Claire's future grow increasingly grim. Jocelyn has crafted a sensitive, believable account of a family enduring a tragedy with no silver lining.

BOX OUT / GAME

"Box Out" by John Coy (Scholastic Press, 304 pages, $16.99, age 12 and up); "Game" by Walter Dean Myers (HarperTeen, 240 pages, $16.99, age 12 and up)

Basketball novels for teens provide nail-biting play-by-play action and nuanced portraits of main characters strug- gling to figure out where they fit in on the court and in their lives.

High school sophomore Liam, in Minneapolis author Coy's "Box Out," switches midseason from the junior varsity team to varsity. While he's ecstatic about the promotion, he's also troubled by the group prayers his small-town basketball coach insists on before each game.

Walter Dean Myers' "Game" follows Harlem high school senior Drew through what he expects will be a triumphant final season, prompting college scholarship offers to roll in. Instead, Coach adds two new players, both white, to the lineup and starts relegating Drew to the bench, accusing him of being a showboat instead of a team player. Ultimately, Liam and Drew must take hard looks at themselves and decide how they want to play the game.

LITTLE BROTHER

by Cory Doctorow (Tor Teen Books, 382 pages, $17.95, ages 14 and up)

It's teen computer hackers vs. the Department of Homeland Security in this Orwellian techno-thriller. Seven- teen-year-old Marcus and his gamer friends have the bad luck to be skipping school on the streets of San Francisco during a terrorist attack that blows up the Bay Bridge and the subway. Hauled in for interrogation, Marcus experiences firsthand the effects of a government ruthlessly pursuing "national security" at the expense of civil rights.

Computer geeks will be giddily familiar with the complicated and extremely risky online maneuvers Marcus and friends make in their fight for personal privacy and free speech, technophobes will get a riveting crash course in the virtual universe, and all readers have a unique opportunity to think deeply about the meaning of democracy. The fate of our country is at stake -- who could possibly be bored?

Christine Heppermann also reviews children's books for Horn Book magazine. She lives in Minneapolis.