Help Craig Choose a Book!

Craig, my 12-year old son, has a reading assignment for school this summer, in preparation for 7th grade.  He has to read two books:  Sounder, which he just finished, plus one other of his own choosing from a list.  The problem is that of the 13 book on the list, I've only heard of one of them before.

So, we're asking for your help!  Craig generally enjoys fast-paced books with action, adventure, and/or humor.  Some of his favorites are The Hardy Boys, the Charlie Bone series, A Wrinkle in Time, and Bruce Coville's Unicorn Chronicles and Aliens series.  So, please let us know if you'd recommend any of the books on this list - thanks!

1. Banner in the Sky by James Ramsey Ullman (1955 Newberry Honor award - about a boy climbing the Matterhorn)
2. Brian's Song screenplay by William Blinn
3. Gifted Hands: the Ben Carson Story by Ben Carson (autobiography of inner city kid who becomes a top neurosurgeon)
4. Let the Circle Be Unbroken by Mildred D. Taylor (in 1935, a black man is tried for murder by an all-white jury)
5. The Lottery Rose by Irene Hunt (an abused boy slowly begins to heal at a home for boys)
6. Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse (1998 Newberry medal winner set in Depression-era Oklahoma dust bowl)
7. Scorpions by Walter Dean Myers (1988 Newberry winner about a boy who's pressured to join a gang)
8. Somewhere in the Darkness by Walter Dean Myers (convict father takes teen son on the run with him)
9. Thank You, Jackie Robinson by Barbara Cohen (interracial friendship between a boy and a man joined by a love of baseball)
10. Time of the Cay by Theodore Taylor (follow-up to The Cay, about a white boy stranded on a desert island and the black man who saves him)
11. Titanic Crossing by Barbara Williams (story of 13-year old boy on the Titanic - mixed reviews)
12. The View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg (1996 Newberry winner about a 6th grade academic bowl team)
13. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (a Newberry winner  - mystery about 16 people in a strange game having to do with a strange will)

Wow - lots of Newberry winners there!  Also, lots of historical novels and African-American characters - I'm guessing they'll be studying American history this year!  I also noticed lots of sad stories  - I saw the phrase "gut-wrenching" more than once as I looked these up.  Craig doesn't love sad books; he said the ending of Sounder was really tough!  At first glance, it looks like he might like The Westing Game.

So what do you think?  Which book would you choose?