Books+for+Grades+6-12

== == = = =//What is a struggling reader?//=

//ow grade level. The challenge in choosing books for such readers, is getting books that are written at much earlier grade levels but that have content that will interest older students.//
THEY ARE LISTED BY YEAR OF RECOMMENDATION.


 * //If you add an entry please place the reason for recommendation. All books are linked to Anderson's Bookshop, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, or Scholastic Book Wizard. Just click on photo of book and you will be linked to a summary of the book. We//**
 * //are also in the//**
 * //process of adding the comments of our reviewers.//**

__**2017-2018**__

Cut by Patricia McCormick Interest Level: 7-12 Lexile: 660 Reading Level: 4-6 Pages: 151

Mental health issues are a huge subject of interest for junior high and high school readers. The first-person point of view makes this book extremely engaging, and readers will become invested in Callie's struggle and recovery.

Hank Zipster - Niagara Falls or Does it? by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver Series #1 Interest Level: Gr 3-7 Novel: Lexile: 610 Reading Level: Gr. 4.3 Guided Reading Level: R Pages: 144  Lin Oliver I would recommend this for the younger reluctant readers. The characters are likable (or dislikable in some cases), the story moves along fairly quickly. This is the first book in a series, and they have been around for several years so there's not a delay between one book and the next.

//**Homelander Series**// **by Andrew Klavan** //**Book 1: The Last Thing I Remember**// Interest Level: Gr 7-12 Novel: Lexile: HL 690L Reading Level: Pages: 352 I see why this book was recommended by a 5th grade through high schools reading specialist. From the first sentence, "Suddenly I woke up, strapped to a chair," its short chapters keep you turning the pages, particularly when they close with endings like "Then in the same smooth, cool, ironic voice, Waylon said softly, "Kill him."

Interest Level: 3-6 Lexile: 920 Reading Level: 5.3 Pages: 101
 * Lawn Boy Returns by Gary Paulsen**

Gray Paulsen's humorous books are great escapism for middle grade readers. //Lawn Boy Returns//' plot is so over-the-top that readers will keep turning pages just to see what happens next. The high Lexile score may be due to some legal terminology sprinkled throughout; however, readers will make meaning via context clues.



Interest Level: Gr Novel: Lexile: Reading Level: Pages: No Fear Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet Illustrator: Matt Wiegle Interest Level: Gr 7-12 Graphic Novel: Lexile: Reading Level: Pages: 205 This text was recommended by 5 grade - High School Reading Specialist. I found this graphic version and updated dialogue not only really kept my interest but made me understand the story and the nature of the characters far better than I ever had before. I was struck by quantity of humor, most of it bawdy, and the speed with which Romeo switched from pining about his unrequited love for Rosalind to his love for Juliet. The street exchanges of silly insults between the Capulets and the Montagues and each side's readiness to take offense with deadly outcomes are great for promoting timely discussion of our current readiness to feel disrespected with violent results. Middle school and high school teachers make enthusiastic comments about this graphic version's appeal.
 * Max the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick**



Max the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick Interest Level: Gr Novel: Lexile: Reading Level: Pages:



//**Patrol**// by Walter Dean Myers illustrations by Ann Grifalconi

Interest Level: Gr 6-12 Picture Book: Lexile: 560L Reading Level: Gr. 3 Guided Reading Level Q. Pages: 40

Many teachers find this a fantastic book to use in either a social studies or literature class. It combines illustrations and text to tell a powerful story from the point of view of a young American soldier in Vietnam of the terror of being on patrol in the jungle of a foreign country and encountering an equally terrified young enemy fighter.

Perfect by Ellen Hopkins Tricks by Ellen Hopkins Interest Level: Gr 9-12 Interest Level: Gr. 9-12 Novel: Lexile: 570 Lexile: 590 Reading Level: 3.5 Reading Level: 3.8 Pages: 623 Pages: 625 Words: 70,016 Words: 77,642

These books look intimidating at first glance--600+ pages?! Once you open one, you find that they are told in free verse style with lots of white space on every page. They are definitely meant for the mature reader as they discuss drug use/abuse, sex and sexual abuse, and other abuses. The books are loosely based on people Dr. Hopkins knows. //**Tricks**// deals with teens who wind up in prostitution rings by "accident". They find themselves having to "pay back favors" which place them in dangerous situations. //**Perfect**// deals with teens who have self-esteem issues and problems with interpersonal relationships.

Here is a cautionary statement about the Hopkins books--a few years ago she decided that her readers had matured past her teen works and that many were adults who needed adult books so she began writing for that group. My students and I couldn't imagine what would be more adult than the books we had read, but some of her books are marketed for an adult audience. Please use caution when sharing her books with less mature readers. While it is empowering to carry around a large book, the subject matter is not for all readers, even within her teen titles.

Scorpions by Walter Dean Myers Interest Level: Gr 5-12 Novel: Lexile: 610 Reading Level: G 6.4 GRL: Z Pages: 224

The 5/6 grade teacher who recommended this said it was great for boys and was told from the point of view of the main character, It will promote great discussions about loyalty, gang membership, and what kind of future Jamal might have.

Interest Level: 5-8 Lexile: 760 Reading Level: 5.2 Pages: 270
 * Top Prospect by Paul Volponi**

This book combines sports action with real-world issues facing football today. The excitement of Travis being unofficially offered a college scholarship while still in middle school is tempered by his entry into a world filled with PEDs and player "gifts" from alumni and sponsors. Students who enjoy Tim Green and Mike Lupica will definitely use their stamina to complete this book.



Interest Level: 5-8 Lexile: 730 Reading Level: 4.6 Pages: 181

This is an engaging book that follows Ghost's pursuit of running for an elite track team. He has many hurdles to overcome including a history of family violence and poverty. Students will feel as if they are living in Ghost's shoes and will be eager to read forthcoming books in the series, which feature other kids on Ghost's track team.

Interest Level: Gr Novel: Lexile: Reading Level: Pages:
 * Tricks by Ellen Hopkins**

__** 2016-2017 **__ __** Click on each picture for a link to a summary and bookstore **__

Alex Rider Series by Anthony Horowitz Stormbreaker Book 1 Interest Level: Gr 5-9 Graphic Novel: Lexile: GN310 Novel: Lexile 670L Reading Level: Gr. 2.4 Reading Level: Gr. 5.4 Pages 144 Pages: 304

Novel Graphic Version

Cherub Series: The Recruit, Book 1, by Robert Muchamore Interest Level: Grades 6-12 Reading Level: Novel: Grade 4.5 Graphic: Grade 3.5 Lexile: Novel - 660L Graphic - 430L Pages: Novel - 352 pp Graphic - 176 pp

I can see why James, the protagonist in this series, whose impulsiveness frequently leads him to make bad choices will appeal to many adolescents. His family circumstances – a loving but obese and alcoholic mother, an abusive and criminal step-father, and a spunky half-sister - also promote interest. After the sudden death of his mother, James seems headed in the wrong direction when he is recruited into MI5 to join a group of child spies who go on missions after rigorous training. An added virtue of these books is that in addition to involving readers with action and adventure they also raise questions about just who are the good guys and how should we judge the unintended consequences of our actions.

Conspiracy 365 series by Gabrielle Lord Interest Level: Grades 6-8 Reading Level: Grade 4.6 (book one) Lexile: 680 (book one) Pages: 185 (book one)

This is my go-to series for middle schoolers, especially boys, who enjoy action and adventure books and movies. 15-year-old Cal learns that his father’s death may have been due to murder, not an illness, and now his life is in danger, too. The books are lightning-fast paced, and there are such elements as a helicopter rescue from a small boat being attacked by sharks--and that’s just in the beginning of the first book. The book series has been adapted into a TV miniseries in Australia and episodes are available online.




 * Crash by Jerry Spinelli**
 * Interest Level: Grades 6-8**
 * Reading Level: Grade 4.8**
 * Lexile: 560L**
 * Pages: 162**
 * Crash is a 7th grade football sensation. He and his buddy Mike enjoy teasing Crash’ neighbor Webb about any and everything they can find to tease him about. The fact that Webb is a late in life child from a family of Quakers (and therefore will not retaliate) makes him an easier target. I think many struggling readers would enjoy this book. It is fairly fast paced; it involves sports, pranks, and teasing so many readers could relate to at least once character. It's a touching story avbout friendship, bullying, developing tolerance and family.**
 * I **

==

Fat Kid Rules the World by K. L. Going This book comes with a language (foul and sexual) warning. It is a Printz Honor Award winner. Troy is a 17 year old, overweight, friendless teen who is considering stepping in front of a train. He is stopped at the critical moment by Curt, an emaciated, semi-homeless high school dropout. He is also a drug abuser, mostly prescription meds. Curt is also a punk rock guitar player interested in forming a new band and he decides he wants Troy as his drummer—even though Troy can’t play the drums. There are struggles between Troy and his brother Dayle, between Trot and his Dad, between Curt and Troy’s family and within Troy himself.
 * Interest Level: 9-12**
 * Reading Level: 4.3**
 * Lexile: 700L**
 * Pages: 183**

While some chapters are very short and the story will attract some because of the language and sexual content, I am hesitant to recommend this title to younger struggling readers.



Hole in my Life by Jack Gantos <span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Interest Level: 7-12 Grades <span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Reading Level: 5-6 Grade <span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Lexile: 840L <span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Pages: 200 pages

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">When I find out that students are familiar with author, Jack Gantos’s characters Rotten Ralph, and Joey Pigza from their elementary years, I like to recommend **//Hole in My Life//**. High school students will be intrigued by this Michael Printz award winner. The gritty autobiography of Jack Gantos. Jack uses simple, frank language to describe his descent from “normal” high school student to prison inmate. Many students will relate to the series of bad judgment calls Jack chose which lead to drug use, and a deferment of his life plans.

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;"> “ // From my cell window I could see a line of houses in the distance. All week the people had been putting up Halloween decorations. We didn't celebrate Halloween in prison - or, I should say, every day in prison was scarier than any Halloween, so there was no reason to do anything special on October 31st" //

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore (James Frey and Jobie Hughes) <span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Interest Level: 7-11 Grades <span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Reading Level: 4.4 Grade <span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Lexile: 700L <span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Pages: 448

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">A science fiction series which is heavy on the fiction and light on the science. My readers who enjoy this “Alien invasion” series are readers who care little about the technical details and prefer to read about action. John is one of nine children saved from the planet, Lorien. He has grown up on Earth and has moved to a new high school. He must make new friends, both Earthlings and Lorien, and deal with enemies both Earthlings and Mogadorians.

Lorien Legacies: 1st I am Number Four, 2nd Power of Six, 3rd The Rise of Nine, 4th The Fall of Five, 5th The Revenge of Seven, 6th The Fate of Ten, 7th United as One The Juvie Three by Greg Korman Interest Level: Grades 6-8 Reading Level: Grade 4.5 Lexile: 730L Pages: 249

I agree with the teacher who recommended this as a book with characters teens can relate to. I found myself, an adult, feverishly turning the pages to find out whether Arjay, Gecko, and Terence, the three teenagers who have been taken out of juvenile detention centers by Douglas Healey, have blown their second chance by unintentionally knocking him unconscious. Will he regain consciousness in the hospital to which he has been taken? Will the boys by going to school each day and attending assigned group sessions and service commitments be able to maintain the charade that everything is all right and Healey is still around?

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Mostly True Stories About Growing Up Scieszka by Jon Scieszka <span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Interest Level: 3rd -7th Grades <span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Reading Level: 4.8 Grade <span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Lexile: 750L <span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Pages: 106 pages

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">If your reader needs a book with very short, episodic chapters, __Knucklehead__’s 38 chapters in 106 pages will fit the bill. Jon Scieszka’s autobiography is tailor-made for fans of Captain Underpants, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Scieszka’s own Time Warp Trio books. Youthful humor abounds beginning with the cover and its comic book inspired appearance. Each of the 38 stories are accompanied by photographs, graphics, and images of the topics discussed, so that life in the 1960’s is accessible to students who have never know life without the internet.



Liar, Liar by Gary Paulsen Interest Level: Grades 5-8 Reading Level: Grade 5.8 Lexile: 940 Pages: 120 Reluctant readers will come for the book’s compact size and low page count, but they’ll stay for the comedy. Middle schoolers definitely enjoy Kevin’s justification of his lies to win a girl’s heart, and then they revel in the tangled web he gets himself into and his failed attempts to come out on top. Those who finish this book quickly visit the library to look for its several sequels.

Locomotion




 * A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck**
 * Interest Level: 4-9**
 * Reading Level: 4.6**
 * Lexile: 750L**
 * Pages: 148**

In this Newbery Honor Book, we spend three summers in downstate Illinois with Grandma Dowdel in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. From a wake held in her parlor (and including some stray cat mischief) to going fishing in a no trespassing area Joey and Mary-Alice learn through the life and times of Grandma. Their stories are told in a humorous way. The chapters are longer, but the adventures and humor carry the reader through. While they are not listed as a series, “A year down yonder” and “Fair weather” continue these stories and Grandma Dowdel’s antics as Joey and Mary-Alice grow up.

The longer chapters will make some readers turn away. Grandma Dowedel's antics might keep some reading. This book might require some background knowledge about rural depression era Illinois, especially for students from more urban areas.

Lost by Sharon Jennings Interest Level: Gr. 6-12 Reading Level: Gr. 2.5 Lexile: 450L Pages: 84

I highly recommend this book for truly struggling readers. Each of its short chapters ends with a cliff hanger. Will Rafe, a camp counselor, and Matt, a bullied and depressed teenager, survive their ordeal in the woods which includes battling snowstorms, wild animals, and crippling falls? The harrowing ending should promote an interesting discussion about values.



March: Book One by John Lewis Interest Level: Grades 8-12 Reading Level: Grade 4.6 Lexile: GN760 Pages: 121 A memoir of Congressman John Lewis’ experiences during the Civil Rights movement, this graphic novel will make history come alive for reluctant readers. I think teens will especially respond to the emphasis placed on the young people’s training in the procedures of conducting such a protest and the principles of nonviolence, and perhaps that will make them see themselves as potential difference-makers. They will also appreciate the book’s honesty, as Lewis pulls no punches in terms of portraying the hatred these teens faced and the danger they put themselves in on a daily basis.

== The Rose that Grew from Concrete by Tupac Shakur Interest Level: Grades 7-12 Reading Level: Grade 6.3 Lexile: NA Pages: 151

Fans of the late Tupac Shakur will be drawn to this work, posthumously published by a friend/mentor. These poems come from notebooks kept by Shakur between the ages of 18 and 20. Each double-page spread has the poem in Shakur’s handwriting (and sometimes accompanying drawings) on the right and the same poem type-written on the left. Some poems are about struggles faced by African Americans and are reminiscent of works of the Harlem Renaissance. The bulk of the book, though, is filled with somewhat trite love poetry that Shakur wrote to a number of young women in his life. It is the sort of thing that teens, especially girls, will eat up, as many are experiencing the same emotions and drama at this point in their lives. I have heard that this book does not stay on shelves for long and that copies often “grow legs” and must be replaced.





<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Title: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">__Night Fall__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">series by various authors - 12 books in total <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I read <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">__Thaw__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> by Rick Jasper <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Interest Level: Grades 6-12 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Lexile: 620L ( <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">__Unthinkable__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> - 600, <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">__The Protectors__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> - 560, <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">__The Late Bus__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> - 640) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Pages: 106 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> If you have a student who asks for “a creepy book with lots of action,” do not hesitate to get the Night Fall series books in their hands! These books are completely plot driven and lacking in character and scene development, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. This book will keep reluctant readers on the edge of their seats wondering if Dani will be able to save Jake from the thawed out cult leader who has trapped his family. It is a bit gory, so I would not recommend them for students who are young or unprepared for horror. However, students who grew up on Goosebumps will love these. They are also a great segue into the higher level <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">__Fear Street__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> series by R.L. Stine.



Marcus and his mother move to a small town on the east coast to get away from Marcus’ father after the divorce. From football to criminal acts and arrests to making friends and finding his way in his new life, Marcus works through some awkward situations and tough times. I think many would enjoy this story. The problems of trying to fit into a new school or town or onto a team are common. The connection between football injuries and dementia are much in the news which adds credibility to this story. The thin line between good kid and a criminal record via "pranks" with friends also pulls readers into this story.
 * Pop**
 * Gordon Korman**
 * Interest Level: 7-11**
 * Reading Level: 5.1**
 * Lexile: 740L**
 * Pages: 260**

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">T

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman <span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Interest Level: 6-8 Grades <span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Reading Level: 4.2 Grade <span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Lexile: 740L <span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Pages: 185 pages

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Two unique features of this series can help meet the need of some readers; videos, and a handwritten font. When I have students who would rather watch a horror movie than read, I recommend this series. It uniquely combines diary entries with video clips which readers can access online. The horror mystery unfolds through Ryan’s journal entries, and Sarah’s videos. In the first book Ryan and Sarah try to find out about the abandoned gold dredge and the mysteries surrounding it.

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Series; 1st Skeleton Creek: Ryan’s Journal, 2nd Ghost in the Machine, 3rd The Crossbones, 4th The Raven, 5th Phantom Room

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Soldier’s Heart by Gary Paulsen <span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Interest Level: 7-12 Grades <span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Reading Level: 5th Grade <span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Lexile: 1000L <span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Pages: 128 pages

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;">Descriptive paragraph: When I hand __Soldier’s Heart__ to students, they can’t believe the size. The 128 pages are a manageable length. While this initial impression gains their attention, the detailed, personal story of 15 year old Charley Goddard keeps them reading. Readers experience with Charley the realities of the Civil War. Charley was so eager to display his patriotism that he lied about his age to enlist. Charley then experiences the tedium of training and chaos and bloodlust of fighting.

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12.6667px;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">by Lynda Blackmon Lowery <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Interest Level: Grades 6-12 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reading Level: Grade 5.1 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Lexile: 780 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Pages: 127 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Readers will be intrigued by the idea that many young African-Americans walked in protest marches in the 60s while their parents went to work. In this memoir, Lowery recounts her experiences, including being jailed nine times before her 15th birthday. The book includes photographs and powerful graphic novel-type illustrations and the tone/style makes readers feel as if they are sitting down with Lowery in person to hear her inspiring story.

Winger by Andrew Smith Interest Level: Grades 9-12 Reading Level: Grade 5.3 Lexile: 890 Pages: 439

Andrew Smith is simply one of the best writers of the teenage boy voice out there. Readers will identify with Ryan Dean and the way he barely tolerates school, enjoys the camaraderie of his rugby team, and constantly thinks about sex and tons of girls, all while falling in love with his best friend, Annie. Ryan Dean is somewhat of a cartoonist, too, and readers will enjoy the panels he draws of himself and his friends that are sprinkled throughout the book. This 439 page but fast-paced and very funny novel will fly along for reluctant readers, who will be seeking out its sequel, //Stand Off//.

__** 2015-2016 **__

Bang by Sharon Flake Interest Level: Grades 6-12 Reading Level: Grade 3.6 Lexile: 590L

Many readers love this book. But, as one 14 year old boy ( who loves the book and thinks it great) writes, readers who are sensitive and don't like to cry should find a different book. ([]) I find myself agreeing with the teacher who writes on GoodReads that while she loves Sharon Flake's other books and will definitely get this book for her classroom, she, herself, found it so upsetting and depressing that she couldn't finish it.

Black and White by Paul Volponi

Interest Level: Grades 6-12 Reading Level: Grade 3.9 Lexile: HL710L

I really liked this book and think middle school and high school students will also like it. Marcus, who is Black, and Eddie, who is White, are high seniors, star basketball players, and good students. They are just about to win college basketball scholarships which will allow them to leave their depressed neighborhoods and have a chance for shining futures. Unfortunately, in a quest for quick money, they become involved in a series of robberies with a gun. Marcus is caught and their friendship is tested. The book raises great discussion questions of loyalty, self-interest, and racism.

//Bruiser// by Neil Shusterman Interest Level: Grades 9-12 Lexile Level: 820L Grade Level Equivalent: 5.4 //The Strange Case of Origama Yoda// by Tom Angleberger Interest Level: Grades 3-5 Lexile Level: 760L Grade Level Equivalent: 4.2, GR T

//The Skin I'm In// by Sharon Flake Interest Level: Grades 9-12 Lexile Level: 670L Grade Level Equivalent: 4.2

//The House of Scorpion// by Nancy Farmer Interest Level: Grades 6-12 Lexile Level: 660L Grade Level Equivalent: 6.1 Pages: 400 The teacher who recommended this book said boys love it and added that it was about cloning. I found this an absorbing read and rushed out to get the sequel. I thought the characters were well developed and engaging. I liked the details of the landscape and social arrangements and the questions raised about what constitutes a human. I liked Nancy Farmer's idea of developing another country between the United States and Mexico where drugs were grown using the labor of captured migrants. I liked that she also brought in questions of environmental pollution.



//The Lord of Opium// by Nancy Farmer

Interest Level: Grades 6-12 Lexile Level: HL700L Grade Level Equivalent: 5.2

__//** 2014-2015 **//__

//The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian// by Sherman Alexie Interest Level: Grades 9-12 Lexile Level: 600L Grade Level Equivalent: 3.4

//**Reader's Comments:**// <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Arnold Spirit Jr. brought me into his world living on an Indian Reservation. A reader will enjoy the humorous adventures along with vivid illustrations that are used throughout the text. Arnold, the main character tells a story of loyalty as well as courage to adolescent readers as he is searching for a way out of the cycle of poverty, violence and early death that surrounds him family and community. Students might also be highly motivated to read this book when they learn how frequently some parents request that it be banned. We can ask our students to decide whether the graphic language that Arnold, a high school freshman, uses in describing his own feelings and when talking to his best friend, is a reason to ban this award winning novel.

//Almost Home// by Joan Bauer Interest Level: Grades 5-7 Reading Level: Z Lexile: 590L

//**Reviewer's Comments:**// I was absorbed in 12 year old Sugar's story of the perils of living with a weak mother whose unhealthy attachment to Sugar's father, a gambling, alcoholic, unreliable husband endangers their existence and leads to homelessness. Although it has a relatively low lexile, its Guided Reading rating is Z. Its advanced reading level, though, may make it difficult for some struggling readers.



//American Born Chinese// by Gene Luen Yang Interest Level: 9th - 12th grade Lexile Level: GN530L Grade Level Equivalent: 5.2

//**Reader's Comment:**// //What's great about this graphic novel is that not only does its reading level make it accessible to students reading below grade level but its style and story interest both gifted and struggling students. At the same time that it grabs their interest, the novel raises all sorts of significant issues about identity, fears about acceptance, and about stereotypes.//

//Ask the Passengers// by A.S. King Interest Level: Grades 9-12th Lexile Level: HL630L RL: Grade 3.9

//**Reader's Comments:**// //This book touched my life. With the story line of a teenage girl coming to acceptance of her sexuality preferences, the reader is drawn into the fears and heartache this young woman endures as her family finds out about the "true" her. Throughout the story she continues to send her love to planes that pass by overhead and the passengers receive her love and their lives change because of that love.//

//Buddy// by Nigel Hinton Interest Level: Grades 5-8

//**Reader's Comment:**//

//**Carter High Series:**// //**Fastest Runner**//

//City of Bones// by Cassandre Clare Interest Level: Grades 9-12 Lexile Level: 740L Grade Equivalent:

//**Reader's Comment:** I feel this book is too complicated for a struggling reader. The vocabulary was high and there are many terms related to mystical creatures, etc. I had to look up some words because I was unaware of what they meant. The story is good but again just too high for a struggling reader.//

//Code Talker// by Joseph Bruchac Interest Level: Grades 9-12th Lexile Level: 910 Grade Equivalent: 6.4

//**Reader's Comment:**// I loved Code Talker a book about the amazing and important role the Navajo marines and their language played in our winning World War II. Not only is it book that imparts important historical knowledge and teaches us to respect Native Americans and their contributions during war time but the way in which it is told makes it easy for readers to understand. The story is told through the eyes of a Navajo grandfather who tells his grandson about his childhood and his war experiences. This is a great voice for making a connection for readers between the present and past. It is a wonderful story!!

Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King IL: G 7-12 Lexile HL710L Reading Level

I can see why so many teenagers rave about this book and can connect to Lucky Linderman’s struggles with being bullied, facing depression, confronting sexuality and sexism, and growing up in the midst of a dysfunctional family. As an adult, though, I found myself distressed by seeing Lucky in a world where there was no one to help, no peers and no adults. I’m happy to say, though, that in the end Lucky found that he, at least, was the person who could help himself.
 * Reviewer's Comment **

//The Fault in Our Stars// by John Green Interest Level: 9th-12th grade Lexile Level: 850L

//**Reader's Comment:**// This text is an emotional roller coaster that would be most appropriate for high school students. Two teenage cancer fighting patients fall in love while looking for the courage and support to overcome their health challenges. There is a heavy focus on mortality and sexuality that would be most appropriate for older adolescent readers who can participate in a discussion group facilitated by an adult who can assist with processing the heavy content.

Keeping //You a Secret// by Julie Anne Peters Interest Level: 9th - 12th grade Age Level: 14-18 Lexile Level: 460L Grade Level Equivalent: 3.4

//**Reviewer's Comment:**// //This is a very accessible and sensitive treatment of homosexuality. In this love story, Holland Jaegar, the teenage protagonist, finds herself deeply attracted to another young woman and finally forced to confront the truth about her own sexuality. I found it a highly engaging story which raises issue of honesty, prejudice, and acceptance. It is a book I feel comfortable recommending not only to young people who are coming to terms with their own homosexuality but also to heterosexual high school students to help them become sensitive to the struggles some of their peers are facing.//

//Legend// by Marie Lu Interest Level: Grades 7-12 Lexile Measure: 710L Grade Equivalent: 6

//**Reviewer's Comment:**//

//Legend is a book set in the future, somewhat similar to Hunger// //Games and other books of that genre. I really enjoyed the// //characters and the fact that it was set in what remained of Chicago// //in the future after disasters destroyed what it had been. I liked it so// //much that I can hardly wait to read the next two books in the series// //(it is the first of a trilogy). Its placement in the remains of Chicago// //makes it an especially fun read for students living in Illinois and// //the Midwest. The divisions of young people into different factions// //made you wonder which faction you would choose to belong to, if// //you lived there. The book not only had the excitement of a thriller,// //but also had romance added, to make it more interesting to both// //girls and boys.//



//Lockdown// by Alexander Gordon Smith Interest Level: Grades 10-12 Lexile Level: 1010 Grade Level Equivalent: N/A

//**Reader's Comments:**// I can see why the teacher who recommended this first book in a series said it attracts boys who never come to the library. This is a "keep you on the edge of your seat" read from the first page where fourteen year old Alex's lungs are nearly bursting as he races up the stairs of the wretched underground prison struggling to escape from his hideous pursuers. The length of each book in the series and the sophistication of its vocabulary as shown by its 1010 Lexile score makes this a good read for the reluctant as opposed to the struggling reader.

//Looking for Alaska// by John Green Lexile Level: 930L

//**Reader's Comments:**//

//Maggot Moon// by Sally Gardner Interest Level: Grade 5-8th Lexile Level: 690L

//**Reader's Comments:**//

//Monument 14// by Emmy Laybourne Interest Level: 8th-12th Grade Lexile Level: HL590L

T//he blurbs are right. Monument 14, which is the middle book in a dystopian trilogy, is a riveting and real read. It’s not only riveting but fast, clearly organized and should really appeal to struggling readers I really liked the way the book is organized. The characters in the book are divided into// // two groups. One group is racing to get to an airport. The other group may survive if it can wait out the disaster. The book reflects this organization. The chapters dealing with the first group mark their progress in miles. The chapters concerning the second group mark their progress in time. I do think readers who read Monument 14 are sure to go on to the third book. //
 * //Reader's Comment://**



//Surviving// //Southside Series// Interest Level: Grades 8-12 Reading Level: Grades 3-4 Lexiles: 500-600

Reviewer's Comment: Each book in this series focuses on major issues that are of high interest to teens. The titles pictured here deal with concussions,football, and the meaning of friendship (//Full Impact//); homosexuality and bullying (//The Fight//); teenage pregnancy (//Plan B//); and competition and cheating (//Dance Team//). I found each of these an interesting and easy read that could promote valuable discussions.

Swindle by Gordon Korman IL Grades 3-7 Lexile: 710L RL G 4 //The Things They Carried// by Tim O'Brien IL Grades 9-12 Lexile Level: 880L RL G9

//**Reader's Comments:**// <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">Tim O'Brien's book, //The Things they Carried,// was a very hard-hitting book. It detailed, in quite beautiful prose, all of the angst that a young college man who was antiwar felt when he was drafted to fight in the Vietnam war. He even tried to cross the border to Canada to avoid fighting, but chickened out at the last minute admitting he was too much of a coward to face the negative things people would say about him to his family for running away from his duty. I couldn't believe that this book was recommended for students, as I found it full of very horrific descriptions of some of the terrible killings and atrocities that were done by soldiers in a war zone. I would definitely warn students that it was only for mature high school students who could better handle the emotions that result from reading this book. Because it was so real, it made me much more empathetic for the horrors that soldiers experience when they have to fight and kill other people and can better understand why so many soldiers return with post traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) and have flashbacks, etc. The book really had an impact on me and, I expect, anyone who reads it. It is a very powerful book about true events, but also has universal messages about what happens to men and women when they fight in a war.

<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">by Dr. Pamela Godt

//Tomorro////w W////h////en the War Began// //by John Marsden// Interest Level: Grades 7-9 Lexile Level: 850L Grade Level Equivalent: 7.9

//**Reader's Comments:**//

//The Underland Chronicles: Book 1 - Gregor the Overlander// by Susanne Collins Interest Level: Grades 3-7th Lexile Level: 630L Grade Level Equivalent: 4.9

//**Reader's Comments:**//

//Ungifted// by Gordon Korman Interest Level: Grade 3-5th Lexile Level: 730L Grade Level Equivalent: 4.5

//**Reader's Comments:**// <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">The book //Ungifted,// by Gordon Korman, was fun to read. I really enjoyed it and think most students, especially in intermediate to Middle School and above, would also enjoy the problems a 'regular guy' experiences when he is brought in for discipline problems, but is then mistakenly assigned to a special gifted program. I loved the fact that the book involved working with robots, too, as they are a special interest of mine. I loved the interactions between and teachers and the gifted students as they tried to discover what special talents this newcomer had. It was fun to see how they all reacted to his doses of common sense in interactions with him. I loved it and recommended it to others, so I hope you enjoy reading it, too. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">by Dr. Pamela Godt

//Unwind// by Neil Shusterman Interest Level: Grades 7-12 Lexile Level: HL740L

//**Reader's Comments:**// This book grabs your attention right from the beginning. The main character is a teenage boy who has gotten into minor trouble but right away you find out his parents have signed off to have him unwound. All body parts to be taken from him and his mind to stay conscious until they are finished. The series is so riveting that you find yourself impatient to read the next book in the series.

//Whale Talk// by Chris Crutcher Interest Levels: Grades 9-12 Lexile Level: 1000L Grade Equivalent: 7.2

//**Reader's Comments:**//

//Wintergirls// by Laurie Halse Anderson Interest Level: Grades 9-12 Lexile Level: 730L Grade Level Equivalent: 4.5

//**Reader's Comments:**//

//Wonder// by R.J. Palacio Interest Level: Grades 5-7th Lexile Measure: 790L Grade Level Equivalent: 5

//**Reader's Comments:**// <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">The book //Wonder// really helped me to develop empathy for anyone with a severe deformity. Although the book does not include any pictures, the verbal descriptions of the most frightening images you can imagine for a face that is severely deformed become very real to you. How would you cope if people screamed in terror and nearly fainted when they first saw you? The book sheds light on an often overlooked problem and gives you an inside peek at how we should all try harder to get along with each other, no matter what we look like. I was afraid that it might be "creepy" to read about the problems a person with very visible deformities has, but instead, it was very inspiring and uplifting and left me with good feelings. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">by Dr. Pamela Godt

//Yummy// by G. Neri Interest Level: 9th - 12th grade Age Level: 14-18 Lexile Level: GN510L Grade Level Equivalent: 3.4

//**Reviewer's Comment:**// This graphic novel is a dramatization of the real story of Yummy, a young Chicago gang member killed by his own gang. Based on my observations of this book's high popularity with the teens in my local Boys and Girls Club, the author has succeeded in his purpose of creating a book that would interest even reluctant readers and have them think about questions of right and wrong and question the value of membership in a gang.

__//** 2013-2014 **//__

//Ball Don't Lie// by Matt de la Pena Interest Level: Grades 9-12
 * (Click on photo for summary)**

Lexile Level: 710L

Reading Level: Grade 8.1


 * Reviewer's Comments:**


 * (Click on Photo For Summary)**

//Conspiracy 365// by Gabriel Lord

Interest Level: 7th - 12th grade Reading Level: Grade 4.6 Lexile Level: 680L


 * Reviewer's Comments:**

//A fast paced read. This book is filled with suspense, mystery, and drama. At the end of this book, you find yourself determined to read the rest of the books in the series. There is a book per month of the year because we are following Cal, main character, through his survival of 365 days. Teens would like this adventure packed book because of its fast paced speed throughout. Struggling readers would enjoy this book because it is an easy read and keeps them inspired to keep going.//



//Divergent// by Veronica Roth
 * (Click on the Photo for a Summary)**

Interest Level: 8th Grade Age Level: 14-18 Lexile Level: HL700L Grade Level Equivalent: 9


 * Reviewer's Comments:**

//A great dystopian novel. The first in a series of 3. This book is a harder read than what I would recommend for struggling readers but if you have a student in love with the dystopian books than this is a great book to add to their collection. This story follows the life of Beatrice and the choices she makes. The setting is a futuristic Chicago where things are not the same. There are 4 social classes and Beatrice must choose which social class she will join for the remainder of her life. Overall a great read. This reviewer has read all 3 and was only a little disappointed in the last book.//



//Drive-By// written by Lynne Ewing Interest Level: 6th grade + Lexile Level: 550L Grade Level: 3.1
 * (Click on photo for summary)**

// The middle school reading teacher who recommended this book was right when she said it was a high interest book, particularly for boys. She also wrote that the book was great for helping kids to practice making inferences. And it is! Tito’s beloved older brother, Jimmy, is killed in a drive-by shooting that everyone claims is gang related. The clues he finds, force Tito, who looked up to his older brother as a role model and believes Jimmy was not in a gang, to come to terms with the truth. So readers, like Tito, will find themselves wondering and making inferences throughout the first half of the book about whether Jimmy was or was not in a gang. The book is a fast read and lends itself to good discussions about the reasons for joining or rejecting gangs. //
 * Reviewer's Comments:**

//Harris and Me// by Gary Paulson Interest Level: 6th grade Lexile Level: 1060L Grade Level: 5.2
 * (Click on the photo for summary)**

//Harris and Me,// by Gary Paulsen, related exciting descriptions of what life used to be like on a farm, when relatives take in a young cousin for the summer whose family is having problems. The two boys work hard and play hard and are ready to try out any hare-brained experiment, no matter how dangerous. The wacky adventures as well as the relationships that develop among the members of the household will keep students reading to find out how (and if) the characters survive the next thing they try to do. This is a nice book for anyone to read, but it is especially good for any students having problems or experiencing the twists and turns that might uproot your way of life at any moment. The content is exciting enough to interest older students who may relate to some of the problems the main character experiences, despite it being set in the last century. It rings true because the author had some similar life experiences.
 * Reviewer's Comments:**

//I Survived Series// by Lauren Tarshis and other authors Interest Level: 2nd-6th Age Level: 8-11 Lexile Level: 590L Grade Level: 4.0
 * (Click on photo for summary)**

//There is a wonderful series of children's books by Lauren Tarshis and other authors entitled, I survived---. They include such topics as I survived the San Francisco earthquake, 1906; I survived the sinking of the Titanic, 1912; I survived the Shark Attacks of 1916; I survived the bombing of Pearl Harbor, 1941; I survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005; and even I survived the Attacks of September 11, 2001. These books are loaded with true historical information about each event. All the main events are real, but the characters are made up. The books include such helpful things as (in the Pearl Harbor book) Pearl Harbor **Time Line**, Pearl Harbor **Facts**, **Questions & Answers** about the event, such as an explanation for why the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. They even include sections in each book entitled **To find out more on your own** (which lists other books and resources, such as National Geographic websites. They have a whole section in the 9-11 book entitled Why I wrote about 9-11 (It was because they had received hundreds of requests from kids).They include such facts as there were 50,000 workers in the buildings, 2016 died, (including 343 firefighters and 60 police officers) and that there were only 14 survivors after the collapse. These readable books give children knowledge and a real perspective on the event, but make it meaningful for them, by having the main character be a child witnessing and surviving the event. Teachers in the intermediate grades have said that their students enjoy these books. As an adult, I also found them interesting and think they would provide useful information to older students who want an entertaining way to learn about major historic events in our recent history.//
 * Reviewer's Comments:**

//Mexican Whiteboy// by Matt De La Pena Interest Level: 8-12th Lexile Level: 680L
 * (Click on photo for summary)**

//Male and female readers, particularly those with an interest in baseball will be excited to read this novel. The// //main character is multi-racial but does not seem to fit into either of his cultural backgrounds. The only place he// //fits in is on the baseball field.//
 * Reviewer's Comments:**

//Panic// by Sharon Draper Interest Level: High School Lexile Level: HL610L Grade Level: 9th-12th
 * (Click on photo for summary)**

//We most often think about very young kids being lured away by a stranger but it can happen to young adults// //as well. Readers of this text will be pulled into the nightmare of a high school girl that is being held captive by a// //stranger who she thought would help her become a movie star.//
 * //Reviewer's Comments://**



//Persepolis// by Mariane Satrapi Interest Level: 9-12th grade Lexile Level: GN380L Grade Level: 5.8
 * (Click on photo for summary)**

This graphic novel had been recommended by a high school reading coach to use with struggling high school seniors. Though its lexile score (380L) is low and its pictures lively, this is not an easy read. It requires lots of historical background knowledge and does raise lots of meaty issues: religious, social, economic and political issues. In May, 2013, the Chicago Public Schools banned this book, supposedly because of one panel depicting torture. Many protests of this censorship, including those from students, resulted in the ending of the ban. One teacher had his students review the book and make a case for why the book should or shouldn’t be banned.
 * Reviewer's Comments: **


 * (Click on photo for summary)**

//The Pregnancy Project// by Gaby Rodriguez Interest Level: 9th-12th Lexile Level: 970L

//This text tackles a topic that others think about but often dare not talk about, teen pregnancy in minority// //communities. This non-fiction book will speak to all ethnicities, but it holds a special message that many// //minority students must fight negative stereotypes and find their own way to a bright future.//
 * Reviewer's Comments:**

//Schooled// by Gordon Korman Interest Level: 3-8th Lexile Level: 740L Grade Level: 4.0


 * Reviewer's Comments:**

Smile by Raina Telgemeier Drama by Raina Telgemeier Interest Level: 5th-7th Interest Level: 5th-8th Reading Level Grade 4 Reading Level: Grade 3.3 Lexile: GB410 Lexile: GB400

Reviewer's Comments Telgemeier's books just fly off the shelves. They're easy to read (note the lexile), have appealing illustrations, and they deal with realistic middle school situations in a humorous and positive way. In addition to the typical middle school topics of peer pressure and social acceptance //Drama// also introduces the issue of homosexuality.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 40px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I //Street Pharm// by Allison van Diepen Interest Level: 9th-12th Lexile Level: 500L
 * (Click on photo for summary)**

//I found this book to be interesting and would recommend this to urban boys. The message is great because the main character realizes that being a "hustler" is not all that it seems it should be. The language is pretty foul and as an adult reader it makes it hard to continue to read. I would definitely pay careful attention to the students I recommended it to because of the foul language. Also, the way they refer to females are as an object at times which causes some difficulty. Recommendation would be to use with students who are Juniors or Seniors. Reading is easy and quick.//
 * Reviewer's Comments:**

//The Things They Carried// by Tim O'Brien Interest Level: 9th Lexile Level: 880L Grade Level: 9.0
 * (Click on the photo for a summary)**


 * Reviewer's Comments:**

//Wait Till Helen Comes// by Mary Downing Hahn Interest Level: 6 Lexile Level: 750L Grade Level: 4.7
 * (Click on the photo for summary)**

//The Title I reading teacher who recommended this says she's used it in small reading groups where each student takes a turn reading. After reading it myself I can see why she said that the students love the book so much they don't even want to break for lunch! What I liked about it also was that in addition to a lively plot, the story explicitly and realistically describes the mixed emotions of children whose families have been broken by death and desertion and resolves their feelings in a way that promotes empathy.//
 * Reviewer's Comments:**

2012-2013



//The Bone Books by Jeff Smith// //Out from Bonevil////le//

<span class="attr_name">Interest Level <span class="attr_data">Grade 6 <span class="attr_name">Grade Level Equivalent <span class="attr_data"> 3.6 <span class="attr_name"> **Genre** <span class="attr_data"> Adventure, Comic Books and Graphic Novels, Series, Fantasy <span class="attr_name"> **Reading motivation program** <span class="attr_data"> Scholastic Reading Counts, Accelerated Reader

<span class="attr_data">__**Reviewer Comments**__: Many kids, including reluctant readers, just love these books! Funny, witty, exciting, and whimsical are just some of the adjectives adults and kids use to describe this series.



**(Click on photo for book summary)**

**Bystander** by [|James Preller] Interest Level: Grades 6-8 Grade level Equivalent: 4.4, Lexile Measure®: 600L, DRA: 50, Guided Reading: U Genre : Realistic Fiction

__**Reviewer'****s**__ **__Comments__:** Popular read with middle schoolers as it highlights problems of moving into a new neighborhood and dealing with issues not only of being the one bullied but also of being a bystander when bullying is taking place.



**(Click on photo for book summary)** Interest Level: Grades 6-10 Reading Level: Grade level Equivalent: 6.2, Lexile Measure 940L DRA: 44 GR V Type of Book: Realistic Fiction

__**Reviewer’s comment:**__ Really believable characters. Sensitive focus on the effect illness has on the well child in the family. Highly recommend this for any family in similar situation.

**(Click on photo for book summary)** //**If I**// **Stay** by Gale Forman Interest Level: Grade 9-12 Grade Equivalent: 8 Lexile 830L

__**Reviewer's Comments:**__

**(Click on photo for book summary)** Interest Level: Grades 6-8 Grade Level Equivalent: 8.3 Lexile: 980L

__**Reviewer's**__ **Comment:**

**(Click on photo for book summary)** Interest Level: 3-5 Grade Level Equivalent: 6.3 Lexile Level: N/A

__**Reviewer's** **Comment:**__ Story is similar to the concept of Dork Diaries. I believe it really only holds the interest of younger readers but is written at a higher level. Much more meant for a reluctant readers in grades 3-5.



**(Click on photo for book summary)** Interest Level: Grades 6-8 Grade Equivalent: 4.7 Lexile Level: 890L DRA: 50 Guided Reading: V

__**Reviewer's Comments:**__

**(Click on photo for book summary)** Interest Level: Grades 7-10 Grade Level Equivalent: 5 Lexile Level: 700L DRA: 70 Guided Reading: Z

__**Reviewer's** **Comments:**__

**(Click on photo for book summary)**

Interest Level: Grade 9-12 Grade Level Equivalent: 5.7 Lexile Measure: 560L

__**Reviewer's Comment:**__ This book is supposed to be excellent but as the committee reviewer I had the hardest time completing the book. I found myself unable to get past the first chapter which is unusual for me. Unfortunately, I cannot give good feedback so I am hoping that over time a member of our audience can add to this.

**(Click on photo for book summary)** Interest Level: Grade Level Equivalent: Lexile Measure:

__**Reviewer's Comment:**__

**(Click on photo for book summary)** Interest Level: High School Grade Level Equivalent: 8th-9th grade

__**Reviewer's Comment:**__ A great read for any high school girl. Very easy to read and the love story makes you turn the pages quickly. Even as an adult I had to know how it ended. A Romeo and Juliet type of story where they came from different backgrounds yet somehow found love with each other.



**(Click on photo for book summary)** Interest Level: Grades 6-8 Grade Level Equivalent: 4.7 Lexile Level: 740L DRA: 40 Guided Reading: S

__**Reviewer'****s** **Comment:**__ This is a high packed adventure book. The actual interest level will hit lower grade levels of higher readers as well. The story is one that you can't put down because you get caught up in the story and want to know how it ends. Of course then you must continue reading the rest of the series. It helps students to find the fun in Greek Mythology at a younger age instead of seeing it as boring.

**(Click on photo for book summary)**

Interest Level: Middle School/High School Grade Level Equivalent: 3.2-3.9
 * 13 Reasons Why**

Lexile Level//: 550 L//

__**Reviewer's Comment:**__ I thought the book was very interesting to read, despite the downer of a topic. It points out the effect that seemingly minor actions you make can have on others, both good and bad. Most students who have read this book in either Middle School or High School really liked the book, although they were rather shocked by the topic. Several adults were angry that this teenager ended her life over silly embarrassments that often happen to most people in their lives. It certainly held my attention while reading and is good for both children and parents to read to realize the positive and negative effects we can have on each other, even wit hout realizing it. I was pleased that the book jacket cover included the ** 1-800-suicide ** hotline and also the website for [|www.hopeline.com]. It would also be good for parents & teachers to have discussions with students/children after reading this book to talk about better ways to improve your life if you are dealing with difficulties than the outrage of committing suicide.



Interest Level: Grades 6-9 Reading Level: 5.5 Lexile Measure: 860 Grade Level Equivalent: 5.5
 * //Trash//** by Andy Mulligan

__**Reviewer's**__ **Comments** The unusual setting and characters - a community built on a garbage dump where the three main characters, boys, scratch out a living by sorting through the trash - gives kids a view of another kind of world and promotes lots of discussion around questions about social justice and whether lying can ever be defended.

**(Click on photo for book summary)** Interest Level: Grades 7-10 Reading Level: 5 Lexile: 700L DRA: 60 Guided Reading: X

__**Reviewer's Comments:**__ I understood the story well, even without having read any of the previous books in the series. The book made me want to read other books in the series. The author has sold more than 220 million books worldwide and was named "Author of the Year" in 2010 by the Children's Book Council's Children's Choice Book Awards. This book would be exciting for both boys and girls to read. It was a fun read. 2005



**(Click on photo for book summary)** Interest Level: Grades 4-7 Grade Level Equivalent: 4 Lexile Measure: 780L DRA: 40 Guided Reading: R

__**Reviewer's Comment:**__

**(Click on photo for book summary)** Interest Level: Grades 9-12 Grade Level Equivalent: 5.2 Lexile Measure: 680L

__**Reviewer's Comment:**__

**(Click on photo for book summary)** // Plan B // by Charnan Simon (Surviving Southside Series) Interest Level: Grades 6-12 Reading Level: Grade level Equivalent: 6.2, Lexile Measure 430L DRA: 44 GR V

__**Reviewer****'s** **Comments:**__

**(Click on photo for book summary)** Interest Level: Grades 6-8 Grade Level Equivalent: 4.6 Lexile Measure: 760L

__**Reviewer's Comments:**__

Interest Level: Grade 3-7 Grade Level Equivalent: 5.3 Lexile Measure 810 L
 * (Click on photo for book summary)**


 * __Reviewer's Comment:__** Cute story of 2 kids in love with magic and trying to solve a mystery. Fun read.

// The Shadow Club // by Neil Shusterman Interest Level: Grades 6-8 Reading Level: Grade level Equivalent: 5.1 Lexile Measure 760 L DRA: 40 GR S
 * (Click on photo for book summary)**

__**Reviewer's Comment:**__ I can well understand why one 7th grade teacher says in the 10 years he's been reading this book aloud to his class he has never found a student who doesn't like it and that the students applaud when he finishes. Many of them couldn't wait till he finished so rushed out to get the book for themselves.

// Urban Underground Series by Ann Schraff // // (Series of 15 books) // // If You Really Loved Me # 4 // Interest Level: Grades 6-12 Reading Level: Grade level Equivalent: 3.5 Lexile Measure 650L
 * (Click on photo for book summary)**

__**Reviewer's Comments:**__ The librarian who recommended this series says they fly off her shelves. I can believe that. The books are easy to read. The characters have believable problems that middle school and high school students will recognize. The solutions are realistic and reinforce positive social values. And the kinds of issues and backgrounds of the characters give food for discussion.

Interest Level: Grades 9-12 Lexile Measure: 800L

__**Reviewer's Comments:**__

Interest Level: Grades 3-5 Grade Level Equivalent: 4 Lexile Measure: 830L DRA: 40
 * (Click on book for summary)**

__**Reviewer's Comments:**__ This book has beautiful illustrations to help enlighten and facilitate the concepts of inferencing. I do not see it as a struggling reader book as I do not see many of our older readers finding interest in the book. However I feel that this book would be great in modeling inferencing!

==

==


 * REPEAT RECOMMENDATIONS: (TWO OR THREE YEARS OF RECOMMENDATIONS)**

A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer (2008-2009) Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikelson (2009-2010) The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney (see 2009-2010 below) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (2010-2011)

***Please Click on Title of Book or Picture of book to be taken to a summary.

[[file:ircstrugglingreaders/Books for Struggling Readers 2012 (1).pptx|2011-2012]]
//** 100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson **// // Interest Level: Grades 6 – Grade 8 // // Reading Level: 3.7, Lexile 650 //

__** Reviewer's Comments: **__ This book has a male as the main character which can be appealing to adolescent male readers. It is a wonderful fantasy with cousins taking readers on an adventure that will keep you turning the pages.

// Interest Level: Grades 6-8 // // Reading Level: Grade 5.9 Lexile 800 //
 * Among the Hidden (Book 1 of Shadow Children) by Margaret Peterson Haddix**

__**Reviewer's Comments**__


 * Beast Quest, Book I : Ferno the Fire Dragon (**first of a series of 60 books)
 * Interest Level:** 3-5
 * Reading Level : Grade 3.7, Lexile** 720L

__**Reviewer's Comments**__//**:**//

=// Blood on the River: James Town 1607 // by Elisa Carbone = = =

Interest Level: Grade 6 - Grade 8 Reading Level: Grade 4.8, Lexile, 820L Genre: **Adventure, Science Fiction and Fantasy,**

__ **Reveiwer's Comments:** __ This book was recommended by a teacher after last year’s IRC talk on struggling readers. On the first page of the book, it starts off with an exciting exploit that draws the reader in immediately. I really enjoyed reading the book and hearing about all of the adventures and trials and hardships suffered by the first white settlers at Jamestown. When I was done, I really wanted to read more about Jamestown, the Roanoke Colony, Captain John Smith, Pocahontas, Chief Powhatan, and other writings about interactions between the Native Americans and the new white settlers coming to America. The book was exciting and really made me want to know more about that time and place. I think students will greatly enjoy reading this exciting adventure. (Dr. Pamela Godt)

The Bottle in the Kitchen by Barbara Nesbitt Interest Level: 6-12 Reading Level: Not Available (The sentences are long but the words are easy. This seems to be about 4th grade level.)

__** Reviewer's Comment **__ s: Workshop 2011 participant: Kids In between has a series of hi interest/lo vocabulary that my special ed students have loved for years by Barbara Nesbitt. This is an excellent book to read aloud to 7th or 8th grade students. At Columbus Middle School in Columbus, MS we have Everyone Reads at Lunch. Teachers read aloud for at least 15 minutes every day. This book concerning alcoholic parents and how teens cope is very appropriate reading for this time. Our students love it and tell their friends to get their teachers to read it, too.

Breathing Underwater by Alex Finn (E for DC)

Intere st Level: Grade 9 - Grade 12 Grade Level Equivalent: 7.1 Guided Reading NR Lexile® measure: 510L Genre/Theme: Mystery and Suspense Topics: Culture and Diversity, Character and Values, Friends and Friendship

=**__Reviewer's Comments__:**=

Interest Level: Grade 3 - Grade 5 Grade Level Equivalent: 4.5 Lexile Level: 770L
 * The Chocolate Touch **

__**Reviewer's Comments**__:

Chicken Boy by Frances O’Roark Dowell

Interest Level: Grade 6 - Grade 8 Reading Level:Grade 5.1, Lexile 860 __**Reviewer's Comments****:**__ Children enjoyed reading this book. However, this book surprised many readers. It turned out not to be about what they expected from the title. Students having problems in school may relate to many of the problems the main character is coping with in his own life situation. This book also shows what a difference a caring teacher and a good friend can make in a child’s life. I recommend this as a book that is also good for teachers to read themselves, to give themselves more understanding of possible reasons why a child might not hand in his/her homework or assignments when they are due. It can open the eyes (and hearts) of teachers and pre-service teachers to problems that they were unaware are things affecting some of their own students. (Dr. Pamela Godt)

Interest Level: Grade 9 - Grade 12 Grade Level Equivalent: 6.8, Lexile Level: NP
 * Crank by Ellen Hopkins **

**This book contains very mature content related to sex, drug use, and teen age pregnancy. If selected to be read, it should be accompanied with quality discussion facilitated by the teacher. Many teenagers praise it as realistic and a believable warning about what drugs can do to one’s life.

=//**Recommendations:**//=

=Crossing the Wire by Will Hobbs= Interest Level: Grade 6 - Grade 8 Grade Level Equivalent: 4.4, Lexile: 670L

=__**Reviewer's Comments**:__= === This book was very popular with the students who read it. I was amazed at how reading this one book was able to change people’s opinions about the whole issue of immigration in this country to a more positive perspective. Students, (especially boys,but girls, too) really enjoyed the exciting adventures contained in this book! I hope your students enjoy it, as well. (Dr. Pamela Godt) ===

=Deadly Stranger by Peg Kehret= Interest Level: Grade 3 - Grade 7 (?) Grade Level Equivalent: 3.4, Lexile 730L

=__**Reviewer's Comments:**__= One student reviewer describes this as the first “grown-up” book she ever read and says she read it when she was in fifth grade and it sparked her love for reading. 7/8th teacher: I had a 6th grade teacher who read it to me and I was RIVETED. Every chapter ends with a cliff hanger.

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler

Interest Level: Grade 9 - Grade 12 Grade Level Equivalent: 4.5, Lexile® measure: 790L, Guided Reading: NR Grad


 * "The heroine’s transformation into someone who finds her own style and speaks her own mind is believable — and worthy of applause." — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY**

= **__Reviewer's Comments__**: = Several people in the workshop recommended this book. It got rave reviews from many girls who post reviews on Shelfari. ([|www.shelfari.com])

Escape from Fire Mountain by Gary Paulsen

Interest Level: Grades 3-5 Reading Level: Grade 3.9, Lexile: 630 L, DRA: 40 GR: R


 * Fablehaven Series **



Interest Level: Grade 3 - Grade 6 Grade Level Equivalent: 4.2 Lexile Level : 700L

Interest Level: Grade 3 - Grade 5 Grade Level Equivalent: 4.6 Lexile Level: 750L
 * Found by Margaret Haddix **

Interest Level: Grade 6 - Grade 8 Grade Level Equivalent: 6.3 Lexile Level: 1000
 * Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick **

__**Reviewer's Comments:**__ Great book that can stimulate powerful discussions, addressing the topics of acceptance and differences that are often negatively accentuated by adolescents.

//Guys Read Volume 2 - Thriller// ed: Jon Scieszka Interest Level: Grade 8 and up Reading Level: Grade 3 and up Genre: Anthology, Fiction, Short Story, Mystery Topics: Mystery, Thriller, Ghost Stories, Suspense


 * Guys Read: Funny Business**

Interest Level: Grade 3 - Grade 5 Grade Level Equivalent: 5.5 Lexile® measure: 840L Genre/Theme: Comedy and Humor, Short Stories

Haunting of Hawthorn by Anne Schraff Interest Level: Grades 9-12 Reading Level: Grade 3.5, Lexile 510, GR NR

<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">This book in which a mysterious newcomer to Hawthorn high school takes on the troublemakers is one of a series of hi/lo novels put out by Perfection Learning. When you read this book you can see why the Title I teacher who recommended wrote “I enjoyed the story and my struggling readers found it easy to read.”
 * Review**

Inside Out by Terry Truman Interest Level: Grade 9 - Grade 12 Grade Level Equivalent: 5.6, Lexile 710, Guided Reading: NR Genre/Theme: General Fiction, Social Studies, Character and Values

Interest Level: Grade 6 - Grade 8 Reading Level: 3.5 Lexile® measure: 630L
 * // [[image:ircstrugglingreaders/mocking_bird.jpg width="105" height="166" align="left"]]Mockingbird //**by Katherine Erskine

__**Reviewer's Comment**:__ This book was very popular with both students and teachers who used it in a children’s literature class. It is short, easy to read, and has a tale that interests students. It was very timely, unfortunately, with a school shooting and it also discussed the psychological effects on both children and adults in the community after this horrible event. (It gave a nice plug for the benefits that accrue from having good school counselors in the building to help students dealing with issues.) It gives a helpful example to increase reader’s understanding of children with Asperger’s Syndrome and also addresses the issue of bullying. (Dr. Pamela Godt)

=// Notes from the Midnight Driver // by Jordan Sonnenblick = Interest Level: Grade 7 - Grade 12 Reading Level: 5.5- 6.0 Lexile 930L __**Reviewer's** **Comments**:__ This book really has some hysterically funny scenes, yet there is also a lot of pathos included and very serious issues are raised. It starts right off talking about a 16–year-old who got drunk for the first time and had a car accident where he thought he killed someone—very serious issues, yet the author managed to make it quite funny. Because of several sensitive topics mentioned, it is for a more mature audience. It was very popular with the students who read it. (Dr. Pamela Godt)

//**On the Run Series**:// (includes 6 titles) by Gordon Korman Interest Level: Grade 6 - Grade 8 Reading Level: range from 3.7 //–// //4.7//, Lexile 680L - 740 DRA: 40, Guided Reading: R Book Type: Chapter Book Genre/Theme: Adventure, Mystery, Suspense // On the Run 1: Chasing the Falconers // by Gordon Korman Interest Level: Grades: 4-8 (might be 6-8 depending on parental views) Reading Level: Grade 3.7, Lexile 680, Guided Reading Level: R __**Reviewer's Comments**__: Great book and would really spark the interest of boys. Story is exciting throughout. Currently there are 6 books within this series.
 * 1) //Chasing the Falconer's//— See above
 * 2) //The Fugitive Factor//—The Falconers talk to Frank Lindenaur's former girlfriend, but Meg is captured and thrown in jail.
 * 3) //Now You See Them, Now You Don't//—Aiden and Meg fly to [|Los Angeles] and receive help from a street gang.
 * 4) //The Stowaway Solution//—The siblings [|stowaway] on a ship to get closer to Frank Lindenaur.
 * 5) //Public Enemies//—The Falconers discover that Hairless Joe, who has been routinely trying to kill them, is Frank Lindenaur.
 * 6) //Hunting the Hunter//—The Falconers track down Hairless Joe to free their parents.

Reading Level: Lexile: 690
Interest Level: Grade 7 - Grade 9 Grade Level Equivalent: 5.9 Lexile® measure: 1000 DRA: 44 Guided Reading: V
 * //Soldier’s Heart: Being the Story of the Enlistment and Due Service of the Boy Charley Goddard in the First Minnesota//** Volunteers by Gary Paulsen (E for DC)

The SOS File by Betsy Cromer Byars, Betsy Duffey and Laurie Myers (JB) Interest Level: Grade 3 - Grade 5 Grade Level Equivalent: 4.0, 600L, DRA: 40, Guided Reading: R Genre/Theme: Humor, Emergencies Student stories

The White Fox Chronicles by Gary Paulsen Interest Level: Grades 5-8 Reading Level: Grade 5.8, Lexile 600L, DRA 44

Interest Level: Grades 4 and up Reading Level: Grade 5.1 Lexile 640
 * // Zlata’s Diary //** by Zlata Filipovic

=__//**<span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2010-2011 **//__=

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 1. // The Barrio Kings // by William Kowalski (Rapid Reads) <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">Interest Level: Adult <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">Reading Level: Grade 2.1 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">Themes; Gangs, loyalty, friendship

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;"> Rosario Gomez is trying to go straight. He has a job, a pregnant girlfriend, an almost-completed GED, and ambitions to claim a place for his family in  <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">  a different America from the one he knows in the barrio. He has promised his girlfriend, Connie, that he will not go back to the Barrio Kinds and will <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;"> live an exemplary life for her and their unborn son.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 2. // Burger Wuss //, by Matthew T.Anderson <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.75in;">Interest Level: Grades 9-12 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.75in;">Reading Level: Grade 3.5, Lexile 420 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.75in;">Genre: <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.75in;">From Publishers Weekly <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.75in;">When Anthony's girlfriend dumps him for a guy who works for a fast food chain, he devises a complicated plan to get her back by working <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.75in;">for a rival restaurant. "Anderson's witty tale of a lovelorn boy and his corporate antagonists is both a tasty read and a stinging satire.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;">** 3. // Cellular //** by Ellen Scwartz <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Interest Level: Grade 6-12 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Reading Level: Grades 2.3

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Brendan has it all-captain of the basketball team, good friends, a beautiful girlfriend and a loving family - until he is diagnosed with leukemia. Terrified and convinced that no one understands what he is going through, Brendan faces chemotherapy alone, until he meets Lark. She is also in treatment, although her condition is much worse, and yet she remains positive and hopeful. Brendan is torn between feeling sorry for himself and the love for life that Lark brings to even the simplest thing. Through Lark, he discovers the strength to go on, to fight for survival and to love.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;">** 4. // Dangerous Girls //** by R.L Stine <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Interest Level: Grades 9-12 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Reading Level: Grade 2.7 Lexile 510

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.25in;">// From Wikipedia: Dangerous Girls // i s the first book in the //Dangerous Girls// series by [|R. L. Stine]. This book is about Destiny and Livvy, two twin <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.25in;"> sisters who turn into partial [|vampires] at summer camp. It was published on August 2003 by HarperCollins in the United States. A sequel, [|//The] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.25in;">[|Taste of Night//] was published on August 2004.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 5. // Devil’s Ride // – Avi <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Interest Level: Grades 6-8 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Reading Level: Grade 4.4 Lexile 470 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Genre: Horror/supernatural <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">From Amazon <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">Sixteen-year-old John Proud discovers his family's dark secret. In 1854 an ancestral namesake confessed to being a demon. Now John finds <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">himself battling his ancestor who is trying to use John for an evil purpose. Mounting suspense plus the sure draw of occult horror will keep <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">readers turning the pages.' 'BL.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 6. // The Fall Guy // Barbara Fradkin <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">Interest Level: Grades 6-12 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">Reading Level: <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">Genre: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">[|**http://rapid-reads.com/bookdetails/fallguy**] [|_**details.html**] Handyman Cedric O'Toole likes his simple life. He lives by himself on an isolate <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">farm, collecting sheds full of junk and dreaming of his next invention. Then one day a slick city lawyer drives down his lane and his nightmare begins. <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">Lori-Anne Wilkins, the wife of a wealthy local businessman, has fallen to her death from a deck Cedric built and the furious widower has slapped him <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">with a lawsuit.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 7. // Jay –Z // by Roman Nacerous <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0.25in;">//Summary from www.lybrary.com/jayz-p-98195.html// The story of Jay-Z's life is a story of hard work. He grew up in a poor neighborhood in New York <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0.25in;">City, but now he has more number-one albums than any other hip-hop artist. He has worked with many famous people, from his wife, BeyoncÃ©, t <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0.25in;">Kanye West. Jay-Z is also a very successful businessman. His story inspires people to dream big and work to make those dreams come true

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;">8. WW E: John Cena <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Interest Level: Grades 2-6 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Reading Level: Grade 2 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Genre: nonfiction

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.25in;"> Product Description: Learn about your favorite SuperStar John Cena and how he became the World Heavyweight Champion. Read about hi <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">finishing and signature moves and signature foreign objects, nicknames, signature taunts and managers.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;">// 9. //// LeBron James // by Jeff Savage <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Interest Level: Grades 3-6 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Reading Level: Grade 3, Lexile 720 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Genre: nonfiction <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Traces the career of LeBron James from childhood to success with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Only goes up to 2008.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"> The Library of Doom Series [|**http://www.capstonepub.com/product/9781598893243#*]

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">This series of 6+ graphic novels is aimed at students between grades 4 through 8 who are reading at a first through 3rd grade level.

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">In the Library of Doom, The Librarian is in charge of keeping the world’s most dangerous books out of the hands of innocent readers. High quality art <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">by Bradford Kendall that is visually linked to the text keeps the reader on edge from page to page as the stories unfold. This small size (6” x 8”) of

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">these books contributes to the reader’s experience in this fantasy world. In the real world, this book-based fantasy series is a librarian’s good dream <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">come true for struggling readers. Accelerated Reader Reading Practice Quizzes available. Horror/Fantasy by Sarah Braxton, Pennsylvania School <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Library Association <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Interest Level: 4-8 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Reading Level: 1-3, Lexile: 350, ATOS Level 2.9, Guided Reading Level J ||  || <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">The underwater library has been attacked. The Librarian will have to retrieve all of the lost books.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 10. Library of Doom: [|**//The Sea of Lost Books//**] by Michael Dahl

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"> Interest Level: 4-8 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Reading Level: 1-3 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Lexile Level: 500L <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">ATOS Level: 3.1
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;">11. Library of Doom, //Inkfoot// by Michael Dahl ||  ||

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">The Librarian helps Owen defeat the legendary Inkfoot. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt;"> Interest Level: 3-8 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt;"> Reading Level: 1-3, GRL: I, Lexile Level: 500L, ATOS Level: 3.1 ||   || <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;">13. Library of Doom: //Rats on the Page// by Michael Dahl <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"> Interest Level: 4-8 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Reading Level: 1-3, Lexile Level: 450L, ATOS Level: 3.0, Guided Reading Level: J <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">devour the library's most precious treasures. || <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Interest Level: 4-8 ||  ||   || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"> Reading Level: 1-3, Lexile Level: 330L, ATOS Level: 2.8
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 12. Library of Doom: //The Creeping Bookends// by [|**Michael Dahl**]
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt;">One evening, a young boy is accidentally locked inside the library. Suddenly, a pair of lizard bookends come alive! The boy watches as the ravenous reptiles gobble up stacks of books. Will the Librarian arrive before the boy becomes their next meal? ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">A mysterious picture book turns children into hungry rat creatures. The rats travel through the sewers of the Library of Doom and begin to
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">A mysterious picture book turns children into hungry rat creatures. The rats travel through the sewers of the Library of Doom and begin to
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 14. Library of Doom: [|**The Book That Ate My Brother**] by Michael Dahl

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;">15. Library of Doom: Escape from Pop-up Prison by Michael Dahl <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"> Interest Level: 3-8 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Reading Level: 1-3, GRL: I, Lexile Level: 440L, ATOS Level: 3.3 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">A girl follows a group of strangers inside the giant Library of Doom. The strangers want their evil friends released from the pages a pop-up book. Can the Librarian stop them before the world’s deadliest criminals are set free? <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;">16. Library of Doom: The Book that Dripped Blood by Michael Dahl <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"> Reading Level: 1-3 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Interest Level: 3-8, GRL: K, Lexile Level: 550L, ATOS Level: 3.2 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">A strange and evil book comes to life, and the librarian comes to the rescue before more blood is spilled. <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;">17. Library of Doom: Zombie in the Library by Michael Dahl <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;"> Reading Level: 1-3 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Interest Level: 3-8, GRL: J, Lexile Level: 440L, ATOS Level: 2.9 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">A zombie, made of unread and discarded books, comes to life during a lighting storm. A young boy makes the mistake of visiting the library after hours, and comes face to face with the hungry creature!
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Jack writes a letter to the Librarian because he needs help. His brother has been eaten by a book! ||

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 18. Ortona Street Fight by Mark Zuele
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">Interest Level: Grades 6-12 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">Reading Level: between grades 2-4 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">Genre: Nonfiction history, war <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">[|**http://www.orcabook.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=866**] <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">December 20, 1943. Two Canadian infantry battalions and a tank regiment stand poised on the outskirts of a small Italian port town. They expect to take Ortona quickly. But the German 1st Parachute Division has other ideas. For reasons unknown, Hitler has ordered Ortona held to the last man. Houses, churches and other buildings are dynamited, clogging the streets with rubble. Germans with machine guns lie in ambush. Snipers slip from one rooftop to another. The Canadians seem to have walked into a death trap. This is a battle fought at close range, often hand to hand. Casualties on both sides are heavy. In the end, raw courage and ingenuity save the Canadians.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;">// 19. // Rapid Read: //Middle Ground// by Zoe Whittall <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Interest Level: Grades 8-12 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Reading Level: Grade Fry Reading Level 4.2 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Genre: realistic fiction <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Missy Turner's ordinary life is turned upside down when she is taken hostage in a botched robbery at the local café, and she finds herself questioning the validity of everything she's always believed in

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;">20. Rapid Read: //The Spider Bites// by Medora Sale <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Interest Level: Grades 6-12 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Reading Level: Grade 2 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Genre: mystery, suspense <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Detective Rick Montoya must find out who firebombed his apartment before he can clear his name of a bribery charge.

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;">21. Sticks and Stones by Beth Goobie <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">Interest Level: Grades 9-12 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">Reading Level: 2.6, Lexile 430, Guided Reading NR <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">Genre: General Fiction <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">Themes: Character and Values, Friends and FriendshipFifteen-year-old Jujube is called a slut after she and Brent kiss in his car during the Valentine's Day dance. As the rumors affect how she feels and acts, Jujube devises a plan to show the other students the pain they cause.

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;">22. Thunderbowl by Lesley Choyce <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Interest Level: Grades 4-7 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Reading Level: Grade 4, Lexile 520 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Genre: <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Jeremy's band is hot -- really hot. Thunderbowl is on the way up and they have had their first big break???a long-term gig at a local bar. The only problem is that while Jeremy should be doing his homework and keeping up in school, he is spending most nights in a rowdy club, trying to keep the band together while his life is falling apart. Trying to balance his dreams of success with the hard realities of the music business, Jeremy is forced to make some tough choices.

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;">24. Twisted Journeys: Escape from Pyramid X <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Interest Level: Grades 4-7 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Reading Level: Grade 4 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Genre: graphic novel – choose your own path <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Product Description: Match your wits against a band of pirates on the high seas and try to defeat them—or join them! Every Twisted Journeys graphic novel lets YOU control the action by choosing which path to follow....

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;">25. Wolf Rider by Avi <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Interest Level: Grades 6-8 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Reading Level: Grade 4.4 Lexile 470 GR NR <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Genre: general fiction <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">From Book Wizard <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">After receiving an apparent crank call from a man claiming to have committed murder, fifteen-year-old Andy finds his close relationship with his father crumbling as he struggles to make everyone believe him

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Catalogue <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Grades 6-12 Struggling Readers Collection Winter 2011 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Follett Educational Services, Inc. 1433 Internationale Parkway Woodridge, IL 60517-4941 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">This is a 16 page catalogue of hundreds of titles of both fiction and nonfiction books from a variety of publishers that are appropriate for struggling older readers. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">[|**http://www.fes.follett.com/catalogs/supplemental/struggling-readers/spring-2011/FY11-High-Low-Catalog.pdf**] <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">,Reading Level Conversion Chart <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">In addition to including a comparison of grade level ratings by Guided Reading, Reading Recovery, DRA, Lexile, ATOS, and Follett, the chart includes a column of descriptors such as early emergent, upper emergent, early fluent, fluent, and extended. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">[|**http://www.dillon2.k12.sc.us/teachers/readinglevels/RL_Chart_J_Bach.pdf**] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> The following books were recommended by participants in the March 2010 workshop. . If you would like to recommend books for next year’s list, join our wiki page by going to http://ircstrugglingreaders.wikispaces.com and clicking on “join this wiki” in the menu on the left side of the page. <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">Note: Some of these books, i.e. //The Hunger Games// are very exciting but are not quick and easy reads and may be more appropriate for motivating “//Reluctant//” as distinguished from “//Struggling//” readers. We are defining //Reluctant// readers as unmotivated readers who are able to read at grade level but choose not to read. //Struggling// readers are readers who are reading two or more years below grade level. Such readers find decoding books that are written at their grade level such hard, slow work that they become discouraged and give up after just a few paragraphs or pages. Putting books into their hands that are easy for them to read is crucial. <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">Remind them of the “5 finger” rule when choosing appropriate books. (Put one finger up for each word they do not know. If they have 5 fingers up by the end of a page, it’s too hard. If no fingers are raised it may be too easy.)

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 1. // Barack Obama: President for a New Era // by Marelen Tag Brill <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 40.5pt;">Interest Level: Grades 3-5 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 40.5pt;">Reading Level: Grade 5

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 40.5pt;">// Summary from www.goodreads.com/book/show/6294379-barack-obama // A truly inspiring role model for any youngster, this book chronicles the story of how Barack Obama rose from local reformer to the 44th President of the United States. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;">// Comment by submitter: A book recommended for students in grades four through eight as well as for ELL students of all ages. //

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 2. // Begging for Change // by: Sharon G Flake <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Interest Level: Grades 5-8 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Reading Level: Grade: 7.8 Lexile 1060 Guided Reading Level Z

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"> //Summary from bookwizard.scholastic.com// : Raspberry Hill vowed never to end up living on the streets again. To her, money equals security. But when a troubled neighborhood teenager attacks her mother, Raspberry takes some desperate and disturbing steps. "A compelling slice of urban life." - SLJ Mature Content. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;">// *High school aged students may think this is too young for them given that the characters in the book are all in junior high school. An added bonus to this book is reading about how Raspberry’s mother worked through the violent act that happened to her. This gave the book wonderful talking points about dealing with anger in a mature way. I recommend this book and series for grades 5-8. //

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 3. // Black and White // by Paul Volponi <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Interest Level: 9 - 12 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">Grade Level Equivalent: 3.9 Lexile 710L Guided Reading NR <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">Genre/Theme: General Fiction <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">// Summary from bookwizard.scholastic.com // Two high school basketball stars, one black and one white, see their lives move in different directions after they are arrested for shooting a man during a robbery. A gripping story about choices, friendship, and the implication of race in the justice system. <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Bluford High Series

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.25in;"> Summary of Series from Townsend Press ( [|**http://www.townsendpress.com/product/97.aspx**] ) <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">The Bluford Series is a collection of EIGHTEEN young adult novels that focus on the lives of a group of high school students and their families. The series draws its name from the school which many of the characters attend: Bluford High, named after Guion "Guy" Bluford, America's first black astronaut. Set in contemporary urban America, each novel addresses complex topics relevant to the lives of today's students: family, friendship, trust, isolation, violence, and peer pressure, to name a few. In addition, the books feature male and female characters and include elements from many literary genres, such as mystery, suspense, romance, and a touch of the supernatural. In other words, the Bluford Series offers something for almost every reader.

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">4. Bluford High Series: //Breaking Point// (Book 16) by Karyn Langhorne Folan and Paul Langan <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Reading Level: Grade 4 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Interest Level – 7-12

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;">// http://www.townsendpress.com/product/239.aspxBreaking Point // follows the story of Vicky Fallon, a Bluford sophomore who appears in  // Brothers in Arms //  and  // The Fallen //. In this story, Vicky can't take it. Her father has lost his job. Her parents are constantly fighting, and her troubled little brother is out of control. Once an honor student, Vicky is quickly falling behind in her classes at Bluford High. Now her teachers, friends, and her new boyfriend, Martin Luna, want answers. Pressured from all sides, Vicky knows something is about to snap. But the explosion that hits her home is worse than anything she could imagine.

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">5. Bluford High Series: //The Test// (Book 17) by Peggy Kern <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Reading Level: Grade 4 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Interest Level – 7-12 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Book Jacket:

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"> Liselle Mason is in trouble. For weeks, she ignored the changes in her body and tried to forget her brief relationship with Oscar Price, her moody classmate at Bluford High. But when Liselle's clothes stop fitting, and her brother notices her growing belly, she panics. A pregnancy test confirms her biggest fears.

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">6. Bluford High Series: //Pretty Ugly// (Book 18) by Karyn Langhorne Folan <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Reading Level: Grade 4 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Interest Level – 7-12

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"> www.townsendpress.com/product/241. A freshman at Bluford High, Jamee never expected Vanessa Pierce and her friends to go this far. The trouble starts at cheerleading practice when Vanessa begins teasing Angel McCallister, a shy new girl at school. When the insults turn nasty, Jamee tried to stop them. She wins Angel's friendship but makes many enemies. Now Jamee is a target, and someone is texting lies and pictures of her all over Bluford. Unwilling to tell her family or snitch on her fellow cheerleaders, Jamee is cornered. Will her next move solve her problems---or make them worse?

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Why Recommend: Both I and my students, mainly African-American middle and high schoolers who are below grade level in reading, love this book and the others in the Bluford High series. Students like the books because they are fast paced and deal with characters and situations they can identify with. I like the series because the values, particularly in the books written by Paul Langan, are sound and the characters are carefully motivated and given believable family backgrounds that explain their actions.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 7. // Bronx Masquerade // by: Nikki Grimes <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 40.5pt;">Interest Level: Grades 7-12 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 40.5pt;">Reading Level: Grade: 5.1 Lexile 670 Guided Reading Level W

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 40.5pt;"> //Summary from bookwizard.scholastic.com// : When Wesley Boone writes a poem for his high school English class and reads it aloud, poetry-slam-style, he kicks off a revolution. Soon his classmates are clamoring to have weekly poetry sessions. One by one, eighteen students take on the risky challenge of self-revelation. Award-winning author Nikki Grimes captures the voices of eighteen teenagers through the poetry they share and the stories they tell, and exposes what lies beneath the skin, behind the eyes, beyond the masquerade. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;">// *The author deftly intermingles stories of the characters lives with poetry they wrote about their life experiences for the Friday Poetry Slam – great for class discussion. The author deals with violence, sex (including teenage pregnancy), and drugs in the book so it is meant for a mature audience. Some may think the subject matter is too mature but as Alfred Tatum often talks about - reading about what you know, what you live is what appeals to youth. I recommend this book for grades 7-12. *Coretta Scott King Award Winner //

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 40.5pt;"> 8. // Fat Chance // by Leslea Newman <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Interest Level: 6-8 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Reading Level- 4..9 Lexile 970 Guided Reading N/R <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Genre: Mystery/Suspense

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;">// Summary from bookwizard.scholastic.com // In a series of diary entries, thirteen-year-old Judi recounts her struggles to lose weight, hide her bulimia from her mother, find a boy friend, and decide on a profession.

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">9. //The Hunger Games//, Book 1 by Suzanne Collins <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Interest Level: Grades 6-8 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Reading Level: Grade 5.3 Lexile 810 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Genre: Adventure, Science Fiction <span style="background: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;">// Topics: // Homelessness and Poverty, Social Issues and Conditions, Survival <span style="background: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;">// Sensitivity Issues: // Violence <span style="background: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;">// Summary from bookwizard.scholastic.com: // In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capital surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capital is harsh and cruel and keeps the other districts in line by forcing them to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight-to-the death on live TV. One boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and sixteen are selected by lottery to play. The winner brings riches and favor to his or her district. But that is nothing compared to what the Capital wins: one more year of fearful compliance with its rules. <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her impoverished district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before – and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love. <span style="background: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;">// Why Recommend: // A kid’s review- The characters are realistic and the plot is intense and engrossing. An ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Readers.

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">10. The Hunger Games, Book 2: //Catching Fire// by Suzanne Collins <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Interest Level: Grades 6-8 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Reading Level: Grade 5.4 Lexile 820 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Genre: Adventure, Science Fiction, Fantasy <span style="background: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;">// Topics: // Homelessness and Poverty, Social Issues and Conditions, Survival <span style="background: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;">// Sensitivity Issues: // Violence <span style="background: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">// Summary from bookwizard.scholastic.com: // Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

<span style="background: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">// 11. //// The Hunger Games, Book 3Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins // <span style="background: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;">// I // nterest Level: Grades 6-8 <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Reading Level: Grade 5.4 Lexile 800 <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Genre: Adventure, Science Fiction, Young Adult

<span style="background: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;">// Summary from bookwizard.scholastic.com: // Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding. <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panen. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay — no matter what the personal cost.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 12. // Money Hungry // by: Sharon G Flake <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 40.5pt;">Interest Level: Grades 5-8 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 40.5pt;">Reading Level: Grade: 5.9 Lexile 650 Guided Reading T

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 40.5pt;"> //Summary from bookwizard.scholastic.com// : With her brassy voice and saucy attitude, 13-year-old Raspberry Hill knows first-hand that living in the housing project is better than being out on the streets, but she and her mother are determined to move to a safer neighborhood. That's why Raspberry is so money hungry. When her money issues begin interfering with her friendships, Raspberry is forced to reexamine her priorities and values. Ultimately, it's not the heroine's stash of hard-earned cash that brings about positive change for the family, but rather her mother's ingenuity and the support offered by generous neighbors. Mature Content. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;">// *High school aged students may think this is too young for them given that the characters in the book are all in junior high school. I recommend this book and series for grades 5-8. // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;">// *Coretta Scott King Award Winner (Non-Violent Social Change) //

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">13. Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Interest Level: 6 - 8 <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Reading Level: 5.1 <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Genre: Historical Fiction, Poetry and Rhymes

<span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-image: none; border: medium none; color: black; display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in; margin-right: 0in; padding: 0in;">Topics: American History, Communities and Ways of Life, Coping with Death, Grief, and Loss <span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-image: none; border: medium none; color: black; display: block; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in; margin-right: 0in; padding: 0in;">Determination and Perseverance, Extended Family, Homelessness and Poverty

<span style="background: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;">// Summary from bookwizard.scholastic.com: // A poem cycle that reads as a novel, //Out of the Dust// tells the story of a girl named Billie Jo, who struggles to help her family survive the dust-bowl years of the Depression. Fighting against the elements on her Oklahoma farm, Billie Jo takes on even more responsibilities when her mother dies in a tragic accident. A testament to the American spirit, this novel is an instant classic. Newberry Medal for 1998

<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">14. Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 4 Battle of the Labyrinth: by Rick Riordan <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Interest Level: Grades 6-8 <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Reading Level: Grade 3.3 Lexile 590 <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Genre: Adventure, Fables, Folk Tales, Myths <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">From Amazon: <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">In this fourth installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out as war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near. Even the safe haven of Camp Half Blood grows more vulnerable by the minute as Kronos’s army prepares to invade its once impenetrable borders. To stop them, Percy and his demigod friends will set out on a quest through the Labyrinth—a sprawling underground world with stunning surprises at every turn.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 15. // Peter and the Starcatchers // by: Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Interest Level: Grades 6-8 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Reading Level: Grade: 6.2 Lexile 770 Guided Reading Level: X

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;"> //Summary from bookwizard.scholastic.com//: Aboard the ship //Never Land//, a boy named Peter is bound for servitude in the court of King Zarboff the Third. Peter befriends Molly and helps her keep a secret treasure she is transporting, but will they succeed in keeping the cargo away from the pirate Black Stache? <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;">// *An adventurous fantasy fashioned after Peter Pan, this book is the first in a series that appeals to fantasy readers. Its size may e off-putting to the struggling reader so the teacher wanting to introduce this book may consider it as a read-aloud. “Peter…” may also work well for the strong reader in younger grades who likes the challenge of a chapter book, falls in love with the characters and enjoys reading a series. I recommend this book for grades 5-8. //

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 16. // Swear to Howdy // by [|**Wendelin Van Draanen**] <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Interest Level 5-7 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Reading Level: Grade: 5 Lexile 620 <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Genre: General Fiction <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in;">// Summary adapted from bookwizard.scholastic.com // The story is told through the voice of a Southern boy, Joey Banks’ best friend Rusty Cooper. Joey is a walking adventure. He’s funny, daring, mischievous—and frequently in trouble. Or he would be if anyone found out about half the stuff he’s done. But Rusty Cooper knows how to keep a secret. And Joey’s the best friend he’s ever had. But then comes a secret that is at once too terrible to tell and too terrible to keep. A secret so big it threatens to eat them [|...] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0in;">// The 39 Clues // <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0in;">Interest Level: Grades 3-8 <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0in;">Reading Level: 2.9-4.5 <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0in;">Genre: mystery, adventure <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0in;">This is a series of 10 [|adventure] books, combining [|reading], [|online gaming], and card collecting. Published by [|Scholastic], the main part of the series consists of ten books about the adventures of siblings Amy and Dan Cahill who are competing with other members of their far-flung and powerful family to find the 39 Clues which will make them "the most powerful and influential person(s) on the planet". Their search takes them to many countries and introduces many historical figures.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 17. // The 39 Clues //, Book 5 : //The Black Circle// by Patrick Carman <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Interest Level: 6-8 <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Reading Level: 4.3, Lexile 700

<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">From Amazon: <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">The //Black Circle// sends the Cahill siblings off to Russia, where they chase down riddles left for them by someone only calling themselves "NRR." Is it a trap? Or is it really leading them to some of the biggest answers to their biggest questions?

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 18. // The 39 Clues //, Book 6: //In Too Deep// by Jude Watson <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Interest Level: 6-8 <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">Reading Level: 3.2 Lexile 550

<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">From Amazon.com: <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">In this book Dan and Amy find themselves searching for clues in Australia and Indonesia and learning a little about Amelia Earhart and Mark Twain. They come close to death several times and are saved by someone who had been one of their enemies.

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 40.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">19. Witness by Karen Hesse <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Interest Level: 6 - 8 <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Reading Level: 5.9 <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-left: 0.25in;">Genre: Historical Fiction, Poetry, Verse Novel <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Topics: African Americans, Jewish, Prejudice and Racism, Prejudice and Tolerance <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Sensitivity Issue: Objectionable Language <span style="background: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 5.75pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">// Summary by bookwizard.scholastic.com // : //Witness// tells the story of the Klan's attempt to recruit members in a small town in Vermont in 1924. Leanora Sutter, a young black girl, feels isolated by racial prejudice and her mother's recent death. She is befriended by Esther Hirsh, a younger Jewish girl, whose innocence and natural optimism provides a sharp contrast to the other characters. <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin-bottom: 5.75pt; margin-left: 0.5in;">In the voices of 11 residents of the town, we experience this series of events from many different points of view, in the form of a poetic play in five acts. As the characters speak directly to the reader and relate the juxtaposition of acts of hate and love, violence and peace, terror and kindness, they illuminate the full range of human strengths and weaknesses in one small town.

=<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2009-2010 = =<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">ADDING BOOKS: = =<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The following books have been recommended by IRC members during the current school year. If you are adding books to this list, please add them in alphabetical order by the title. = = = =<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Don't worry if you don't have all the info about interest level and reading level. One of our editors will take care of that. Just be sure to include the title, author, a sentence or two telling us what it's about and your reason for recommending it. =

=<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">COMMENTING ON BOOKS: = =<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(//Become a member and join the discussion - click on "join this wiki" in the menu in the margin)// = =<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If you want to comment on books go to the top of this page and click on the discussion tab. Write the title of the book in the window labeled "subject heading" and then write your comment in the message window. =

=<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Catch// by Will Leitch = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Interest Level: Grades 6-12 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reading Level: Grade 4.6, Lexile 720

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary:(From Penguin.com)

<span class="bookcopy" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Everything comes easy for Tim Temples. He’s got a sweet summer job, lots of love from the ladies, and parties with his high school buddies. Why does he need to go to college? Then Tim falls hard for Helena—a worldly and mysterious twenty-two year-old. Their relationship opens his eyes to life outside the small town of Mattoon, Illinois. Now Tim has to choose: Will he settle for being a small town hero, or will he leave it all behind to follow his dreams?

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Question: This book was recommended by an IRC member. If any of you have used this book, too, what did you and your students think of it? Do you have any tips or activities to use with this book?

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

=<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley's Journal// by Jeff Kinney =

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Interest Level 3-5 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reading Level 5 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Title Point Value 7 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lexile Measure 950 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2007) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">First of all, let me get something straight: This is a JOURNAL, not a diary ." Greg Heffley chronicles a year of middle school through hilarious journal entries and accompanying cartoon sketches. His experiences--having to perform in a school play, dealing with bullies and changing friendships--are made fresh by Greg's over-the-top narration. Kinney's writing and illustrations are filled with laugh-out-loud kid humor. Category: Intermediate Fiction. 2007, Abrams/Amulet, 217pp, 12.95. //Ages 9 to 12.// Rating: 3: Recommended, satisfactory in style, content, and/or illustration.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is a book that is intriguing for many types of learners. The advanced readers in my 6th grade class thoroughly enjoy the humor, and the struggling readers enjoy the book because of its accessibility. The movie version of this book is coming out soon. To watch the movie trailer, please click on this link: <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[] Also, to see an interesting interview with the author, Jeff Kinney, go to [] =<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Drive-By// by Lynne Ewing = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Interest Level: Grades 6-12 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reading Level: Grade 3.5, Lexile 560

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Twelve-year-old Tito, while helping to care for his little sister, struggles to find his way during the aftermath of his brother's death in a gang-related shooting.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Question: This book was recommended by an IRC member. If any of you have used this book, too, what did you and your students think of it? Do you have any tips or activities to use with this book?

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
=<span class="smgrey" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Lawn Boy// by Gary Paulsen = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Interest Level: Grades 6-8 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reading Level: Lexile 780

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A young boy receives a riding lawnmower from his grandmother which jump starts a rollicking adventure in which this clever entrepreneur becomes wealthy through a stockbroker connection and ends up helping his family and community.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Question: This book was recommended by an IRC member. If any of you have used this book, too, what did you and your students think of it? Do you have any tips or activities to use with this book?

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
=<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//On My Honor// by Marion Bauer = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Interest Level: Grades 6-8 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reading Level: Grade 5.6, DRA 40, Lexile 750

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Joel dares his best friend, Tony, to a swimming race in a dangerous river. Both boys jump in, but when Joel reaches the sandbar, he finds Tony has vanished. How can he face their parents and the terrible truth?

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Question: This book was recommended by an IRC member. If any of you have used this book, too, what did you and your students think of it? Do you have any tips or activities to use with this book?

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
=<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Private by Kate Brian// = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Interest Level: Grades 8 and up <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lexile: ? (other books by the same author seem to range from 650 - 750)

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Summary taken from Wikipedia// <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Private// is a series of [|young-adult] [|novels] by [|American] author [|Kate Brian], beginning with [|2006]'s inaugural entry of the same name. The books chronicle the rise of ambitious teenager Reed Brennan, the series' narrator, as she becomes a member of her new school's elite sorority house—composed of a glamorous yet disparate group of teens known as the Billings Girls. As the series progresses, several matters surrounding [|mystery], [|morality], and [|romance] arise

=<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes// by Chris Crutcher = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Interest Level: Grades 9-12 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reading Level: Grade 7.2, Lexile 920, Guided Reading NR

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary:
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sarah Byrnes and Eric have been friends for years. When they were children, his fat and her terrible scars made them both outcasts. Later, although swimming slimmed Eric, she stayed his closest friend. Now Sarah Byrnes -- the smartest, toughest person Eric has ever known -- sits silent in a hospital. Eric must uncover the terrible secret she's hiding, before its dark currents pull them both under. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Source: Scholastic Book Wizard

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Question: This book was recommended by an IRC member. If any of you have used this book, too, what did you and your students think of it? Do you have any tips or activities to use with this book?

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
=<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Shattering Glass// by Gail Giles = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Interest Level: Grades 9-12 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reading Level: Grade 6.2, 590 Lexile, Guided REading Level NR

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary:Simon Glass was easy to hate....I guess, really we each hated him for a different reason, but we didn't realize it until the day we killed him." <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Fat, clumsy Simon Glass is a nerd, a loser. Everyone picks on him, until Rob Haynes showed up. Rob, a transfer student with charisma to spare, immediately becomes the undisputed leader of the senior class. And he has plans for Simon. Rob's mission: Turn sniveling Simon from total freak to would-be prom king. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But as Simon rises to the top of the social ranks, he shows a new confidence and a devious side that power-hungry Rob did not anticipate. And when Simon uncovers a dangerous secret, events darken. The result is disquieting, bone-chilling . . . and brutal.Shattering Glass by Gail Giles <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Source: Scholastic Reading Wizard <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Question: This book was recommended by an IRC member. If any of you have used this book, too, what did you and your students think of it? Do you have any tips or activities to use with this book?

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
=<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//The First Part Last// by Angela Johnson = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Interest Level: Grades 7-12 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reading Level: Grade 4.6, Lexile 795, Guided Reading NR <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary from Wikipedia: "..this novel deals with the subject of [|teen pregnancy]. The story is told from Bobby's perspective, which sets it apart from most books on teen pregnancy. Bobby and Nia, the child's parents, are urban upper-middle-class African-American teenagers. This book talks about Bobby being a father at the age of 16. Bobby raises his little girl, Feather, on his own and realizes how hard it truly is to be a parent. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Bobby becomes tired all the time, and can't always get to school on time. Bobby's mother won't do any of the work. Nia, while giving birth to Feather, gets into a horrid complication. This takes a toll on Bobby, Nia, and Feathers life. Nia will be kept in a coma for the rest of her young life."

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Question: This book was recommended by an IRC member. If any of you have used this book, too, what did you and your students think of it? Do you have any tips or activities to use with this book?

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
=<span class="smgrey" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Travel Team// by Mike Lupica = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Interest Level: Grades 6-8 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reading Level: Grade 6, Lexile 920 = = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From [|Booklist] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Gr. 6-8. Danny Walker is crushed when he doesn't make the Vikings, the seventh-grade basketball team. He is told that he is too short, but he suspects that the real reason has something to do with the bad blood between his divorced father (a former NBA star whose career was cut short by a car accident) and Mr. Ross, the father of the team's best player. Then Danny's father announces that he is starting his own youth team, but unexpected setbacks sideline his dad and the team until Danny steps in and coaches the team himself. Some readers may find that the story drags at times, and sports cliches fill the final pages. Still, Lupica creates a sports novel that is rich in details; this is one of the few novels about basketball, for example, that actually mentions zone defenses rather than the perennial one-on-one scenes in most basketball novels. Many fans of sports fiction will like this. //Todd Morning// <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved//

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Question: This book was recommended by an IRC member. If any of you have used this book, too, what did you and your students think of it? Do you have any tips or activities to use with this book?

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above
=<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Touching Spirit Bear// by Ben Michaelson =

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Interest Level: Grades 6-8 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reading Level: Grade 5.4, Lexile 670

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After his anger erupts into violence, Cole, in order to avoid going to prison, agrees to participate in a sentencing alternative based on the native American Circle Justice, and he is sent to a remote Alaskan Island where an encounter with a huge Spirit Bear changes his life.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2008-2009
==<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The following booklist is made up of all the books that IRC members recommended on a survey done from August 2008 through March 2009. If you are interested in suggesting or discussing these or other books for struggling readers, join the committee’s newly constructed Wiki discussion page by clicking on the "Join this wiki"emailing studies andresearch@illinoisreadingcouncil.org. ==

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*indicates information was found at bookwizard.scholastic.com

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Alabama Moon// by Watt Key <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Interest Level: Grades 6, Ages 11-13 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Reading Level: Grade 5.2, Lexile 720, Guided Reading Level V <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Genre: Adventure, Fiction

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary from Submitter: Moon was raised in the forest by his dad. When his dad dies, Moon finds himself in a struggle for his freedom.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary From School Library Journal <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Grade 6-8–Moon, 10, has spent most of his life in a camouflaged shelter in the forest with his father, a Vietnam veteran who distrusts people and the government. Pap has educated him in both academics and survival skills. His life suddenly changes when the land is sold to a lawyer and his father dies. The lawyer discovers him and, believing what he is doing is best for the child, turns him over to Mr. Gene from the local boys home. When Moon escapes, Mr. Gene alerts the constable, an emotionally unstable bully who becomes obsessed with capturing him. Once at the home, though, Moon makes his first real friends and learns what friendship is all about. Much of the story revolves around multiple chases, captures, and escapes. The ending might be a bit too perfect, but it is a happy one for Moon.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recommend: Moon is a strong character. There are violent scenes in the book and the language is realistic. But, the kids love it.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day// by Judith Viorst <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Reading Level: Lexile 970, Grade 3.6 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Interest Level: Grade 1-2 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Genre: Comedy and Humor, General Fiction

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary by Submitter: All children and adults, if they’re willing to admit it, have had or will have a day as bad as Alexander describes.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Book Summary from Amazon.com: "I went to sleep with gum in my mouth and now there's gum in my hair and when I got out of bed this morning I tripped on the skateboard and by mistake I dropped my sweater in the sink while the water was running and I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day." So begin the trials and tribulations of the irascible Alexander, who has been earning the sympathy of readers since 1972. People of all ages have terrible, horrible days, and Alexander offers us the cranky commiseration we crave as well as a reminder that things may not be all that bad. As Alexander's day progresses, he faces a barrage of bummers worthy of a country- western song: getting smushed in the middle seat of the car, a dessertless lunch sack, a cavity at the dentist's office, stripeless sneakers, witnessing kissing on television, and being forced to sleep in railroad-train pajamas. He resolves several times to move to Australia.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recommend: This book will be appealing to readers because everyone has experienced a bad day or two at one time or another. The blunders that the main character faces are experiences that younger children could encounter, which may prove to be appealing to younger readers. The book hooks you in with the title and monopolizes your attention with repetition and humor.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//A Child Called It// by Dave Pelzer <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Interest Level: Grades 8 – 12 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Reading Level: 5.9, Lexile 850, Guided Reading: NR <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Genre: Autobiography

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary from Amazon.com Review: David J. Pelzer's mother, Catherine Roerva, was, he writes in this ghastly, fascinating memoir, a devoted den mother to the Cub Scouts in her care, and somewhat nurturing to her children--but not to David, whom she referred to as "an It." This book is a brief, horrifying account of the bizarre tortures she inflicted on him, told from the point of view of the author as a young boy being starved, stabbed, smashed face-first into mirrors, forced to eat the contents of his sibling's diapers and a spoonful of ammonia, and burned over a gas stove by a maniacal, alcoholic mom. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recommend: Submitter “In all my years of teaching, I have never had a student say that they did not like this book. It is the first book I put into the hands of my most struggling, disengaged readers.” <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Compiler: A Child Called It was one of the most highly circulated books among my own middle-school students. The majority of my students read two to four years below grade level and are mainly African-American. The book is popular among both boys and girls of all races. On Literature Teachers Chatboard I found an entry by a teacher who noted its she regularly teaches it and its sequel, the Lost Boy, to her struggling ninth grade readers who love it. Do note that some teachers find the content distressing and too emotionally difficult for some of their younger students.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Bluford High Series <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Payback// by Paul Langan <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reading Level: Grade 5-6, Lexile 730 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Interest Level: 6-12 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Genre: Urban fiction (See note below for more details)

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary of Series from Townsend Press (http://www.townsendpress.com/product/97.aspx) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Bluford Series is a collection of FIFTEEN young adult novels that focus on the lives of a group of high school students and their families. The series draws its name from the school which many of the characters attend: Bluford High, named after Guion "Guy" Bluford, America's first black astronaut. Set in contemporary urban America, each novel addresses complex topics relevant to the lives of today's students: family, friendship, trust, isolation, violence, and peer pressure, to name a few. In addition, the books feature male and female characters and include elements from many literary genres, such as mystery, suspense, romance, and a touch of the supernatural. In other words, the Bluford Series offers something for almost every reader.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary of Payback (Used to be titled The Gun) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tyrone Hobbs, high school bully, has been taken down and humiliated by one of his victims and wants revenge. When the kids he has once bullied start threatening him, Tyrone thinks using a gun is his only way out. Happily he is shown a better way to solve his problems.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recommend: Both I and my students, mainly African-American middle and high schoolers who are below grade level in reading, love this book and the others in the Bluford High series. Students like the books because they are fast paced and deal with characters and situations they can identify with. I like the series because the values, particularly in the books written by Paul Langan, are sound and the characters are carefully motivated and given believable family backgrounds that explain their actions.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Comeback Kid series. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Hot Hands// by Mike Lupica <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reading Level: 6.5, Lexile 930 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Interest level 3-5, Lexile 930L, <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Genre: Realistic fiction. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Themes sports, teamwork, divorce, honesty.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary of Series by submitter: This is a series of books for lower level middle grade readers. The books are high interest sport themes in an easier to read format.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary of Billy Raynor is a shooter. In fact he is a one-man team. His dad, the coach is always stressing team. This runs counter to his personal life that is in divorce. Ben,Billy's brother is a child prodigy on the piano. While Billy becomes more extroverted by the events, Ben pulls inward. When the big basketball game falls on the same day as the piano recital problems occur. There is resolution due mainly to the Comeback Kid.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recommend: The students love them. We can’t keep them in the library.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//The Fantastic Mr. Fox// by Roald Dahl <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Reading Level: Lexile 600, Grade 4.9 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Interest Level: Grades 3-5 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Genre: Fiction, Animal Stories, Chapter Book

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary from bookwizard.scholastic.com: Mr. Fox is surrounded! He's going to have to come up with a truly fantastic plan to dig himself out of trouble this time. The father fox needs to feed his family and outsmarts three farmers.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recommend: Submitter suggests that this would be of high interest to boys. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Compiler’s Comments: The story keeps us in suspense as the fox tries time after time to keep ahead of his pursuers. He continually outwits them with clever plans. This story will challenge the reader to think of possible ways that the fox could get out of the latest predicament.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Found// by Margret Peterson Haddix <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Interest Level: Grades 3-5 (Submitter says 5-8) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lexile Framework: 750L, Grade Level Equivalent: 4.6 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Genre: Mystery and Suspense, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Series

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When Jonah and Chip, who are both adopted, learn they were discovered on a plane full of babies that came out of nowhere, they uncover a mystery involving time travel and two opposing forces trying to repair the fabric of time. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary: In Book One of the "Missing" series, thirteen-year-old friends Jonah and Chip find out that they, along with other adopted kids from their town, were taken as children from different times in history and reprogrammed through time travel for their new families. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recommendr: Submitter says it’s very interesting and great story opener.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Question: This book was recommended by an IRC member. If any of you have used this book, too, what did you and your students think of it? Do you have any tips or activities to use with this book? Click on the comment tab at the top of this page to add your comments.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Frog and Toad Together// by Arnold Lobel <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Reading Level: Lexile 330, Grade 2.3 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Interest Level: Grade K-2 Submitter suggests Grades 5-6 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Genre: Animal Stories, Early Chapter Book, Submitter suggests Picture Book

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary from bookwizard.scholastic.com: In this Newbery Honor Book, Frog and Together, beloved stars of the Caldecott Honor Book Frog and Toad Are Friends, return in five new adventures. First, Toad decides to be organized, and makes a list of all the things he needs to do that day. Next, he works hard to make the seeds in his garden grow just like Frog's. Together, he and Frog share a big batch of cookies and learn about "willpower." They prove their bravery when faced with a snake, an avalanche, and a hawk. And when Toad has a dream in which Frog disappears, he wakes to find his friend with him after all. "'Frog,' he said, 'I am so glad that you came over.' 'I always do,' said Frog." <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recommend: Submitter says “Here are five wonderful stories about flowers, cookies, bravery, dreams, and most of all, friendship. This book has simple vocabulary that is easy for children to read and is a heartwarming story of friendship that any child can relate to.” <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Compiler’s Comments: This is an easy to read book with large type. It is one of a series about Frog and Toad and all contain the charming brown and green pictures.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Granny Torrelli Makes Soup// by Sharon Creech <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Reading Level: Lexile 810, Grade 4.5 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Interest Level: Grade 3-5 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Genre: General Fiction

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary by Submitter: This is a story of friendship between 12-year-old Rosie and her best friend Bailey. When they begin to not get along, Rosie learns about some life lessons through the stories her Granny Torelli tells her.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Book Summary from Amazon.com: Tastes and smells emerge along with wisdom and insight as a grandmother and grandchild reveal experiences past and present in the warmth of the kitchen. Rosie and Bailey are neighbors, born only a week apart. They are like sister and brother, only better "because I chose him and he chose me." She has always been his helper as he was born visually impaired. But now they have had a falling out. As Rosie tells Granny, Bailey is acting spiteful, all because she tried to be just like him. To be just like Bailey-her buddy, her pal-Rosie secretly learned to read Braille and unknowingly took away the special thing only he could do. When the two of them come together with Granny Torrelli in the kitchen and make cavatelli, the rift between them heals. Stories and wisdom continue as sauce and meatballs are made, helping to clarify feelings. As family and friends raise a glass of water to toast the cooks, Rosie realizes that her world is indeed bigger as is Bailey's; that tutto va bene-all is well! <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recommend: Everyone has experienced a falling-out with one friend or another. Every reader will be able to relate to the happenings in this novel. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Submitter’s Comments: Students can relate to the characters and the problems that arise from friendships. The book also comes in a literature circle edition and has activities and great questions that are geared towards Bloom’s Taxonomy.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Hatchet// by Gary Paulsen <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Reading Level: Lexile 1020, Grade 6.3 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Interest Level: Grade 6-8 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Genre: Adventure, Classics

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary by Submitter: Brian is stranded in the Canadian wilderness after the small plane he was riding crashes. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary from Amazon.com: When the pilot of a small, two-person plane has a heart attack and dies, Brian has to crash land in the forest of a Canadian wilderness. He has little time to realize how alone he is, because he is so busy just trying to survive. And learning to survive, to plan on food not just for a day but until and if he is rescued, only begins when he stops pitying himself and understands that no one can help him. He is on his own, without his divorced father, whom he was to visit, or his mother, whom Brian saw kissing another man before the divorce.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why recommend: This book offers many instances of survival that the main character encounters, including landing a plane, hunger/famine, animal attacks, and even a tornado, which could be appealing to many different readers. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Submitter’s Comments: Living in a rural area, the students in my class have some experience with hunting and fishing and better understand the danger and problems the main character has.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Hip Hop High School// by Alan Lawerence Sitomer.I <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reading Level: Grade 4.7 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Interest level: Grades 9-12 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Genre realistic fiction.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary from Submitter: The main character in this book Tee-Ay works hard to get into a prestigious university despite the challenges she faces in school and at home.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary from compilery: Theresa Anderson, 10th grader is the central character. "TeeAy" as she is called, tries to succeed and better herself in a world where this is not practical and many times not plausible. She must walk a tightrope between her hopes, her family, her friends, and her culture. She bites the bullet and decides, with the help of her friend Devon, to beat the dreaded SAT's and get into USC. The language and behaviors depicted portray the battleground of ghetto LA but this almost presents a contradiction to her goals. She resists the temptation to be" too white" for her friends while trying to enter and be successful in the academia for a leading California University.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recommend: The language and subject matter in this book is definitely for mature readers. But, Tee-Ay serves as a wonderful role model for teenage girls.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Holes// by Louis Sachar <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Reading Level: Lexile 660, Grade 5.2 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Interest Level: Grade 6-8 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Genre: Realistic Fiction

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary by Submitter: Boy is unjustly accused and incarcerated.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary from Amazon.com: "If you take a bad boy and make him dig a hole every day in the hot sun, it will turn him into a good boy." Such is the reigning philosophy at Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention facility where there is no lake, and there are no happy campers. In place of what used to be "the largest lake in Texas" is now a dry, flat, sunburned wasteland, pocked with countless identical holes dug by boys improving their character. Stanley Yelnats, of palindromic name and ill-fated pedigree, has landed at Camp Green Lake because it seemed a better option than jail. No matter that his conviction was all a case of mistaken identity, the Yelnats family has become accustomed to a long history of bad luck, thanks to their "no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather!" Despite his innocence, Stanley is quickly enmeshed in the Camp Green Lake routine: rising before dawn to dig a hole five feet deep and five feet in diameter; learning how to get along with the Lord of the Flies-styled pack of boys in Group D; and fearing the warden, who paints her fingernails with rattlesnake venom. But when Stanley realizes that the boys may not just be digging to build character--that in fact the warden is seeking something specific--the plot gets as thick as the irony. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recommend: The story has great vocabulary so struggling readers can familiarize themselves with these words. Many life lessons and themes are present also, so all readers will be able to take something away from the book even if they’re struggling readers. The many different types of characters in this novel will surely be appealing to readers of all kinds. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Submitter’s Comments: Kids can relate to the problems and pressures and inconsistencies of life.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//The Invention// of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Reading Level: Lexile 820, Grade 5.2 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Interest Level: Grade 4-7 (Submitter suggests using this with high school ) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Genre: Graphic Novel, Chapter Book

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary from Book Jacket: Orphan, Clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on staying under the radar. His world suddenly changes when he meets an unusual girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's hidden life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Submitter’s Comments: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recommend: It is a unique and exciting story with an interesting way of telling with words and pictures that keep the student’s attention and awe. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Compiler’s Comments: This is a book with over 500 pages. Over 300 pages are drawings. Less than 200 pages are text. Some of the text pages contain only one or two paragraphs and are mostly white space. Others are completely filled with text. The vocabulary of the text seems fairly sophisticated to me. Teachers, however, say their struggling readers in the upper grades (6th grade and up) like showing that they, too, can read fat books like their classmates.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Keep in Touch: Letters, Notes, and More from the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants// by Ann Brashares <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Interest Level: Grades 7 - 12 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reading Level Grade Level Equivalent: Grade 4.4* (This is an estimate based on the other books about the Traveling Pants.) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Genre: Fictional letters and notes

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary from Submitter: These are letters, notes, and poems that are written by the best friends who share all their experiences in school. They specifically share a pair of pants that seems to fit all of them and which they share all summer. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recommend: There are pictures and notes, typical of letters that young adolescents share on a regular basis. The letters will be easy to read or to figure out since many common words are used and the topics are very familiar. The letters and notes are short, and therefore can be easily managed. The topics are great! <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Compiler’s Comments: This slim 116 page book is an addendum to the 2005 movie, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and its four companion books: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The Second Summer of the Traveling Pants, Girls in Pants: The Third Summer; and Girls in Blue: The Fourth Summer. I was not familiar with the movie or books and thought Keep in Touch would have made more sense if I had seen the movie or read the other books. If a student had seen the movie, this may be easier to read than the other books as it is shorter and pages often consist of a short hand written note.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Love that Dog// by Sharon Creech <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Reading Level: Lexile 1010, Grade 4.9 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Interest Level: Grade 6-8 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Genre: Diaries and Journals, Poetry and Rhymes

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary from Amazon.com: Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech's Love That Dog, a funny, sweet, original short novel written in free verse, introduces us to an endearingly unassuming, straight-talking boy who discovers the powers and pleasures of poetry. Against his will. After all, "boys don't write poetry. Girls do." What does he say of the famous poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"? "I think Mr. Robert Frost / has a little / too / much / time / on his / hands." As his teacher, Ms. Stretchberry, introduces the canon to the class, however, he starts to see the light. Poetry is not so bad, it's not just for girls, and it's not even that hard to write. Take William Carlos Williams, for example: "If that is a poem / about the red wheelbarrow / and the white chickens / then any words / can be a poem. / You've just got to / make / short / lines." He becomes more and more discerning as the days go by, and readers' spirits will rise with Jack's as he begins to find his own voice through his own poetry and through that of others. His favorite poem of all is a short, rhythmic one by Walter Dean Myers called "Love That Boy" (included at the end of the book with all the rest of Ms. Stretchberry's assignments). The words completely captivate him, reminding him of the loving way his dad calls him in the morning and of the way he used to call his yellow dog, Sky. Jack's reverence for the poem ultimately leads to meeting the poet himself, an experience he will never forget.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recommend: This book has many different poems at the end that were mentioned in the story. This book will be appealing to those readers that are interested in poetry and will open the door for those who are not as familiar.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Maniac Magee// by Jerry Spinelli (Boomer) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Reading Level: Lexile 820, Grade 5.4 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Interest Level: Grade 4-8 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Genre: Realistic Fiction

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary from Amazon.com: Maniac Magee is a folk story about a boy, a very excitable boy. One that can outrun dogs, hit a home run off the best pitcher in the neighborhood, tie a knot no one can undo. "Kid's gotta be a maniac," is what the folks in Two Mills say. It's also the story of how this boy, Jeffrey Lionel "Maniac" Magee, confronts racism in a small town, tries to find a home where there is none and attempts to soothe tensions between rival factions on the tough side of town.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recommend: The title of this novel may be appealing to different readers because people probably don’t think of “maniac” as being the best at everything in the neighborhood. This story seems to be more unrealistic and fantasy-like which may be appealing to readers.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Oh, Yuck!: The Encyclopedia of Everything Nasty// by Joy Masoff <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Reading Level: Lexile 950, Grade 5.8 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Interest Level: Grade 3-7 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Genre: Informational <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Topics: Animals, Human Body, Health

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary by Submitter: This is a delightful book full of interesting, but gross, information about bizarre information, including how our body works. The table of contents details such things as “Farts—the burp from below”; “pee—they call me mellow yellow”; “poop—a bum deal”; “worms—spaghetti that squirms,” etc. The book has enough interesting facts about the world and your body to fascinate almost anyone. When I tried to pass the book around the room, it never got past the first group of boys—they were too engrossed to pass it along.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Book Summary from Amazon.com: Beginning with a warning that "this book is downright disgusting," Masoff presents a delightful compendium of facts about things that are gross, putrid, and stomach turning. Covering more than 50 topics from A to Z, she reveals the truth about some unsavory mysteries of the human body, such as acne, body lint, eye gunk, farts, halitosis, snot, and vomit. Odious creatures such as cockroaches, lice, maggots, rats, and slugs are also discussed. Other subjects include "Cannibals," "Gross Grub," "Mucky Medicine," and "Toilets." Ranging from a couple of paragraphs to several pages, the entries offer a great deal of information in a hilarious tongue-in-cheek manner. The author also provides pronunciations and definitions, historical perspectives, and advice on how to deal with each of her revolting topics. Amusing cartoons and well-chosen, black-and-white photographs with humorous captions support the text. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why recommend: This book will surely keep children of all ages entertained, including struggling readers or those with reading disabilities, because of the “gross” topics that are discussed and the pictures that accompany them. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Submitter’s Comments: Students enjoy looking at the yucky pictures as well as reading about normal bodily functions, such as farts, burps, acne, pimples, as well as such varied things as shrunken heads, toilets, spiders, and tar pits.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Passages to Suspense is a series of high interest, low reading level books.. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//The Frozen Face// by Anne E. Schraff <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reading level: Grades 4.5, Lexile 560 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Interest Level: Grades 4 - 7 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Genre Realistic fiction, suspense,and mystery.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary: Laura, the main character, has to solve the mysterious death of Todd Smith. The problem is only she can see the dead boy. It is a good mystery that keeps the reader’s attention while adding tension.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recommend: My kids loved them all. Kids love the mystery of the book. It is written at a level they understand but has content that is appropriate to them.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Rules// by Cynthia Lord <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Interest Level: Grades 4-7 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Reading Level: Lexile 780 Grade Level Equivalent: 4.5 Guided Reading Level: R Age: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Genre: Realistic Fiction <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Topics: challenges and difference, understanding self and others

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Book Summary Twelve year old Catherine wants to be normal in an environment that is anything but that. Her brother David is autistic and needs "rules" to exist. She meets Jason a paraplegic boy and Kristi the new neighbor. These are the friends she has been seeking to be "normal". However she learns about change, life and what is important.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recommend: Twelve Year old Catherine gives the reader a vivid picture of what it means to deal with autism 24 hours a day. This book though humorous at times shows everyone not acquainted with autism what is really involved in the life of a 12 year old caregiver.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Say “Cheese”// by Patricia Reilly Giff <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Reading Lev

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">el: Lexile 230, Grade 2.1 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Interest Le

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">vel: Grade 3-5 (Submitter says Grades 4-8) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Genre: General Fiction

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary From School Library Journal: The tenth in this series, Say "Cheese" focuses on the adventures of the kids of Polk Street School at the end of the school year. Emily searches for a best friend and worries about the 40 cents she owes at the library. When she becomes lost at the school picnic, her thoughts turn to whether or not the others will leave her in the woods.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recommend: Submitter says it’s interesting and easy for struggling readers to read independently

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Compiler’s Comments: This is an easy to read book with fairly large type. If older readers are embarrassed to be reading books that look so young, teachers might put a collection of such books in a basket and explain to students that it is often fun to return to books that one read when he or she was younger.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Shoeless Joe// <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//and Me// by Da <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">n Gutman. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reading Level:4.8, Lexile: 600 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Interest Level: Grades 3-7 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Genre historical fiction, <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Topics: honesty,baseball,heroes.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Submitter’s Summary:A young boy finds a baseball card and it transports him back in time. This is one of a series. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Compiler’s Summary: Joe Stoshack is able to travel back in time with the help of a real but magic baseball card of that era. His first adventure was to travel back to help Honus Wagner. This time he travels back to the 1919 World Series between the Chicago White Sox (Shoeless Joe Jackson's team) and the Cincinnati Reds. This will be the scandal of the century, the Black Sox Series where eight men will be thrown out of professional baseball for throwing the series. Joe travels back to help persuade Shoeless Joe not to take the bribe. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recommend: Easy to read and adventurous.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Skeleton Man// <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">by Joseph Bruchac <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Reading Level: Lexile 730, Grade 5.4 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Interest Level: Grades 6-8 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Genre: Mystery and Suspense, Chapter Book

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary From bookwizard.scholastic.com: Molly remembers the Mohawk legend of a man so hungry he ate himself and everyone in his village, except for one brave girl. Now her parents have mysteriously disappeared, and an unknown great-uncle has shown up to claim her. He has fingers like talons and eyes like twin blue flames. Somehow Molly must escape to find her parents — because the Skeleton Man may be more than just a legend!

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recommend: Submitter reports that middle school readers LOVE a good, scary story and this one fits the bill perfectly! In addition to a scary mystery, this book is based on a Native American monster legend, so readers are often inspired to learn more. The book’s length is student friendly, as it is not overly imposing. There is a seque1. The Return of Skeleton Man, which will keep reluctant readers hungry for more! <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Compiler’s Comments: As I read the first half of the book I felt certain that the main character, a young girl going through a difficult time, was imagining wild things due to the stress in her life and the folk tales she had heard as a young girl. But when things started to turn serious I could hardly believe how scary the reading of this book became. Yet I just couldn’t put it down. It is well written and easy to read. Students will be intrigued by the bits of information they will learn about Native American life and folklore.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Star Girl by Jerry Spinelli,// <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Reading Level: 6.1, Lexile 590// <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Interest Level: Grades 5-7// <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Genre: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction// <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Subject: Confronting and Resolving Fears, Friends and Friendship, School Life, Individuality//

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary: Homeschooled in the 1980's, 10th grade Susan Julia Caraway ,"Stargirl", is compassionate yet eccentric. Eleventh grader Leo Borlock narrates the story, which covers 15 years between his initial encounter to the epilogue. Mica Area High School,Mica Arizona is the setting. The theme is the kindness and understanding Stargirl imparts to all even in the face of adversity. Stargirl stuns all by her clothes, lack of make-up, pet rat, decorating her desk, dancing in the rain, playing the ukelele at lunch and her intense care for others. She becomes a cheerleader and that leads to the major turn about. Her revolt to conformity is too much for her classmates. Yet she endures.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recommend: It’s <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">worked well in my 5th grade classroom.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//There’s a Boy In The Girls’ Bathroom// by Louis Sachar <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Reading Level: Lexile 490, Grade 5.5 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Interest Level: Grades 4-6 Submitter suggests 4-7 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Genre: Realistic Fiction/Comedy, Chapter Book

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary From bookwizard.scholastic.com: Bradley Chalkers is the oldest kid in the fifth grade. He tells enormous lies. He picks fights with girls. No one likes him--except Carla, the new school counselor. She thinks Bradley is sensitive and generous, and knows that Bradley could change, if only he weren't afraid to try. But when you feel like the most-hated kid in the whole school, believing in yourself can be the hardest thing in the world. . <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recommend: Submitter states, “This book is about a young boy who, is smart but doesn’t know he is. He has a hard time making fiends and expressing his feelings until a pretty girl counselor comes to work at the school and befriends him. This was one of my favorite books when I was younger and I think it’s such a good book that I wqnt to share it for years to come. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Compiler’s Comme <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">nts: Readers <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">have all known boys-and girls- like Bradley. We can hate him at first but then we get to see who he really is and the reader begins to empathize with him and live through his changes with him. Leaves us with a positive feeling about people in general.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//The Titanic: An Interactive History Adventure// by Bob Temple <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Reading Level: Lexile_, Submitter suggests Grade 3 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Interest Level: Grades 3-5, Submitter suggests Grades 5-8 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Genre: Nonfiction, A You Choose Book

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary From bookwizard.scholastic.com: Put readers in the driver’s seat with these interactive history books! Everything in these books happened to real people. "You Choose" books allow readers to choose the path they take and what they do next. Readers will explore multiple perspectives and learn for themselves the value of seeing history from many points of view. Submitter adds that this book allows the reader to decide if they are a passenger traveling on vacation, an immigrant in third class or a crew member. The reader makes decisions as he/she reads through the book and ultimately those decisions result in the fate of the participant. The book can then be read again from a different point of view. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recommend: High motivation; interactive; history topics at t high interest with low vocabulary. This is a series. If you “hook” the reader, you have <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">other titles to suggest. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Compiler’s Comments: As I read this I thought “If only all history could be taught like this!” All the facts were there along with actual photographs of the people aboard and of the ship and its interior. The reader will have fun choosing which person to “be” and, after almost every other page, what path to follow as the story moves along. After the book is read the first time, the reader will surely want to go back and follow a different path to wee what would happen if different choices were made. It will be like reading five or six books.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//The Un- series// by Paul Jennings (//Uncovered, Unmentionable, Uncanny,, Unbelievable, Undone, Unpopular, Unseen//, etc.) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reading Level: Lexile 360, Grade 3.8, Guided Reading Level Q <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Interest Level: Grade 6-8 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Genre: Short stories (generally eight stories per book)

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary from http://bookwizard.scholastic.com: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In Undone “eight more tales are told to stretch the reader's imagination. Philip, who wears bats as clothes, must be rescued before his cave collapses. A powerful beetle bite turns Eric completely transparent.” <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Submitter: The books in this series are funny and fast paced and they are always witty. They have huge twists of plot in them that keep students intereste <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">d. Always a surprise ending. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recommend: So young struggling boys can feel like books were written for them, for once!!! <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Compiler: Paul Jennings is an author who is new to me but who has sold over 6 million copies of his many books and who is a highly regarded children’s author in Australia. (He won the Medal of Order of Australia for Services to Children’s Literature.) He has worked as a special education teacher, a speech therapist, a lecturer in language and literature, and writer. I enjoyed reading his stories for the first time and found them delightfully bizarre and written in easy to understand language. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*indicates information was found at bookwizard.scholastic.com

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Tuck Everlasting// By Natalie Babbitt <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Reading Level: Lexi <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">le 720, Grade Level 5.9, Guided Reading Level V <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Interest Lev <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">el: Grades 4-6 (Submitter says 7th and 8th grade) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Genre: Fantasy

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary From: bookwizard.scholastic.com: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Tuck family is confronted with an agonizing situation when they discover that a ten-year-old girl and a malicious stranger now share their secret about a spring whose water prevents one from ever growing any older.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Compiler’s Summary: Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt, Genre fantasy. Written in 1975, it is a classic of modern children's literature. The book has been through two movies (1981 and 2002). <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The main theme centers about the different characters reaction to immortality and the positive and negative aspects brought about by not being able to die. The Tucks, Jesse, Agnus, Mae, and Miles are immortal due to a spring. When Winnie, the heroine, discovers the spring and its qualities, problems ensue. The Tucks capture Winnie and take her to the hideaway. She falls in love with Jesse, Mae's son. Unfortunately she is tracked down by the man in the yellow suit. Mae kills him to protect Winnie and the family. In a series of twists and turns the reader is surprised by the ending. While only 66 pages in length, the book has become more famous than the author's Newberry winner. Over two million books have been sold since 1975.In sits up there as one of the solid stories of all literature. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why recommend: Wouldn't everyone like to live forever or would you? This book is just enough fantasy to get you thinking about that question.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Who Am I Without Him? Short Stories about Girls and the Boys in Their Lives// by Sharon G. Flake <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Reading Level: Lexile 650, Grade 5.6 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Interest Level: Grades 7-12 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Genre: Young Adult Short Stories, Submitter suggests Speech (written in first person)

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Summary From: bookwizard.scholastic.com: There is "The Ugly One," whose only solace comes when she is locked inside her own head. In "Wanted: A Thug," a teenager seeks advice on how to steal her best friend's bad-guy boyfriend. And then there's Erika, who only likes white boys. Sharon Flake takes readers through the minds of girls trying to define themselves while struggling to remain relevant to the boys in their lives. This is a complex, often humorous, always on-point exposition of black youth resolving to find self-worth … any way they know how. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why Recomme <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">nd: Both my studen <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">ts and I like this book. My 6th to 12th grade students, mainly African American, relate to the authentic and snappy dialect and the characters. I find that the title story is even accessible to students who are reading at a 2nd grade level. The characters are carefully constructed and the stories lend themselves to discussions about values. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Compiler’s Comments: Fictitious but seemingly accurate and often very disturbing accounts told in the first person of feelings of inadequacy, anger, frustration, and loneliness. Stories are written in the informal dialect of teenagers mainly from minority cultures. Contains emotions with which teens from many cultures can identify.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above.
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Who Moved My Cheese// by Spencer Johnson. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(Available in several versions: original version, Who Moved My Cheese? for Kids, and Who Moved My Cheese for Teens) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lexiles and grade level estimates not available.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Compiler’s Summary: Already famous in the realm of business, Dr. Johnson applies the same strategies and concerns to children in Who Stole My Cheese for Kids. The children's book is shorter 61 pages to 96 and easier to comprehend in the metaphors. It is at a K-3 level. For this report we will be reviewing the regular book keyed to junior high and high school. There are 4 characters in a maze seeking cheese. Two mice Sniff and Scurry leave their area when they discover their cheese is gone. They seek and find a new supply. Two human characters(but the same size as the mice) Hem and Haw take longer to discover the Cheese is gone. The Cheese represen <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">ts what you want to have in life: a good job, loving relationship, money, possessions, health or spiritual well being. The maze is where you look: work, school, family or community. Haw manages to get through the maze and leaves clues in the form of wise directions on the wall. They key is to discover how to deal with change so one has less stress and more success. ===<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To comment, click on Discussion tab above. ===