Mrs. Malecha Reads!

 by Kate DiCamillo Genre:  Animal Story Mercy Watson, Mr. and Mrs. Watson's porcine wonder, is missing and all of Deckawoo Drive is searching for her.  Baby Lincoln comes up with the idea to hire a private investigator.  They hire Percival Smidgely, PI, who doesn't really seem to know how to lead an investigation so if may be that someone else will have to put the clues together to figure out where Mercy has gone.  For sure it will have something to do with the smell of butter...

 by Emma Otheguy Genre:  Realistic Fiction Sofia's whole family loves ballet so she has never questioned the fact that she should love ballet too.  She is super excited when she get cast to dance in the party scene of the Nutcracker.  But as the rehearsals get going, Sofia struggles to get the dance steps just right.  She realizes that she would rather be behind the scenes designing costumes.  How can she explain this to her ballet loving family?  Sofia is going to need to find a way to use her voice to speak up about her hopes and dreams of her future.

 by Kereen Getten Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Paranormal Clara has lived on an island for her whole life and has basically grown up in the water.  She loves to surf and hangout with her best friend Gaynah.  They have a secret hideout that nobody knows about.  But lately, Gaynah and Clara haven't been getting along and Clara doesn't really understand why.  All she knows is that something happened last summer that she can't remember. Her memories start to return just as a hurricane threatens to strike the island.  Can Clara get her memories back and figure out why she and Gaynah are no longer friends?

 by Laura Elliott Louisa June had no idea that the attack on Pearl Harbor would change her life forever.  Her family has fished the waters off the coast of Virginia for years without an issue, but now there are U-boats patrolling the water and torpedo strikes.  Louisa wishes that she could do something to help, but when the worst tragedy strikes, Louisa and her family will have to pull together to survive.  Cousin Belle, who has her own stories about war, comes to try to help the family get through their tough time.  Will they be able to move on during this awful time?

 by Aida Salazar Genre:  Historical Fiction Lula and her family have to work very, very hard to try to earn enough to survive.  They are migrant farm workers who move throughout California, harvesting grapes wherever they can find work.  They are at the mercy of the growers to pay them whatever they want, which is usually to little to feed, cloth and shelter their growing family.  Now the migrant workers have had enough and are attempting to strike to improve working conditions.  Lula is excited about the labor movement, but at first her papa is not and he forbids her to have anything to do with it.  Papa has ruled over their family with his angry temper and cruel punishments, but Lula and her siblings are excited by what the labor activists have to say.  Will they be able to convince Papa that striking is what might most help their family in the future?

 by Andrea Beatriz Arango Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Novel in Verse Iveliz is struggling with seventh grade.  She only has one friend and would like to make more, but isn't sure how.  Her grandmother is moving in with them and her memory seems to be getting worse every day.  Iveliz has been working with a therapist to help her through some dark times and her grandmother doesn't think it's necessary.  And that makes her mad. Iveliz and her mother also have issues communicating and now she feels like life is getting worse and some days feels unbearable.  She knows that she should speak up and ask for help, but if she admits she needs help, will any help that someone gives her be enough?