Mrs. Malecha Reads!

by Aaron Blabey Lexile:  250 Genre:  Fantasy These guys are bad.  They eat other animals.  Now Mr. Wolf is tired of being a bad guy.  He has decided to start a good guys club.  He recruits a snake, a piranha and a shark.  Together they set out into the world to do good.  And no more eating things.

Written and Illustrated by James Rumford Lexile:  420 Genre:  Realistic Fiction The children in Chad are excited.  They are going to school!  Thomas has lots of questions.  When they arrive at school, they find out that there first task will be to build the school.  Once that is done, Thomas begins to learn his letters and fill his notebook with learning.  Before they know it, the 9 months are done and the yearly rain comes.  What will happen to their school while they are away?

by Jen Arena Illustrated by Angela Dominguez Marta and is an ordinary girl who is both big and small.  When she stands next to an elephant, she is small.  But when she stands next to a bug, she is big!  Marta explores the world of big and small - in English and Spanish - and has fun running into all sorts of animals in the jungle.

by Ben Hatke Lexile:  200 Genre:  Fantasy, Graphic Novel Jack is not really looking forward to his summer vacation.  His mom is working two jobs which means that Jack will be stuck at home watching his sister Maddy.  They end up going to a flea market and Jack is talked into trading the family car for a box of strange seeds.  Of course his mom is furious with him, but now he and Maddy have a summer project:  planting a garden.  However, their seeds are no ordinary seeds and their garden is no ordinary garden...

by John Green Lexile:  540 Genre:  Fantasy, Graphic Novel Hippo isn't happy living in the zoo anymore.  So Red Panda decides to help him get a job.  Off they go into the big, wide world.  He tries a variety of jobs:  construction worker, hairstylist, a chef...but something always seems to go wrong.  Eventually he ends up back at the zoo.  Is it possible that the perfect job was right in front of him this whole time?

by Peter Brown Lexile:  540 Genre:  Fantasy Is it possible for a robot to survive in the wild?  When Roz washes up on the shore of an island, no one is sure what to make of her.  The sea otters are the first to discover her and after some initial investigating they decide to leave it alone.  So Roz sets off to figure out where she is and what she will learn to need to survive.  Will the animals except someone who is different than anything they have ever seen before?

written and illustrated by Juana Medina Lexile:  870 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Juana loves her life in Bogota, Columbia.  She loves her dog Lucas and they have many adventures together.  But now she has a new class at school:  English!  Juana does not think she needs to learn another language as Spanish has served her quite well in the past.  Her grandfather strikes a bargain with her.  If she learns how to speak and read English, he will take her to Florida and show her a whole different world.  Is Juana up for the challenge?

by Kelly Barnhill Lexile:  640 Genre:  Fantasy Award:  John Newberry Award Every year the Elders of the Protectorate take the youngest baby of the town and sacrifice it to the witch so that they can continue to live in peace and harmony.  No one questions this ancient practice until one year when a woman refuses to give up her baby.  And so begins the story of Luna, the witch who rescues her, the mother who goes mad, and Anatin, a boy who questions.  As Anatin grows up he questions the existence of the witch and the need for his rulers to continue this ancient practice. Meanwhile Xan, the witch, is raising Luna as her granddaughter.  Luna was fed too much moonlight when she was a baby so because her magic was out of control, Xan had to place a spell on her that will make her forget about magic until her thirteenth birthday.  Xan thinks that she will have plenty of time to share what she needs to share about Luna.  But time is going quicker th...

by Nora Raleigh Baskin Lexile:  730 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Anyone who is old enough to remember the events of September 11, 2001, would be able to tell you exactly where they were when the world changed forever.  Sergio, Naheed, Aimee, and Will are four children growing up in 4 different cities whose lives all intersect when the first plane crashes in the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m.  This is a story about the moments before and the moments after.

by Dave Keane Illustrated by K.G. Campbell Lexile:  610 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Who wants a tortoise?  Emily doesn't.  She wants a dog.  But she got a tortoise instead.  Her tortoise can't do anything that a dog can do.  When her tortoise goes missing, Emily and her friends have to head out into the neighborhood to find him and bring him home.  Maybe having a tortoise isn't such a bad deal after all!

by Greg Grunberg Illustrated by Lucas Turnbloom Color by Guy Major Lexile:  230 Genre:  Fantasy, Graphic Novel Ben's mother is worried about him because he can't sleep.  She doesn't realize that Ben has a powerful gift.  He is a Dream Jumper and can literally fall into other people's dreams.  Ben starts to realize that his classmates are going missing and the only place he can see them is in his dreams.  When his mother takes him to a sleep clinic, Ben falls into a deep sleep and realizes that in order to keep his friends safe he will have to defeat an evil dream monster.  Is Ben up to the task?

by Dana Simpson Lexile: 430 Genre:  Fantasy, Graphic Novel Phoebe has a new best friend - a unicorn!  Her unicorn's name is Marigold Heavenly Nostril and she roller skates.  Marigold and Phoebe are off together on many adventures - navigating through unicorn forests and the ups and downs of school.  As long as they are together, they can conquer every challenge that comes their way!

by Sara Pennypacker Illustrated by Jon Klassen Genre:  Realistic Fiction Lexile:  760 Peter rescued Pax when he was just a tiny kit and he has raised him as his pet ever since.  But now Pax is a full grown fox, and Peter's dad is forcing him to return Pax to the wild.  The two have shared a special bond since Peter's mother died.  Peter has tried everything to convince his dad to keep Pax. Peter's dad has enlisted in the army so Peter has to go and live with his grandfather.  But the moment that Peter says goodbye to Pax, he realizes that he has done the wrong thing.  He has to go back to the woods and find Pax, no matter what the consequences are.

by Lauren Wolk Lexile:  800 Genre:  Historical Fiction Annabelle has lived a quiet, peaceful life in small town Pennsylvania.  She goes to school with her brothers and helps her parents on their small farm.  But one day, a new girl, Betty, moves into town. Right from the start, Betty seems determined to make Annabelle's life miserable and Annabelle really can't figure out why.  When Betty seriously injures Annabelle's friend, she decides that she can no longer be silent.  It will take courage and bravery for Annabelle to stand up to Betty to protect those she loves.

by Caralyn Buehner Illustrated by Mark Buehner Lexile:  890 Genre:  Fantasy Have you ever wondered what snowmen do at night?  Sometimes they look different in the morning then they did at night.  Is that because they went skating?  Or maybe because they drank hot chocolate?  This book will give you some clues about what those snowmen are doing at night!

By Brendan Wenzel Lexile:  310 Genre:  Realistic Fiction A cat goes for a walk and along the way it sees a lot of things.  Each thing that crosses the cat's path, sees the cat differently than the thing before it.  And then the cat gets to the water and what does he see there?  They all saw a cat!

by Jason Reynolds Lexile:  750 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Genie and Ernie have been left with their grandparents for a month.  They are used to the city life in Brooklyn, NY and their grandparents live out in the middle of nowhere in Virginia.  Genie isn't sure how he feels about staying with people he barely knows, especially when he finds out that his grandpa is blind and carries a shot gun.  There are some other unusual things going on and for some reason his grandpa and his father aren't speaking.  Genie and Ernie are going to learn a lot in the next month...about their family, the value of hard work, and how to stick together.

by Jon Klassen Lexile:  340 Genre:  Fantasy A fish has stolen a hat.  He thinks that he is so sneaky.  He doesn't think that the whale he stole the hat is going to notice because the big fish was sleeping.  Will he get away with the hat?

by Eric Velasquez Lexile:  150 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Where is Bongo?  Mom and Dad don't know. Daisy and the cat don't know, so the little boy just has to keep looking and looking.  He really wants to find Bongo?  Where or where can he be?

by Nikki Grimes Lexile:  620 Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Novel in Verse Garvey loves books, music, math, and chess.  HIs father wants him to love football.  Garvey has a choice to make..will he be the person he wants to be or the person his father wants him to be?  With the help of an old friend, Joe, and a new friend, Manny, Garvey will start to figure who he is and learn to be proud of the things he is good at.  Hopefully, his father will be able to see and accept those qualities too.

by Richard Peck Lexile:  540 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Archer Magill knows exactly who he wants to be when he grows up:  a combination of his grandfather, his father, and his way cool uncle Paul.  But then Mr. McLead, a student teacher,  comes into his life and as Archer watches the relationship between his uncle and his teacher grow, he realizes that there might be room in his life for one more person.  Archer isn't one to look to deeply into things or look ahead to the future so consequently, things seem to come as a surprise to him. Will he have the courage to look ahead to begin the process of figuring out who exactly it is that he wants to be?

by Kate DiCamillo Lexile:  520 Genre:  Fantasy Flora's mom thinks she spends too much time reading comic books.  Flora thinks her mom loves her lamp more than she loves her.  So when Flora looks out the window and sees her neighbor's vacuum cleaner suck up a squirrel, she doesn't hesitate to try to rescue the innocent squirrel just like the super heroes in her comic books always try to do.  When Flora rescues Ulysses the squirrel, she realizes that he is no ordinary squirrel.  The two of them are about to embark on some amazing adventures together.

by Ben Clanton Lexile:  300 Genre:  Fantasy, Graphic Novel Narwhal is the unicorn of the sea and he has a great big imagination.  One day while swimming through the ocean, he meets some new friends.  He convinces all of them to become unicorns of the sea because narwhals have the most fun. Read this book to find out about the underwater adventures of Narwhal and his new friends!

by Victoria Jamieson Lexile:  440 Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Graphic Novel Astrid and Nicole are best friends and they have always spent their summers together.  But this year is different.  Astrid wants to go to Roller Derby Camp and Nicole wants to go to Ballet Camp.  Astrid assumes that Nicole will change her mind and go with her, but lately Nicole has been hanging around with Rachel, her friend from dance.  Astrid can feel Nicole drifting away from her and she doesn't know what to do about it.  Will Roller Derby Camp be any fun at all without Nicole?

by Linda Fairstein Lexile:  740 Genre:  Mystery Devlin Quick is the daughter of New York City's Police Commissioner and she is well on her way to being a detective herself.  When Devlin's friend Liza sees a suspicious man running out of the New York City Public Library, she doesn't hesitate to chase after him.  Devlin is ready for an adventure as they figure out who he is and what he stole.

by David Shannon Lexile:  600 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Spencer has too many toys.  They are everywhere!  There are so many toys that no one in Spencer's house is having fun with them anymore.  Spencer's parents would like him to clean up his house and get rid of some of the toys that he no longer plays with.  The problem?  Spencer thinks he plays with ALL of the toys.  How will they ever get their house clean?

by Jenny Lundquist Genre:  Realistic Fiction Middle school is not going well for Izzy Malone.  People call her Toad Girl, making ribbit noises when she walks by, and she has the reputation for being the weirdest girl at school.  Things aren't much better at home either.  Her older sister is the perfect student and musically talented and clearly is her mother's favorite daughter.  Izzy just doesn't know where she fits in.  She wants her family to accept her and she wants to make some friends.  The one thing she seems to be good at is getting in trouble.  So one day, a letter arrives from Mrs. Wippie's Charm School, that promises Izzy a grand prize if she can complete a series of tasks.  Could this be a chance for Izzy to turn her life around?