Mrs. Malecha Reads!

by Susan Vaught Lexile:  820 Genre:  Mystery Something strange is happening in Maxine Brennan's town...It all began when someone created a fake Facebook page about her grandfather, Toppy, the local police chief.  Suddenly it seems that Blue Creek, Tennessee has its own evil enemy who is determined to get Toppy fired.  Luckily for Toppy, Max and her best friend, Lavender, are on the case!  They are determined to figure out  who is behind these evil threats.

by Lauren Wolk Lexile:  770 Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Mystery Crow has lived her entire life on a small island off the coast of Massachusetts with Osh, the only family she has ever known.  The story is that when she was just a few days old she washed ashore in a boat and Osh found her.  No one who where she came from so he decided to name her Crow and raise her as his daughter.  But the older Crow gets, the more questions she has.  Where did she come from?  Does she have another family somewhere who is also wondering what happened to her?  Osh agrees to help her investigate her past.  Neither one of them is prepared for all that they will find.

by Jason Reynolds Lexile:  710 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Patina, or Patty, is one of the fastest runners around.  She is a new member of the Defenders track team and she is ready to prove to everyone just how fast she can run.  Patty lives with her aunt and uncle because her father died and her mother has some serious medical issues.  Patty also has a younger sister that she feels responsible for.  It's a lot of pressure for a young runner and Patty is not sure that she will be able to hold up, but she knows one thing for sure, she is going to try her best, no matter what.

by Cynthia Lord Lexile:  690 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Lily's dog, Lucky, is blind so Lily's whole goal in life right now is to earn enough money to pay for surgery that might give Lucky her sight back.  One day, Lucky nearly runs into the road, but luckily for Lily, a girl she doesn't know is able to save him by offering him her lunch.  Lily meets Salma, a girl who has traveled with her family to Maine to help with the blueberry harvest.  Salma and Lily become close friends.  Salma is an artist and she agrees to help Lily paint the bee houses that she makes to raise money for Lucky.  The girls decide to open and operate a booth in the town's blueberry festival.  As Lily opens up to Salma about her plans for Lucky, Salma opens up to Lily about what life on the road is like.  Salma has some dreams of her own.  Will the girls be able to work together so that both of their dreams can come true?

by Ellen Emerson White Lexile:  740 Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Fantasy 2018-19 Maud Hart Lovelace Nominee Webster, or Bad Hat as he calls himself, has decided that he is done with humans.  He has been adopted 3 times and all 3 times he has been returned to an animal shelter.  So this time he decides that as soon as he has the opportunity, he is going to escape and live life on his own terms.  But Webster didn't count on the fact that there would be some animals who are not willing to let him go.  Each time he thinks he has finally gotten free, another animal from the shelter shows up.  Webster wonders why these animals care so much about him  Is it possible that he has finally found some friends who will stick by him no matter what?

by Catharina Valckx Lexile:  600 Genre:  Fantasy Bruno the cat takes the days as they come.  Some are good and some are well, some are just plain stupid.  If he has a picnic planned and his friend sprains his ankle, they have the picnic inside.  When it rains until it floods, he invites all of his friends over to have breakfast.  Bruno is on the look out for the illusive "perfect" day.  Until he finds it, he got some food friends who will help him pass the time.

by Jodi Lynn Anderson Lexile:  1020 Genre:  Science Fiction Gracie and her family are living a quiet life until one day when a dark cloud shows up looking for her brother Sam.  In Gracie's world, dark clouds come for people who have reached the end of their lives.  Gracie's dad is convinced that another world, an extraordinary world, exists, and if they can reach it they will be able to save Sam.  Gracie and her family set out on a journey that will take them to unexpected places.  They will have to trust in each other and in the belief that their father is right.  Does another world exist?

by Michael Slack Shorty is not a lizard.  He is a very small dinosaur.  Clem is not a chicken.  He is a quail.  Clem and Shorty are friends, so when Shorty finds a package addressed to Clem he is very curious.  It looks like such a fun and exciting package.  Should Shorty open it even though it is addressed to Clem?

by Angela Dominguez Two giraffes want to be friends, but they don't speak the same language.  One speaks English and the other speaks Spanish.  Can these two giraffes become friends?  Absolutely!

by Kenneth Oppel Lexile: 640 Genre:  Fantasy Steve has a new brother, but something isn't quite right with him.  He knows that his parents are very worried and there are lots of doctor appointments and visits to the hospital.  His parents don't want him to worry, but Steve wants to know what is going on.  He has been having strange dreams.  Dreams that involve talking wasps.  The queen wasp in his dream knows so much information about him that she seems real.  The queen is trying to talk him into agreeing to replace his sick brother with a healthy one that the wasps have secretly begun constructing in the nest attached to Steve's house.  Steve is struggling with figuring out what is real and what is fantasy.