Mrs. Malecha Reads!

by Jessica Miller Lexile:  670 Genre:  Fantasy Elizabeth's mother went to the opera and she never cam home.  And now her father barely notices her and has announced that they will be moving back to his childhood home.  Witheridge House is a creepy old mansion, and Elizabeth and her imaginary friends, Zenobia, are basically left alone to explore the mysteries of the place.  Zenobia is fascinated with the supernatural world and can't wait to discover what lurks in the forbidden east wing. 

by Maya Christina Gonzalez What does it mean to be a tree?  Read this story and watch as one little boy starts out as a tiny seed and grows up to realize his dreams of standing tall and proud like a tree.  The story includes text in both English and Spanish.

by Celia C. Perez Lexile:  670 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Malu has just heard the worst news ever! Her mother has taken a 2 year teaching job in Chicago and she has to go with her.  Malu does not want to move to a new city, leave her dad, and meet new friends at a new school.  Malu feels like she and her mom are at odds all the time and she wishes that her mom could just accept her for who she is.  On the first day of school, she gets off on the wrong foot with Selena, the school's queen bee, and gets written up for a dress code violation.  Malu thinks it is going to be a long two years...

by Karina Yan Glaser Genre:  Realistic Fiction It's 5 days before Christmas and the Vanderbeeker children have just found out that there landlord is not renewing their lease and they have to be out of their beloved brownstone home by the end of the month.  All five siblings are upset by this as they love their home, their neighborhood, and all of their friends.  They decide to work together to convince the landlord, crabby old Mr. Biederman, to let them stay.  But they only have a week...will it be enough time for them to get him to change his mind?

by Tracey Baptiste Lexile:  680 Genre:  Fantasy Corrine isn't afraid of anything...not the boys who tease her, not the old white witch, and certainly not the make believe creatures that some say live in the forest.  But one night when Corrine goes into the woods, she sees something...strange yellow eyes that follow her every movement.  Is it her imagination or are the tales about the jumbies in the forest really true?  Corrine begins to notice some strange things happening around her and then the mysterious Severine shows up and begins to charm her father.  Corrine and her friends are going to have to work together to figure out the mystery that surrounds their island.

by A.F. Harrold Illustrated by Levi Pinfold Lexile:  690 Genre:  Fantasy Frank can't seem to get away from the mean boys who are always hanging around the playground and bullying her.  Just when she thinks things can't get worse, Nick Underbridge comes to her rescue.  Nick is the only kid who is bullied more than she is and now the bullies think they are friends.  Frank doesn't want anything to do with Nick, but when she finds herself rescued by him and sitting in his kitchen, she isn't sure how things could get any worse.  Then she hears this strange music coming from Nick's basement.  She doesn't know what to make of it, but only knows she can't stop thinking about it.  What secret is Nick hiding?

by Andreas Steinhofel Illustrated by Nele Palmtag Lexile:  940 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Max loves his grandpa, but his grandpa is losing his memory.  Max wants to do everything he can to help his grandpa remember things.  He is not happy that his mom has moved his grandpa to a new home where he lives behind a locked door.  Max decides to sneak his grandpa out for one last walk in their special meadow.  In that meadow, Max's grandpa teaches him an important lesson that will help Max deal with losing someone he loves.