Mrs. Malecha Reads!

by Karen Strong Lexile:  640 Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Paranormal Sarah is so happy to finally be in charge for the summer and not have to spend it doing outdoor chores at her grandmother's house.  But her carefree plans change the instant she finds out that her cousin, Janie, will be spending the summer with her.  Trouble seems to follow Janie and Sarah doesn't want to have to watch her every move.  As soon as the summer begins, Janie hears a story about the haunted Creek Church and she is determined to go there and find out if it really is haunted.  Sarah wants nothing to do with ghosts and spirits, but Janie is going to be satisfied until they go and see it.  What they find at Creek Church will change the course of their summer.

by Johanna Knowles Genre:  Realistic Fiction Summer is supposed to be all about fun, but for 13 year old Rachel, this summer is turning out to be everything but fun.  Her parents are constantly fighting about money and Rachel's best friend Micah, wants to be more than friends.  Rachel knows she doesn't feel anything for him other than friendship, and she can't figure out if it's because he's her best friend or if it's because he's a boy.  Things seem to be getting more and more complicated and Rachel just wants things to go back to the way they were before, but it doesn't look like that is going to be possible.

by Remy Lai Lexile:  750 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Jingwen and his family have moved China to Australia, but Jingwen feels like he might as well be on Mars.  He doesn't understand English well enough to figure out what his new teachers are saying or to know whether or not kids are trying to help him or make fun of him.  All Jingwen wants to do is bae cakes because that is how he and his father used to connect.  The had a dream of opening a bakery that made fancy cakes, but those dreams died with his father when he was killed two years ago.  The only way Jingwen knows how to survive is to try to hang on to the past so he secretly begins baking all the cakes that he and his father had planned to make for their shop.  Once Jingwen has baked all the cakes, then surely he will have figured out his life in his new country.

by Jasmine Warga Lexile:  930 Genre:  Novel in Verse Jude never thought that her family would have to split apart, but war has come to Syria and her father has decided that she and her mother would be safer in the United States.  Jude's brother feels compelled to stay and fight for a better tomorrow and her father has to continue to run their family's store.  Jude isn't prepared for how different life in the United States will be - new friends, a new family, a new language, and constant worries about life back in Syria. Many days it just all seems to be too overwhelming.  But Jude gets involved with the school musical, something she never would have done back in Syria, and it helps her begin to find her place in her temporary home.

by Kevin Henkes Lexile:  610 Genre:  Realistic Fiction All Amelia wants for spring break is a trip to Florida.  Or a trip anywhere...but her father never wants to go anywhere.  So Amelia is stuck at home for a week with nothing to do except continue to visit the clay studio to work on her ceramic projects, that kind of have become her main focus in life.  When Amelia gets to the studio, she learns that the owner's nephew will be visiting for the week.  Casey and Amelia hit it off right away and start to share about the difficult things in their lives.  Casey's parents are probably headed for a divorce and Amelia wishes her dad would talk more about her mother who died when she was two.  This friendship takes a strange turn when Casey thinks he sees someone who could be the spirit of Amelia's mom.  Amelia isn't sure what to think,,,could this person they see really be her mom?  And if so, what does that mean about Amelia's future?

by Jen Petro-Roy Genre:  Realistic Fiction Riley wants to be the perfect artist, runner, older sister and friend.  In her quest for perfection, she turns to anorexia as a way to create the perfect version of herself.  Things would be so much easier if she was just a little bit skinnier.  Once Riley's parents discover what she is doing, they decide to send her to a hospital that specializes in eating disorders.  If Riley is going to get healthy and get her life back, she is going to have to battle the voices in her head that are constantly telling her that she is not good enough. 

by Jennifer A. Nielsen Lexile:  680 Genre:  Historical Fiction Chaya Lindner is living a double life.  Some moments she is a Polish Jew worshipping with her family in the ghetto where they have been relocated.  Other moments she is a Polish citizen trying to hide the fact that she is Jewish while smuggling food, information, money, and weapons into the ghetto.  Chaya is working as a courier for the Polish Resistance which places her life in danger every day.  But she is determined to save as many people as she can and hang on to hope that she will survive this terrible war.

by Barbara Carroll Roberts Lexile:  840 Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Sports Nikki Doyle eats, sleeps, and dreams about playing basketball.  So when she and her best friends Adria make an elite level team, Nikki thinks nothing could be better.  But the cost of being on an elite team is tough for her family and Nikki has to make some changes.  She now has to watch her brother after school, help with his homework, stay on top of her homework and endure grueling basketball practices that leave her exhausted.  Nikki is trying to balance all of these things and also is starting to realize that while she was a top player in her county league, she is not a top player in the elite world.  Is everything she is sacrificing worth it to play basketball at this competitive level?