Mrs. Malecha Reads!

by Ellen Oh Lexile:  680 Genre:  Paranormal, Fantasy From the moment Harper set foot in her new house, she has felt a sense of unease.  Certain rooms are colder than others and she feels the strangest sensation that she is not alone.  When her brother, Michael, makes a new friend, Billy, that nobody else can see, Harper is certain that their house is haunted.  Michael's behavior is changing, Harper has been mysteriously injured twice, and there are just too many strange occurrences to ignore that ghosts are somehow interfering with her family.  Harper's mother doesn't want to hear anything about ghosts, so Harper doesn't know who to turn to.  She does know that things are getting worse for Michael and that it will be up to her to find a way out.

by Diane Stanley Lexile:  670 Gener:  Magical Realism Joplin never knew her famous grandfather, but when he suddenly dies, the whole world is interested.  Joplin doesn't know why she never met him,  and her mother doesn't want to talk about it.  When they go to clean out his house, Joplin finds a tin full of fragments of an old Dutch platter.  Joplin fits the pieces together and falls in love with the beautiful landscape it depicts.  When Joplin takes it to an antique store to have it restored, the owner suspiciously tells her it is worth nothing, yet offers to buy it form her.  Joplin decides to have someone else restore it and then hangs it in her room.  One morning she notices that the little girl in the landscape has vanished and much to her surprise she finds her in the garden.  Joplin is thrilled to have a new friend, but how did Sophie get out of the platter?  The story Sophie tells is unbelievable, but yet...there she stands.  How will Joplin explain this situation to h

by Lesa Cline-Ransome Lexile:  760 Genre:  Historical Fiction Langston feels lost.  His mother died and his father moved them from rural Alabama to the heart of the city of Chicago.  The boys at school call him "Country Boy" and make fun of his accent and old clothes.  Langston wishes his mother were still alive and wishes that his dad would change his mind and move them back to Alabama.  The one bright spot in Langston's life is the discovery of a library that allows all residents of the city to check out up to five books at a time.  While at the library, Langston is introduced to many authors, including the poet, Langston Hughes.  Learning about Hughes' poems helps Langston learn more about his mother and gives him hope for the future.

by Lynne Kelly Lexile:  800 Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Animal Story Iris is the only deaf person in her school which can leave her feeling alone and isolated.  She loves to take a part radios and computers and fix them up for people.  One day, she hears the story about a whale who doesn't communicate the way other whales do.  Iris is fascinated by the research that a team of scientists in Alaska is doing to try to figure out why Blue-55 communicates the way he does.  Iris feels a special connection with this whale she has never met, because she knows all too well how hard it is to not be heard or understood.  Is there someway that Iris could help Blue-55 by learning his song?

by Sharon Creech Lexile:  690 Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Animal Story One day, Louie's father brings him a fragile, newborn donkey, that most people are sure isn't going to survive.  However, as soon as Louie sees the poor thing, he decides that he will do whatever he can to save it.  The name Winslow comes to him and so begins his quest to save a donkey.  Louie is especially lonely right now because his brother Gus is away in the army and his friends Mack is growing up.  Louie throws all of his energy and loneliness into saving Winslow and miraculously, Winslow starts to thrive.

by Jennifer R. Barr Lexile:  650 Genre:  Historical Fiction Jimmy and Lola are best friends and they have developed a lot of rules that are helping them through life.  These rules will be tested when the Philadelphia Athletics baseball team threatens to build a wall in right field that will block the neighborhood's view of the stadium.  Jimmy, Lola, and their friends and families live for the nights when they watch the As from their makeshift dugouts on the rooftops of their apartment buildings.  Jimmy and Lola are determined to do whatever they have to do to stop the wall from being built...but how far are they willing to go?  Are they willing to break the law?

by Nadia Hashimi Lexile:  710 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Jason just found out that his mom has been living in the United States illegally.  He never knew his father, and his mom has never really wanted to tell him the full story about how he died.  But now, Jason's mom thinks that it is time for him to know the truth.  His mother had to make a difficult choice, and she chose to stay in the US because she thought that she and Jason would be safer there.  She tells him that there is the possibility that they may be separated, and one day, that becomes Jason's reality.  Jason is determined to do everything he can to get back to his mother.

by Matthew Landis Lexile:  580 Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Historical Fiction 12 year old Oliver is obsessed with the Civil War.  He knows all the facts and stats about the battles, the armies, and the generals.  So when he learns that his social studies class is going to do a project on the Civil War, he could not be happier.  Until he learns that his partner will be Ella Berry, a girl in his class who doesn't seem to be interested in anything.  And then they have to research a random soldier that Oliver has never even heard of!  Could this project be any worse?  If Oliver is willing to keep an open mind, he might find a new friend, and learn some new things about his favorite subject.

by Dan Gemeinhart Lexile:  530 Genre:  Fantasy, Animal Story Brodie was the best dog ever and he loved his boy, Aiden, very much.  But now Brodie is dead and feeling unsettled.  There is this sense that Aiden is still in danger, but the memories of what happened aren't coming clearly to him.  Brodie learns that he isn't quite in heaven yet so there is still a chance for him to go back to help Aiden, but if he does, there is a chance that he will lose his soul and never get to the perfect place where dogs run free forever and ever.  Brodie knows he has to take the chance and is determined to do whatever he can to get his memory back and make sure that Aiden is safe.

by Ellen Klages Lexile:  640 Genre:  Historical Fiction Katy Gordon is the best 10 year old pitcher in the neighborhood.  The only problem is that she is a girl so nobody will let her play.  When she submits an appeal to the Little League board and they respond with yet another no, she decides to fight back and learn all that she can about girls who have successfully played baseball in the past.  While she doesn't get the board to change their mind, she does learn about some amazing woman baseball players and is able to change the minds of some of the people in her community about what girls can and can't do.

by Sally Pla Lexile:  700 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Charlie likes his ordinary life that is filled with routines and rituals that help him manage his stress.  But lately, his routines have been disrupted, ever since his father came home from Afghanistan with a brain injury.  When he learns that his grandma will be taking his dad from their home in California to Virginia for the summer for additional treatment, he doesn't know if things will ever return to normal.  Ludmila, whom the family barely knows, will stand in for his grandma and look after Charlie, his older sister, and his younger brothers.  They start off on a cross country driving trip that will change their lives forever.

by Kurtis Scaletta Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Sports Rafael has loved baseball since he was a little boy and could only watch the bigger boys play in the street in the Dominican Republic.  Many of them have the same dream:  do become a professional baseball player and make millions. Maya, who is growing up in Minnesota,  has a dream too.  She hopes that everyone could be kinder to the environment.  She worries about the pollution from oil spills, global warming, and why all the bees are dying.  Two kids from two very different places with two very different dreams.  If Rafael can make it to the major leagues, can Maya save the bees?

by Ilyasah Shabazz Lexile:  810 Genre:  Historical Fiction 11 year old Betty has never really felt at home.  She wants to believe that her mother loves her, but her actions don't always show it.  She was raised by her aunt until her death and is then sent to live with Ollie Mae, the mother she doesn't really remember.  She tries hard to be the good daughter and sister that her mother expects her to be, but in Detroit in 1945, things are changing.  Betty and her friends want to join the Housewives' League, an organization that supports black-owned businesses.  But not everyone in her town feels the same way and friendships and family relationships will suffer if Betty decides to stand up for what she believes in.

by Tae Keller Lexile:  840 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Natalie is looking for a miracle.  A miracle that will allow her mom to come out of her bedroom and be the person Natalie needs her to be.  Instead, she has to focus her time and energy on her science project.  Is it possible that if she designed the right project it could also help her mom?  With the help of her best friend Twig, and new friend, Dari, Natalie is determined to see if science can help her solve her problem.

by Beth Hautala Lexile:  640 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Olivia loves to find lost things and she is good at it!  Except for the one thing that seems to be most important of all:  her brother's ostrich.  Olivia's brother, Jacob, is autistic, and the family is struggling with how best to communicate with him.  Olivia thinks his autism got worse after the ostrich was lost so she is determined to do whatever it takes to find that ostrich and make things better for her family. But when Olivia learns that the ostrich really isn't lost and that Jacob's autistic behaviors are getting worse, she worries about what this will mean for her family.  Will Olivia ever get to do the things that she wants to do or will she always have to put Jacob and his needs first?

by Chad Morris and Shelly Brown Lexile:  560 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Flint loves to draw and is close to finishing his soon to be award winning comic book that he plans to enter into a comic book contest.  Flint likes drawing because it is an escape from his world where everything is blurry.  Kids at school call him Squint because the eye disease that he has makes it hard for him to see.  But a new girl at school has suddenly started talking to him, and he's not sure why.  She seems to have other friends so why is she interested in hanging around him?  Flint is used to being on his own, but when he starts to hang out with McKell, he learns that having friends can be fun too.  Flint learns that he is soon to get a cornea transplant which will change the way he sees the world.  Will this new change be a change for the good?