Mrs. Malecha Reads!

 by Amina Luqman-Dawson Genre:  Historical Fiction One night, Homer and his sister, Ada, flee the Southerland Plantation in search of freedom.  They narrowly escape the slave patrollers who chase after them.  They find themselves in a secret community named Freewater that has been formed by formerly enslaved people.  Homer and Ada struggle to adapt to life with freedom in their new community, while also thinking about their mother, whom they had to leave behind.  Homer will not be fully content until he can figure out a way to bring her to Freewater too.

 by Renee Watson Genre:  Realistic Fiction Ryan Hart feels like she is caught in the middle.  She is the middle sibling with an older brother who constantly teases her and a baby sister who takes up all of her mom's time. And at school, Ryan is sometimes caught between her two best friends, Amanda and KiKi.  Ryan does her best to model her grandmother's belief that it is always best to find the joy in every situation, but sometimes that can he really hard.

 by Rebecca Caprara Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Novel in Verse Collin is always ready for the next disaster, especially since a fluke accident took the life of his mother.  Collin worries about lots of things, but mostly now he is worried about his dad and their house.  Without his mom around to help keep things organized, his dad's hoarding behaviors are getting out of control.  Collin doesn't want his friends to know just how bad things are at home, but it is getting to the point where things are so bad, he is going to have to tell someone.  Can he trust his friends enough to share with them all that is going on at home?

by Reem Faruqi Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Novel in Verse  Nurah's family is moving to Peachtree, Georgia from Karachi, Pakistan.  She has many worries about moving to a new country.  She is sad about losing her friends and having to move so far from her grandmothers.  When Nurah gets to Peachtree, she just wants to try and blend in, but that's hard to so when everyone makes her feel like she doesn't fit in.  Starh is the first person that makes Nurah feel seen and as their friendship grows, Nurah learns that Starh has secret worries too.  Nurah and Starh make the swim team and gain confidence as they learn to stand up for what they believe in.

 by Joanne Fritz Rossmassler Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Novel in Verse Everything changes for Maddie and her family when her older brother vanishes from college.  Maddie, her parents, and her sister are asked to tell the investigating detective anything they can remember about Strum that might be helpful in bringing him home.  Maddie tries hard to look for clues...what would cause Strum to leave without telling anyone?  Maddie is also struggling with her own issues, mainly that she has to count to even numbers to feel relaxed and in control.  As her family falls apart around her, Maddie feels herself falling apart too.  Will their family ever be the same again?

 by Meg Grehan Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Novel in Verse Stevie is an avid reader and curious about lots of things.  She also worries about things...some things that she can control and some things that she can't. She and her mom have a close relationship and Stevie knows that she can ask her mom anything.  But lately, Stevie is nervous about some new feelings she has.  Feelings about a girl at her school and she doesn't know who to ask about them.  Can Stevie trust her mom enough to help her navigate this new curiosity?

 by Claudia Mills Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Novel in Verse Betsy's mother works hard as a linguistics professor who is trying to save dying languages.  She is stressed a lot of the time and sometimes has a hard time coming out of her room to interact with her family.  She is always working and always trying to land the next big grant.  So Betsy and her best friend, Lizard, decide to try and help Betsy's mom buy choosing one language they think they can save.  They settle on the near-extinct language of Guernesiais that is only spoken by 200 people on the island of Guernsey.  But saving a language isn't as easy as they thought and in fact, maintaining there friendship while their parents both struggle with their issues, isn't going to be easy either. Betsy and Lizard will have to learn how to support each other if their friendship is going to survive.

 by A.S. King Genre:  Realistic Fiction When Mac and his classmates open up their copies of their new lit circle books, they find several black rectangles blocking out words in the story.  Curious, they go to the bookstore to get a copy of the book without the rectangles in it.  They realize that someone at their school is trying to censor what they are reading.  They know that this is in violation of their first amendment rights, but will anyone care because they are just kids?  They raise the issue with the school principal and when she fails to take them seriously, they take their voices to the school board and the community.  Mac and his friends are about to learn how powerful their voices can be, even if they are just kids.