Mrs. Malecha Reads!

 by Jennifer A. Nielson Genre:  Historical Fiction Hazel Rothbury is about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime!  She is going to sail on the Titanic to the United States where she will work with her aunt in a garment factory so that she can send money home to help her mother make ends meet.  When Hazel realizes that she doesn't have enough money to pay for her ticket, she figures out a way to sneak on board.  Hazel wants to be a journalist and she is full of questions and the more she asks about the Titanic, the more worried she becomes about how seaworthy the ship actually is.  Once they have set sail, Hazel tries to ignore the felling in her gut that so many things happening on the ship are not as they should be.  There are so many mysteries to solve...is Hazel up to the challenges that she is about to face?

 by Mike Lupica Genre:  Sports, Realistic Fiction 7th grader Alex Carlisle gave up a starting spot on her soccer team to try her luck at playing football.  Turns out, she was pretty good and ended up leading her team to the championship game as the quarterback.  But now it is spring, and soccer tryouts are coming up.  Does she want to try out for spring soccer and try to mend some hurt feelings between herself and the other players who feel she abandoned them when she quit?  There are only going to be a couple of open spots on the spring team so Alex is going to have to make a tough decision.

 by Barbara O'Connor Genre:  Historical Fiction Walter misses his big brother Tank who was recently killed in WWII.  He has the same dream over and over...just as he is about to make a wish and blow out his birthday candles, he wakes up and Tank is still gone.  When Posey moves in next door, he is excited to have a distraction and when the two of them meet up with Banjo who has lost his hot air balloon, the adventure really begins.  Maybe having new friends and a new purpose in life will help Walter move on with his life.

 by Greg Van Eekhout Genre:  Fantasy, Mythology Mott believes in always keeping her promises, no matter what.  Partly this is because her father doesn't always keep his promises which really frustrates Mott.  So when she finds an abandoned puppy, she promises to do everything she can to protect him.  However, the puppy turns out to be a legendary wolf named Fenris who might possibly be about to bring about the end of the world.  Suddenly there are Norse gods and goddesses running around Mott's town with the intent to capture Fenris.  Can Mott actually dave him or is this yet another promise that will be broken?

 by Lindsay Currie Genre:  Scary, Paranormal Eastport, MA is the most cursed town in America and the townspeople like it that way.  They get a lot of tourists to visit because of their haunted reputation.  Each year the town puts on a festival that features the legend of old Sweet Molly and her brother Liam.  But old Sweet Molly is tired of the town celebrating one of the saddest days of her life so she is out for revenge.  Old Sweet Molly is coming to Mallory and Joshua in their dreams and trying to leave them clues on how to save themselves and their town.  Will Mallory and Joshua be able to figure out what Molly is trying to tell them before it is too late?

 by E.L. Shen Genre:  Sports, Realistic Fiction Maxine Chen wants to be a perfect figure skater and she has spent many hours at the skating rink, trying to make that happen.  But life at school is making it hard for her to concentrate on her skating because there is a bully who is continually harassing her about her Chinese heritage.  Maxine is trying to handle it all on her own, but the pressure is getting to be too much.  What can Maxine do to get her skating and her life back on track?