Mrs. Malecha Reads!

 by Kelly Yang Genre:  Realistic Fiction Lina Gao is finally joining her parents and sister in Los Angeles, CA.  She has been living in China with her grandma since her parents moved to the United States 5 years ago.  Lina is feeling sad about having to leave her grandma, but also excited about getting to see her parents again.  Life in CA isn't as fabulous as their letters have made it seem.  Her parents have to work multiple jobs and they don't quite have enough money to pay rent on their apartment each month.  Learning English and navigating school is challenging too so Lina is having to work really hard at fitting in there and with her family too.  How long will it take until CA finally feels like home?

 by Katherine Applegate Genre:  Animal Story Ruby the elephant's favorite activities are rolling around in the mud and hanging out with her best friends. Ivan and Bob.  The 3 are an unlikely group, but have kind of become a family.  Ruby hasn't ever shared a lot about her past and Ivan and Bob haven't really asked.  But now Ruby is growing up, and her tusks are coming in.  Her growing tusks stir up some childhood memories that Ruby would rather forget.  With the help of her supportive friends, Ruby is able to tell her story and in the process starts to feel her courage grow which will help her embrace and celebrate the changes ahead.

 by Sophie Anderson Genre:  Fantasy The Island of Morovia has been divided - humans on one side and the bird people on the other.  They used to all work together, but ever since the terrible tragedy of the sinking of the Joy, the islanders have been apart.  The bird people have been left with virtually nothing and they are no longer able to use their singing magic.  Anyone caught using magic or stealing will be captured and sent to the Keep.  No one who has gone to the Keep has ever come out again.  Linnet wishes that she and her father could have a better life as they are barely surviving.  She misses her mom, who died when the Joy sank, and her best friend, Hero, who lives on the human side of the island.  Linnet wants to find a solution that will heal everyone's hurt and allow them to move forward with their lives.  Can one girl and her swamp pets repair all the damage?  Linnett is willing to try even if it means putting her own safety in jeopardy.

 by Rajani LaRocca Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Novel in Verse Maya and Chaya are identical twins and they have basically shared everything their whole life, until this year.  For the first time ever, Maya is keeping secrets from Chaya and Chaya is really concerned about her.  She wants to tell her parents that Maya's worry and anxiety is getting out of control, but Maya doesn't want her to.  Their mom expects the girls to be perfect and that is putting a lot of pressure on them to do well in school and with their piano lessons.  When summer comes and they have the chance to go to music camp, they decide to switch places and see if they can help each other out by becoming the other twin.  Will this help bring them closer together or push them farther apart?

 by Steven Frank Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Adventure Sam and his friends are fighting for the survival of the Earth.  They are tired of all of the grown ups who talk about trying to lessen climate change, but don't actually do anything about.  So Sam, Catalina, Alistair, Jaesang, and Zoe are ready to hatch a plan that will bring attention to their newly created Planet Amendment.  They need to get 38 states to vote yes and they are going to do everything in their poser to make sure it happens, even if it means traveling illegally to an island in the Arctic.

 by Tamika Burgess Genre:  Realistic Fiction Sicily is looking forward to going to middle school with her best friends.  Everything is all set until she learns that her neighborhood middle school is going to reopen in time for her 6th grade year and none of her friends will be going to that school.  Sicily is devastated and is not looking forward to having to start over and find a new friend group.  Home life isn't going great either as her relationship with her Abuela is changing.  Abuela is becoming very critical of the way Sicily dresses and wears her hair.  Sicily doesn't feel like she fits in anywhere until one day when she is invited to write for her school's new online magazine.  Sicily has always loved to write, even though her family thinks it is a waste of time.  At the first meeting she meets Michael, who turns out to be the cousin of her friend, Reyna.  Will returning to her love of writing help Sicily get through all the challenges she seems to be facing in her

 by Erin Bow Genre:  Realistic Fiction Simon tells a lot of stories and many of them are not true.  He does this in an attempt to hide the story about him that is true.  He was the only survivor of a school shooting and now he and his parents have moved to Grin and Bear It, Nebraska in an attempt to restart their lives after the tragedy.  His mom is an undertaker and his dad is a deacon so they both have jobs that can be very stressful at times.  Simon starts to make some new friends and has to decide how much of his past to share with him...does he continue to tell tall tales or is it time to be honest about his past so that he can put it behind him and move forward?