Mrs. Malecha Reads!

by Zachariah Ohora Oskar and Theodore love to spend quiet mornings in the library.  But during a Saturday visit, a 5 headed monster tears into the library and thinks that they have found an all you can eat buffet.  The monster is being terribly rude and noisy.  It will be up to Oskar and Theodore to outsmart the monster so that peace can be restored to the library once again.

by Stephan Pastis Lexile:  520 Genre: Humor Timmy Failure has big dreams of opening a detective office and becoming the most sought after detective in the whole city.  But with a name like Failure, that might be harder than it would seem.  Yet he and his business partner, Total, the polar bear, are ready to take on cases that need to be solved and are convinced that their sleuthing skills will solve problems and find the answers their clients are looking for.  Meanwhile, Timmy is struggling in school and his mom is threatening to shut down the business if he doesn't turn things around.  Will Timmy be able to avoid failure?

by Svetlana Chmakova Lexile:  GN150 Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Graphic Novel Jorge is everyone's friend.  He has a great group of friends and has the respect of most everyone in school, which is a tough thing to do in middle school.  He stands up to the bullies and hangs out with kids from all of the different clubs.  But lately he is thinking more and more about Jasmine, a girl in the drama club.  Why is he looking for opportunities to spend time with her?  Does Jorge have a crush on Jasmine?  And if so, what should he do about it?

by Leslie C. Youngblood Genre: Realistic Fiction G-Baby and Peaches are trying to get used to their new families.  Mama has remarried Frank and given them an older stepsister.  Daddy has remarried Millicent and moved back into their old home.  G-Baby and Peaches really want their old lives back when Mama and Daddy were together and not fighting all the time.  But those days are gone, and the two girls have to make the best of their new reality.  When Peaches gets sick, G-Baby feels responsible and is worried that she will never get the chance to make it up to Peaches.  The adults in her life are so busy fighting with each other that G-Baby doesn't think anyone is telling the truth about what is really going on with Peaches.

by Kate DiCamillo Lexile:  630 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Louisiana and her granny are on a road trip.  They have left their home in the middle of the night and Granny says they aren't ever turning back.  Louisiana isn't happy about this surprise news. She likes her life in Florida with her cat, dog and two best friends.  But Granny is insistent.  There is no going back.  Now they are in Richford, Georgia with no money and no where to stay accept for the Good Night Sleep Tight Motel that is run by cranky old Bernice.  Louisiana meets Burke Allen who helps get her stuff out of the vending machine while her Granny figures out what to do next.  When Louisiana wakes up one morning and finds Granny gone, she realizes that she is truly alone in the world.  Who does she want to become?  What should she do next?

by Katie Slivensky Lexile:  700 Genre:  Science Fiction, Adventure 6 kids from around the world have been chosen to train for the first ever mission to Mars.  Miranda Regent is the representation from the United States and she could not be happier that her dreams of space travel are finally going to come true.  She, and her fellow cadets, knew that training for this mission was going to be a lot of work - classes in calculus, engineering, astrophysics, as well as learning how to live aboard a spaceplane.  But what they didn't count on was the fact that someone seems determined to destroy their dreams and in the process, them as well!  Can Miranda and her cadets outsmart their enemy?

by Brian Farrey Lexile:  670 Genre:  Fantasy 2019-20 MHL Nominee Jeniah is a twelve year old princess who is about to assume the throne at a much earlier age than she had planned.  Her mother is dying and she has only weeks to learn what it means to be queen.  The first thing her mother tells her is that she must never enter Dreadwillow Carse, a secret place that lies in the center of the Monarchy where people know only happiness.  Jeniah has more questions than answers.  Her questions lead her to edge of Dreadwillow Carse where she meets Aon, a young girl mourning the loss of her father who was taken from her village by the mysterious Crimson Hoods.  Jeniah and Aon form a partnership.  Aon will go into the Carse to explore for Jeniah and in return, Jeniah will find and free Aon's father.  Neither one of them realizes that their partnership will change both of their lives forever.