Middle School Reads!

by Mary E. Pearson Lexile:  660 Genre:  Science Fiction 260 years have passed since the accident took the lives of Jenna, Locke. and Kara.  Or did it?  Jenna was brought back to life by her parents - an illegal experiment - that has now allowed her to live forever.  But what about Locke and Kara?  Their minds were kept alive by the same technology that saved Jenna, but they have just now been given new bodies and brought back to life.  260 years has passed.  The world is completely different and soon they realize that they only thing they have is each other.  Until they hear about Jenna...

an adaptation from Dee Brown's Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee By Dwight Jon Zimmerman Lexile:  1140 Genre:  Informational Dwight Jon Zimmerman has selected stories from Dee Brown's book and combined them with photographs, maps, and texts to create a book that tells the other side of the frontier saga - how the West was lost.  The book, told from the Native American point of view, focuses mostly on the Sioux nation and the tragic losses they endured.

by Saundra Mitchell Lexile:  ??? Genre:  Historical Fiction Zora is running away.  She has to get away from Baltimore where memories haunt her.  So her running takes her to the Oklahoma prairie where her main objective is to help her aunt and cousin survive on the meager farm they are attempting to build.  Zora throws herself into the daily work that is necessary for their survival, but discovers that it is impossible to escape everything she is running from.  Will she be able to make peace with her past so that she can move on to her future?

By Barbara Wright Lexile:  ??? Genre:  Historical Fiction Moses and his family are making history.  They are living in Wilmington, North Carolina, in the midst of a thriving African American community, enjoying the freedoms they achieved with the Emancipation Proclamation.  But suddenly things change, and Moses begins to be more aware of the racism that exists in his community.  Tensions are growing and Moses soon finds himself caught right in the middle.  His grandmother and parents want to protect him, but there are some truths that can no longer be hidden.

By:  Alan Gratz, based on the true story by Ruth and Jack Gruener Lexile:  760 Genre:  Historical Fiction Yanek Gruener has one goal in life:  to survive.  The Germans have invaded Poland and his comfortable life is changing quickly.  He and his relatives have been forced into the ghetto to live and slowly, his friends and family are disappearing right before his eyes.  One day, he too, disappears and begins a journey that will lead him through 10 different concentration camps.  Everyone says the war can't last much longer.  Yanek doesn't know if he'll be able to make it. 

by Joan Bauer Lexile:  590 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Sugar Mae Cole is always looking for the sweetness in her life which has been full of ups and downs. Lately, the downs seem to be winning.  She and her mother are forced out of their home and into a shelter.  It's not great, but as long as she has her 6th grade teacher, and her writing, life is bearable.  But then her mom gets the idea that they should move to Chicago and start their lives over.  Soon, Sugar finds herself alone in a new city with her mom who is no longer able to hold it together.  With the help of new friends, and one very special dog, Sugar hopes she can hang on until things get better.

by Warren St. John Lexile:  980 Genre:  Informational Outcasts United is the story of the Fugees soccer team in Clarkston, Georgia.  The Fugees and their families have come from all over the world and settled in a small community that is full of strange new customs, food, language, and people.  The one thing that some of them have in common is their love of soccer.  LumaMuflech, herself an immigrant to the United States, stumbles upon a group of boys playing soccer in a parking lot.  Little does she know, what a life changing event that chance meeting will become - for her and for all the children she will coach.