Middle School Reads!

by D.J. MacHale Lexile:  690 Genre:  Science Fiction It is up to Tucker, Kent, Tori, and Olivia to save the world - the past, present, and future worlds. Tucker, Kent, and Tori have been captured by the Retro Air Force Group and are being held as prisoners in their desert base.  Unbeknownst to them, Olivia is there are well - hiding undercover as a Sounder, a group that opposed the Air Force.  Tensions are building and decisions have to be made if anyone is to survive.

by Sara Zarr Lexile:  710 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Jill is trying to figure out how to survive life without her father.  So far, it doesn't seem to be possible. Her mom is handling it by deciding to adopt a baby, something she and Jill's dad had talked about but never gotten around to following though on it.  Jill's mom reaches out to Mandy, a 19 year old young woman, who thinks she wants to give up her baby for adoption. Mandy moves in with Jill and her mom to get ready for the arrival of the baby.  Will they be able to figure out how to be a family together?

by D.J. MacHale Lexile:  650 Genre:  Mystery/Science Fiction Tucker, Tori, Kent, and Olivia have survived their escape from the quarantined Pemberwick Island. They are on their way to explain to the world what happened.  Only...when they arrive in Portland, there is no more Portland.  Buildings are missing, people and animals are gone...it looks like a war zone.  They come across the wreckage of a plane bearing the US Air Force Logo.  Is the United States at war?  With itself?

by D.J. MacHale Lexile:  680 Genre:  Mystery/Science Fiction Tucker and Quinn are wrapping up a pretty normal summer on Pemberwick Island until people start mysteriously dying and the Navy quarantines their island.  No information is going in or out and no one is allowed to leave.  Tucker and Quinn aren't satisfied with the information they are getting from the government or their parents so they begin to investigate things on their own.  What they find out could cost them their lives...

by Madeline L'Engle, adapted and illustrated by Hope Larson Lexile:  ??? Genre:  Science Fiction (Graphic Novel) Meg and Charles Wallace want to find their father.  He disappeared while doing some top secret government work and no one has seen him since.  One night, some strange visitors appear and say that they can help the children in their quest.  They introduce the idea of time travel through something called a tesseract.  If they are able to figure out how to  time travel, they might be able to save their father from the dark force that is holding him captive.

by Nick Bertozzi Lexile:  ??? Genre:  Biography (Graphic Novel) Ernest Shackleton had a dream:  to lead a successful expedition to the South Pole.  In the early 1900s this was considered to be an almost impossible task, but he was a determined dreamer and did whatever it took to scrape together the financing and support to get a crew to the South Pole.  His final expedition was filled with set back after set back, but miraculously he returned with his entire crew.

by Todd Strasser Lexile:  730 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Dan has the perfect life - family, girlfriend, baseball star...but that all changes the day his family loses their home and has to move to a tent city for homeless people.  How does he explain his situation to his girlfriend who has all the money she needs?  And how does he deal with his father who is so depressed that he makes a decision that will ultimately change their family forever?  Dan wishes his life could just go back to normal.

by Maile Meloy Lexile:  740 Genre:  Historical Fiction/Fantasy Fourteen year old Janie Scott's life has just changed drastically.  She has moved from Los Angeles to London where everything is different.  Things seem old and gray and London is still recovering from the devastation of WWII bombings.  But then Janie meets Benjamin, the son of the mysterious apothecary who's shop is down the street.  As Janie and Benjamin become friends, a serious of amazing and unbelievable events begin.  When Benjamin's father is kidnapped, Janie realizes that she has been drawn into something she was not expecting.

by Christopher Paul Curtis Lexile:  750 Genre:  Historical Fiction Deza is the smartest girl in school and her older brother Jimmie is the best singer in all of Gary, Indiana.  Their parents are struggling to earn enough money to keep their home and food on the table. A boating accident causes their father to leave home and Deza, Jimmie, and their mother have no choice but to follow him.  They end up living in a homeless camp in Flint, MI.  Life is rough until Jimmie starts earning money singing and their mom is able to find work cleaning at the hotel.  But there is no word from their father.  Will their family ever be able to live all together again?