Middle School Reads!

by Rebecca Stead Lexile:  560 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Bridge nearly died in an accident and when she left the hospital, the nurse told her "there must be a reason that you're still alive."  So Bridge is on a quest to find that reason.  Her two best friends are Emily and Tab and they have promised each other to be set of three no matter what.  But then 7th grade happens and things start to change.  They look different, they feel different, and well, they are starting to get interested in different things.  Can their friendship stay the same amidst all the changes?

by Neal Shusterman Lexile:  830 Genre:  Dystopian The Thunderhead has created a world where there is no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery...until you are selected to be gleaned by a scythe.  Gleaning is the way that population growth is controlled by scythes who are allowed to glean after a rigorous training process as an apprentice.  Citra and Rowan have never met until they are both selected by Scythe Faraday to be his apprentices.  Neither of them wants this role, and that is just the way Scythe Faraday wants it.  As they training intensifies, they learn that they will be pitted against each other in an unfair challenge that will end in disaster for one of them.