Things that Surprise You

by Jennifer Maschari
Genre:  Realistic Fiction

Emily is having a hard time adjusting to middle school life.  Her best friend, Hazel, is suddenly obsessed with boys and lip gloss and is starting to hang out with new friends that she has met on the field hockey team.  Normally, Emily would turn to her family for help, but her parents are recently divorced and her sister is at a residential facility struggling with an eating disorder.  Emily just wants her family back in one piece and her relationship with Hazel to stay the same.  It seemed like life was perfect before...why can't it be that way again?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hush

Image
by Jacqueline Woodson Lexile:  640 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Toswiah Green doesn’t know who she is anymore.  Is she Evie Thomas?  Or is she a combination of the two?  When Toswiah’s father, a police officer, witnesses a murder and decides to testify about the truth of what he saw, she and her family must assume new identities and move on to an uncertain future.  Now she is Evie and has to live in a strange new city, make new friends, and watch her father fight the loss of a career that he loved second only to his family.  Toswiah misses her old life and can only hope that her family can figure out who they are in their new life.
Read more

Where I Belong

Image
 by Marcia Argueta Mickelson Genre: Realistic Fiction Millie Vargas knows that after she graduates from high school, her life is going to change.  She has a full ride scholarship to Stanford University, but hasn't worked up the courage to tell her mother yet because her mom depends on her to help the family stay together.  Her mom works long hours as a housekeeper for the wealthy Wheeler family who is in the midst of a senate race.  When Mr. Wheeler turns his campaign focus on immigration, he unknowingly places Millie's family in a tough situation.  Millie's family came across the border illegally and worked hard to earn their citizenship.  Millie wants to stay out of the conversation, but her mom and others, feel that she should get involved and do whatever she can to support others who have not been as fortunate as her family.  
Read more

Brown Girl Dreaming

Image
by Jacqueline Woodson Lexile:  990 Genre:  Memoir/Novel in Verse Jacqueline Woodson shares her story of growing up in the '60s and '70s in both the North and the South.  The story of her childhood emerges through a collection of poems that details the struggles her family faced.  Jacqueline knew from an early age that she wanted to be a writer, but school was difficult for her and not everyone believed she could achieve.  But with the strong support of her family, she can to believe that anything is possible.
Read more