July 2013

Esperanza Rising

Posted on July 1, 2013 by webmaster

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Esperanza Rising
by Pam Munoz Ryan

Esperanza thought she’d always live with her family on their ranch in Mexico–she’d always have fancy dresses, a beautiful home, & servants. But a sudden tragedy forces Esperanza and Mama to flee to California during the Great Depression, and to settle in a camp for Mexican farm workers. Esperanza isn’t ready for the hard labor, financial struggles, or lack of acceptance she now faces.
When their new life is threatened, Esperanza must find a way to rise above her difficult circumstances–Mama’s life and her own depend on it.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
750L	Middle School	262	Realistic Fiction	2001	0439120411

Moonlight Becomes You

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Moonlight Becomes You
by Mary Higgins Clark

High-profile fashion photographer Maggie Holloway is reunited with her fondly remembered estranged stepmother, Nuala Moore, after a reunion party in Manhattan. Nuala, a lonely widow, invites Maggie to visit her in Newport, Rhode Island, an offer she happily accepts. Nuala plans a dinner for a group of friends in order for them to meet her stepdaughter. But tragedy strikes – when Maggie arrives at Nuala’s home, she finds her dead, a victim of an apparent break-in and robbery. Maggie, heartbroken at the loss, is even more shocked when she discovers that days before her death, Nuala changed her will leaving Maggie to inherit her Newport Victorian home.

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Several wealthy people have an eye on the property, propositioning Maggie with generous offers for the estate. When she decides not to sell the home, she becomes the unwanted center of attention within the upper-class circles. Later, on a visit to Nuala’s grave at the cemetery with Mrs. Shipley, she notices that many of Mrs. Shipley’s friends have recently died as well. Suspecting that there might be more to these “random deaths” than meets the eye, Maggie becomes interested in uncovering the mystery behind Nuala and the others’ deaths and why the graves have little bells on them.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
910L	High School	332	Mystery	1996	068410387

City of Ember

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City of Ember
by Jeanne DuPrau

Ember… It is a city without knowledge of anything beyond its walls; no one knows what’s out there and everyone is afraid to find out. With the electricity generated by the ancient generator ready to fail at any moment, Ember’s light is about to be snuffed out; the street lamps are the only remaining light source they have. The supplies stocked centuries earlier by the “Builders” are running scarce. The domed city meant to protect the last remaining humans on Earth is now on its last living thread. Lina and Doon have lived in this world their entire lives. They know that there is something better out there for them; they just are not sure what it is yet.

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Centuries ago, a document entrusted to the first major of Ember was thought to be lost until Lina finds a mangled paper (believed to be from the “Builders”) with instructions on how to escape the city of eternal darkness. Lina and Doon believe that this ancient paper with the “Instructions for Egress” will lead them to another world that they have only seen in their dreams. These practically indecipherable instructions send them on a dangerous mission into the dark unknown to find what they believe must exist: an exit door to salvation.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
680L	Middle School	270	Fantasy	2003	0375822739

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
by Maya Angelou

After Maya Johnson, age five, is raped while visiting her mother in St. Louis, she and her older brother Bailey are returned to the loving care of Momma Henderson (the children’s grandmother) in Stamps, Arkansas. Because of her traumatic experience, Maya stops speaking – even five years after the incident. She becomes instead a keen observer of her surroundings, particularly with the racial politics and divisions in her town.

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Mrs. Bertha Flowers, an “aristocrat of Black Stamps,” helps Maya get back on her feet. She tells Maya: “Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with the shades of deeper meaning.”

It is with these lines that Maya Johnson’s voice becomes alive. A historical autobiography that depicts one woman’s survival through adolescence, breaking down racial barriers, and becoming a mother; all the while showing the trials, motivations and triumphs that come along with being outcast from society.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
1070L	High School	246	Autobiographical	1969	0553279378

Mutiny on the Bounty

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Mutiny on the Bounty
by Charles Nordhoff

The story of the mutiny is told from the eyes of sailor Rodger Byam. He tells his story even as he is being dragged back to England to be put on trial for a crime he had no part in. Through Rodger we learn of Captain Bligh whose mission was to attempt to gather produce and trees for transplant. We learn of Bligh’s inability to lead his men and his violent tendencies. The crew spends six months in Tahiti, but once they are back on the boat Bligh’s mistreatment of them begins again. After the floggings and the cut in rations Bligh’s own first officer Fletcher Christian leads a mutiny against him. With their old captain adrift on a raft with his supporters, Christian leads the crew Back to Tahiti. But what happens when Captain Bligh shows back up?

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
1080L	High School	379	Drama	1960	016611689

Crime and Punishment

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Crime and Punishment
by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, a former student, lives in a tiny garret on the top floor of a run-down apartment building in St. Petersburg. He is sickly, dressed in rags, short on money, and talks to himself, but he is also handsome, proud, and intelligent. He is planning on committing a murder with a singular purpose – to reaffirm his belief that he is a kind of “Superman”, above mere mortals.

After he goes through with his plans, Raskolnikov feels the guilt gnawing at his psyche. Will he confess to the authorities, or will he be able to keep calm under fire?

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
850L	High School	516	Drama	1981	05532211757

Fahrenheit 451

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Fahrenheit 451

by Ray Bradbury

Guy Montag is a fireman who lives in a time when people enjoy mindless entertainment and state authority controls the spread of knowledge. However, his job is not to put out flames but to extinguish rebellion by burning books. The government has the firemen punish suspected book carriers for fear that ideas would get out that contradict what authority tells the people to think.
After a chance meeting with young Clarisse, a starry-eyed girl who prefers reading and meaningful experiences to the cheap and violent car crash sideshows her peers enjoy, Montag begins to think that the world he grew up with is misguided. Will he stand against the governmental authority and all that he has ever known?

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Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
890L	High School	208	Science Fiction	1953	0345342968

Pearl

Posted on July 1, 2013 by webmaster

The Pearl
by John Steinbeck

Kino is a poor Mexican fisher and diver who one day discovers a large and beautiful pearl. He thinks that it may be valuable and shares the news with his wife, Juana. Kino dreams that the pearl will bring him and his family a better life. However, his good fortune has some unplanned consequences. Will he and his family eventually find happiness, or will the pearl bring them only misfortune?

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The Pearl is a deceptively small book that teaches a very important lesson – that you should be careful what you wish for. Despite Kino’s hope that a priceless jewel can help him achieve the American Dream, he is faced with an attempt on his life, the burning of his home, and violent conflicts with his wife. It is a novella that reveals the capacity for yearning and jealousy within us all.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
1010L	High School	90	Drama	1973	04017737x

Monster

Posted on July 1, 2013 by webmaster

Monster
by Walter Dean Myers

“Monster!”

That is what the lady prosecutor called Steve Harmon, a sixteen-year-old black teenager. Steve’s story begins when he is charged as an accomplice to murder. While in prison, Steve passes the time by writing his story like a screenplay. In it he tells of his fears, his past, and the events of his own murder trial. Is Steve a monster or was he merely in the wrong place at the wrong time? Will Steve be freed, or will his worst fear of spending the rest of his life in prison come to pass? As his lawyer Miss O’Brien tells him, “You’re young, you’re black, and you’re on trial. What else do they need to know?”

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
670L	Middle School	281	Drama	1999	0060280778

Losing Forever

Posted on July 1, 2013 by webmaster

Losing Forever

by Gayle Friesen

Ninth-grader Jes Miner-Cooper knows that she isn’t responsible for her parents’ divorce; their marriage started to fail after her little sister, Alberta, died. What bothers her is the perception that her folks are hiding something from her. Her father spends most of his time fishing and reading Russian novels; her mother is absorbed in plans to remarry. Jes’ friends aren’t any help: one is involved in a new romance; another, Sam, wants to be more than just a friend.
Then along comes beautiful Pamela, the daughter of Jes’ mother’s intended. In short order, Pamela takes over Jes’ room, Jes’ best girlfriend, and Jes’ wannabe boyfriend. When Jes is accused of shoplifting, she’s sure her old world is gone forever.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
550L	Middle School	247	Drama	2002	01553370317