High School Reads!

by Kimberly Derting Lexile:  ??? Genre:  Science Fiction Kyra has lost 5 years of her life.  And now she has lost her dad and her boyfriend and doesn't know if she will ever see them again.  She teams up with other Returned to try to find them, but it looks as though the Daylighters may have gotten to them first.  The more that Kyra learns about herself and the others who are helping her survive, the more she realizes that her life will never again be the same.

by Kimberly Derting Lexile:  ??? Genre:  Science Fiction The last thing Kyra remembers is arguing with her father and suddenly it is five years later.  She returns to her home only to find out that everyone else has moved on with their lives thinking that she had disappeared forever.  Kyra hasn't aged or changed a bit in five years and the only person who can explain why has offered her a story that is too unbelievable to be true.

by Rita Williams-Garcia Lexile:  750 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Gayle loves the excitement of New York City, but she and her mom are not getting along at all. Gayle is a teenage mom trying to raise her son Jose the best way she knows how.  But when she gets pregnant again, her mom decides to send her south to Georgia to live with her uncle and his family. Gayle doesn't want to go and her uncle doesn't want her there.  Gayle meets her cousin Cookie and realizes that they are different as night and day.  Cookie introduces her to her Great Grandmother who begins to teach Gayle more about her family's story.  Perhaps life in Georgia really isn't so bad...

by Tommy Wallach Lexile:  840 Genre:  Contemporary Science Fiction An astroid is expected to strike the Earth in 2 months.  There is a 2/3 chance that everyone will die. How would you react if you possibly had 2 months left to live?  Would you react like Anita - rebel against the life your parents have planned for you to realize your own dream?  Or would you be like Peter and break up with the girlfriend you don't love in order to pursue the one you do?  The characters in this book have 2 months to examine and reflect on the lives they have led and make decisions about how they will use the time they have left.

by Gene Luen Yang Lexile:  530 Genre:  Fantasy/Graphic Novel Jin Wang is the only Chinese American in his school and he wants desperately to fit in.  He is picked on by the other students constantly and then he falls in love with an American girl.  While Jin Wang's story is playing out, the reader learns also about one of the oldest Chinese fables - the Monkey King. the two stories play out in parallel and then converge in a way that weaves the ancient fable into a modern day high school drama about peer pressure, popularity, relationships, and identity.

by Mary E. Pearson Lexile:  830 Genre:  Fantasy Lia runs away on her wedding day, which wouldn't be that big of a deal, unless you are a princess who has been promised to the prince of a neighboring kingdom and your marriage is supposed to signify a new alliance between those two worlds.  Lia hates the idea of an arranged marriage so she flees to the forest where she hopes to escape those that are sure to pursue her.  She and her servant, Pauline, make it to Pauline's hometown safely and Lia thinks that it will be easy to rebuild her life. Little does she know that her intended husband and her intended assassin are both following her trail.

by James Dashner Lexile: 770 Genre: Science Fiction Thomas has no memory of who he is when he wakes up in a strange new place where no one will answer his questions. But he has a nagging sense, that he has been there before and knows more about it than he can remember. The Gladers welcome Thomas into their strange world where a strict order is followed to make sure they all continue to survive. But the order is threatened as things start to change and people panic. Why has Thomas been sent to the Glade?

by Cassandra Clare Lexile:  710 Genre:  Fantasy Clary thinks she's an ordinary teenage until one night at the Pandemonium Club where she witnesses a murder.  This is the first time Clary learns about the Shadowhunters which begins a major change in her life.  Her mom disappears, and the Shadowhunters are trying to tell her that she is one of them.  Clary is beginning to question all that she has been told.  Is she a Shadowhunter or just an ordinary human?

by Cornelia Funke Lexile:  640 Genre:  Fantasy Prosper and Bo have trying to hide out in Venice to escape an evil aunt who wishes to adopt one of them and send the other into foster care.  They are befriended by the Thief Lord and his gang of street children who live in an abandoned movie theater and steal to make ends meet.  Then they meet the Conte who asks the Thief Lord to steal a magical wing that he has been searching for a long time.  Once the boys steal the wing, all of their lives will change and none of them will ever be the same again.

by Laurie Halse Anderson Lexile:  720 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Hayley Kincaid has spent the last five years on the road with her father.  He has decided that it is time for them to settle in one place so that she can be a regular kid and go to school for her senior year. But "normal" life isn't easy for either one of them.  Her father is trying to escape the nightmares from his time fighting in Afghanistan.  Hayley is just trying to fit in.  And neither of them are great at communicating with each other.  Will life ever be "normal" for Hayley and her dad?

by Sharon M. Draper Lexile:  700 Realistic Fiction At Douglass High School, being invited to join the Warriors of Distinction club is the highest honor. When Jericho and his cousin Josh receive their invitations to pledge as members of the group, they and their parents are thrilled.  But then initiation week begins and Jericho and his fellow pledges are being asked to do things that they are not comfortable with.  Jericho has pledged to remain silent about all initiation activities, but as the week progresses, and things become increasingly dangerous, Jericho will have to wrestle with what the right thing to do is.

by Matt De la Pena Lexile:  770 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Miguel had just been sentenced by a judge to spend a year living in a group home as a consequence for what he did.  He also has to write in a journal to explore his thoughts and feelings about his actions and his role in the event that happened.  While in the group home, Miguel meets Mong and Rondell who have thick background files from their troubled childhood.  Mong convinces Miguel and Rondell to escape the group home and travel to Mexico with him to start over.  Miguel decides this could be the answer to all of his problems.  If he could start over, he could forget all about what happened.

by Cassandra Clarke Lexile:  720 Genre:  Science Fiction Clary's life used to be normal.  But ever since she learned the true story about her parents, life has been anything but normal.  Now that she is hanging out with demon slaying Shadowhunters, vampires, and werewolves, her life is one battle after another.  Some things haven't changed though - and that involves Clary's feelings for her best friend Simon and her brother Jace.  The two seem to be in competition for her attention all the time.  Will Clary be able to figure out a new normal?

by Robert Galbraith Lexile:  940 Genre:  Mystery Cormoran Strike, private detective, is nearly broke.  He has too many bills to pay and not enough clients to keep his business going.  So when John Bristow enters his office and offers to pay him double to investigate the death of his sister, Cormoran really has no choice but to accept the offer. Bristow's sister was a famous supermodel and the police and the public are convinced it was a suicide.  As Cormoran begins to investigate, he realizes that this is no ordinary case.