High School Reads!

by Lynda Blackmon Lowery Lexile:  780 Genre:  Autobiography/Memoir Lynda Blackmon Lowery is just about to turn 15 and she has already been to jail 9 times.  She is involved in the struggle for equal rights in Selma, Montgomery.  She is scared by the people who are fighting back against her, but wants to find the courage within herself to stand up for what she believes in.  Lynda is selected to be the youngest person to march from Selma to Montgomery.  She must convince her father to let her go so that her voice can be heard.

by Rainbow Rowell Lexile:  570 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Cath and Wren are identical twins and they have shared everything.  Now it's time to move on to college. Cath wants to keep sharing, but Wren wants to move beyond Cath and explore who she is without her twin.  They decide to attend the same college, but live apart. This proves to be a challenge for both girls in very different ways.  Cath wants to hold onto her life as a fan fiction writer, but Wren, who used to write with her, wants to leave that in the past.  Both girls will have to decide which paths to take as they figure out who they are.

by Ellen Hopkins Lexile:  770 Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Novel in Verse Eden, Seth, Ginger, Whitney, and Cody are back in this sequel to Tricks .  They are all in rough shape having run away from home and discovered the harsh realities of living as teenagers on the streets of Las Vegas.  Drug use and prostitution are well on the way to shortening these young lives.  All of them are being given an opportunity to turn their lives around.  Will they be able to find the courage and strength to turn their back on their dangerous lifestyles and move beyond their pasts to healthier lifestyle choices?

by April Henry Lexile:  720 Genre:  Mystery Alexis, Nick and Ruby have only one thing in common - they are all teenage members of Portland's Search and Rescue team.  They think they have signed up to help out with missing people searches, like when a hiker gets lost in the woods.  They are unprepared for the fact that on their first mission, they find a dead body, and it's not for the hiker they were looking for in the first place.  Alexis, Nick, and Ruby find themselves in the spotlight of a murder investigation that they will need to quickly figure out before the killer locates the next victim.

by Robert Hough Lexile:  ??? Genre:  Realistic Fiction 17 year old Diego doesn't want to follow in his brother's footsteps.  He's not exactly sure how Ernesto is making his money, but he's pretty sure it involves drugs.  When Ernesto gets in a car accident and ruins his truck, Diego is forced to come to his rescue and cross the border to make a delivery to get the money that Ernesto used to get his new truck.  Diego reluctantly agrees to go in his brother's place because he has seen first hand what happens to families who don't follow the rules.

by Shannon Gibney Lexile:  780 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Alex Kittridge is an all star center fielder and her dad, also her baseball coach, has high hopes for her team to win the state championship.  Every aspect of her life focuses on baseball.  Sometimes she feels as though all she is to her dad is a set of numbers; her baseball statistics.  Alex is also adopted and is struggling with how she fits in with her family.  She is mixed and they are white. Her younger sister is pushing Alex to explore how that makes her feel.  Alex doesn't want to talk about it, until she meets Reggie and realizes that there is a whole lot that she doesn't know about herself.

by Sally Green Lexile:  680 Genre:  Fantasy Nathan is a half-code:  half White Witch, half Black Witch.  This means he is an embarrassment to his family and a puzzlement to the Council who is not sure what should be done with him.  As his seventeenth birthday approaches, they must decide who should give him his three gifts and they must decide on his classification.  His guardian, Celia, is training him for something, but it is unclear to him just what that something will be.  Nathan must discover for himself whether he is half-bad or half-good.

by Ashley Hope Perez Lexile:  660 Genre:  Historical Fiction The New London School explosion of 1937 is one of the worst school disasters in American history. The explosion takes place during a time in East Texas when certain lines between race and gender were never crossed.  Naomi and Wash know these lines exist, but the friendship that the two begin is not something that they have planned nor can they ignore.  Their relationship is doomed from the start, but their willingness to sacrifice everything that they have sends a powerful message about love. This is a story that you will not soon forget.

by Laura Langston Lexile:  490 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Sixteen year old Hannah is grieving the loss of her boyfriend, Logan, who was killed unexpectedly in a car accident.  Hannah and his best friend Tom are struggling with how to move on.  Hannah is on break from work one day when she is stung by a bee and suffers a near fatal allergic reaction.  While unconscious she feels Logan's presence and wakes up with the ability to heal people.  She feels very strongly that there is something Logan wants her to do.  Will people believe that she has received a message and a new power from Logan?

by Sara Zarr Lexile:  760 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Deanna was 13 when she got involved with her brother's friend Tommy and because of one mistake her life will never be the same.  Everyone in the small town of Pacifica thinks they no what happened and aren't afraid to talk about it.  Things have changed even within her own family.  And now Deanna's brother, girlfriend, and baby have moved into the basement.  Deanna longs for the time when she can earn enough money to get a place of her own away from Pacifica and begin her story again.

by Matt De La Pena Lexile:  770 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Kidd has had a rough life...no mom or dad and no real friends.  He has recently left a therapy program at a group home and is now trying to make a start at his new life work.  He has a job at a beach campsite doing maintenance, but Devon, an old sort of friend/enemy has appeared.  Kidd fears that Devon is going to destroy the progress he is making with his boss, Mr. Red and his new friend Olivia.  Kidd will have to resist Devon's influence if he wants a chance at a normal life.

by Gary Soto Lexile:  810 Genre:  Fantasy Chuy is minding his own business one evening when he makes an innocent comment to the person standing next to him in the bathroom.  The next thing he knows, he is lying dead on the floor and his ghost is observing the impact that his death has on his murderer and the family and friends he left behind.  Chuy soon learns that life as a ghost is far form ordinary as he floats about Fresno, CA watching preparations for his funeral unfold.  Along the way, he meets two other ghosts who are dealing with their untimely deaths in varying ways.  Will Chuy be able to find happiness in the afterlife?

by Ellen Hopkins Lexile:  590 Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Novel in Verse 5 teenagers from different parts of the U.S. are in crisis as they are growing up trying to find their place in the world.  What they all have in common is that they want to love and be loved.  They all struggle with making healthy lifestyle choices that will allow them to live out their dreams and reach their full potential.  Their stories seem disconnected until all 5 of their paths cross in the city of Las Vegas.  Will they be able to put their pasts behind them and move forward in new ways?

Dirty Little Secrets by C.J. Omololu Lexile: 890 Genre: Realistic Fiction Lucy appears to be a normal high school student. But she is hiding a terrible secret. Her mother is a hoarder and the home she lives in is full of filth and garbage. Lucy has just two years left before her high school graduation and then she plans to leave home and never look back. As she attempts to lead a normal life, she is forced to lie to her friends about what her home is really like. One morning something happens that she isn't going to be able to hide. Will she be able to share the truth of her situation with the world?

by April Henry Lexile:  680 Genre:  Mystery Nick Walker is an active member of his community's SAR (search and rescue) team.  He is learning all about the proper ways to gather evidence while investigating in an active crime scene.  Then a body is found in the woods near his home.  Almost overnight, Nick goes from a volunteer investigator to a murder suspect.  The police aren't buying his story about where he was that night, so it will be up to him and his SAR friends to prove that they have the wrong suspect.