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?