High School Reads!

by Sharon Draper Lexile:  820 Genre:  Historical Fiction Amari's quiet life in Africa has ended.  Her parents and brother have been murdered and she is on a slave ship headed to the Carolinas.  Hope is the only thing that she has left and she doesn't know how long that will be able to sustain her.  Life on the ship is terrible and life at her new home on a rice plantation isn't any better.  Amari meets Polly, and indentured servant, Teenie, the kitchen slave, who help her learn English and learn how to survive.  Then a tragedy occurs that forces Polly and Amari to make a decision that will change the course of their lives.  Will hope for a better life become their reality?

by E. Lockhart Lexile:  600 Genre:  Realistic Fiction The Sinclairs are a powerful family.  They all come together every summer on a private island off the coast of Massachusetts.  Johnny, Mirren, Cady, and Gat are a close knit group who spend each summer roaming about the island while the adults fight and argue about who is to get what as they watch their parents age.  The summer of 15 is the one that changes their lives forever...will life ever be the same again?

by Jennifer Donnelly Lexile:  700 Genre:  Historical Fiction Mattie wants to be a writer.  In order to realize that dream, she is going to need to move away from the small town of Eagle Bay which means leaving her family and friends.  The problem is that she made a promise to her mother before she died that she would stay and help her father raise her younger siblings.  Mattie could marry Royal and farm with him next door to her father, but that just isn't her dream.  Mattie convinces her father to let her work at the Glenmore Hotel for the summer.  While she is working there, she meets Grace Brown.  Even though it is a brief encounter, meeting Grace, gives Mattie the courage to take charge of her life and set out on a path that will help make her dreams come true.

by Matt de la Pena Lexile:  710 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Sticky has been bounced in and out of foster homes for year.  The only thing constant in his life is his love for basketball.  He plays some serious pick up games at a street gym where the only thing you have to be is tough.  He hopes that he has what it takes to get to the NBA.  Colleges are starting to express interest, he's got a beautiful new girlfriend, but the easy money and pull of the streets is a constant battle that he must fight.  Will basketball be is ticket to the life he has always dreamed about?

by Erin Johnson Lexile:  690 Genre:  Western Grace has just watched her entire family be killed by the wild Guiltless Gang that is terrorizing the settlers around the city of Tombstone.  They think they are above the law because they have paid off the sheriff and have been aloud to roam the countryside taking whatever they want.  Grace is out for revenge, but she is going to need some help if she is to be the sole survivor of her family.  She meets Joe, who was adopted by the Ndeh, and he teaches her their ways of hunting so that she can survive. Joe urges her to let her thirst for revenge go as he thinks it will help her heal faster.  But Grace believes that the Guiltless Gang must be brought to justice and she is the one who must see it through.

by Andrew Smith Lexile:  830 Genre:  Western Troy Stotts has had a rough life and he is only 17.  His 10 year old brother died when he was 4 and now his mother is gone too.  Troy and his dad have to figure out what their life will look like now that it is just the two of them. But the reader does not know which 3.  Troy, his friends, his enemies, and his girlfriend set out on many adventures in and around the ranch on which they live and work. Troy doesn't want to think about the past or the future.  He just wants to have a good time in the present.  From the very beginning of the book, the reader knows that more sadness is going to come to Troy's life, as the reader learns in the opening paragraph that 3 boys will die during the summer that the story takes place.  But the reader does not know which 3.

by Matt de la Pena Lexile:  ??? Genre:  Realistic Fiction Danny is an amazing pitcher.  He can throw a fast ball faster than anyone around.  The problem is his accuracy.  He never knows where his pitches are going to end up.  His mom took him to a doctor and physically he is fine.  The issue seems to be in his head and he can't figure out how to fix it.  Until he spends the summer with his dad's family and learns the truth about why his parents are divorced. During the summer he has to confront some hard truths about his dad and with the help of an unlikely friend, will be able to get his baseball career, and his life, back on track.