Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze

By Alan Silberberg
Lexile:  1180
Genre:  Realistic Fiction

Milo misses his mother.  Since her death, he has felt lost and is struggling with navigating his way through life without her.  His dad keeps moving them from house to house which means Milo has to keep getting used new schools and new neighborhoods.  Now he's starting the 7th grade and he's pretty sure that he's not going to like his new school.  But then he makes two friends, his math teacher helps him make sense of math, his neighbor teaches him the importance of remembering, and suddenly, Milo is doing more than surviving...he's actually thriving!

Drama

by Raina Telgemeier
Lexile:  ???
Genre:  Realistic Fiction (Graphic Novel)

Callie loves the theater, but her prospects of becoming a leading lady are slim to none so she gets involved with the drama department's stage crew, and has the time of her life!  As with any middle school theater production, there is lots to learn and plenty of DRAMA.  But Callie works her way through it all in hopes that the show will be a success.

Almost Home

by Nora Raleigh Baskin
Genre:  Realistic Fiction
Lexile:  580

Leah has moved around a lot since her parents got divorced, but her one constant has been her younger sister Anne.  The girls have made up lots of make believe games to help them cope with the chaotic life their mother has created for them.  But when summer camp ends, Leah gets a surprise when it's her father, not her mother, who shows up to take her home.  She learns that her mother and sister moved to California and they aren't coming back for her.  Life with her father and his new wife is difficult.  Leah struggles to figure out what her place is in her new home.

Twisted

by Laurie Halse Anderson
Genre:  Realistic Fiction
Lexile:  680

Nobody used to know Tyler Miller.  He was the kind of kid that no one really noticed.  Until Tyler got busted for defacing the school with graffiti, that is.  Suddenly everyone knows who Tyler is, including the most beautiful girl in the whole school.  Bethany is the girl of Tyler's dreams, who also happens to be the daughter of his father's boss and who also happens to have a twin brother, who has bullied Tyler for many years.  Tyler's life is filled with ups and downs as he tries to navigate his senior year.  Will it end on a high or a low?

Small as an Elephant

by Jennifer Richard Jacobson
Lexile:  790
Genre:  Realistic Fiction

Eleven year old Jack Martel is excited to be on an end of the summer camping trip in Maine with his mother.  They have all kinds of things planned until Jack wakes up one morning and discovers that his mom is gone.  Jack doesn't panic because this isn't the first time his mom as disappeared.  Jack has had to take care of his mom off and on over the years and knows that if he wants to be able to continue to live with her, he needs to find her, before she gets in trouble for leaving him behind.  But looking for his mom in Maine, isn't the same as looking for her in their Boston neighborhood.  Jack has no money, only determination.  Will he find his mom before someone figures out he's all alone?

33 Minutes

by Todd Hasak-Lowy
Lexile:  970
Genre:  Realistic Fiction

Sam Lewis has 33 minutes before he gets his butt kicked by his ex-best friend Morgan Sturtz.  Sam isn't quite sure how things got to this point in less than a year.  Morgan and Sam used to hang out all the time, until the new kid, Chris, moved in down the street.  Now all Morgan cares about is football and making mistakes in school.  Sam is probably one of the smartest kids in the school, but when it comes to this friendship, he just can't figure out what went wrong.

The Rise of Nine

by Pittacus Lore
Lexile:  750
Genre:  Science Fiction

This is the third book in the I am Number Four series.  First there was Four, who found number Six, who went searching for Seven and found a bonus - number Ten.  Now Four has found Nine.  Will they all be able to gather in one place, refine and strengthen their Legacy powers and defeat the Mogadorians once and for all?  If they want to save the Lorien race, they have no other option left.