Extras

by Scott Westerfeld
Lexile:  790
Genre:  Science Fiction

Aya Fuse wants to be famous.  In order for this to happen, she needs to find a big story and she needs to find it fast.  She connects with the Sly Girls, a clique who spends their time doing secret things that would get them into a lot of trouble if people found out about it.  Aya convinces the Sly Girls that she is one of them while secretly filming their activities.  Aya has no idea how her life will change when she gives this story to the world.

Specials

by Scott Westerfeld
Lexile:  880
Genre:  Science Fiction

First Tally was an Ugly.  Then she became a Pretty.  And now she is a Special - a super ramped up fighting machine who's main purpose is to help impose order.  That means keeping the Uglies down and the Pretties stupid.  Tally can't help but feel that something is wrong...there is a part of her that remembers how her life was before she was turned into a Special.  Will she listen for the truth or be pulled along with the rest of the Specials?

Pretties

by Scott Westerfeld
Lexile:  860
Genre:  Science Fiction

Tally Youngblood has finally become pretty and thinks that her life is going to be perfect.  The only thing she didn't expect was that when people in her community are changed from ugly to pretty, their minds are changed too.  Tally doesn't feel perfect and has a sense that something is wrong.  When a mysterious visitor crashes her first party as a pretty, she knows that something is going on.  Does she want to move forward in her life as a pretty or try to find out what secrets are being kept?

The Tragedy Paper

by Elizabeth Laban
Lexile:  ???
Genre:  Realistic Fiction

Tim MacBeth is a seventeen year old albino on his way to a new school.  His stepfather has arranged his acceptance into a prestigious new boarding school and Tim's plan is to blend quietly into the background as he has in the past.  This all changes when he meets Vanessa, a beautiful senior, on her way to the same school.  Vanessa and Tim become friends and carry out a secret relationship that is basically invisible to those around them.  But looming over all the seniors is their final project:  The Tragedy Paper, the school's version of a senior year thesis.  Neither Tim nor Vanessa, realize how tragically their senior year will end.

Eighth Grade is Making Me Sick

by Jennifer L. Holm
Lexile:  ???
Genre:  Realistic Fiction (scrapbook novel)

Ginny has big plans for her 8th grade year.  She'd like to make the cheer squad, fall in love, etc.  What she doesn't count on his pretty much everything that happens - her mom quits her job, her step-dad loses his, then their is the announcement that a new baby is on the way.  Could things get worse?  Yes! Now the family is moving from Pennsylvania to California where Ginny is going to have to start over. All she will have is her family and she's not sure that will be enough!

Endangered

by Eliot Schrefer
Lexile:  900
Genre:  Realistic Fiction

Sophie's spending the summer with her mother in the middle of the Congo at the sanctuary where her mother rehabilitates bonobos.  Against her mother's wishes, Sophie rescues Otto, and thus begins a journey that will change her life in ways she  never expected.  When war comes to the Congo, Sophie finds herself alone.  She is determined to save Otto and herself as they make a dangerous journey to find safety.

I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011

by Lauren Tarshis
Lexile:  ???
Genre:  Realistic Fiction

Ben and Harry are visiting relatives in Japan, hoping that the trip there will help them overcome the loss of their father.  Instead of a restful vacation, they end up fighting for their lives.  A strong earthquake strikes the coastal village where they are staying.  This earthquake triggers a tsunami that is bearing down on the village. Will Ben and Harry be able to survive?