SYLO (SYLO Chronicles #1)

by D.J. MacHale
Lexile:  680
Genre:  Mystery/Science Fiction

Tucker and Quinn are wrapping up a pretty normal summer on Pemberwick Island until people start mysteriously dying and the Navy quarantines their island.  No information is going in or out and no one is allowed to leave.  Tucker and Quinn aren't satisfied with the information they are getting from the government or their parents so they begin to investigate things on their own.  What they find out could cost them their lives...

A Wrinkle in Time

by Madeline L'Engle, adapted and illustrated by Hope Larson
Lexile:  ???
Genre:  Science Fiction (Graphic Novel)

Meg and Charles Wallace want to find their father.  He disappeared while doing some top secret government work and no one has seen him since.  One night, some strange visitors appear and say that they can help the children in their quest.  They introduce the idea of time travel through something called a tesseract.  If they are able to figure out how to  time travel, they might be able to save their father from the dark force that is holding him captive.

Shackleton's Antarctic Odyssey

by Nick Bertozzi
Lexile:  ???
Genre:  Biography (Graphic Novel)

Ernest Shackleton had a dream:  to lead a successful expedition to the South Pole.  In the early 1900s this was considered to be an almost impossible task, but he was a determined dreamer and did whatever it took to scrape together the financing and support to get a crew to the South Pole.  His final expedition was filled with set back after set back, but miraculously he returned with his entire crew.

No Place

by Todd Strasser
Lexile:  730
Genre:  Realistic Fiction

Dan has the perfect life - family, girlfriend, baseball star...but that all changes the day his family loses their home and has to move to a tent city for homeless people.  How does he explain his situation to his girlfriend who has all the money she needs?  And how does he deal with his father who is so depressed that he makes a decision that will ultimately change their family forever?  Dan wishes his life could just go back to normal.

The Apothecary

by Maile Meloy
Lexile:  740
Genre:  Historical Fiction/Fantasy

Fourteen year old Janie Scott's life has just changed drastically.  She has moved from Los Angeles to London where everything is different.  Things seem old and gray and London is still recovering from the devastation of WWII bombings.  But then Janie meets Benjamin, the son of the mysterious apothecary who's shop is down the street.  As Janie and Benjamin become friends, a serious of amazing and unbelievable events begin.  When Benjamin's father is kidnapped, Janie realizes that she has been drawn into something she was not expecting.

The Mighty Miss Malone

by Christopher Paul Curtis
Lexile:  750
Genre:  Historical Fiction

Deza is the smartest girl in school and her older brother Jimmie is the best singer in all of Gary, Indiana.  Their parents are struggling to earn enough money to keep their home and food on the table. A boating accident causes their father to leave home and Deza, Jimmie, and their mother have no choice but to follow him.  They end up living in a homeless camp in Flint, MI.  Life is rough until Jimmie starts earning money singing and their mom is able to find work cleaning at the hotel.  But there is no word from their father.  Will their family ever be able to live all together again?

Keeping Safe the Stars

by Sheila O'Connor
Lexile:  650
Genre:  Historical Fiction

Pride, Nightingale, and Baby Star have learned to rely on each other.  First their father died, then their mother, and now the grandfather who so kindly took them in, is very ill in the hospital.  Pride knows that it is up to her to keep the family together.  If anyone finds out that there are 3 children living in a cabin alone, she knows that the county is going to step in and split up their close knit group.  It's up to Pride and her siblings to stay one step ahead of all the grownups who want to get involved in their business.