Please choose one book from the list and be prepared to demonstrate your knowledge before we come back to school!

Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan Lexile Level: 750 Historical Fiction/Great Depression Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave their life of wealth and privilege in Mexico to go work in the labor camps of Southern California, where they must adapt to the harsh circumstances facing Mexican farm workers on the eve of the Great Depression. Esperanza Rising Trailer

The Killing Sea by Richard Lewis Lexile Level: 760 Action/Adventure/Survival In the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami in Sumatra, two teenagers, American Sarah and Acehnese Ruslan, meet and continue together their arduous climb inland, where Ruslan hopes to find his father and Sarah seeks a doctor for her brother. Killing Sea Trailer

The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer Lexile Level: 680 Science Fiction/Death/Plag ue/End of the World After a meteor hits the moon and sets off a series of horrific climate changes, seventeen- year-old Alex Morales must take care of his sisters alone in the chaos of New York City. Dead and the Gone Trailer

Divergent by Veronica Roth Lexile Level: Science Fiction/Dystopian Society In a future Chicago, sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all. Divergent Book Trailer

Hidden Talents by David Lubar Lexile Level: 630 Science Fiction/Psychic Powers Thirteen year old Martin, a new student at an alternative school for misfits and problem students, falls in with a group of boys with psychic powers and discovers something surprising about himself. Hidden Talents Trailer Hidden Talents Trailer

Night of the Howling Dogs by Night of the Howling Dogs by Graham Salisbury Lexile Level: 530 Action/Adventure Eleven Boy Scouts, their leaders, and some new friends camping at Halape, Hawaii, in 1975, find their survival skills put to the test when a massive earthquake strikes, followed by a tsunami. Night of the Howling Dogs Trailer Night of the Howling Dogs Trailer

Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez Lexile Level: 890 Realistic Fiction After his family hires migrant Mexican workers to help save their Vermont farm from foreclosure, eleven-year-old Tyler befriends the oldest daughter, but when he discovers they may not be in the country legally, he realizes that real friendship knows no borders. Return to Sender Trailer Return to Sender Trailer