The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Lexile level: 810

Fiction

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol

surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line

by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to

participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss

Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when

she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before - and

survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is

to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against

love.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Lexile level: 700

Fiction

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to

the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the

brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all

sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice,

the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So

she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles

alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo

extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating

consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and

where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the

life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's

been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to

unravel her seemingly perfect society, Tris also learns that her secret might help her save the ones

she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Middle School, the Worst Years of My Life by James

Patterson

Lexile Level: 700

Fiction

Rafe Khatchadorian has enough problems at home without throwing his first year of middle school

into the mix. Luckily, he's got an ace plan for the best year ever, if only he can pull it off: With his

best friend Leonardo the Silent awarding him points, Rafe tries to break every rule in his school's

oppressive Code of Conduct. Chewing gum in class-5,000 points! Running in the hallway-10,000

points! Pulling the fire alarm-50,000 points! But when Rafe's game starts to catch up with him, he'll

have to decide if winning is all that matters, or if he's finally ready to face the rules, bullies, and truths

he's been avoiding.

Blockbuster author James Patterson delivers a genuinely hilarious-and surprisingly poignant-story of

a wildly imaginative, one-of-kind kid that you won't soon forget.

Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman

Lexile Level: 740

Fiction

Strange things are happening in Skeleton Creek . . . and Ryan and Sarah are trying to get to the

heart of it. But after an eerie accident leaves Ryan housebound and forbidden to see Sarah, their

investigation takes two tracks: Ryan records everything in his journal, while Sarah uses her

videocam to search things out. . .and then email the clips for Ryan to see.

In a new, groundbreaking format, the story is broken into two parts -- Ryan's text in the book, and

Sarah's videos on a special website, with links and passwords given throughout the book.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Hard Luck by Jeff Kinney

Lexile Level: 1020

Fiction

Greg Heffley and his family and friends are back in Diary of a Wimpy KidBook 8, the latest

installment in the #1 bestselling series by Jeff Kinney.

Greg Heffley's on a losing streak. His best friend, Rowley Jefferson, has ditched him, and finding

new friends in middle school is proving to be a tough task. To change his fortunes, Greg decides to

take a leap of faith and turn his decisions over to chance. Will a roll of the dice turn things around, or

is Greg's life destined to be just another hard-luck story

Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz

Lexile Level: 760

Fiction

Survive. At any cost. 10 concentration camps. 10 different places where you are starved, tortured,

and worked mercilessly. It's something no one could imagine surviving. But it is what Yanek Gruener

has to face. As a Jewish boy in 1930s Poland, Yanek is at the mercy of the Nazis who have taken

over. Everything he has, and everyone he loves, have been snatched brutally from him. And then

Yanek himself is taken prisoner -- his arm tattooed with the words PRISONER B-3087. He is forced

from one nightmarish concentration camp to another, as World War II rages all around him. He

encounters evil he could have never imagined, but also sees surprising glimpses of hope amid the

horror. He just barely escapes death, only to confront it again seconds later.

Can Yanek make it through the terror without losing his hope, his will -- and, most of all, his sense of

who he really is inside?

Better off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg

Lexile Level: 590

Fiction

2015 SC Junior Book Award Nominee

For Macallan and Levi, it was friends at first sight. Everyone says guys and girls can’t be just friends,

but these two are. They hang out after school, share tons of inside jokes, their families are super

close, and Levi even starts dating one of Macallan’s friends. They are platonic and happy that way.

Eventually they realize they’re best friends — which wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t keep getting in

each other’s way. Guys won’t ask Macallan out because they think she’s with Levi, and Levi spends

too much time joking around with Macallan, and maybe not enough time with his date. They can’t

help but wonder . . . are they more than friends or are they better off without making it even more

complicated?

Hidden like Anne Frank: 14 True Stories of Survival by

Marchel Prins & Peter Henk Steenhuis

Lexile Level:790

Nonfiction

Fourteen unforgettable true stories of children hidden away during World War II.

Jaap Sitters was only eight years old when his mother cut the yellow stars off his clothes and sent

him, alone, on a fifteen-mile walk to hide with relatives. It was a terrifying night, one he would never

forget. Before the end of the war, Jaap would hide in secret rooms and behind walls. He would suffer

from hunger, sickness, and the looming threat of Nazi raids. But he would live.

This is just one of the incredible stories told in HIDDEN LIKE ANNE FRANK, a collection of eye-

opening first-person accounts that share what it was like to go into hiding during World War II. Some

children were only three or four years old when they were hidden; some were teenagers. Some hid

with neighbors or family, while many were with complete strangers. But all know the pain of losing

their homes, their families, even their own names. They describe the secret network of brave people

who kept them safe. And they share the coincidences and close escapes that made all the

difference.

The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis

Lexile Level: 980

Nonfiction

One day Michael Oher will be among the most highly paid athletes in the National Football League.

When we first meet him, he is one of thirteen children by a mother addicted to crack; he does not

know his real name, his father, his birthday, or how to read or write. He takes up football, and school,

after a rich, white, evangelical family plucks him from the streets. Then two great forces alter Oher:

the family's love and the evolution of professional football itself into a game in which the quarterback

must be protected at any cost. Our protagonist becomes the priceless package of size, speed, and

agility necessary to guard the quarterback's greatest vulnerability: his blind side. This paperback

edition contains a brand-new 2007 afterword.

Slated by Teri Terry

Lexile Level: 530

Fiction

The government claims she was a terrorist and that they are giving her a second chance - as long as

she plays by their rules. But echoes of the past whisper in Kyla’s mind. Someone is lying to her, and

nothing is as it seems. Who can she trust in her search for the truth?

Sisters by Raina Telgemeier

Lexile Level: 290

Graphic Novel

Raina can't wait to be a big sister. But once Amara is born, things aren't quite how she expected

them to be. Amara is cute, but she's also a cranky, grouchy baby, and mostly prefers to play by

herself. Their relationship doesn't improve much over the years. But when a baby brother enters the

picture, and later, when something doesn't seem right between their parents, they realize they must

figure out how to get along. They are sisters, after all.

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

Lexile Level: 660

Fiction

Jason has a problem. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field

trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper and a best friend named Leo. They’re all students at

a boarding school for “bad kids.” What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly?

Piper has a secret. Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying

nightmare. Piper doesn’t understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn’t recognize

her. When a freak storm hits, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away

to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she’s going to find out.

Leo has a way with tools. When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and

machine parts, he feels right at home. But there’s weird stuff, too—like the curse everyone keeps

talking about. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist that each of them—including Leo—is related to a

god.

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Lexile Level: 790

Fiction

My name is August. I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.

August Pullman wants to be an ordinary ten-year-old. He does ordinary things. He eats ice cream.

He plays on his Xbox. He feels ordinary - inside.

But Auggie is far from ordinary. Ordinary kids don't make other ordinary kids run away screaming in

playgrounds. Ordinary kids don't get stared at wherever they go.

Born with a terrible facial abnormality, Auggie has been home-schooled by his parents his whole life,

in an attempt to protect him from the cruelty of the outside world. Now, for the first time, he's being

sent to a real school - and he's dreading it. All he wants is to be accepted - but can he convince his

new classmates that he's just like them, underneath it all?

Narrated by Auggie and the people around him whose lives he touches forever, Wonder is a funny,

frank, astonishingly moving debut to read in one sitting, pass on to others, and remember long after

the final page.

Jessica Darling It List by Megan McCafferty

Lexile Level: 800

Fiction

Jessica Darling is getting the hang of seventh grade -- finally! While her old BFF, Bridget, is busy

talking (nonstop) about her new boyfriend, Burke, Jessica tries to fit in with her new friends, Sara,

Manda, and Hope. The IT List instructions from her sister, Bethany, and an epic slumber party may

help Jessica secure her spot in the cool clique, but does she even want it?

Megan McCafferty's It List series introduces readers to Jessica Darling, an unabashedly brainy

seventh grader who stays true to herself, even if it means being (totally not) cool.

If You're Reading This by Trent Reedy

Lexile Level: 700

Fiction

Mike was seven when his father was killed in mysterious circumstances in Afghanistan. Eight years

later, the family still hasn't recovered: Mike's mom is overworked and overprotective; his younger

sister Mary feels no connection to the father she barely remembers; and in his quest to be "the man

of the family," Mike knows he's missing out on everyday high school life.

Then, out of the blue, Mike receives a letter from his father - the first of a series Dad wrote in

Afghanistan, just in case he didn't come home, meant to share some wisdom with his son on the eve

of Mike's 16th birthday. As the letters come in, Mike revels in spending time with his dad again, and

takes his encouragement to try new things - to go out for the football team, and ask out the beautiful

Isma. But who's been keeping the letters all these years? And how did Dad actually die? As the

answers to these mysteries are revealed, Mike and his family find a way to heal and move forward at

last.

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

Lexile Level: 830

Fiction

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Isn’t that what they say? But how close is too

close when they may be one in the same?

The Seven Stages War left much of the planet a charred wasteland. The future belongs to the next

generation’s chosen few who must rebuild it. But to enter this elite group, candidates must first pass

The Testing—their one chance at a college education and a rewarding career.

Cia Vale is honored to be chosen as a Testing candidate; eager to prove her worthiness as a

University student and future leader of the United Commonwealth. But on the eve of her departure,

her father’s advice hints at a darker side to her upcoming studies--trust no one.

But surely she can trust Tomas, her handsome childhood friend who offers an alliance? Tomas, who

seems to care more about her with the passing of every grueling (and deadly) day of the Testing. To

survive, Cia must choose: love without truth or life without trust.

Zombie Baseball Beatdown by Paolo Bacigalupi

Lexile Level: 650

Fiction

2015 SC Junior Book Award Nominee

The apocalypse begins on the day Rabi, Miguel and Joe are practicing baseball near their town's

local meatpacking plant and nearly get knocked out by a really big stink. Little do they know the

plant's toxic cattle feed is turning cows into flesh-craving monsters...ZOMBIES!!!

The boys decide to launch a stealth investigation into the plant's dangerous practices, unknowingly

discovering a greedy corporation's plot to look the other way as tainted meat is sold to thousands all

over the country. With no grownups left they can trust, Rabi and his friends will have to grab their

bats to protect themselves (and a few of their enemies) if they want to stay alive...and maybe even

save the world.

In this inventive, fast-paced novel that strikes a pitch-perfect tone for reluctant readers, National

Book Award finalist and Printz Award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi effectively uses humour and

high-intensity action to take on hard-hitting themes - from food safety to racism and immigration -

and creates a zany, grand-slam adventure that will get kids thinking about where their food comes

from.

Eruption! Volcanoes and the Science of Saving Lives

by Tom Uhlman

Lexile Level: 1000

Nonfiction

2015 SC Junior Book Award Nominee

“At 11:35 p.m., as Radio Armero played cheerful music, a towering wave of mud and rocks

bulldozed through the village, roaring like a squadron of fighter jets.” Twenty-three thousand people

died in the 1985 eruption of Colombia’s Nevado del Ruiz. Today, more than one billion people

worldwide live in volcanic danger zones. In this riveting nonfiction book—filled with spectacular

photographs and sidebars—Rusch reveals the perilous, adrenaline-fueled, life-saving work of an

international volcano crisis team (VDAP) and the sleeping giants they study, from Colombia to the

Philippines, from Chile to Indonesia.

My Life with Chimpanzees by Jane Goodall

Lexile Level: 910

Nonfiction

From the time she was a girl, Jane Goodall dreamed of a life spent working with animals. Finally she

had her wish. When she was twenty-six years old, she ventured into the forests of Africa to observe

chimpanzees in the wild. On her expeditions she braved the dangers with leopards and lions in the

African bush. And she got to know an amazing group of wild chimpanzees -- intelligent animals

whose lives, in work and play and family relationships, bear a surprising resemblance to our own.

Radiance by Alyson Noel

Lexile Level: 1020

Fiction

Riley has crossed the bridge into the afterlife—a place called Here, where time is always Now. She

has picked up life where she left off when she was alive, living with her parents and dog in a nice

house in a nice neighborhood. When she’s summoned before The Council, she learns that the

afterlife isn’t just an eternity of leisure. She’s been assigned a job, Soul Catcher, and a teacher,

Bodhi, a possibly cute, seemingly nerdy boy who’s definitely hiding something. They return to earth

together for Riley’s first assignment, a Radiant Boy who’s been haunting a castle in England for

centuries. Many Soul Catchers have tried to get him to cross the bridge and failed. But all of that was

before he met Riley . . .

Amulet, Book One, The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi

Lexile Level: 310

Graphic Novel

Graphic novel star Kazu Kibuishi creates a world of terrible, man-eating demons, a mechanical

rabbit, a giant robot---and two ordinary children on a life-or-death mission.

After the tragic death of their father, Emily and Navin move with their mother to the home of her

deceased great-grandfather, but the strange house proves to be dangerous. Before long, a sinister

creature lures the kids' mom through a door in the basement. Em and Navin, desperate not to lose

her, follow her into an underground world inhabited by demons, robots, and talking animals.

Eventually, they enlist the help of a small mechanical rabbit named Miskit. Together with Miskit, they

face the most terrifying monster of all, and Em finally has the chance to save someone she loves.

Goosebumps: My Best Friend is Invisble

Lexile Level: 350

Fiction

Sammy Jacobs interest in ghosts and science fiction takes a turn for the worst when an invisible

being inhabits his room and won't leave.

QB1 by Mike Lupica

Lexile Level: 990

Fiction

Jake Cullen is a freshman quarterback playing high school football in the high-pressure land of

Friday Night Lights (Texas). He is also the brother of Wyatt Cullen, who quarterbacked his team to

the Texas State Championship last season--not to mention the son of former NFL quarterback and

local legend, Troy Cullen. To be a Cullen in Texas is to be royalty . . . and a quarterback. All of which

leaves 14-year-old Jake in a Texas-sized shadow, a tall order for any boy, especially one who's

merely a freshman.

While his teammates assume the starting job will be handed to Jake on a silver platter, the truth is

that he has to fight for every snap and every ounce of respect. Jake may be a Cullen and he may

play quarterback, but he is not his brother or his father. Being a good teammate comes naturally to

Jake; being a winner and a celebrity does not. He's just like every other boy--awkward around a

pretty girl, in awe of his famous family, and desperate to simultaneously blend in and cast his own

shadow.

Inspired by the real-life Manning family of quarterbacks (father Archie, Super Bowl-winning sons

Peyton and Eli) and set amid the football-crazy culture of Texas immortalized in Friday Night Lights,

QB 1 is a coming-of-age story perfect for the fan of MILLION-DOLLAR THROW, HEAT, and of

course FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS.

Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World's Worst

Dog by John Grogan

Lexile Level: 1050

Nonfiction

John and Jenny were just beginning their life together. They were young and in love, with a perfect

little house and not a care in the world. Then they brought home Marley, a wiggly yellow furball of a

puppy. Life would never be the same.

Marley quickly grew into a barreling, ninety-seven-pound streamroller of a Labrador retriever, a dog

like no other. He crashed through screen doors, gouged through drywall, flung drool on guests, stole

women's undergarments, and ate nearly everything he could get his mouth around, including

couches and fine jewelry. Obedience school did no good—Marley was expelled. Neither did the

tranquilizers the veterinarian prescribed for him with the admonishment, "Don't hesitate to use

these."

And yet Marley's heart was pure. Just as he joyfully refused any limits on his behavior, his love and

loyalty were boundless, too.

Goalkeeper in Charge by Rober Hirschfeld

Lexile Level: 600

Fiction

Tina Esparza loves everything about soccer, but especially the fact that it is a team sport where no

one player is in the spotlight. Imagine her surprise when the coach asks her to train as goalkeeper.

Will Tina be able to overcome her shyness and accept the position that makes her stand out?

Alabama Moon by Key West

Lexile Level: 720

Fiction

I could trap my own food and make my own clothes. I could find my way by the stars and make fire

in the rain. Pap said he even figured I could whip somebody three times my size. He wasn’t worried

about me.

For as long as ten-year-old Moon can remember, he has lived out in the forest in a shelter with his

father. They keep to themselves, their only contact with other human beings an occasional trip to the

nearest general store. When Moon’s father dies, Moon follows his father’s last instructions: to travel

to Alaska to find others like themselves. But Moon is soon caught and entangled in a world he

doesn’t know or understand, apparent property of the government he has been avoiding all his life.

As the spirited and resourceful Moon encounters constables, jails, institutions, lawyers, true friends,

and true enemies, he adapts his wilderness survival skills and learns to survive in the outside world,

and even, perhaps, make his home there.

In this compelling, action-packed book, Watt Key gives us the thrilling coming-of-age story of the

unique and extremely appealing Moon.

The Raft by S.A. Bodeen

Lexile Level: 680

Fiction

I could trap my own food and make my own clothes. I could find my way by the stars and make fire

in the rain. Pap said he even figured I could whip somebody three times my size. He wasn’t worried

about me.

For as long as ten-year-old Moon can remember, he has lived out in the forest in a shelter with his

father. They keep to themselves, their only contact with other human beings an occasional trip to the

nearest general store. When Moon’s father dies, Moon follows his father’s last instructions: to travel

to Alaska to find others like themselves. But Moon is soon caught and entangled in a world he

doesn’t know or understand, apparent property of the government he has been avoiding all his life.

As the spirited and resourceful Moon encounters constables, jails, institutions, lawyers, true friends,

and true enemies, he adapts his wilderness survival skills and learns to survive in the outside world,

and even, perhaps, make his home there.

In this compelling, action-packed book, Watt Key gives us the thrilling coming-of-age story of the

unique and extremely appealing Moon.