All's Faire in Middle School by Victoria Jamieson

Interest Level: 5-8

Reading Level: 3.6
Lexile: GN460L
Genre: Realistic Fiction/Graphic Novel

Eleven-year-old Imogene (Impy) has grown up with two parents working at the Renaissance Faire, and she's eager to begin her own training as a squire. First, though, she'll need to prove her bravery. Luckily Impy has just the quest in mind-she'll go to public school after a life of being homeschooled! But it's not easy to act like a noble knight-in-training in middle school.

I highly recommend this book!! I decided to read it because it is a ORCA nominee. It was just be my choice for the 2019 ORCA.

The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater

Interest Level: 7-12
Reading Level: 6.5
Lexile: 930L
Genre: Non-Fiction / Bullying / LGBTQ+ / Prejudice

If it weren't for the 57 bus, Sasha and Richard never would have met. Both were high school students from Oakland, California, one of the most diverse cities in the country, but they inhabited different worlds. Sasha, a white teen, lived in the middle-class foothills and attended a small private school. Richard, a black teen, lived in the crime-plagued flat-lands and attended a large public one. Each day, their paths overlapped for a mere eight minutes and on Monday, November 4, 2013 each of their lives were forever changed.

A compelling story. I recommend this book to anyone who may benefit from reading a compassionate moving tale about someone that is entirely different than yourself.

The List by Patricia Ford

Interest Level: 5-8
Reading Level: 4.4
Lexile: 600L
Genre: Dystopian

The city of Ark is the last safe place on Earth. To make sure humans are able to survive, everyone in Ark must speak List, a language of only 500 words. Everyone that is, except Letta. As apprentice to the Wordsmith, Letta can read all the words that have ever existed. Forbidden words like freedom, music, and even pineapple tell her about a world she's never known. One day her master disappears and the leaders of Ark tell Letta she is the new Wordsmith and must shorten List to fewer and fewer words. Then Letta meets a teenage boy who somehow knows all the words that have been banned. Letta's faced with a dangerous choice: sit idly by and watch language slowly slip away or follow a stranger on a path to freedom . . . or banishment.

This book was an excellent read. Although for someone who enjoys language is was a bit unnerving. I loved the quote from Letta when she said, "The here and now is only the smallest part of who we are each of us is all that we have been, all our stories, all that we could be." I highly recommend this book.

Girlhearts by Norma Fox Mazer

Interest Level: 5-9
Reading Level: 3.6
Lexile: 600L
Genre: Realistic Fiction

Sarabeth's father died when she was young and now a heart attack has taken her mother's life. The sudden loses of her only family and the only home she's ever known leaves Sarabeth in a very bad place. Her mother's friends, Cynthia and Billy, take in Sarabeth to live with them and their baby in their tiny one-bedroom apartment. Before long, Sarabeth realizes she's intruding on their lives, but where can she go? 


When I decided to read this book, I did not realize that it was a sequel to "Silver". It stood well on its own. I cared enough about the character Sarabeth to read the first book but it is not in any of the public libraries. I could get it for a little over $5.00 from Amazon but I feel like it might be anti-climatic reading the first book now. I have decided to remove this book from the libraries collection because we do not have the first book and this book was not checked out since the library opened in September of 2009. Still I give it 4 stars.

Refugee by Alan Gratz

Interest Level: 5-8

Reading Level: 6.1
Lexile: 800L
Genre: Historical Fiction

Although separated by continents and decades, Josef, a Jewish boy living in 1930s Nazi Germany; Isabel, a Cuban girl trying to escape the riots and unrest plaguing her country in 1994; and Mahmoud, a Syrian boy in 2015 whose homeland is torn apart by violence and destruction, embark on harrowing journeys in search of refuge, discovering shocking connections that tie their stories together.

This book is laid out with each chapter alternating between the 3 refugees and their stories. This may be confusing to some readers but they can read each characters chapters in sequence instead of reading the book cover to cover. I enjoyed the book and would highly recommend it to 5th graders and older.