Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt: It is set in southern Illinois where Jethro Creighton, an intelligent, hardworking boy, is growing into manhood as his brothers and a beloved teacher leave to fight in the Union and Confederate armies. 18 Copies [Int. Lvl: 5-8, Rd. Lvl: 6.6, AR 6.6 MG 10 pts., Lexile: 1100] Boys in the Boat: the true story of an American team's epic journey to win gold at the 1936 Olympics by Gregory Mone: Nine working-class boys from the American West who competed at the 1936 Olympics in rowing. The team was never expected to defeat the elite East Coast teams, yet they did, going on to shock the world by challenging the German boat rowing for Adolf Hitler. (Mrs. Frieze Novel Unit) 102 Copies [Int. Lvl: 5-8, Rd. Lvl: 6.9, AR 6.9 MG 9 pts., Lexile: 1000L] 9th Grade LA Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: A satirical novel about the Utopia of the future, when babies are decanted from bottles and the great Ford is worshipped. 45 Copies [Int. Lvl: YA, Rd. Lvl: 7.5, AR 7.5 UG 11 pts., Lexile: 870] Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger: An adolescent boy, knowing he is about to be dropped by his school, spends three days and nights in New York City. 52 Copies [Int. Lvl: AD, AR 4.7 UG 11 pts., Lexile: 790] Chocolate War by Robert Cormier: A high school freshman discovers the devastating consequences of refusing to join in the school's annual fund raising drive and arousing the wrath of the school bullies. 30 Copies [Int. Lvl: YA, Rd. Lvl: 5.9, AR 5.4 UG 8 pts., Lexile: 820] Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Burns: Grandpa Blakeslee marries a young milliner just three weeks after Granny Blakeslee has gone to her reward. Young Will is boggled by this act but becomes the newlyweds' conspirator and confidant; meanwhile he does some growing up on his own. 3 Copies [Int. Lvl: YA, Rd. Lvl: 5.3, AR 5.3 UG 22 pts., Lexile: 930] Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank: Anne Frank was just an average girl until she, along with her family, was forced by the German army into hiding. There they remained until August 4, 1944, when the Grune Polizei made a raid and everyone was sent to German and Dutch concentration camps. This is her diary of her experience living as a Jew in Germany during World War II. 57 Copies [Nonfiction, Int Lvl: YA, Rd Lvl: 6.5, AR 6.5 MG 14 pts, Lexile: 1080] 15 copies in CMS Lib., 42 in Mrs. Erickson's room Different Seasons by Stephen King: Different Seasons (1982) is a collection of four novellas, markedly different in tone and subject, each on the theme of a journey. The first is a rich, satisfying, nonhorrific tale about an innocent man who carefully nurtures hope and devises a wily scheme to escape from prison. The second concerns a boy who discards his innocence by enticing an old man to travel with him into a reawakening of long-buried evil. In the third story, a writer looks back on the trek he took with three friends on the brink of adolescence to find another boy's corpse. The trip becomes a character-rich rite of passage from youth to maturity. 18 Copies [Int. Lvl: AD, Lexile: 890] (each novella has a different AR test) Human Comedy by William Saroyan: The place is Ithaca, in California's San Joaquin Valley. The time is World War II. The family is the Macauley's -- a mother, sister, and three brothers whose struggles and dreams reflect those of America's second-generation immigrants.. In particular, fourteen-year-old Homer, determined to become one of the fastest telegraph messengers in the West, finds himself caught between reality and illusion as delivering his messages of wartime death, love, and money brings him face-to-face with human emotion at its most naked and raw. 31 Copies, VHS Tape [Int. Lvl: AD, AR 5.8 UG 8 pts., Lexile: 760] Miracle Worker by William Gibson: William Gibson's play about teacher Annie Sullivan's determined quest to give twelve-year-old Helen Keller, blind, deaf, and mute, the gift of language. 42 Copies, VHS Tape [Int. Lvl: YA, AR 5.2 UG 4 pts., Lexile: NP] Mrs. Erickson's classroom Odyssey by Homer: A mythical saga of incredible escapades, journeys, and amazing encounters with Greek gods, goddesses, sea monsters and the one-eyed giant, Cyclops. 92 Copies, [Int. Lvl: AD, AR 10.3 UG 24 pts., Lexile:1050L] Mrs. Erickson's room Whirligig by Paul Fleischman: While traveling to each corner of the country to build a whirligig in memory of the girl whose death he caused, sixteen-year-old Brian finds forgiveness and atonement. 103 Copies [Int. Lvl: YA, AR 4.9 UG 5 pts, Lexile: 990L] Mrs. Frieze Classroom Wonder by R.J. Palacio: Ten-year-old Auggie Pullman, who was born with extreme facial abnormalities and was not expected to survive, goes from being home-schooled to entering fifth grade at a private middle school in Manhattan, which entails enduring the taunts and fear of his classmates as he struggles to be seen as just another student. (Mrs. Frieze class read) 27 Copies [Int. Lvl: 3-6, Rd. Lvl: 4.8 MG 11pts., Lexile: 730] Mrs. Frieze classroom |
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