September 2013 – Page 10

Son of the Mob

Posted on September 15, 2013 by webmaster

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Son of the Mob
by Gordon Korman

Vince Luca, 17, has a problem. His wealthy family runs the, uh, vending machine business in New York, and Vince is determined not to be part of it. Especially after a hot date is ruined when he finds that his older brother Tommy has conducted some business with Jimmy the Rat and hidden the messy and temporarily unconscious body in the trunk of Vince’s car.

His dad, the King of the Mob, is reasonable, sensible, lots of fun, gives great presents to his kids–and his name strikes the hearts of other mobsters to stone.

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Although Vince keeps a low profile at school, his family connection brings him unwanted advantages, like the birthday Porsche that gets him arrested on stolen vehicle charges, or the football game in which he makes touchdown after touchdown because word has gotten around and nobody is willing to tackle him. Even private conversations at home have to be carried on in the basement because the FBI has bugged the house and an agent is always listening.

Vince’s life is inextricably tangled up with the family business, no matter how hard he tries to stay out of it. How can he show them he’s serious? Then he meets Kendra, and when she innocently reveals that her father’s an FBI agent–that FBI agent–it’s a match made in heaven. He thinks.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
690L	Middle School	262	Thriller/Suspense	2002	0786807695

Gospel According to Larry

Posted on September 15, 2013 by webmaster

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The Gospel According to Larry
by Janet Tashjian

Josh Swensen isn’t your average teenager – when he observes America, he sees a powerhouse of consumerism and waste. He’s even tried to do something about it, with his start-up controversial website. But when Josh rises to messiah status of the internet world, he discovers that greed and superficiality are not easily escaped.

Trapped inside his own creation, Josh feels his only way out is to stage his death and be free of his internet alter-ego, “Larry.” But this plan comes with danger, and soon Josh finds himself cut off from the world, with no one to turn to for help.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
800L	Middle School	219	Drama	2001	0805063781

Nickel and Dimed

Posted on September 14, 2013 by webmaster

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Nickel and Dimed: or Not Getting By in America
by Barbara Ehrenreich

Millions of Americans work for poverty-level wages, and one day Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them. She was inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which promised that any job equals a better life. But how can anyone survive, let alone prosper, on $6 to $7 an hour? To find out, Ehrenreich moved from Florida to Maine to Minnesota, taking the cheapest lodgings available and accepting work as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing-home aide, and Wal-Mart salesperson. She soon discovered that even the “lowliest” occupations require exhausting mental and physical efforts. And one job is not enough; you need at least two if you intend to live indoors.

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Nickel and Dimed reveals low-wage America in all its tenacity, anxiety, and surprising generosity — a land of Big Boxes, fast food, and a thousand desperate strategies for survival. Instantly acclaimed for its insight, humor, and passion, this book is changing the way America perceives its working poor.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
1340L	High School	221	Realistic Ficton	2001	0805063897

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Hole in My Life

Posted on September 14, 2013 by webmaster

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Hole in My Life
by Jack Gantos

In the summer of 1971, Jack Gantos was an aspiring writer desperate for adventure, college cash, and a way out of a dead-end job.

For ten thousand dollars, he recklessly agreed to help sail a sixty-foot yacht loaded with hashish from the Virgin Islands to New York City, where he and his partners sold the drug until federal agents finally caught up to them in a bust at the Chelsea Hotel. For his part in the conspiracy, the twenty-year-old Gantos was sentenced to serve up to six years in prison.

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On the surface, the narrative tumbles from one intense moment to the next as Gantos pieces together the story of his restless final year of high school, his short-lived career as a smuggler, and his time in prison. But running just beneath the action is the story of how Gantos –once he found himself locked up in a small, yellow-walled cell– moved from wanting to be a writer to writing, and how this newly found dedication helped him endure the worst experience of his life.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
840L	High School	200	Autobiography	2002	0374399883

Counterfeit Son

Posted on September 14, 2013 by webmaster

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Counterfeit Son
by Elaine Marie Alphin

Cameron Miller’s father was a serial killer who preyed on young boys; when he dies in a police shoot-out, Cameron takes on the identity of Neil Lacey, one of his father’s victims who was abducted and supposedly murdered six years earlier. The Lacey family accepts “Neil” into their home with few questions, but he lives in fear that old dental records and a suspicious police officer will expose his lies. Finally, when someone from Cameron’s past threatens his new family, the 14-year-old must decide whether to tell his “parents” the truth.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
830L	Middle School	180	Thriller/Suspense	2000	0152026452

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Fade to Black

Posted on September 12, 2013 by webmaster

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Fade To Black
by Alex Finn

HIV-positive Alejandro Crusan, a Florida high-school junior, is the target of bullying at his school. After being attacked in his car by a baseball bat-wielding teenager, Alex is hospitalized to recover from his injuries. Clinton Cole, prejudiced and afraid of catching AIDS, hates Alex and is responsible for tormenting him on several previous occasions. Now he claims he’s innocent. However, Daria, a teen with Downs syndrome, saw Clinton at the scene of the attack; she also witnessed one of the earlier assaults. The teens alternate telling their stories and sharing their secrets, as Alex struggles with the truth about the attack and about the origin of his HIV-positive status.

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Daria’s narration unfolds in free verse, a form that effectively shows both her halting, repetitive speech and the disparity between her inner thoughts and her ability to communicate them.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
590L	High School	208	Realistic Fiction	2006	00060568429

Romeo & Juliet

Posted on September 10, 2013 by webmaster

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Romeo and Juliet
by William Shakespeare

This magnificent, timeless drama is the world’s most famous tale of “star-crossed lovers.” The young, unshakable love of Juliet and Romeo defies the feud that divides their families–the Capulets and Montagues–as their desperate need to be together, their secret meetings, and finally their concealed marriage drive them toward tragedy.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
1260L	High School	336	Drama	2004	0743477111

Honey Baby Sweetheart

Posted on September 10, 2013 by webmaster

Honey Baby Sweetheart
by Deb Caletti

During the summer of her junior year, shy, quiet Ruby McQueen falls in love with the rich boy down the block. After their first motorcycle ride, Travis gives her a beautiful gold chain, and she wears it everywhere. Only later, while on a date with him, does she learn where he gets his gifts he breaks into houses and steals jewelry. Ruby struggles with her conflicted feelings for him. Her parents are separated and hardly stellar examples when it comes to relationships.

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By spending time with the Casserole Queens (her librarian mother’s senior-citizen book group) and listening to their life stories, the teen and her mother finally discover the role models that they’ve been lacking.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
900L	High School	308	Drama	2004	06986754

Lord of the Flies

Posted on September 10, 2013 by webmaster

Lord of the Flies
by William Golding

A group of English schoolboys are plane-wrecked on a deserted island. At first, the stranded boys cooperate, attempting to gather food, make shelters, and maintain signal fires. Overseeing their efforts are Ralph, “the boy with fair hair,” and Piggy, Ralph’s chubby, wisdom-dispensing sidekick whose thick spectacles come in handy for lighting fires. Although Ralph tries to impose order and delegate responsibility, there are many in their number who would rather swim, play, or hunt the island’s wild pig population. Soon Ralph’s rules are being ignored or challenged outright. His fiercest antagonist is Jack, the redheaded leader of the pig hunters, who manages to lure away many of the boys to join his band of painted savages.

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The situation deteriorates as the trappings of civilization continue to fall away, until Ralph discovers that instead of being hunters, he and Piggy have become the hunted:

“He forgot his words, his hunger and thirst, and became fear; hopeless fear on flying feet.”

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
770L	Middle School	208	Adventure	1954	0399501487

Drive By

Posted on September 10, 2013 by webmaster

Drive By
by Lynne Ewing

“Jimmy always told me there were only two kinds of gang-bangers: Those who were dead and those who were going to die. Joining a gang doesn’t make sense to Jimmy…”

Jimmy is dead now — gunned down in front of his little sister, Mina, and his brother, Tito. And Tito is left wondering: Was Jimmy in a gang after all? Ice Breaker Joe and Lamar think so. They say Jimmy was skimming their drug money, and if the missing cash isn’t returned, Tito may have to pay — with his life. Some people go to the crossroads, but Tito’s crossroads laid themselves down in front of him. His brother Jimmy sprawled on the sidewalk at his feet. Shot in a drive by.

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Now a gang claims that Jimmy was their Ace Man. They say Tito must take his place and resolve some unfinished business. They give him a gun. “You need protection. It’s not safe on the street.” What path will Tito choose at the crossroads? He knows one leads to safety and one to death . . . but which is which?

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
560L	High School	85	Realistic Fiction	1996	0064406490

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