Family – Page 3

Quake Disaster in San Francisco 1906

Posted on September 16, 2013 by webmaster

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Quake: Disaster in San Francisco - 1906
by Gail Langer Karwoski

It is 1906, and 13-year-old Jacob Kaufman, who lives in San Francisco with his father and little sister, is outside when a major earthquake shakes the city, cracking streets and toppling buildings. After Jacob and his dog save the life of San, a Chinese boy, the two join together to search for their families and for food and temporary shelter. Though San occasionally faces racial hostility, the boys meet many strangers who help them through the difficult days

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
770	Middle School	153	Historical Fiction	2006	1561453692

Who am I Without Him

Posted on September 16, 2013 by webmaster

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Who Am I Without Him
by Sharon G. Flake

In the game of love, young men and women weigh what they need from the opposite sex against what they need to find in themselves. This popular short-story collection, including two never-before-published entries, gives teens a chance to witness the outcomes of twelve unique trysts.

As relationships go either right or wrong, with surprising, often funny, always on-point results, mindful readers will appreciate the warning signs and perhaps save themselves from the same fate as these fictional protagonists.

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You’ll find yourself consumed by fast-paced, intelligent writing that “just gets it” in Who I Am Without Him — a question you might ultimately choose to examine before diving headlong into the dangerous waters of romance.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
670	High School	160	Drama	2005	0786815043

Picture Perfect

Posted on September 15, 2013 by webmaster

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Picture Perfect
by Elaine Marie Alphin

Ian Slater’s best friend has vanished. Ian and Teddy were supposed to spend the afternoon photographing the redwoods, but Teddy never showed up. People might go missing in a big city like San Francisco, but not a little town like Sawville. Has Teddy gone in search of the father he’s never met? Or has something terrible happened to him? What is the truth behind the picture perfect image?

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Ian doesn’t know. But he’s suddenly hearing strange voices, and he keeps seeing Teddy in his dreams. Even more disturbing – he can’t quite remember everything he did on the day Teddy vanished. Now people are telling him he’s acting strangely, and the sheriff is questioning him. Ian is determined to prove – to the sheriff and to his teachers and classmates, as well as to himself -that he has nothing to hide. But the more he searches for clues to Teddy’s disappearance, the more he wonders: How well did he ever know Teddy? How well does he even know himself?

Growing up in California, I always admired the majestic redwoods. When I had the opportunity to return there for a speaking engagement, I explored them again with a friend, and thought how deceptive, and threatening, the shadowy, towering redwoods could become – and how difficult it was to capture the truth about them in a photograph. I thought how easy it would be to disappear into the mist, and how easy it was for truth to disappear into an image, and Ian and Teddy were born.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
800	Middle School	244	Drama	2003	0822505355

My Sister’s Keeper

Posted on September 15, 2013 by webmaster

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My Sister’s Keeper
by Jodi Picoult

Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate — a life and a role that she has never challenged…until now.

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Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister — and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
840L	High School	423	Realistic Fiction	2004	0743454529

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

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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

Esperanza Rising

Posted on July 1, 2013 by webmaster

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Esperanza Rising
by Pam Munoz Ryan

Esperanza thought she’d always live with her family on their ranch in Mexico–she’d always have fancy dresses, a beautiful home, & servants. But a sudden tragedy forces Esperanza and Mama to flee to California during the Great Depression, and to settle in a camp for Mexican farm workers. Esperanza isn’t ready for the hard labor, financial struggles, or lack of acceptance she now faces.
When their new life is threatened, Esperanza must find a way to rise above her difficult circumstances–Mama’s life and her own depend on it.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
750L	Middle School	262	Realistic Fiction	2001	0439120411

Pearl

Posted on July 1, 2013 by webmaster

The Pearl
by John Steinbeck

Kino is a poor Mexican fisher and diver who one day discovers a large and beautiful pearl. He thinks that it may be valuable and shares the news with his wife, Juana. Kino dreams that the pearl will bring him and his family a better life. However, his good fortune has some unplanned consequences. Will he and his family eventually find happiness, or will the pearl bring them only misfortune?

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The Pearl is a deceptively small book that teaches a very important lesson – that you should be careful what you wish for. Despite Kino’s hope that a priceless jewel can help him achieve the American Dream, he is faced with an attempt on his life, the burning of his home, and violent conflicts with his wife. It is a novella that reveals the capacity for yearning and jealousy within us all.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
1010L	High School	90	Drama	1973	04017737x

Losing Forever

Posted on July 1, 2013 by webmaster

Losing Forever

by Gayle Friesen

Ninth-grader Jes Miner-Cooper knows that she isn’t responsible for her parents’ divorce; their marriage started to fail after her little sister, Alberta, died. What bothers her is the perception that her folks are hiding something from her. Her father spends most of his time fishing and reading Russian novels; her mother is absorbed in plans to remarry. Jes’ friends aren’t any help: one is involved in a new romance; another, Sam, wants to be more than just a friend.
Then along comes beautiful Pamela, the daughter of Jes’ mother’s intended. In short order, Pamela takes over Jes’ room, Jes’ best girlfriend, and Jes’ wannabe boyfriend. When Jes is accused of shoplifting, she’s sure her old world is gone forever.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
550L	Middle School	247	Drama	2002	01553370317

To Kill a Mockingbird

Posted on April 16, 2013 by webmaster

To Kill a Mockingbird

by Harper Lee

This book takes place in small-town Depression-era Maycomb, Alabama. The story centers on the trial of Tom Robinson, a black worker who is falsely accused of rape by a young white woman. The small Southern town is bitterly divided over the racially fueled charges.

We see this ugly scenario play out through the eyes of a child. Jean Louise “Scout” Finch is the young daughter of Atticus, the civil rights lawyer who takes up Tom’s defense. She is spunky and bright and believes in the basic goodness of everyone, although the trial causes her to reexamine her beliefs. By the end of the novel, Scout learns about the evils of racism and the courage of one man (her father), who stands up for what he believes is right in the face of widespread public contempt.

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Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
870L	Young Adult	288	Drama	1960	0446310786

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