Identity

Matched

Posted on October 1, 2013 by webmaster

“Creating a community of avid readers, one video at a time^©“

Matched
by Ally Condie

Cassia Reyes is a model student, daughter, and citizen. How could she not be when the Society has everything planned and functioning perfectly? All of her needs are met: food, shelter, education, career training, and even her future husband are selected by officials who know what is best for each individual by studying statistical data and probable odds.

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She even knows when she will die, on her 80th birthday, just as the Society dictates. At her Match Banquet she is paired with Xander, her best friend and certainly her soul mate. But when a computer error shows her the face of Ky, an Aberration, instead of Xander, cracks begin to appear in the Society’s facade of perfection. A series of events also shakes her dedication to Xander and puts her future in jeopardy.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
680L	Middle School	400	Thriller/Suspense	2010	014241977X

Flip

Posted on October 1, 2013 by webmaster

“Creating a community of avid readers, one video at a time^©“

Flip
by Martyn Bedford

Alex Gray, a clarinet and chess-playing sensitive kid from a London suburb, wakes up one day in a much more muscular and athletic body known as Philip “Flip” Garamond.

Alex struggles with the disadvantages and begins to enjoy a few advantages of being someone he is not. Should he try to find his way back? Can he? Where is his own body? And is it even alive?

About the only one who recognizes Alex to NOT be Flip is the Garamond family retriever, Beagle, who gives him a growl each time he sees him. Soon, though, Alex finds friends on the web — folks who have experienced something called PE (no, not physical education — psychic evacuation) like him.

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It’s when a soul jumps the rails and lands in another body due to extreme physical duress or death of its own. Is it any wonder why Alex hesitates to type his own name in the Google search box? How would you like to read your own obit? Flip begins to perplex family and friends alike with some “new” habits (really his old ones).

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
720L	High School	272	Thriller/Suspense	2021	0375865527

I Will Save You

Posted on October 1, 2013 by webmaster

“Creating a community of avid readers, one video at a time^©“

I Will Save You
by Matt De la Pena

After running away from a group home, 17-year-old Kidd Ellison sets up camp at a beach, where he is put to work by Mr. Red, an aging surfer who runs a maintenance shop. Hardworking and handsome, if somewhat slow, Kidd begins to make friends with some of the camp’s teens, especially Olivia, a blond beauty who wears a ski cap that covers part of her face regardless of the weather. Then Devon, Kidd’s former best friend and nemesis, finds Kidd and threatens to destroy the peaceful life that he has fallen into.

Narrated by Kidd, it moves from the immediate past and a possible murder to the present, then to the far past, constantly offering clues to the mysteries of Kidd’s sad and violent life.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
740	Middle School	320	Adventure	2011	0385738285

Unidentified

Posted on September 28, 2013 by webmaster

“Creating a community of avid readers, one video at a time^©“

The Unidentified
by Rae Mariz

In a startlingly plausible dystopian society, the school system has failed to the point that the government gives over control of national education to corporations. These conglomerates have banded together to create what are known as Game Centers. Here students like Katey Dade, or Kid, go to “school” in refurbished shopping malls. They swipe cards to get in and out, they carry issued cell phones with GPS trackers, they post continuously to profile pages and status feeds (similar to Facebook and Twitter), while administrators and corporate officials monitor their every move.

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Students who achieve the highest scores in games, set the coolest fashion trends, and gain the utmost popularity are “Branded”, instantly assisting the corporations to plug their wares. Kid coasts, never looking to become Branded, but then she is taken up by not just one corporate sponsor, but two, as a “trendspotter”.

As she tries to balance new expectations with betrayals by lifelong friends and new relationships, Kid also begins to question the societal structure around her. Drawn to the prank-pulling group calling themselves The Unidentified, she longs for her previous anonymity and blissful ignorance of the shady dealings all around her.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
780	High School	304	Fantasy	2010	0061802085

Gospel According to Larry

Posted on September 15, 2013 by webmaster

“Creating a community of avid readers, one video at a time^©“

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

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Posted on July 1, 2013 by webmaster

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
by Maya Angelou

After Maya Johnson, age five, is raped while visiting her mother in St. Louis, she and her older brother Bailey are returned to the loving care of Momma Henderson (the children’s grandmother) in Stamps, Arkansas. Because of her traumatic experience, Maya stops speaking – even five years after the incident. She becomes instead a keen observer of her surroundings, particularly with the racial politics and divisions in her town.

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Mrs. Bertha Flowers, an “aristocrat of Black Stamps,” helps Maya get back on her feet. She tells Maya: “Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with the shades of deeper meaning.”

It is with these lines that Maya Johnson’s voice becomes alive. A historical autobiography that depicts one woman’s survival through adolescence, breaking down racial barriers, and becoming a mother; all the while showing the trials, motivations and triumphs that come along with being outcast from society.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
1070L	High School	246	Autobiographical	1969	0553279378

Monster

Posted on July 1, 2013 by webmaster

Monster
by Walter Dean Myers

“Monster!”

That is what the lady prosecutor called Steve Harmon, a sixteen-year-old black teenager. Steve’s story begins when he is charged as an accomplice to murder. While in prison, Steve passes the time by writing his story like a screenplay. In it he tells of his fears, his past, and the events of his own murder trial. Is Steve a monster or was he merely in the wrong place at the wrong time? Will Steve be freed, or will his worst fear of spending the rest of his life in prison come to pass? As his lawyer Miss O’Brien tells him, “You’re young, you’re black, and you’re on trial. What else do they need to know?”

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
670L	Middle School	281	Drama	1999	0060280778