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 From Norvelt to Nowhere
Jack Gantos

From Norvelt to Nowhere

Genre:
Historical Fiction
Age Level:
Middle Grade

This rocket-paced follow-up to the Newbery Medal-winning novel Dead End in Norvelt opens deep in the shadow of the Cuban missile crisis. But instead of Russian warheads, other kinds of trouble are raining down on young Jack Gantos and his utopian town of Norvelt in western Pennsylvania. After an explosion, a new crime by an old murderer, and the sad passing of the town’s founder, twelve-year-old Jack will soon find himself launched on a mission that takes him hundreds of miles away to places including Hyde Park, NY, escorting his slightly mental elderly mentor, Miss Volker, on her relentless pursuit of the oddest of outlaws and her determination to pay her respects to Eleanor Roosevelt.

From the Lunchroom to the Classroom: Authentic Assessment and the Brown Bag Exam

A Brown Bag Exam uses found objects and images to help students activate prior knowledge and creates a framework for students to express their understanding. Students work individually and in collaboration to create concrete connections between the reading and the Brown Bag items. Unlike traditional assessment, the Brown Bag Exam is an exam filled with conversation, idea exchange, and learning.
Black and white photo of Vincent Chin
Paula Yoo

From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial That Galvanized the Asian American Movement

Genre:
Nonfiction
Age Level:
YA

America in 1982: Japanese car companies are on the rise and believed to be putting U.S. autoworkers out of their jobs. Anti-Asian American sentiment simmers, especially in Detroit. A bar fight turns fatal, leaving a Chinese American man, Vincent Chin, beaten to death at the hands of two white men, autoworker Ronald Ebens and his stepson, Michael Nitz. Paula Yoo has crafted a searing, extensively researched examination of the killing and the trial and verdicts that followed. When Ebens and Nitz pled guilty to manslaughter and received only a $3,000 fine and three years’ probation, the lenient sentence sparked outrage. The protests that followed led to a federal civil rights trial — the first involving a crime against an Asian American — and galvanized what came to be known as the Asian American movement.

Young girl answering phone at motel front desk
Kelly Yang

Front Desk

Genre:
Fiction
Age Level:
Middle Grade

Mia Tang has a secret. Actually, a lot of secrets. She doesn’t live in a house like her friends. She doesn’t have a dog. And her parents are hiding an even bigger secret, one that could get them all in trouble. It will take all of Mia’s courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year. Will she be able to hold on to her job, help the immigrants and guests, escape Mr. Yao, and go for her dreams? First in a series.

fudge a mania
Judy Blume

Fudge-a-Mania

Genre:
Fiction
Age Level:
Middle Grade

Now not only does Peter’s little brother, Fudge, decide he loves Peter’s sworn enemy, Sheila Tubman, his parents rent a vacation home with them! There, a grandparent from each family meets, fall in love, and decide to marry — making Sheila and Peter relatives. Rip-roaring humor abounds in this rollicking continuing family saga.

full of beans
Jennifer Holm

Full of Beans

Genre:
Historical Fiction
Age Level:
Middle Grade

Times are tough for Beans and his family in Key West during the Great Depression. Can Beans and his friends trust the New Dealers who say that they have come to Florida to make their small, poor town a tourist destination? Bean’s saga is both humorous and poignant in his satisfying story.

Full Tilt
Neal Shusterman

Full Tilt

Genre:
Fiction, Thriller / Horror
Age Level:
Middle Grade

Blake is a cautious young man who finds himself in the middle of a nightmare when he is forced to survive seven harrowing amusement park rides in an effort to save his brother. The surreal scenes and characters, as well as psychological drama, will leave readers spellbound by Blake’s battle for his soul.