Liar & Spy

By Rebecca Stead

180 pages

 

When seventh-grader Georges' dad loses his job, he and his parents move to a more affordable Brooklyn apartment building.  At home, Georges spends lots of time alone- his father is trying to start his own business, and his mother is always working extra hours at the hospital.  At school, he has become the new target of Dallas the class bully.  He is grateful to meet Safer, the strange boy who is a self-appointed spy for the apartment building. However, spying with Safer draws him into activities that feel wrong, and Georges must choose between what he feels is right, and his only friend. Grade 6.

Wonder

By R.J. Palacio

315 pages

August Pullman was born with a facial deformity which prevented him from attending regular school, until now.Grade 5 at Beecher Prep promises to be difficult in many ways - but first and foremost because people view him as shocking, different, even frightening.The story is narrated by August and several of his peers; the various perspectives combine to tell a story both challenging and enlarging. Grade 5.

Inside Out and Back Again

By Thanhha Lai

262 pages

The year is 1975.When war threatens, Hà, her mother, and her three older brothers are forced to flee Vietnam.The refugees travel by overcrowded boat to an uncertain future, leaving behind family, school, friends, home and all that is familiar.This award-winning story, written in free verse, poignantly describes how Hà finds herself again in a brand new place where everything feels alien, where a unfamiliar language is spoken, and where she is regarded as different and strange.  Grade 5.