The Hard Way Out by Terry Vaughn

In this novel, Brian is struggling. After losing both of his parents in a tragic car accident, Brian is living at his Aunt's house and sharing a room with his cousin. Basketball is his only escape. But after getting benched for low progress report grades, Brian's world shatters. Does he have it in him to improve his grades? Will Brian come to peace with his emotions? Can anyone help him?

• Historical Fiction

• Realistic Fiction

Newton's Law by Morton Mallon

After a life of studying the nano-transportation sciences, Professor Melton stumbles upon a major breakthrough. On April 20th, 2042, Melton discovers a way to transport particles at light-speed across fixed distances. Now he can teleport from one location to another. But Professor Melton soon discovers that there is no such thing as a free lunch. He learns that the body ages relative to the distance travelled, not just the time. This means that a teleporting body ages very rapidly. Can Melton solve this problem before his time is up?

• Science Fiction

• Informational Text

"If a Tree Falls" adapted by Stan Tanner

This is the very short story of a buck. The buck was admiring his horns in the water's reflection and feeling bad about his skinny legs. Then a hunter tries to kill him. As the buck tries to escape, his big horns get stuck in some tree branches, but his skinny legs manage to pull him free. The moral is that what is truly valuable is often unappreciated.

• Fantasy

• Fable

Tags

CCSS.RL.1.10

CCSS.RL.2.2

CCSS.RL.3.2

CCSS.RL.K.5

The Tinfoil Key by Rob Burnside

When young Ian Bradley accidently switches suitcases with an intergalactic space explorer, he ends up going on the trip of a lifetime. Now that he's left holding the bag, Ian must deliver it to the light scientists on Gamma Outpost 9 in time. Every life form in the galaxy is unknowingly depending on the success of Ian's efforts.

• Fantasy

• Mythology

Bronze Star by Irwin Keene

World War II has been hard for Mama Conner. While her husband and three sons have been away at war, Mama Conner has had to fend for herself. She keeps the house together, raises money, and provides for Baby Maple. The mood in town suddenly darkens when her neighbor Betsy loses one of her loved ones in battle. At Mama Conner's ladies club, several upstanding ladies of the town are on edge. They heard a garbled news report announcing that a man from their town was lost in battle. But the man's name went unheard and the women are left to speculate. This novel ends in a surprising twist.

• Historical Fiction

• Tall Tale

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.9

CCSS.RL.8.9

"Rapunzel" adapted by Craig Hooper

Once upon a time a young girl named Rapunzel was running an errand for her mother. An evil witch kidnaps Rapunzel and imprisons her in the tower of a castle. After years in the tower, Rapunzel grew long, beautiful hair. Having seen nobody but the evil witch her whole life, Rapunzel is very lonely. One day a prince wanders by and climbs up her hair. The witch doesn't like this and action ensues. Eventually the prince and Rapunzel live happily every after.

• Fairy Tale

• Poetry

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.10

CCSS.RI.7.10

CCSS.RI.8.10

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.8.10

The Reign of Attila the Hun by Ed Reaves

Attila the Hun was the scourge of both the Eastern and Western Roman Empires in the 440s and 450s. . He invaded and conquered territory in what would now be considered France and Italy, terrorizing the countryside along the way. This text tells the story of Attila's life.

• Autobiography

• Biography

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.10

CCSS.RI.6.10

CCSS.RI.7.10

CCSS.RI.8.10

CCSS.RI.9-10.10

Paul Bunyan and the Seven Wonders of the World retold by Patrick Schuster

This text contains a handful of different stories about the world's largest lumberjack, Paul Bunyan, who is so big that he wrings out a handful of maple trees to make syrup for his giant waffles. He is so big that he made the Great Lakes when he couldn't find his spittoon. Read about how he met his giant blue ox, Babe, and how they became best friends and inseparable companions. Also read about how he dug the Grand Canyon by dragging his axe behind himself after a long day of work.

• Tall Tale

• Fantasy

African Creation Story by unknown

According to this Bakuba account of the world's creation, the Earth was once just darkness and water and it was ruled by the giant Mbombo. One day Mbombo felt some sharp pains in his stomach, which caused him to vomit the sun, moon, and stars. The sun's rays evaporated the water covering the Earth, which created clouds, and soon the dry hills emerged from the water. Still feeling some pains in his stomach, Mbombo vomited again, this time expelling the world's first man and woman, all of the animals, the trees, falling stars, the firmament, and lighting.

• Mythology

• Adventure

Tags

CCSS.RL.4.9

CCSS.RL.8.9

Shooting for the Moon by Lance Legstrong

Lance tells the true story of his own adventure into outer space. Legstrong was once an underachiever with a troubled past, until one day a teacher influences him positively. Lance describes how he worked hard from that point on until getting accepted into an experimental NASA space program and going to the moon. Lance shares with readers the many life lessons he has learned in this exciting text.

• Biography

• Autobiography

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.10

CCSS.RI.6.10

CCSS.RI.7.10

CCSS.RI.8.10

CCSS.RI.9-10.10