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Books at Guided Reading Level Z

  • Shirley and Jamila Save Their Summer

    Gillian Goerz

    Paperback (Dial Books, July 14, 2020)
    This middle-grade graphic novel for fans of Roller Girl and Smile introduces Jamila and Shirley, two unlikely friends who save each other's summers while solving their neighborhood's biggest mysteries.Jamila Waheed is staring down a lonely summer in a new neighborhood--until she meets Shirley Bones. Sure, Shirley's a little strange, but both girls need a new plan for the summer, and they might as well become friends.Then this kid Oliver shows up begging for Shirley's help. His pet gecko has disappeared, and he's sure it was stolen! That's when Jamila discovers Shirley's secret: She's the neighborhood's best kid detective, and she's on the case. When Jamila discovers she's got some detective skills of her own, a crime-solving partnership is born.The mystery of the missing gecko turns Shirley and Jamila's summer upside down. And when their partnership hits a rough patch, they have to work together to solve the greatest mystery of all: What it means to be a friend.
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  • A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

    Ishmael Beah

    Paperback (Sarah Crichton Books, Aug. 5, 2008)
    This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them. What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived.In A Long Way Gone, Beah, now twenty-five years old, tells a riveting story: how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he'd been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. This is a rare and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty."My new friends have begun to suspect I haven't told them the full story of my life. 'Why did you leave Sierra Leone?' 'Because there is a war.' 'You mean, you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?' 'Yes, all the time.' 'Cool.' I smile a little. 'You should tell us about it sometime.' 'Yes, sometime.'"
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  • As Old as Time: A Twisted Tale

    Liz Braswell

    Paperback (Disney-Hyperion, March 6, 2018)
    What if Belle's mother cursed the Beast? As Old as Time is the third book in the hit YA line that reimagines classic Disney stories in surprising new ways. When Belle touches the Beast's enchanted rose, memories flood through Belle's mind-memories of a mother she thought she would never see again. And, stranger still, she sees that her beautiful mother is none other than the enchantress who cursed the castle and all its inhabitants. Shocked and confused, Belle and the Beast will have to unravel a dark mystery about their families that is 21 years in the making.
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  • Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul: Stories of Life, Love and Learning

    Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Kimberly Kirberger

    Paperback (Backlist, LLC - a unit of Chicken Soup of the Soul Publishing LLC, Aug. 28, 2012)
    Being a teen is hard - but you are not alone. This book is filled with stories that will make you laugh and make you cry. It will act as a best friend, keep you company, motivate you, and reassure you that other teenagers have been through the same ups and downs and have come out okay.
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  • Get Coding!: Learn HTML, CSS & JavaScript & Build a Website, App & Game

    Young Rewired State

    Paperback (Candlewick, Aug. 1, 2017)
    Learn how to write HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and build your own website, app, and game! An essential guide to computer programming for kids— by kids.Crack open this book and set off on several fun missions — while simultaneously learning the basics of writing code. Want to make a website from scratch? Create an app? Build a game? All the tools are here, laid out in a user-friendly format that leads kids on an imaginary quest to keep a valuable diamond safe from dangerous jewel thieves. Presented by Young Rewired State — an international collective of tech-savvy kids — in easy-to-follow, bite-size chunks, the real-life coding skills taught in this engaging, comprehensive guide may just set young readers on the path to becoming technology stars of the future.
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  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

    J. K. Rowling, Mary GrandPré

    Hardcover (Arthur A. Levine Books, Aug. 1, 2007)
    The magnificent final book in J. K. Rowling's seven-part saga comes to readers July 21, 2007.You'll find out July 21!
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  • As Brave As You

    Jason Reynolds

    Paperback (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, May 9, 2017)
    Kirkus Award Finalist Schneider Family Book Award Winner Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book In this “pitch-perfect contemporary novel” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), Coretta Scott King – John Steptoe Award-winning author Jason Reynolds explores multigenerational ideas about family love and bravery in the story of two brothers, their blind grandfather, and a dangerous rite of passage.Genie’s summer is full of surprises. The first is that he and his big brother, Ernie, are leaving Brooklyn for the very first time to spend the summer with their grandparents all the way in Virginia—in the COUNTRY! The second surprise comes when Genie figures out that their grandfather is blind. Thunderstruck, Genie peppers Grandpop with questions about how he hides it so well (besides wearing way cool Ray-Bans). How does he match his clothes? Know where to walk? Cook with a gas stove? Pour a glass of sweet tea without spilling it? Genie thinks Grandpop must be the bravest guy he’s ever known, but he starts to notice that his grandfather never leaves the house—as in NEVER. And when he finds the secret room that Grandpop is always disappearing into—a room so full of songbirds and plants that it’s almost as if it’s been pulled inside-out—he begins to wonder if his grandfather is really so brave after all. Then Ernie lets him down in the bravery department. It’s his fourteenth birthday, and, Grandpop says to become a man, you have to learn how to shoot a gun. Genie thinks that is AWESOME until he realizes Ernie has no interest in learning how to shoot. None. Nada. Dumbfounded by Ernie’s reluctance, Genie is left to wonder—is bravery and becoming a man only about proving something, or is it just as important to own up to what you won’t do?
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  • The Way Things Work Now

    David Macaulay

    Hardcover (HMH Books for Young Readers, Oct. 4, 2016)
    A New York Times Bestseller Explainer-in-Chief David Macaulay updates the worldwide bestseller The New Way Things Work to capture the latest developments in the technology that most impacts our lives. Famously packed with information on the inner workings of everything from windmills to Wi-Fi, this extraordinary and humorous book both guides readers through the fundamental principles of machines, and shows how the developments of the past are building the world of tomorrow. This sweepingly revised edition embraces all of the latest developments, from touchscreens to 3D printer. Each scientific principle is brilliantly explained--with the help of a charming, if rather slow-witted, woolly mammoth. An illustrated survey of significant inventions closes the book, along with a glossary of technical terms, and an index. What possible link could there be between zippers and plows, dentist drills and windmills? Parking meters and meat grinders, jumbo jets and jackhammers, remote control and rockets, electric guitars and egg beaters? Macaulay explains them all.
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  • Five Nights at Freddy's Collection

    Scott Cawthon, Kira Breed-Wrisley

    Paperback (Scholastic Inc., Aug. 28, 2018)
    From the #1 New York Times bestselling author and creator of Five Nights at Freddy's, don't miss this three-book boxed set, which includes an original print inspired by the trilogy!It's been 10 years since the horrific murders at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza tore the town of Hurricane, Utah, apart. Charlie, whose father owned the pizzeria, reunites with her childhood friends on the anniversary of the tragedy, and together they revisit the abandoned pizza place. After they discover a way inside, they realize that things are not as they used to be. The four animatronic mascots that once entertained patrons have a dark secret . . . one that sets Charlie and her friends on a path to unravel the many mysteries her father -- and his twisted partner -- left behind.Don't miss this boxed set from the #1 New York Times bestselling authors and creator of the game, which includes an original print inspired by the trilogy!
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  • Among the Hidden

    Margaret Peterson Haddix, Cliff Nielsen

    Paperback (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, March 1, 2000)
    In a future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke, an illegal third child, has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on his family's farm in this start to the Shadow Children series from Margaret Peterson Haddix.Luke has never been to school. He's never had a birthday party, or gone to a friend's house for an overnight. In fact, Luke has never had a friend. Luke is one of the shadow children, a third child forbidden by the Population Police. He's lived his entire life in hiding, and now, with a new housing development replacing the woods next to his family's farm, he is no longer even allowed to go outside. Then, one day Luke sees a girl's face in the window of a house where he knows two other children already live. Finally, he's met a shadow child like himself. Jen is willing to risk everything to come out of the shadows -- does Luke dare to become involved in her dangerous plan? Can he afford not to?
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  • Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two

    Joseph Bruchac

    Paperback (Speak, July 6, 2006)
    "Readers who choose the book for the attraction of Navajo code talking and the heat of battle will come away with more than they ever expected to find."—Booklist, starred review Throughout World War II, in the conflict fought against Japan, Navajo code talkers were a crucial part of the U.S. effort, sending messages back and forth in an unbreakable code that used their native language. They braved some of the heaviest fighting of the war, and with their code, they saved countless American lives. Yet their story remained classified for more than twenty years. But now Joseph Bruchac brings their stories to life for young adults through the riveting fictional tale of Ned Begay, a sixteen-year-old Navajo boy who becomes a code talker. His grueling journey is eye-opening and inspiring. This deeply affecting novel honors all of those young men, like Ned, who dared to serve, and it honors the culture and language of the Navajo Indians.An ALA Best Book for Young Adults"Nonsensational and accurate, Bruchac's tale is quietly inspiring..."—School Library Journal
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  • The Little Women Collection: Little Women, Good Wives, Little Men, Jo'S Boys.

    Louisa May Alcott

    Paperback (Independently published, Dec. 23, 2019)
    This volume features the beloved The Little Women Collection, considered among the greatest American novels ever written. The novels are: LITTLE WOMEN, Good Wives LITTLE MEN (Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys) JO'S BOYS and How They Turned Out. A Sequel to "Little Men. Little Women is a family drama that validates virtue over wealth, and has been read as a romance or as a quest, or both. American writer Louisa May Alcott created a new form of literature, with elements from Romantic children's fiction combined with the ones from sentimental novels format. In these novels you find the first vision of the "All-American girl", which aspects are embodied in the differing and beloved March sisters. . Jo is based on Louisa herself, and Meg, Beth and Amy are inspired by Louisa's own three sisters. Little Men, the second book of the trilogy, tells the story of Jo Bhaer and the children at Plumfield Estate School. The story begins with the arrival of Nat Blake, a shy young orphan who used to earn a living playing the violin. The characters are introduced through his eyes. There are ten boys at the school already; Nat, and later his friend Dan, join them, and soon after Nan arrives as companion for Daisy, the only girl. Jo's sons Rob and Teddy are younger than the others and are not counted among the pupils, nor are the two girls, Daisy and Nan. The school is unconventional: the children have their own gardens and pets, and are encouraged to experiment with running businesses. Jo's boys, the third book and final of the trilogy, follows the lives of Plumfield boys ten years after Little Men. Dolly and George are college students dealing with the temptations of snobbery, arrogance, self-indulgence and vanity. Tommy becomes a medical student to impress childhood sweetheart Nan, but after "accidentally" falling in love with and proposing to Dora, he joins his family business.
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