• Various short stories out of the Literature book

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     Link to "The Language of Literature text books online-

     http://www.classzone.com/literature.cfm 

    Merci

    Merci Suarez knew that sixth grade would be different, but she had no idea just how different. For starters, Merci has never been like the other kids at her private school in Florida, because she and her older brother, Roli, are scholarship students. They don’t have a big house or a fancy boat, and they have to do extra community service to make up for their free tuition. So when bossy Edna Santos sets her sights on the new boy who happens to be Merci’s school-assigned Sunshine Buddy, Merci becomes the target of Edna’s jealousy. Things aren't going well at home, either: Merci’s grandfather and most trusted ally, Lolo, has been acting strangely lately — forgetting important things, falling from his bike, and getting angry over nothing. No one in her family will tell Merci what's going on, so she’s left to her own worries, while also feeling all on her own at school. In a coming-of-age tale full of humor and wisdom, award-winning author Meg Medina gets to the heart of the confusion and constant change that defines middle school — and the steadfast connection that defines family.

     

    Holes by Luis Sachar

    HOLES

    Stanley Yelnats was given a choice. The judge said, "You may go to jail, or you may go to Camp Green Lake." Stanley was from a poor family. He had never been to camp before.

    At Camp Green Lake, the warden makes the boys "build character" by spending all day, every day, digging holes: five feet wide and five feet deep. It doesn't take long for Stanley to realize there's more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the treacherous warden is searching for something, and before long Stanley begins his own search—for the truth.

    Fate conspires to resolve it all—the family curse, the mystery of the holes, the drought that destroyed Green Lake, and also, the legend of Kissing Kate Barlow, an infamous outlaw of the Wild West. The great wheel of justice has ground slowly for generations, but now it is about to reveal its verdict.

    Link to Lous Sachar web site:

    http://www.louissachar.com/

     

    Summer of the Swans

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    Author Byars is well known for crafting powerful narratives about young people at odds with themselves and the world. Her Newbery award-winning story about a girl with a dead mother and an absent father, and her struggle for identity at the cusp of womanhood, is poignantly rendered. Particularly powerful here are Byars' descriptions of the bewildered Charlie lost in the woods.

    Link to Betsy Byar's web site:

    http://www.betsybyars.com/

     

    Coraline by Neil Gaiman

    Image result for coraline book

    “Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” 
    ― Neil Gaiman, Coraline

    Link to Neil Gaiman's web site:

    http://www.mousecircus.com/

     

    Various stories from Scholastic Scope Magazine

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    Link to Scholastic SCOPE:

    https://scope.scholastic.com/