Free Lunch by Rex Ogle

NonFiction, Lexile: HL540L   

Rex Ogle recounts his first semester in sixth grade in which he and his younger brother often went hungry, wore secondhand clothes, and were short of school supplies and he was on his school's free lunch program.

Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper

Fiction, Lexile: 700L

Eleven-year-old Melody has a photographic memory. Her head is like a video camera that is always recording. Always. And there's no delete button. She's the smartest kid in her whole school—but no one knows it. If only she could speak up, if only she could tell people what she thinks and knows . . . but she can't, because Melody can't talk. She can't walk. She can't write.

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga

Fiction Poetic Verse, Lexile: 930L

Jude must leave half of her family behind in Syria for relative safety in America with her pregnant mother. Though she dreams of being an actress, Jude isn’t expecting the type of attention she receives in her new school, including the label of “Middle Eastern” and the stigma it can bring. Warga’s gorgeous novel in verse explores prejudice, xenophobia, and the effects of war alongside emerging friendships and questions of belonging.

Marcus Vega doesn't speak Spanish by Pablo Cartaya

Fiction, Lexile: HL580L

After a fight at school leaves Marcus facing suspension, Marcus's mom decides it's time for a change of environment. She takes Marcus and his younger brother to Puerto Rico to spend a week with relatives they don't remember or have never met. But Marcus can't focus knowing that his father--who walked out of their lives ten years ago--is somewhere on the island.

So begins Marcus's incredible journey, a series of misadventures that take him all over Puerto Rico in search of his elusive namesake. Marcus doesn't know if he'll ever find his father, but what he ultimately discovers changes his life. And he even learns a bit of Spanish along the way.