By Laura Marx Fitzgerald
Lexile level 920

Laura Marx Fitzgerald combines the mystery and intrigue of nineteenth century Jane Eyre, with the excitement of the twentieth century’s Roaring Twenties and the twenty-first century’s a women-can-do-anything perspective to create a riveting read for upper elementary and middle school readers. To top it off, the heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston coupled with the choices Isabella Stewart Gardner made throughout her life inspired The Gallery. So after finishing the book, readers will tour the museum with new eyes.

By Nancy Bo Flood
​Lexile Level 590

​Soldier Sister, Fly Home reveres the power of family, community and nature. Not one to shy away from truth, Nancy Bo Flood does not sugar coat life or death. Instead, Flood shows readers, through her main character thirteen-year-old Tess, that we always have the choice to “walk in beauty” no matter what happens in our lives through the powerful process of acceptance. This book will appeal to readers who find themselves trying to meld two different identities together—racial identities, geographic identities, or even the “simple” struggle of who we are at home versus who we are out in the public.

By Laura Martin

There’s nothing better than finding a new action novel to put in the hands of Rick Riordan readers, except when you find one that features a female protagonist. The best thing is that the main character’s gender isn’t revealed till six pages into the story after she’s already escaped a pack of deinonychus. My thirteen-year-old son has read this novel so many times that it’s already dog-eared. Once my fourth grade students discover it, my free American Library Association copy will fall apart, and I’ll have to invest in a hardcover version—money well spent!