Counting by  7s is an amazing story. One theme of the story is personal loss. The main character is Willow Chance. An important detail about her is that she is a genius. She is unlucky enough to lose two sets of parents. Now she needs to find who her real family is. Along the way she changes and  helps the lives of many other people.  Willow meets Mai a strong but stubborn girl and her family, Dell Duke a counselor who is horrible at his job, and Jairo a taxi driver. Her story will make you                                  laugh and cry, but most of all appreciate your                                    friends and family. ~Raquel

Howliday Inn
by James How 
               Chester and Harold are off to another one of their adventures when their owners, the Peterson's, go off on a vacation and drop of their pets at Chateau Bow Wow. Chester, a smart cat, suspects  something fishy is going on. They hear howling all night and the next morning someone is gone!  
                Chester and Harold go on a pretty wild adventure in solving the mystery. In the end they are glad to be picked-up and taken home by their owners.
                                                 - Raquel 

This book so far, is about a girl named Anna who is not just shy but nearly invisible! Over time, her family has almost forgotten her and she has made secret passages and peep holes through the walls. The part I'm at is when Anna has been passed, through the wall, a secret love note. Will Anna choose to come out, or stay hidden?                

                                               - Raquel 

Sugar; by Jewel Parker Rhodes

SUGAR   by, Jewel Parker Rhodes

Ten-year-old Sugar lives on the River Road sugar plantation along the banks of the Mississippi. Slavery is over, but laboring in the fields all day doesn't make her feel very free. Thankfully, Sugar has a knack for finding her own fun, especially when she joins forces with forbidden friend Billy, the white plantation owner's son.

Sugar has always yearned to learn more about the world, and she sees her chance when Chinese workers are brought in to help harvest the cane. The older River Road folks feel threatened, but Sugar is fascinated. As she befriends young Beau and elder Master Liu, they introduce her to the traditions of their culture, and she, in turn, shares the ways of plantation life. Sugar soon realizes that she must be the one to bridge the cultural gap and bring the community together. Here is a story of unlikely friendships and how they can change our lives forever.

Lexile 430
Interest Level 4-8

This book is about a boy who tries to find out why he's never seen his grandpa before.  One of the big  questions in this book is why are white people so mean to black people? Throughout the story Brendan learns that the question he has is not just in his little situation but a huge important one in the entire world. I recommend this book because it is really good:] I also recommend this book to kids who like science.
                                                          - Raquel

The One and Only Ivan

Winner of the 2013 Newbery Medal and a #1 New York Times bestseller, this stirring and unforgettable novel from renowned author Katherine Applegate celebrates the transformative power of unexpected friendships. Inspired by the true story of a captive gorilla known as Ivan, this illustrated novel is told from the point-of-view of Ivan himself.

Having spent 27 years behind the glass walls of his enclosure in a shopping mall, Ivan has grown accustomed to humans watching him. He hardly ever thinks about his life in the jungle. Instead, Ivan occupies himself with television, his friends Stella and Bob, and painting. But when he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from the wild, he is forced to see their home, and his art, through new eyes.

The One and Only Ivan was hailed as a best book of the year by Kirkus, School Library Journal, and Amazon, demonstrating it is a true classic in the making. In the tradition of timeless stories likeCharlotte's Web and Stuart Little, Katherine Applegate blends humor and poignancy to create Ivan's unforgettable first-person narration in a story of friendship, art, and hope. An author's note depicts the differences between the fictional story and true events.

Interest Level:  4-8

Lexile:  570

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