Easy Reads
1.1 - 4.4 Reading Level
Available in the Library/Media Center
Dragsters by Scott P. Werther.
Contains photographs and information about dragsters, a type of
race car, providing a description of the vehicle, and discussion of the driver
and crew.
Accelerated Reader - 1.1
Knights of the Round Table adapted by Gwen Gross
Retells the exploits of King Arthur and his knights of the Round
Table.
Accelerated Reader - 2.8
Coverup by Jay Bennett
Teenage Brad is tormented by confused memories of a drunken ride
with his best friend Alden, during which they may have hit and killed a man.
Accelerated Reader - 2.8
Boy from the Basement by Susan Shaw
Charlie, a twelve-year-old boy who has been confined to his
basement by his abusive, psychotic father, is accidently locked out after
sneaking outside one night, and ends up in the hospital where he gets the
attention he needs and a new start in life.
Accelerated Reader - 3.0
One More Step by Sheree Fitch
When Julian's mother decides to marry a French-Canadian man,
Julian learns that it is not always blood that determines true family.
Accelerated Reader - 3.1
The Prince of the Pond: Otherwise Known as De Fawg Pin by
Donna Jo
Napoli
Having been turned into a frog by a hag, a frog-prince makes the
best of his new life as he mates, raises a family, and instills a new kind of
thinking into his frog family.
Accelerated Reader - 3.2
Dead-End Job by Vicki Grant
Francis meets a rather annoying boy at the convenience store where
she works, but before long she realizes that this boy is a stalker and she may
be in some very real danger.
Accelerated Reader - 3.2
Alan and Naomi by Myron Levoy
In New York of the 1940's a boy tries to befriend a girl
traumatized by Nazi brutality in France.
Accelerated Reader - 3.3
ItÕs Not the End of the World by Judy Blume
When her parents divorce, a sixth grader struggles to understand
that sometimes people are unable to live together.
Accelerated Reader - 3.4
Sticks and Stones by Beth Goobie
When Jujube finds herself the butt of cruel jokes that are ruining
her reputation, she decides to fight back.
Accelerated Reader - 3.4
A Fine Start by Kate McMullan
Meg continues to write in her diary about her family's adventures
in the Kansas prairie in 1856 as they try to return to a more normal life after
surviving a cholera epidemic, separation, and invading Border Ruffians.
Accelerated Reader - 3.4
Burger Wuss by M.T. Anderson
Hoping to lose his loser image, Anthony plans revenge on a bully
which results in a war between two competing fast food restaurants, Burger
Queen and O'Dermott's.
Accelerated Reader - 3.5
Nothing to Lose by Alex Flinn
A year after running away with a traveling carnival to escape his
unbearable home life, sixteen-year-old Michael returns to Miami, Florida, to
find that his mother is going on trial for the murder of his abusive
stepfather.
Accelerated Reader - 3.5
A Boy No More by Harry Mazer
After his father is killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor, Adam,
his mother, and sister are evacuated from Hawaii to California, where he must
deal with his feelings about the war, Japanese internment camps, his father,
and his own identity.
Accelerated Reader - 3.5
Skellig by David Almond
Unhappy about his baby sister's illness and the chaos of moving
into a dilapidated old house, Michael retreats to the garage and finds a
mysterious stranger who is something like a bird and something like an angel.
Accelerated Reader - 3.5
Luna: a novel by Julie Anne Peters
Fifteen-year-old Regan's life, which has always revolved around
keeping her older brother Liam's transsexuality a secret, changes when Liam
decides to start the process of "transitioning" by first telling his
family and friends that he is a girl who was born in a boy's body.
Accelerated Reader - 3.5
The Winter of the Stone Woman by Linda Baxter
Red Fox shares the stories he has heard about his father, Brave
Colt, with his friend Red Deer.
Accelerated Reader - 3.5
Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli
A street child, known to himself only as Stopthief, finds
community when he is taken in by a band of orphans in Warsaw ghetto which helps
him weather the horrors of the Nazi regime.
Accelerated Reader - 3.6
Wolf Rider: a tale of terror by Avi
After receiving an apparent crank call from a man claiming to have
committed murder, fifteen-year-old Andy finds his close relationship with his
father crumbling as he struggles to make everyone believe him.
Accelerated Reader - 3.6
Something Girl by Beth Goobie
Sophie lives in constant fear of her father, who beats her on a
regular basis, until the day the beating is so severe it sends her to the
hospital.
Accelerated Reader - 3.6
Are You There God? ItÕs Me Margaret by Judy Bloom
Faced with the difficulties of growing up and choosing a religion,
a twelve-year-old girl talks over her problems with her own private God.
Accelerated Reader - 3.6
Nothing but the Truth by Avi
A ninth-grader's suspension for singing "The Star-Spangled
Banner" during homeroom becomes a national news story.
Accelerated Reader 3.6
Rock Star Superstar by Blake Nelson
When Pete, a talented bass player, moves from playing in the high
school jazz band to playing in a popular rock group, he finds the experience
exhilarating even as his new fame jeopardizes his relationship with girlfriend
Margaret.
Accelerated Reader - 3.6
Bull Rider by Marilyn Halvorson
Sixteen-year-old Layne faces a dangerous challenge when he defies
his mother and enters himself in a bull riding contest--the same rodeo event in
which his father was killed.
Accelerated Reader - 3.7
Scorpions by Walter Dean Myers
After reluctantly taking on the leadership of the Harlem gang, the
Scorpions, Jamal finds that his enemies treat him with respect when he aquires
a gun until a tragedy occurs.
Accelerated Reader - 3.7
Overdrive by Eric Walters
When Jake is involved in a street-racing accident, he struggles to
do the right thing.
Accelerated Reader - 3.7
The Mystery of Drear House by Virginia Hamilton
An African-American family living in the house of long-dead
abolitionist Dies Drear must decide what to do with his stupendous treasure,
hidden for one hundred years in a cavern near their home.
Accelerated Reader - 3.7
Babyface by Norma Fox Mazer
The sudden departure of her inseparable friend Julie for
California and her own father's unexpected illness challenge many of
fourteen-year-old Toni's basic assumptions about friendship and her own happy
and secure life with her seemingly devoted parents.
Accelerated Reader - 3.7
Roots in the Outfield by Jane Zirpoli
Criticized by his baseball teammates for being afraid of the ball,
Josh leaves his mother in San Francisco to live with his father, stepmother,
and stepsister in Milwaukee where he becomes entangled in a mystery involving
his favorite professional player.
Accelerated Reader - 3.7
ChandaÕs Secrets by Allan Stratton
Chandra Kabelo, a sixteen-year-old in a small South African town,
faces down shame and stigma in her efforts to help friends and family members
who are dying of AIDS.
Accelerated Reader - 3.7
When She Was Good by Norma Fox Mazer
The death of her abusive, manipulative older sister prompts
seventeen-year-old Em to remember their unpleasant life together, with their
parents and then later on their own.
Accelerated Reader - 3.7
Grind by Eric Walters
Philip, obsessed with skateboarding, finds himself pushed to
perform more and more dangerous stunts when he begins taping himself and
posting the movies on a Website to make money.
Accelerated Reader - 3.7
After the Rain by Norma Fox Mazer
After discovering her grandfather is dying, fifteen-year-old
Rachel gets to know him better than ever before and finds the experience
bittersweet.
Accelerated Reader - 3.7
Just As Long As WeÕre Together by Judy Blume
Stephanie's relationship with her best friend, Rachel, changes
during her first year in junior high as she tries to conceal a family problem
and meets a new girl from California.
Accelerated Reader - 3.7
Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen
Twelve-year-old Sarny's brutal life as a slave becomes even more
dangerous when a newly arrived slave offers to teach her how to read.
Accelerated Reader - 3.8
After the Dancing Days by Margaret Rostkowski
A forbidden friendship with a badly disfigured soldier in the
aftermath of World War I forces thirteen-year-old Annie to redefine the word
"hero" and to question conventional ideas of patriotism.
Accelerated Reader - 3.8
Joy School by Elizabeth Berg
Tells the story of the passion a lonely 13 years old girl feels
for an older man who saved her after an accident.
Accelerated Reader - 3.8
Margaux with an X by Ron Koertge
Margaux, known as a "tough chick" at her Los Angeles
high school, makes a connection with Danny, who, like her, struggles with the
emotional impact of family violence and abuse.
Accelerated Reader - 3.8
The Pack by Susannah Brin
Candle Selky, a teenage member of a werewolf family, longs to live
a normal human life, especially after meeting David Payne.
Accelerated Reader - 3.8
Dog Days by David Lubar
During summer vacation, rising dog food prices and falling
scrapyard payouts leave Larry wondering how he will feed his three dogs until
his little brother alerts him to an intriguing mystery involving a hostile dog
in an alley.
Accelerated Reader - 3.8
Arilla Sun Down by Virginia Hamilton
A young girl, half African-American and half Indian, lives in a
small town where her life revolves around family, school, and friends.
Accelerated Reader - 3.8
Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens; adapted by Janet
Lorimer
An adaptation of the classic novel about the French Revolution and
its effect upon the lives of several individuals, both French and English.
Accelerated Reader - 3.8
Shakespeare Bats Cleanup by Ron Koertge
When a fourteen-year-old baseball player catches mononucleosis, he
discovers that keeping a journal and experimenting with poetry not only helps
fill the time, it also helps him deal with life, love, and loss.
Accelerated Reader - 3.8
Voices at Whisper Bend by Katherine Ayres
In their Pennsylvania town in 1942 twelve-year-old Charlotte and
her classmates collect scrap metal for the war effort only to have it disappear
from the school basement.
Accelerated Reader - 3.9
Hate You by Graham McNamee
Nursing hatred for the father who choked her and damaged her voice
as a child, seventeen-year-old Alice writes songs she feels she cannot sing and
seeks to reconcile her feelings for herself and her father.
Accelerated Reader - 3.9
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte; adapted by Janice Greene
An adaptation of the classic novel in which a penniless governess
falls in love with the brooding master of Thornfield, but is unaware of the
tragic events that will follow.
Accelerated Reader - 3.9
Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo; adapted by Emily Hutchinson
Adapts Victor Hugo's 1831 novel in which Quasimodo, the
hunchbacked bellringer of medieval Paris's Notre Dame Cathedral, struggles to
save the beautiful gypsy dancer Esmeralda from being unjustly executed.
Accelerated Reader - 3.9
The Goats by Brock Cole
Stripped ane marooned on a small island by their fellow campers, a
boy and a girl form an uneasy bond that grows into a deep friendship when they
decide to run away and disappear without a trace.
Accelerated Reader - 3.9
The Bravest Thing by Donna Jo Napoli
When her pet rabbit's newborn babies die, her doctor tells her
that she may have scoliosis, and her aunt is diagnosed with cancer,
ten-year-old Laurel feels constantly reminded of the mortality of all living
things.
Accelerated Reader - 3.9
Shadow of a Doubt by S.L. Rottman
As his sophomore year in high school begins, fifteen-year-old
Shadow joins the forensics team, makes new friends, and struggles to cope with
the return of his older brother, who ran away seven years earlier and now faces
a murder trial.
Accelerated Reader - 3.9
Sirena by Donna Jo Napoli
The gods grant immortality to the mermaid Sirena when she rescues
a human man from the sea and they fall in love, but his mortality creates great
conflict between love and honor when he is called to defend Greece in the Trojan
War.
Accelerated Reader - 3.9
Hit Squad by James Heneghan
Students in an upscale high school decide to take on the bullies
and take back their school, with decidedly mixed consequences.
Accelerated Reader - 3.9
Fast Company by Rich Wallace
When sixth-grader Manny Ramos, one of the fastest runners on the
youth football team, joins the new track club, he hopes that his light weight
will be a benefit in racing against more experienced guys.
Accelerated Reader - 3.9
Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
Resettled in the "Bomb City" with her mother and
brother, Davey Wexler recovers from the shock of her father's death during a
holdup of his 7-Eleven store in Atlantic City.
Accelerated Reader - 4.0
Who Owns Kelly Paddiik? by Beth Goobie
After attempting suicide, Kelly Paddik is sent to a "secure
facility," and as she tries to find a way out, she has to come to terms
with her memories of abuse.
Accelerated Reader - 4.0
Other Side of the Dark by Joan Lowery Nixon
Seventeen-year-old Stacy awakens from a four-year coma ready to
identify, locate, and prosecute the young man who murdered her mother and
wounded her.
Accelerated Reader - 4.0
Magic Circle by Donna Jo Napoli
After learning sorcery to become a healer, a good-hearted woman is
turned into a witch by evil spirits and she fights their power until her
encounter with Hansel and Gretel years later.
Accelerated Reader - 4.0
Jackie and Me by Dan Gutman
With his ability to travel through time by using baseball cards,
Joe goes back to 1947 to meet Jackie Robinson, turning into a black boy in the
process.
Accelerated Reader - 4.0
Windcatcher by Avi
While learning to sail during a visit to his grandmother's at the
Connecticut shore, eleven-year-old Tony becomes excited about the rumors of
sunken treasure in the area and starts following a couple who seem to be making
a mysterious search for something.
Accelerated Reader - 4.0
The Princess Test by Gail Carson Levine
In this humorous retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's "The
Princess and the Pea," Lorelei must pass many difficult tests in order to
prove that she is a true princess and win the hand of Prince Nicholas.
Accelerated Reader - 4.0
Long Night of Leo and Bree by Ellen Wittlinger
On the anniversary of his sister's murder, Leo, tormented by his
mother's insane accusations and his own waking nightmares, kidnaps a wealthy
girl intending to kill her, but instead their long night together helps them
both face their futures.
Accelerated Reader - 4.0
Zel by Donna Jo Napoli
Based on the fairy tale Rapunzel, the story is told in alternating
chapters from the point of view of Zel, her mother, and the prince, and delves
into the psychological motivations of the characters.
Accelerated Reader - 4.0
The Wish List by Eoin Colfer
Orphan Meg Finn's soul becomes the object of a battle between the
demonic and the divine after she is killed in an accidental explosion while
attempting to rob an elderly manand arrives in the afterlife to find the tally
on her good and evil deeds is dead even.
Accelerated Reader - 4.0
A Place Called Ugly
by Avi
At the end of the summer, 14-year-old Owen refuses to leave the
beach house which has been his family's summer home for 10 years and which is
scheduled for demolition.
Accelerated Reader - 4.1
Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas; adapted by Emily
Hutchinson
Adapts Alexandre Dumas's 1841 novella about the attempted takeover
of King Louis XIV's throne by his long-imprisoned twin brother.
Accelerated Reader - 4.1
Something Upstairs by Avi
When he moves from Los Angeles to Providence, Rhode Island, Kenny
discovers that his new house is haunted by the spirit of a black slave boy who
asks Kenny to return with him to the early nineteenth century and prevent his
murder by slave traders.
Accelerated Reader - 4.1
Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep by Gail Carson
Levine
In this retelling of the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty, Princess
Sonora, who is ten times smarter than anyone else, vows to choose for herself
the best time to be pricked by the spindle.
Accelerated Reader - 4.1
Liar by Winifred Morris
When Alex is allowed to go live with his grandparents to avoid
juvenile detention, his reputation follows him and he has to prove himself - to
some local boys and to his stern grandpa.
Accelerated Reader - 4.1
Switch: a mystery by Kevin McColley
Seventeen-year-old Ken, an epileptic who lives in the shadow of
his older half-brother, meets a drifter who settles into a vacant lot in his
small town which leads him to discover a world of deception, crime, and
revenge.
Accelerated Reader - 4.1
When Jeff Comes Home by Chatherine Atkins
Sixteen-year-old Jeff, returning home after having been kidnapped
and held prisoner for three years, must face his family, friends, and school
and the widespread assumption that he engaged in sexual activity with his
kidnapper.
Accelerated Reader - 4.1
Remember Me 2: the return by Christopher Pike
As a murder victim, Shari resides in a place of eternal light and
love. When she is given the chance to return to earth, reborn into the body of
an unhappy teenager, Shari will do a great service to humanity -- if the evil
ones do not have their way.
Accelerated Reader - 4.1
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley; adapted by Emily
Hutchinson
Victor Frankenstein has discovered the secret of generating life
from lifeless matter, and has created a monster being by using this terrible
power.
Accelerated Reader - 4.2
Granny Torrelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech
With the help of her wise old grandmother, twelve-year-old Rosie
manages to work out some problems in her relationship with her best friend,
Bailey, the boy next door.
Accelerated Reader - 4.2
The Brave by Robert Lipsyte
An adaptation of the classic novel about the French Revolution and
its effect upon the lives of several individuals, both French and English.
Accelerated Reader - 4.2
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, adapted by Emily Hutchinson
A scientist invents a time machine and uses it to travel to the
year 802,701 A.D., where he discovers the childlike Eloi and the hideous
underground Morlocks.
Accelerated Reader - 4.2
What They DonÕt Know by Anita Horrocks
Kelly must solve the mystery behind her sister Hannah's angry,
destructive behavior.
Accelerated Reader - 4.2
Stones in Water by Donna Jo Napoli
After being taken by German soldiers from a local movie theater
along with other Italian boys including his Jewish friend, Roberto is forced to
work in Germany, escapes into the Ukrainian winter, before desperately trying
to make his way back home to Venice.
Accelerated Reader - 4.2
Nothing to Fear by Jackie French Koller
When his father moves away to find work and his mother becomes
ill, Danny struggles to help his family during the Great Depression.
Accelerated Reader - 4.2
ParkÕs Quest by Katherine Paterson
Eleven-year-old Park makes some startling discoveries when he
travels to his grandfather's farm in Virginia to learn about his father who
died in the Vietnam War.
Accelerated Reader - 4.2
Remember Me by Christopher Pike
After her untimely death, eighteen-year-old Shari tries to prove
that she did not commit suicide and to keep the person responsible from killing
again.
Accelerated Reader - 4.2
Remember Me 3: the last story by Christopher Pike
Shari Cooper--a Wanderer, sent back to Earth after death to teach
through stories--is inspired to write a tale of the birth of mankind, unaware
that the story is true and that it has lured forth the dangerous creatures of
which it speaks--creatures that hate Wanderers.
Accelerated Reader - 4.2
Blue Moon by Marilyn Halvorson
Bobby Jo tries to turn a beat-up old horse into a champion barrel
racer.
Accelerated Reader - 4.2
Breath by Donna Jo Napoli
Elaborates on the tale of "The Pied Piper," told from
the point of view of a boy who is too ill to keep up when a piper spirits away
the healthy children of a plague-ridden town after being cheated out of full
payment for ridding Hameln of rats.
Accelerated Reader - 4.2
Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas; adapted by Janice
Greene
Presents an abridged version of the novel in which D'Artagnan and
three musketeers unite to defend the honor of Anne of Austria against the plots
of Cardinal Richeliu during the reign of France's King Louis XIV.
Accelerated Reader - 4.3
Spinners by Jo Napoli & Richard Tchen
Elaborates on the events recounted in the fairy tale,
"Rumpelstiltskin," in which a strange little man helps a miller's
daughter spin straw into gold for the king on the condition that she will give
him her first-born child.
Accelerated Reader - 4.3
Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane; adapted by Emily
Hutchinson
A young Union soldier, Henry Fleming, tells of his feelings when
he is under fire for the first time during the battle of Chancellorsville.
Accelerated Reader - 4.3
Night Kites by M.E. Kerr
Seventeen-year-old Erick's comfortable and well-ordered life
begins to fall apart when he is forced to keep two secrets: the identity of his
new girlfriend and the nature of his brother's debilitating disease.
Accelerated Reader - 4.3
Tell It to Naomi by Daniel Ehrenhaft
In a harebrained scheme concocted by his neurotic older sister to
forge a romantic relationship with the girl of his dreams, fifteen-year-old
Dave Rosen pretends to be a female advice columnist for his school newspaper.
Accelerated Reader - 4.3
Traitor Among Us by Elizabeth Van Steenwyk
In occupied Holland in 1944, thirteen-year-old Pieter becomes
increasingly involved in the work of the Dutch Resistance even though he knows
the risk of being discovered by the Nazi informer who lives in his village.
Accelerated Reader - 4.3
Dancing Naked by Shelley Hrdlitschka
Sixteen-year-old Kia is forced to make some tough decisions when
she becomes pregnant and realizes her actions affect not only her but her
parents, friends, and unborn baby.
Accelerated Reader - 4.3
Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson; adapted by
Janice Greene
Presents an adaptation of the classic story about a respected
doctor who creates a potion that turns him into a vicious criminal.
Accelerated Reader - 4.4
Room in the Heart by Sonia Levitin
After German forces occupy Denmark during World War II,
fifteen-year-old Julie Weinstein and fifteen-year-old Niels Nelson and their
friends and families try to cope with their daily lives, finding various ways
to resist the Nazis and, ultimately, to survive.
Accelerated Reader - 4.4
Lean Mean Machines by Mich¸le Marineau
Teenagers Laure and Jeremy find themselves more and more attracted
to each other, but afraid to show it--and while Jeremy turns toward his love of
bikes, Laure struggles with a secret she cannot bear to let Jeremy know.
Accelerated Reader - 4.4
Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt
Thirteen-year-old Dicey takes care of her three siblings over the
course of a summer in New England and tries to find a new home for all of them
after they are abandoned by their mother.
Accelerated Reader - 4.4
Prep by Jake Coburn
A one-time tag artist, Nick tries to come to terms with the death
of a friend, to protect the brother of his would-be girlfriend, to escape the
violence of wealthy New York City prep-school hoods, and to figure out who he
really is.
Accelerated Reader - 4.4
Kissing Doorknobs by Terry Spencer Hesser
Fourteen-year-old Tara describes how her increasingly strange
compulsions begin to take over her life and affect her relationships with her
family and friends.
Accelerated Reader - 4.4
EvanÕs Voice by Sallie Lowenstein
In a plague decimated future world, Jake must take care of his
plague-stricken brother Evan after their mother abandons them. A strange
storyteller who comes on television and tells tales of amazing alien worlds is
the only ray of hope in this bleak world.
Accelerated Reader - 4.4
Taking Sides by Gary Soto
Fourteen-year-old Lincoln Mendoza, an aspiring basketball player,
must come to terms with his divided loyalties when he moves from the Hispanic
inner city to a white suburban neighborhood.
Accelerated Reader - 4.4