[LM_NET] HIT: High lexile range for 6th grade, fiction suggestions

[Maren Wilbur <marenwilbur@GMAIL.COM>]

Thanks to all who responded to my earlier post: high lexile fiction books
for 6th grade. Following the list serv suggests to me that there is a need
out there for all levels in finding age appropriate materials for students
who read at a high lexile for their age.
I had a few replies and a few requests for a hit. Jo Lewis (refer to her
recent post) started a great interactive list at this link based on a post
from Charlotte Lesser regarding this topic:

http://www.quizlist.net/(fbavxhr32gso2w55yock1c55)/BookList.aspx?lid=41358&oid=0

I created a list, which follows at the end of this message along with my
original target and the responses I recieved. thanks much!
Maren Wilbur
SMLS candiate
Youth Service Librarian
Chanhassen, MN
marenwilbur@gmail.com

Okay, I know there was recently a hit for 4th grade reading at a high
lexile, but I am looking for titles for 6th grade maturity appropriate at a
high lexile. I am currently student teaching at a middle school and was
asked by a 6th grade language arts teacher if I could generate a list of age
appropriate fiction titles for her 6th grade students that are reading at a
lexile range of 1100 - 1200. I do have some personal opinions about this,
such as why push a 6th grader who is cabable of reading at such a high
lexile  to read in a high lexile range when they are probably already a very
motivated reader ? But it is an interesting question, and I also get this
asked frequently in the public library  where I currently work. I am
familiar with Lexile.com and when I search fiction I get very few fiction
titles, and ones that I would never ask a 6th grader to read...like Thomas
Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd. Sure does sound like something for a 6th
grader to sink their teeth into, eh?!!!
I also searched Titlewave with a limiter for the lexile range and did get a
few more titles that were appropriate, like the Series of Unfortunate Events
books, just throw a few vocabulary words in there and you've got the high
lexile..but I'd love to offer some more suggestions.

Any ideas out there for some good titles for this high a range?  I know
non-fiction is always a way to push the lexile range higher, but I'm
specifically looking for fiction.
I will post a hit if there is interest.
Thanks!
Maren Wilbur

Mackin is a fantastic jobber.  You can search their website by that lexile
range, limit it to fiction, interest level, then choose any other criteria
listed on their page.  www.mackin.com.
Jeni Friedland
Middleburgh Elementary Library
Middleburgh, NY 12122
melicenter@mac.com

Maren,
you should take a look at that recent post (I'm the poster) - there are tons
of great suggestions for just what you are looking for.  It wasn't so much
for 4th graders as the exact concept you are talking about - an elem. level
reader with a very high reading level.
Charlotte
-----------------------------------------------------------
Charlotte Lesser
Director of Elementary Library Services
Monadnock Regional School District
600 Old Homestead Hwy
Swanzey, NH 03446
(603) 352-6955 x384
clesser@mrsd.org
on the web:  www.mrsd.org/~library
Blog: http://blog.mrsd.org/Library/default.aspx

After attempting for 3 years to require the high lexile books, we reached
the conclusion that jr. high students who had a high school reading level
had the necessary skills.
So we changed our program. . .currently students who test 1000+ have no
lexile requirement at all - only points. So, for 6th grade a book must be
worth at least 5 points to be used for RC, 7th grade it's 6 points, and 8th
grade it's 7 points. The book may worth more than the minimum, but not less.
The change made an instant impact on the program. Good readers no longer
felt put upon as they could now essentially read anything that interested
them.
Came up with a few possible titles:
Saving Shiloh, Adventures of Blue Avenger, Gib rides home, Song of the
Gargoyle.
Possible authors: Paula Fox, Farley Mowat, Jim Kjelgaard, Gary Paulsan,
Susan Cooper
Regards - Paula Tindall, Librarian
R 'Pete' Woodard JHS
Yuma, AZ
pTinDAllatYumAeD.Org

Hi,
I have found (surprisingly!) that some of the Gary Paulsen books are lexiled
pretty high.  Rosemary Sutcliff has many books that are lexiled at 1200 or
so. Incident at Hawk's Hill by Allan Eckert is a 1200.   Gift of the unmage
by Alma Alexander is 1010
I been working at a public middle school library for 23 years and see that
lexile levels are a useful tool for struggling readers, but personally
believe that after students achieve  fluency, they should be encouraged to
read widely and deeply.  One can't be a well educated individual without
having read and considered many varieties (from picture books to scholarly
tomes) and levels of quality ( from trashy to Nobel prize winners) .  I have
ongoing conversations with teachers about not always sticking to lexile
levels and the possibility that graphic novels and verse novels are not
always the "easy books".
I would be interested in a list of the titles that you get.  Oh, yes, I know
that you  are looking for fiction, but Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World
by Jennifer Armstrong is 1090, currently an extremely popular book at our
school ( it's on the Battle of the Books list and one of the 7th grade
teachers is using it in class)

Mary Jane Krajnak
Kodiak Middle School Library
722 Mill Bay Road
Kodiak, AK 99615
mkrajnak@alaska.com
mkrajnak01@kodiakschools.org
Keep a language alive!  Check out the Alutiiq word of the day
http://alutiiqmuseum.org
Currently reading: heartbeat by Sharon Creech

*And now here is my list of high lexile fiction, although it is up to the
individual to judge whether the content is age appropriate to 6th grade. I
haven't been able to review them all. And I haven't added the suggestions
yet into this list. Thanks again!*
**
*Across five Aprils -- Hunt, Irene* RL 6.5, 212p
Young Jethro Creighton grows from a boy to a man when he is left to take
care of the family farm in Illinois during the difficult years of the Civil
War.
Lexile: 1100


*Brian's hunt -- Paulsen, Gary* RL 5.9, 103p
Two years after having survived a plane crash into the Canadian wilderness,
a sixteen-year-old returns to the wild to befriend a wounded dog and hunt a
rogue bear.
Lexile: 1180


*Brian's winter -- Paulsen, Gary* RL 6.2, 133p
Instead of being rescued from a plane crash, as in the author's book
Hatchet, this story portrays what would have happened to Brian had he been
forced to survive a winter in the wilderness with only his survival pack and
hatchet.
Lexile: 1140



*The call of the wild -- London, Jack* RL 8, 112p
Buck, who is half St. Bernard and half Scotch shepard, is abducted and taken
to the Klondike where he reverts to the wild and becomes a leader of a pack
of wolves.
Lexile: 1120



*The crossing -- Paulsen, Gary* RL 5.8, 114p
Thirteen-year-old Manny, a street kid fighting for survival in a Mexican
border town, develops a strange friendship with an emotionally disturbed
American soldier who decides to help him get across the border.
Lexile: 1150



*The cry of the icemark -- Hill, Stuart* RL 6.6, 472p
Princess Thirrin Freer Strong-in-the-Arm Lindenshield forms an army
consisting of the Snow Leopards, ancient Vampires, and ferocious Wolf-folk
in order to protect her kingdom against the armies of the evil general
Scipio Bellorum.
Lexile: 1140



*Downsiders : a novel – Shusterman, Neal*. RL 6.4, 244p
When fourteen-year-old Lindsay meets Talon and discovers the Downsiders
world which had evolved from the subway built in New York in 1867 by Alfred
Ely Beach, she and her new friend experience the clash of their two
cultures.
Lexile: 1110



*The hero and the crown -- McKinley, Robin* RL 6.9, 246p
Aerin, with the guidance of the wizard Luthe and the help of the blue sword,
wins the birthright due her as the daughter of the Damarian king and a
witchwoman of the mysterious, demon-haunted North.
Lexile: 1120



*Larklight, or, The revenge of the white spiders!, or, To Saturn's rings and
back! : a rousing tale of dauntless pluck in the farthest reaches of space
-- Reeve, Philip.* RL 7, 399p

Myrtle and Art, living with their father in an old Victorian house that
floats in Earth's orbit, are called upon to save themselves and the universe
from elephant-sized white spiders and join forces with the notorious space
pirate Jack Havock.
Lexile: 1170



*Letters from Vinnie -- Sappey, Maureen Stack.* RL 7, 252p
Thirteen-year-old Vinnie Ream, who will grow up to sculpt the statue of
Abraham Lincoln that resides in the Capitol building, and her family move to
Washington, D.C. after the Civil War breaks out, and writes to her friend
Regina about her experiences in the capital and her new-found passion for
sculpting.
Lexile: 1120



*Montmorency : thief, liar, gentleman? -- Updale, Eleanor.* RL 7.4, 232p
In Victorian London, after his life is saved by a young physician, a thief
utilizes the knowledge he gains in prison and from the scientific lectures
he attends as the physician's case study exhibit to create a new, highly
successful, double life for himself.
Lexile: 1100



*Pieces of Georgia : a novel -- Bryant, Jennifer.* RL 5.4, 166p
In journal entries to her mother, a gifted artist who died suddenly,
thirteen-year-old Georgia McCoy reveals how her life changes after she
receives an anonymous gift membership to a nearby art museum.
Lexile: 1160



*Pure dead frozen -- Gliori, Debi* RL 7.6, 311p
The Strega-Borgias make one last stand to defend their home against invaders
who seek the Chronostone--and one little baby who may not be what he
appears.
Lexile: 1130


*Pure dead trouble -- Gliori, Debi* RL 6.7, 279p
Danger continues to find the members of the eccentric Strega-Borgia family
at their Scottish castle, this time in the form of a butler who wants to
blow up a nearby corporation and a demon who seeks the all-powerful
Chronostone.
Lexile: 1110


*The quilt -- Paulsen, Gary* RL 5.6, 83p
During World War II, while his father is in Europe fighting and his mother
is working in Chicago, a five-year-old boy goes to live with his grandmother
in a rural Norwegian American community in Minnesota. Based on events from
the author's life.
Lexile: 1160



*Series of Unfortunate Events -- Snicket, Lemony*.

The austere academy -- Snicket, Lemony. RL 6.2
As their outrageous misfortune continues, the Baudelaire orphans are shipped
off to a miserable boarding school, where they befriend the two Quagmire
triplets and find that they have been followed by the dreaded Count Olaf.
Lexile: 1120**

The carnivorous RL 6.9, 286p
Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are taken to the Caligari Carnival where they
disguise themselves as freaks while Count Olaf seeks the help of Madame Lulu
to locate the children and find out the truth concerning their parents'
death.
Lexile: 1120

The ersatz elevator -- Snicket, Lemony. RL 7, 259p
The woeful saga of the Baudelaire orphans continues as evil Count Olaf
discovers their whereabouts at Esme Gigi Geniveve Squalor's seventy-one
bedroom penthouse and concocts a new plan for stealing their family fortune.
Lexile: 1110

The grim grotto -- Snicket, Lemony. RL 6.2, 323p
The Baudelaire orphans attempt to reach an important VFD meeting, but first
they must travel in an old submarine to the Gorgonian Grotto, a dangerous
underwater cave, in search of a sugar bowl.
Lexile: 1120

The hostile hospital -- Snicket, Lemony. RL 6.9, 255p
Violet, Klaus, and Sunny disguise themselves as cheerful hospital volunteers
after they are falsely accused of murder in order to find clues concerning
their parents' deaths and are pursued by Count Olaf who is after their
fortune.
Lexile: 1110

The slippery slope -- Snicket, Lemony. RL 6.8, 337p
In the perilous Mortmain mountains, Klaus and Violet Baudelaire meet another
well-read person, who helps them try to rescue Sunny from the villainous
Count Olaf and his henchmen as they all near "the last safe place."
Lexile: 1150

The wide window-- Snicket, Lemony. RL 6.8, 214p

Catastrophes and misfortune continue to plague the Baudelaire orphans after
they are sent to live with fearful Aunt Josephine who offers little
protection against Count Olaf's treachery.

Lexile: 1150





*Starcross, or, The coming of the Moobs, or, Our adventures in the fourth
dimension! : a stirring adventure of spies, time travel and curious hats --
Reeve, Philip* RL 7.5, 368p
Young Arthur Mumby, his sister Myrtle, and their mother accept an invitation
to take a holiday at an up-and-coming resort in the asteroid belt, where
they become involved in a dastardly plot involving spies, time travel, and
mind-altering clothing.
Lexile: 1150



*Sign of the Qin -- Bass, Laura G.* RL 6.8, 383p
In long-ago China, Prince Zong, the mortal young Starlord chosen to save
humankind from destruction, joins the twin outlaws, White Streak and Black
Whirlwind, to fight the Lord of the Dead and his demon hordes.
Lexile: 1200



*The sword in the stone -- White, T. H.,* RL 7.4, 256p
A retelling of the Arthurian legend.
Lexile: 1120



*The trap -- Smelcer, John E.* RL 6.2, 170p
In alternating chapters, seventeen-year-old Johnny Least-Weasel, who is
better known for brains than brawn, worries about his missing grandfather,
and the grandfather, Albert Least-Weasel, struggles to survive, caught in
his own steel trap in the Alaskan winter.
Lexile: 1100



*Treasure Island** -- Stevenson, Robert Louis* RL 8.3, 197p
While going through the possessions of a deceased guest who owed them money,
the mistress of the inn and her son find a treasure map that leads them to a
pirate's fortune.
Lexile: 1100



*The trumpeter of Krakow -- Kelly, Eric* *Philbrook* RL 5.5, 208p
A Polish family in the Middle Ages guards a great secret treasure and a
boy's memory of an earlier trumpeter of Krakow makes it possible for him to
save his father.
Lexile: 1200



*Up a road slowly -- Hunt, Irene* RL 6.9, 197p
A seven-year-old orphan goes to live with her aunt, where she learns new
values as she grows to young womanhood. There are many happy memories and
sad times too; jealousy of her sister, death of a schoolmate, and
disappointment of first love.
Lexile: 1130



*The war of the worlds -- Wells, H. G*. RL 7.6, 228p
As life on Mars becomes impossible, Martians and their terrifying machines
invade the earth.
Lexile: 1170



*A wizard of Earthsea -- Le Guin, Ursula K.* RL 6.6, 183p
A boy grows to manhood while attempting to subdue the evil he unleashed on
the world as an apprentice to the master wizard.
Lexile: 1150

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