The Jumping Tree (Laurel-Leaf Books)

These lively stories follow Rey Castaneda from sixth through eighth grade in Nuevo Penitas, Texas. One side of Rey's family lives nearby in Mexico, the other half in Texas, and Rey fits in on both sides of the border. In Nuevo Penitas, he enjoys fooling around with his pals in the barrio; at school, he's one of the "A list" kids.

As Rey begins to cross the border from childhood into manhood, he turns from jokes and games to sense the meaning of work, love, poverty, and grief, and what it means to be a proud Chicano-moments that sometimes propel him to show feelings un hombre should never express. It's a new territory where Rey longs to follow the example his hardworking, loving father has set for him.

• The Breadwinner
• My Brother Sam Is Dead (Scholastic Gold)
• The Boy on the Wooden Box: How the Impossible Became Possible . . . on Schindler's List
• The Giver (1) (Giver Quartet)
• The Outsiders
• A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story
• A Teacher's Guide to Reading Conferences: The Classroom Essentials Series
• Long Way Down
• Mexican WhiteBoy
• Esperanza Rising (Scholastic Gold)