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LELC Institute For Success - Suggested Reading List

Our suggested reading list is a good place to start looking for that next great read, but below you’ll find lists of books and media for all ages and interests. Browse the lists and see what treasures you can uncover.

K thru 3rd grade Reading List

Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House, No. 1)

Mary Pope Osborne

The #1 bestselling chapter book series of all time celebrates 25 years with new covers and a new, easy-to-use numbering system! Where did the tree house come from? Before Jack and Annie can find out, the mysterious tree house whisks them to the prehistoric past. Now they have to figure out how to get home. Can they do it before dark…or will they become a dinosaur’s dinner? Did you know that there’s a Magic Tree House book for every kid?

 

Junie B. Jones's First Boxed Set Ever! (Books 1-4)

Barbara Park

Laugh yourself silly with the world's funniest kindergartner—Junie B. Jones! Books in this boxed set include: Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus (#1), Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business (#2), Junie B. Jones and Her Big Fat Mouth (#3), and Junie B. Jones and Some Sneaky Peeky Spying (#4). Perfect for the first day of kindergarten, preschool and kindergarten graduation gifts, and birthday and holiday gifts for the young readers in your life!

The Three Little Fish and The Big Bad Shark

Ken Geist

Mama tells her three little fish that it's time to make their own homes. Jim builds his house of seaweed, but the big bad shark munches it up. Tim builds his house of sand, but the shark crunches it up. It's smart Kim who sets up house in an old sunken ship! Children will delight in this silly story with funny, eye-popping illustrations. And there's foil on the cover!

The Maggie B

Irene Haas

A little girl's wish for one day of sailing on a ship named after her comes true, but a storm at sea threatens to ruin the adventure.

Big Bug Surprise

Julia Gran

A children's book about bugs.

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4th thru 8th Grade Reading List

Walk Two Moons

Sharon Creech

Thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle, proud of her country roots and the "Indian-ness in her blood," travels from Ohio to Idaho with her eccentric grandparents. Along the way, she tells them of the story of Phoebe Winterbottom, who received mysterious messages, who met a "potential lunatic," and whose mother disappeared. As Sal entertains her grandparents with Phoebe's outrageous story, her own story begins to unfold—the story of a thirteen-year-old girl whose only wish is to be reunited with her missing mother.

Out of the Dust

Karen Hesse

This gripping story, written in sparse first-person, free-verse poems, is the compelling tale of Billie Jo's struggle to survive during the dust bowl years of the Depression. With stoic courage, she learns to cope with the loss of her mother and her grieving father's slow deterioration. There is hope at the end when Billie Jo's badly burned hands are healed, and she is able to play her beloved piano again. The 1998 Newbery Medal winner.

Because of Winn-Dixie

Kate DiCamillo

One summer's day, ten-year-old India Opal Buloni goes down to the local supermarket for some groceries – and comes home with a dog. But Winn-Dixie is no ordinary dog. It's because of Winn-Dixie that Opal begins to make friends. And it's because of Winn-Dixie that she finally dares to ask her father about her mother, who left when Opal was three. In fact, as Opal admits, just about everything that happens that summer is because of Winn-Dixie. Featuring a new cover illustration by E. B. Lewis.
 

Holes

Louis Sachar

Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnatses. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys’ detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the boys build character by spending all day, every day digging holes exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. But there are an awful lot of holes. It doesn’t take long for Stanley to realize there’s more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the warden is looking for something. But what could be buried under a dried-up lake? Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment—and redemption.

Bridge to Terabithia

Katheine Paterson

Jess Aarons has been practicing all summer so he can be the fastest runner in the fifth grade. And he almost is, until the new girl in school, Leslie Burke, outpaces him. The two become fast friends and spend most days in the woods behind Leslie’s house, where they invent an enchanted land called Terabithia. One morning, Leslie goes to Terabithia without Jess and a tragedy occurs. It will take the love of his family and the strength that Leslie has given him for Jess to be able to deal with his grief. Bridge to Terabithia was also named an ALA Notable Children’s Book and has become a touchstone of children’s literature, as have many of Katherine Paterson’s other novels, including The Great Gilly Hopkins and Jacob Have I Loved.

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High School Reading List

A List of Cages

Robin Roe

When Adam Blake lands the best elective ever in his senior year, serving as an aide to the school psychologist, he thinks he's got it made. Sure, it means a lot of sitting around, which isn't easy for a guy with ADHD, but he can't complain, since he gets to spend the period texting all his friends. Then the doctor asks him to track down the troubled freshman who keeps dodging her, and Adam discovers that the boy is Julian--the foster brother he hasn't seen in five years.

1984

George Orwell

Winston Smith toes the Party line, rewriting history to satisfy the demands of the Ministry of Truth. With each lie he writes, Winston grows to hate the Party that seeks power for its own sake and persecutes those who dare to commit thoughtcrimes. But as he starts to think for himself, Winston can’t escape the fact that Big Brother is always watching...A startling and haunting vision of the world, 1984 is so powerful that it is completely convincing from start to finish. No one can deny the influence of this novel, its hold on the imaginations of multiple generations of readers, or the resiliency of its admonitions—a legacy that seems only to grow with the passage of time.

The Book Thief

Markus Zusak


It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.
Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement. In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak, author of I Am the Messenger, has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

To Kill a Mockingbird

Harper Lee

One of the best-loved stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than forty million copies worldwide, served as the basis for an enormously popular motion picture, and was voted one of the best novels of the twentieth century by librarians across the country. A gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice, it views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl, as her father—a crusading local lawyer—risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.

Looking for Alaska

John Green

Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps” even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then. . . .

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Adult Suggested Reading List

Jump - Take the Leap of Faith to Achieve Your Life of Abundance

Steve Harvey

The #1 New York Times bestselling author shares the secret of his success and teaches you how to achieve the blessed full life that belongs to you. His message is simple: You need to JUMP like your life depends on it—because it does—if you truly want a life of peace and abundance. Life is an incredible journey. It’s not good enough to exist—you need to live. You need to JUMP—to take a leap of faith, a risk toward the rich life God has planned for you.

Me 2.0, Revised and Updated Edition: 4 Steps to Building Your Future

Dan Schawbel

Me 2.0 shows job seekers and established professionals alike how to leverage the power of online media for personal empowerment and career success. 

Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion

Dan Gary Vaynerchuk

Do you have a hobby you wish you could do all day? An obsession that keeps you up at night? Now is the perfect time to take those passions and make a living doing what you love. In CRUSH IT! Why NOW Is The Time To Cash In On Your Passion, Gary Vaynerchuk shows you how to use the power of the Internet to turn your real interests into real businesses. Gary spent years building his family business from a local wine shop into a national industry leader. Then one day he turned on a video camera, and by using the secrets revealed in this book, transformed his entire life and earning potential by building his personal brand. By the end of this book, any reader will have learned how to harness the power of the Internet to make their entrepreneurial dreams come true. Step by step, CRUSH IT! is the ultimate driver′s manual for modern business.

The Ultimate Goals Program: How To Get Everything You Want Faster Than You Thought Possible (Audio CD)

Brian Tracy

Your ability to set and achieve goals will determine your success and happiness more than any other skill. The starting point of great success is when you sit down and decide exactly what you really want, in every area of your life. Success guru Brian Tracy shares the results of 30 years of research and experience in setting and achieving goals and by taking you through a simple, proven step-by-step system that you can use immediately to achieve anything you really want in life.

How to Win Friends & Influence People

Dale Carnegie

You can go after the job you want—and get it!

You can take the job you have—and improve it!

You can take any situation—and make it work for you!

Dale Carnegie’s rock-solid, time-tested advice has carried countless people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives. One of the most groundbreaking and timeless bestsellers of all time, How to Win Friends & Influence People will teach you:

-Six ways to make people like you

-Twelve ways to win people to your way of thinking

-Nine ways to change people without arousing resentment

And much more! Achieve your maximum potential—a must-read for the twenty-first century with more than 15 million copies sold!

151 Quick Ideas to Get New Customers

Jerry R. Wilson

For most businesses, attracting new customers is a never-ending effort anchored in uncertainty, frustration and knee-jerk reactions. Jerry Wilson's 151 Quick Ideas to Get New Customers takes the mystery out of creating an ongoing plan with proven tactics to keep the phone ringing and the door swinging. The basic concept: Attract an endless flood of new customers at little or no cost!

151 Quick Ideas to Get New Customers demonstrates that you don't have to use expensive and never-ending sales events, coupled with expensive advertising and energy-zapping promotions, to turn on a constant, never-ending flow of new prospects. And you don't have to invent any new approaches, concepts, or buzzwords to do it! Just follow some of Jerry Wilson's 151 proven ideas and discover amazing results--fast!

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