If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson

This novel gives students a chance to read a modern novel that deals with interracial relationships. Everyone wants to believe that the world is racism free and tolerant of interracial couples. This book shows that isn't the case. The author herself calls this novel a modern-day Romeo and Juliet. I think it would be a good book to pair with Shakespeare's classic. It could be offered as a supplementary read to help make the story of Romeo and Juliet more current and comprehensible to students.

Edited summary from http://www.jacquelinewoodson.com/ya.shtml

If You Come Softly is about Jeremiah who is fifteen and black and Ellie who is fifteen and white. They meet at a private school and fall in love and then have to deal with how society treats them because they’re an interracial couple. It was inspired by a poem by Audre Lorde that begins:

If you come softly
as the wind within the trees
you may hear what I hear
see what sorrow sees.

This story is a modern-day Romeo and Juliet. The enemies to Jeremiah and Ellie’s love are racism, police brutality and people’s general stupidity.

Woodson, Jacqueline. (1998). If You Come Softly. New York: Putnam’s. 192 pp. ISBN: 0-69-811862-6.

Daniel's Story by Carol Matas

This novel offers students a fictional, first-person account of the Holocaust. It spans the Jewish journey from ghettos to concentration camps to extermination camps. Its historical accuracy compounded with the main character Daniel’s personal experiences and growth makes for an informative and interesting read. Some of Daniel’s changes, emotions, and relationships are ones that middle school students can relate to. It is important for students to learn the history of the Holocaust but this book allows for them to relate to it on a personal level.

Summary Courtesy of http://www.enotes.com/daniels-story-qn

Daniel's Story is the tale of the horrific odyssey of a Jewish family, an odyssey which begins in Frankfurt, Germany in 1933 and concludes in Lodz, Poland in 1945. The narrator, Daniel, both a German and a Jew, is but six years of age when his family's story begins, and he is a very weary eighteen when it concludes. Through Daniel's eyes, readers experience the rising anti-semitism in Germany, a growing hatred which culminates in the Nazis' establishment and gruesome use of the death camps.

Matas, Carol. (1993). Daniel’s Story. New York: Scholastic Paperbacks. 144 pp. ISBN: 0-59-0465885.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

I feel that if my goal as a teacher was to get my students to love reading, this is the book I would start them off with. The book is a captivating, edge-of-your-seat read that I feel would draw in all different types of students. It also gives students a view of different socioeconomic classes coexisting in the classroom and in life, both real situations that they could or are experiencing in their personal lives.

Summary courtesy of http://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/2310/When-You-Reach-Me

By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it's safe to go, like the local grocery store, and they know whom to avoid, like the crazy guy on the corner. But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a new kid for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda's mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then Miranda finds a mysterious note scrawled on a tiny slip of paper: 
           I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own.
           I must ask two favors. First, you must write me a letter.

The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realizes that whoever is leaving them knows all about her, including things that have not even happened yet. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think she's too late.

Stead, Rebecca. (2009). When You Reach Me. New York: Wendy Lamb Books. 197 pp. ISBN: 978-0-385-73742-5.