Choices...Choices...Choices

My 6th grade book club is nearing the end of their first read, Esperanza Rising, so now they will collectively need to make a big decision.  What book are they going to choose to read next? 

I have purchased quite a few books for my club over the years and I've read almost all of them, but I'm trying to guide the girls to pick a book that is going to work for them.  They are typical tweens: they like stories about girls with just a hint of romance, they like reading about students their age, and they like the book to include a lot of action to keep them reading.  Keeping all of these things in mind, I've suggested the following books for them:

Set in 1935, when guards actually lived on Alcatraz Island with their families, Choldenko's second novel brings humor to the complexities of family dynamics.

(Description via Indiebound.org)

Twelve year old Isabel is dying to get out of Willow, Oregon (population 39, 257) and experience something other than her small town. It seems that everyone gets to travel except Isabel--even her best friend, Sophie. When Isabel's mother decides to open up a cupcake shop across town, Isabel is once again stuck in Willow for the summer as she tries to help her mom get the shop up and running. But when Isabel learns of a baking contest where the finalists get an all-expense paid trip to New York City, she realizes this is her chance to finally get out of Willow. Except there are two major roadblocks to this plan: Sophie, who also is entering the contest and is always the best at everything, and her own mom, who wants her to enter the contest on her terms.Can Isabel manage to finally do something for herself, without losing her best friend and further straining her already tenuous relationship with her mother? In this sweet coming-of-age story from popular teen author Lisa Schroeder, Isabel discovers that it's not about where you go in life as much as it is about enjoying the view wherever you are.

(Description via Indiebound.org)

In James Patterson's blockbuster series, fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride, better known as Max, knows what it's like to soar above the world. She and all the members of the "flock"--Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman and Angel--are just like ordinary kids--only they have wings and can fly. It may seem like a dream come true to some, but their lives can morph into a living nightmare at any time...like when Angel, the youngest member of the flock, is kidnapped and taken back to the "School" where she and the others were experimented on by a crew of wack jobs. Her friends brave a journey to blazing hot Death Valley, CA, to save Angel, but soon enough, they find themselves in yet another nightmare--this one involving fighting off the half-human, half-wolf "Erasers" in New York City. Whether in the treetops of Central Park or in the bowels of the Manhattan subway system, Max and her adopted family take the ride of their lives. Along the way Max discovers from her old friend and father-figure Jeb--now her betrayed and greatest enemy--that her purpose is save the world--but can she?

(Description via Indiebound.org)

The girls have a week to think their choices over as we're going to vote next Monday when we have our next meeting.  So, if you were in our club, what book would you want to read next?  I can't wait to see what the girls pick!