[LIT] Encouraging readers...one book at a time!

[Tena Linsbeck-Perron]

"Encouraging readers...one book at a time!" I need to find books for a
new student. She is an older but struggling reader in the 6th grade.
She looks like a high schooler and is pretty enough to be termed
stunning. We clicked right away. However, she has huge deficits in her
reading and writing and is currently at a 2nd to 3rd grade level in
both.  I have few HI/Lo books that are adequate and I want to help her
feel more confident quickly as she is just beginning middle school. We
are a New England coastal suburban school mostly Caucasian. My new
student is one of only a handful of black/African American students.
What book's would you suggest? I have the Buford series but it does
not reflect this child's environment. Thank you