Kate and I finished a chapter in her book, The Outsiders, discussing character traits, use of older language from the 1950's, relationships of characters, purpose and points of view. Then we went on a website of good books for middle school and she perused the list, choosing three. She then read aloud the synopsis of each, the ratings for each, and then made a decision of which she might like to read. The selected book list is at the top of her whiteboard -- all good selections.