The Gordon School
Middle School
Summer Reading List
2010
Dear Families,
As spring begins to unfold and the days grow longer, I am filled with anticipation for a summer
filled with pleasure reading. I hope that you too are anticipating the long, and perhaps lazy,
days of summer as a time of communing with a pile of good books. In this booklet you will find
the Middle School Summer Reading List. On the first page, you will discover the required reading books, divided by grade level. Please assist your children in reading the required books as
the teachers utilize these books in the fall for a variety of assignments and projects. You can find
all of these books at your local libraries, bookstores and through online vendors.
Next year’s Karla Harry Visiting Author will be award-winning writer Julia Alvarez. Ms.
Alvarez was recently awarded the F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Outstanding Achievement in
American Literature and her books have been selected for the American Library Association’s
Pura Belpré Award, Child Magazine’s Best Books for Children, and many state best book
awards. You can learn more about Julia Alvarez, her books and her work with her sustainable
coffee farm at her website: www.juliaalvarez.com. She will visit with Gordon’s middle school
students on Wednesday and Thursday, November 3rd and 4th, 2010. I have included a list of
currently available titles by Julia Alvarez and I strongly encourage our middle school students
and their families to familiarize themselves with the incredible range of her written work.
Students who will participate in the Modern Language program should read the designated
required reading book for the language of their choice. These foreign language books may be
found at your local libraries or you can purchase them through www.amazon.com , www.wor.
com and www.languagelizard.com.
Have a fabulous summer of reading!
Sincerely,
Suzanne Fox
Middle School Librarian
Required Summer Reading
Fifth Grade
The Dragon’s Child: a story of Angel Island by Laurence Yep
Please select two additional titles from the 2011 Rhode Island Children’s Book Award Nominee list
(included in this packet).
Sixth Grade
The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child by Francisco Jimenez
Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez
Please select two additional titles from the Summer Reading List.
Seventh Grade
A Cafecito Story by Julia Alvarez
Who Was First?: discovering the Americas by Russell Freedman
Please select two additional titles from the Summer Reading List.
Eighth Grade
Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez
A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson
Please select two additional titles from the Summer Reading List.
French
Fifth grade
That’s My Mum/Voici Ma Maman by Henriette Barkow (bilingual) (www.languageliizard.com)
Sixth grade
The Giant Turnip/Le Navet Géant by Henriette Barkow (bilingual) (www.languagelizard.com)
Seventh grade
Une Mangue pour grand-père (French) by Caroline Hudicourt (www.wor.com)
Eighth grade
Shadé à Monmartre (French) by Anne Laflaquière and Hélène Boulmier (www.wor.om)
Spanish
Fifth grade
Upside Down Boy/ El Niño de Cabeza (bilingual) by Juan Felipe Herrera (www.childrensbookpress.org or
www.amazon.com)
Sixth grade
César: Sí Se puede! / Yes, We can ! Janitor Strike in L.A. (bilingual) by Diana Cohn (www.wor.com or www.
amazon.com)
Seventh grade
Las Huellas Secretas (Spanish) by Julia Alvarez (www.amazon.com)
Eighth grade
Un regalo de gracias: La Leyenda de la Altagracia (Spanish) by Julia Alvarez (www.amazon.com)
By Julia Alvarez, 2010 Karla Harry Visiting Author
A Cafecito Story
Joe, feeling increasingly distanced from the
natural world, meets a coffee farmer while
on vacation in the Dominican Republic, and
comes to understand the role of coffee in the
global economy, the environment, and the
protection of songbird habitats.
Interest level: young adult, adult
Available in English, Bilingual, and Spanish
editions
Before We Were Free/ Antes de ser libres
Anita, a typically self-absorbed twelveyear-old living in the Dominican Republic
in the early 1960s, is surprised to discover
her family is involved in the underground
movement to end the bloody rule of the
dictator, General Trujillo.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
How Tia Lola Came to Visit Stay/ Cuando Tia
Lola vino de visita a quedarse
Although initially embarrassed by his colorful Tia Lola when she comes to Vermont
from the Dominican Republic to stay with
his mother, his sister, and him after his
parents’ divorce, ten-year-old Miguel soon
learns to love her.
Interest level: third through fifth grade
Finding Miracles
Fifteen-year-old Milly Kaufman is an average American teenager until Pablo, a new
student at her school, inspires her to search
for her birth family in his native country.
Interest level: young adult
How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents
The story of the Garcia family’s adjustment
to life in the United States.
Interest level: young adult, adult
In the Name of Salome: a novel
A novel based on the life of Profesora
Camila Henriquez-Urena, a teacher whose
mother was Salome Urena, famous nineteenth-century political poet from the Dominican Republic.
Interest level: adult
Once Upon a Quinceanera : coming of age in the
USA
Explores a Latina girl’s coming of age ceremony, discussing the origins and cultural
importance of a quinceanera and providing
insight into the financial and social implications of a quince party.
Interest level: young adult, adult
Return to Sender
After his family hires migrant Mexican
workers to help save their Vermont farm
from foreclosure, eleven-year-old Tyler
befriends the oldest daughter, but when he
discovers they may not be in the country legally, he realizes that real friendship knows
no borders.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
The Secret Footprints/ Las Huellas Secretas
A story based on Dominican folklore, about
the ciguapas, a tribe of beautiful underwater
people whose feet are attached backwards,
with their toes pointing in the direction
from which they have come.
Interest level: kindergarten through adult
A Gift of Gracias/ Un Regalo de Gracias : la
leyenda de la Altagracia
Maria’s family is almost forced to leave
their farm on the new island colony, until a
mysterious lady appears in Maria’s dream.
Interest level: kindergarten through adult
Yo!
Yolanda Garcia finds success with her first
novel in which she made characters out
of her family members and friends, but
her “fictionally victimized” relatives exact
revenge by telling all they know about the
author, Yo.
Interest level: adult
Something to Declare
A collection of two dozen essays written by
bestselling author Julia Alvarez that discuss
the major issues she has had to face in her
life.
Interest level: adult
In the Time of the Butterflies
Gives a fictionalized account of four sisters
in the Dominican Republic under the dictatorship of General Trujillo.
Interest level: adult
Homecoming : new and collected poems
A collection of poems based on the author’s
childhood experiences in the Dominican
Republic.
Interest level: adult
Saving the World: a novel
Latina novelist Alma Huebner begs off joining her husband on a humanitarian mission
to the Dominican Republic to work on her
next book, and finds herself becoming obsessed with the life of her subject--a woman
who hand-picked a group of orphan boys
to serve as live carriers of the small pox
virus in order to provide Spaniard Francisco
Xavier Balmis a ready supply of vaccine
with which to inoculate the populations of
Spain’s American colonies in 1803.
Interest level: adult
Additional Titles
American Born Chinese
Yang, Gene Luen
An award-winning graphic novel that
aptly explores issues of self-image, cultural
identity, transformation, and self-acceptance. This novel explores the impact of the
“American Dream” on those outside the
dominant culture in a finely wrought story
that is an effective combination of humor
and drama.
Interest level: young adult
Blue Jasmine
Sheth, Kashmira
When twelve-year-old Seema moves to
Iowa City with her parents and younger
sister, she leaves friends and family behind
in her native India but gradually begins to
feel at home in her new country.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grades
Bone by Bone by Bone
Johnston, Tony
Small town Tennessee in the 1950s comes
vividly to life in this story of a risky friendship. David, nine, and Malcom, eight, are
both firecrackers, full of mischief and way
too curious and independent to accept the
rigid social normal that the adults around
them take for granted. The corrosive effects of racism, on both black and white,
are thoughtfully explored in the finely
drawn minor characters as well. This is a
beautifully written and haunting novel that
provides readers with a deeper understanding of the country’s past and the heavy
price that must be paid in order to live with
integrity.
Interest level: young adult
Box Out
Coy, John
High school sophomore Liam jeopardizes
his new position on the varsity basketball team when he decides to take a stand
against his coach who is leading prayers
before games and enforcing team-wide
participation.
Interest level: young adult
The Boy Who Dared
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell
In October, 1942, seventeen-year-old
Helmuth Hubener, imprisoned for distributing anti-Nazi leaflets, recalls his past life
and how he came to dedicate himself to
bring the truth about Hitler and the war to
the German people.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
Cirque du Freak (series)
By Shan, Darren
Two boys who are best friends visit an illegal freak show, where an encounter with a
vampire and a deadly spider forces them to
make life-changing choices.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
Climbing the Stairs
Venkatraman, Padma
In India, in 1941, when her father becomes
brain-damaged in a non-violent protest
march, fifteen-year-old Vidya and her family are forced to move in with her father’s
extended family and become accustomed to
a totally different way of life.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
Code Talker: a novel about the Navajo Marines
of World War Two
Bruchac, Joseph
After being taught in a boarding school run
by whites that Navajo is a useless language,
Ned Begay and other Navajo men are
recruited by the Marines to become Code
Talkers, sending messages during World
War II in their native tongue.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
Cracker!: the best dog in Vietnam
Kadohata, Cynthia
Bred as a show dog, Magnificent Dawn of
Venus von Braun was a German shepherd
destined for greatness until a broken leg
took her out of contention and into the arms
of a boy named Willie. Reminded of the
landlord’s no-pet policy, the heartbroken
boy answers a newspaper ad and Venus,
now “Cracker,” is accepted into a military
canine unit to help soldiers sniff out booby
traps in Vietnam. She and her handler, Rick
Hanski, quickly bond and head to the front
lines. Cracker and Rick’s successful missions lead to more dangerous operations
and they are ultimately separated during
a siege. Critically wounded, Rick is sent
home, not knowing what has become of
Cracker, and it is a heart-wrenching wait for
word on her whereabouts.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
Darkside (series)
Becker, Tom
Jonathan Starling’s father is in an asylum
and his home has been attacked when,
while running away from kidnappers, he
stumbles upon Darkside, a terrifying and
hidden part of London ruled by the descendants of Jack the Ripper, where Jonathan is
in mortal danger if he cannot find the way
out.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
The Door of No Return
Mussi, Sarah
Zac is a British teenager descended from
Ghanaian royalty. He ignores his grandfather’s legends of colonial betrayal and lost
treasure until suspicious deaths and thefts
place Zac at the center of a government
conspiracy against reparations. This book
is an adventure filled with intrigue and an
underlying historical framework, which
remains powerful and poignant.
Interest level: young adult
The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming
David, Laurie
A collection of facts and information about
global warming and its consequences, with
suggestions on maintaining a healthy environment in the home, at school, and in the
community.
Interest level: third through sixth grade
Feathers
Woodson, Jacqueline
When a new, white student nicknamed “The
Jesus Boy” joins her sixth grade class in the
winter of 1971, Frannie’s growing friendship with him makes her start to see some
things in a new light.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
Flush
By Hiaasen, Carl
With their father jailed for sinking a river
boat, Noah Underwood and his younger
sister, Abbey, must gather evidence that the
owner of this floating casino is emptying his
bilge tanks into the protected waters around
their Florida Keys home.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
Generation Green: the ultimate teen guide to living an eco-friendly life
Sivertsen, Linda
Offers ideas on living sustainably for teenagers, discussing global warming, shopping, dressing, eating, traveling, and other
related topics.
Interest level: young adult
Going Going
By Nye, Naomi Shihab
Florrie, a sixteen-year-old living in San
Antonio, Texas, leads her friends and a new
boyfriend in a campaign, which supports
small businesses and protests the effects of
chain stores.
Interest level: young adult
Good Enough
Yoo, Paula
A Korean American teenager tries to please
her parents by getting into an Ivy League
college, but a new guy in school and her
love of the violin tempt her in new directions.
Interest level: young adult
The Graveyard Book
Gaiman, Neil
The orphan Bod, short for Nobody, is taken
in by the inhabitants of a graveyard as a
child of eighteen months and raised lovingly and carefully to the age of eighteen
years by the community of ghosts and otherworldly creatures.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
Hiroshima Dreams
Easton, Kelly
Lin O’Neil, a talented but shy girl growing
up in Providence, Rhode Island, develops a
close relationship with her Japanese grandmother, who shares Lin’s gift of precognition.
Interest level: young adult
Hit the Road, Manny
Burch, Christian
As the Dalinger family travels across America in a rented recreational vehicle, Keats
grows more accepting of the attention-getting behavior of their “manny”--male nanny--especially after a visit with the manny’s
parents on their Wyoming ranch.
Interest level: third through sixth grade
The Hunger Games (series)
Collins, Suzanne
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen accidentally becomes a contender in the annual
Hunger Games, a competition hosted by the
Capitol where young boys and girls are pitted against one another in a televised fight
to the death.
Interest level: young adult
Hurt Go Happy
Rorby, Ginny
Thirteen-year-old Joey Willis has been deaf
since age six, but her mother has refused
to let her learn sign language, leaving Joey
struggling to connect with those around her
until she meets Dr. Charles Mansell and his
baby chimpanzee, who secretly teach Joey
how to sign.
Interest level: young adult
Little Brother
Doctorow, Cory
Interrogated for days by the Department
of Homeland Security in the aftermath of
a major terrorist attack on San Francisco,
California, seventeen-year-old Marcus is
released into what is now a police state, and
decides to use his expertise in computer
hacking to set things right.
Interest level: young adult
I’ll Pass for Your Comrade: women soldiers in
the Civil War
Silvey, Anita
Profiles the lives and service of a number of
women who disguised themselves as men
and fought during the Civil War.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
Maritcha : a nineteenth-century American girl
Bolden, Tonya
Presents the personal memoirs of Maritcha
Remond Lyons who was born in nineteenthcentury New York City. The book describes
how she and her family escaped to Rhode
Island during the 1863 Draft riots and how
she overcame prejudice to become the first
African-American person to graduate from
Providence High School.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
Independent Dames: what you never knew about
the women and girls of the American Revolution
Anderson, Laurie Halse
Describes the role women and young girls
played in the American Revolution, highlighting the contributions and exploits of
women who had a significant impact on the
colonists’ fight for freedom.
Interest level: third through sixth grade
The Kayla Chronicles: a novel
Winston, Sherri
Kayla Dean auditions for her school’s elite
dance team, the Lady Lions, hoping to expose the team’s unfair selection process, but
when she actually makes the team, Kayla
finds herself drawn to the other girls and
questions what it means to be a powerful
African American woman.
Interest level: young adult
The Lightning Thief (series)
Riordan, Rick
After learning that he is the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, god of the sea,
twelve-year-old Percy is sent to a summer
camp for demigods like himself, and joins
his new friends on a quest to prevent a war
between the gods.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
Maya Running
Banerjee, Anjali
Maya, a Canadian of East Indian descent,
struggles with her ethnic identity, infatuation with a classmate, and the presence of
her beautiful Bengali cousin, Pinky, who
comes for a visit bearing a powerful statue
of the god Ganesh, the Hindu elephant boy.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
Memories of Babi: stories
Siegal, Aranka
A collection of nine short stories by Aranka
Siegal that recount the adventures of Piri
as she visits her grandmother, Babi, in the
Ukrainian village of Komjaty.
Inerest level: fifth through eighth grade
Mexican Whiteboy
Pena, Matt de la
Danny, who is tall and skinny but has a
talent for pitching a fastball, cannot seem
to fit in at school in San Diego, where his
Mexican and white heritage causes people
to judge him before he even speaks.
Interest level: young adult
Milagros: Girl from Away
Medina, Meg
Twelve-year-old Milagros escapes an attack on her Caribbean island home. Miraculously, she arrives at an island off the
coast of Maine. Woven into the story of her
new life are concurrent chapters set aboard
her father’s pirate ship. Medina’s use of
magical realism keeps readers tantalizingly
off-balance. Milagros is a survivor, and her
strange, haunting tale will remain with
readers.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
The Misfits
Howe, James
Four students who do not fit in at their
small-town middle school decide to create a
third party for the student council elections
to represent all students who have ever
been called names.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
My Mother the Cheerleader : a novel
Sharenow, Robert
Thirteen-year-old Louise uncovers secrets
about her family and her neighborhood
during the violent protests over school desegregation in 1960 New Orleans.
Interest level: young adult
The Mysterious Benedict Society (series)
Stewart, Trenton Lee
After passing a series of mind-bending tests,
four children are selected for a secret mission that requires them to go undercover at
the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are
no rules.
Interest level: third through sixth grade
Peak
Smith, Roland
A fourteen-year-old boy attempts to be the
youngest person to reach the top of Mount
Everest.
Interest level: young adult
Point Blank
Johnston, Antony
A graphic novel adaptation of Anthony
Horowitz’s novel in which fourteen-yearold Alex continues his work as a spy for
the British MI6, investigating an exclusive
school for boys in the French Alps.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
Secrets, Lies, and Algebra (series)
Lichtman, Wendy
Tess has always loved math, and she uses
mathematical concepts to help her understand things in her life, so she is dismayed
to find out how much math--and life--can
change in eighth grade.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
Project Mulberry
Park, Linda Sue
Julia, a Korean-American, and her friend
Patrick learn about tolerance, friendship,
and patience while working together on a
project about silkworms.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
Shanghai Shadows
Ruby, Lois
From 1939 to 1945, a Jewish family struggles
to survive in occupied China; young Ilse by
remaining optimistic, her older brother by
joining a resistance movement, her mother
by maintaining connections to the past, and
her father by playing the violin that had
been his livelihood.
Interest level: young adult
Reaching for Sun
Zimmer, Tracie Vaughn
Josie, who lives with her mother and grandmother and has cerebral palsy, befriends a
boy who moves into one of the rich houses
behind her old farmhouse.
Interest level: third through sixth grade
Rules
Lord, Cynthia
Frustrated at life with an autistic brother,
twelve-year-old Catherine longs for a
normal existence but her world is further
complicated by a friendship with a young
paraplegic.
Interest level: third through sixth grade
Shark Girl
Bingham, Kelly
After a shark attack causes the amputation
of her right arm, fifteen-year-old Jane, an
aspiring artist, struggles to come to terms
with her loss and the changes it imposes
on her day-to-day life and her plans for the
future.
Interest level: young adult
So Hard to Say
Sanchez, Alex
Thirteen-year-old Xio, a Mexican American
girl, and Frederick, who has just moved to
California from Wisconsin, quickly become
close friends, but when Xio starts thinking
of Frederick as her boyfriend, he must confront his feelings of confusion and face the
realization that he might be gay.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
Satchel Paige: striking out Jim Crow
Sturm, James
A graphic novel account of the career of Negro League pitcher Satchel Paige, discussing
the show he put on as a popular player, as
well as the respect he demanded as an African-American.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
Tasting the Sky: a Palestinian childhood
Barakat, Ibtisam
A memoir in which the author describes her
childhood as a Palestinian refugee, discussing her family’s experiences during and
after the Six-Day War, and the freedom she
felt at learning to read and write.
Interest level: young adult
Red Hot Salsa : bilingual poems on being young
and Latino in the United States
Presents a collection of poems written in
both Spanish and English on being young
and Latino growing up in the United States.
Interest level: young adult
Three Little Words: a memoir
Rhodes-Courter, Ashley
Ashley Rhodes-Courter provides an account of her life, focusing on the nine years
she spent in Florida’s foster care system
after being removed from her mother at the
age of three, and explaining how her life
changed after she was adopted.
Interest level: young adult
Touching Spirit Bear
Mikaelsen, Ben
After his anger erupts into violence, fifteen
year-old Cole, in order to avoid going to
prison, agrees to participate in a sentencing
alternative based on the Native American
Circle Justice, and he is sent to a remote
Alaskan Island where an encounter with a
huge Spirit Bear changes his life.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
Under the Persimmon Tree
Staples, Suzanne Fisher
A young Afghan girl, Najmah, befriends
an American woman, Nusrat in Peshawar,
Pakistan, after Najmah flees her native Afghanistan during the 2001 war; and together
they begin a long journey to locate their
missing loved ones after the war ends.
Interest level: young adult
Whisper in the Dark
Bruchac, Joseph
An ancient and terrifying Narragansett Native American legend begins to come true
for a teenage long-distance runner whose
recovery from the accident that killed her
parents has stunned everyone, including
her guardian aunt in Providence, Rhode
Island.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
Your Own, Sylvia: a verse portrait of Sylvia
Plath
Hemphill, Stephanie
A series of poems that provide a chronological portrait of the life of Sylvia Plath, told
in the voices of family members, friends,
associates, and others who knew her.
Interest level: young adult
Rhode Island Children’s Book Award: 2011 Nominees
11 Birthdays
Mass, Wendy
After celebrating their first nine same-day
birthdays together, Amanda and Leo, having fallen out on their tenth and not speaking to each other for the last year, prepare to
celebrate their eleventh birthday separately
but peculiar things begin to happen as the
day of their birthday begins to repeat itself
over and over again.
Interest level: third through sixth grade
African Acrostics : a word in edgeways
Harley, Avis
Contains color photographs of various African animals, each with a lighthearted poem
that contains acrostics.
Interest level: third through sixth grade
Donavan’s Double Trouble
DeGross, Monalisa
Fourth-grader Donavan is sensitive about
the problems he has understanding math,
and then when his favorite uncle, a former
high school basketball star, returns from National Guard duty an amputee, Donavan’s
problems get even worse as he struggles to
accept this “new” Uncle Vic.
Interest level: third through sixth grade
Dying to Meet You
Klise, Kate
In this story told mostly through letters,
children’s book author, I. B. Grumply, gets
more than he bargained for when he rents a
quiet place to write for the summer.
Interest level: third through sixth grade
Kenny & The Dragon
DiTerlizzi, Tony
Kenny Rabbit tries to save his friend, the
dragon, after he is labeled a community nuisance by the simple people of Roundbrook
village, who arrange for the creature to be
fought by St. George.
Interest level: third through sixth grade
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg
Philbrick, Rodman
Homer P. Figg escapes from his wretched
foster home in Pine Swamp, Maine, and
sets out to find his beloved older brother,
Harold, who has been illegally sold into the
Union Army.
Interest level: third through sixth grade
Odd and the Frost Giants
Gaiman, Neil
An unlucky twelve-year-old Norwegian
boy named Odd leads the Norse gods Loki,
Thor, and Odin in an attempt to outwit evil
Frost Giants who have taken over Asgard.
Interest level: third through sixth grade
Tofu Quilt
Russell, Ching Yeung
Growing up in 1960s Hong Kong, a young
girl dreams of becoming a writer in spite of
conventional limits placed on her by society
and family.
Interest level: third through sixth grade
Umbrella Summer
Graff, Lisa
After her brother Jared dies, ten-year-old
Annie worries about the hidden dangers of
everything, from bug bites to bicycle riding,
until she is befriended by a new neighbor
who is grieving her own loss.
Interest level: third through sixth grade
Wild Girl
Giff, Patricia Reilly
When twelve-year-old Lidie leaves Brazil to
join her father and brother on a horse ranch
in New York, she has a hard time adjusting to her changed circumstances, as does a
new horse that has come to the ranch.
Interest level: third through sixth grade
Adventures in Cartooning
Sturm, James
Uses a story about a magical elf who helps a
princess learn how to draw a comic to present techniques for and advice about drawing comics.
Interest level: third through sixth grade
Darwin
McGinty, Alice
Contains the hopes, fears, and private
thoughts of Charles Darwin as he develops
his idea about survival of the fittest, with
illustrations.
Interest level: kindergarten through third
grade
The Dragon’s Child : a story of Angel Island
Yep, Laurence,
Ten-year-old Gim Lew Yep immigrates from
China to America with his father, whom
Gim barely knows, and fears he will be a
disappointment to his family when he arrives at Angel Island.
Interest level: third through sixth grade
How Oliver Olson Changed the World
Mills, Claudia
Afraid he will always be an outsider like
ex-planet Pluto, nine-year-old Oliver finally
shows his extremely overprotective parents that he is capable of doing great things
without their help while his class is studying the solar system.
Interest level: kindergarten through third
grade
The Magic Thief
Prineas, Sarah
Conn’s life is forever changed when he tries
to pick the pocket of the wizard Nevery
and instead gets a strong jolt of magic, but,
instead of punishing the boy, Nevery takes
Conn under his wing, teaches him magic,
and enlists his help in finding the person
responsible for stealing the city’s dwindling
magic supply.
Interest level: third through sixth grade
Never Smile at a Monkey : and 17 other important things to remember
Jenkins, Steve
Presents an illustrated discussion of what
not to do around various dangerous
animals, with warnings about petting a
platypus, touching a tang fish, or pulling a
python’s tail.
Interest level: kindergarten through third
grade
Redwoods
Chin, Jason
While reading a book about redwood trees
on the subway, a young boy travels as he
learns, all the way to the forests of California.
Interest level: kindergarten through third
grade
Tricking the Tallyman
Davies, Jacqueline
In 1790, the suspicious residents of a small
Vermont town try to trick the man who has
been sent to count their population for the
first United States Census.
Interest level: kindergarten through third
grade
Where the Mountain meets the Moon
Lin, Grace.
Minli, an adventurous girl from a poor village, buys a magical goldfish, and then joins
a dragon who cannot fly on a quest to find
the Old Man of the Moon in hopes of bringing life to Fruitless Mountain and freshness
to Jade River.
Interest level: third through sixth grade
Wishworks, Inc.
Tolan, Stephanie S.
When he is granted his wish for a dog from
Wishworks, Inc., third-grader Max is disappointed to find that his new pet is nothing
like the dog in his imagination.
Interest level: third through sixth grade
Rhode Island Teen Book Award: 2011 Nominees
Recommended for Middle School
Students
The Juvie Three
Korman, Gordon
Crime landed them in jail, but their luck
changes when Mr. Healy selects them to
serve their sentences in his halfway house.
When Mr. Healy is injured, everything
changes.
Interest level: young adult
The Red Blazer Girls: The Ring of Rocamadour
Beil, Michael
Three seventh grade detectives in New York
help a neighbor solve puzzles hidden in the
church next to their school while looking to
find a legendary ruby ring.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
Scat
Hiaasen, Carl
While on a field trip in a Florida wildlife
preserve, Nick and Marta decide to investigate when a mysterious fire starts and their
unpopular teacher disappears.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
The Truth About Truman School
Butler, Dori Hillstad
Zebby and Amr just want to have an uncensored, online school magazine, but someone
uses their website to bully a popular girl …
should they censor their classmates?
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
Word Nerd
Nielsen-Fernlund, Susin
Ambrose is a magnet for bullies, making
his mother decide to homeschool him. He
then befriends the neighborhood ex-con
and joins a scrabble club … all behind his
mother’s back!
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
Recommended for All Teens
All the Broken Pieces
Burg, Ann
In a free-verse story, adoptee Matt Pin
struggles with the conflict between loving
his new family and remembering his birth
mother and the little brother he left behind
in Vietnam.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
Chains: Seeds of America
Anderson, Laurie Halse
Isabel, a young slave in New York, searches
for a way to escape her cruel masters during
the American Revolution.
Interest level: fifth through eighth grade
The Chosen One
Williams, Carol Lynch
Kyra must decide whether to become her
uncle’s wife and stay in the strict, polygamous compound where she grew up or risk
it all and escape to a world she was taught
to fear.
Interest level: young adult
Graceling
Cashore, Kristin
Born with the Grace of strength and speed,
Katsa is an assassin. Her uncle, King Randa,
exploits her for his own purposes, but she
wants to use her skills for nobler pursuits.
Interest level: young adult
Leviathan
Westerfeld, Scott
Clankers and Darwinists prep for war while
orphaned Austro-Hungarian Prince Alek
flees danger and Deryn, disguised as a
boy, trains as an airman on a British flying
whaleship.
Interest level: young adult
Project Sweet Life
Hartinger, Brent
Three high school junior boys devise money-making schemes to avoid taking jobs so
they can enjoy the “sweet life” one last summer before accepting the responsibilities of
the real world.
Interest level: young adult
The September Sisters
Cantor, Jillian
What happens to a family when a sister
vanishes from her bedroom one summer
night? Abby and her parents are trying to
deal with Becky’s disappearance. Will she
ever be found?
Interest level: young adult