Fullerton Public Library Good Reads for Fifth Graders Items may be found in multiple locations. Check the catalog or ask a librarian for assistance. Adventure Barry, Dave. Peter and the Starcatchers. [AR BL 5.2, Pts. 13.0] Soon after Peter, an orphan, sets sail from England on the ship Never Land, he befriends and assists Molly, a young starcatcher, whose mission is to guard a trunk of magical stardust from a greedy pirate and the native inhabitants of a remote island. Black, Holly. Doll Bones. [AR BL 5.4, Pts. 7.0] Zach, Alice, and Poppy, friends from a Pennsylvania middle school who have long enjoyed acting out imaginary adventures with dolls and action figures, embark on a real-life quest to Ohio to bury a doll made from the ashes of a dead girl. Brown, Peter. The Wild Robot. [AR BL 5.1, Pts. 5.0] Roz the robot discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island with no memory of where she is from or why she is there, and her only hope of survival is to try to learn about her new environment from the island's hostile inhabitants. George, Jean Craighead. My Side of the Mountain. [AR BL 5.2, Pts. 6.0] A boy relates his adventures during the year he spends living alone in the Catskill Mountains including his struggle for survival, his dependence on nature, his animal friends, and his ultimate realization that he needs human companionship. Healy, Christopher. A Dastardly Plot. (A Perilous Journey of Danger and Mayhem #1) [AR BL 5.2, Pts. 11.0] In 1883 New York, while trying to introduce her mother's flying machine to the men-only Inventors' Guild, twelve-year-old Molly uncovers a plot to destroy the World's Fair. Juster, Norton. The Phantom Tollbooth. [AR BL 6.7, Pts. 7.0] Milo, a bored ten-year-old, comes home to find a large toy tollbooth sitting in his room. Joining forces with a watchdog named Tock, Milo drives through the tollbooth's gates and begins a memorable journey. O’Dell, Scott. Island of the Blue Dolphins. [AR BL 5.4, Pts. 6.0] Left alone on a beautiful but isolated island off the coast of California, a young Indian girl spends eighteen years, not only merely surviving through her enormous courage and self- reliance, but also finding a measure of happiness in her solitary life. Paulsen, Gary. Hatchet. [AR BL 5.7, Pts. 7.0] S:\Common\Childref\Bibliographies\REVISED BIBLIOGRAPHIES Updated 4/2020 G. Moffitt Brian Robeson is on his way to visit his father when the single-engine plane he is traveling in crashes in the Canadian wilderness. Stranded alone, with nothing but the hatchet his mother gave him as a present, Brian must use his wits, courage, and determination to survive. Uss, Christina. The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle. [AR BL 5.9, Pts. 11.0] Left at the Mostly Silent Monastery as a toddler and homeschooled by a retired nun, twelve- year-old Bicycle rides cross-country to meet a famous cyclist whom she hopes will be her first friend. Animals Avi. Poppy. [AR BL 4.5, Pts. 4.0] Poppy the deer mouse urges her family to move next to a field of corn big enough to feed them all forever, but Mr. Ocax, a terrifying owl, has other ideas. DiCamillo, Kate. The Tiger Rising. [AR BL 4.0, Pts. 2.0] Rob, who passes the time in his rural Florida community by wood carving, is drawn by his spunky but angry friend Sistine into a plan to free a caged tiger. Gipson, Fred. Old Yeller. [AR BL 5.0, Pts. 5.0] Young Travis faces a test of manhood when his heroic dog is bitten by a rabid wolf. King-Smith, Dick. Babe: The Gallant Pig. [AR BL 5.6, Pts. 3.0] Babe the piglet is destined to end up as ham on Farmer Hoggett’s dinner table. But when he’s adopted by Fly, a motherly sheepdog, Babe discovers a secret talent that just might save his bacon. O’Brien, Robert C. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. [AR BL 5.1, Pts. 8.0] Having no one to help her with her problems, a widowed mouse visits the rats whose former imprisonment in a laboratory made them wise and long-lived. Selden, George. The Cricket in Times Square. [AR BL 4.9, Pts. 4.0] A country cricket falls into a picnic basket and ends up in New York city. Sewell, Anna. Black Beauty . [AR BL 7.7, Pts. 11.0] The classic Victorian tale, intended to discourage cruelty to animals, in which a horse recounts his long and varied life, from a well-born colt in a pleasant meadow to an elegant carriage horse for a gentleman to a painfully overworked cab horse. Science Fiction/Fantasy Baum, L. Frank. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. [AR BL 7.0, Pts. 7.0] After a cyclone transports her to the land of OZ, Dorothy must seek out the great Wizard in order to return to Kansas this classic tale originally published in 1900. S:\Common\Childref\Bibliographies\REVISED BIBLIOGRAPHIES Updated 4/2020 G. Moffitt Collins, Suzanne. Gregor the Overlander (Underland Chronicles #1).* [AR BL 4.8, Pts. 8.0] When Gregor and his little sister fall through a grate in the laundry room of their New York apartment building, they tumble into the dark Underland beneath the city, triggering an epic battle involving men, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders. DasGupta, Sayantani. The Serpent’s Secret. (Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond #1) [AR BL 5.2, Pts. 10.0] Until her twelfth birthday, Kiranmala considered herself an ordinary sixth-grader. When her parents disappear and a drooling rakkhosh demon shows up in her kitchen, she needs to sort it all out, find her parents, and basically save the world. DuPrau, Jeanne. The City of Ember. (Book of Ember #1) [AR BL 5.0, Pts. 9.0] In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions. Gidwitz, Adam. A Tale Dark & Grimm . [AR BL 4.6, Pts. 6.0] Follows Hansel and Gretel as they walk out of their own story and into eight more tales, encountering both wicked creatures and kindly strangers. Based in part on the Grimms' fairy tales—Faithful Johannes, Hansel and Gretel, The Seven Ravens, Brother and Sister, The Robber Bridegroom, and The Devil and His Three Golden Hairs. Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Among the Hidden (Shadow Children #1). [AR BL 4.8, Pts. 5.0] In a future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on his family's farm, until another "third" convinces him that the government is wrong. Law, Ingrid. Savvy. [AR BL 6.0, Pts. 9.0] Recounts the adventures of Mibs Beaumont, whose 13 th birthday has revealed her “savvy”—a magical power unique to each member of her family—just as her father is injured in a terrible accident. L’Engle, Madeleine. A Wrinkle in Time . [AR BL 4.7, Pts. 7.0] Meg Murry and her friends become involved with unearthly strangers and a search for Meg's father, who has disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government. Lewis, C.S. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. [AR BL 5.7, Pts. 6.0] When Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy are sent to live with an old professor in the country, they can hardly imagine what wonderful adventures await them. It all begins when Lucy hides in a magic wardrobe and finds herself in a magical snow-covered land, called Narnia. Lowry, Lois. The Giver . [AR BL 5.7, Pts. 7.0] S:\Common\Childref\Bibliographies\REVISED BIBLIOGRAPHIES Updated 4/2020 G. Moffitt Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives. Norton, Mary. The Borrowers. [AR BL 5.3, Pts. 5.0] Pod, Homily, and daughter Arrietty of the teeny-tiny Clock family furnish their subterranean home with the tidbits and trinkets they've "borrowed" from "human beans." Their pilfering goes undetected until a boy (with a ferret!) comes to live in the country house, and Arrietty commits the worst mistake a Borrower can make: she allows herself to be seen. Riordan, Rick. The Lightning Thief. [AR BL 4.7, Pts. 13.0] Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson learns he is a demigod, the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, god of the sea. His mother sends him to a summer camp for demigods, where he and his new friends set out on a quest to prevent a war between the gods. Ross, Joel N. The Fog Diver. [AR BL 4.6, Pts. 9.0] In this futuristic adventure, humanity clings to cities on the highest mountain peaks above the deadly Fog, and airships transport the pirates of the skies. Daring 13-year-old tetherboy Chess and his salvage crew must face the dark plans of Lord Kodoc and work to save their beloved Mrs. E. Historical Fiction Avi. The Fighting Ground. [AR BL 4.2, Pts. 4.0] Thirteen-year-old Jonathan goes off to fight in the Revolutionary War and discovers the real war is being fought within himself.