FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADE

LIBRARY MEDIA CENTER RECOMMENDED READING

Bibliography

Sorted by Call Number / Author.

001.942 WEN Wencel, Dave. UFOs. Minneapolis, MN : Bellwether Media, 2011. Incident at Roswell -- What are UFOs? -- Searching for answers. Examines the mystery surrounding UFOs, discussing the strange objects found in Roswell, New Mexico, reported sightings of UFOs, and possible explanations for those encounters.

069 MAR Mark, Jan, 1943-2006. The museum book : a guide to strange and wonderful collections. 1st U.S. ed. Cambridge, MA : Candlewick Press, 2007. Explores various aspects of museums, such as the word "museum," different types of museums, their impact on science, and reasons people collect things, and discusses such topics as the Elgin Marbles and the dodo.

133.1 TEI Teitelbaum, Michael. Ghosts : and real-life ghost hunters. New York : Franklin Watts, c2008. Describes how real-life ghost hunters try to get to the bottom of ghostly occurrences and hauntings using scientific tools and methods.

302.3 JAK Jakubiak, David J. A smart kid's guide to online bullying. 1st ed. New York : PowerKids Press, 2010. What is an online bully? -- A cyberbully in your inbox -- Why cyberbullies bully -- Taking off the mask -- Making a case -- Getting help -- Shutting a cyberbully down -- Staying safe online -- Don't be a cyberbully -- Safety tips. Introduces the dangers of online bullying to young readers, discusses how and why bullies try to intimidate others on the Internet, and provides advice on how to avoid and thwart the negative aims of cyber bullies.

355 DAV David, Jack, 1968-. United States Army. Minneapolis, MN : Bellwether Media, 2008. An introduction to the United States Army that explains how the Army protects America, what vehicles and weapons they use, how they help people around the world, and what their training requirements are.

358.4 ZOB Zobel, Derek, 1983-. United States Air Force. Minneapolis, MN : Bellwether Media, 2008. An introduction to the United States Air Force that explains how the Air Force protects America; what vehicles, weapons, and tools they use; how they help people around the world; and their training requirements.

359 DAV David, Jack, 1968-. United States Navy. Minneapolis : Bellwether Media, 2008. An introduction to the United States Navy that explains how the Navy protects America, what vehicles and weapons they use, how they help people around the world, and what their training requirements are. 359.9 DAV David, Jack, 1968-. United States Marine Corps. Minneapolis, MN : Bellwether Media, 2008. An introduction to the United States Marine Corps that explains how the Marines protect America, what vehicles and weapons they use, how they help people around the world, and what their training requirements are.

363.28 DAV David, Jack, 1968-. United States Coast Guard. Minneapolis, MN : Bellwether Media, 2008. An introduction to the United States Coast Guard that explains how the Coast Guard works with other divisions of the armed forces, what their primary responsibilities are, and what equipment they use in their day-to-day operations.

428.1 ROB Robb, Don. Ox, house, stick : the history of our alphabet. Watertown, MA : Charlesbridge, c2007. Traces the history of the Roman alphabet from Proto-Sinaitic signs to Phoenician script to Greek and Roman letters, and presents information on related topics such as writing materials, punctuation, and printing technology.

507 GOO Goodstein, Madeline P. Plastics and polymers science fair projects : using hair gel, soda bottles, and slimy stuff. Berkeley Heights, NJ : Enslow Publishers, c2004. Plastics and polymers are all around us -- Some properties of polymers -- Testing plastics -- The mysterious case of natural rubber. Presents ideas and instructions for twenty science fair projects that explore the production and properties of plastics and polymers.

507.8 BUC Buczynski, Sandra C. Get ready for a winning science project. Ann Arbor, Mich. : Cherry Lake Pub., c2012. Presents activities and information to help students prepare a science project, with tips on choosing a topic, doing the research, and preparing the presentation.

507.8 GRA Graham, Ian, 1953-. Science rocks! London ; : DK, 2011. Provides illustrated, step-by-step instructions for science activities and projects that use household projects to teach young scientists about chemistry, physics, biology, and related topics.

509 BRY Bryson, Bill. A really short history of nearly everything. 1st U.S. ed., Newly illustrated, abridged, and adapted ed. New York : Delacorte Press, 2008. Draws from the science fields of cosmology, astronomy, paleontology, geology, chemistry, physics, and others to examine key events in the history of science, beginning with the Big Bang.

523.8 PUR Purslow, Frances. Constellations. New York : Weigl Publishers, c2007. Studying the stars -- The stars -- Star map -- Different views -- Sky technology -- Constellations and the seasons -- Astronomy -- Past and present -- Surfing the stars -- Science in action -- What have you learned?. Illustrations and simple text describe the various constellations in the sky, constellation myths and signs, the Zodiac, and famous astronomers.

550 ZOO Zoom in zoom out : a close-up and far-out look at our world. London ; : DK Pub., 2011. Text and photographs encourage readers to explore the world around them, providing information about nature, the human body, Earth, people, places, art, culture, history, science, technology, and space.

551.46 MAL Mallory, Kenneth. Adventure beneath the sea : living in an underwater science station. 1st ed. Honesdale, Pa. : Boyds Mills Press, c2010. Kenneth Mallory describes the week he spent in the Aquarius underwater laboratory off the Florida Keys, discussing the work he did, what it was like to live underwater, the marine creatures he encountered, and more.

551.55 HEI Heinrichs, Ann. Storm chaser. Ann Arbor, Mich. : Cherry Lake Pub., c2009. Introduces readers to the important jobs that storm chasers do, and how they gather information about dangerous weather in order to protect the public.

612.2 SIY Siy, Alexandra. Sneeze! Watertown, MA : Charlesbridge, c2007. Explains some of the reasons why people sneeze, featuring color micrographs of the air-pollen, dust mites, mold spores, dust, goose down, and other allergens that provoke sneezing.

629.45 CHA Chaikin, Andrew, 1956-. Mission Control, this is Apollo : the story of the first voyages to the moon. New York : Viking, 2009. Recounts various important events from the history of space exploration, covering the Mercury missions, the voyage of Apollo 17, and more, with illustrations by ex-NASA astronaut Alan Bean, who walked on the moon during the Apollo 12 mission.

639.9 LAS Lasky, Kathryn. Interrupted journey : saving endangered sea turtles. 1st pbk. ed. Cambridge, MA : Candlewick Press, 2006, c2001. Describes efforts to protect sea turtles, particularly Kemp's ridley turtles, and help them reproduce and replenish their once-dwindling numbers.

652 JAN Janeczko, Paul B. Top secret : a handbook of codes, ciphers, and secret writing. 1st pbk. ed. Cambridge, Mass. : Candlewick Press, 2006, c2004. Nonsecret codes -- Secret codes -- Book code -- Dictionary code -- Codetalking -- Pig Latin -- Turkish Irish -- Caesar cipher -- St. Cyr slide -- Keyboard cipher -- Morse code -- Semaphore -- Pigpen cipher -- Rosicrucian cipher -- Date shift cipher -- Greek square cipher -- Greek skytale -- Railfence cipher -- Route transposition cipher -- Codebreaking -- Early concealment techniques -- Null cipher -- Cardano grille -- Word grille -- Space code -- Playing card code -- Dot cipher -- Line cipher -- Zigzag cipher -- Invisible inks. Presents a guide to codemaking, codebreaking, and their role in history, describing different types of codes and ciphers, discussing codebreaking and concealment techniques, and including brief stories about exciting moments in the history of the art.

759.13 GRE Greenberg, Jan, 1942-. Action Jackson. 1st Square Fish ed. New York : Square Fish, 2007, c2002. Imagines Jackson Pollock at work during the creation of one of his paint-swirled and splattered canvasses.

796 CRA Sports Illustrated Kids all access. New York : Time Books, c2010. A behind-the-scenes look at the world of sports that offers insight into the lives of athletes; describes stadiums, locker rooms, and other places; and discusses equipment and gear.

796.357 CUR Curlee, Lynn. Ballpark : the story of America's baseball fields. 1st ed. New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2005. Presents, in words and illustrations, a brief overview of some of baseball's best loved ballparks, including Fenway Park in Boston, Yankee Stadium in New York City, and Wrigley Field in Chicago, and examines their history and cultural significance.

811 SHA Shange, Ntozake. Ellington was not a street. 1st ed. New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, [2004], c1983. Presents an illustrated poem in which Ntozake Shange recalls her childhood growing up in the company W.E.B. Du Bois, Dizzy Gillespie, Paul Robeson, and other great African-American men who were instrumental in changing American culture and society.

813 BOR Borden, Louise. The journey that saved Curious George : the true wartime escape of Margret and H.A. Rey. Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 2005. Tells how the creators of "Curious George" narrowly escaped capture by the Nazis while fleeing Paris on their bicycles during World War II.

910.9163 BRO Brown, Don, 1949-. All stations! distress! : April 15, 1912, the day the Titanic sank. 1st ed. New York : Roaring Brook Press, 2008. Presents an illustrated account of the Titanic's deadly voyage on April 12, 1912, when two thousand passengers, rich and poor alike, fought to survive the tragedy while partially filled lifeboats launched into the night with seven hundred people as some family members stayed behind.

920 STO Stone, Tanya Lee. Almost astronauts : 13 women who dared to dream. 1st pbk. ed. Somerville, Mass. : Candlewick Press, 2009. "T minus thirty-eight years" -- "I jumped at the offer" -- "Not a meaningful test!" -- "Mommy's going to the moon!" -- "It was too good to be true" -- "Regret to advise" -- "Let's stop this now!" -- "Jerrie Cobb isn't running this program. I am!" -- "The men go off and fight the wars and fly the airplanes" -- "NASA never had any intention of putting those women in space" -- "We want to see a woman driving the bus, not sitting in the back" -- "I am living proof that dreams do come true.". Profiles thirteen women who challenged social norms and government policies to prove they could be exceptional astronauts.

940.4 MUR Murphy, Jim, 1947-. Truce : the day the soldiers stopped fighting. New York : Scholastic Press, c2009. Tells the story of the December 25, 1914 truce between German and British soldiers as they laid down their weapons and met in No Man's Land to celebrate Christmas.

943.086 BAR Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Hitler Youth : growing up in Hitler's shadow. New York : Scholastic, c2005. A photo-illustrated look at the youth organizations Adolf Hitler founded and used to meet his sociopolitical and military ends; includes profiles of individual Hitler Youth members as well as young people who opposed the Nazis, such as Hans and Sophie Scholl.

970.01 MAN Mann, Charles C. Before Columbus : the Americas of 1491. 1st ed. New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2009. A companion book for young readers based upon the explorations of the Americas in 1491, before those of Christopher Columbus.

973 ARM Armstrong, Jennifer, 1961-. The American story : 100 true tales from American history. 1st ed. New York : Knopf :, c2006. Contains 100 short stories about real people and events in American history, arranged chronologically from 1565 to 2000, including the lost colony of Roanoke, Pocahontas, the Chicago fire, and the 2000 presidential election.

973 NEL Nelson, Kadir. Heart and soul : the story of America and African Americans. 1st ed. New York : Balzer + Bray, c2011. Examines the history of the United States, focusing on events that influenced African-Americans and how they advanced liberty and justice in America.

996.1 ARN Arnold, Caroline. Easter Island : giant stone statues tell of a rich and tragic past. 1st Clarion pbk. ed. New York : Clarion Books, 2004, c2000. Describes the formation, geography, ecology, and inhabitants of the isolated Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean.

998 MYE Myers, Walter Dean, 1937-. Antarctica : journeys to the South Pole. 1st ed. New York : Scholastic, 2004. A collection of black-and-white, illustrated photographs and stories examining the various expeditions to Antarctica, including those led by James Cook in 1773, Roald Amundsen in 1911, and Admiral Byrd's successful undertaking to the South Pole after World War Two.

BIO ARN Sheinkin, Steve. The notorious Benedict Arnold : a true story of adventure, heroism, & treachery. 1st ed. New York : Roaring Brook Press, 2010. An introduction to the life of Benedict Arnold that highlights not only the traitorous actions that made him legendary, but also his heroic involvement in the American Revolution.

FIC ABR Abrahams, Peter, 1947-. Down the rabbit hole : an Echo Falls mystery. 1st ed. New York : Laura Geringer Books, c2005. Like her idol Sherlock Holmes, eighth-grader Ingrid Levin-Hill uses her intellect to solve the murder of an eccentric local woman in her hometown of Echo Falls.

FIC ALM Almond, David, 1951-. The boy who climbed into the moon. 1st U.S. ed. Somerville, Mass. : Candlewick Press, 2010. Helped by a very long ladder, some unusual acquaintances, two rather worried parents, and a great deal of community spirit, a young English boy makes an astonishing discovery when he embarks on a mission to prove that the moon is nothing but a big hole in the sky.

FIC ALV Alvarez, Julia. Return to sender. 1st ed. New York : Knopf, c2009. 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.

FIC AND Anderson, Laurie Halse. Chains. 1st ed. New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, c2008. After being sold to a cruel couple in New York City, a slave named Isabel spies for the rebels during the Revolutionary War. FIC APP Appelt, Kathi, 1954-. The underneath. 1st ed. New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2008. An old hound that has been chained up at his hateful owner's run- down shack, and two kittens born underneath the house, endure separation, danger, and many other tribulations in their quest to be reunited and free.

FIC APP Applegate, Katherine. Home of the brave. 1st Square Fish ed. New York : Square Fish :, 2009, c2007. Kek, an African refugee, is confronted by many strange things at the Minneapolis home of his aunt and cousin, as well as in his fifth-grade classroom, and longs for his missing mother, but finds comfort in the company of a cow and her owner.

FIC ATK Atkinson, E. J. (Elizabeth Jane), 1961-. I, Emma Freke. Minneapolis : Carolrhoda Books, c2010. Growing up near Boston with her free-spirited mother and old-world grandfather, twelve-year-old Emma has always felt out of place but when she attends the family reunion her father's family holds annually in Wisconsin, she is in for some surprises.

FIC BAR Barnhill, Kelly Regan. The mostly true story of Jack. 1st ed. New York : Little, Brown, 2011. Jack is practically invisible at home, but when his parents send him to Hazelwood, Iowa, to spend a summer with his odd aunt and uncle, he suddenly makes friends, is beaten up by the town bully, and is plotted against by the richest man in town.

FIC BAS Baskin, Nora Raleigh. Anything but typical. 1st Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers pbk. ed. New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2010, c2009. Jason, a twelve-year-old autistic boy who wants to become a writer, relates what his life is like as he tries to make sense of his world.

FIC BOO Booraem, Ellen. Small persons with wings. New York : Dial Books for Young Readers, c2011. Mellie Turpin learns her family's legacy when her grandfather wills her his run-down inn and bar and embarks on a magical quest when fairies demand that Mellie finds and returns a magical ring that is missing.

FIC BOS Bosch, Pseudonymous. The name of this book is secret. 1st ed. New York : Little, Brown, 2007. Cassandra and Max find a missing magician's notebook and start to investigate the fire which burnt down his house and his mysterious "symphony of smells.".

FIC BRU Bruchac, Joseph, 1942-. Code Talker : a novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two. New York : Dial Books, c2005. 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.

FIC BUR Burg, Ann E. All the broken pieces : a novel in verse. 1st ed. New York : Scholastic Press, 2009. Two years after being airlifted out of Vietnam in 1975, Matt Pin is haunted by the terrible secret he left behind and, now, in a loving adoptive home in the United States, a series of profound events forces him to confront his past.

FIC BUY Buyea, Rob. Because of Mr. Terupt. 1st ed. New York : Delacorte Press, c2010. Seven fifth-graders at Snow Hill School in Connecticut relate how their lives are changed for the better by "rookie teacher" Mr. Terupt.

FIC CHO Choldenko, Gennifer, 1957-. Al Capone does my shirts. New York : Putnam's, c2004. A twelve-year-old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 when guards' families were housed there, and has to contend with his extraordinary new environment in addition to life with his autistic sister.

FIC COL Colfer, Eoin. Artemis Fowl. New Disney/Hyperion pbk. ed. New York : Disney/Hyperion Books, 2009, c2001. Twelve-year-old evil genius Artemis Fowl tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold, but the fairies fight back with magic, technology, and a particularly nasty troll.

FIC COL Collard, Sneed B. Dog sense : a novel. 1st ed. Atlanta : Peachtree, c2005. After he and his mother move from California to Montana to live with his grandfather, thirteen-year-old Guy gradually adjusts to the unfamiliar surroundings, makes a friend, and learns to deal with a bully, with the help of his Frisbee-catching dog, Streak.

FIC CON Connor, Leslie. Waiting for normal. 1st ed. New York : Katherine Tegen Books, c2008. Twelve-year-old Addie tries to cope with her mother's erratic behavior and being separated from her beloved stepfather and half-sisters when she and her mother go to live in a small trailer by the railroad tracks on the outskirts of Schenectady, New York.

FIC CRO Crocker, Carter. The last of the Gullivers. New York : Philomel Books, c2012. After orphaned twelve-year-old Michael Pine, who seems headed for trouble, meets old Lem Gulliver, he finds new purpose as protector of the Lilliputians who live in Lem's back garden, even if that means saving them from one another.

FIC DOW Dowell, Frances O'Roark. Shooting the moon. 1st ed. New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2008. When her brother is sent to fight in Vietnam, twelve-year-old Jamie begins to reconsider the army world that she has grown up in.

FIC DRA Draper, Sharon M. (Sharon Mills). Out of my mind. New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2010. Considered by many to be mentally retarded, a brilliant, impatient fifth-grader with cerebral palsy discovers a technological device that will allow her to speak for the first time.

FIC ERS Erskine, Kathryn. The absolute value of Mike. New York : Philomel Books, c2011. Mike, a fourteen-year-old boy with a math learning disability, is sent to rural Pennsylvania for the summer to work on an engineering project, and while his plans to impress his mathematician father fall flat when Mike discovers the project has nothing to do with engineering, he learns much more valuable lessons while working with his eccentric, elderly aunt, a homeless man, and a punk rock girl as part of a town-wide effort to adopt a Romanian orphan.

FIC ERS Erskine, Kathryn. Mockingbird : (Mok'ing-bûrd). New York : Puffin Books, 2011, c2010. Ten-year-old Caitlin, who has Asperger's Syndrome, struggles to understand emotions, show empathy, and make friends at school, while at home she seeks closure by working on a project with her father.

FIC FAR Farmer, Nancy. The house of the scorpion. New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2002. In a future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as the young clone of El Patrón, the 142-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between Mexico and the United States.

FIC FEI Feinstein, John. The rivalry : mystery at the Army-Navy game. 1st ed. New York : Knopf, c2010. Teen sportswriters Stevie Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson are assigned to cover the football game between long ime rivalries Army and Navy, and, after noticing the actions of secret service agents, they begin to suspect that the president, who is going to attend the event, is in danger.

FIC FER Ferris, Jean. Once upon a Marigold. 1st Harcourt pbk. ed. Orlando, Fla. : Harcourt, 2004, c2002. A young man with a mysterious past and a penchant for inventing things leaves the troll who raised him, meets an unhappy princess he has loved from afar, and discovers a plot against her and her father.

FIC FIN Fine, Anne. Up on cloud nine. New York : Dell Yearling, [2003], c2002. While Stolly struggles to regain consciousness in a hospital bed, Ian recalls some of their best and worst times together as he writes a biography of his eccentric best friend.

FIC FLO Flores-Galbis, Enrique. 90 miles to Havana. 1st ed. New York : Roaring Brook Press, 2010. Julian's parents, hoping to protect him from the dangers of the turmoil in Cuba, send him to the United States in 1961 as part of Operation Pedro Pan, not realizing that life in a Miami refugee camp holds its own perils.

FIC FRA Frazier, Sundee Tucker, 1968-. Brendan Buckley's universe and everything in it. 1st ed. New York : Delacorte Press, c2007. Brendan Buckley, a biracial ten-year-old, applies his scientific problem-solving ability and newfound interest in rocks and minerals to connect with his white grandfather, the president of Puyallup Rock Club, and to learn why he and Brendan's mother are estranged.

FIC FUN Funke, Cornelia Caroline. Inkheart. 1st American ed. New York : Scholastic, 2003. Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father Mo, a bookbinder, can "read" fictional characters to life when an evil ruler named Capricorn, freed from the novel "Inkheart" years earlier, tries to force Mo to release an immortal monster from the story.

FIC GAN Gantos, Jack. Dead end in Norvelt. 1st ed. New York : Farrar Straus Giroux, 2011. In the historic town of Norvelt, Pennsylvania, twelve-year-old Jack Gantos spends the summer of 1962 grounded for various offenses until he is assigned to help an elderly neighbor with a most unusual chore involving the newly dead, molten wax, twisted promises, Girl Scout cookies, underage driving, lessons from history, typewriting, and countless bloody noses.

FIC GAN Gantos, Jack. Joey Pigza loses control. 1st ed. New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000. Joey, who is still taking medication to keep him from getting too wired, goes to spend the summer with the hard-drinking father he has never known and tries to help the baseball team he coaches win the championship.

FIC GEP Gephart, Donna. How to survive middle school. 1st ed. New York : Delacorte Press, c2010. When eleven-year-old David Greenberg's best friend makes the start of middle school even worse than he feared it could be, David becomes friends with Penny, who shares his love of television shows and posts one of their skits on YouTube, making them wildly popular-- online, at least.

FIC GOU Gourlay, Candy. Tall story. 1st American ed. Oxford ; : David Fickling Books, c2010. Sixteen-year-old Bernardo, who is eight feet tall and suffers from a condition called Gigantism, leaves the Philippines to live with his mother's family in London, much to the delight of his thirteen-year- old half sister Andi, a passionate basketball player.

FIC GRA Grant, Michael, 1954-. The Call / : The Magnificent 12. 1st ed. New York : Katherine Tegen Books, 2010. Mack MacAvoy, a seriously average twelve-year-old boy, is faced with a difficult decision when a three-thousand-year-old man appears in the boys' bathroom and informs him that he is one of the Magnificent Twelve and is needed to find his eleven teammates and save the world.

FIC GUT Gutman, Dan. Jackie & me : a baseball card adventure. 1st ed. New York : Avon Books, c1999. With his ability to travel through time by using baseball cards, Joe goes back to 1947 to meet Jackie Robinson, turning into a black boy in the process.

FIC HAD Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Found. 1st ed. New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, c2008. When thirteen-year-olds Jonah and Chip, who are both adopted, learn they were discovered on a plane that appeared out of nowhere, full of babies with no adults on board, they realize that they have uncovered a mystery involving time travel and two opposing forces, each trying to repair the fabric of time.

FIC HAH Hahn, Mary Downing. All the lovely bad ones. New York : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, c2008. Travis and his sister Corey decide to boost business at their grandmother's Vermont inn by staging a few "hauntings" that soon draw tourists from across the country, but when their antics awaken a dark force, they must find a way to put to rest the ghosts they have disturbed.

FIC HAR Hardinge, Frances. Fly by night. 1st U.S. ed. New York : HarperCollins, 2006. A twelve-year-old orphan, Mosca Mye, and her homicidal goose, Saracen, travel to the city of Mandelion on the heels of smooth- talking con-man Eponymous Clent, driven by her love of language to find a better life.

FIC HAV Haven, Paul. Two hot dogs with everything. 1st Yearling ed. New York : Yearling, [2007], c2006. Although everyone credits him and his superstitions for the Slugger's first winning streak in 108 baseball seasons, eleven-year-old Danny Gurkin believes that his discovery of a secret from the team's past may be the real reason behind the ball club's success.

FIC HEN Henson, Heather. Here's how I see it : here's how it is. 1st Atheneum Books for Young Readers pbk. ed. New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2010, c2009. At almost-thirteen, Junebug has never felt right except as stagehand at her father's summer theater, but after her parents separate and an irritating intern takes over her responsibilities, she discovers how hard life can be without a script to follow.

FIC HOB Hobbs, Valerie. Defiance. 1st ed. New York : Farrar Straus Giroux, 2005. While vacationing in the country, eleven-year-old Toby, a cancer patient, learns some important lessons about living and dying from an elderly poet and her cow.

FIC HOL Holm, Jennifer L. Middle school is worse than meatloaf : a year told through stuff. 1st ed. New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2007. Ginny makes a to do list for her seventh grade year, which includes landing a role in the school play, trying to make friends, ignoring her horoscope, and going to see her grandpa Joe in Florida; but she always seems to come up short in accomplishing any of it.

FIC HOU Houtman, Jacqueline. The reinvention of Edison Thomas. 1st ed. Honesdale, Pa. : Front Street, c2010. Eddy Thomas, a boy who is much better with science than people, creates an invention that makes him suddenly popular and leads him to a new understanding of friendship.

FIC JAC Jacobson, Jennifer, 1958-. Small as an elephant. 1st ed. Somerville, Mass. : Candlewick Press, 2011. Abandoned by his mother in an Acadia National Park campground, Jack tries to make his way back to Boston before anyone figures out what is going on, with only a small toy elephant for company.

FIC JON Jonell, Lynne. Emmy and the incredible shrinking rat. 1st Square Fish ed. New York : Square Fish, 2008, c2007. When Emmy discovers that she and her formerly loving parents are being drugged by their evil nanny with rodent potions that can change people in frightening ways, she and some new friends must try everything possible to return things to normal.

FIC JON Jones, Kimberly, 1957-. Sand dollar summer. 1st ed. New York : Margaret K. McElderry Books, c2006. When twelve-year-old Lise spends the summer on an island in Maine with her self-reliant mother and bright--but oddly mute--younger brother, her formerly safe world is complicated by an aged Indian neighbor, her mother's childhood friend, and a hurricane.

FIC KEH Kehret, Peg. Ghost dog secrets. 1st ed. New York : Dutton Children's Books, c2010. Sixth-grader Rusty, determined to help an injured dog that is chained outdoors in frigid weather, calls animal control then takes matters into his own hands, aided by his best friend and a ghost collie that leads Rusty to an even deeper secret. Includes instructions for knitting cat blankets.

FIC KEL Kelly, Jacqueline. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate. 1st ed. New York : Henry Holt, 2009. In central Texas in 1899, eleven-year-old Callie Vee Tate is instructed to be a lady by her mother, learns about love from the older three of her six brothers, and studies the natural world with her grandfather, the latter of which leads to an important discovery.

FIC KEY Key, Watt. Alabama moon. 1st ed. New York : Farrar Straus Giroux, 2006. After the death of his father, ten-year-old Moon Blake is removed from the Alabama forest where he was raised and sent to a boy's home, where, for the first time, he has contact with the outside world and learns about friendship, love, and humanity.

FIC KIM Kimmel, Elizabeth Cody. The reinvention of Moxie Roosevelt. New York : Puffin Books, 2011, c2010. On her first day of boarding school, a thirteen-year-old girl who feels boring and invisible decides to change her personality to match her unusual name.

FIC KLA Kladstrup, Kristin. The book of story beginnings. 1st ed. Cambridge, MA : Candlewick Press, 2006. After moving with her parents to Iowa, twelve-year-old Lucy discovers a mysterious notebook that can bring stories to life and which has a link to the 1914 disappearance of her great uncle.

FIC KOC Kochka, 1964-. The boy who ate stars. 1st American ed. New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2006, c2004. Upon moving to a new apartment, twelve-year-old Lucy befriends an autistic boy who lives upstairs and, along with her friend Theo and a pampered pooch, takes Matthew on neighborhood adventures hoping to open him up to the world around them.

FIC LEA Leal, Ann Haywood. Also known as Harper. 1st ed. New York : Henry Holt, 2009. Writing poetry helps fifth-grader Harper Lee Morgan cope with her father's absence, being evicted, and having to skip school to care for her brother while their mother works, and things look even brighter after she befriends a mute girl and a kindly disabled woman.

FIC LEV Levine, Gail Carson. Ever. 1st ed. New York : HarperCollins, c2008. Fourteen-year-old Kezi and Olus, Akkan god of the winds, fall in love and together try to change her fate--to be sacrificed to a Hyte god because of a rash promise her father made--through a series of quests that might make her immortal.

FIC LIN Lin, Grace. Where the mountain meets the moon. 1st ed. New York : Little, Brown and Co. Books for Young Readers, 2009. 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.

FIC LOG Logsted, Greg. Alibi Junior High. 1st Aladdin hardcover ed. New York : Aladdin, 2009. After thirteen-year-old Cody and his father, an undercover agent, are nearly killed, Cody moves in with his aunt in Connecticut, where he is helped with his adjustment to the trials of attending public school for the first time and investigating a threat in nearby woods by a wounded Iraq War veteran.

FIC LUP Lupica, Mike. Hero. New York : Philomel Books, c2010. Fourteen-year-old Zach learns he has the same special abilities as his father, who was the president's globe-trotting troubleshooter until "the Bads" killed him, and now Zach must decide whether to use his powers in the same way at the risk of his own life.

FIC LUP Lupica, Mike. Miracle on 49th Street. New York : Puffin Books, 2007, c2006. Twelve-year-old Molly is surprised to learn from her dying mother that Josh Cameron, a star player with the Boston Celtics and media darling, is her father, and once she gets to know him, Molly comes to realize why her mom kept his identity a secret for so long.

FIC MAC MacColl, Michaela. Promise the night : a novel. San Francisco : Chronicle Books, c2011. Explores the early life of Beryl Markham, who grew up on a farm in Kenya, and became the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic from east to west.

FIC MON Montalbano, Andrea. Breakaway. New York : Puffin Books, 2011, c2010. When seventh-grade soccer star LJ befriends Tabitha, who could not be more different from her, LJ learns to curb her competitive nature, which has been slowly alienating her friends.

FIC MOR Moran, Katy (Katy Jane). Bloodline rising. 1st U.S. ed. Somerville, Mass. : Candlewick Press, 2011. Cai, a thief in seventh-century Constantinople, finds himself held captive on a trading ship bound for Britain--the home his father, a ruthless barbarian assassin, fled long ago--where he discovers that his Anglish captors know more about the secrets of his family than he does.

FIC MOR Morpurgo, Michael. An elephant in the garden. 1st U.S. ed. New York : Feiwel and Friends, 2011. Lizzie and Karl's mother, Mutti, working at a local zoo in Dresden, Germany, during World War II while their father is away fighting in France, brings home Marlene, a baby elephant that is slated to be destroyed as the Allied bombing grows closer, and when they are forced to flee, Mutti feels they must take Marlene with them, adding even more danger to their journey.

FIC MOS Moskowitz, Hannah. Zombie Tag. 1st ed. New York : Roaring Brook Press, 2011. In the months since Wil Lowenstein's older brother Graham died, Wil has spent most of his time playing a game he invented, but when he finds a way to bring Graham and others back from the dead, fighting zombies is suddenly no longer a game.

FIC MYE Myers, Bill, 1953-. New kid catastrophes. Carol Stream, Ill. : Tyndale House, c2011. After she accidentally makes an enemy of superstar Hesper Breakahart on her first day at Malibu Junior High, thirteen-year-old TJ's troubles multiply when two twenty-third century students, who have traveled back in time to observe her for a history project, decide to help her.

FIC MYE Myers, Edward, 1950-. Storyteller. New York : Clarion Books, c2008. Jack, a seventeen-year-old storyteller, goes to the royal city seeking his fortune and soon attracts the attention of the grief-stricken king, his beautiful eldest daughter, and his cruel young son, and he attempts to help them--and the entire kingdom--through his stories.

FIC MYK Myklusch, Matt. The accidental hero. 1st Aladdin pbk. ed. New York : Aladdin, 2011, c2010. Twelve-year-old Jack, freed from a dismal orphanage, makes his way to the elusive and impossible Imagine Nation, where a mentor saves him from dissection and trains him to use his superpower, despite the virus he carries that makes him a threat.

FIC NAP Napoli, Donna Jo, 1948-. Beast. 2nd Simon Pulse ed. New York : Simon Pulse, 2004, c2000. Presents a retelling of the classic story, "Beauty and the Beast", set in Persia, where Orasmyn, heir to the throne, is turned into a beast after making a foolish choice, and must find a woman to love him to undo the curse.

FIC NAY Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. Faith, hope, and Ivy June. 1st ed. New York : Delacorte Press, c2009. During a student exchange program, seventh-graders Ivy June and Catherine share their lives, homes, and communities, and find that although their lifestyles are total opposites they have a lot in common.

FIC NOR Northrop, Michael. Plunked. 1st ed. New York : Scholastic Press, 2012. Sixth-grader Jack Mogens loses his nerve after getting hit by a pitch, and has to dig deep within himself to avoid giving up the sport he loves.

FIC PAL Palacio, R. J. Wonder. 1st ed. New York : Knopf, c2012. Ten-year-old Auggie Pullman, who was born with extreme facial abnormalities and was not expected to survive, goes from being home-schooled to entering fifth grade at a private middle school in Manhattan, which entails enduring the taunts and fear of his classmates as he struggles to be seen as just another student. FIC PAT Patterson, James, 1947-. Middle school, the worst years of my life. 1st U.S. ed. New York : Little, Brown, 2011. When Rafe Kane enters middle school, he teams up with his best friend, "Leo the Silent," to create a game to make school more fun by trying to break every rule in the school's code of conduct.

FIC PEA Pearsall, Shelley. All of the above : a novel. 1st ed. New York : Little, Brown, 2006. Five urban middle school students, their teacher, and other community members relate how a school project to build the world's largest tetrahedron affects the lives of everyone involved.

FIC PEA Pearsall, Shelley. All shook up. 1st ed. New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2008. When thirteen-year-old Josh goes to stay with his father in Chicago for a few months, he discovers--to his horror--that his dad has become an Elvis impersonator.

FIC PRE Preller, James. Bystander. 1st ed. New York : Feiwel and Friends, 2009. Thirteen-year-old Eric discovers there are consequences to not standing by and watching as the bully at his new school hurts people, but although school officials are aware of the problem, Eric may be the one with a solution.

FIC PRE Preus, Margi. Shadow on the mountain. New York : Amulet Books, 2012. In Nazi-occupied Norway, fourteen-year-old Espen joins the resistance movement, graduating from deliverer of illegal newspapers to courier and spy.

FIC RAS Raschka, Christopher. Seriously, Norman! 1st ed. New York : Scholastic, 2011. Norman, Anna, Emma, and Leonard try to find out why adults think and act in such strange ways, and with the help of Norman's new tutor, Balthazar Birdsong, they almost figure it out.

FIC RHU Rhuday-Perkovich, Olugbemisola. 8th grade superzero. New York : Scholastic, [2011], c2010. Reggie, who is known as "Pukey" McKnight at his Brooklyn middle school, attempts to refine his image and social status, and when he gets involved at a local homeless shelter, two clients help him believe he is making a difference, which could help him in the world and at school.

FIC RIO Riordan, Rick. The lightning thief. 1st Hyperion Paperbacks ed. New York : Miramax Books/Hyperion Paperbacks for Children, 2006, c2005. Percy, expelled from six schools for being unable to control his temper, learns the truth from his mother that his father is the Greek god Poseidon, and is sent to Camp Half Blood where he is befriended by a satyr and the demigod daughter of Athena who join him in a journey to the Underworld to retrieve Zeus's lightning bolt and prevent a catastrophic war.

FIC RIO Riordan, Rick. The red pyramid. 1st ed. New York : Disney/Hyperion Books, c2010. Brilliant Egyptologist Dr. Julius Kane accidentally unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes the doctor to oblivion and forces his two children to embark on a dangerous journey, bringing them closer to the truth about their family and its links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.

FIC RIT Ritter, John H., 1951-. Fenway fever. New York : Philomel Books, c2012. Twelve-year-old Alfredo "Stats" Pagano and Boston Red Sox pitcher Billee Orbitt work together to break a potential curse at Fenway Park.

FIC RUE Rue, Ginger. Brand new Emily : a novel. 1st pbk. ed. Berkeley [Calif.] : Tricycle Press, [2010], c2009. Tired of being picked on by a trio of popular girls, fourteen-year-old poet Emily hires a major public relations firm to change her image and soon finds herself "re-branded" as Em, one of the most important teens not only in her middle school, but in celebrity magazines, as well.

FIC SCH Schmidt, Gary D. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster boy. New York : Clarion Books, c2004. In 1911, Turner Buckminster hates his new home of Phippsburg, Maine, but things improve when he meets Lizzie Bright Griffin, a girl from a poor, nearby island community founded by former slaves that the town fathers--and Turner's--want to change into a tourist spot.

FIC SCH Schwartz, Virginia Frances. 4 kids in 5-E & 1 crazy year. 1st ed. New York : Holiday House, c2006. Family, school, and life in general are seen through the writings of four fifth graders who have been taken out of an overcrowded New York City classroom and placed with a teacher who shows them how to write and how to believe in themselves.

FIC SEL Selznick, Brian. Wonderstruck : a novel in words and pictures. 1st ed. New York : Scholastic, 2011. Relates the stories of twelve-year-old Ben, who loses his mother and his hearing in a short time frame and decides to leave his Minnesota home in 1977 to seek the father he has never known in New York City; and Rose, who lives with her father but feels compelled to search for what is missing in her life. Ben's story is told in words; Rose's in pictures.

FIC SEN Senzai, N. H. Shooting Kabul. 1st Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers pbk. ed. New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2011, c2010. Escaping from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in the summer of 2001, eleven-year-old Fadi and his family immigrate to the San Francisco Bay Area, where Fadi schemes to return to the Pakistani refugee camp where his little sister was accidentally left behind.

FIC SHU Shulman, Polly. The Grimm Legacy. New York : Putnam's, c2010. New York high school student Elizabeth gets an after-school job as a page at the "New-York Circulating Material Repository," and when she gains coveted access to its Grimm Collection of magical objects, she and the other pages are drawn into a series of frightening adventures involving mythical creatures and stolen goods.

FIC SMI Smith, Greg Leitich. The Chronal engine. Boston : Clarion Books, 2012. Eighth-grader Max, his older brother Kyle, and twin sister Emma are sent to live with their reclusive grandfather on his Texas ranch and discover their grandfather's stories about the Chronal engine in the basement are true when Emma is kidnapped--just as predicted--and the boys, along with their new friend Petra, must travel back in time to the Cretaceous period to rescue Emma.

FIC SMI Smith, Roland, 1951-. Storm runners. 1st ed. New York : Scholastic Press, 2011. Twelve-year-old Chase Masters travels the country with his father, a "storm runner," but he is tested in ways he never could have imagined when he and a new friend are caught in a hurricane near St. Petersburg, Florida.

FIC SPI Spinelli, Jerry. Eggs. 1st ed. New York : Little, Brown, 2007. Mourning the loss of his mother, nine-year-old David forms an unlikely friendship with independent, quirky thirteen-year-old Primrose, as the two help each other deal with what is missing in their lives.

FIC SPR Springstubb, Tricia. Mo Wren, lost and found. 1st ed. New York : Balzer + Bray, c2011. When eleven-year-old Mo's mother dies in an accident and Mo's devastated father deals with the loss by moving the family to a new town and starting a new life as the owner of a sports bar, Mo must leave her much loved neighborhood on Fox Street to live in an apartment above the "cursed" Corkey's Tavern.

FIC SPY Spyri, Johanna, 1827-1901. Heidi. New York : Sterling, [2006]. A Swiss orphan is heartbroken when she must leave her beloved grandfather and their happy home in the mountains to go to school and to care for an invalid girl in the city. Includes review questions.

FIC STA Stanley, Diane. The silver bowl. 1st ed. New York : Harper, c2011. From the age of seven when she became scullery maid in a castle, Molly has seen visions of the future which, years later, lead her and friend Tobias on an adventure to keep Alaric, the heir to the throne, safe from a curse.

FIC STE Stead, Rebecca. When you reach me. 1st ed. New York : Wendy Lamb Books, c2009. As her mother prepares to be a contestant on the 1980s television game show, "The $20,000 Pyramid," a twelve-year-old New York City girl tries to make sense of a series of mysterious notes received from an anonymous source that seems to defy the laws of time and space.

FIC STR Stratton, Allan. The grave robber's apprentice. 1st ed. New York : Harper, c2012. Hans, a foundling raised by a grave robber, helps Countess Angela Gabriela, nearly thirteen, when she is torn away from her dream of being a professional puppeteer by an evil archduke out to destroy her and her parents.

FIC THO Thor, Annika. A faraway island. 1st American ed. New York : Delacorte Press, c2009. In 1939 Sweden, two Jewish sisters wait for their parents to flee the Nazis in Austria, but while eight-year-old Nellie settles in quickly, twelve-year-old Stephie feels stranded at the end of the world, with a foster mother who is as cold and unforgiving as the island on which they live.

FIC TRU Trueman, Terry. Hurricane : a novel. 1st American ed., U.S. ed. New York : HarperCollins, c2008. A fictional account of one of the worst storms to hit the Caribbean-- Hurricane Mitch in 1998--told from the perspective of a thirteen-year- old boy living in a small village in Honduras.

FIC URS Ursu, Anne. Breadcrumbs. 1st ed. New York : Walden Pond Press, c2011. Hazel and Jack are best friends until an accident with a magical mirror and a run-in with a villainous queen leaves Hazel on her own at the threshold of an enchanted wood with hope to save Jack's life.

FIC VAN Vanderpool, Clare. Moon over Manifest. 1st ed. New York : Delacorte Press, c2010. Twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker is the daughter of a drifter who, in the summer of 1936, sends her to stay with an old friend in Manifest, Kansas, where he grew up, and where she hopes to find out some things about his past.

FIC WEE Weeks, Sarah. So B. It : a novel. 1st ed. New York : Laura Geringer Books, c2004. After spending her life with her mentally retarded mother and agoraphobic neighbor, twelve-year-old Heidi sets out from Reno, Nevada, to New York to find out who she is.

FIC YEL Yelchin, Eugene. Breaking Stalin's nose. 1st ed. New York : Henry Holt, 2011. In the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union, ten-year-old Sasha idolizes his father, a devoted Communist, but when police take his father away and leave Sasha homeless, he is forced to examine his own perceptions, values, and beliefs.

FIC ZIM Zimmer, Tracie Vaughn. 42 miles. New York : Clarion Books, c2008. Linked free-verse poems and illustrations depict the challenges a young girl faces as she grows up and tries to determine who she really wants to be and how she can remain true to herself.

PB FIC GOI Going, K. L. (Kelly L.). The liberation of Gabriel King. New York : Puffin Books, 2007, c2005. Gabriel, a white boy who is being bullied, and Frita, an African- American girl facing prejudice, decide to overcome their many fears together as they enter fifth grade in Georgia in 1976.