June 2012
Dear Pingry Families, The Pingry School Library has a tradition of providing summer reading book lists for our students. We strongly encourage them to read a selection of books from their list during the summer. Reading for pleasure during this time will continue the development of reading skills so that no ground is lost over the summer and will help to instill a love of reading that will last a lifetime. Attached is the suggested summer reading list for your child’s grade level. Reading levels vary within a grade, so there are both challenging selections and easy-to-read titles on the list. Students may choose to read any title from the list and may read as many books as their schedules allow. Students are not expected to read all the books on the list. The list is divided into fiction, nonfiction, poetry, folktales, and biographies. The titles are annotated to help in the selection process. You may wish to read other books by the same author that are not on the list. Hopefully, every child will find something to spark their interest. Please encourage the use of the reading log in the back of the booklet to record the titles of all the books read during the summer. We ask that every student send picture postcards to the library letting us know the titles of the books they are reading and how they are enjoying their vacation.
See the next page for details on the Postcards to the Library Program.
Have a wonderful summer. Happy Reading!
Warm regards,
Mrs. D’Innocenzo Lower School Librarian Send Postcards to the Library
Dear Mrs. D’Innocenzo, I am having a wonderful time at camp in Vermont. I play sports, go swimming, and have time to read every night before dinner. Mrs. D’Innocenzo I have just finished reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory The Pingry School Library by Roald Dahl. It was a great book and I loved it! 50 Country Day Drive Your friend, Short Hills, NJ 07078 Taylor Jones
How to Participate in Postcards to the Library:
During the summer send picture postcards to the Library at the above address.
A picture postcard can be sent from anywhere – even from your own hometown or from Grandma’s house.
Send one postcard for each book read. The more books read, the more postcards can be sent.
Include the book title, author’s name, and your first and last name.
Write a short description of what you liked about the book and how you are enjoying the summer vacation.
Each postcard becomes an entry for a drawing to be held the first week of school in September.
Prizes of gift certificates will be awarded at that time.
All postcards will be displayed in the hallway at Back-to-School Night and later
placed in an album available in the library. Have a wonderful summer!
Happy Reading!
The Pingry Lower School Library
2012 Summer Reading List
Students Entering Grades 4 and 5
Fiction
The titles are presented by genre. Enjoy different kinds of fiction!
Fiction – Adventure/Action
Avi. Crispin: The Cross of Lead. Hyperion, 2002. Falsely accused of theft and murder, an orphaned peasant boy in 14th century England flees his village and meets a larger-than-life juggler who holds a dangerous secret. Newbery Award 2003. Barry, Dave and Ridley Pearson. Peter and the Starcatchers. Hyperion, 2004. Peter, an orphan boy, and his friend Molly fight off thieves and pirates in order to keep the secret safe from the Black Stache and his evil associate Mister Grin. Also read the sequels, Peter and the Shadow Thieves, Peter and the Secret of Rundoon, and Peter and the Sword of Mercy. Birdsall, Jeanne. The Penderwicks. Random House, 2005. While vacationing with their father in the Berkshire Mountains, four lovable sisters share adventures with a local boy, much to the dismay of his snobbish mother. Also read The Penderwicks on Gardam Street and The Penderwicks at Point Mouette. DiCamillo, Kate. The Magician’s Elephant. Candlewick Press, 2009. Ten-year-old orphan Peter Augustus Duchene meets a fortune teller who tells him his sister, who was presumed dead, is actually alive. Peter embarks on a remarkable adventure to find her. DuBois, William Pene. The Twenty-One Balloons. Viking, 1975. After setting out from San Francisco in a hot-air balloon bound across the Pacific, Professor Sherman is picked up in the Atlantic clinging to wreckage. Funke, Cornelia. The Thief Lord. Scholastic, 2002. Orphaned brothers Prosper and Bo, having run away from their cruel aunt and uncle, decide to hide out in Venice where they fall in with the Thief Lord, a thirteen-year-old boy who leads a crime ring of street children. Hiaasen, Carl. Hoot. Knopf, 2002. Roy, who is new to his small Florida town, joins another boy’s efforts to save a colony of burrowing owls from a proposed construction site. Hiaasen, Carl. Chomp. Knopf, 2012. The difficult star of the reality TV show “Expedition Survival” disappears on location in the Florida Everglades. Wahoo Crane and his friend Tuna set out to find him, but must avoid Tuna’s trigger-happy father.
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Hiaasen, Carl. Flush. Alfred Knopf, 2005. 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. Hiaasen, Carl. Scat. Knopf, 2009. Nick and Marta are both suspicious when their biology teacher, the feared Mrs. Bunny Starch, disappears, and they try to uncover the truth despite the police and headmaster’s insistence that nothing is wrong. Horowitz, Anthony. Scorpia Rising. Philomel, 2011. “The final mission.” Alex Rider must once again do battle against the terrorist organization responsible for the death of his parents – Scorpia – when their plot in the Middle East poses a threat to humanity, but the risks are bigger this time and Alex will not walk away so easily. Read the series. S Johnson-Shelton, Nils. The Invisible Tower. Harper, 2012. A twelve-year-old boy learns that he is actually King Arthur brought back to life in the twenty-first century — and that the fate of the universe rests in his hands. Korman, Gordon. Swindle. Scholastic, 2008. After an unscrupulous collector cons him out of a valuable baseball card, sixth-grader Griffin Bing and a band of friends plot to steal the card back, intending to use the money to finance his father’s failing invention. Korman, Gordon. Zoobreak. Scholastic, 2009. After a class trip to a floating zoo where animals are abused and a missing pet monkey is found in a cage, Griffin Bing and his band of misfits plan a rescue. Lowry, Lois. The Willoughbys. Houghton Mifflin, 2008. A tongue-in-cheek take on classic themes, in which the four Willoughby children set out to become “deserving orphans” after their neglectful parents embark on a treacherous around-the-world adventure, leaving them in the care of an odious nanny. Naylor, Phyllis Reynold. Shiloh. Atheneum, 1991. Marty finds a lost beagle in the hills behind his West Virginia home, and tries to hide it from his family and the dog’s real owner, a mean-spirited man known to shoot deer out of season and to mistreat his dogs. O’Dell, Scott. Island of the Blue Dolphins. c. 1960. Records the courage and self-reliance of an Indian girl who lived alone for eighteen years on an isolated island when her tribe emigrated and she was left behind. Newbery Medal 1961. Paulsen, Gary. Hatchet. Atheneum Books, 1987. After a plane crash, thirteen-year-old Brian spends fifty-four days in the wilderness, learning to survive with only a hatchet. Read the sequels The River, Brian’s Winter, Brian’s Return, and Brian’s Hunt. Stewart, Trenton Lee. The Mysterious Benedict Society. Little, Brown, 2007. 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. Read the sequels. S
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Fiction – Fantasy & Science Fiction
Angleberger, Tom. The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. Amulet Books, 2010. Sixth-grader Tommy and his friends describe their interactions with a finger puppet of Yoda, worn by their weird classmate Dwight, as they try to figure out whether or not the puppet can really predict the future. Appelt, Kathi . Keeper. Ahenium, 2010. Ten-year-old Keeper heads to a sandbar in a small boat along with her dog BD and a seagull named Captain in order to find her mother, a mermaid who left when Keeper was only three. Applegate, Katherine. The One and Only Ivan. Harper, 2012. When Ivan, a gorilla who has lived for years in a down-and-out circus-themed mall, meets Ruby, a baby elephant that has been added to the mall, he decides that he must find her a better life. A story of friend- ship. Inspired by a true story. Avi. The Seer of Shadows. Harper Collins, 2008. An intriguing ghost story set in 19th-century New York City, where a photographer’s apprentice has a horrifying run-in with a spirit bent on revenge. Baker, E. D. Wide-Awake Princess. Bloomsbury, 2010. Annie, the younger sister of the princess known as Sleeping Beauty, is immune to magic. Annie stays awake when everyone in the castle falls into an enchanted sleep, then sets out to break the spell. Banks, Lynne Reid. The Indian in the Cupboard. HarperTrophy, 2003, 1980. A magic cupboard turns toys into live people and animals. Also read the sequels. S Buckley, Michael. The Council of Mirrors (The Sisters Grimm: Book 9). Amulet, 2012. Hoping to save their family and the citizens of Ferryport Landing from the evil plans of Mirror, Sabrina and Daphne Grimm seek counsel from the other magic mirrors, who advise them to join forces with the Scarlet Hand. Read series books 1-9. Byng, Georgia. Molly Moon Stops the World. HarperCollins, 2003. An 11-year-old heroine is back at the newly-improved (thanks to Molly’s mind-control powers) orphanage in Brierville. A disturbing meeting with librarian Lucy Logan changes everything; Molly must stop a megalomaniac master hypnotist named Primo Cell from taking over the world. Read the other books in the series S Colfer, Eoin. Artemis Fowl. Hyperion Books, 2001. When a twelve-year-old evil genius tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold, the fairies fight back with magic, technology, and a particularly nasty troll. S D’Lacey, Chris. Dark Fire. Scholastic, 2010. David Rain returns to help Lucy and the Pennykettle dragons find a drop of dark fire before it is used to birth a darkling. In the Arctic, shrouded in mist, hide dragons that have at last returned to Earth. Read the Last Dragon Chronicles. S Dahl, Roald. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Knopf, 2001, c1964. Each of five children lucky enough to discover an entry ticket into Mr. Willy Wonka’s mysterious chocolate factory takes advantage of the situation in his own way. A rags-to-riches story, where impoverished, unassuming little Charlie Bucket strives to outlast the selfish other four candidates in the quest to win the grand prize.
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Dahl, Roald. Matilda. Viking, 1988. Matilda applies her mental powers to rid the school of the evil headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, and restore her nice teacher, Miss Honey. Dahl, Roald. BFG. Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1982. Kidsnatched from her orphanage by a BFG (Big Friendly Giant) who blows happy dreams to children, Sophie concocts a plan to save the world from nine other man-gobbling cannybull giants. Dahl, Roald. James and the Giant Peach. Knopf, 1961. Wonderful adventures abound after James escapes from his fearsome aunts by rolling away inside a giant peach. DiCamillo, Kate. The Tale of Despereaux. Candlewick Press, 2003. The adventures of Despereaux Tilling, a small mouse of unusual talents, the princess he loves, the servant girl longing to be a princess, and a rat determined to bring them all to ruin. Newbery Medal 2004. DiCamillo, Kate. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Candlewick Press, 2006. Edward Tulane, a cold-hearted and proud toy rabbit, loves only himself, until he is separated from the little girl who adores him. He travels across the country, acquiring new owners and listening to their hopes, dreams, and histories. D’Lacey,Chris. The Fire Within (Last Dragon Chronicles). Scholastic, 2001. Magical story about mysterious hand crafted clay dragons who have unusual powers. When David moves in with Liz and Lucy, he discovers a collection of hand crafted, clay dragons that comes to life and has magical powers. DuPrau, Jeanne. City of Ember. Random House, 2003. The city of Ember has no natural light, and the blackouts of its old electrical grid are occurring more frequently. Twelve-year-old friends Doon and Lina are determined to save the city. Read the sequels in the series: The People of Sparks, The Prophet of Yonwood, and The Diamond of Darkhold. Flanagan, John. The Kings of Clonmel (Ranger’s Apprentice: Book 8). Philomel, 2010. Halt, Will, and Horace set out for Hibernia, where the Outsiders are sowing confusion and treachery. The secrets from Halt’s past may hold the key to restoring order in the kingdom. Read the earlier books in the series. S Funke, Cornelia. Inkheart. Scholastic, 2003. Meggie learns that her father (Moe) can “read” fictional characters to life when an evil ruler is freed from the novel “Inkheart” and tries to force Moe to release an immortal monster from the story. Read the rest of the trilogy, Inkspell and Inkdeath. S Gaiman, Neil. The Graveyard Book. Harper Collins, 2008. Eighteen-month-old orphan Bod, short for Nobody, is taken in by the inhabitants of a graveyard and raised lovingly and carefully to the age of eighteen years by the community of ghosts and otherworldly creatures. Newbery Medal 2009. Gutman, Dan. Return of the Homework Machine. Simon & Schuster, 2009. After discarding their homework machine, four friends find themselves in trouble in an incident involving a powerful computer chip and a Grand Canyon treasure. Gutman, Dan. Roberto & Me: A Baseball Card Adventure. Harper, 2010. Stosh travels back in time to 1969 to try to prevent the untimely death of legendary baseball star Roberto Clemente. But when Stosh returns to the present, he meets his own great-grandson, who takes him into the future for even more adventures. S Gutman, Dan. Ted & Me: A Baseball Card Adventure. Harper, 2012. When Stosh travels back in time to 1941, hoping to prevent the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the U.S. into WWII, he meets Ted Williams, one of the greatest hitters in baseball history.
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Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Among the Hidden. Simon & Schuster, 1998. In a future where the law limits each family to only two children, third-child Luke has lived in isolation and fear on his family’s farm, until another “third” convinces him that the government is wrong. Read the Shadow Children series. S Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Found. (Missing Series). Simon & Schuster, 2008. 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. Hale, Shannon. Princess Academy. Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 2005. While attending a strict academy for potential princesses, fourteen-year-old Miri discovers unexpected talents and connections to her homeland. Holt, Kimberly Willis. When Zachary Beaver Came to Town. Holt, 1999. During the summer of 1971 in a small Texas town, thirteen-year-old Toby and his best friend Cal meet a sideshow star, 600-pound Zachary, the fattest boy in the world. Hunter, Erin. Into the Wild (The Warriors series). Harper Collins, c. 2003. Four clans of wild cats share a forest. One clan decides to change “hunting rites” and their peace is challenged. Read other books in the Warriors series. S The Quest Begins (The Seekers series). Harper Collins, 2008. Three young bears travel on a perilous quest to the Northern Lights, escorting a shape-shifting grizzly cub whose destiny will affect them all. S The Fourth Apprentice (Omen of the Stars series). Harper Collins, 2009. Jayfeather and Lionblaze wait for a sign from StarClan as to the identity of the third cat in the prophecy while Dovekit and Ivykit prepare to become ThunderClan apprentices and one of the sisters begins to realize that she possesses unique and mysterious skills. S Ibbotson, Eve. The Ogre of Oglefort. Dutton, 2011. Ivo, an orphan boy, teams up with the Hag of Dribble and a troll called Ulf to rescue a princess from the Ogre of Oglefort, but things turn out differently when they arrive at the ogre’s castle only to find a contented princess and a depressed ogre inside. Jonell, Lynne. Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat. Holt, 2007. Emmy Addison was happy as the daughter of bookstore owners — then her parents inherited a lot of money and she suddenly became invisible and was left with a controlling nanny. Juster, Norton. The Phantom Tollbooth. Random House, 1961. Milo travels through a magical tollbooth and journeys to the Kingdom of Wisdom, where he and a “watch” dog named Tock try to end the feud between numbers and words.. Kessler, Liz. Emily Windsnap and the Siren’s Secret. Candlewick Press, 2009. Emily Windsnap is enjoying a peaceful existence with the other merpeople on Allpoints Island, until she learns they must return to Brightport to stop a construction project that threatens a secret mermaid community. S LaFevers, R. L. Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos. Houghton Mifflin, 2007. Theodosia can detect black magic and ancient curses cast on objects in the Museum of Legends and Antiquities, where her father is curator. She discovers that an Egyptian artifact is cursed and must be returned to its original tomb before disaster strikes. Law, Ingrid. Savvy. Dial Books, 2008. The adventures of Mibs Beaumont, whose thirteenth 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. Newbery Honor 2009. Coretta Scott King Award 2009.
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Law, Ingrid. Scumble. Dial Books, 2010. In this companion book to Savvy, M. B.’s cousin, Ledge, is disappointed to discover that his “savvy” – his personal magical power – is to make things fall apart, which reveals his family’s secret to future reporter Sarah. L’Engle, Madeleine. A Wrinkle in Time. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1962. Three extraterrestrial beings take Meg, her brother, and her friend to another world in search of her missing father. Newbery Medal 1963. Levine, Gail Carson. Ella Enchanted. Harper Collins, 1997. Ella is blessed by a fairy at birth with the gift of obedience. But the blessing is a horror for Ella, who must do what everyone tells her, from sweeping the floor to giving up a beloved necklace. Based on the story of Cinderella. Lewis, C. S. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia). Harper Collins, 1950. Four English schoolchildren find their way through a wardrobe into the magic land of Narnia and help Aslan, the golden lion, to triumph over the White Witch who has cursed the land with eternal winter. Read all of the Chronicles of Narnia. S Lin, Grace. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. Little, Brown, 2009. Minli, an adventurous girl from a poor village, buys a magical goldfish and joins a dragon who cannot fly on a quest to find the Old Man of the Moon. Newbery Honor. Martin, Ann. The Doll People. Hyperion Books for Children, 2000. A family of porcelain dolls that has lived in the same house for one hundred years is taken aback when a new family of plastic dolls arrives and doesn’t follow The Doll Code of Honor. Also read The Meanest Doll in the World and The Runaway Dolls. S Paolini, Christopher. Eragon. Knopf, 2003. The harrowing adventure of Eragon, a peasant boy who discovers a strange rock that happens to be a lost, coveted dragon’s egg. Read sequels Eldest and Brisingr. S Prineas, Sarah. The Magic Thief. Harper Collins, 2008. Conn’s life is changed forever after he tries to pick the pocket of the wizard Nevery, but instead gets a strong jolt of magic. Rather than punishing the boy, Nevery begins teaching him magic, and enlists Conn’s help in finding the person who has been stealing the city’s dwindling magic supply. S Reiche, Dietlof. Freddy’s Final Quest. Scholastic, 2003. In Book 5 of the Golden Hamster Saga, Freddy the hamster and his animal friends travel back in time to Assyria. S Riordan, Rick. The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians). Hyperion, 2005. Percy, expelled from six schools for his temper, learns that his father is the Greek god Poseidon. Percy is sent to Camp Half Blood, where he is befriended by the demigod daughter of Athena, who joins him in a journey to the Underworld to retrieve Zeus’s lightning bolt and prevent a catastrophic war. S Lost Hero. Hyperion, 2010. Jason, Piper, and Leo, three students from a school for “bad kids,” find themselves at Camp Half-Blood, where they learn that they are demigods and begin a quest to free Hera, who has been imprisoned by Mother Earth herself. The Red Pyramid. (Kane Chronicles, Book 1). Hyperion, 2010. The brilliant Egyptologist Dr. Julius Kane accidentally unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion. Carter and Sadie Kane must embark on a dangerous quest to save their father, in the first story of the Kane Chronicles. S The Throne of Fire (Kane Chronicles Series, Book 2). Hyperion, 2011. In this exciting second installment of the three-book series, Carter and Sadie, children of the brilliant Egyptologist Dr. Julius Kane, embark on a worldwide search for the Book of Ra, but the House of Life and the gods of chaos are determined to stop them. S
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The Serpent’s Shadow. (Kane Chronicles Series, Book 3). Hyperion, 2012. When Apophis, the chaos snake, threatens to plunge the world into eternal darkness, siblings Carter and Sade Kane plan to use an ancient spell to destroy the snake, but first must rely on the murderous ghost of a powerful magician. S Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Scholastic, 1999, 1997. Rescued from the neglect of his aunt and uncle, Harry, age 11, attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where he fights evil forces. Read the entire Harry Potter series. S Sage, Annie. Magyk. Katherine Tegen Books, 2005. (Septimus Heap Series). Jenna learns that she is a princess, and was found as a baby by the man she believed was her father. Now she and Septimus, the seventh son of the seventh son, who was taken at birth by the midwife, are being threatened by the evil wizard. Seldon, George. A Cricket in Times Square. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, c1960. The adventures of a country cricket who unintentionally arrives in New York and is befriended by Tucker Mouse and Harry Cat. Newbery Honor Book. Selznick, Brian. Wonderstruck. 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.
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Fiction – Historical Fiction
Anderson, Laurie Halse. Fever, 1793. Simon & Schuster, 2000. Sixteen-year-old Matilda, separated from her sick mother, learns perseverance and self-reliance when she must cope with the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia in 1793. Choldenko, Gennifer. Al Capone Does My Shirts. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2004. 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 new environment in addition to life with his autistic sister. Read the sequel, Al Capone Shines My Shoes (2009). Curtis, Christopher Paul. Elijah of Buxton. Scholastic, 2007. Elijah Freeman, the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada, a haven for slaves fleeing the American South in 1859, uses his wits to try to bring to justice the lying preacher who has stolen money intended to buy a family’s freedom. Newbery Honor 2008. Curtis, Christopher Paul. Mighty Miss Malone. Wendy Lamb Books, 2012. Deza Malone, the smartest girl in her class in Gary, Indiana, her mother, and her older brother take a trip to find her father, who left to find work during the Great Depression . They end up in Hooverville outside of Flint, Michigan, and her brother attempts to be a performer while Deza and her mother seek a home. Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963. Delacorte Press, 1995. The everyday routines of the Watsons, an African-American family living in the North, are changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in 1963 and see what life is like in the South. Newbery Honor Book. Cushman, Karen. Rodzina. Clarion Books, 2003. A 12-year-old Polish American girl is boarded onto an orphan train and fears traveling to the West and a life of unpaid servitude. Gantos, Jack. Dead End in Norvelt. 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 chores. Newbery Award Winner 2012. Hesse, Karen. Letters From Rifka. Holt, c 1992. Rifka, a young Jewish girl, writes to her cousin, chronicling her family’s experiences fleeing Russia in 1919, and her own trials after being left in Belgium on her own while the others emigrate to America. Lowry, Lois. Number the Stars. Houghton Mifflin, 1989. During the 1943 German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns to be courageous when she shelters her Jewish friend from the Nazis. Newbery Medal Winner. Park, Linda Sue. A Single Shard. Clarion Books, 2001. Tree-ear, a thirteen-year-old orphan in medieval Korea, lives under a bridge in a potters’ village and longs to learn how to create delicate celadon ceramics. Newbery Medal 2002. Rose, Carolyn Starr. May B. Scwartz & Wade, 2012. When a failed wheat crop nearly bankrupts the Betterly family, twelve-year-old May’s father pulls her from school and hires her out to a couple new to the Kansas frontier. Wolff, Virginia Euwer. Bat 6: A Novel. Scholastic, 1999. In small town, post-World War II Oregon, twenty-one sixth grade girls recount the story of an annual softball game, during which one girl’s bigotry comes to the surface.
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Fiction - Mystery
Balliett, Blue. Chasing Vermeer. Scholastic, 2004. When seemingly unrelated and strange events start to happen and a precious Vermeer painting disappears, eleven-year-olds Petra and Calder combine their talents to solve an international art scandal. Balliett, Blue. Wright 3. Scholastic, 2006. In the midst of a series of unexplained accidents and mysterious coincidences, sixth-graders Calder, Petra, and Tommy lead an attempt to keep Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous Robie House from being demolished. Balliett, Blue. The Calder Game. Scholastic, 2008. When seventh-grader Calder Pillay disappears from a remote English village along with an Alexander Calder sculpture to which he has felt strangely drawn his friends Petra and Tommy fly from Chicago to help his father find him. Beil, Michael. The Red Blazer Girls: The Ring of Rocamadour. Alfred Knopf 2009. Three friends find themselves on a spooky scavenger hunt, in this literary debut for those who love mystery, math, and a modest measure of mayhem. S Blackwood, Gary. The Shakespeare Stealer. Dutton Children’s Books, c.1998. Widge, a likeable orphan, finds himself in the middle of an adventure to steal and copy the play Hamlet from Shakespeare. He soon discovers that life in the Globe Theatre is much better than the other places he has apprenticed. Broach, Elise. Shakespeare’s Secret. Holt, 2005. Named after a character in a Shakespeare play, misfit sixth-grader Hero becomes interested in exploring this unusual connection because of a valuable diamond supposedly hidden in her new house, an intriguing neighbor, and the unexpected attention of the most popular boy in school. Burnett, Francis Hodges. The Secret Garden. c. 1910 (various editions). Ten-year-old Mary, a spunky orphan, comes to live in a lonely servant-run house on the English moors. There she discovers her invalid cousin and the mysteries of a locked garden. Can she find her own happiness and a key to the garden? Clements, Andrew. We the Children (Benjamin Pratt & the Keepers of the School). Atheneum, 2010. Sixth-grader Benjamin Pratt’s waterfront school is about to be torn down to make way for an amusement park, but something seems fishy. When the school janitor gives him a mysterious old coin, then dies suddenly, Benjamin is drawn into solving a mystery. Creech, Sharon.Castle Corona. Joanna Cotler Books, c. 2007. Two orphaned peasant children discover a mysterious pouch, the contents of which lead them to the majestic Castle Corona, where their lives may be transformed forever. Dowd, Siobhan. The London Eye Mystery. David Fickling Books, c. 2007. When Ted and Kat's cousin Salim disappears from the London Eye Ferris Wheel, the two siblings — Ted, with his brain that is “wired differently,” and impatient Kat — must work together to try to solve the mystery of what happened to Salim. Fitzhugh, Louise. Harriet the Spy. First published Harper & Row, 1964. Eleven-year-old Harriet keeps notes on her classmates and neighbors in a secret notebook, but when some of the students read the notebook, they seek revenge.
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Korman, Gordan. Framed. Scholastic, 2010. Sequel to Swindle and Zoobreak. Griffin Bing is in big trouble when a Super Bowl ring disappears from his middle school’s display case, replaced by Griffin's retainer, and the more he and his friends investigate, the worse his situation becomes. Primavera, Elise. The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls. Harper Collins, 2006. In order to save the town of Sherbet, four girls with very little in common become involved with people and events that are similar to The Wizard of Oz. Riordan, Rick. Maze of Bones (39 Clues). Scholastic, 2008. Amy and Dan, members of the powerful Cahill family, try to uncover the thirty-nine clues which will reveal the secrets of their lineage and what really happened to their parents. Read other titles in the 39 Clues series, each written by a different author. Look for all the books in the 39 Clues series, and the new series Cahills vs. Vespers. S Sachar, Louis. Holes. Farrar, 1999. As further evidence of his family’s bad fortune, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a correctional camp in the Texas desert where he digs holes, finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself. Newbery Medal 1999. Selznick, Brian. The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Scholastic, 2007. When twelve-year-old Hugo, an orphan living hidden in the Paris train station in 1931, meets a mysterious toyseller and his goddaughter, his undercover life and his biggest secret are jeopardized. Caldecott Medal 2008. Stanley, Diane. The Mysterious Case of the Allbright Academy. HarperCollins, 2008. Eighth-grader Fanny is thrilled to be accepted at the elite Allbright Academy, where all the students seem to be absolutely perfect. Maybe too perfect?
Read Classic Mystery Series:
Nancy Drew
Hardy Boys
Boxcar Children
Encyclopedia Brown
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Fiction – Realistic
Appelt, Kathi. The Underneath. Atheneum, 2008. An old hound, who 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. Newbery Honor 2009. Avi. S.O.R. Losers. Avon, 1984. Each member of the seventh-grade soccer team at South Orange River (S.O.R.) School has special talents, but not on the soccer field. Can they make their season a success after losing their first game 32-0? Bauer, Joan. Close to Famous.Viking, 2011. The residents of Culpepper, despite their grand aspirations, have made little progress toward achieving their goals, but unexpected events and surprises put the ambitions of the residents of Culpepper to the test. Birdsall, Jeanne. The Penderwicks. Random House, 2005. While vacationing with their widowed father in the Berkshire Mountains, four lovable sisters, ages four through twelve, share adventures with a local boy, much to the dismay of his snobbish mother. Read the sequels: The Penderwicks on Gardam Street (2008) and The Penderwicks at Point Mouette (2012) Blume, Judy. Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great. Dutton, 1972. A summer in Tarrytown, N.Y., is a lot of fun for ten-year-old Sheila even though her friends make her face up to some self-truths she doesn’t want to admit. Blume, Judy. The Rising Star of Rusty Nail. Knopf, c. 2007. In the small town of Rusty Nail, Minnesota, in the early 1950s, musically talented ten-year-old Franny wants to take advanced piano lessons from newcomer Olga Malenkov, a famous Russian musician suspected of being a communist spy by gossipy members of the community. Clements, Andrew. Extra Credit. Atheneum, 2009. Three middle-school children in Illinois exchange letters with children living in the mountains of Afghanistan, and begin to bridge a gap across cultural and religious divides. Clements, Andrew. Janitor’s Boy. Simon & Schuster, 2000. Fifth grader Jack finds himself the target of ridicule at school when it becomes known that his father is one of the janitors, and he turns his anger onto his father. Creech, Sharon. Walk Two Moons. Harper Collins, 1994. After her mother leaves home suddenly, thirteen-year-old Sal and her grandparents take a car trip retracing her mother’s route. Along the way, Sal recounts the story of her friend Phoebe, whose mother also left. Newbery Medal 1995. Curtis, Christopher Paul. Bud, Not Buddy. Delacorte Press, 1999. Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Michigan during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father — the bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids. Newbery Medal 2000. Davies, Jacqueline. The Lemonade War. Houghton Mifflin, 2007. Evan and his younger sister, Jesse, battle it out through their lemonade stands, each trying to be the first to earn $100. Includes mathematical calculations and tips for a successful lemonade stand. DiCamillo, Kate. Because of Winn Dixie. Candlewick, 2000. Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni describes her first summer in the town of Naomi, Florida, and all the good things that happen to her because of her big ugly dog Winn-Dixie. Frederick, Heather Vogel. The Mother-Daughter Book Club: Pies & Prejudice. Simon & Schuster, 2010. Four girls and their mothers, continue their mother-daughter book club via videoconference between Massachusetts and England, reading Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” and try to put friendship first. Fourth book in the series.
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Giff, Patricia Reilly. Pictures of Hollis Woods. Wendy Lamb Books, 2002. A troubled 12-year-old orphan, staying with an elderly artist who needs her, remembers the only other time she was happy in a foster home, with a family that truly seemed to care about her. Giff, Patricia Reilly. Eleven. Wendy Lamb, 2008. When Sam, who can barely read, discovers an old newspaper clipping just before his eleventh birthday, it brings memories from his past. With the help of a new friend at school and the castle they are building for a school project, his questions are answered. Grimes, Nikki. The Road to Paris. Putnam, 2006. Inconsolable at being separated from her older brother, eight-year-old Paris is apprehensive about her new foster family but just as she learns to trust them, she faces a life-changing decision. Coretta Scott King Honor Book, 2007. Gutman, Dan. Nightmare at the Book Fair. Simon & Schuster, 2008. While Trip is on his way to lacrosse tryouts, the PTA president asks him to help with the book fair. His resulting head injury causes amnesia and leads to a strange journey home. LaFleur, Suzanne. Eight Keys. Wendy Lamb, 2011. When twelve-year-old Elise, orphaned since age three, becomes disheartened by middle school, with its bullies, changing relationships, and higher expectations, keys to long-locked rooms and messages from her late father help her cope. Lin, Grace. The Year of the Dog. Little, Brown, 2006. Frustrated by her apparent lack of talent for anything, a young Taiwanese-American girl sets out to apply the lessons of the Chinese Year of the Dog, the gifts of making best friends and finding oneself, to her own life. Also read the sequel The Year of the Rat. Look, Lenore. Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking and Other Natural Disasters. Schwartz & Wade, 2009. Alvin makes a new friend and learns he can be brave despite his fear of everything when his father takes him camping, hoping to install a love of nature like that of their hometown hero, Henry David Thoreau. Lord, Cynthia. Rules. Scholastic, 2006. Though Catherine loves her brother, David, who is autistic, she is embarrassed by his behavior and feels neglected by their parents. She wants so badly for him to be “normal” that she makes up rules for him to follow. Martin, Ann. Ten Rules for Living with my Sister. Feiwel & Friends, 2011. Lexie is Pearl’s older sister and she is popular. Pearl is not, mostly because of the embarrassing Three Bad Things that happened in school and which no one has forgotten. Everything Pearl does seems to drive Lexie crazy. Mass, Wendy. 11 Birthdays. Scholastic, 2009. Amanda and Leo, born on the same day, have celebrated their birthdays together for ten years. But after a year of not speaking to each other, Amanda spends her eleventh birthday without her life-long friend. Peculiar things happen as their eleventh birthday repeats over and over again. Mass, Wendy. Finally. Scholastic, 2010. After her twelfth birthday, Rory checks off a list of things she is finally allowed to do, but unexpected consequences interfere with her involvement in the movie being shot at her school, while a weird prediction starts to make sense. O’Connor, Barbara. How to Steal a Dog. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2007. Living in the family car after their father leaves them penniless, Georgina is desperate to improve their situation. She persuades her younger brother to help her in a scheme to get money by stealing a dog and then claiming the reward. Palacio, R.J. Wonder. Knopf, 2012. 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 school in Manhattan, which entails enduring the taunting and fear of his classmates as he struggles to be seen as just another student.
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Paulsen, Gary. Flat Broke. Wendy Lamb Books, 2011. Fourteen-year-old Kevin is a hard worker, so when his income is cut off he begins a series of businesses, from poker games to selling snacks, but his partners soon tire of his methods. A fun lesson in cause and effect. Companion book to Liar, Liar (2011). Pennypacker, Sara. Summer of the Gypsy Moths. Balzer & Bray, 2012. Angel, a foster child, and twelve-year-old Stella are living with Stella’s great-aunt Louise at her Inn on Cape Cod. They secretly assume responsibility for the vacation rentals when Louise dies and the girls are afraid of being returned to the foster care system. Rawls, Wilson. Where the Red Fern Grows. Delacorte Press, 1996, 1961. A young boy living in the Ozarks achieves his heart’s desire when he becomes the owner of two redbone hounds and teaches them to be champion hunters. Schmidt, Gary. Wednesday Wars. Houghton Mifflin, 2007. During the 1967 school year, on Wednesday afternoons when all his classmates go to either Catechism or Hebrew school, seventh-grader Holling Hoodhood stays in Mrs. Baker’s classroom where they read the plays of William Shakespeare. Newbery Honor 2008. Shang, Wendy Wan Long. The Great Wall of Lucy Wu. Scholastic Press, 2010. Eleven-year-old aspiring basketball star and interior designer Lucy Wu is excited about finally having her own bedroom, until she learns that her great-aunt is coming to visit and Lucy has to share her room, shattering her plans for a perfect sixth-grade year. Spinelli, Jerry. Eggs. Little, Brown, 2007. David, who is mourning the loss of his mother, forms an unlikely friendship with quirky thirteen-year-old Primrose, as the two help each other deal with what is missing in their lives. Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me. Wendy Lamb Books, 2009. As her mother prepares to compete on the 1980s TV show “The $20,000 Pyramid,” a twelve-year-old New York City girl tries to make sense of a series of anonymous notes that seem to defy the laws of time and space. Newbery Medal 2010. Tarshis, Lauren. Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree. Dial Books for Young Readers, c. 2007. Emma-Jean Lazarus, a highly logical but socially isolated seventh-grade girl, has no friends her own age. Then she discovers interesting results when she gets involved in the messy everyday problems of her peers. Urban, Linda. A Crooked Kind of Perfect. Harcourt, 2007. Ten-year-old Zoe Elia dreams of a piano recital at Carnegie Hall, but instead must play the old organ that her father buys, with positive results for her workaholic mother, her jittery father, and her social life. Wiles, Deborah. Love, Ruby Lavender. Harcourt, 2001. When Ruby’s grandma goes to Hawaii for the summer, Ruby learns to survive on her own by writing letters, befriending the chickens, and meeting the new girl in town.
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School Stories Birney, Betty. School Days According to Humphrey. Putnam, 2011. Humphrey the hamster is excited to return to room 26 on the first day of school, and though he is at first shocked to see a new group of students, he soon comes to know and love them, and gets nervous when he hears talk of moving him from Mrs. Brisbane's room. Clements, Andrew. No Talking. Simon & Schuster, 2007. The noisy fifth-grade boys of Laketon Elementary School challenge the equally loud girls to a “no talking” contest. Read other school stories by this author. Kinney, Jeff. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley’s Journal. Amulet Books, 2007. Greg records his sixth grade experiences in a middle school where he and his best friend, Rowley, hope just to survive, but when Rowley grows more popular, Greg must take drastic measures to save their friendship. Read the sequels, including the latest, Cabin Fever. S Konigsburg, E.L. A View from Saturday. Atheneum, c. 1996. Four students develop a special bond and attract the attention of their teacher, who chooses them to represent their sixth-grade class in the Academic Bowl competition. Newbery Medal 1997. Korman, Gordon Schooled. Hyperion, 2007. Cap has been raised in isolation and home-schooled by his hippie grandmother. When she falls and breaks her hip, Cap is sent to a foster home and experiences his first year in public school. Patterson, James. Middle School, the Worst Years of my Life. 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. There’s a place for everyone even if you don’t fit the mold. Peirce, Lincoln. Big Nate and Friends. Harper, 2010. “Big Nate” comic strips that follow the adventures of sixth-grader Nate Wright and his middle school friends. Graphic novel series. S Sachar, Louis. Sideways Stories from the Wayside School. Morrow Junior Books, c1978. Humorous episodes from the classroom on the thirtieth floor of Wayside School, which was accidentally built sideways with one classroom on each story. Spinelli, Jerry. Loser. Joanna Cotler Books, 2002. Even though his classmates from first grade on have considered him strange and a loser, Daniel Zinkoff’s optimism and the support of his loving family do not allow him to feel that way about himself.
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Fiction – Sports
Aronson, Sarah. Beyond Lucky. Dial Books, 2011. Twelve-year-old Ari Fish is sure that the rare trading card he found has changed his luck and that of his soccer team, but after the card is stolen he comes to know that we make our own luck, and that heroes can be fallible. Gutman, Dan.Roberto & Me. Harper, 2010. (Baseball Card Adventure Series). Stosh travels back to 1969 to try to prevent the untimely death of Roberto Clemente, a legendary baseball player and humanitarian, but upon his return to the present, he meets his own great-grandson who takes him into the future, and what he finds there is more shocking than anything he has encountered in his travels to the past. S Lupica, Mike. The Batboy. Philomel, 2010. Fourteen-year-old Brian becomes a bat boy for the Detroit Tigers, who just drafted his favorite player. Lupica, Mike. Game Changers. Scholastic, 2012. When the coach’s son, Shawn, is chosen to play quarterback, eleven-year-old Ben McBain is not surprised — but when he tries to be a good teammate and help Shawn, he is startled to learn that his new friend does not really want the position. Lupica, Mike. Million Dollar Throw. Philomel, 2009. Eighth-grade star quarterback Nate Brodie’s family is feeling the stress of the troubled economy, and Nate is frantic because his best friend Abby is going blind, so when he gets a chance to win a million dollars if he can complete a pass during the halftime of a New England Patriot's game, he is nearly overwhelmed by the pressure to succeed. Read any in title in the series. S Lupica, Mike. Shoot-Out. Walden Media, 2010. When his family moves, twelve-year-old Jake must leave his championship soccer team to play on a new team with a losing record. Read any title by this author. Lupica, Mike. The Underdogs. Puffin Books, 2011. Small but fast twelve-year-old Will Tyler, an avid football player in the down-and-out town of Forbes, Pennsylvania, takes matters into his own hands to try and finance the city's football team, giving the whole community hope in the process. Ripken, Cal. Hothead. Hyperion, 2011. Connor Sullivan, All-Star third baseman on his Babe Ruth League team, has a terrible temper and problems at home, but when the sports editor of the school paper threatens to publish an embarrassing story about his tantrums, Connor must make a change. Ritter, John. The Boy Who Saved Baseball. Philomel Books, 2003. The fate of a small California town rests on the outcome of one baseball game, and Tom Gallagher hopes to lead his team to victory. Wallace, Rich. Benched. Alfred Knopf, 2010. (The Kickers Series). Nine-year-old Ben, having been benched for aggressive play during an important soccer game, tries to help his team earn a spot in the tournament from the sidelines. S
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Books about Fourth Grade
Blume, Judy. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. Dutton, 2002, c. 1972. Peter finds his demanding two-year-old brother an ever-increasing problem. Dowell, Frances. Phineas L. Macguire Erupts! The First Experiment. Atheneum, 2006. Fourth-grade science whiz Phineas MacGuire is forced to team up with the new boy in class on a science fair project, but the boy's quirky personality causes Phineas to wonder if they have any chance of winning. Fleming, Candace. The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School. Schwartz & Wade, 2007. An unlikely teacher takes over the disorderly fourth-grade class of Aesop Elementary School with surprising results. Salisbury, Graham. Calvin Coconut, Dog Heaven. Wendy Lamb Books, 2010. Fourth-grader Calvin creates a unique way to express his desire for a dog after his teacher asks him to write a persuasive argument about something he really wants.
Books about Fifth Grade
Clements, Andrew. Homework Machine.Simon & Schuster, 2006. Four fifth-grade students — a geek, a class clown, a teacher’s pet, and a slacker — as well as their teacher and mothers, each relate events surrounding a computer programmed to complete homework assignments. Clements, Andrew. Landry News. Simon & Schuster, 1999 Mr. Larson challenges his fifth-grade students to create a real newspaper. Soon The Landry News gets more attention than either Cara or her teacher bargained for, as the principal uses the paper to try to get Mr. Larson fired. DeClements, Barthe. Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Grade. Viking, 1981. Initially repelled by an overweight new student who has serious home problems, the fifth grade class finally learns to accept her. Gantos, Jack. Jack on the Tracks. Farrar, Straus &Giroux Jack Henry, a fifth grader, is the narrator of this collection of stories about the new friends he makes after his family moves from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Miami. Jack’s zany adventures were inspired by the author's childhood journals. Shreve, Susan Richards. Joshua T. Bates Takes Charge. Dell, 2000. Eleven-year-old Joshua, worried about fitting in at school, feels awkward when the new student he is supposed to be helping becomes the target of the fifth grade’s biggest bully.
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Classic Fiction to Read Aloud to the Whole Family
Burnett, Frances Hodges. The Secret Garden. Several editions. Selfish Mary and sickly, pampered Colin restore an abandoned garden. Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Several editions. Alice finds strange characters when she falls down a rabbit hole. duBois, William Pene. Twenty-One Balloons. Viking, 1975. Three weeks after leaving San Francisco in a balloon to fly across the Pacific, Professor Sherman is picked up in the Atlantic clinging to wreckage. George, Jean Craighead. My Side of the Mountain. Harcourt Brace & Co. 2003, 1959. A boy runs away from home and spends a year living in a tree in the Catskill Mountains with a young peregrine falcon, depending on his knowledge of the natural world and on nature itself to survive. Juster, Norton. The Phantom Tollbooth. Random House, 1961. Young Milo is bored until he drives through a mysterious tollbooth that appears in his room. He discovers the importance of words and numbers on his journey through a funny and fantastical land. Lewis, C. S. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia). Harper Collins, 1950. Four English school children find their way through a wardrobe into the magic land of Narnia, where they help the lion Aslan triumph over the White Witch, who has cursed the land with eternal winter. Enjoy the entire series. S Parley, Walter. The Black Stallion. Random House, 1941. Young Alee Ramsay is shipwrecked on a desert island with a horse destined to play an important part in his life. Following their rescue their adventure continues in America. Read more Black Stallion books. S Sewell, Anna. Black Beauty. Several editions. A horse in nineteenth-century England recounts his experiences with both good and bad masters. Stevenson, Robert Louis. Treasure Island. Charles Scribner, 1911. Several editions. A boy sails with a treasure map to find a pirate’s hidden gold. Also read Kidnapped. Tolkien, J. R. R. The Hobbit. Houghton Mifflin, 2001, 1937. Various companions join forces to steal a ring from a dragon.
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Nonfiction
This is only a sampling of all the wonderful nonfiction books available. Visit your library for more choices.
Armstrong. Jennifer. Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the Endurance. Crown, 2000. Shackleton’s Antarctic trek with 27 men across ice and over stormy seas after his ship sank. Chaiken, Andrew. Mission Control, This is Apollo: The Story of the First Mission to the Moon. Viking, 2009. Recounts 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. Cook, Sally. Hey Batta Batta Swing! The Wild Old Days of Baseball. M. K. McElderry Books, 2007. Describes the old days of baseball before there were pitching mounds, and contains trivia about players’ nicknames, team names, and the design of the uniforms. Curlee, Lynn. Mythological Creatures: A Classical Bestiary. Atheneum, 2008. An illustrated guide to the beasts often found in ancient myths that describes each creature’s origins and what role it has played in world mythology. David, Laurie. Down-to-Earth Global Warming. Scholastic, 2007. Information about global warming and its consequences, with suggestions on maintaining a healthy environment in the home, at school, and in the community. Evans, Lady Hestia. Mythology: The Gods, Heroes, and Monsters of Ancient Greece. Candlewick , 2007. Introduces Greek mythology, exploring gods and goddesses, origins of mankind, monsters, beasts, and battles, featuring fold-outs, pop-ups, maps, “secret” messages, and other interactive features. Read other “-ology” books, such as Egyptology, Pirateology, Wizardology, Monsterology, and Dr. Drake’s Dragonology, all by different authors. Farndon, John. Do Not Open. DK Publishing, 2007. Provides information on a variety of unbelievable topics and mysterious places including Area 51 and the hidden secrets of the Mona Lisa. Klein, Fredrick C. For The Love of Baseball: An A-to-Z Primer for Baseball Fans of All Ages. Triumph Books, 2004. An A-to-Z collection of the players who epitomize baseball history. Krull, Kathleen. The Boy Who Invented Television: The Story of Philo Farnsworth. Knopf, 2009. The biography of Philo Farnsworth, who created the world’s first television image in 1928. Macaulay, David. The Way We Work: Getting to Know the Amazing Human Body. Houghton Mifflin, 2008. A visual exploration of the inner workings of the human body, with close-ups and cross-sections to look at the different body systems and how they function.
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Mortenson, Greg and David Oliver Relin. Three Cups of Tea (Young Reader’s Edition) adapted for young readers by Sarah Thomson. Puffin Books, 2009. The story of Dr. Greg Mortenson, who was rescued and healed by Himalayan villagers after he failed to climb K2. He returned to build schools for young girls previously denied education by the Taliban. Nelson, Kadir. We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball. Hyperion, 2008. Explores the history of Negro League baseball teams, including owners, players, hardships, wins, and losses. The illustrated book includes a foreword by Hank Aaron. Ray, Deborah. Down the Colorado: John Wesley Powell, The One-Armed Explorer. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. Traces the life of explorer John Wesley Powell, who led the first exploration down the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon in 1869. Rusch, Elizabeth. The Planet Hunter: The Story Behind What Happened to Pluto. Rising Moon, 2007. Astronomer Mike Brown was determined to discover a new planet. Instead, he made discoveries that ultimately led to the declassification of Pluto as a planet. Simon, Seymour. Earthquakes. Smithsonian/Collins, 2006. Examines the phenomenon of earthquakes, describing how and where they occur, how they can be predicted, and how much damage they can inflict. St. George, Judith. So You Want to be an Explorer? Philomel Books, 2005. Studies some of the great explorers throughout history, including Christopher Columbus, Marco Polo, Alexander the Great, Chuck Yeager, Amelia Earhart and many more. Tang, Greg. Math Potatoes: Mind-Stretching Brain Food. Scholastic, 2005. Presents a colorful collection of rhymes and riddles that help children develop their math and problem- solving skills. Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out. Candlewick Press, 2007. A collection of essays, personal accounts, historical fiction, and poetry that traces the history of the White House through the eyes of the children who have lived and visited there, with an introduction by David McCullough. Weitzman, David. Pharoah’s Boat. Houghton Mifflin, 2009. Provides an illustrated account of the construction of Egyptian pharaoh Cheops’ funeral boat, and discusses its discovery centuries later during an archaeological dig.
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Picture Books for Older Students
Cole, Joanna. Ms. Frizzle’s Adventures: Imperial China. Scholastic Press, 2005. Ms. Frizzle is invited to celebrate Chinese New Year with her student and travels back in time one thousand years to ancient China where she and her young friends embark on a journey. Karas, G. Brian. Young Zeus. Scholastic, 2010. The story of how young Zeus, with the help of six monsters, five Greek gods, an enchanted she-goat, and his mother, became god of gods, the ruler over all. Logan, Claudia. The 5,000-Year-Old Puzzle: Solving a Mystery of Ancient Egypt. Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2002. A fictionalized account of the excavation of a secret tomb at Giza, Egypt, in 1925, told through the experiences of a young boy who accompanies his father on an archeological dig. Mochizuki, Ken. Baseball Saved Us. Lee & Low, 1993. A Japanese-American boy learns to play baseball when he and his family are forced to live in an internment camp during World War II, and his ability to play helps him after the war is over. McCully, Emily Arnold. Bobbin Girl. Dial Books, 1996. A ten year-old girl working in a textile mill in Lowell, Massachusetts, in the 1830s must make a difficult decision — whether or not she will join the first workers’ strike in Lowell to fight for women’s rights. Lasky, Kathryn. Marven of the Great Woods. Harcourt Brace, 1997. When his Jewish parents send him to a Minnesota logging camp to escape the influenza epidemic of 1918, ten-year-old Marven finds a special friend. Morris, Gerald. The Adventures of Sir Lancelot the Great. Houghton Mifflin, 2008. Sir Lancelot arrives in King Arthur’s court and has many grand adventures after becoming the king’s bravest and greatest knight. The adventures of are told in a humorous way. Moses, Will. Legend of Sleepy Hollow. (Retold from the original story by Washington Irving). Philomel Books, 1995. A superstitious schoolmaster’s courtship is spoiled by a terrifying encounter with a headless horse- man. Polacco, Patricia. Pink and Say. Philomel Books, 1994. Tells of the friendship between Pink, a fifteen-year-old African-American Union soldier, and Say, a poor wounded white boy, as one nurses the other back to health and both are imprisoned at Andersonville. Based on a true story. Sis, Peter. The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain. Francis Foster, 2007. Describes what it was like growing up in a Communist country and discusses how Western culture influenced his life. Seibert Medal 2008.
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Biography
Allen, Thomas B. George Washington, Spymaster. National Geographic, 2004. This illustrated biography of George Washington focuses on his use of spies to gather the intelligence that helped the colonies win the war. Douglass, Frederick. Escape from Slavery. Boyhood of Frederick Douglass in His Own Words. Knopf, 1994. The boyhood of Frederick Douglass, told in his own words. Fleischman, Sid. Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini. Greenwillow Books, 2006. Biography of the great magician, ghost chaser, aviator, and king of escape artists. The Trouble Begins at 8: A Life of Mark Twain in the Wild, Wild West. Greenwillow Books, 2008. The story of the childhood and youth of writer Mark Twain, recounting his beginnings as an author, and also as a steamboat pilot, a journalist, a prospector, a lecturer, and an adventurer who didn’t mind a little trouble. Freedman, Russell. The Voice that Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights. Clarion, 2004. Tells the story of the struggle to ensure civil rights in America during Marian Anderson’s life as an artist, and today. Washington at Valley Forge. Holiday House, 2008. Provides an account of the six months when the soldiers in George Washington's command camped at Valley Force, enduring the harsh winter of 1777-78 without adequate food, clothing, or blankets. Giblin, James. The Many Rides of Paul Revere. Scholastic, 2007. Sets the record straight on Paul Revere’s life and his role in the American Revolution. Describes his childhood, his work as a silversmith, and his roles in the American Revolution. Krull, Kathleen. The Boy on Fairfield Street: How Ted Geisel Grew Up to Become Dr. Seuss. Random House, 2004. Introduces the life of children’s author and illustrator Ted Geisel, popularly known as Dr. Seuss, focusing on his childhood and youth in Springfield, Massachusetts. Krull, Kathleen. Lives of the Presidents: Fame, Shame, and What the Neighbors Thought. Harcourt, 2011. Focuses on the lives of all the presidents as parents, husbands, pet-owners, and neighbors, with humorous, little-known facts about hobbies, diets, hairstyles, and unusual habits. Who liked bowling and who played basketball? Whose mother thought he would become a Quaker missionary? Who gave electric toothbrushes as presidential gifts? Read and find out! Nelson, Vaunda Micheaux. Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U. S. Marshal. Carolrhoda Books, 2009. The story of Bass Reeves, a former slave, who was recruited as a deputy U. S. Marshall, based on his ability to communicate with the Native Americans in the Oklahoma territory.
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Poetry
Franco, Betsy. Mathematickles. McElderry Book, 2003. Poems written in the form of mathematical problems are grouped according to seasonal themes. Florian, Douglas. Insectlopedia: Poems and Paintings. Harcourt Brace, 1998. Presents twenty-one short poems about such insects as the inchworm, termite, cricket, and daddy longlegs. Science and silliness join together. Grandits, John. Technically, It’s Not My Fault: Concrete Poems. Clarion, 2004. A collection of poems in which words and art combine to make pictures of the life of an 11-year-old boy. A Kick in The Head: an Everyday Guide to Poetic Form. Candlewick, 2005. A collection of poems that showcase 29 poetic forms, each with a brief definition. Lewis. J. Patrick. Doodle Dandies: Poems at a Glance. Atheneum Books, 1998. A collection of poems, each of which appears on the page in the shape of its subject, such as baseballs, a skyscraper, a snake, an umbrella and other objects. Lupton, Hugh. Adventures of Odysseus. Barefoot Books, 2006. An illustrated adaptation of Homer’s classic tale of Odysseus and his adventures after the long Trojan War. Park, Linda Sue. Tap Dancing on the Roof. Clarion, 2007. Presents twenty-six sijo, traditional Korean syllabic poems, on “inside” and “outside” themes. Prelutsky, Jack. Good Sports: Rhymes about Running, Jumping, Throwing, and More. Knopf, 2007. An illustrated collection of children’s poems about various sports activities. Rex, Adam. Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich & Other Stories You’re Sure to Like. Harcourt, 2006. A collection of funny poems about the bad habits, anxieties, and other fears and foibles of monsters. Rumford, James. Beowulf: A Hero’s Tale Retold. Houghton Mifflin, 2007. A simplified retelling of the Anglo-Saxon warrior, Beowulf, and how he came to defeat the monster Grendel, Grendel's mother, and a dragon that threatened the kingdom. Silverstein, Shel. Where the Sidewalk Ends. Harper Collins, 1974. A boy who turns into a TV set and a girl who eats a whale are only two of the characters in a collection of humorous poetry illustrated with the author's own drawings. Read A Light in the Attic and other titles by this poet. Schlitz, Laura Amy. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village. Candlewick, 2007. A collection of short one-person plays (monologues) featuring characters between ten and fifteen years old, who live in or near a thirteenth-century English manor. Newbery Medal 2008. Worth, Valerie. Animal Poems. Farrar, 2007. An illustrated collection of twenty-three poems about snails, whales, bats, camels, and other animals.
The Pingry Lower School Library Summer Reading List 2012 22
Newbery Medal Winners, 1922 to Present Choose any of these award-winning Fiction titles.
Dead End in Norvelt, Jack Gantos, 2012 Moon Over Manifest, Clare Vanderpool, 2011 When You Reach Me, Rebecca Stead, 2010 The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman, 2009 Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village, Laura Amy Schlitz, 2008 The Higher Power of Lucky, Susan Patron, 2007 Criss Cross, Lynne Rae Perkins, 2006 Kira Kira, Cynthia Kadohata, 2005 The Tale of Despereaux, Kate Dicamillo, 2004 Crispin: The Cross of Lead, Avi, 2003 A Single Shard, Linda Sue Park, 2002 A Year Down Yonder, Richard Peck, 2001 Bud, Not Buddy, Christopher Curtis, 2000 Holes, Louis Sachar, 1999 Out of the Dust, Karen Hesse, 1998 The View from Saturday, E.L. Konigsburg, 1997 The Midwife’s Apprentice, Karen Cushman, 1996 Walk Two Moons, Sharon Creech, 1995 The Giver, Lois Lowry, 1994 Missing May, Cynthia Rylant, 1993 Shiloh, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, 1992 Maniac Magee, Jerry Spinelli, 1991 Number the Stars, Lois Lowry, 1990 Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, Paul Fleishman, 1989 Lincoln: A Photobiography, Russell Freedman, 1988 The Whipping Boy, Sid Fleishman, 1987 Sarah, Plain and Tall, Patricia MacLachlan, 1986 The Hero and the Crown, Robin McKinley, 1985 Dear Mr. Henshaw, Beverly Cleary, 1984 Dicey’s Song, Cynthia Voigt, 1983 A Visit to William Blake’s Inn, Nancy Willard, 1982 Jacob Have I Loved, Katherine Paterson, 1981 A Gathering of Days, Joan W. Blos, 1980 The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin, 1979 Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson, 1978 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Mildred Taylor, 1977 The Grey King, Susan Cooper, 1976 M.C. Higgins, The Great, Virginia Hamilton, 1975 The Slave Digger, Paula Fox, 1974 Julie of the Wolves, Jean Craighead George, 1973 Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, Robert C. O'Brien, 1972 The Summer of Swans, Betsy Byars, 1971 Sounder, William H. Armstrong, 1970
The Pingry Lower School Library Summer Reading List 2012
The High King, Lloyd Alexander, 1969 From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E.L. Konigsburg, 1968 Up the Road Slowly, Irene Hunt, 1967 I, Juan De Pareja, Elizabeth Borton de Trevino, 1966 Shadow of a Bull, Maia Wojciechowska, 1965 It’s Like This, Cat, Emily Neville, 1964 A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle, 1963 Bronze Bow, Elizabeth George Speare, 1962 Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O'Dell, 1961 Onion John, Joseph Krumgold, 1960 The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Elizabeth George Speare, 1959 Rifles for Watie, Harold Keith, 1958 Miracles on Maple Hill, Virginia Sorenson, 1957 Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, Jean Lee Latham, 1956 The Wheel on the School, Meindert Dejong, 1955 ...And Now Miguel, Joseph Krumgold, 1954 Secrets of the Andes, Ann Nolan Clark, 1953 Ginger Pye, Eleanor Estes, 1952 Amos Fortune, Free Man, Elizabeth Yates, 1951 The Door in the Wall, Maguerite De Angeli, 1950 The 21 Balloons, William Du Bois, 1948 Miss Hickory, Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, 1947 Strawberry Girl, Lois Lenski, 1946 Rabbit Hill, Robert Lawson, 1945 Johnny Tremain, Esther Forbes, 1944 Adam of the Road, Elizabeth Janet Gray, 1943 The Matchlock Gun, Walter D. Edmonds, 1942 Call It Courage, Armstrong Sperry, 1941 Daniel Boone, James Daugherty, 1940 Thimble Summer, Elizabeth Enright, 1939 The White Stag, Kate Seredy, 1938 Roller Skates, Ruth Sawyer, 1937 Caddie Woodlawn, Carol Ryrie Brink, 1936 Dobry, Monica Shannon, 1935 Invincible Louisa, Cornelia Meigs, 1934 Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze, Elizabeth Lewis, 1933 Waterless Mountain, Laura Adams Armer, 1932 The Cat Who Went to Heaven, Elizabeth Coatsworth, 1931 Hitty, Her First Hundred Years, Rachel Field, 1930 The Trumpeter of Krakow, Eric Kelly, 1929 Gay Neck, The Story of a Pigeon, Dhan Gopal, 1928 Smoky, The Cowhorse, Will James, 1927 Shen of the Sea, Arthur Bowie Chrisman, 1926 Tales from Silver Lands, Charles Finger, 1925 The Dark Frigate, Charles Boardman Hawes, 1924 The Voyages of Doctor Doolittle, Hugh Lofting, 1923 The Story of Mankind, Hendrik van Loon, 1922 The Pingry Lower School Library Summer Reading List 2012 The Pingry Lower School Library 2012 Summer Reading Log
Make a list of books as you read them.
Remember to send your postcards to the Library.
Name: ______Grade in September: _____
Title Author
TITLE AUTHOR