1. 2012 Summer
Reading List
Incoming
Mahoney/Memorial
6th Grade Students
Directions: Scroll through the slides. When you find a book that
looks interesting, click the book title to see a book trailer or hear a
summary of the book.
11. On the Field With Peyton and Eli
by Matt Christopher
Editor's Notes
Born third at a time when having more than two children per family is illegal and subject to seizure and punishment by the Population Police, Luke has spent all of his 12 years in hiding. His parents disobeyed once by having him and are determined not to do anything unlawful again. At first the woods around his family's farm are thick enough to conceal him when he plays and works outdoors, but when the government develops some of that land for housing, his world narrows to just the attic. Gazing through an air vent at new homes, he spies a child's face at a window after the family of four has already left for the day. Is it possible that he is not the only hidden child? Answering this question brings Luke greater danger than he has ever faced before, but also greater possibilities for some kind of life outside of the attic. This is a near future of shortages and deprivation where widespread famines have led to a totalitarian government that controls all aspects of its citizens' lives. When the boy secretly ventures outside the attic and meets the girl in the neighboring house, he learns that expressing divergent opinions openly can lead to tragedy. To what extent is he willing to defy the government in order to have a life worth living?
The "Knucklehead" was very naughty with some crazy tricks. The front of the book makes it look like a comic book but it's really not. It's a chapter book with short chapters and some photos. Jon is a naughty kid who is forever going outdoors or playing tricks on his four younger brothers. This is the story of the author and the funny things that happened when he was a kid. For example, once Jon saw this really cool ad that said one-thousand toy soldiers in a footlocker, he bought them all immediately. When they came, he saw that all of the soldiers were no thicker than a dime. He angrily shoved all of the useless soldiers back in the chest. Then the youngest brother Jeff came along and when he asked what it was, Jon showed him the ad and told him that this was one-thousand soldiers in a footlocker and that he could buy it from him for one-dollar and fifty-cents.
Since their mother's death, six years ago, 12-year-old Sadie Kane has lived in London with her maternal grandparents while her older brother, 14-year-old Carter, has traveled the world with their father, a renowned African American Egyptologist. In London on Christmas Eve for a rare evening together, Carter and Sadie accompany their dad to the British Museum, where he blows up the Rosetta Stone in summoning an Egyptian god. Unleashed, the vengeful god overpowers and entombs him, but Sadie and Carter escape. Initially determined to rescue their father, their mission expands to include understanding their hidden magical powers as the descendants of the pharaohs and taking on the ancient forces bent on destroying mankind. Since their mother's death, six years ago, 12-year-old Sadie Kane has lived in London with her maternal grandparents while her older brother, 14-year-old Carter, has traveled the world with their father, a renowned African American Egyptologist. In London on Christmas Eve for a rare evening together, Carter and Sadie accompany their dad to the British Museum, where he blows up the Rosetta Stone in summoning an Egyptian god. Unleashed, the vengeful god overpowers and entombs him, but Sadie and Carter escape. Initially determined to rescue their father, their mission expands to include understanding their hidden magical powers as the descendants of the pharaohs and taking on the ancient forces bent on destroying mankind.
Amanda and Leo have known each other forever. Then, during their tenth birthday party, Amanda overheard Leo say something that really hurt her, and they stopped speaking to each other. Amanda's eleventh birthday isn't horrible, but the day doesn't exactly go according to plan, either. She gets talked into trying out for the school gymnastics team by her friend, then freezes up when she's supposed to do a back handspring. In honor of her movie-themed birthday party, her mom got Amanda an itchy Dorothy costume. With Leo having his own party at the same time, only half of the kids that were invited come to Amanda's house, and some leave early to go to Leo's place. Amanda's pretty miserable, but she doesn't really complain. As she crawls into bed that night, she's thankful for what she has - her family, her health, the upcoming weekend - and is grateful that the day is over. Then she wakes up the next day - or what she thinks is the next day - only to discover it's Friday again! Then the next day ends up being the same day again - and the next day - and the next! Thanks in part to a mysterious and kind elderly woman with a duck-shaped birthmark, Amanda might finally get through the day and mend her broken friendship with Leo.
Unabashedly capitalizing on the Wimpy Kid wave (with a Jeff Kinney blurb-recommendation splashed across the cover), Peirce’s book, for a slightly younger audience, uses a mix of prose and cartoons to tell a quick story about a day in the life of an extroverted, impish kid. Peirce does have comics cred on his side: his hero, Nate, has been the star of a long-running daily comic strip. He is the classic clever kid who hates school and whose antics land him in ever-hotter water with grumbly teachers. On this particular day, he wakes up feeling fine, sweats a bit about an upcoming test, then opens a fortune cookie at school that reads, “Today you will surpass all others.” So, he dutifully goes about trying to best other kids at everything but seems to only have a knack for racking up detention slips. The cartoons provide plenty of gags at the expense of various adults and classmates, and Nate’s persistent good cheer and moxie make him a likable new proxy for young misfits.
