This document provides a summary of a presentation on book recommendations for elementary grades 4-6. It includes sections on the purpose of the presentation, research behind grade-level recommendations, mentor texts for writing genres like personal narratives and arguments, and recommended books for each grade in categories like novels, picture books, and book clubs. Recommended books provide examples of writing styles and topics relevant to different grades.

1. Books! Books! Books!
Book Recommendations 4-6
Sukhi Goomer
Lawrence Intermediate School, 5th Grade
Email: sgoomer@ltps.org
Twitter: @room7lis

2. Agenda
• Purpose of presentation
• Reasoning for researching book titles for elementary grades
• Research behind grade-level recommendations
• Mentor Texts for Writing
• Mentor Texts for Notice & Note Signposts
• Read Aloud Recommendations
• Picture Books 4-6
• Novels 4-6
• Book Club Recommendations
• Novels 4-6
• Questions & Comments

3. Purpose
• Why did I choose to do a presentation on book
recommendations for teachers?
• What will you get out of this presentation?

4. Research
• How did I go about selecting books for different
grade levels?
• Fountas & Pinnell recommend that children hear books
read aloud that are three to four reading levels above their
current level.
• Guided reading of any kind should be done with novels at
a child’s instructional level.
• Independent reading should be a child’s independent
reading level (but can often be higher depending on the
child’s interest and background knowledge).

5. Research
• https://www.heinemann.com/fountasandpinnell/ha
ndouts/instructionallevelexpectationsforreading.pdf

6. Text Levels per Grade
Grade MP 1 MP 2 MP 3 MP 4
4
Independent: O Independent: P Independent: Q Independent: R
Instructional: P/Q Instructional: Q Instructional: R Instructional: S/T
Read Aloud: T/U Read Aloud: U/V Read Aloud: V/W Read Aloud: W/X
5
Independent: R Independent: S Independent: T Independent: U
Instructional: S/T Instructional: T Instructional: U Instructional: V/W
Read Aloud: W/X Read Aloud: W/X Read Aloud: X/Y Read Aloud: Y/Z
6
Independent: U Independent: V Independent: W Independent: X
Instructional: V/W Instructional: W Instructional: X Instructional: Y
Read Aloud: Y/Z Read Aloud: Y/Z Read Aloud: Z Read Aloud: Z+

7. Text Levels per Grade
4TH GRADE 5TH GRADE 6TH GRADE
Independent Instructional Read Aloud Independent Instructional Read Aloud Independent Instructional Read Aloud
MP 1 O P/Q R/S R S/T U U V/W X
MP 2 P Q S S T V V W Y
MP 3 Q R T T U W W X Z
MP 4 R S/T U U V/W X X Y Z+

8. Mentor Texts for Writing

9. Mentor Texts for Writing
• Use these texts to support students’ writing
• Examples, and models of high quality writing
• Make texts available during units of study for
students to refer to
• Qualities:
• You, the educator, needs to think the text is actually good.
• Understandable for students
• Relevant to what students are doing or learning currently

10. Personal Narratives
Mentor Texts for Writing

11. We Had a Picnic This Sunday Past
by Jacqueline Woodson, Diane Greenseid (Illustrator)
• Teeka's family had a picnic this
Sunday past. Everyone was there,
from mean old cousin Terrance
who put fake flies on the sweet
corn, to Bible-toting Reverend
Luke to Auntie Kim (Teeka's all-
time favorite). And they were all
dreading the arrival of Cousin
Martha and her pie, which was
always a bit on the dry side (but
you had to eat every bit so you
didn't hurt her feelings). But this
year, where was Cousin Martha?
And where was that dried-out
apple pie?

12. Baseball Saved Us
by Ken Mochizuki, Dom Lee (Illustrator)
• Shorty and his family, along with
thousands of Japanese
Americans, are sent to an
internment camp after the attack
on Pearl Harbor. Fighting the heat
and dust of the desert, Shorty
and his father decide to build a
baseball diamond and form a
league in order to boost the spirits
of the internees. Shorty quickly
learns that he is playing not only
to win, but to gain dignity and
self-respect as well.

13. Ralph Tells a Story
by Abby Hanlon
• Although his teacher
insists there are stories
everywhere, Ralph
cannot think of any to
write.

14. The Harmonica
by Tony Johnston, Ron Mazellan (Illustrator)
• When the Nazis invade
Poland, a family is split
apart. A harmonica
keeps a boy's hope alive.
The story is inspired by
the life of a Holocaust
survivor.
• Level W
• 5th Grade and up

15. Come On, Rain!
By Karen Hesse, Jon J Muth (Illustrator)
• "Come on, rain!" Tess pleads
to the sky as listless vines
and parched plants droop in
the endless heat. Up and
down the block, cats pant
while heat wavers off tar
patches in the broiling
alleyway. More than
anything, Tess hopes for
rain. And when it comes, she
and her friends are ready for
a surprising joyous
celebration.

16. Night Driving
by John Coy, Peter McCarty (Illustrator)
• A father and son drive into
the night. As the sky turns
shades of deep blue and
purple they watch for night
animals, swap baseball
stories, and keep a lookout
for eighteen wheelers. But
they have miles to go before
they can sleep, and it's a real
challenge to stay awake for a
whole night of driving.

17. A Different Pond
by Bao Phi, Thi Bui (Illustrator)
• As a young boy, Bao Phi
awoke early, hours before his
father's long workday began,
to fish on the shores of a
small pond in Minneapolis.
Unlike many other anglers,
Bao and his father fished for
food, not recreation. A
successful catch meant a fed
family. Between hope-filled
casts, Bao's father told him
about a different pond in
their homeland of Vietnam.

18. Smoky Night
by Eve Bunting, David Diaz (Illustrator)
• Eve Bunting’s heartfelt story and
David Diaz’s dramatic illustrations
create a compelling child’s-eye
view of urban violence. A young
boy and his mother are forced to
flee their apartment during a
night of rioting in Los Angeles.
Fires and looting force
neighbors—who have always
avoided one another—to come
together in the face of danger and
concern for their missing pets.
• Level P (3rd grade and higher)

19. Those Shoes
by Maribeth Boelts, Noah Z. Jones (Illustrator)
• All Jeremy wants is a pair of those
shoes, the ones everyone at school
seems to be wearing. But Jeremy’s
grandma tells him they don’t have
room for "want," just "need," and
what Jeremy needs are new boots for
winter. When Jeremy’s shoes fall apart
at school, and the guidance counselor
gives him a hand-me-down pair, the
boy is more determined than ever to
have those shoes, even a thrift-shop
pair that are much too small. But sore
feet aren’t much fun, and Jeremy
comes to realize that the things he has
— warm boots, a loving grandma, and
the chance to help a friend — are
worth more than the things he wants.

20. Enemy Pie
by Derek Munson, Tara Calahan King (Illustrator)
• It was the perfect
summer. That is, until
Jeremy Ross moved into
the house down the street
and became
neighborhood enemy
number one. Luckily Dad
had a surefire way to get
rid of enemies: Enemy
Pie.
• Grades 3 to 5

21. Fly Away Home
by Eve Bunting, Ronald Himler (Illustrator)
• A homeless boy who lives in
an airport with his father,
moving from terminal to
terminal trying not to be
noticed, is given hope when
a trapped bird finally finds
its freedom.
• Level M (3rd grade and
higher)
• Can also use for Notice &
Note Signpost: Tough
Question, Aha Moment

22. Saturdays and Tea Cakes
by Lester L. Laminack, Chris Soentpiet (Illustrator)
In this poetic memory, a young boy rides
his bicycle every Saturday up and down
country roads past farms, a graveyard, and
a filling station, until he reaches his
beloved Mammaw's house. She is waiting
for him. While she picks tomatoes, he
pushes the lawnmower through the dew-
wet grass. Afterwards, he always helps her
make teacakes from scratch, breaking the
eggs and stirring the batter. But the best
part, he remembers, is eating the hot,
sweet cakes fresh from the oven.
Consider using for Notice & Note
Signpost: Memory Moment

23. Knots on a Counting Rope
by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault, Ted Rand (Illustrator)
By the warmth of a campfire
beneath a starry night sky, a
Navajo youth named Boy-
Strength-of-Blue-Horses
listens to the tale of his birth
from his grandfather.
Although blind, the boy
learns that he has the
strength to cope with his
condition and meet any
challenge that comes his way.

24. Owl Moon
by Jane Yolen, John Schoenherr (Illustrator)
• Late one winter night a little girl
and her father go owling. The
trees stand still as statues and the
world is silent as a dream. Whoo-
whoo-whoo, the father calls to
the mysterious nighttime bird.
But there is no answer.
Wordlessly the two companions
walk along, for when you go
owling you don't need words. You
don't need anything but hope.
Sometimes there isn't an owl, but
sometimes there is.

25. Our Very Own Dog
by Amanda McCardie, Salvatore Rubbino (Illustrator)
• There's nothing more
exciting than getting a
dog! Join Sophie's new
human family as they
prepare their home for
her and introduce her to
life as a beloved pet.
Follow along as they learn
about bedding and bowls,
treats and training, walks
and washing--and even an
unexpected dog show!

26. The Other Side
by Jacqueline Woodson, E.B. Lewis (Illustrator)
Clover's mom says it isn't safe
to cross the fence that
segregates their African-
American side of town from
the white side where Anna
lives. But the two girls strike up
a friendship, and get around the
grown-ups' rules by sitting on
top of the fence together.
Can also be used for Notice &
Note Signpost: Again & Again.

27. All the Places to Love
by Patricia MacLachlan, Mike Wimmer (Illustrator)
• Within the sanctuary of a
loving family, baby Eli is
born and, as he grows,
learns to cherish the
people and places around
him, eventually passing on
what he has discovered to
his new baby sister, Sylvie:
“All the places to love are
here . . . no matter where
you may live.”

28. Other Resources to Consider:
Short Stories
• “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros
• Great for 4th and 5th grade
• “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan
• Great for 6th grade and higher
• “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie
• Great for 5th grade and higher – excellent for metaphors
• “A Plate of Peas” by Rick Beyer
• Great for all ages, can also be used for Notice & Note Signposts
• “Mississippi Mud” by Jessica Piper
• Great for all ages, memoir
• “So, What Are You Anyway?” by Lawrence Hill
• Middle school and higher

29. Other Resources to Consider
• Humans of New York
• Photos, interviews, and videos of residents of New York
City, plus stories from twenty different countries
• Former students’ stories
• Commercials and short films

30. Great Authors to Consider
• Eve Bunting
• Sandra Cisneros
• Patricia Polacco
• David Sedaris (generally good for middle school)
• Tobias Wolff (generally good for middle school)
• Jacqueline Woodson

31. Argument
Opinion Essays
Persuasive Writing
Mentor Texts for Writing

32. One Word from Sophia
by Jim Averbeck, Yasmeen Ismail (Illustrator)
Sophia tries varied techniques to get
the giraffe she wants more than
anything in this playfully illustrated
story about the nuances of
negotiation.
Sophia has one true desire for her
birthday. But she has Four Big
Problems in the way: Mom, Dad,
Uncle Conrad...and Grand-mama.
Will her presentations, proposals, and
pie charts convince them otherwise?
Great for vocabulary! Can also be
used for Words of the Wiser

33. She Persisted
by Chelsea Clinton, Alexandra Boiger (Illustrator)
• Throughout American history, there have
always been women who have spoken out
for what’s right, even when they have to
fight to be heard. In this book, Chelsea
Clinton celebrates thirteen American women
who helped shape our country through their
tenacity, sometimes through speaking out,
sometimes by staying seated, sometimes by
captivating an audience. They all certainly
persisted.
She Persisted is for everyone who has ever
wanted to speak up but has been told to
quiet down, for everyone who has ever tried
to reach for the stars but was told to sit
down, and for everyone who has ever been
made to feel unworthy or unimportant or
small.

34. Thank you, Sarah:
The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving
by Laurie Halse Anderson, Matt Faulkner (Illustrator)
• We the people of the United
States...Almost Lost Thanksgiving
• Yes. That's right!
• Way back when "skirts were long and
hats were tall" Americans were
forgetting Thanksgiving, and nobody
seemed to care!
• Thankfully, Sarah Hale appeared.
More steadfast than Plymouth Rock,
this lady editor knew the holiday
needed saving. But would her recipe
for rescue ever convince Congress and
the presidents?

35. A Pig Parade is a Terrible Idea
by Michael Ian Black, Kevin Hawkes (Illustrator)
• Could anything possibly be
more fun than a pig parade!?
You wouldn't think so. But
you'd be wrong. A pig
parade is a terrible idea. Pigs
hate to march, refuse to wear
the uniforms, don't care
about floats, and insist on
playing country music
ballads. Those are just some
of the reasons. And trust
me, this hysterical book has
plenty more!

36. I Wanna Iguana
by Karen Kaufman Orloff, David Catrow (Illustrator)
• Alex just has to convince his mom to
let him have an iguana, so he puts his
arguments in writing. He promises
that she won't have to feed it or clean
its cage or even see it if she doesn't
want to. Of course Mom imagines life
with a six-foot-long iguana eating
them out of house and home. Alex's
reassurances: It takes fifteen years for
an iguana to get that big. I'll be
married by then and probably living in
my own house. and his mom's replies:
How are you going to get a girl to
marry you when you own a giant
reptile? will have kids in hysterics as
the negotiations go back and forth
through notes.

37. I Wanna New Room
by Karen Kaufman Orloff, David Catrow (Illustrator)
• Ever since their baby sister came
along, Alex has been forced to share a
room with his little brother, Ethan,
and it's a nightmare. Ethan always
breaks stuff, snores like a walrus, and
sticks crayons up his nose. No
hardworking, well-behaved, practically
grown-up boy like Alex should have to
put up with that!Writing letters to his
mom convinced her to let him get his
pet iguana, so Alex puts pencil to
paper again, this time determined to
get his own room. Though all of his
powers of persuasion can't get his dad
to expand the house, he does come
through with a fun alternative to give
Alex some space of his own.

38. Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type
by Doreen Cronin, Betsy Lewin (Illustrator)
• Farmer Brown has a problem.
His cows like to type.
All day long he hears
Click, clack, MOO.
Click, clack, MOO.
Clickety, clack, MOO.
But Farmer Brown's problems
REALLY begin when his cows
start leaving him notes....

39. Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School
by Mark Teague
• When Ike Larue is
"imprisoned" at the Igor
Brotweiler Canine Academy,
he tries everything to get sent
home--weepy letters to his
owner, even illness. In reality,
Brotweiler is more like camp
than prison, but still, Ike's not
cut out for life w/o Mrs.
Larue & his creature
comforts. Finally, he runs
away only to find himself
back in Snort City--just in
time to save Mrs. Larue's life.

40. The Day the Crayons Quit
by Drew Daywelt, Oliver Jeffers (Illustrator)
Poor Duncan just wants to color. But
when he opens his box of crayons, he
finds only letters, all saying the same thing:
We quit!
Beige is tired of playing second fiddle to
Brown. Blue needs a break from coloring
all that water, while Pink just wants to be
used. Green has no complaints, but
Orange and Yellow are no longer speaking
to each other.
What is Duncan to do?
Can also use for Notice & Note Signpot –
Memory Moment.

41. Hey, Little Ant
by Phillip & Hannah Hoose, Dibbie Tilley (Illustrator)
• What would you do if
the ant you were about
to step on looked up
and started talking?
Would you stop and
listen? What if your
friends saw you
hesitate?

42. Animals should definitely not wear clothing.
By Judy Barrett, Ron Barrett (Illustrator)
• ..because a snake would
lose it, a billy goat
would eat it for lunch,
and it would always be
wet on a walrus! This
well-loved book by Judi
and Ron Barrett shows
why animals' clothing is
perfect...just as it is.

43. Earrings!
By Judith Viorst, Nora Langner Malone (Illustrator)
• What's a young girl supposed to
do when her mom and dad refuse
to let her have her ears pierced?
She can argue, she can beg, she
can swear that-if only they'll say
yes -- she'll be nice to her little
brother for one whole year. And
whether or not she persuades
them, she can find herself in this
true and funny tail of a
charmingly persistent girl
determined to have what she
wants and needs and loves:
beautiful, glorious earrings for
pierced ears.

44. Stella Writes an Opinion
by Janiel Wagstaff, Dana Regan (Illustrator)
• Meet Stella. She has lots of opinions.
Like, the best food is ice cream and
kids should be allowed to bring toys to
school and Ms. Merkley is the nicest
teacher in the whole world. So, when
Ms. M. tells the class they get to write
an opinion, Stella gets excited. But
how will she choose what to write
about? Go with Stella on her writing
journey and see how one kid's opinion
can change a school.
What could be more fun than to write
what you think about an important
topic. Now that's power!
• Walks students through the writing
process

45. This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies
of Remarkable Men and Women
edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman
• Based on the National Public Radio series
of the same name, "This I Believe" features
eighty essayists--from the famous to the
unknown--completing the thought that
begins the book's title. Each piece compels
readers to rethink not only how they have
arrived at their own personal beliefs but also
the extent to which they share them with
others.
• Featuring a well-known list of contributors--
including Isabel Allende, Colin Powell,
Gloria Steinem, William F. Buckley Jr., Penn
Jillette, Bill Gates, and John Updike--the
collection also contains essays by a Brooklyn
lawyer; a part-time hospital clerk from
Rehoboth, Massachusetts; a woman who
sells Yellow Pages advertising in Fort Worth,
Texas; and a man who serves on the state of
Rhode Island's parole board.

46. Dear Mr. President: Letters to the Oval Office
by Dwight Young (editor)
• Drawn from the extensive holdings of the
National Archives--which includes all of the
Presidential libraries--these carefully chosen
letters remind us that ours is a government
"of the people, by the people, and for the
people," which entitles us to make our views
known to our leaders. Most of the letters
come from working citizens; others were
written by notable figures: John Glenn, Elvis
Presley, Walt Disney, Ho Chi Minh, Nikita
Kruschev, Upton Sinclair, John Steinbeck,
Robert Kennedy, and many more.
• Grouped thematically, the sections cover
such topics as civil rights, the Cold War,
physical fitness, joblessness, World War II,
western expansion, and the space race.

47. Everything’s An Argument (8th ed.)
by Andrea A. Lunsford, John J. Ruzkiewicz
• A streamlined argument guide plus
provocative thematic
reader, Everything's an Argument with
Readings helps students understand and
analyze the arguments around them as
well as create their own. Lucid
explanations cover the classical
rhetoric of the ancient Greeks
through the multimodal rhetoric of
today, with professional and student
models of every type. New attention
to rhetorical listening skills teaches
students to communicate effectively
and ethically as they work through
potentially contentious discussions in
and outside the classroom.

48. Speeches to Consider
• ‘Give me liberty or give me death’ by Patrick Henry,
delivered March 23, 1775, St. John’s Church,
Richmond, Virginia
• Sojourner Truth (1797-1883): Ain't I A Woman?
Delivered 1851
Women's Convention, Akron, Ohio
• Any speech by Barack Obama, Winston Churchill,
Martin Luther King Jr., or Franklin D. Roosevelt.

49. Other Texts to Consider
• Newswela opinion pieces
• Abigail Adams’ letters to John Adams
• Commercials

50. Texts for
Notice & Note Signposts

51. Creatrilogy: The Dot, Ish, Sky Color
by Peter H. Reynolds
• The Dot An enchanting invitation
to self-expression! Don’t worry,
just make a mark — and see
where it takes you.
• Ish A creative spirit learns that
thinking "ishly" leads to a far
more wonderful outcome than
"getting it right."
• Sky Color The sky’s no limit in this
gentle, playful tale — a reminder
that if we open our eyes and look
beyond the expected, inspiration
will come.

52. You and Me
by Susan Verde, Peter H Reynolds (Illustrator)
• An adorable cat muses about
the what-ifs in life: What if
he had slept late that one
special morning? What if
he’d missed his train on that
fateful day? Then he might
never have met his favorite
person in the world, and his
entire life would be different!
• Tough Questions, Memory
Moment

53. The North Star
by Peter H. Reynolds
• It is often said that life is a
journey, and it’s true. But
sometimes it’s hard to
know which path to
follow when signs point in
so many directions.
• Can also use to teach
Notice & Note Signpost –
Again & Again.

54. Each Kindness
by Jacqueline Woodson, E.B. Lewis (Illustrator)
• Chloe doesn't really know why she
turns away from the new girl, Maya,
when Maya tries to befriend her. And
every time Maya asks if she can play
with Chloe and the other girls, the
answer is always no. So Maya ends up
playing alone. And then one day she's
gone.
• When Chloe's teacher gives a lesson
about how even small acts of kindness
can change the world, Chloe is stung
by the opportunity that's been lost.
How much better could it have been if
she'd just shown Maya a little kindness
and opened her heart to friendship?
• Tough Questions, Words of the Wiser

55. The Yellow Star
The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark
by Carmen Agra Deedy, Henri Sorensen (Illustrator)
• Without the yellow star to point them out,
the Jews looked like any other Danes.
For centuries, the Star of David was a
symbol of Jewish pride. But during World
War II, Nazis used the star to segregate and
terrorize the Jewish people. Except in
Denmark. When Nazi soldiers occupied his
country, King Christian X of Denmark
committed himself to keeping all Danes safe
from harm, and the bravery of the Danes
and their king during that dangerous time
has inspired many legends. The most
enduring is the legend of the yellow star,
which symbolizes the loyalty and fearless
spirit of the king and his people.
• Can also be used for Notice & Note
Signpost – Tough Question, Memory
Moment

56. Blackout
by John Rocco
• One hot summer night in the city, all the
power goes out. The TV shuts off and a boy
wails, "Mommm!" His sister can no longer
use the phone, Mom can't work on her
computer, and Dad can't finish cooking
dinner. What's a family to do? When they go
up to the roof to escape the heat, they find
the lights--in stars that can be seen for a
change--and so many neighbors it's like a
block party in the sky! On the street below,
people are having just as much fun--talking,
rollerblading, and eating ice cream before it
melts. The boy and his family enjoy being
not so busy for once. They even have time
to play a board game together. When the
electricity is restored, everything can go back
to normal . . . but not everyone likes normal.
• Great for contrasts & contradictions

57. Probuditi!
by Chris Van Allsburg
• For his birthday, Calvin’s mother gives him two tickets to
see Lomax the Magnificent (magician and hypnotist
extraordinaire!). Even though Mama hints that his little
sister, Trudy, would love to go, Calvin doesn’t hesitate to
invite his friend Rodney instead.
The boys return home greatly impressed by the magician’s
performance. When Calvin’s mother goes out, she leaves
him in charge of Trudy. It’s a job Calvin dislikes because
his sister does not want to be left out of anything. So
Calvin and Rodney include her—by making her the first
subject for their own hypnotizing machine.
Much to the boys’ surprise, the machine works. But
unfortunately they cannot undo what they have done.
Trudy is stuck in her trance, convinced she is a dog—
panting, drooling, and barking at squirrels. The only
problem is, Calvin can’t remember Lomax’s magic
word—Probuditi!—so Trudy won’t snap out of it!
The boys are worried and decide to take Trudy to the one
man they know can solve their problem—but will Lomax
help them? Mama is on her way home . . . Who will have
the last laugh?
• Great for Aha Moment, Contrasts & Contradictions

58. Jabari Jumps
by Gaia Cornwall
• Jabari is definitely ready to jump
off the diving board. He's
finished his swimming lessons
and passed his swim test, and he's
a great jumper, so he's not scared
at all. "Looks easy," says Jabari,
watching the other kids take their
turns. But when his dad squeezes
his hand, Jabari squeezes back. He
needs to figure out what kind of
special jump to do anyway, and he
should probably do some
stretches before climbing up onto
the diving board.
• Contrasts & Contradications

59. The Memory String
by Eve Bunting, Ted Rand (Illustrator)
• Each button on Laura’s memory string
represents a piece of her family history. The
buttons Laura cherishes the most belonged
to her mother—a button from her prom
dress, a white one off her wedding dress,
and a single small button from the
nightgown she was wearing on the day she
died. When the string breaks, Laura’s new
stepmother, Jane, is there to comfort Laura
and search for a missing button, just as
Laura’s mother would have done. But it’s not
the same—Jane isn’t Mom. In Eve Bunting’s
moving story, beautifully illustrated by Ted
Rand, Laura discovers that a memory string
is not just for remembering the past: it’s also
for recording new memories.
• Level N (3rd Grade and higher)
• Great for all signposts – especially Aha
Moment!

60. Nothing Ever Happens on 90th Street
by Roni Schotter, Kyrsten Brooker (Illustrator)
• When Eva sits on her
stoop trying to complete a
school assignment by
writing about what
happens in her
neighborhood, she gets a
great deal of advice and
action.
• Great for Words of the
Wiser

61. The Arrival
by Shaun Tan
• In a heartbreaking
parting, a man gives his
wife and daughter a last
kiss and boards a
steamship to cross the
ocean. He's embarking on
the most painful yet
important journey of his
life- he's leaving home to
build a better future for
his family.

62. Contrast & Contradiction
Notice & Note Signposts

63. The Bad Seed
by Jory John, Pete Oswald (Illustrator)
• He has a bad temper, bad
manners, and a bad attitude.
He’s been bad since he can
remember! This seed cuts in
line every time, stares at
everybody and never listens.
But what happens when one
mischievous little seed
changes his mind about
himself, and decides that he
wants to be—happy?

64. Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress
by Christine Baldacchino, Isabelle Malenfant (Illustrator)
• Morris has a great imagination. He paints
amazing pictures and he loves his
classroom's dress-up center, especially the
tangerine dress. It reminds him of tigers, the
sun and his mother's hair.
• The other children don't understand--
dresses, they say, are for girls. And Morris
certainly isn't welcome in the spaceship his
classmates are building--astronauts, they say,
don't wear dresses.
• One day Morris has a tummy ache, and his
mother lets him stay home from school. He
stays in bed reading about elephants, and her
dreams about a space adventure with his cat,
Moo. Inspired by his dream, Morris paints a
fantastic picture, and everything begins to
change when he takes it to school.

65. Allie’s Basketball Dream
by Barbara E. Barber, Darryl Ligasan (Illustrator)
• Allie's always been hooked
on basketball, but the boys
she knows won't play with
her. On the verge of giving
up, Allie has one last go at it-
-and she makes the basket.
Inspired by her persistence,
her friends all want to join
in. (According to the boys
watching Allie play, girls
can’t play basketball.)

66. A Tale of Two Beasts
by Fiona Roberton
• When a little girl rescues a
strange beast from the woods,
she takes him home. But for
some reason, the little beast is
not happy! There are two
sides to every story, and this
funny and charming tale is no
exception. Author/illustrator
Fiona Roberton offers both
points of view in this
discussion-starting tale of the
importance of seeing the
world in different ways.

67. I Don’t Want to Be a Frog
by Dev Petty, Mike Boldt (Illustrator)
• Frog wants to be anything but a
slimy, wet frog. A cat, perhaps. Or
a rabbit. An owl? But when a
hungry wolf arrives—a wolf who
HATES eating frogs—our hero
decides that being himself isn’t so
bad after all. In this very silly
story with a sly message, told in
hilarious dialogue between a feisty
young frog and his heard-it-all-
before father, young readers will
identify with little Frog’s desire to
be something different, while
laughing along at his stubborn yet
endearing schemes to prove
himself right.

68. Tuesday
by David Wiesner
• Nearly wordless picture
book.
• Follows a group of
frogs whose lily pads
begin magically floating.
• Contrast to what frogs
normally do.

69. Mr. Tiger Goes Wild
by Peter Brown
Are you bored with being so
proper?
Do you want to have more
fun?
Mr Tiger knows exactly how
you feel. So he decides to go
wild.
But does he go too far?
There is a time and place for
everything...even going wild.
Can also be used for Aha
Moment.

70. The Wolf’s Chicken Stew
by Keiko Kasza
• The wolf loves to eat more than
anything in the world and one day
he has a terrible craving for
chicken stew. He spots a chicken
who seems just right, but then he
thinks how much more stew there
will be if he fattens her up before
dining himself. So he goes home
and begins to cook all kinds of
scrumptious food for the chicken
to eat. A big surprise is in store
for the wolf when he finally visits
Mrs. Chicken to collect his meal.

71. This is a Moose
by Richard T. Morris, Tom Lichtenheld (Illustrator)
• Lights! Camera! Moose!
MOOSE? Yes, Moose! When a movie
director tries to capture the life of a
moose on film, he's in for a big
surprise. It turns out the moose has a
dream bigger then just being a
moose—he wants to be an astronaut
and go to the moon.
• His forest friends step in to help him,
and action ensues. Lots of action. Like
a lacrosse-playing grandma, a gigantic
slingshot into space, and a flying,
superhero chipmunk.

72. That Is NOT a Good Idea!
By Mo Willems
Inspired by the evil villains and
innocent damsels of silent movies,
Willems tells the tale of a hungry fox
who invites a plump goose to dinner.
One day a very hungry fox meets a
very plump goose. A dinner invitation
is offered. Will dinner go as planned?
Or do the dinner plans involve a
secret ingredient...? (Don't forget to
listen to the baby geese!)
Can also be used for Words of the
Wiser.

73. Gaston
by Kelly DiPucchio, Christian Robinson (Illustrator)
• This is the story of four puppies: Fi-
Fi, Foo-Foo, Ooh-La-La, and Gaston.
Gaston works the hardest at his
lessons on how to be a proper pooch.
He sips - never slobbers! He yips -
never yaps! And he walks with grace -
never races! Gaston fits right in with
his poodle sisters.But a chance
encounter with a bulldog family in the
park-Rocky, Ricky, Bruno, and
Antoinette-reveals there's been a mix-
up, and so Gaston and Antoinette
switch places. The new families look
right...but they don't feel right. Can
these puppies follow their noses-and
their hearts-to find where they belong?

74. Pete & Pickles
by Berkeley Breathed
• Pete is a perfectly predictable,
practical, uncomplicated pig. At least,
he was . . . before a runaway circus
elephant named Pickles stampeded
into his life, needing a friend. Pickles is
larger than life and overflowing with
imagination. She takes Pete swandiving
off Niagara Falls. (Sort of.) And
sledding down the Matterhorn. (Sort
of.) Pete goes along for the wild ride
and actually begins to enjoy himself…
until Pickles goes too far. And Pete
tells her she must leave. Yet sometimes
the simple life isn’t all it’s cracked up
to be.

75. Don’t Call Me Choochie Pooh!
by Sean Taylor, Kate Hindley (Illustrator)
• This dog doesn’t want to be
carried in a handbag (how
embarrassing!) or eat heart-
shaped Mini Puppy Treats (I
mean, come ON!) and
under no circumstances does
he ever want to be
called... Choochie Pooh! If only
his owner understood. All he
wants to do is play with the
big dogs in the park - chase
sticks, jump in muddy puddles
and be an
ordinary, proper dog.

76. Memoirs of a Goldfish
by Devin Scillian, Tim Bowers (Illustrator)
• With his bowl to
himself, Goldfish loves
his life...until one day...
A personal account
from a goldfish on life
in his bowl as other
intruders crowd him.

77. Don’t Call Me Grandma
by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, Elizabeth Zunon (Illustrator)
• Nell isn't your typical
great-grandmother. But in
the course of this picture
book from Coretta Scott
King Award-winning
author Vaunda Michaux
Nelson, a young girl finds
a way to express her
affection for this prickly,
independent woman.

78. North Woods Girl
by Aimee Bissonette, Claudia McGehee (Illustrator)
• “When Grandma tucks her pants into her oversized
boots and grabs her walking stick, I run to catch
up,” reports a young girl charmed by her visits to
Grandma’s north woods home. Their walks take
them through the seasons, to a pond with a downed
tree just right for sitting, to a garden lush with
tomatoes ready for canning, through a snowy
nighttime woods where the only sounds are the
squeak of boots on snow and the hooting of a
distant owl. Whatever the month, there are plenty of
woodland critters to observe: squirrels or rabbits or
deer, geese or goldeneyes or mergansers. The forest
of North Woods Girl is an active, populated place,
brought to life by Claudia McGehee’s colorful
scratchboard artistry. Time with Grandma teaches
about quiet observation, generous sharing of
resources, the beauty of the forest and pond at any
hour. Grandma is the quintessential north woods
girl, breathing deep the piney scents, relishing the
chirping activity of her animal neighbors.
• A Grandma that doesn’t quite fit the mold.

79. Little Red
by Bethan Woolvin
• Little Red Riding Hood meets a wolf
on her way through the woods to visit
her sick grandmother. The wolf is
hungry, and Red Riding Hood looks
tasty, so he hatches a dastardly plan,
gobbles up Grandma and lies in wait.
So far, so familiar. But this Little Red
Riding Hood is not easily fooled, and
this big bad wolf better watch his
back. In this defiant interpretation of
the traditional tale, the cheeky, brave
little girl seizes control of her own
story (and the wolf gets rather more
than he bargained for).

80. Rotten Richie and the Ultimate Dare
by Patricia Polacco
• Seems like Richie's entire goal
in life is to make Trisha's
impossible. Especially when
he takes to teasing her about
her beloved ballet class. Trisha
knows how much work it
takes to be good at ballet--
much more than the stupid
hockey Richie plays! So she
challenges Richie to perform
in her ballet recital, and Richie
agrees, under one condition:
Trisha has to join his hockey
team for the big game!

81. A Monster Calls
by Patrick Ness
• Read just the first chapter
• The monster in Conor’s
backyard is not the one he’s
been expecting — the one
from the nightmare he’s had
every night since his mother
started her treatments. This
monster is ancient. And wild.
And it wants something from
Conor. Something terrible and
dangerous. It wants the truth.
• Ages 12+

82. My Teacher Is a Monster (No, I Am Not.)
by Peter Brown
Bobby has a problem.
You see, his teacher is a
monster.
But when Bobby runs into
his teacher outside of
school, he learns there is
more to her than meets
the eye.

83. Julius, the Baby of the World
by Kevin Henkes
At first, big sister Lilly thought it might be fun
to have a new baby in the family. But when her
parents repeatedly coo, "Julius is the baby of
world," Lilly's mouse hackles begin to rise. Soon
the jealousy is too much for her, and she
embarks on a rejection campaign that is
hysterically funny, but also comforting for
siblings who probably feel just as much
resentment but would never go to Lilly's
extremes. For example, she delights in insulting
her oblivious baby brother: "If you were a food,
you'd be a raisin," she whispers into his crib. "If
you were a number you'd be zero." When she
paints an elaborate family portrait, she leaves
Julius out. When she throws a tea party, guess
which baby doesn't get an invitation? But when
a visiting cousin starts insulting baby Julius, we
discover that the flip side of Lilly's intense
jealousy is an even more powerful and lasting
loyalty.

84. The Summer My Father Was Ten
by Pat Brisson, Andrea Shine (Illustrator)
Every year my father and I plant a garden.
Tomatoes, peppers, onions, marigold, and
zinnias grow in neat, straight rows...and
every spring my father tells me about Mr.
Bellavista and the summer my father was
ten. -From the book.
That was the summer the boy lost a
baseball under a tomato plant in Mr.
Bellavista's garden. And someone tossed a
tomato back instead of the baseball. A
lively battle took place, which seemed like
great fun at the time, but in the end Mr.
Bellavista's garden had been destroyed. In
a touching story of one boy's efforts to
make amends, we see the rebuilding of a
garden and the forming of a relationship
across generations.

85. The Raft
by Jim LaMarche
Nicky isn't one bit happy about
spending the summer with his
grandma in the Wisconsin woods;
he'd much rather be back in the city.
He's not too thrilled about all the
chores either—especially fishing.
Before long, though, a raft appears in
the nearby river, and it changes
everything. As Nicky explores, the
raft works a subtle magic on the
obstinate young boy, opening up the
wonders all around him: the animals
of river and woods, his
grandmother's humor and wisdom,
and his own special talent as an artist.

86. Contrast & Contradiction:
Short Stories
• “Thank You, Ma’am” by Langston Hughes
• “Priscilla and the Wimps” by Richard Peck
• “The Boy Who Cried Wolf ” by Aesop

87. Aha! Moments
Notice & Note Signposts

88. Drawn Together
by Minh Le, Dan Santat (Illustrator)
• When a young boy visits
his grandfather, their lack
of a common language
leads to confusion,
frustration, and silence.
But as they sit down to
draw together, something
magical happens-with a
shared love of art and
storytelling, the two form
a bond that goes beyond
words.

89. The Girl Who Ran
by Kristina Yee, Frances Poletti, Susanna Chapman (Illustrator)
• In 1966, the world
believed it was impossible
for a woman to run the
Boston Marathon. Bobbi
Gibb was determined to
prove them wrong. She
said she would do it, she
wasn’t a liar; she’d show
them by running like the
wind in the fire.

90. A Day’s Work
by Eve Bunting, Ronald Himler (Illustrator)
Francisco, a young
Mexican-American boy,
helps his grandfather find
work as a gardener, even
though the old man
cannot speak English and
knows nothing about
gardening.

91. After the Fall
by Dan Santat
• My name is Humpty Dumpty.
I'm famous for falling off a
wall.
(You may have heard about it.)
But that's only half the story...
Because I decided to get back
up.
And when I did, something
amazing happened.
This story is about my life...
AFTER THE FALL.

92. The Boy and the Giant (Grandpa’s Secret Giant)
by David Litchfield
There is a Secret Giant in Gableview who has
hands the size of tabletops, legs as long as
drainpipes, and feet as big as rowing boats. But
little Billy thinks the Giant is just a tall tale that
his grandad likes to tell. According to Grandad,
the Giant keeps the bears away when they go
camping and rescues Billy’s favorite kite when it
gets tangled up in the tallest tree. Grandad
swears the Giant is real, but Billy’s not buying it.
Why has he never seen the giant before? Why
does the Giant stay hidden? Grandad knows
why: People are afraid of things that look
different. When Billy suddenly finds himself
face-to-face with the Giant, he runs away in
fear—and hurts the Giant’s feelings. But now
he’s got an opportunity to make it up to him,
and, just maybe, to be friends with the nicest guy
in town.

93. Small Things
by Mel Tregonning
• Wordless picture book
• On the cusp of having
everything slip from his
grasp, a young boy has to
find a way to rebuild his
sense of self. An ordinary
boy in an ordinary world.
With no words, only
illustrations, Small Things
tells the story of a boy who
feels alone with worries but
who learns that help is
always close by.

94. Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story
of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah
by Laurie Ann Thompson, Sean Qualls (Illustrator)
• This picture book biography
tells the true story of
Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah,
who bicycled across Ghana-
nearly 400 miles-with only
one leg. With that
achievement he forever
changed how his country
treats people with
disabilities, and he shows us
all that one person is enough
to change the world.

95. Preaching to the Chickens
by Jabari Asim, E.B. Lewis (Illustrator)
A glimpse into the boyhood of Civil
Rights leader John Lewis.
John wants to be a preacher when he
grows up—a leader whose words stir
hearts to change, minds to think, and
bodies to take action. But why wait?
When John is put in charge of the
family farm’s flock of chickens, he
discovers that they make a wonderful
congregation! So he preaches to his
flock, and they listen, content under
his watchful care, riveted by the
rhythm of his voice.

96. The Soccer Fence
by Phil Bildner, Jesse Joshua Watson (Illustrator)
As a boy, Hector loved playing soccer
in his small Johannesburg township.
He dreamed of playing on a real
pitch with the boys from another part
of the city, but apartheid made that
impossible. Then, in 1990, Nelson
Mandela was released from prison,
and apartheid began to crumble. The
march toward freedom in South
Africa was a slow one, but when the
beloved Bafana Bafana national
soccer team won the African Cup of
Nations, Hector realized that dreams
once impossible could now come
true.

97. I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark
by Debbie Levy, Elizabeth Baddeley (Illustrator)
Get to know celebrated Supreme
Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg—
in the first picture book about her
life—as she proves that disagreeing
does not make you disagreeable!
Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader
Ginsburg has spent a lifetime
disagreeing: disagreeing with
inequality, arguing against unfair
treatment, and standing up for what’s
right for people everywhere. This
biographical picture book about the
Notorious RBG, tells the justice’s
story through the lens of her many
famous dissents, or disagreements.

98. A Bike Like Sergio’s
by Maribeth Boelts, Noah Z. Jones (Illustrator)
Ruben feels like he is the only kid without
a bike. His friend Sergio reminds him that
his birthday is coming, but Ruben knows
that the kinds of birthday gifts he and
Sergio receive are not the same. After all,
when Ruben’s mom sends him to Sonny’s
corner store for groceries, sometimes she
doesn’t have enough money for everything
on the list. So when Ruben sees a dollar
bill fall out of someone’s purse, he picks it
up and puts it in his pocket. But when he
gets home, he discovers it’s not one dollar
or even five or ten—it’s a hundred-dollar
bill, more than enough for a new bike just
like Sergio’s! But what about the crossed-
off groceries? And what about the woman
who lost her money?

99. Each Kindness
by Jacqueline Woodson, E.B. Lewis (Illustrator)
Each kindness makes the world a little
better
Chloe doesn't really know why she turns
away from the new girl, Maya, when Maya
tries to befriend her. And every time Maya
asks if she can play with Chloe and the
other girls, the answer is always no. So
Maya ends up playing alone. And then one
day she's gone.
When Chloe's teacher gives a lesson about
how even small acts of kindness can
change the world, Chloe is stung by the
opportunity that's been lost. How much
better could it have been if she'd just
shown Maya a little kindness and opened
her heart to friendship?

100. The Name Jar
by Yangsook Choi
The new kid in school needs a new name! Or does
she? Being the new kid in school is hard enough, but
what about when nobody can pronounce your name?
Having just moved from Korea, Unhei is anxious
that American kids will like her. So instead of
introducing herself on the first day of school, she
tells the class that she will choose a name by the
following week. Her new classmates are fascinated by
this no-name girl and decide to help out by filling a
glass jar with names for her to pick from. But while
Unhei practices being a Suzy, Laura, or Amanda, one
of her classmates comes to her neighborhood and
discovers her real name and its special meaning. On
the day of her name choosing, the name jar has
mysteriously disappeared. Encouraged by her new
friends, Unhei chooses her own Korean name and
helps everyone pronounce it—Yoon-Hey.

101. Ish
by Peter H. Reynolds
Ramon loved to draw. Anytime.
Anything. Anywhere.
Drawing is what Ramon does. It¹s
what makes him happy. But in one
split second, all that changes. A single
reckless remark by Ramon's older
brother, Leon, turns Ramon's
carefree sketches into joyless
struggles. Luckily for Ramon,
though, his little sister, Marisol, sees
the world differently. She opens his
eyes to something a lot more valuable
than getting things just "right."

102. What Do You Do With an Idea?
By Kobi Yamada, Mae Besom (Illustrator)
This is the story of one brilliant
idea and the child who helps to
bring it into the world. As the
child's confidence grows, so
does the idea itself. And then,
one day, something amazing
happens. This is a story for
anyone, at any age, who's ever
had an idea that seemed a little
too big, too odd, too difficult.
Can also be used for Tough
Questions.

103. The Promise
by Nicola Davies, Laura Carlin (Illustrator)
On a mean street in a mean,
broken city, a young girl tries to
snatch an old woman’s bag. But
the frail old woman, holding on
with the strength of heroes,
says the thief can’t have it
without giving something in
return: the promise. It is the
beginning of a journey that will
change the thieving girl’s life —
and a chance to change the
world, for good.

104. One Green Apple
by Eve Bunting, Ted Lewin (Illustrator)
Farah feels alone, even when
surrounded by her classmates. She
listens and nods but doesn’t speak.
It’s hard being the new kid in school,
especially when you’re from another
country and don’t know the language.
Then, on a field trip to an apple
orchard, Farah discovers there are
lots of things that sound the same as
they did at home, from dogs
crunching their food to the ripple of
friendly laughter. As she helps the
class make apple cider, Farah
connects with the other students and
begins to feel that she belongs.

105. My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother
by Patricia Polacco
There's nothing worse than a rotten
redheaded older brother who can do
everything you can do better!
Patricia's brother Richard could run
the fastest, climb the highest, and spit
the farthest and still smile his extra-
rotten, greeny-toothed, weasel-eyed
grin. But when little Patricia wishes
on a shooting star that she could do
something—anything—to show him
up, she finds out just what wishes—
and rotten redheaded older
brothers—can really do.

106. Too Many Tamales
by Gary Soto, Ed Martinez (Illustrator)
Christmas Eve started out so perfectly for
Maria. Snow had fallen and the streets
glittered. Maria's favorite cousins were
coming over and she got to help make the
tamales for Christmas dinner. It was
almost too good to be true when her
mother left the kitchen for a moment and
Maria got to try on her beautiful diamond
ring . . .
This is the story of a treasure thought to
be lost in a batch of tamales; of a
desperate and funny attempt by Maria and
her cousins to eat their way out of trouble;
and the warm way a family pulls together
to make it a perfect Christmas after all.

107. The Stranger
by Chris Van Allsburg
The enigmatic origins of the
stranger that Farmer Bailey
hits with his truck and brings
home to recuperate seem to
have a mysterious relation to
the weather. Could he be
Jack Frost?
Can also be used for
Contrasts & Contradictions

108. A Perfectly Messed-Up Story
by Patrick McDonnell
Little Louie's story keeps
getting messed up, and he's
not happy about it! What's
the point of telling his tale if
he can't tell it perfectly? But
when he stops and takes a
deep breath, he realizes that
everything is actually just
fine, and his story is a good
one--imperfections and all.

109. Abigail the Whale
by Davide Cali, Sonja Bougaeva (Illustrator)
Abigail dreads swimming lessons. Every time she
dives into the pool, she makes a big splash, and
all the girls in her class shout: “Abigail’s a whale!”
Abigail can see that she is larger than the other
girls. She feels huge, heavy, and out of place.
Abigail’s swimming teacher takes her aside and
points out: we can change how we see ourselves.
He offers a creative visualization technique she
can use to feel bolder, more confident, and more
accepting of herself. Abigail tries it out in
challenging situations that week—walking home
in the dark, eating her vegetables, trying to fall
asleep.
Next time she’s in swimming class, instead of
feeling heavy, Abigail
thinks sardine, eel, barracuda, shark! She starts to
figure out how to draw on mindfulness, creative
thinking, resilience, and positive self-esteem to
embrace exactly who she is.

110. Edward Gets Messy
by Rita Meade, Olga Stern (Illustrator)
A very particular little pig discovers the
joys that come with getting messy in this
sweet and silly debut picture book.
Edward the pig never pets friendly dogs
on the street. He never, ever eats food that
spills or splatters. And he never, ever,
EVER uses markers or glue sticks or
paint. They are just too messy.
But what happens when—GLOOP!—a
big tub of paint falls on Edward’s
perfectly neat little head? Well, it might
just turn out that getting messy has its
upsides, too.
After all, even particular pigs can clean up
afterward.

111. Dear Dragon
by Josh Funk, Rodolfo Montalvo (Illustrator)
George and Blaise are pen
pals, and they write letters to
each other about everything:
their pets, birthdays, favorite
sports, and science fair
projects. There’s just one
thing that the two friends
don’t know: George is a
human, while Blaise is a
dragon! What will happen
when these pen pals finally
meet face-to-face?

112. Aha Moment: Short Stories
• “The Richer, The Poorer” by Dorothy West
• “A-ha Moment” by Julia Alvarez

113. Words of the Wiser
Notice & Note Signposts

114. Mr. Wayne’s Masterpiece
by Patricia Polacco
Speaking in front of an audience terrifies
Trisha. Ending up in Mr. Wayne’s drama
class is the last thing she wants! But Mr.
Wayne gives her a backstage role painting
scenery for the winter play. As she paints,
she listens to the cast rehearse,
memorizing their lines without even
realizing it. Then, days before opening
night, the lead actress suddenly moves
away, and Trisha is the only other person
who knows her part. Will the play have to
be canceled? It won’t be an easy road—
when Trisha tries to recite the lines in
front of the cast, nothing comes out! But
Mr. Wayne won’t let her give up, and with
his coaching, Trisha is able to become one
of his true masterpieces.

115. Zero
by Kathryn Otoshi
Zero is a big round number. When she
looks at herself, she just sees a hole right
in her center. Every day she watches the
other numbers line up to count: "1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7 . . . !" "Those numbers have value.
That's why they count," she thinks. But
how could a number worth nothing
become something? Zero feels empty
inside. She watches One having fun with
the other numbers. One has bold strokes
and squared corners. Zero is big and
round with no corners at all. "If I were
like One, then I can count too," she
thinks. So she pushes and pulls, stretches
and straightens, forces and flattens herself,
but in the end she realizes that she can
only be Zero.

116. Our Gracie Aunt
by Jacqueline Woodson, John J. Muth (Illustrator)
Johsnon and his sister, Beebee, seem to be
all alone in the world. Their mama has
gone away many times before, but
something tells them that this time she
won't be coming back. Then a social
worker comes and takes them to meet
their Aunt Gracie. Beebee barely
remembers her, and Mama never even
told Johnson about her. They wonder
where she's been all this time--and why
she would want to take care of them.
Warily, though, the children begin to trust
Aunt Gracie. And in the process, they
come to a better understanding of what it
means to be a family.

117. Dancing in the Wings
by Debbie Allen, Kadir Nelson (Illustrator)
Sassy worries that her too-large feet,
too-long legs, and even her big
mouth will keep her from her dream
of becoming a star ballerina. So for
now she's just dancing in the wings,
watching from behind the curtain,
and hoping that one day it will be her
turn to shimmer in the spotlight.
When the director of an important
dance festival comes to audition her
class, Sassy's first attempts to get his
attention are, well, a little wobbly. But
Sassy just knows, somehow, that this
is her time to step out from those
wings, and make her mark on the
world.

118. The Noisy Paint Box
by Barb Rosenstock, Mary Grandpré (Illustrator)
In this exuberant celebration of
creativity, Barb Rosenstock and
Mary Grandpre tell the
fascinating story of Vasily
Kandinsky, one of the very first
painters of abstract art.
Throughout his life, Kandinsky
experienced colors as sounds,
and sounds as colors--and bold,
groundbreaking works burst
forth from his noisy paint box.

119. I Wish I Were a Butterfly
by James Howe, Ed Young (Illustrator)
The littlest cricket of
Swampswallow Pond is
convinced only by the
Wise Old One that being
special has nothing to do
with physical
metamorphosis, flashy
colors, or shimmering
wings.

120. Tea with Milk
by Allen Say
At home in San Francisco, May speaks Japanese
and the family eats rice and miso soup and
drinks green tea. When she visits her friends'
homes, she eats fried chicken and spaghetti. May
plans someday to go to college and live in an
apartment of her own. But when her family
moves back to Japan, she soon feels lost and
homesick for America. In Japan everyone calls
her by her Japanese name, Masako. She has to
wear kimonos and sit on the floor. Poor May is
sure that she will never feel at home in this
country. Eventually May is expected to marry
and a matchmaker is hired. Outraged at the
thought, May sets out to find her own way in
the big city of Osaka. Allen Say has created a
moving tribute to his parents and their path to
discovering where home really is.

121. The Velveteen Rabbit
by Margery Williams Bianco, William Nicholson (Illustrator)
THERE was once a velveteen rabbit, and in the
beginning he was really splendid. He was fat and
bunchy, as a rabbit should be; his coat was spotted
brown and white, he had real thread whiskers, and his
ears were lined with pink sateen. On Christmas
morning, when he sat wedged in the top of the Boy's
stocking, with a sprig of holly between his paws, the
effect was charming.
There were other things in the stocking, nuts and
oranges and a toy engine, and chocolate almonds and
a clockwork mouse, but the Rabbit was quite the best
of all. For at least two hours the Boy loved him, and
then Aunts and Uncles came to dinner, and there was
a great rustling of tissue paper and unwrapping of
parcels, and in the excitement of looking at all the
new presents the Velveteen Rabbit was forgotten.

122. The Rainbow Fish
by Marcus Pfister, J. Alison James (Illustrator)
A beautiful fish learns to
make friends by sharing
his most prized
possessions.

123. Last Stop on Market Street
by Matt de la Pena, Christian Robinson (Illustrator)
Every Sunday after church, CJ and
his grandma ride the bus across
town. But today, CJ wonders why
they don't own a car like his friend
Colby. Why doesn’t he have an iPod
like the boys on the bus? How come
they always have to get off in the
dirty part of town? Each question is
met with an encouraging answer
from grandma, who helps him see
the beauty—and fun—in their
routine and the world around them.
Also great for Tough Questions!

124. Words of the Wiser: Short Stories
• “Tuesday of the Other June” by Norma Fox Mazer
• “Who Are You Today, Maria?” by Judith Ortiz Cofer
• “Flowers and Freckle Cream” by Elizabeth Ellis

125. Tough Questions
Notice & Note Signposts

126. White Water
by Michael S. Bandy, Eric Stein, Shadra Strickland (Illustrator)
It's a scorching hot day, and going into
town with Grandma is one of Michael's
favorite things. When the bus pulls up,
they climb in and pay their fare, get out,
walk to the back door, and climb in again.
By the time they arrive in town, Michael's
throat is as dry as a bone, so he runs to
the water fountain. But after a few sips,
the warm, rusty water tastes bad. Why is
the kid at the "Whites Only" fountain still
drinking? Is his water clear and
refreshingly cool? No matter how much
trouble Michael might get into, he's
determined to find out for himself.
Also good for Aha! Moment, and Contrast
& Contradiction.

127. The Three Questions
by Jon J. Muth
What is the best time to do things?
Who is the most important one?
What is the right thing to do? Nikolai
knows that he wants to be the best
person he can be, but often he is
unsure if he is doing the right thing.
So he goes to ask Leo, the wise turtle.
When he arrives, the turtle is
struggling to dig in his garden, and
Nikolai rushes to help him. As he
finishes work, a violent storm rolls in.
Nikolai runs for Leo's cottage, but on
his way, he hears cries for help from
an injured panda. Nikolai brings her
in from the cold, and then rushes
back outside to rescue her baby too.

128. The Numberlys
by William Joyce, Christina Ellis (Illustrator)
Once upon a time there was no alphabet, only numbers
Life was fine. Orderly. Dull as gray paint. Very
numberly. But our five jaunty heroes weren't
willing to accept that this was all there could be.
They knew there had to be more.
So they broke out hard hats and welders,
hammers and glue guns, and they started
knocking some numbers together. Removing a
piece here. Adding a piece there. At first, it was
awful. But the five kept at it, and soon it was
artful! One letter after another emerged, until
there were twenty-six. Twenty-six letters - and
they were beautiful. All colorful, shiny, and new.
Exactly what our heroes didn't even know they
were missing.
And when the letters entered the world,
something truly wondrous began to happen:
Pizza! Jelly beans! Color! Books!

129. Henry’s Freedom Box
by Ellen Levine, Kadir Nelson (Illustrator)
Henry Brown doesn't know how old he is.
Nobody keeps records of slaves'
birthdays. All the time he dreams about
freedom, but that dream seems farther
away than ever when he is torn from his
family and put to work in a warehouse.
Henry grows up and marries, but he is
again devastated when his family is sold at
the slave market. Then one day, as he lifts
a crate at the warehouse, he knows exactly
what he must do: He will mail himself to
the North. After an arduous journey in the
crate, Henry finally has a birthday -- his
first day of freedom.
The Tough Question is not presented as a
question – it’s the desire to be free. Great
for modeling this idea.

130. Train to Somewhere
by Eve Bunting, Ronald Himler (Illustrator)
Marianne, heading west with fourteen
other children on an Orphan Train, is sure
her mother will show up at one of the
stations along the way. When her mother
left Marianne at the orphanage, hadn't she
promised she'd come for her after making
a new life in the West? Stop after stop
goes by, and there's no sign of her mother
in the crowds that come to look over the
children. No one shows any interest in
adopting shy, plain Marianne, either. But
that's all right: She has to be free for her
mother to claim her. Then the train pulls
into its final stop, a town called
Somewhere…
Also consider for Notice & Note
Signpost: Memory Moment

131. The Gold Coin
by Alma Flor Ada, Neil Waldman (Illustrator)
uan has been a thief for many, many years.
So many, in fact, that he can't even
remember what it's like to be anything
else.
When he tries to steal Doña Josefa's gold,
something strange begins to happen to
Juan. His skin becomes tan instead of
pale, his body straight instead of bent, and
his mouth smiles instead of scowls. Juan
also begins to remember things. He
remembers eating good, home-cooked
food, being among friends, and laughing.
When the opportunity arrives for him to
take Doña Josefa's gold, another strange
thing happens. Juan realizes he can't.
Maybe he isn't a thief anymore.

132. Riding the Tiger
by Eve Bunting, David Frampton (Illustrator)
Danny, new to town, is proud when a
glittery-eyed tiger invites him for a
ride. He climbs up onto the tiger’s
massive back, and together they
cruise the neighborhood. Everyone
gives them respect—shopkeepers
and passersby, even other kids.
Danny feels powerful and much
older than ten. Soon, though, he
realizes it isn’t respect people feel for
him and the tiger—it’s fear. And
when he decides to get down off the
tiger’s back, he discovers it’s a lot
harder than climbing on.

133. Bully
by Patricia Polacco
Lyla finds a great friend in Jamie
on her first day of school, but
when Lyla makes the
cheerleading squad and a clique
of popular girls invites her to
join them, Jamie is left behind.
Lyla knows bullying when she
sees it, though, and when she
sees the girls viciously teasing
classmates on Facebook,
including Jamie, she is smart
enough to get out. But no one
dumps these girls, and now
they're out for revenge.

134. Pink and Say
by Patricia Polacco
When Sheldon Russell Curtis told this story to his
daughter, Rosa, she kept every word in her heart and was
to retell it many times.
I will tell it in Sheldon's own words as nearly as I
can.
He was wounded in a fierce battle and left for
dead in a pasture somewhere in Georgia when
Pinkus found him. Pinkus' skin was the color of
polished mahogany, and he was flying Union
colors like the wounded boy, and he picked him
up out of the field and brought him to where the
black soldier's mother, Moe Moe Bay, lived. She
had soft, gentle hands and cared for him and her
Pink.
But the two boys were putting her in danger, two
Union soldiers in Confederate territory! They
had to get back to their outfits. Scared and
uncertain, the boys were faced with a hard
decision, and then marauding Confederate
troops rode in.

135. Tough Questions: Short Stories
• “The Third Wish” by Joan Aiken

136. Again & Again
Notice & Note Signposts

137. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible,
No Good, Very Bad Day
by Judith Viorst
Alexander knew it was going to
be a terrible day when he woke
up with gum in this hair.
And it got worse...
His best friend deserted him.
There was no dessert in his
lunch bag. And, on top of all
that, there were lima beans for
dinner and kissing on TV!

138. Brick by Brick
by Charles R. Smith Jr., Floyd Cooper (Illustrator)
The home of the United States president
was built by many hands, including those
of slaves, who undertook this amazing
achievement long before there were
machines to do those same jobs.
Stirring and emotional, Floyd Cooper's
stunning illustrations bring to life the
faces of those who endured hard, brutal
work when the profit of their labor was
paid to the master, not the slave. The fact
that many were able to purchase their
freedom after earning money from
learning a trade speaks to the strength of
those individuals. They created this iconic
emblem of America, brick by brick.
Also consider for Tough Questions.

139. Back of the Bus
by Aaron Reynolds, Floyd Cooper (Illustrator)
It seems like any other winter day in
Montgomery, Alabama. Mama and child
are riding where they’re supposed to – way
in the back of the bus. The boy passes the
time by watching his marble roll up and
down the aisle with the motion of the bus,
until from way up front a big commotion
breaks out. He can’t see what’s going on,
but he can see the policeman arrive
outside and he can see Mama’s chin grow
strong. “There you go, Rosa Parks,” she
says, “Stirrin’ up a nest of hornets.
Tomorrow all this’ll be forgot.” But they
both know differently.
Again & Again – consider the symbolism
of the marble.

140. Amelia and Eleanor Go For a Ride
by Pam Muñoz Ryan, Brian Selznick (Illustrator)
Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt
were birds of a feather. Not only were they
two of the most admired and respected women
of all time, they were also good friends.
Illuminated here for the first time in picture
book form is the true story of a thrilling night
when they made history together!
On a brisk and cloudless evening in April 1933,
Amelia and Eleanor did the unprecedented:
They stole away from a White House dinner,
commandeered an Eastern Air Transport jet,
and took off on a glorious adventure--while
still dressed in their glamorous evening gowns!
The repetition is subtle in this book – better
for when students have more experience with
Again & Again, or for older students.

141. The Big Box
by Toni Morrison, Slade Morrison, Giselle Potter (Illustrator)
To make this group of kids
abide by the rules, the
grown-ups create a world
inside a box . . . with toys,
games, treats, and gifts, but
these clever children are able
to find their way out of the
box and back into reality.
Consider the repeated
mention and symbolism of
the box.

142. Where the Wild Things Are
by Maurice Sendak
One night Max puts on his wolf suit and makes
mischief of one kind and another, so his mother calls him
'Wild Thing' and sends him to bed without his supper.
That night a forest begins to grow in Max's room
and an ocean rushes by with a boat to take Max
to the place where the wild things are.
Max tames the wild things and crowns himself as
their king, and then the wild rumpus begins!
But when Max has sent the monsters to bed, and
everything is quiet, he starts to feel lonely and
realises it is time to sail home to the place where
someone loves him best of all.
The Again & Again moment comes at the end
of the book on the final page – the supper is still
hot. Why does this matter and how does it link
to earlier events?

143. A Sweet Smell of Roses
by Angela Johnson, Eric Velasquez (Illustrator)
There's a sweet, sweet smell in
the air as two young girls sneak
out of their house, down the
street, and across town to
where men and women are
gathered, ready to march for
freedom and justice.
Again & Again can be noticed
in the use of the color red in
illustrations as well as the
repeated use of the phrase a
sweet smell of roses.

144. My Two Blankets
by Irena Kobald, Freya Blackwood (Illustrator)
Cartwheel moves to a new country
with her auntie, and everything is
strange: the animals, the plants—
even the wind. An old blanket gives
Cartwheel comfort when she’s sad—
and a new blanket just might change
her world.
This multicultural story of friendship
is about leaving home, moving to a
foreign and strange place, and finding
a new friend. It's a story for all who
have experienced change.
Consider the metaphor the two
blankets represent.

145. The Boy Who Loved Math
by Deborah Heiligman, LeUyen Pham (Illustrator)
Most people think of mathematicians as
solitary, working away in isolation. And,
it's true, many of them do. But Paul
Erdos never followed the usual path. At
the age of four, he could ask you when
you were born and then calculate the
number of seconds you had been alive in
his head. But he didn't learn to butter his
own bread until he turned twenty.
Instead, he traveled around the world,
from one mathematician to the next,
collaborating on an astonishing number
of publications.
Consider the repeated use of numbers,
and phrases.

146. Show Way
by Jacqueline Woodson, Hudson Talbott (Illustrator)
Soonie's great-grandma was just
seven years old when she was sold to
a big plantation without her ma and
pa, and with only some fabric and
needles to call her own. She pieced
together bright patches with names
like North Star and Crossroads,
patches with secret meanings made
into quilts called Show Ways -- maps
for slaves to follow to freedom.
When she grew up and had a little
girl, she passed on this knowledge.
And generations later, Soonie -- who
was born free -- taught her own
daughter how to sew beautiful quilts
to be sold at market and how to read.

147. Something Beautiful
by Sharon Dennis Wyeth, Chris K. Soentpiet (Illustrator)
A little girl longs to see beyond the scary sights
on the sidewalk and the angry scribbling in the
halls of her building. When her teacher writes
the word beautiful on the blackboard, the girl
decides to look for something beautiful in her
neighborhood. Her neighbors tell her about
their own beautiful things. Miss Delphine serves
her a "beautiful" fried fish sandwich at her
diner. At Mr. Lee's "beautiful" fruit store, he
offers her an apple. Old Mr. Sims invites her to
touch a smooth stone he always carries.
Beautiful means "something that when you have
it, your heart is happy," the girl thinks. Her
search for "something beautiful" leaves her
feeling much happier. She has experienced the
beauty of friendship and the power of hope.

148. Shortcut
by Donald Crews
The train tracks ran right by
Bigmama's house in
Cottondale, and the children
were warned to stay off the
tracks. But one night they were
late, and the tracks were a
shortcut, so they started off.
And when there was no turning
back, they heard the train
coming.
Also a great mentor text for
personal narratives.

149. Chrysanthemum
by Kevin Henkes
Chrysanthemum thinks her
name is absolutely perfect—
until her first day of school.
"You're named after a
flower!" teases Victoria.
"Let's smell her," says Jo.
Chrysanthemum wilts. What
will it take to make her
blossom again?

150. I Want My Hat Back
by Jon Klassen
The bear’s hat is gone, and he
wants it back. Patiently and
politely, he asks the animals he
comes across, one by one,
whether they have seen it. Each
animal says no, some more
elaborately than others. But just
as the bear begins to despond, a
deer comes by and asks a
simple question that sparks the
bear’s memory and renews his
search with a vengeance.

151. Again & Again: Short Stories
• “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros
• “Charles” by Shirley Jackson

152. Memory Moment
Notice & Note Signposts

153. Emma & the Whale
by Julie Case, Lee White (Illustrator)
Emma lives in a crooked house in an old
whaling town, and often takes her dog,
Nemo, to the beach. On their walks, they
find amazing treasures, like shells and
stones and sea glass and even a loggerhead
turtle. But one day, they find something
completely unexpected: a baby whale,
washed ashore. Emma empathizes with
the animal's suffering, imagining what the
whale is thinking and feeling. When the
tide starts to come in, Emma pushes as
the water swirls and rises, and eventually
the whale swims free, back to her mother.
There are two flashbacks that can be used
for Memory Moments.

154. When We Were Alone
by David A. Robertson, Julie Flett (Illustrator)
When a young girl helps tend to
her grandmother's garden, she
begins to notice things that make
her curious. Why does her
grandmother have long braided
hair and beautifully colored
clothing? Why does she speak
another language and spend so
much time with her family? As
she asks her grandmother about
these things, she is told about life
in a residential school a long time
ago, where all of these things
were taken away.

155. Belle, the Last Mule at Gee’s Bend
by Calvin Alexander Ramsey, Bettye Stroud, John Holyfield (Illustrator)
Sitting on a bench waiting for his mother, Alex
spies a mule chomping on greens in someone's
garden, and he can't help but ask about it.""Ol
Belle?" says Miz Pettway next to him. "She can
have all the collards she wants. She's earned it."
And so begins the tale of a simple mule in Gee's
Bend, Alabama, who played a singular part in
the civil rights movement of the 1960s. When
African-Americans in a poor community--
inspired by a visit from Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr.-- defied local authorities who were trying to
stop them from registering to vote, many got
around a long detour on mule-drawn wagons.
Later, after Dr. King's assassination, two mules
from Gee's Bend pulled the farm wagon bearing
his casket through the streets of Atlanta. As
Alex looks into the eyes of gentle Belle, he
begins to understand a powerful time in history
in a very personal way.

156. This is the Rope
by Jacqueline Woodson, James Ransome (Illustrator)
The story of one family’s journey
north during the Great Migration
starts with a little girl in South
Carolina who finds a rope under a tree
one summer. She has no idea the rope
will become part of her family’s
history. But for three generations, that
rope is passed down, used for
everything from jump rope games to
tying suitcases onto a car for the big
move north to New York City, and
even for a family reunion where that
first little girl is now a grandmother.

157. A Chair For My Mother
by Vera B. Williams
After their home is
destroyed by a fire, Rosa,
her mother and
grandmother save their
coins to buy a really
comfortable chair for all
to enjoy.

158. Tell the Truth, B.B. Wolf
by Judy Sierra, J. Otto Seibold (Illustrator)
Big Bad Wolf’s first visit to his local library
(as related in Mind Your Manners, B.B. Wolf)
was such a success that he returns to tell
his version of “The Three Little Pigs.” His
outrageous spin on the tale draws skeptical
remarks from his audience: “Isn’t that
wolf’s nose getting longer?” asks
Pinocchio. “It’s a cooked-up, half-baked
tale,” snaps the Gingerbread Boy. And
“Tell the truth, B.B. Wolf!” squeal the
Three Little Pigs. Caught in his own lie,
B.B. explains that he is a reformed villain:
“Now I’m begging on my knees, Little
Pigs, forgive me, please!” How B.B. turns
his bad old deed into a good new one
provides a happy ending to this fun-to-
read fractured fairytale.

159. Sami and the Time of the Troubles
by Florence Parry Heide, Judith Heide Gilliland (Illustrator)
Ten-year-old Sami lives with his family in
Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. Until the
middle of the twentieth century, Beirut
was one of the most splendid cities in the
world. Today it is a place of ruin and
trouble. And it is Sami’s home.
Sami and his little sister Leila are like
children everywhere, but their lives are like
those of too many other children who live
in places where violence has become the
accepted way of resolving differences.
Always, there are memories of good times
to hold on to when the troubles come.
Always, there is hope that this time will be
the last time.

160. Grandfather’s Journey
by Allen Say
This tale of one man’s
love for two countries and
his constant desire to be
in both places, as he goes
between Japan and the
United States over the
course of his life.

161. Storm in the Night
by Mary Stolz, Pat Cummings (Illustrator)
torm in the night.
Thunder like mountains blowing up.
Lightning licking the navy-blue sky.
Rain streaming down the windows,
babbling in the downspouts.
And Grandfather? . . .
And Thomas? . . .
And Ringo, the cat?
They were in the dark.
Too early to go to bed, and with only
flashes of lightning to see by, Thomas and
his grandfather happily find themselves re-
discovering the half-forgotten scents and
sounds of their world, and having a
wonderful time learning important, new
things about each other in a spirited
conversation sparked by darkness.

162. Tough Cookie
by David Wisniewski
Sam Spade, move over! In
his years on the force, Tough
Cookie Busted the Ginger
Snaps and broke up the
Macaroons. Now living as a
private eye at the bottom of
the cookie jar, he learns that
Fingers has gotten his old
partner, Chips. With his best
girl, Pecan Sandy, at his side,
Tough Cookie sets out to
put Fingers away, for keeps!

163. Christmas Tapestry
by Patricia Polacco
When a bad leak ruins the sacristy
wall in his father's church, Jonathan
Jefferson Weeks thinks his family's
first Christmas Eve service in Detroit
will be ruined, too. But then he and
his father find a beautiful tapestry for
sale in a secondhand shop. Just the
thing to cover the damaged wall and
give the church a festive look! But
then, amazingly, an old Jewish
woman who is visiting the church
recognizes the beautiful cloth. It is
her discovery that leads to a real
miracle on Christmas Eve.

164. When I Was Young in the Mountains
by Cynthia Rylant, Diane Goode (Illustrator)
Rylant delights in the simple
joys of living with her
grandparents in the
Appalachian Mountains:
fresh cornbread, the
swimming hole, bathing in
the tin tub, snakes, and the
community church.
Surrounding all of these
memories is the loving
relationship with her
grandparents.

165. A Christmas Memory
by Truman Capote
First published in 1956,
this is the story from
Capote's childhood of
lovingly making fruitcakes
from scratch at Christmas-
time with his elderly
cousin, and has stood the
test of time to become
known as an American
holiday classic.

166. Aunt Flossie’s Hats (and Crab Cakes Later)
by Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard, James E. Ransome (Illustrator)
Sunday afternoons are
special for Sarah and
Susan because that's when
they visit Aunt Flossie --
she has a memorable
collection of hats, each
with a special story.

167. Memory Moment: Short Stories
• “My Grandmother’s Hair” by Cynthia Rylant

168. Read Aloud Recommendations
Picture Books

169. Roxaboxen
by Alice McLerran, Barbara Cooney (Illustrator)
• Marian called it
Roxboxen. There across
the road, it looked like any
rocky hill—nothing but
sand and rocks, and some
old wooden boxes. But it
was a special place. And
all children needed to go
there was a long stick and
a soaring imagination.

170. The Girl and the Wolf
by Katherena Vermette, Julie Flett (Illustrator)
While picking berries with her
mother, a little girl wanders too far
into the woods. When she realizes
she is lost, she begins to panic. A
large grey wolf makes a sudden
appearance between some distant
trees. Using his sense of smell, he
determines where she came from and
decides to help her. Through a series
of questions from the wolf, the little
girl realizes she had the knowledge
and skill to navigate herself--she just
needed to remember that those
abilities were there all along.

171. Gift Horse: A Lakota Story
by S.D. Nelson
When his father gives him a gift
horse, marking the beginning
of his journey to manhood,
Flying Cloud and the horse,
Storm, spend their days hunting
and roughhousing with the
other boys and their horses. But
when an enemy raiding party
steals his beloved Storm, Flying
Cloud faces the ultimate rite of
passage. He must join the
rescue party and earn the right
to wear the shirt of a warrior.

172. Lotus & Feather
by Ji-li Jiang, Julie Downing (Illustrator)
A winter illness left Lotus, a little girl, without a
voice and without friends. A hunter's bullet left
Feather, a crane, injured and unable to fly. As
Lotus nurses Feather back to health, their bond
grows. Soon Feather is following Lotus
everywhere, even to school! The bird dances to
the girl's reed whistle, much to the delight of the
other children. One day, when the village floods,
Feather helps raise the alarm as Lotus and her
grandfather urge their neighbors to get to high
ground. Feather is a true friend to Lotus, but the
time comes when Lotus must be a true friend to
him--by encouraging him to migrate with the
rest of the cranes. The next spring, Feather
miraculously returns, and that's not all . . . he has
brought new life to the nearby lake.

173. Read Aloud Recommendations
Novels

174. Jubilee
by Patricia Reilly Giff
Judith lives with her beloved aunt Cora and her
faithful Dog on a beautiful island. Years ago,
when her mother left, Judith stopped talking.
Now she communicates entirely through gestures
and taps, and by drawing cartoons, speaking only
when she’s alone—or with Dog.
This year, Judith faces a big change—leaving her
small, special classroom for a regular fifth-grade
class. She likes her new teacher, and finds a
maybe-friend in a boy named Mason. But
Jubilee’s wandering feet won’t stop until they find
her mother. And now she discovers that her
mother has moved back to the mainland, nearby.
If Jubilee finds her, will her mother’s love be
what she needs to speak again?

175. Gaby, Lost and Found
by Angela Cervantes
Wanted: One amazing forever home for one amazing sixth
grader.
"My name is Gaby, and I'm looking for a home where I can
invite my best friend over and have a warm breakfast a couple
of times a week. Having the newest cell phone or fancy clothes
isn't important, but I'd like to have a cat that I can talk to when
I'm home alone."
Gaby Ramirez Howard loves volunteering at the local animal
shelter. She plays with the kittens, helps to obedience train the
dogs, and writes adoption advertisements so that the strays who
live there can find their forever homes: places where they'll be
loved and cared for, no matter what.
Gaby has been feeling like a bit of a stray herself, lately. Her
mother has recently been deported to Honduras and Gaby is
stuck living with her inattentive dad. She's confident that her
mom will come home soon so that they can adopt Gaby's
favorite shelter cat together. When the cat's original owners turn
up at the shelter, however, Gaby worries that her plans for the
perfect family are about to fall apart.

176. Save Me a Seat
by Sarah Weeks, Gita Varadarajan
Joe and Ravi might be from very different
places, but they're both stuck in the same
place: SCHOOL.
Joe's lived in the same town all his life, and
was doing just fine until his best friends
moved away and left him on his own.
Ravi's family just moved to America from
India, and he's finding it pretty hard to
figure out where he fits in.
Joe and Ravi don't think they have
anything in common -- but soon enough
they have a common enemy (the biggest
bully in their class) and a common
mission: to take control of their lives over
the course of a single crazy week.

177. Funny Girl: Funniest. Stories. EVER.
Edited by Betsy Bird
Funny Girl is a collection of uproarious stories, rollicking comics, rib-
tickling wit, and more, from 25 of today’s funniest female writers for
kids.
What could be funnier than family? Read stories about Ursula Brown's
grandmother driving her on a road trip to disaster, Lisa Brown's little
brother getting a Tic-Tac stuck up his nose, and Carmen Agra Deedy's mom
setting the bathtub on fire.
What could be funnier than friends? Pretty much nothing, as Rita
Williams-Garcia shows two besties hatching a bird-brained scheme to get on
to a TV talk show, and Deborah Underwood introduces a dynamic dog-and-
cat duo teaming up on a pet advice column.
What could be funnier than YOU? Tell your future with Mad Libs,
discover your Chinese Zodiac sign with Lenore Look, and learn the best
tricks of the comedy trade from professional humorists like Adrianne
Chalepah and Delaney Yeager.
With clever contributions from award-winning and bestselling authors
including Cece Bell, Sophie Blackall, Libba Bray, Shannon Hale, Lisa Graff,
and Raina Telgemeier, this anthology of funny girls will make you laugh until
you cry. Or cry until you laugh. Or maybe you won't cry at all. Either way,
you'll definitely laugh.
Funny Girl isn’t just an anthology: it’s a cause, a mission, a movement. Girls
are funny. Now it’s time for the world to know it.

178. Salsa Stories
by Lulu Delacre
When Carmen Teresa receives a
notebook as a holiday gift, the guests
suggest she write down their own
childhood stories, which they tell. But
Carmen Teresa, who loves to cook,
collects their family recipes instead!
With energy, sensitivity, and warmth,
Lulu Delacre introduces readers to a
symphony of colorful characters
whose 9 stories dance through a year
of Latin American holidays and
customs. Countries include Mexico,
Puerto Rico, Argentina, Guatamala
and Peru. Seventeen delicious and
authentic recipes are included.

179. The Seventh Wish
by Kate Messner
Charlie feels like she's always coming in last.
From her Mom's new job to her sister's life at
college, everything seems more important than
Charlie. Then one day while ice fishing, Charlie
makes a discovery that will change everything .
. . in the form of a floppy fish offering to grant
a wish in exchange for freedom. Charlie can't
believe her luck but soon realizes that this fish
has a very odd way of granting wishes as even
her best intentions go awry. But when her
family faces a challenge bigger than any they've
ever experienced, Charlie wonders if some
things might be too important to risk on a wish
fish.

180. The Smell of Old Lady Perfume
by Claudia Guadelupe Martinez
Chela Gonzalez, the book’s narrator, is a nerd and a
soccer player who can barely contain her excitement
about starting the sixth grade. But nothing is as she
imagined—her best friend turns on her to join the
popular girls and they all act like Chela doesn’t exist.
She buries herself in schoolwork and in the warm
comfort of her family. To Chela, her family is like a
solar system, with her father the sun and her mother,
brothers, and sister like planets rotating all around
him. It’s a small world, but it’s the only one she fits in.
But that universe is threatened when her strong father
has a stroke. Chela’s grandmother moves in to help
the family. The smell of her old lady perfume invades
the house. That smell is worse than Sundays. Sundays
were sad, but they went just as sure as they came.
Death was a whole other thing, and Chela doesn’t
understand that’s what everyone is waiting for. In her
grief and worry, Chela begins to discover herself and
find her own strength.

181. George
by Alex Gino
When people look at George, they think they
see a boy. But she knows she's not a boy. She
knows she's a girl.
George thinks she'll have to keep this a secret
forever. Then her teacher announces that their
class play is going to be Charlotte's Web. George
really, really, REALLY wants to play Charlotte.
But the teacher says she can't even try out for
the part . . . because she's a boy.
With the help of her best friend, Kelly, George
comes up with a plan. Not just so she can be
Charlotte -- but so everyone can know who she
is, once and for all.

182. The Honest Truth
by Dan Gemeinhart
In all the ways that matter, Mark is a normal
kid. He's got a dog named Beau and a best
friend, Jessie. He likes to take photos and
write haiku poems in his notebook. He
dreams of climbing a mountain one day.
But in one important way, Mark is not like
other kids at all. Mark is sick. The kind of sick
that means hospitals. And treatments. The
kind of sick some people never get better
from.
So Mark runs away. He leaves home with his
camera, his notebook, his dog, and a plan to
reach the top of Mount Rainier--even if it's
the last thing he ever does.

183. Hoodoo
by Ronald L. Smith
Twelve-year-old Hoodoo Hatcher was born into
a family with a rich tradition of practicing folk
magic: hoodoo, as most people call it. But even
though his name is Hoodoo, he can't seem to
cast a simple spell.
Then a mysterious man called the Stranger
comes to town, and Hoodoo starts dreaming of
the dead rising from their graves. Even worse,
he soon learns the Stranger is looking for a boy.
Not just any boy. A boy named Hoodoo. The
entire town is at risk from the Stranger’s black
magic, and only Hoodoo can defeat him. He’ll
just need to learn how to conjure first.

184. My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer
by Jennifer Gennaro
Twelve-year-old June Farrell is sure of
one thing—she’s great at making pies—
and she plans to prove it by winning a
blue ribbon in the Champlain Valley Fair
pie competition. But a backlash against
Vermont’s civil union law threatens her
family’s security and their business. Even
when faced with bullying, June won’t
give up on winning the blue ribbon;
more importantly, she won’t give up on
her family.

185. Book Club Recommendations
Per Grade Level

186. The Last Last-Day-of-Summer
Otto and Sheed are the local sleuths in
their zany Virginia town, masters of
unraveling mischief using their
unmatched powers of deduction. And as
the summer winds down and the first day
of school looms, the boys are craving just
a little bit more time for fun, even as they
bicker over what kind of fun they want to
have. That is, until a mysterious man
appears with a camera that literally freezes
time. Now, with the help of some very
strange people and even stranger
creatures, Otto and Sheed will have to put
aside their differences to save their
town—and each other—before time stops
for good.

187. Love Sugar Magic: A Dash of Trouble
by Anna Meriano
Leonora Logroño’s family owns the most beloved bakery in Rose
Hill, Texas, spending their days conjuring delicious cookies and
cakes for any occasion. And no occasion is more important than
the annual Dia de los Muertos festival.
Leo hopes that this might be the year that she gets to help prepare
for the big celebration—but, once again, she is told she’s too
young. Sneaking out of school and down to the bakery, she
discovers that her mother, aunt, and four older sisters have in fact
been keeping a big secret: they’re brujas—witches of Mexican
ancestry—who pour a little bit of sweet magic into everything that
they bake.
Leo knows that she has magical ability as well and is more
determined than ever to join the family business—even if she can’t
let her mama and hermanas know about it yet.
And when her best friend, Caroline, has a problem that needs
solving, Leo has the perfect opportunity to try out her craft. It’s
just one little spell, after all…what could possibly go wrong?

188. The Lost Girl
by Anne Ursu
When you’re an identical twin, your story always starts
with someone else. For Iris, that means her story starts
with Lark. Iris has always been the grounded, capable,
and rational one; Lark has been inventive, dreamy, and
brilliant—and from their first moments in the world
together, they’ve never left each other’s side. Everyone
around them realized early on what the two sisters already
knew: they had better outcomes when they were together.
When fifth grade arrives, however, it is decided that Iris
and Lark should be split into different classrooms, and
something breaks in them both. Iris is no longer so
confident; Lark retreats into herself as she deals with
challenges at school. And at the same time, something
strange is happening in the city around them, things both
great and small going missing without a trace. As Iris
begins to understand that anything can be lost in the blink
of an eye, she decides it’s up to her to find a way to keep
her sister safe.

189. The Way to Bea
by Kat Yeh
Everything in Bea's world has changed.
She's starting seventh grade newly
friendless and facing big changes at home,
where she is about to go from only child
to big sister. Feeling alone and adrift, and
like her words don't deserve to be seen,
Bea takes solace in writing haiku in
invisible ink and hiding them in a secret
spot.
But then something incredible happens--
someone writes back. And Bea begins to
connect with new friends, including a
classmate obsessed with a nearby labyrinth
and determined to get inside. As she
decides where her next path will lead, she
just might discover that her words--and
herself--have found a new way to belong.

190. Finding Perfect
by Elly Swartz
To Molly Nathans, perfect is:
• The number four
• The tip of a newly sharpened number two pencil
• A crisp, white pad of paper
• Her neatly aligned glass animal figurines
What’s not perfect is Molly’s mother leaving the family to
take a faraway job with the promise to return in one year.
Molly knows that promises are often broken, so she
hatches a plan to bring her mother home: Win the
Lakeville Middle School Slam Poetry Contest. The
winner is honored at a fancy banquet with table cloths.
Molly’s sure her mother would never miss that. Right…?
But as time goes on, writing and reciting slam poetry
become harder. Actually, everything becomes harder as
new habits appear, and counting, cleaning, and
organizing are not enough to keep Molly’s world from
spinning out of control.

191. Hello, Universe
by Erin Entrada Kelly
In one day, four lives weave together in unexpected
ways. Virgil Salinas is shy and kindhearted and feels
out of place in his loud and boisterous family.
Valencia Somerset, who is deaf, is smart, brave, and
secretly lonely, and loves everything about nature.
Kaori Tanaka is a self-proclaimed psychic, whose
little sister Gen is always following her around. And
Chet Bullens wishes the weird kids would just act
normal so that he can concentrate on basketball.
They aren’t friends -- at least not until Chet pulls a
prank that traps Virgil and his pet guinea pig at the
bottom of a well. This disaster leads Kaori, Gen, and
Valencia on an epic quest to find the missing Virgil.
Through luck, smarts, bravery, and a little help from
the universe, a rescue is performed, a bully is put in
his place, and friendship blooms.

192. The Sweetest Sound
by Sherri Winston
For ten-year-old Cadence Jolly, birthdays are a constant
reminder of all that has changed since her mother
skipped town with dreams of becoming a star.
Cadence inherited that musical soul, she can't deny it,
but otherwise she couldn't be more different - she's as
shy as can be.
She did make a promise last year that she would try to
break out of her shell, just a little. And she prayed that
she'd get the courage to do it. As her eleventh birthday
draws near, she realizes time is running out. And when
a secret recording of her singing leaks and catches the
attention of her whole church, she needs to decide
what's better: deceiving everyone by pretending it
belongs to someone else, or finally stepping into the
spotlight.

193. Millicent Min, Girl Genius
Millicent Min is having a bad summer. Her
fellow high school students hate her for
setting the curve. Her fellow 11-year-olds
hate her for going to high school. And her
mother has arranged for her to tutor
Stanford Wong, the poster boy for Chinese
geekdom. But then Millie meets Emily.
Emily doesn't know Millicent's IQ score.
She actually thinks Millie is cool. And if
Millie can hide her awards, ignore her
grandmother's advice, swear her parents to
silence, blackmail Stanford, and keep all
her lies straight, she just might make her
first friend. What's it gong to take? Sheer
genius.

194. Sugar
by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Ten-year-old Sugar lives on the River Road sugar
plantation along the banks of the Mississippi. Slavery
is over, but laboring in the fields all day doesn't make
her feel very free. Thankfully, Sugar has a knack for
finding her own fun, especially when she joins forces
with forbidden friend Billy, the white plantation
owner's son.
Sugar has always yearned to learn more about the
world, and she sees her chance when Chinese
workers are brought in to help harvest the cane. The
older River Road folks feel threatened, but Sugar is
fascinated. As she befriends young Beau and elder
Master Liu, they introduce her to the traditions of
their culture, and she, in turn, shares the ways of
plantation life. Sugar soon realizes that she must be
the one to bridge the cultural gap and bring the
community together.

195. Sal & Gabi Break the Universe
by Carlos Hernandez
How did a raw chicken get inside Yasmany's locker? When Sal
Vidon meets Gabi Real for the first time, it isn't under the
best of circumstances. Sal is in the principal's office for the
third time in three days, and it's still the first week of school.
Gabi, student council president and editor of the school
paper, is there to support her friend Yasmany, who just
picked a fight with Sal. She is determined to prove that
somehow, Sal planted a raw chicken in Yasmany's locker, even
though nobody saw him do it and the bloody poultry has
since mysteriously disappeared. Sal prides himself on being
an excellent magician, but for this sleight of hand, he relied
on a talent no one would guess . . . except maybe Gabi, whose
sharp eyes never miss a trick. When Gabi learns that he's
capable of conjuring things much bigger than a chicken--
including his dead mother--and she takes it all in stride, Sal
knows that she is someone he can work with. There's only
one slight problem: their manipulation of time and space
could put the entire universe at risk. A sassy entropy sweeper,
a documentary about wedgies, a principal who wears a
Venetian bauta mask, and heaping platefuls of Cuban food
are just some of the delights that await in his mind-blowing
novel gift-wrapped in love and laughter.

196. The Gauntlet
by Karuna Riazi
When twelve-year-old Farah and her two best friends
get sucked into a mechanical board game called The
Gauntlet of Blood and Sand—a puzzle game akin to a
large Rubik’s cube—they know it’s up to them to defeat
the game’s diabolical architect in order to save
themselves and those who are trapped inside, including
her baby brother Ahmed. But first they have to figure
out how.
Under the tutelage of a lizard guide named Henrietta
Peel and an aeronaut Vijay, the Farah and her friends
battle camel spiders, red scorpions, grease monkeys,
and sand cats as they prepare to face off with the
maniacal Lord Amari, the man behind the machine.
Can they defeat Amari at his own game…or will they,
like the children who came before them, become cogs
in the machine?

197. The First Rule of Punk
by Celia C. Pérez
There are no shortcuts to surviving your first day at a
new school--you can't fix it with duct tape like you
would your Chuck Taylors. On Day One, twelve-year-
old Malú (Maria Luisa, if you want to annoy her)
inadvertently upsets Posada Middle School's queen bee,
violates the school's dress code with her punk rock
look, and disappoints her college-professor mom in the
process. Her dad, who now lives a thousand miles
away, says things will get better as long as she
remembers the first rule of punk: be yourself.
The real Malú loves rock music, skateboarding, zines,
and Soyrizo (hold the cilantro, please). And when she
assembles a group of like-minded misfits at school and
starts a band, Malú finally begins to feel at home. She'll
do anything to preserve this, which includes standing
up to an anti-punk school administration to fight for
her right to express herself!

198. The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James
by Ashley Herring Blake
When Sunny St. James receives a new
heart, she decides to set off on a
"New Life Plan": 1) do awesome
amazing things she could never do
before; 2) find a new best friend; and
3) kiss a boy for the first time.
Her "New Life Plan" seems to be
racing forward, but when she meets
her new best friend Quinn, Sunny
questions whether she really wants to
kiss a boy at all. When the
reemergence of her mother, Sunny
begins a journey to becoming the
new Sunny St. James.

199. Some Kind of Happiness
by Claire Legrand
THINGS FINLEY HART DOESN’T WANT TO TALK
ABOUT
• Her parents, who are having problems. (But they pretend like
they’re not.)
• Being sent to her grandparents’ house for the summer.
• Never having met said grandparents.
• Her blue days—when life feels overwhelming, and it’s hard to
keep her head up. (This happens a lot.)
Finley’s only retreat is the Everwood, a forest kingdom that
exists in the pages of her notebook. Until she discovers the
endless woods behind her grandparents’ house and realizes the
Everwood is real--and holds more mysteries than she'd ever
imagined, including a family of pirates that she isn’t allowed to
talk to, trees covered in ash, and a strange old wizard living in a
house made of bones.
With the help of her cousins, Finley sets out on a mission to
save the dying Everwood and uncover its secrets. But as the
mysteries pile up and the frightening sadness inside her grows,
Finley realizes that if she wants to save the Everwood, she’ll
first have to save herself.

200. The Serpent’s Secret
by Sayantani Dasgupta
MEET KIRANMALA: INTERDIMENSIONAL DEMON
SLAYER
(Only she doesn't know it yet.)
On the morning of her twelfth birthday, Kiranmala is just a
regular sixth grader living in Parsippany, New Jersey... until her
parents mysteriously vanish and a drooling rakkhosh demon
slams through her kitchen, determined to eat her alive. Turns
out there might be some truth to her parents' fantastical
stories-like how Kiranmala is a real Indian princess and how
she comes from a secret place not of this world.
To complicate matters, two crush-worthy princes ring her
doorbell, insisting they've come to rescue her. Suddenly, Kiran
is swept into another dimension full of magic, winged horses,
moving maps, and annoying, talking birds. There she must
solve riddles and battle demons all while avoiding the Serpent
King of the underworld and the Rakkhoshi Queen in order to
find her parents and basically save New Jersey, her entire world,
and everything beyond it...

201. Listen, Slowly
by Thanhhà Lai
A California girl born and raised, Mai can't wait
to spend her vacation at the beach. Instead,
though, she has to travel to Vietnam with her
grandmother, who is going back to find out
what really happened to her husband during the
Vietnam War. Mai's parents think this trip will
be a great opportunity for their out-of-touch
daughter to learn more about her culture. But
to Mai, those are their roots, not her own.
Vietnam is hot, smelly, and the last place she
wants to be. Besides barely speaking the
language, she doesn't know the geography, the
local customs, or even her distant relatives. To
survive her trip, Mai must find a balance
between her two completely different worlds.

202. Mango Delight
by Fracaswell Hyman
What happens when your BFF becomes your EFF . .
. EX-Friend-Forever? When seventh-grader Mango
Delight Fuller accidentally breaks her BFF Brooklyn’s
new cell phone, her life falls apart. She loses her
friends and her spot on the track team, and even
costs her father his job as a chef. But Brooklyn’s
planned revenge—sneakily signing up Mango to
audition for the school musical—backfires when
Mango not only wins the lead role, but becomes a
YouTube sensation and attracts the attention of the
school’s queen bee, Hailey Jo. Hailey Jo is from a
VERY wealthy family, and expects everyone to do her
bidding. Soon Mango finds herself forced to make
tough choices about the kind of friend she wants to
have . . . and, just as important, the kind of friend she
wants to be.

203. The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora
by Pablo Cartaya
Save the restaurant. Save the town. Get the girl. Make
Abuela proud. Can thirteen-year-old Arturo Zamora
do it all or is he in for a BIG, EPIC FAIL?
For Arturo, summetime in Miami means playing
basketball until dark, sipping mango smoothies, and
keeping cool under banyan trees. And maybe a few
shifts as junior lunchtime dishwasher at Abuela's
restaurant. Maybe. But this summer also includes
Carmen, a cute poetry enthusiast who moves into
Arturo's apartment complex and turns his stomach
into a deep fryer. He almost doesn't notice the
smarmy land developer who rolls into town and
threatens to change it. Arturo refuses to let his family
and community go down without a fight, and as he
schemes with Carmen, Arturo discovers the power of
poetry and protest through untold family stories and
the work of Jose Marti.

204. This is Just a Test
by Madelyn Rosenberg, Wendy Wan-Long Shang
David Da-Wei Horowitz has a lot on his plate.
Preparing for his upcoming bar mitzvah would be
enough work even if it didn't involve trying to please
his Jewish and Chinese grandmothers, who argue about
everything. But David just wants everyone to be happy.
That includes his friend Scott, who is determined to
win their upcoming trivia tournament but doesn't like
their teammate -- and David's best friend -- Hector.
Scott and David begin digging a fallout shelter just in
case this Cold War stuff with the Soviets turns south...
but David's not so convinced he wants to spend
forever in an underground bunker with Scott. Maybe it
would be better if Hector and Kelli Ann came with
them. But that would mean David has to figure out
how to stand up for Hector and talk to Kelli Ann.
Some days, surviving nuclear war feels like the least of
David's problems.

205. The Harlem Charade
by Natasha Tarpley
WATCHER. SHADOW. FUGITIVE.
Harlem is home to all kinds of kids. Jin sees life
passing her by from the window of her family's
bodega. Alex wants to help the needy one shelter at a
time, but can't tell anyone who she really is. Elvin's
living on Harlem's cold, lonely streets, surviving on
his own after his grandfather was mysteriously
attacked.
When these three strangers join forces to find out
what happened to Elvin's grandfather, their digging
leads them to an enigmatic artist whose missing
masterpieces are worth a fortune-one that might save
the neighborhood from development by an ambitious
politician who wants to turn it into Harlem World, a
ludicrous historic theme park. But if they don't find
the paintings soon, nothing in their beloved
neighborhood will ever be the same.

206. In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse
by Joseph Marshall III
Jimmy McClean is a Lakota boy—though you
would not guess it by his name: his father is a
white man and his mother is Lakota. When he
embarks on a journey with his grandfather, Nyles
High Eagle, he learns more and more about his
Lakota heritage—in particular, the story of Crazy
Horse, one of the most important figures in
Lakota history. Drawing inspiration from the oral
stories of the Lakota tradition and the Lakota
cultural mechanism of the “hero story,” Joseph
Marshall provides readers with an insider’s
perspective on the life of Tasunke Witko, better
known as Crazy Horse. Through his grandfather’s
tales about the famous warrior, Jimmy learns more
about his Lakota heritage and, ultimately, himself.

207. How Lamar’s Bad Prank
Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy
by Crystal Allen
Thirteen-year-old Lamar Washington is the maddest,
baddest, most spectacular bowler at Striker's Bowling
Paradise. But while Lamar's a whiz at rolling strikes, he
always strikes out with girls. And his brother, Xavier
the Basketball Savior, is no help. Xavier earns trophy
after trophy on the basketball court and soaks up
Dad's attention, leaving no room for Lamar's
problems.
Until bad boy Billy Jenks convinces Lamar that
hustling at the alley will help him win his dream girl,
plus earn him enough money to buy an expensive pro
ball and impress celebrity bowler Bubba Sanders. But
when Billy's scheme goes awry, Lamar ends up ruining
his brother's shot at college and every relationship in
his life. Can Lamar figure out how to mend his broken
ties, no matter what the cost?

208. The Laura Line
by Crystal Allen
Laura Dyson wants two things in life: to be accepted
by her classmates and to be noticed by ultracute
baseball star Troy Bailey. But everyone at school teases
her for being overweight, and Troy won’t give her a
second glance. Until one day, their history teacher
announces a field trip to the run-down slave shack on
her grandmother’s property. Heck to the power of no way!
Her grandmother insists that it’s more than just an old
shack; it’s a monument to the strong women in their
family—the Laura Line. But Laura knows better: her
classmates will never accept her once they see the
shack. So she comes up with the perfect plan to get
the trip canceled . . . but when a careless mistake puts
the shack—and the Laura Line—in jeopardy, Laura
must decide what’s truly important to her. Can Laura
figure out how to get what she wants at school while
also honoring her family’s past?

209. Genesis Begins Again
by Alicia D. Williams
This novel tells the story of a thirteen-year-old who is filled with self-
loathing and must overcome internalized racism and a verbally abusive
family to finally learn to love herself.
There are ninety-six things Genesis hates about herself. She knows the exact
number because she keeps a list. Like #95: Because her skin is so dark, people
call her charcoal and eggplant—even her own family. And #61: Because her
family is always being put out of their house, belongings laid out on the
sidewalk for the world to see. When your dad is a gambling addict and loses
the rent money every month, eviction is a regular occurrence.
What’s not so regular is that this time they all don’t have a place to crash, so
Genesis and her mom have to stay with her grandma. It’s not that Genesis
doesn’t like her grandma, but she and Mom always fight—Grandma
haranguing Mom to leave Dad, that she should have gone back to school, that
if she’d married a lighter skinned man none of this would be happening, and
on and on and on. But things aren’t all bad. Genesis actually likes her new
school; she’s made a couple friends, her choir teacher says she has real talent,
and she even encourages Genesis to join the talent show.
But how can Genesis believe anything her teacher says when her dad tells her
the exact opposite? How can she stand up in front of all those people with her
dark, dark skin knowing even her own family thinks lesser of her because of
it? Why, why, why won’t the lemon or yogurt or fancy creams lighten her skin
like they’re supposed to? And when Genesis reaches #100 on the list of things
she hates about herself, will she continue on, or can she find the strength to
begin again?

210. Books! Books! Books!
Book Recommendations 4-6
Sukhi Goomer
Lawrence Intermediate School, 5th Grade
Email: sgoomer@ltps.org
Twitter: @room7lis