Spring Lake Park Schools, MN - District 16





Westwood Intermediate


Coming Soon...

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Adventure
 
Crossing the Wire

Hobbs

HOB

4.3

Fifteen-year-old Victor Flores journeys north in a desperate attempt to cross the Arizona border and work in the United States to support his family in central Mexico.

Eagle Strike

Horowitz

HOR

5.1

Teenage spy Alex Rider investigates an international pop star and philanthropist, whose new video game venture hides sinister motives which involve Air Force One, nuclear missiles, and international drug trade. Book #4.

Hogsty Reef Dowd DOW 6.4
While working on a summer research project to study reef ecology on a tropical island, Jim befriends a Haitian refugee and uncovers a drug smuggling operation.
 

Survivors

Jenner

JEN

3

Will and Lucy sail on the Titanic and are separated from their father when the ship hits an iceberg and begins to sink.

Ghost's Grave

Kehret

KEH

5

Apprehensive about spending the summer in Washington State with his Aunt Ethel when his parents get an overseas job, twelve-year-old Josh soon finds adventure when he meets the ghost of a coal miner

Trapped

Kehret

KEH

5

When his owner, Alex, finds an illegal animal trap in the woods, Pete the cat faces grave danger as he tries to help his human friends find the culprit who set the trap.

Code

Lerangis

LER

3.9

Twelve-year-old twins Evie and Andrew are getting used to moving from town to town with their military father but they still haven't gotten used to the disappearance of their mother a year ago on their eleventh birthday. In this new town, the twins receive a mysterious package filled with strange items and discover they have been chosen for a dangerous mission by someone known only as Spy X.

Instruders

Richardson

RIC

5.6

Joel Demetrius and his sister Cassie move in with their new stepfamily after their mother remarries. Joel begins to have nightmares and spooky experiences in the rundown house that is their new home. Soon, their two new stepbrothers feel the strange presence as well.

Peak

Smith

SMI

5

A fourteen-year-old boy attempts to be the youngest person to reach the top of Mount Everest.

House Where Nobody Lived

Strickland

STR

6

Twelve-year-old Lewis and his best friend Rose Rita investigate a strange old house in their home town and discover that they may be dealing with powerful ancient Hawaiian spirits.

Ice Drift

Taylor

TAY

5.7

Two Inuit brothers must fend for themselves while stranded on an ice floe that is adrift in the Greenland Strait

BlindMountain

Thomas

THO

4.3

Unsure of himself and annoyed at having to spend a day climbing a Montana mountain with his bossy father, twelve-year-old Sam must become the guide on their perilous journey down when his carelessness temporarily blinds his father.

Crandall's Castle

Wright

WRI

4.6

Charlie's impulsive uncle, Will Crandall, decides to buy the town's abandoned, possibly haunted castle and fix it up as a bed-and-breakfast, but Charli and Sophia, a clairvoyant orphan who has come to stay with the Crandall family, know his plan is somehow dangerous.


 
 
 
 
Animals
 
 

Magnus at the Fire

Armstrong

E ARM

4.5

When the Broadway Fire House acquires a motorized fire engine, Magnus the fire horse is not ready to retire

Trouble According to Humphrey

Birney

BIR

4.3

Humphrey, the pet hamster of Longfellow School's Room 26, relates the ups and downs experienced by his human classmates as they begin a project to create a model town complete with houses and community services.

Welcome to the Bed and Biscuit

Carris

CAR

3.6

The family animals at the Bed and Biscuit begin to feel slighted when Dr. Bender returns from a fire with something that occupies the time usually reserved for them.

Red Feather Filly

Farley

FAR

5.1

As Samantha and her friends prepare for a charity horse race, they're very excited. Sam is riding Ace, and her race partner, Jake, plans to rope and train a wild pinto filly.

White Elephant

Fleischman

FLE

4.3

In old Siam, young elephant trainer Run-Run and his old charge, Walking Mountain, must deal with the curse of a sacred white elephant

Animal Rescue Club

Himmelman

HIM

2.5

Members of the Animal Rescue Club save wild animals in trouble, nurse them back to health, and return them to the wild.

Starlight

Hunter

HUN

5.9

The Clans, heeding the prophecies of their feline ancestors, begin to explore their new home and reestablish territories. Leafpaw leads a quest to find a new "Moonstone" to find guidance before the Clans are plunged into darkness. Book 4

Champ

Jones

JON

4.3

Riley and his dog, Champ, set out to prove to his father and the whole town there is more than one way to be a winner.

Wind-Wild Dogs

Joosse

E JOO

3

Ziva, a "wind-wild" young sled dog, decides whether to stay with the man who has trained her or to run free with the wolves and wind.

Dog for Life

Martin

MAR

5.2

When John, who has a special ability to communicate with animals, finds that his dog Mouse is scheduled to go to the pound, he and Mouse decide to run away and find his uncle, who may be able to help them

Just Like Heaven

McDonnell

E MCD

2

Having awakened from a nap to find himself surrounded by fog, Mooch the cat decides he must be in Heaven, especially when he sees that all of his loved ones are there.

War Horse

Morpugo

MOR

5.9

Originally published in Great Britain in 1982, this moving story tells of the truest of friendships in the worst of wars, as a horse is sold from his farm, taken from the gentle boy who was his master, to serve in the military duringWorld War I

And Tango Makes Three

Richardson

E RIC

3.5

At New York City's Central Park Zoo, two male penguins are trying to start a family by taking turns sitting on an egg that Mr. Gramzay gave them.

Goosed

Wallace

WAL

3.5

When Jeff's girlfriend leaves a Labrador puppy with his family for a week, his dog, T.P., and cat, Cord, hope the energetic puppy does not stay any longer.

Snowflake

Weyn

WEY

3.1

While helping out at Fox Creek Farm, three girls try to find a way to pay for a new winter blanket needed by a Percheron horse that is new to the stables.


 
 
 
 
 
Fantasy
 

Birdwing

Martin

MAR

4.6

Prince Ardwin, known as Birdwing, the youngest of six brothers turned into swans by their stepmother, is unable to complete the transformation back to human form, so he journeys to discover whether his feathered arm will be a curse or a blessing to him.

Dreamwalker's Child

Voakes

VOA

6.6

After being hit by a car Sam Palmer finds himself in Aurobon, a land of giant insects where some of the inhabitants are working to keep Earth's ecology in balance while others are trying to wipe out humankind with a lethal virus spread by mosquitoes.

Fire Within

D'Lacy

DLA

4.1

When college student David Rain rents a room in an unusual boardinghouse full of clay dragons, he has no idea that one of the dragons, along with some lively squirrels, will help jumpstart his writing career

Lightening Thief

Riordan

RIO

4.7

Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson learns he is a demigod, the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, god of the sea. His mother sends him to a summer camp for demigods where he and his new friends set out on a quest to prevent a war between the gods.

Magyk

Sage

SAG

6

After learning that she is the Princess, Jenna is whisked from her home and carried toward safety by the Extraordinary Wizard, those she always believed were her father and brother, and a young guard known only as Boy 412--pursued by agents of those who killed her mother ten years earlier.

Miss Smith Reads Again

Garland

E GAR

4.2

When Miss Smith uses her magical storybook to transport the class to a lost world, a dinosaur appears scattering Zack and the other students. Zack must come up with a plan to find Miss Smith and her book to take them all home.

Pinhoe Egg

Jones

JON

5.2

Two powerful young enchanters, Cat, the future Chrestomanci, and Marianne, who is being trained to be Gammer of the Pinhoes, work together as friends to try to end an illegal witches' war and, in the process, right some old wrongs.

Pure Dead Magic

Gliori

GLI

5.9

When their father is kidnapped and danger looms, the Strega-Borgia children, their mysterious new nanny, and a giant tarantula use magic and actual trips through the Internet to bring peace to their Scottish castle
.

River Secrets

Hale

HAL

5.7

Young Razo travels from Bayern to Tira at war's end as part of a diplomatic corps, but mysterious events in the Tiran capital fuel suspicions and anger, and Razo must spy out who's responsible before it's too late and he becomes trapped in an enemy land.

Ruins of Gorlan

Flanagan

FLA

7

When fifteen-year-old Will is rejected by battleschool, he becomes the reluctant apprentice to the mysterious Ranger Halt, and winds up protecting the kingdom from danger.

Runaway Princess

Coombs

COO

4.3

Fifteen-year-old Princess Meg uses magic and her wits to rescue a baby dragon and escape the unwanted attentions of princes hoping to gain her hand in marriage through a contest arranged by her father, the king

Secret Country

Johnson

JOH

5.7

Having learned from a talking cat that he and his sisters are the half-elfin royalty of a parallel world called Eidolon, twelve-year old Ben Arnold attempts to stop his evil uncle from smuggling magical creatures between the two worlds to sell on the black market.

Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls

Primavera

PRI

5.4

In order to save the town of Sherbet, four girls with very little in common become involved with some people and events that seem to bear a resemblance to "The Wizard of Oz."

Skybreaker

Oppel

OPP

5

Matt Cruse, a student at the Airship Academy, and Kate de Vries, a young heiress, team up with a gypsy and a daring captain to find a long-lost airship rumored to carry a treasure beyond imagination

 
 
 
 
Historical Fiction
 

Dear Mr. Rosenwald

Weatherford

E WEA

4.2

Using a prose-poem format, a young black girl describes how she feels when Mr. Julius Rosenwald, the president of Sears, promises to provide money for building her African-American community a new school. All of the black and white citizens contributed to the fund as well
.

Deep Cut

Spain

SPA

7

Considered slow by his father, Lonzo tries his best to help his family in Culpeper, Virginia, during the Civil War and in the process, comes to some decisions about how to live his life.

Escape of Oney Judge

Mccully

E MCC

4.5

During the Revolutionary War, a Jewish soldier from Poland lights the menorah on the first night of Hanukkah and tells General George Washington the story of the Maccabees and the miracle that Hanukkah celebrates. This story is based on factual events.

Freedom Ship

Rappaport

E RAP

2.8

Samuel and his parents make a daring escape from the Confederate South during the Civil War on a Confederate warship.

Ghost Girl

Ray

RAY

5.4

Eleven-year-old April is delighted when President and Mrs. Hoover build a school near her Madison County, Virginia, home but her family's poverty, grief over the accidental death of her brother, and other problems may mean that April can never learn to read from the wonderful teacher, Miss Vest.

Into the Firestorm

Hopkinson

HOP

4.2

Days after arriving in San Francisco from Texas, eleven-year-old orphan Nicholas Dray tries to help his new neighbors survive the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the subsequent fires.

Jackie's Bat

Lorbiecki

LOR

4.5

Joey, the batboy for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, learns a hard lesson about respect for people of different races after Jackie Robinson joins the team.

Last Brother

Noble

NOB

5.9

Eleven-year-old Gabe enlists in the Union Army in Pennsylvania along with his older brother Davy and, as bugler, does his best to protect Davy during the Battle of Gettysburg.

More Perfect Than the Moon

MacLachlan

MAC

2.8

Eight-year-old Cassie Witting is upset when she finds out that her mother, Sarah, is expecting a baby, but writing in the journal that belonged to her brother Caleb helps her sort out her feelings and understand that Sarah will always love her.
 

Ransom of Mercy Carter

Cooney

COO

5.7

In 1704, in the English settlement of Deerfield, Massachusetts, eleven-year-old Mercy and her family and neighbors are captured by Mohawk Indians and their French allies, and forced to march through bitter cold to French Canada, where some adapt to new lives and some still hope to be ransomed.

Ravenmaster's Secret

Woodruff

WOO

5.2

The eleven-year-old son of the Ravenmaster at the Tower of London befriends a Jacobite rebel being held prisoner there.

The Last Safe House

Greenwood

GRE

5.2

Information and activities bring history to life in this story of slavery and friendship when Johanna Reid and her family take in a eleven-year-old fugitive slave.

Trouble with Henry

O'Neal

ONE

5.1

A lighthearted fiction of the life of Henry David Thoreau at Walden Pond and the tensions between industrialism and his personal philosophy of respect for the natural world.

Twenty One Elephants and Still Standing

Prince

E PRI

4.3

Upon completion of the Brooklyn Bridge, P.T. Barnum and his twenty-one elephants parade across to prove to everyone that the bridge is safe.

Weedflower

Kadohata

KAD

4.8

After twelve-year-old Sumiko and her Japanese-American family are relocated from their flower farm in southern California to an internment camp on a Mojave Indian reservation in Arizona, she helps her family and neighbors, becomes friends with a local Indian boy, and tries to hold on to her dream of owning a flower shop.

Wind Flyers

Johnson

E JOH

2.9

A young boy's love of flying takes him from rural Alabama to Europe after he becomes a Tuskegee Airman with the 332nd in the United States Air Force.

 
 
 
 
Humor
 

Boys Rock

Naylor

NAY

4.9

The feud between the Hatford brothers and the neighboring Malloy sisters continues over the summer when they reluctantly join forces to publish a newspaper
.

Clementine

Pennypacker

PEN

4.5

While sorting through difficulties in her friendship with her neighbor Margaret, eight-year-old Clementine gains several unique hairstyles while also helping her father in his efforts to banish pigeons from the front of their apartment building.

Do Not Open This Book

Muntean

E MUN

2.6

As Pig tries to write a book, he chastises the reader who keeps interrupting him by turning the pages.

Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late

Willems

E WIL

1.1

Needing to brush his teeth, a bus driver asks the reader to make sure that the pigeon goes to bed on time--but the bird has many excuses about why it should stay awake

Dork in Disguise Gorman GOR 4.2
Starting middle school in a new town, brainy Jerry Flack changes his image from "dork" to "cool kid," only to discover that he would rather be himself.

.

Far From Normal

Klise

KLI

4.4

Three years after the Harrisong family left their home in Normal, Illinois, to live on a houseboat in Alabama, they find themselves working as a spokesfamily for Bargain Bonanza.

Gooney the Fabulous

Lowry

LOW

3.8

Mrs. Pidgeon has been reading Aesop's fables to her second-grade class and then her students create their own fables. Nicholas doesn't want to create a fable until Gooney Bird helps him solve his problem

Holy Enchilada

Winkler

WIN

4.6

Trying to impress a visiting student from Japan, Hank hides his dyslexia while the gang makes enchiladas for a Multi-Cultural Day lunch, and Hank is afraid he was very wrong about the amount of chili powder in the recipe.

Homework Machine

Gutman

GUT

4.8

Four fifth-grade students--a geek, a class clown, a teacher's pet, and a slacker--as well as their teacher and mothers, each relate events surrounding a computer programmed to complete homework assignments.

How Not to Babysit Your Brother

Hapka

HAP

2.7

When Grandma falls asleep, Will finds himself responsible for his little brother Steve and discovers the hard way what not to do when in charge.

Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude

O'Malley

OMA

3.1

Cooperatively writing a fairy tale for school, a girl imagines a beautiful princess whose beloved ponies are being stolen by a giant, and a boy conjures up the muscular biker who will guard the last pony in exchange for gold

Punished

Lubar

LUB

3.6

Logan thought it was safe to go to the library, until he got a face full of magic dust that scrambled his brains. Now he feels he's being punished, because he can't say anything without sounding like a pun-filled smart aleck. He must complete three quests in order to fix the voodoo, including finding oxymoron, anagram, and palindrome word combos
.

Soupy Saturdays with the Pain and the Great One

Blume

BLU

2.8

This book revisits the sometimes challenging relationship between six-year-old Jake and his eight-year-old sister, Abigail

Substitute Teacher from the Black Lagoon

Thayer

E THA

2.2

Mrs. Green is sick today, and a substitute teacher is coming. The class is happy until they find out the new teacher's name is Mr. Frank N. Stein!

The 39 Apartments of Ludwig Von Beethoven

Winter

E WIN

5.6

Presents a look at why Ludwig Van Beethoven moved so often. Describes his five pianos which would have made moving difficult and wonders about the conditions that might have caused him to leave over thirty different apartments.

Very Funny Elizabeth

Tripp

TRI

5.3

Elizabeth and Felicity have been friends since they were very young. The two girls have always loved to play practical jokes on people, but when Felicity's older sister announces she is engaged, Elizabeth and Felicity take their jokes too far.

 
 
 
Mystery
 
Case of the Left Handed Lady
Springer
SPR
7
Pursued by her much older brother, famed detective Sherlock Holmes, fourteen-year-old Enola, disguised and using false names, attempts to solve the kidnapping of a baronet's sixteen-year-old daughter in nineteenth-century London.

Danger in the Dark
Lalicki
LAL
5.5
Thirteen-year-old Nathaniel, aided by the famous magician Harry Houdini, plots to unmask a phony spirit advisor attempting to relieve the boy's great-aunt of her fortune.

Dead Guys Talk
Joosse
JOO
3
In the dead middle of summer, the Scarface Detectives investigate their creepiest case yet when a mysterious client sends them to Oak Hill Cemetery, where Loonie Loraine is buried
.
Hannah West in Deep Water
Johns
JOH
5
Pre-teen sleuth Hannah West investigates an environmental mystery while staying in a houseboat on Seattle's Lake Washington.

King of Murder
Byars
BYA
4.3
Herculeah meets a murder mystery writer, and has the uneasy feeling that he knows more about murder than he should.

Minerva Clark Gets a Clue
Karbo
KAR
5.3
A thirteen-year-old girl in Portland, Oregon loses all self-doubt when she is zapped by lightning and uses her newfound courage to solve a murder mystery.

Minerva Clark Goes to the Dogs
Karbo
KAR
5.3
Still enjoying her new found self-confidence, a thirteen-year-old sleuth in Portland, Oregon, tries to uncover a missing red diamond and gets herself mixed up with a crooked animal shelter worker and some very strange animals
.
Room One
Clements
CLE
5.1
Ted Hammond, the only sixth grader in his small Nebraska town's one-room schoolhouse, searches for clues to the disappearance of a homeless family
Sammy Keyes and the Psycho Kitty
Van Draanen
VAN
4
When cats begin to mysteriously disappear in Santa Martina, thirteen-year-old friends Sammy and Holly start snooping around town to find out what is happening.

Shakespeare's Spy
Blackwood
BLA
5.7
After young Widge comes to steal a copy of Shakespeare's play, he decides to join the company instead, but when more of Shakespeare's plays have been stolen, Widge becomes the prime suspect.

Treasures of Weatherby
Snyder
SNY
6
Determined to be as strong and powerful as the first Harleigh, who built the rambling Weatherby Hall, twelve-year-old Harleigh Fourth and an equally diminutive new friend try to foil the plans of a distant relative who is seeking the long-lost Weatherby fortune

Vanishing Act
Feinstein
FEI
4.8
Eighth-grade sports reporters Susan Carol Anderson and Stevie Thomas reunite at the U.S. Open tennis championships where they investigate the mysterious disappearance of a top Russian player

 

 
 
 
Realistic Fiction
 
4 Kids in 5E and 1 Crazy Year
Schwartz
SCH
3.6
Family, school, and life in general are seen through the writings of four fifth-graders who have been taken out of an overcrowded New York City classroom and placed with a teacher who shows them how to write and to believe in themselves.
All of the Above
Pearsall
PEA
5.3
Five urban middle school students, their teacher, and other community members relate how a school project to build the world's largest tetrahedron affects the lives of everyone involved
.
Anyone Can Eat Squid
Naylor
NAY
4
Sarah longs to find a way to be someone special, and when her friend's Chinese restaurant needs customers, she finds a special way to save it.

Ben and the Sudden Too Big Family
Rodowsky
ROD
5.4
Until now, ten-year-old Ben has believed that life is made up of "all right" and "not all right" stuff, but when his father remarries and the couple adopts a Chinese baby, he wonders which kind of stuff will prevail.

Blizzard's Wake
Naylor
NAY
5.9
In March of 1941, when a severe blizzard suddenly hits Bismarck, North Dakota, a girl trying to save her stranded father and brother inadvertently helps the man who killed her mother four years before.

Brothers in Hope
Williams
WIL
4.7
Eight-year-old Garang, orphaned by a civil war in Sudan, finds the inner strength to help lead other boys as they trek hundreds of miles seeking safety in Ethiopia, then Kenya, and finally in the United States.

Dear Max
Grindley
GRI
4.7
When young Max begins corresponding with his favorite author, D.J. Lucas, the two form a friendship based on imagination, storytelling, and sharing secrets.

Dexter the Tough
Haddix
HAD
4.2
A sympathetic teacher and her writing assignment help fourth-grader Dexter deal with being the new kid in school after he punches a kid on the first day.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Kinney
KIN
5.2
Greg records his sixth grade experiences in a school where he and his friend Rowley hope to survive as undersized weaklings amid boys who need to shave twice daily. And when Rowley grows more popular, Greg must take measures to save their friendship.

Diary of a Would Be Princess
Green
GRE
4.8
In the journal her fifth-year teacher requires, Jillian records the ups and downs of her efforts to become popular as she hosts a class party, creates a school magazine, and tutors some socially misfit boys.

Drita My Homegirl
Lombard
LOM
3.9
When ten-year-old Drita and her family, refugees from Kosovo, move to New York, Drita is teased about not speaking English well, but after a popular student named Maxine is forced to learn about Kosovo as a punishment for teasing Drita, the two girls soon bond
.
Each Little Bird That Sings
Wiles
WIL
4.5
Comfort Snowberger is well acquainted with death since her family runs the funeral parlor in their small southern town, but even so the ten-year-old is unprepared for the series of heart-wrenching events that begins on the first day of Easter vacation with the sudden death of her beloved great-uncle Edisto.

Higher Power of Lucky
Patron
PAT
5.9
Fearing that her legal guardian plans to abandon her to return to France, ten-year-old aspiring scientist Lucky Trimble determines to run away while also continuing to seek the Higher Power that will bring stability to her life.

I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Diakite
E DIA
3
While visiting her father's family in Mali, a young girl loses a tooth, places it under a calabash, and receives a hen and a rooster from the African Tooth Fairy.

Julia's Kitchen
Ferber
FER
3.9
When her mother and younger sister are killed in a house fire, eleven-year-old Cara struggles to find a way to deal with her emotions and to reach out to her grieving father
.
Liberation of Gabriel King
Going
GOI
4.5
In Georgia during the summer of 1976, Gabriel, a white boy who is being bullied, and Frita, an African American girl who is facing prejudice, decide to overcome their many fears together as they enter fifth grade.

Lowji Discovers America
Fleming
FLE
3.1
A nine-year-old East Indian boy tries to adjust to his new life in suburban America.

MorgyCoastto Coast
Lewis
LEW
3.9
After moving to Massachusetts and starting fourth grade, Morgy continues to experience a lot of changes in his life, including learning to play hockey and the trumpet, and adopting a greyhound named Dante.

No Talking
Clements
CLE
5
The noisy fifth-grade boys of Laketon Elementary School challenge the equally loud fifth-grade girls to a "no talking" contest.
One Handed Catch
Auch
AUC
4.2
After losing his hand in an accident in his father's butcher shop in 1946, sixth-grader Norman uses hard work and humor to learn to live with his disability and to succeed at baseball, art, and other activities.

Our Gracie Aunt
Woodson
WOO
2.6
When a brother and sister are taken to stay with their mother's sister because their mother neglects them, they wonder if they will see their mother again
.
Playing Dad's Song
Friedman
FRI
4
While wrestling with memories of his father, who died when the Twin Towers fell on September 11, 2001, eleven-year-old Gus, born into a family of musicians, starts taking oboe lessons, begins to compose music, and joins his sister in auditioning for a school musical.

Project Mulberry
Park
PAR
4.3
While working on a project for an after-school club, Julia, a Korean American girl, and her friend Patrick learn not just about silkworms but also about tolerance, prejudice, friendship, patience, and more

Queen Sophie Hartley
Greene
GRE
4.8
A suggestion from her mother leads Sophie to befriend the new girl at school and an elderly, grouchy woman, and helps Sophie overcome the feeling that she is not good at anything.

Reggie
Bunting
BUN
3.6
Eight-year old Alex is determined to keep the toy mouse he finds tied to a balloon, even after posters appear asking for its return, but when his dog Patch disappears, Alex discovers what it is like to lose something you love more than anything.

Remembering Mrs. Ross
Hest
HES
4
Although she loves her father, their home in New York City, and third-grade teacher Miss Meadows, Annie misses her mother who died recently.

Rules
Lord
LOR
3.9
Frustrated at life with an autistic brother, twelve-year-old Catherine longs for a normal existence but her world is further complicated by a friendship with an young paraplegic.

SaharaSpecial
Coddell
COD
4.2
Struggling with school and her feelings since her father left, Sahara gets a fresh start with a new and unique teacher who supports her writing talents and the individuality of each of her classmates.

Sand Dollar Summer
Jones
JON
4.6
When twelve-year-old Lise spends the summer on an island in Maine with her self-reliant mother and bright--but oddly mute--younger brother, her formerly safe world is complicated by an aged Indian neighbor, her mother's childhood friend, and a hurricane.

So Totally Emily Ebers
Yee
YEE
3.9
In a series of letters to her absent father, twelve-year old Emily Ebers deals with moving cross-country, her parents' divorce, a new friendship, and her first serious crush

That Girl Lucy Moon
Timberlake
TIM
5.3
Lucy Moon, a middle school student, fights against injustice no matter where she finds it. But when she is called a bad influence by teachers and neighbors, she wonders if such a struggle is worth it.

The Thing About Georgie
Graff
GRA
4.3
Georgie's dwarfism causes problems, but he could always rely on his parents, his best friend, and classmate Jeanie the Meanie's teasing, until a surprising announcement, a new boy in school, and a class project shake things up.

Tornado Watchers
Jennings
JEN
2.9
A tired Ike stays up all night for four nights to warn his family of any approaching tornadoes.

Trouble Begins
Himelblau
HIM
3.6
Reunited with his family for the first time since he was a baby, fifth grader Du struggles to adapt to his new home in the United States.

Welcome to Camden Falls
Martin
MAR
5.2
Flora and Ruby do not want to move to Camden Falls, but they don't really have a choice. Their parents are dead and their grandmother, Min, is taking them in. It's strange to be in a new place, but luckily, it's a very welcoming place

Wings
Loizeaux
LOI
5.1
Ten-year-old Nick, who misses his father, finds companionship after rescuing an injured baby mockingbird.

Winners Never Quit
Hamm
E HAM
1.9
When Mia quits the soccer team because she couldn't score a goal, she must learn the hard way that being a team player is more important than winning or losing

 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
Science Fiction
 

I'm Out of My Body - Please Leave a Message

Greenburg

GRE

2.7

When his friend Spencer, the class genius, spends the night, he and Zack discover how to leave their bodies and travel around New York City, but they have one problem--how to get back inside themselves.

Larklight

Reeve

REE

7

In an alternate Victorian England, young Arthur and his sister Myrtle, residents of Larklight, a floating house in one of Her Majesty's outer space territories, uncover a spidery plot to destroy the solar system.

Mysterious Benedict Society

Stewart

STE

5.6

After passing a series of mind-bending tests, four children are selected for a secret mission that requires them to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules.

Time Trackers

Paulsen

PAU

5.2

When someone uses futuristic technology to play pranks on twelve-year-old Dorso Clayman, he and his best friend set off on a supposedly impossible journey through space and time trying to stop the gamesters who are endangering the universe.

 
 
 
 
Sports
 
 

Babe and Me

Gutman

GUT

4.3

With their ability to travel through time using vintage baseball cards, Joe and his father have the opportunity to find out whether Babe Ruth really did call his shot when he hit that homerun in the third game of the 1932 World Series against the Chicago Cubs.

Boy Who Saved Baseball

Ritter

RIT

The fate of a small California town rests on the outcome of one baseball game, and Tom Gallagher hopes to lead his team to victory with the secrets of the now disgraced player, Dante Del Gato.

Full Court Press

Walters

WAL

4.3

Third-graders Nick and Kia know if they make the school basketball team they can help it win the championship.

Greatest Game Ever Played

Bildner

E BIL

3.9

When their beloved baseball team, the New York Giants, moves to California, Sam and Pop switch their loyalties to the other New York Giants and attend their championship game with the Baltimore Colts.

Heat

Lupica

LUP

5.3

After her mother's death, twelve-year-old Molly learns that her father is a basketball star for the Boston Celtics.

In the Paint

Rudd

RUD

6.1

Matt has dreamed of playing basketball since he was a little kid. When he tries out for the middle school team, he is surprised by how much more competitive the game has gotten. Matt battles a demanding coach and bullying teammates as he works to master the game.

Miracle on 49th Street

Lupica

LUP

4.7

After her mother's death, twelve-year-old Molly learns that her father is a basketball star for the Boston Celtics.

Mystery at Lake Placid

MacGregor

MAC

5.7

After her mother's death, twelve-year-old Molly learns that her father is a basketball star for the Boston Celtics.

Million Dollar Shot

Gutman

GUT

4.2

Eleven-year-old Eddie gets a chance to win a million dollars by sinking a foul shot at the National Basketball Association finals.

One Handed Catch

Auch

AUC

After losing his hand in an accident in his father's butcher shop in 1946, sixth-grader Norman uses hard work and humor to learn to live with his disability and to succeed at baseball, art, and other activities

Real Lucky Charm

Richardson

RIC

3.5

When Mia joins her brother's basketball team after it goes coed, she discovers she is a very good player and enjoys the game, plus she believes the charm her dad gave her is helping. When the bracelet is lost and Mia's game goes downhill, she wonders if she should quit.

Roar of the Crowd

Walters

WAL

4.3

After years of playing nothing but soccer in Hudson City, New Jersey, Manny has to work very hard to play on the middle school football team, using determination, speed, and smarts to make up for being small and inexperienced.

Safe at Home

Robinson

ROB

3.6

After the death of his father, ten-year-old African American Elijah Breeze moves back to New York City with his mother and attends a summer baseball camp as he tries to make new friends and adapt to urban ways.

SanfordWong Flunks Big Time

Yee

YEE

3.8

After flunking sixth-grade English, basketball prodigy Stanford Wong must struggle to pass his summer-school class, keep his failure a secret from his friends, and satisy his academically demanding father

Warriors

Bruchac

BRU

5.5

Young Native-American boy Jake is a strong lacrosse player on the reservation, but when he and his mother move to Washington D.C., lacrosse players at his new school do not understand the Iroquois.