Out of My Mind

By Sharon M Draper

Out of My Mind

By:  Sharon M Draper

Melody is eleven-years-old and one of the smartest kids in her class. It's too bad that nobody knows it though. Melody has a disability that keeps her confined to a wheel chair and does not have the ability to speak, so everyone assumes she is dumb, when quite the opposite is true. During a research project Melody stumbles across a machine that could give her a voice. She gets so excited that she can hardly contain herself. Would having a voice help her prove to everyone once and for all how truly brilliant she is? Would having a voice make her "normal?" This is an amazing book. It has an unexpected ending and will make you think differently. What a great choice for a battle of the books title!

Love That Dog

by:  Sharon Creech

Jack's class has to write a poem.

This is Jack's first poem:
    I don't want to
    because boys
    don't write poetry.
    Girls do.

Very very good - quick read.

Ida B

by:  Katherine Hannigan

Ida B eats the exact same thing for breakfast and lunch everyday.  Her dad says, "Why don't you try something different?"

Ida B says, "There are too many things to think about in this world besides what I'm going to eat."  Then her dad looks at her like she is a true mystery.

Excellent!

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

by:  Gary D. Schmidt
2005 Newbery Honor Book

Growing up.
Becoming friends with someone you never thought you would.
Prejudice.
Injustice.
Standing up for what you believe in and for what is right.


Awesome!

Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer

by:  John Grisham

A perfect murder
A faceless witness
A lone courtroom champion knows the truth
And he is only 13 years old

Not all kids want to have the same job as both their parents do when they grow up.  But Theodore Boone does.  Theodore loves the law and spends as much time as he can in court watching trials.  He is only in 8th grade, but all of his classmates come to Theodore for legal advice because he really knows his stuff.

When Theodore learns of a witness to a murder that nobody else knows about, is he in over his head?...  Probably so...

Brian's Return


by:  Gary Paulsen

This is the 4th book in the Hatchet series.  People wrote to Gary Paulsen wanting to know what happened to Brian after he went back to civilization.  This book answers those questions.  Brian has a hard time dealing with High School back in the real world.  As a matter of fact, he has a hard time dealing with people at all and the noise.

Brian decides he must return to the woods to find what he left there.

A Strong Right Arm: The Story of Mamie "Peanut" Johnson


by:  Michelle Y. Green

There are only 3 women that ever played pro baseball and Mamie Johnson is one of them.

Not only is she a woman - she is a black woman.  When she was pitching in pro baseball she weighed on 98 pounds and stood at 5' 2".

An amazing true story of dreams coming true.

Project Mulberry


by:  Linda Sue Park

Julia Song and her friend, Patrick, would love to win a blue ribbon, maybe even two, at the state fair.

First, they need a project... raise silkworms and make something with the silk?  Problem... silkworms only eat mulberry leaves and they have to be fresh.  Problem... Julia is Korean, she was hoping to do an American-type project not something so Korean.

Excellent!

Basketball (or something like it)


by:  Nora Raleigh Baskin

Ever since Jeremy moved into the suburbs from the city, the basketball court is the only place he feels at home.

The team isn't very good, and coach after coach gets fired or quits.

It's just a game... right?

Wolf Brother


by:  Michelle Paver

Six thousand years ago, evil stalks the land.  Only 12 year old Torak and his wolf-cub companion can defeat it.  Their journey takes them through deep forests, across giant glaciers, and into dangers they never imagined.

Very good - graphic.

Bread and Roses, Too


by:  Katherine Paterson

Everyone is tired of working in the mills (factories) for terrible low pay.  So in 1912, one of the largest strikes ever, was started.  If you don't work however, how will you get money to buy food?

Some families had to send their children to live with strangers who promised to feed and take care of them until the strike was over.  Rosa and Jake were two of those children and this book tells their story.

Slow start - then excellent!

Where the Red Fern Grows


by:  Wilson Rawls

Awesome!

A loving threesome, they ranged the dark hills and river bottoms of Cherokee country.  Billy had the best two coon dogs around and the best two friends a boy could have!

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
1968 Newbery Winner

by:  E. L. Konigsburg

Claudia and Jamie run away from home to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Claudia hopes to teach her parents a lesson in Claudia appreciation and she needs her brother because he has money.


Claudia still feels the same after running away.  And she was hoping to feel different.  When the statue of the angel comes to the museum surrounded by mystery, Claudia just knows if she can solve the mystery she will become different.  That's where Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler come in.

The Ghost in Room 11

by:  Betty Ren Wright

Matt is the new kid in school and attempts to make friends by telling outrageous lies about his life.  The only problem with lies is that when you need someone to believe the truth, maybe they will and maybe they wont.

Pictures of Hollis Woods

by:  Patricia Reilly Giff
2003 Newbery Honor Book

Great Read !!

Hollis Woods... is the place where a baby was abandoned
... is the baby's name
... is an artist
... is now 12 and has been in so many foster homes she has lost track.  
Will she get her wish - to belong to a real family?

Because of Anya

by:  Margaret Peterson Haddix

Why is Anya wearing a wig?

Everyone figures she must have cancer.  Anya however, is perfectly healthy - except her hair is falling out in clumps.  Just when Anya thinks she might be able to deal with wearing a wig the unthinkable happens - it falls off in gym class.

Very good book!

Esperanza Rising

by:  Pam Munoz Ryan

Esperanza has the life of a very rich young girl.  She lives in Mexico and has beautiful dresses and goes to fancy parties.

Tragedy changes everything forcing Esperanza to run from Mexico to California.  In California she is forced to live in a Mexican farm labor camp and to work long, hard days.

Esperanza had never had to work a day in her life.  This new life is not fun and not fair.

Read to see if Esperanza will rise to the occasion.

Skellig

by:  David Almond

Michael's family moved into a new home where Michael discovers a strange man living in their garage that is about to cave in.  Michael keeps the man a secret to everyone except his friend Mina.  Mina and Michael sneak food to the man and plan to move him to a safe location before the builders come to tear down the garage.  Who is this man and where did he come from?...

The Magician's Nephew
Book 1, The Chronicles of Narnia
by:  C.S. Lewis

Excellent for grades 3 and up.

Narnia... where the woods are thick and cool, where talking beasts are called to life... a new world where the adventure begins.

Black Duck
by:  Janet Taylor Lisle

Good 5th grade "read aloud".

What happened next that spring afternoon is something I know Jeddy remembers.  I can see us standing there by the bootleg crate.  We wandered toward the pool and it came into view with no more drama thank if it had been a sodden piece of driftwood lying on the sand, a naked human leg.

Chains
by:  Laurie Halse Anderson

Set at the time of the Revolutionary War.  Isabell is a young slave who was promised freedom.  When that promise gets broken, it's up to Isabel to wage her own war to get her freedom back.  This is an amazing story of the life of a very brave girl that will leave you wanting to read the sequel, Forge!

Among the Impostors
by:  Margaret Peterson Haddix

Luke is an illegal 3rd child.  All his life has been spent in hiding.  Now - Luke has assumed a deceased boy's identity and is attending Hendricks School for boys - a windowless building with cruel classmates and oblivious teachers.

Read the 1st book in this series: Among the Hidden.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Book 2, The Chronicles of Narnia
by:  C.S. Lewis

Very good book!

Lucy is the first to find the secret of the wardrobe.  At first, the others don't believe her when she talks about Narnia.  When Edmund, Peter and Susan discover Narnia for themselves they are amazed.  When they all meet the great lion king Aslan, their lives are forever changed.