Ms. Bixby's Last Day

Ms. Bixby's Last Day by John David Anderson

Everyone knows there are different kinds of teachers. She's one of the good ones and you always remember the good ones. She makes you feel like the indignity of school is worthwhile. Topher, Brand and Steve know this better than anyone. When Ms. Bixby unexpectedly announces that she is very sick and won't be able to finish the school year, they come up with a plan.

Junonia

Junonia

By, Kevin Henkes

The week of her tenth birthday, Alice and her parents go to Sanibel Island, Florida, just as they do every year, but this time some of the people who are always there are missing and some new people have come, which unsettles Alice, who wants things to be exactly the same as they always are.

Zebra Forest 
by Adina Rishe Gewirtz

An escaped fugitive upends everything a brother and sister think they know about their family. Their past. And themselves.

So B. It

by:  Sarah Weeks

Heidi's mom's brain was kind of like a broken watch.  All of the parts didn't work right.  That's how Bernie explained it.  Thank goodness for Bernie, the neighbor that took care of Heidi and her mom.  Her mom only knew 23 words but one word was a total mystery... "soof."

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!

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!

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.

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?

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!

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!

Dear Mr. Henshaw
by:  Beverly Cleary
1984 Newbery Winner

Leigh is Boy Henshaw's biggest fan.  Henshaw is the author of Leigh's favorite book, Ways to Amuse a Dog.  Leigh's parents are getting divorced, and when he and his mom move, Leigh becomes the new kid in school.  This is an awesome story told through letters and journal entries by Leigh.

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key
by:  Jack Gantos

Joey can't sit still and has trouble following the rules.  He wants to be good and he knows that deep down he is, he just can't help it.  Joey has A.D.D. and now his meds are not working properly.

If he doesn't get his act together he will have to go to an entirely different school!

Very good!

The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place
by:  E.L. Konigsburg

Margaret Rose Kane is incorrigible!
Is that good or bad?

Bad - she gets kicked out of summer camp???

Good - She believes in herself and stands up for what is right.

Very good!

Peak
by:  Roland Smith

For a climber, saying you're stopping by Everest is like saying you're stop by to see God.

14 year-old Peak Marcello is in big trouble for trying to climb a New York City skyscraper.  His sentence...go live with his dad who he hasn't seen in years.

Awesome!

The Higher Power of Lucky
by:  Susan Patron

2007 Newbery Winner

What is a higher power 
and how does a person get one? 
These are questions Lucky, 
a ten-year-old girl, 
asks herself after the death 
of the mother.

Zach's Lie
by:  Roland Smith

Another great one by Roland Smith.  Awesome!

When Zach's dad messes up big time, some very bad people come looking for his family and he ends up in jail.  Zach, his sister and mom have to go into the witness protection program.  New hair color, new eye color, new name, new town, new everything...new life.  The bad men find them just as they are getting used to their new identities.

Sounder
by:  William Armstrong

1969 Newbery Winner

Sounder is a strong and faithful coon dog.  He will do whatever it takes to help his owners survive the hard times.  But when father is put in jail for stealing food for his family even the wounded Sounder has to run and hide.