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Abby Takes a Stand
Pat McKissack
AR Quiz No. 89267 EN Fiction
IL: MG - BL: 3.6 - AR Pts: 1.0 AR Quiz Types: RP Rating: 
Lexile: 580
Age: 8 and up
Pages: 99
Discussion Guide
From School Library Journal:
"Grandmother's attic is full of family mementoes that, as Gee tells young cousins Mattie Rae, Aggie, and Trey, are all "scraps of time." A menu from the Monkey Bar restaurant is the basis for this story, which begins with 10-year-old Abby (Gee) in Nashville, TN, in 1960. One day, she wanders around a downtown store as her mother makes an exchange. Someone hands her a flyer advertising a new restaurant with a merry-go-round ride in it, and she decides to go see it. Unfortunately, Abby causes quite a stir when she arrives there. "And you know we don't serve Negroes in here. Have you forgotten your place?" snaps the manager. Abby becomes a civil rights activist as a member of the Flyer Brigade, handing out flyers about nonviolent protest. The story ends with the return to present time and the cousins and Gee looking at other keepsakes, which is the perfect set-up for the next book in the series. Sections entitled "Remembering How It Was" and "The Rules for the Nashville Sit-ins" round off the book. This easy chapter book, with simple sentences, plenty of white space, and a liberal sprinkling of Gordon's expressive black-and-white drawings, is an appealing and welcome title."
Be My Neighbor 
Maya Ajmera
AR Quiz No. 106387 EN Nonfiction
IL: LG - BL: 5.0 - AR Pts: 0.5 AR Quiz Types: RP Rating: 
Lexile: not available
Age: 5 to 8
Pages: 32
Discussion Guide
From School Library Journal:
"This beautifully crafted book explores the concept of community, using well-chosen words from the late Mr. Rogers as a starting point: "Neighbors are people who care about and help each other. Sometimes they live in the same real neighborhood. But they can also be 'neighbors' even if they live far away." Illustrated with bright, beautiful full-color photos of children around the world, the gorgeous spreads are organized by themes, including homes, schools, places of worship, recreational areas, transportation, celebrations, and sharing responsibilities to improve your neighborhood and the lives of those who live there. With photos depicting everything from an open-air Mexican market to a Guatemalan village to a Hanukkah celebration in the U.S., this book celebrates diversity, all the while emphasizing our overarching similarities. An appended map highlights the countries where the photos were taken. The brief text and stunning illustrations make this an ideal book for sharing. Mr. Rogers would be proud."
Birchbark House
Louise Erdrich
AR Quiz No. 36398 EN Fiction
IL: MG - BL: 6.1 - AR Pts: 7.0 AR Quiz Types: RP, VP
Rating: 
Lexile: 970L
Age: 9 & up
Pages: 244
Discussion Guide
"[In this] story of a young Ojibwa girl, Omakayas, living on an island in Lake Superior around 1847, Louise Erdrich is reversing the narrative perspective used in most children's stories about nineteenth-century Native Americans. Instead of looking out at 'them' as dangers or curiosities, Erdrich, drawing on her family's history, wants to tell about 'us', from the inside. The Birchbark House establishes its own ground, in the vicinity of Laura Ingalls Wilder's 'Little House' books." --The New York Times Book Review
Boy Who Saved Baseball
John H. Ritter
AR Quiz No. 70572 EN Fiction
IL: MG - BL: 4.4 - AR Pts: 7.0 AR Quiz Types: RP, RV, VP
Rating: 
Lexile: 660
Age: 9 to 13
Pages: 216
Discussion Guide
From Booklist:
*Starred Review* Gr. 5-7. Ritter delivers a baseball tale of legendary dimension, featuring several larger-than-life characters and a team of ordinary young folk tackling a seemingly insurmountable challenge in defense of a worthy cause. After old Doc Altenheimer promises not to sell his acres to developers if the local, ragtag summer camp can field a team that beats the nearby exurb's all-stars, along comes young Cruz de la Cruz, with a bat slung into a rifle holster on his saddle and a self-designed computer game that simulates the delivery of any pitch. Knowing they'll need more than that to be ready, 12-year-old benchwarmer Tom enlists gruff loner Dante del Gato, a renowned Major Leaguer who suddenly quit the game, as trainer. While local boosters turn the tumbledown practice field into a rolling fiesta, and eager reporters gather to watch, Tom and his fellow Wildcats find themselves playing better than they ever thought they could--good thing, too, as Cruz, his work done, disappears on game day, propelling Tom into the lineup for last-inning heroics. Developing both cast and multiple plotlines in suitably "wild and woolbacious" prose, Ritter dishes up another stellar read--topped off by a convincing Web site, http://www.cruz-on.com, apparently fabricated for the book, that adds verisimilitude. John Peters
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
The Cay
Theodore Taylor
AR Quiz No. 108 EN Fiction
IL: MG - BL: 5.3 - AR Pts: 4.0 AR Quiz Types: RP, LS, VP Rating: 
Lexile: 860
Age: 10 and up
Pages: 144
Discussion Guide
From School Library Journal:
"This is a classic novel about racism and a young man's realization that skin color does not matter. Phillip is an 11-year-old living in the West Indies at the start of World War II. He's excited at the idea of being in the war but is taken away by his mother who only wants to return to the safety of Virginia. Their ship is sunk by the Germans, and Phillip and his mother end up on separate life rafts. After being hit on the head with a beam from the sinking ship, Phillip awakens to find himself alone with Timothy, an old black ship hand, and Stew Cat, the ship's tomcat. The three survive on a raft for several days, during which time Phillip loses his eyesight due to the head injury. They eventually come ashore on a small unpopulated island. Phillip must learn to deal with his blindness and overcome his dislike for Timothy. Phillip's question, "Timothy, are you still black?," shows that Phillip has moved past the barrier of color. After Timothy's death, Phillip continues to live on the island and is eventually rescued and reunited with his parents.
Colors of Us
Karen Katz
AR Quiz No. 44662 EN Fiction
IL: LG - BL: 2.5 - AR Pts: 0.5 AR Quiz Types: RP Rating: 
Lexile: 370
Age:
Pages: 28
Discussion Guide
From School Library Journal:
"Lena's mother is an artist, so she knows whereof she speaks when she insists that there are many different shades of brown. The two take a walk through their neighborhood by way of illustration, and the friends and relatives they meet along the way aptly reinforce Mom's contention. Their skin colors are compared to honey, peanut butter, pizza crust, ginger, peaches, chocolate, and more, conjuring up delicious and beautiful comparisons for every tint. Katz's pencil-and-gouache pictures joyously convey the range of human pigmentation."
Flipped
Wendelin Van Draanen
AR Quiz No. 53684 EN Fiction
IL: UG - BL: 4.8 - AR Pts: 8.0 AR Quiz Types: RP, VP Rating: 
Lexile: 720
Age: 10 to 14
Pages: 212
Discussion Guide
From Booklist:
Gr. 5-8. The author of the popular Sammy Keyes mysteries proves herself just as good at writing a charming romance. From the moment seven-year-old Bryce moves into the neighborhood, Julianna is enthralled: "It's his eyes . . . they're dazzling." Bryce, on the other hand, is horrified. In typical second-grade boy fashion, he believes that "All I've ever wanted is for Juli Baker to leave me alone." Six years later, however, the two have flipped: now Bryce is enthralled with Juli's uniqueness, and Juli is repulsed by Bryce's selfish immaturity. Told in alternate chapters from each teen's perspective, this is a wry character study, a romance with substance and subtlety. Juli gradually learns the painful lesson that she must look beyond gorgeous eyes and popularity. Bryce slowly realizes his grandfather's wisdom: "Every once in a while you'll find someone iridescent, and when you do, nothing will ever compare." Both teens realize that standing up for what--and whom--they believe can be a difficult challenge, one faced best with true friends and close family. Frances Bradburn
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Giver
Lois Lowry
AR Quiz No. 8568 EN Fiction
IL: MG - BL: 5.7 - AR Pts: 7.0 AR Quiz Types: RP, RV, LS, VP Rating: 
Lexile: 760
Age: 12 and up
Pages: 179
Discussion Guide
From School Library Journal:
Grade 6-9-- In a complete departure from her other novels, Lowry has written an intriguing story set in a society that is uniformly run by a Committee of Elders. Twelve-year-old Jonas's confidence in his comfortable "normal" existence as a member of this well-ordered community is shaken when he is assigned his life's work as the Receiver. The Giver, who passes on to Jonas the burden of being the holder for the community of all memory "back and back and back," teaches him the cost of living in an environment that is "without color, pain, or past." The tension leading up to the Ceremony, in which children are promoted not to another grade but to another stage in their life, and the drama and responsibility of the sessions with The Giver are gripping. The final flight for survival is as riveting as it is inevitable. The author makes real abstract concepts, such as the meaning of a life in which there are virtually no choices to be made and no experiences with deep feelings. This tightly plotted story and its believable characters will stay with readers for a long time. --Amy Kellman, The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Gregor the Overlander
Suzanne Collins
AR Quiz No. 71754 EN Fiction
IL: MG - BL: 4.8 - AR Pts: 8.0 AR Quiz Types: RP, VP Rating: 
Lexile: 630
Age: 8 to 12
Pages: 380
Discussion Guide
From Booklist:
*Starred Review* Gr. 4-7. What if Alice fell down an air vent in a New York City apartment building instead of down a rabbit hole? Collins considers a similar possibility in her exceptional debut novel, a well-written, fast-moving, action-packed fantasy. Eleven-year-old Gregor expects a long, boring summer of baby-sitting his two-year-old sister, Boots, and his senile grandmother. Distracted with thoughts about his father, who disappeared three years ago, Gregor belatedly notices that Boots has crawled into an air vent in the laundry room. He dives in after her, and the two are sucked downward into the Underland, a fantastic subterranean world of translucent-skinned, violet-eyed humans, and giant talking cockroaches, bats, spiders, and rats. Eventually, the terrified Gregor is transformed into a warrior hero who leads a successful battle against an army of invading rats and discovers his father, who has long been held prisoner by the enemy. Collins creates a fascinating, vivid, highly original world and a superb story to go along with it, and Gregor is endearing as a caring, responsible big brother who rises triumphantly to every challenge. This is sure to be a solid hit with young fantasy fans. Ed Sullivan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Holes
Louis Sachar
AR Quiz No. 28081 EN Fiction
IL: MG -
BL: 4.6 - AR Pts: 7.0
AR Quiz Types: RP, RV, LS, VP
Rating: 
Lexile: 660
Age: 9 to 12
Pages: 232
Discussion Guide
From Booklist:
"Middle-schooler Stanley Yelnats is only the latest in a long line of Yelnats to encounter bad luck, but Stanley's serving of the family curse is a doozie. Wrongfully convicted of stealing a baseball star's sneakers, Stanley is sentenced to six months in a juvenile-detention center, Camp Green Lake. "There is no lake at Camp Green Lake," where Stanley and his fellow campers (imagine the cast from your favorite prison movie, kid version) must dig one five-by-five hole in the dry lake bed every day, ostensibly building character but actually aiding the sicko warden in her search for buried treasure. Sachar's novel mixes comedy, hard-hitting realistic drama, and outrageous fable in a combination that is, at best, unsettling. The comic elements, especially the banter between the boys (part scared teens, part Cool Hand Luke wanna-bes) work well, and the adventure story surrounding Stanley's rescue of his black friend Zero, who attempts to escape, provides both high drama and moving human emotion. But the ending, in which realism gives way to fable, while undeniably clever, seems to belong in another book entirely, dulling the impact of all that has gone before. These mismatched parts don't add up to a coherent whole, but they do deliver a fair share of entertaining and sometimes compelling moments."
It's Test Day, Tiger Turcotte
Pansie Hart Flood
AR Quiz No. 77033 EN Fiction IL: LG - BL: 3.1 - AR Pts: 1.0 AR Quiz
Types: RP Rating: 
Lexile: 510
Age: 6 to 9
Pages: 72
Discussion Guide
From School Library Journal:
"In this beginning chapter book, second-grader Tiger Turcotte is nervous about having to take a practice standardized test. His biggest problem, though, turns out to be filling out the cover: name, grade, birth date, and race. Tiger is Black, Native American, and Hispanic. His teacher and a parent volunteer argue over the question, and finally tell him to fill in "Other." He leaves the space blank, then worries that he will get in trouble for that. Later, Tiger's dad compares race to ice-cream flavors; no matter how many you mix together, you still have ice cream. Tiger feels better, and, fortunately, his teacher discovers that they were using an old test form. The new one has a "Multiracial" category. This quick, easy read touches on the issue of test anxiety, but is more about racial identity and pride. Tiger's voice accurately depicts a little boy who is anxious about something that everyone says is very important."
Jason's Gold
Will Hobbs
AR Quiz No. 32529 EN Fiction
IL: UG - BL: 5.5 - AR Pts: 8.0 AR Quiz Types: RP, VP Rating: 
Lexile: 860
Age: 10 and up
Pages: 221
Discussion Guide
From Booklist:
The 1897 Klondike gold rush is the vivid backdrop to this harshly realistic novel. When 15-year-old Jason Hawthorn sets off from Seattle to the newly discovered gold fields, he has no idea of the difficulties of terrain, weather, and chronically short rations that lie ahead. En route he is befriended by a number of minor characters, including a young Jack London and a beautiful girl named Jamie. More important, Jason rescues a husky from brutal death at the hands of a deranged master. The dog, which Jason names King, becomes essential to the boy's survival. Rich in period detail, the novel is clearly the product of prodigious research. This strength becomes a weakness, however, when the research shows up as extended passages of exposition that slow the narrative pace and occasionally make both characters and dramatic incidents seem contrived. For most readers, these problems will be redeemed by Jason's heroic efforts to survive when winter overtakes him 250 miles short of his destination. Here exposition turns into epic as Hobbs reveals the immense challenges and hardships of surviving in the vast emptiness of the Yukon winter. In an appended note Hobbs discusses his sources and research.
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
C. S. Lewis
AR Quiz No. 52 EN Fiction
IL: MG - BL: 5.7 - AR Pts: 6.0 AR Quiz Types: RP, LS, VP Rating: 
Lexile: 940
Age:
Pages: 189
Discussion Guide
From the cover:
"Narnia … the land beyond the wardrobe, the secret country known only to Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy … the place where adventure begins. Lucy is the first to find the secret wardrobe in the professor's mysterious old house. At first, no one believes her when she tells of her adventures in the land of Narnia. But soon Edmund and then Peter and Susan discover the Magic and meet Aslan, the Great Lion, for themselves. In blink of an eye, their lives are changed forever."
Love That Dog
Sharon Creech
AR Quiz No. 52616 EN Fiction
IL: MG - BL: 4.5 - AR Pts: 1.0 AR Quiz Types: RP, VP Rating: 
Lexile: 1010
Age: 8 to 10
Pages: 86
Discussion Guide
From School Library Journal:
Gr 4-8-Jack keeps a journal for his teacher, a charming, spare free-verse monologue that begins: "I don't want to/because boys/don't write poetry./Girls do." But his curiosity grows quickly as Miss Stretchberry feeds the class a varied menu of intriguing poems starting with William Carlos Williams's "The Red Wheelbarrow," which confuses Jack at first. Gradually, he begins to see connections between his personal experiences and the poetry of William Blake, Robert Frost, and others, and Creech's compellingly simple plot about love and loss begins to emerge. Jack is timid about the first poems he writes, but with the obvious encouragement and prodding of his masterful teacher, he gains the courage to claim them as his own in the classroom displays. When he is introduced to "Love That Boy" by Walter Dean Myers, he makes an exuberant leap of understanding. "MARCH 14/That was the best best BEST/poem/you read yesterday/by Mr. Walter Dean Myers/the best best BEST/poem/ever./I am sorry/I took the book home/without asking./I only got/one spot/on it./That's why/the page is torn./I tried to get/the spot/out." All the threads of the story are pulled together in Jack's final poem, "Love That Dog (Inspired by Walter Dean Myers)." Creech has created a poignant, funny picture of a child's encounter with the power of poetry. Readers may have a similar experience because all of the selections mentioned in the story are included at the end. This book is a tiny treasure.
Lulu's Hat
Susan Meddaugh
AR Quiz No. 58684 EN Fiction
IL: MG - BL: 4.1 - AR Pts: 1.0 AR Quiz Types: RP Rating: 
Lexile: not available
Age: grades 4 to 8
Pages: 74 pages
Discussion Guide
From School Library Journal:
Grade 2-4-In a True Magic Family, only one child of each generation is born with the ability to be a real magician. Since Lulu is adopted and displays no aptitude for magic at all, her cousins regard it as a "wasted summer" when the 12-year-old is tapped to be Uncle Jerry the Great's assistant. A shiny black top hat she finds soon gives her the power and confidence to perform tricks. When Hereboy, a dog, disappears into it, Lulu bravely steps in after him. While she is meeting lost apprentices in Deep Magic Space, the topper is purloined by Earl, a nasty boy who uses it for mischief. In a number of hilarious vignettes, he struggles to find the right combination of magic words to make the hat work, releasing chaos. In an amazing series of final twists, Earl, his overbearing mother, Lulu, her long-lost brother, and Hereboy come together in a satisfying conclusion that solidifies the girl's credentials, reveals her True Family identity, and wrests the chapeau from the bad boy. With plot twists, cliff-hanger chapter endings, a large dose of originality, sparkling humor, and even an epilogue, this witty chapter book will hold readers' attention. Throughout, Meddaugh's accessible, black-and-white wash illustrations add to the child appeal and create visual punctuation for this dizzy tale of a good-hearted, plucky girl who discovers not only her magic, but friendship and family as well. Hats off to Lulu.
Marge Loch-Wouters, Menasha's Public Library, WI
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
My Father's Dragon
Ruth Stiles Gannett
AR Quiz No. 486
EN Fiction
IL: LG - BL: 5.6 - AR Pts: 1.0 AR
Quiz Types: RP, LS, VP
Rating: 
Lexile: 800
Age: 10 to 13
Pages: 87
Discussion Guide
From the publisher:
When Elmer Elevator hears about the plight of an overworked and underappreciated baby flying dragon, he stows away on a ship and travels to Wild Island to rescue the dragon.
Rules
Cynthia Lord
AR Quiz No. 106154
EN Fiction
IL: MG - BL: 3.9 - AR Pts: 4.0 AR
Quiz Types: RP, RV, VP
Rating:
Lexile: 790
Age: 9 to 12
Pages: 200
Discussion Guide
From Booklist:
Gr. 4-7. "No toys in the fish tank" is one of many rules that 12-year-old Catherine shares with her autistic younger brother, David, to help him understand his world. Lots of the rules are practical. Others are more subtle and shed light on issues in Catherine's own life. Torn between love for her brother and impatience with the responsibilities and embarrassment he brings, she strives to be on her parents' radar and to establish an identity of her own. At her brother's clinic, Catherine befriends a wheelchair-bound boy, Jason, who talks by pointing at word cards in a communication notebook. Her drawing skills and additional vocabulary cards--including "whatever" (which prompts Jason to roll his eyes at his mother)--enliven his speech. The details of autistic behavior are handled well, as are depictions of relationships: Catherine experiences some of the same unease with Jason that others do in the presence of her brother. In the end, Jason helps Catherine see that her rules may really be excuses, opening the way for her to look at things differently. A heartwarming first novel. Cindy Dobrez
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Runt
Marion Dane Bauer
AR Quiz No. 62567 EN Fiction
IL: MG - BL: 4.8 - AR Pts: 3.0 AR Quiz Types: RP, VP Rating: 
Lexile: 690
Age: 7 to 10
Pages: 131
From School Library Journal:
Grade 4-6-Runt is the smallest in a litter of wolves born in the forests of northern Minnesota. The pups join their father, mother, and two yearlings in a pack that is completed by Bider, an adult male accepted into the group after he was forced out of another one. Each littermate seems to have a destined role, but for Runt the future is an unknown. He tries mightily to keep up with his siblings, but much of the time he tries too hard, doesn't think ahead, or makes mistakes. An encounter with a porcupine lands him among humans and proves fatal to one of his brothers. Sensing the pack's disappointment, Runt withdraws, looking for a chance to earn his father's approval. Throughout, Bider is watching, waiting for his chance to cause discord and disruption in the pack. When this occurs, it also provides an opportunity for Runt to rejoin his family. Beautifully written and faithful to wolves' behavior (explained in an afterword), this book will be a good companion to Jean Craighead George's "Julie of the Wolves" series (HarperCollins). Bauer portrays the wolves' place in the natural world with compassion, respect, and warmth, but this is also the story of any unique individual's struggle to find his or her niche.
Terrie Dorio, Santa Monica Public Library, CA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Secret Identity
Wendelin Van Draanen
AR Quiz No. 75663 EN Fiction
IL: MG - BL: 3.3 - AR Pts: 2.0 AR Quiz Types: RP, VP Rating: 
Lexile: 520
Age: 7 to 10
Pages: 138
Discussion Guide
From School Library Journal:
Grade 3-6-A new series featuring a puny but brainy fifth grader named Nolan Byrd, whose dorky ways earn him the nickname of "Nerd" from Bubba Bixby, a seemingly unstoppable bully who cheats, lies, steals, and terrorizes little kids. Tired of Bubba's relentless tormenting, Nolan anonymously launches shredderman.com, an online forum that chronicles the bully's transgressions. The name Shredderman is inspired by the compliment Nolan's math teacher writes on a quiz, "You shred, man!" Readers will be impressed with the protagonist's ingenious problem-solving abilities and his adept use of technology to expose Bubba. This entertaining story of an egghead who cannot keep his shoes tied who uses his brains to triumph over the worst bully in school will keep even reluctant readers laughing and wanting more stories about this cyber superhero. Droll, black-and-white cartoons are a perfect accompaniment to the clever text.
Edward Sullivan, White Pine School, TN
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Word Eater
Mary Amato
AR Quiz No. 48342 EN Fiction
IL: MG - BL: 4.5 - AR Pts: 4.0 AR Quiz Types: RP, VP Rating:
Lexile: 590
Age: 8 to 12
Pages: 151
Discussion Guide
From School Library Journal:
Grade 4-6-The book opens with the turn of a page on the Bookworm's Desk Calendar, heralding the birth of a seemingly ordinary worm. But this is no common creature, for readers soon learn that he has a voracious appetite for the written word. It is sixth-grade Lerner Chanse who discovers that when Fip eats a word, that object disappears-forever. Lerner is having a hard time finding her place in her new school. She doesn't want any part of the MPOOE club (Most Powerful Ones on Earth), nor does she want to belong to the only other group-the SLUGS (Sorry Losers Under Ground). In a series of clever, if far-fetched events, she daringly uses Fip's power to turn the tide on the MPOOEs. Tongue-in-cheek wordplay in the quote on the desk calendar that opens each chapter prepares readers for the outlandish series of happenings to come.
Doris Gebel, Northport-East Northport Public Library, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Year with Butch and Spike
Gail Gauthier
AR Quiz No. 27927 EN Fiction
IL: MG - BL: 4.7 - AR Pts: 7.0 AR Quiz Types: RP Rating: 
Lexile: 790
Age: 8 to 12
Pages: 216
Discussion Guide
From School Library Journal:
"Jasper Gordon, every teacher's dream student (and the book's narrator), begins sixth grade facing two hardships: his school's toughest teacher and a seating assignment between cousins Butch and Spike Couture, Ervin Elementary's most notorious bad boys. Jasper aims to please every adult within several thousand miles and aims to survive the Couture menace with his scholastic and behavioral integrity intact. However, when he and another impeccable student are assigned (as role models) to do group work with the Coutures and two other "lesser" students for the entire year, the teacher unwittingly creates the possibility for a kind of group solidarity that allows all six kids to mature in humanity, understanding, andAwhen necessaryAeven a rather moral sort of deviousness. Constant contact with the cousins opens Jasper's eyes to broader horizons. As he begins to be (somewhat) charmed by their audacities, he also learns that Mrs. McNulty is more than just a strict taskmaster: she is an expert at psychological abuse and humiliation. Gauthier's characterizations and free-flowing humor, including a very funny skinny-dipping episode, are as on target and insightful as Betsy Byars's "Bingo Brown" series." |
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