| Book |
Description |
Author |
| Atherton: The House of Power | Edgar lives in a place of three distinct worlds: The Highlands, Tabletop, and The Flatlands. When he finds a message hidden in the rock walls, he knows that he may be the only one who can save Atherton from destruction. | Patrick Carman |
| Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars | Verse, paintings and scientific facts bring the marvels of the Universe to life. The changing of Pluto’s status as a planet is included. | Douglas Florian |
| Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship and Freedom | On one side of Bok Chitto is the plantation and on the other the Choctaws. If a slave could get across the river to the Choctaw tribe, there was freedom. With the aide of a Choctaw secret and a bit of magic, Little Mo’s family is able to escape to freedom | Tim Tingle |
| Gabriel's Horses | Though twelve-year-old Gabriel’s father is a free black man, his mother is a slave; thus he is also a slave. His father trains thoroughbred race horses, and it is Gabriel’s desire to be a jockey some day. | Alison Hart |
| How to Steal a Dog | One secret that Georgina plans to keep from everyone is that her father left; now she, her mother and her little brother, Toby, are homeless. When she sees a sign offering a $500.00 reward for a lost dog, she sees a way out of her troubles. | Barbara O'Connor |
| The Invention of Hugo Cabret | In this novel, picture book, graphic novel, the reader is introduced to the orphaned son of a clockmaker in 1931 Paris, who manages to keep the secret of his father’s death by continuing the job of winding the huge clocks at the Paris train station. | Brian Selznick |
| Just Grace | There are four girls named Grace in the same third grade class. “Just Grace” prides herself in empathizing with others, but her attempt at helping her neighbor feel better about her lost cat backfires. | Charise Mericle Harper |
| Lawn Boy | On his twelfth birthday he is broke and bored, and his grandmother gives him an old riding lawnmower. Before long he’s working every day making $20.00 a lawn.. Then, Arnold the stockbroker comes into his life. No more boring summer. | Gary Paulsen |
| Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight Became an Inventor | Inventor, Margaret Knight, was not the usual 19th century young woman. Her first inventions were for her brothers, and at age twelve she invented a shuttle-guard that prevented many mill injuries. She became part of history when a man stole her invention. | Emily Arnold McCully |
| The Middle of Somewhere | Twelve-year-old Ronnie wants to see the world. The opportunity for her and her brother to travel with their wind prospector grandfather in his camper comes when her mother is injured in a hilarious romp through the house chasing a squirrel. | J.B. Cheaney |
| One-Handed Catch | Sixth grader Norm’s future plans are built around being either a pitcher or an artist, but when he loses his hand helping his father by grinding meat for a customer, his hopes are shattered. Norm must find the strength to not give up on his dreams. | Mary Jane Auch |
| One Potato, Two Potato | Mr. and Mrs. O’Grady are so poor that they have had to share one coat, one blanket, and one potato each day, but they don’t mind. When Mr. O’Grady finds a pot with the magical power, they have the chance to make big changes in their simple life. | Cynthia C. DeFelice |
| Tall Tales | Meg finally makes a friend after having to move time-after-time as her alcoholic father is constantly trying to make a fresh start. She is afraid to tell Grace her family secrets, but as the truth comes out, Meg discovers what friendship is about. | Karen Day |
| Team Moon | Everyone knows about the job of the astronauts in the space program, but most don’t realize the thousands of people it takes behind the scenes to have a successful mission. With photos from NASA and quotes from those involved, everyone is given their due. | Catherine Thimmesh |
| The Thing About Georgie | Georgie is a Little Person, and for the most part he is happy with his life. However, finding out he is about to become a brother, dealing with Jeanie the Meanie, and having a major fight with his best friend all converge during his fourth-grade year. | Lisa Graff |
| This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness | The assignment for this fictionalized class is to write poems of apology. It’s a hit. The students ask the recipients of the apologies to reply, and the class puts them together in a book. | Joyce Sidman |
| Toys Go Out | Told in six episodic adventures, Lumpy, Stingray, and Plastic, three best friends who are toys belonging to the Little Girl, discover the dangers and adventures of life in these funny and endearing tales. | Emily Jenkins |
| Way Down Deep | Ruby a toddler found by the townspeople in the summer of 1944, lives with Miss Arbutus. She loves her life but has always wondered about her history. Her discoveries lead to even more questions for Ruby who has decisions to make about the rest of her lif | Ruth White |
| What You Never Knew About Beds, Bedrooms, & Pajamas | From The Stone Age to Modern Times the development of all that has to do with sleeping is related in an entertaining, but factual manner. No one will be able to get ready for bed in the same way again, and it might be difficult getting to sleep. | Patricia Lauber |
| The Winner's Walk | Everyone in Case’s family has a special talent, and nine-year-old Case is determined to find his. Things are beginning to look bleak as plan after plan fails — until he finds a lost dog he names Noah. | Nancy Ruth Patterson |
