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Source: Judy Freeman It's a fact that every book you read makes you a little smarter. During school vacation, it's great to be able to pick and choose the books you feel like reading. On this list are many terrific books that will grab your attention and give you some adventure, some laughs, and some amazing facts. Many of the authors listed have written other wonderful books which you will surely enjoy. Be sure to look for them, too, in the library or bookstore. Find yourself a comfortable spot, settle in, and read up a storm. The reading list has been divided into these categories: Fantasy and Science Fiction FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION While on a mission on the space shuttle Endeavor, 14-year-old American, Elliot, makes radio contact with Vincent, a boy from Kenya. ------------------------------------------------------- Ella Enchanted Cursed at birth by a fairy's gift of obedience, Ella cannot disobey an order. ------------------------------------------------------- The Folk Keeper Fifteen-year-old Corinna, disguised as a boy, is in charge of keeping the underworld folk under control. ------------------------------------------------------- The Golden Compass Why are children all over England being kidnapped, and d what is "dust?" ------------------------------------------------------- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Harry is summoned to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to train as a wizard. ------------------------------------------------------- I Was a Rat! Who is the little boy who shows up at the door of Old Bob the cobbler and his washerwoman wife, Joan? ------------------------------------------------------- The Moorchild Changeling Saaski, half fairy folk, half human, is not accepted in either the fairy mound or the human's village. ------------------------------------------------------- The Music of Dolphins Raised by dolphins, Mila is rescued by scientists who try to teach her to be human. ------------------------------------------------------- Skellig Discovering a disheveled, ill man in the shed, Michael sets out to feed and care for him with the help of his new friend, Mina. ------------------------------------------------------- Star Hatchling When human child Hanna crash-lands on an unfamiliar planet, she is rescued by lizard-like Shem and his sister, Checko. ------------------------------------------------------- The Word Eater Lerner's new pet, Fip, is a worm who can eat the print right off a page.
Adaline Falling Star Adaline Carson, daughter of scout Kit Carson, is left behind at her father's cousins' who put her to work as a servant. ------------------------------------------------------- Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride Eleanor Roosevelt and aviator Amelia Earhart, fly one night from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore and back. ------------------------------------------------------- The Ballad of Lucy Whipple Living in gold-crazed California of 1849, Lucy yearns for the civilized life she once led in Massachusetts. ------------------------------------------------------- Bud, Not Buddy During the Great Depression, in 1936, motherless 10-year-old Bud runs away from his foster family in search of his father. ------------------------------------------------------- Dave at Night At the Hebrew Home for Boys in Harlem, newly orphaned Dave sneaks outside at night, where he is befriended by an elderly fortune teller. ------------------------------------------------------- Esperanza Rising In 1924, after her father dies, Esperanza and her mother come from Mexico to California to work picking crops. ------------------------------------------------------- Francie Growing up in a tiny segregated Alabama town, 12-year-old Frankie yearns to move to Chicago where her father lives. ------------------------------------------------------- Good Night, Maman While Karin Levi and her brother Marc get used to living in a refugee camp in New York in 1944, Karin longs for her mother, whom they left behind in France. ------------------------------------------------------- Goodbye, Walter Malinski Wanda loves her big brother, Walter, but Pa, unemployed in the hard times of 1934, argues with him all the time. ------------------------------------------------------- The Orphan of Ellis Island: A Time Travel Adventure Visiting Ellis Island on a class trip, fifth grader Dominic accidentally gets locked in overnight and finds himself transported back to an Italian village in 1908. ------------------------------------------------------- Our Only May Amelia The only girl in a family with seven brothers, 12-year-old May Amelia describes county life with her Finnish farming family in Washington State,1899. ------------------------------------------------------- Run Away Home In Alabama in 1888, eleven-year-old African American Sarah Crossman crosses paths with an escaped Apache boy. ------------------------------------------------------- The Shakespeare Stealer Orphan Widge is brought to London to attend a performance of Shakespeare's new play, Hamlet, and copy it down line for line. ------------------------------------------------------- Unbroken After her mother dies when her horse and buggy collides with a Model T Ford, Harriet is sent to live with her disapproving Aunt Sarah on her Vermont farm in 1910. ------------------------------------------------------- When JFK Was My Father When Georgia's parents separate in 1963 and she is sent to boarding school in Connecticut, she imagines that President Kennedy is her real father. ------------------------------------------------------- When the Soldiers Were Gone At the end of World War II, 8-year-old Henk is distraught when the Dutch Christian family that has raised and protected him returns him to strangers, his real parents, who are Jewish. ------------------------------------------------------- A Year Down Yonder Fifteen-year-old Mary Alice is sent to spend the school year of 1937 with her crafty, crusty Grandma Dowdel. ------------------------------------------------------- The Year of Miss Agnes In 1948, the dozen children in the one-room schoolhouse of a remote Alaskan village meet their remarkable new teacher. Because of Winn-Dixie Preacher's daughter, Opal, adopts a stray mutt she finds at the local Winn-Dixie food market. ------------------------------------------------------- Bunnicula Strikes Again! Why is vampire bunny, Bunnicula growing weaker by the day? ------------------------------------------------------- The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog In the first book of a very funny series, meet Hank the Cowdog, Head of Ranch Security at a Texas ranch. ------------------------------------------------------- Poppy Courageous mouse Poppy sets out to find the truth about Mr. Ocax, the owl who rules the forest mice. ------------------------------------------------------- The Puppy Sister Nick's new puppy, Aleasha, is turning human. ------------------------------------------------------- Putnam and Pennyroyal Uncle Frank tells his niece, Cora Lee, what he calls a true story about a pied-billed grebe, a water bird, named Putnam. ------------------------------------------------------- Saving Shiloh Finish the trilogy that started with Shiloh and Shiloh Season, about Marty, his beagle, and mean Judd Travers. ------------------------------------------------------- Silverwing Rebellious young bat, Shade, attempts to stay up to see the sun rise, which is forbidden. ------------------------------------------------------- Wander Secretly caring for a friendly stray dog is the only good thing that's happened to James and his little sister, Sary, since their mother died.
All Alone in the Universe Thirteen-year-old Debbie is devastated when her best friend drops her in favor of another girl. ------------------------------------------------------- Alphabet City Ballet New York City girl Marisol wins a scholarship to the Manhattan Ballet School. ------------------------------------------------------- The Ashwater Experiment Used to life on the road with her nomadic parents, Hillary is spooked at having to spend seventh grade in one school. ------------------------------------------------------- Getting Near to Baby Willa Jo and Little Sister sit on the roof of their aunt and uncle's house while Willa JO recalls the awful weeks since their baby sister died. ------------------------------------------------------- The Graduation of Jake Moon Jake loves and resents his beloved grandfather, Skelly, whose Alzheimer's disease is growing worse. ------------------------------------------------------- Hope Was Here "Do not date the cook" is a rule 16-year-old Hope disregards in her new job as waitress at the Welcome Stairways Diner. ------------------------------------------------------- The Kid Who Ran for President Sixth grader Judson Moon declares his candidacy for the country's highest office. ------------------------------------------------------- Lone Wolf Perry tries hard not to remember his little sister who died in a car accident or his mom who left their Minnesota home. ------------------------------------------------------- Marco's Monster Jealous when his best friend, Tyrone, is given the role of Main Monster in the class play, Marco gets him in trouble.
The Austere Academy The three orphaned Baudelaire siblings are sent to Prufrock Prep, a dreadful boarding school. ------------------------------------------------------- Bad Girls Two fifth grade girls, Margalo and Mikey, become classroom friends while they cause trouble all around them. ------------------------------------------------------- Cody Unplugged Cody's mom sends him to Camp Bear for a week in the wilds with no TV and no computer. ------------------------------------------------------- Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen Mary Elizabeth wins the lead in My Fair Lady and the hatred of the school princess, beautiful, rich, Carla. ------------------------------------------------------- Junie B. Jones Is (Almost) a Flower Girl Kindergartner Junie B. is having boy problems. ------------------------------------------------------- A Long Way from Chicago: A Novel in Stories For seven years, starting in 1929 when he is 9, Joey and his kid sister, Mary Alice, spend August with their no-nonsense, whopper-spouting, tough-as-nails Grandma. ------------------------------------------------------- The Princess Test Accident-prone Lorelei, the blacksmith's only daughter, captures the heart of Prince Nicholas, whose parents want him to marry a real princess. ------------------------------------------------------- Tut, Tut The "Time Warp Trio" boys end up in ancient Egypt. ------------------------------------------------------- Zooman Sam Preschooler Sam, dressed in his homemade zookeeper's suit, brings 30 hats with animal names on them to school to share on Future Job Day.
Crash Super jock Crash Coogan finds he can't always get his own way. ------------------------------------------------------- Earthquake Terror A peaceful island camping trip becomes an exercise in survival for Jonathan and his disabled younger sister. ------------------------------------------------------- The Great Interactive Dream Machine Computer genius Aaron works out a new formula with his best friend, Josh, that causes wishes to come true. ------------------------------------------------------- Holes For allegedly stealing a famous basketball player's sneakers, overweight, unlucky, innocent Stanley Yelnats, is sent to hot, desolate Camp Green Lake, a prison camp for bad boys. ------------------------------------------------------- Lives of the Athletes: Thrills, Spills (and What the Neighbors Thought) Learn the ups and downs of 20 famous athletes. ------------------------------------------------------- Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man This striking picture book chronicles the dedication and talent of the Yankee baseball great who died in 1941 at age 37. ------------------------------------------------------- The Wonder Worm Wars Elliot copes with a broken arm, his four-year-old nephew, and a new girl in town who is a whiz at baseball.
POETRY, FOLKLORE, AND NONSENSE Bing Bang Boing Here's a nice big collection of off-the-wall wordplay poems. ------------------------------------------------------- The Boy Who Lived with the Bears and Exciting Native American tales about animal tricksters, warriors, and friends. ------------------------------------------------------- Cendrillon: A Caribbean Cinderella On a Caribbean island, a nannin' or godmother explains how she came to be the helpmate for Cendrillon, whose mother has died and whose stepmother works her like a serving girl. ------------------------------------------------------- The Dragon Prince: A Chinese Beauty and the To save her father's life, Seven, a farmer's youngest daughter, agrees to marry a frightening dragon. ------------------------------------------------------- A Pizza the Size of the Sun Another juicy collection of funny poems from the author of The New Kid on the Block and Something Big Has Been Here. ------------------------------------------------------- Sad Underwear and Other Complications: Forty-four hilarious poems about fears, questions, observations, and special requests.
FULL OF FACTS: NONFICTION AND BIOGRAPHY An Extraordinary Life: The Story of a Monarch Butterfly Follow a monarch from Massachusetts to Mexico 3,000 miles away. ------------------------------------------------------- Ghosts of the White House Sara's White House tour is guided by past presidents who come to life and describe what it was like to live there. ------------------------------------------------------- Graveyards of the Dinosaurs See how modern day dinosaur scientists are digging up new finds worldwide. ------------------------------------------------------- Inside the Titanic A stunning, oversized book for Titanic fanatics. ------------------------------------------------------- Out of Darkness: The Story of Louis Braille Blinded at the age of 3 in 1812, Louis Braille developed his braille system of writing as a student at the Royal Institute for Blind Youth in Paris. ------------------------------------------------------- Outside and Inside Snakes Everything you wanted to know about snakes. ------------------------------------------------------- Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution Ji-li grew up in Shanghai where, in 1966, Mao's Cultural Revolution caused her family to become outcasts. ------------------------------------------------------- Sky Pioneer: A Photobiography of Amelia Earhart She was the first female aviator to try and circle the globe. ------------------------------------------------------- So You Want to Be President? In a riotously funny but informative overview of our 42 presidents, discover the good and bad things about the office, and an assortment of their quirks, talents, interests, and actions. ------------------------------------------------------- Through My Eyes In 1960, first grader Ruby Bridges was one of the first African American children to integrate the New Orleans public schools. ------------------------------------------------------- Turn of the Century On New Year's Day of each century from 1000 to 2000, we meet a typical child who describes what his or her life is like. ------------------------------------------------------- What You Never Knew About Fingers, Nosh your way through this funny history of cooking and eating utensils, food habits, and good manners. ------------------------------------------------------- William Shakespeare & the Globe This handsome picture book biography and history of London's Globe Theater is laid out like a play in five acts
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