Fiction
- Applegate, Katherine. Crenshaw – Crenshaw is a cat. He’s large, he’s outspoken, and he’s imaginary. He has come back into Jackson’s life to help him. But is an imaginary friend enough to save this family from losing everything?
- Arnold, Louise. Golden & Grey: An Unremarkable Boy and a Rather Remarkable Ghost – When a downhearted ghost becomes the “invisible friend” of an 11-year-old boy who is an outcast in his new school, the two help each other find their place.
- Birdsall, Jeanne. The Penderwicks on Gardam Street – The four Penderwick sisters are faced with the unimaginable prospect of their widowed father dating.
- Birney, Betty G. Humphrey (series) – Join Humphrey the hamster as he takes on all kinds of adventures!
- Clements, Andrew. No Talking – The noisy fifth grade boys challenge the equally noisy girls to a “no talking” contest.
- Colfer, Eoin. The Legend of Spud Murphy – Dropped off at the library several afternoons a week, William and his brother dread boredom and the really scary librarian.
- Cowell, Cressida. How to Train Your Dragon – The adventures and misadventures of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third as he tries to pass an important Viking initiation test.
- Creech, Sharon. Moo – When Reena found out she was moving to Maine, she pictured lighthouses and lobsters, not a neighbor with a zany cow named Zora.
- Day, Christine. I Can Make This Promise – Inspired by the author’s family history, Christine Day tells the story of a girl who uncovers her family’s secrets—and finds her own Native American identity.
- Dominguez, Angela. Stella Diaz Has Something to Say – Bursting with bilingual verve, a Mexican American middle-schooler with a speech impediment learns to value self-expression as she searches for a new friend.
- Gifford, Peggy. Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little – With summer coming to an end, Moxy does a 100 different things to avoid doing her required reading.
- Grimes, Nikki. Dyamonde Daniel (Series) – Dyamonde may be new in town, but her spunk and can-do attitude help her quickly find her place both in the neighborhood and at school. This series teaches the importance of looking for the best in others and finding ways to help those in need around us.
- Gutman, Dan. Nightmare at the Book Fair – Fifth-grader Trip Kindleman, who does not like to read very much, is hit on the head by a heavy box and becomes a character in a series of different books.
- Holm, Jennifer L. Full of Beans – In Depression era Key West, Beans Curry and his barefoot gang of friends try various schemes to make easy money in this laugh-out-loud historical novel.
- Jonell, Lynne. Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat – Emmy discovers that she and her formerly loving parents are being drugged by their evil nanny with rodent potions that can change people in frightening ways.
- Keller, Tae. When You Trap a Tiger – Would you make a deal with a magical tiger? This uplifting story brings Korean folklore to life as a girl goes on a quest to unlock the power of stories and save her grandmother.
- Kibushi, Kazu. Amulet, Book 1: Stonekeeper – After the tragic death of their father, Emily and Navin move to the home of her deceased great-grandfather, but the strange house proves to be dangerous.
- Laybourn, Emma. Missing Magic – In a world where everyone has magical abilities, 11-year-old Ned has none, but when the world turns upside down, his lack of powers turns out to be his best asset.
- Martin, Ann. The Doll People – A family of dolls that has lived in the same house for 100 years is taken aback when a new family of plastic dolls arrives and doesn’t follow “The Doll Code of Honor.”
- O’Connor, Barbara. How to Steal a Dog – Living in the family car after their father leaves, Georgina persuades her younger brother to help her in an elaborate scheme to get money by stealing a dog.
- Palmer, Iva Marie. Gabby Garcia’s Ultimate Playbook – Series about a Latina pitcher who loves baseball.
- Perkins, Mitali. Rickshaw Girl – In her Bangladesh village, 10-year-old Naimi excels at painting designs called alpanas and helps her impoverished family financially when she disguises herself as a boy.
- Prineas, Sarah. The Magic Thief – A young thief is drawn into a life of magic and adventure after picking the pocket of the powerful wizard.
- Raczka, Bob. Wet Cement: A Book of Concrete Poems
- Selznick, Brian. The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures – When twelve-year-old Hugo, an orphan living and repairing clocks within the walls of a Paris train station in 1931, meets a mysterious toyseller and his goddaughter, his undercover life and his biggest secret are jeopardized.
- Stoudemire, Amar’e. Home Court – STAT: Standing Tall and Talented (Series) – This series is based on the life of All-Star NBA sensation Amar’e Stoudemire, who overcame many obstacles to become one of the most popular figures in sports today.
- Vande Velde, Vivian. Three Good Deeds – Howard is cursed to be a goose, becoming human again only by doing good deeds.
- Varadarajan, Gita. Save Me a Seat – Joe and Ravi don’t think they have anything in common, but soon enough they have a common enemy (the biggest bully in their class) and a common mission: to take control of their lives over the course of a singlecrazy week.
Nonfiction
- Barton, Chris. Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions
- DK Publishing. Everything You Need to Know About Snakes and Other Scary Reptiles – From speedy slithering creatures and living dragons to snakes that fly and shed skin, Everything You Need to Know About Snakes explores the fascinating world of reptiles.
- Hillman, Ben. How Big Is It? A Big Book All About Bigness – How big is a glacier? How immense is a submarine? How long is a giant squid? You will see, in awesome photos, how huge they are when compared with the city of Chicago, a baseball diamond and a house.
- I Survived: True Stories (series) – This series appeals to those who enjoy historical fiction filled with fun and adventure!
- Markle, Sandra. Rescues! – A collection of disaster stories and rescues around the world including an avalanche, a hurricane, and the 2004 Tsunami.
- Miller, Debbie. Survival at 120 Above – This book records a day in the life of the Simpson Desert as birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects and plants revel in the glory of water and relative coolness of the world’s largest parallel sand dunes.
- Murrie, Steve. Every Minute on Earth: Fun Facts That Happen Every 60 Seconds
- Paquette, Ammi-Joan. Two Truths and a Lie: It’s Alive (Series) – A fascinating series that presents some of the most crazy-but-true stories about the living world as well as a handful of stories that are too crazy to be true!
- Paul, Chris. Long Shot: Never Too Small to Dream Big – Everybody told Chris that he was too small to play basketball. But he ignored them all…because he had big dreams. And, he loved the game.
- Shetterly, Margot Lee. Hidden Figures: The Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race – The true story of how Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden helped NASA put the first men in space.
- Thimmesh, Catherine. Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11
- Who Was (series) – A series of illustrated biographies for readers featuring significant historical figures, including artists, scientists and world leaders.
*The above suggested texts cover a wide variety of topics and genres. Another good place to find quality text is at your local library so consider visiting often! As we know, student choice and interest drive a passion for the love of reading.
