2006-2007 Master Lists
Master List: Grades 3-5
Borden, Louise. The A+ Custodian. New York, Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0689849958
Paperback: No
Other formats: No
Subject areas: Janitors, School
Synopsis: The students and teachers at Dublin Elementary School make banners, posters, and signs for their school custodian to show how much they appreciate him and all the work he does.
Van Leeuwen, Jean. Cabin on Trouble Creek. New York, Dial Books for Young Readers, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0803725485
Paperback: No
Other formats: No
Subject areas: Frontier and pioneer life, Self-reliance, Brothers, Ohio history
Synopsis: In 1803 in Ohio, two young brothers are left to finish the log cabin and guard the land while their father goes back to Pennsylvania to fetch their mother and younger siblings.
Hesse, Karen. The Cats in Krasinski Square. New York, Scholastic Press, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0439435404
Paperback: No
Other formats: No
Subject areas: Jews, 1943 Warsaw ghetto uprising, Jewish Holocaust, World War II.
Synopsis: Two Jewish sisters, escapees of the infamous Warsaw ghetto, devise a plan to thwart an attempt by the Gestapo to intercept food bound for starving people behind the dark Wall.
Newman, Leslea. Hachiko Waits. New York, Henry Holt and Company, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0805073361
Paperback: No
Other formats: No
Subject areas: Dogs, Akita dogs, Japan history
Synopsis: Professor Ueno’s loyal Akita, Hachiko, waits for him at the train station every afternoon, and even after the professor unexpectedly dies while at work, Hachiko faithfully continues to await his return until the day the dog dies.
Hannigan, Katherine. Ida B…and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World. New York, Greenwillow Books, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0060730242 (trade) 0060730250 (library binding)
Paperback: Planned April 2007
Other formats: No
Subject areas: Family life, School, Nature, Cancer, Orchards, Wisconsin
Synopsis: Fourth grader Ida B spends happy hours being home-schooled and playing in her family’s apple orchard, until circumstances force her parents to sell part of the orchard and send her to public school.
Clements, Andrew. The Last Holiday Concert. New York, Simon & Schuster for Young Readers, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0689845162
Paperback ISBN: 0689845251 Aladdin Paperbacks October 2006
Other formats: No
Subject areas: School, Leadership, Music, Cooperativeness
Synopsis: Life is usually easy for popular sixth grader, Hart Evans, but when his music teacher puts him in charge of the holiday concert, Hart must use all his leadership skills to unite the other students.
Beard, Darleen Bailey.Operation Clean Sweep. New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0374380341
Paperback: No
Other formats: No
Subject areas: Women’s rights, Elections, Historical fiction; Oregon
Synopsis: In 1916, just four years after getting the right to vote, the women of Umatilla, Oregon, band together to throw the mayor and other city officials out of office, replacing them with women.
Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker. The President’s Daughter. New York, Delacorte Press, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0385731477 (trade) 0385901798 (GLB)
Paperback: Not yet planned
Other formats: No
Subject areas: Ethel Roosevelt Derby, Theodore Roosevelt, Presidents, Historical fiction
Synopsis: A fictionalized account of ten-year-old Ethel Roosevelt’s early experiences in the White House after her father, Theodore Roosevelt, becomes president in 1901.
Clements, Andrew. The Report Card. New York, Simon & Schuster for Young Readers, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0689845154
Paperback ISBN: 0689845243 Aladdin Paperbacks January 2006
Other formats: No
Subject areas: Testing, Achievement tests, Schools, Friendship, Genius, Grades
Synopsis: Fifth grader Nora Rowley has always hidden the fact that she is a genius from everyone because all she wants is to be normal, but when she comes up with a plan to prove that grade are not important, things begin to get out of control.
Scillian, Devin. S is for Sunflower: a Kansas Alphabet. Chelsea, MI, Sleeping Bear Press, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 1585360619
Paperback: No
Other formats: No
Subject areas: Kansas, English language alphabet
Synopsis: Brief rhymes for each letter of the alphabet, accompanied by longer explanatory text, features of Kansas.
Harlow, Joan Hiatt. Thunder From the Sea. New York, Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0689864035
Paperback ISBN: 0689864043
Other formats: No
Subject areas: Orphans, Dogs, Family life, Newfoundland and Labrador
Synopsis: Just when his dreams of being part of a family and having a dog seem to be coming true, Tom wonders if trouble with neighbors on his new island home and the impending birth of a new baby will change everything. Set in Newfoundland in 1929.
Grimes, Nikki. What is Goodbye? New York, Hyperion Books for Children, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0786807784
Paperback: No
Other formats: No
Subject areas: Death, Grief, Brothers and Sisters, Poetry
Synopsis: Alternating poems by a brother and sister convey their feelings about the death of their older brother and the impact it had on their family.
Master List: Grades 6-8
Choldenko, Gennifer. Al Capone Does My Shirts. New York, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0399238611
Paperback: May 2006
Other formats: No
Subject areas: Alcatraz Island, Brothers and sisters, Family problems, Autism
Synopsis: A twelve-year-old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 when guards’ families were housed there, and has to contend with his extraordinary new environment in addition to life with his autistic sister.
Ryan, Pam Munoz. Becoming Naomi Leon. New York, Scholastic Press, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0439269695
Paperback: November, 2005
Other formats: Audio (Publisher: Listening Library)
Subject areas: Great-grandmothers, Brothers and sisters, Mexican Americans, Family problems.
Synopsis: When Naomi's absent mother resurfaces to claim her, Naomi runs away to Mexico with her great-grandmother and younger brother in search of her father.
Hughes, Patrice Raccio. The Breaker Boys. New York, Farrar, Straus Giroux, 2004
Hardback ISBN: 0374309566
Paperback: No
Other formats: No
Subject areas: Coal miners, Coal mines and mining, Immigrants, Labor movement, Fathers and sons, Stepfamilies, Pennsylvania history.
Synopsis: In 1897, Nate Tanner, the hot-tempered twelve-year-old son of wealthy Pennsylvania mine owners, goes against his father's wishes by befriending some of the boys who work in the mines and gets caught up in a disastrous clash between mine workers and the law.
Balliett, Blue. Chasing Vermeer. New York, Scholastic Press, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0439372941
Paperback: January, 2006
Other formats: Audio (Publisher: Listening Library)
Subject areas: Art, Johannes Vermeer, Mystery.
Synopsis: When seemingly unrelated and strange events start to happen and a precious Vermeer painting disappears, eleven-year-olds Petra and Calder combine their talents to solve an international art scandal.
Whelan, Gloria. Chu Ju’s House. New York, HarperCollins, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0060507241 (trade) 006050725X (library binding)
Paperback: November, 2005
Other formats: No
Subject areas: China history, Women’s rights, Runaways, Sex role
Synopsis: In order to save her baby sister, fourteen-year-old Chu Ju leaves her rural home in modern China and earns food and shelter by working on a fishing boat, tending silk worms, and planting rice seedlings, while wondering if she will ever see her family again.
Carey, Janet Lee. The Double Life of Zoe Flynn. New York, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0689856040
Paperback: No
Other formats: No
Subject areas: Homeless persons, Family life, Moving
Synopsis: When Zoe’s family has to live in their van for months after moving from California to Oregon so her father can find work, Zoe tries to keep her sixth-grade classmates from discovering that she is homeless.
Cooper, Michael. Dust to Eat: Drought and Depression in the 1930’s. New York, Clarion Books, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0618154493
Paperback: No
Other formats: No
Subject areas: Depression, Dust Storms, Droughts, Great Plains history, United States history.
Synopsis: The 1930s in America will always be remembered for twin disasters-the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Michael L. Cooper takes readers through this tumultuous period, beginning with the 1929 stock market crash that ushered in the Great Depression and continuing with the severe drought in the Midwest, known as the Dust Bowl. He chronicles the everyday struggle for survival by those who lost everything, as well as the mass exodus westward to California on fabled Route 66. The crisis also served as a turning point in American domestic policy, prompting the establishment of programs, such as welfare and Social Security, that revolutionized the role of the federal government. Vivid personal anecdotes from figures such as John Steinbeck and Woody Guthrie, and an extensive selection of photographs by Dorothea Lange and others, illuminate the individuals who faced poverty, illness, and despair as they coped with this extraordinary challenge. Endnotes, bibliography, Internet resources, index.
Dahlberg, Maurine. Escape to West Berlin. New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0374309590
Paperback: No
Other formats: No
Subject areas: Berlin Wall, Germany history, Cold War
Synopsis: In 1961 East Berlin, thirteen-year-old Heidi copes with the stress of a crisis with her best friend, government pressure on her father to leave his West Berlin job, her mother's pregnancy, and the ever-present threat of the closing of the border with West Berlin.
Giff, Patricia Reilly. A House of Tailors. New York, Wendy Lamb Books, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0375730667 (trade) and 0385908792 (library binding)
Paperback: Planned
Other formats: Audio (Publisher: Listening Library)
Subject areas: Emigration and immigration, German-Americans, Sewing, Uncles, Brooklyn, New York history.
Synopsis: When thirteen-year-old Dina emigrates from Germany to America in 1871, her only wish is to return home as soon as she can, but as the months pass and she survives a multitude of hardships living with her uncle and his young wife and baby, she finds herself thinking of Brooklyn as her home.
Brown, Jackie. Little Cricket. New York, Hyperion Books for Children, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0786818522
Paperback: No
Other formats: No
Subject areas: Laos, Refugees, Immigration, Hmong
Synopsis: After the upheaval of the Vietnam War reaches them, twelve-year-old Kia and her Hmong family flee from the mountains of Laos to a refugee camp in Thailand and eventually to the alien world of St. Paul, Minnesota.
Avi and Vail, Rachel. Never Mind! A Twin Novel. New York, HarperCollins, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0060543140 (trade) 0060543159 (library binding)
Paperback: Available now
Other formats: No
Subject areas: Twins, Brothers and sisters, School, New York City, Humorous stories.
Synopsis: Twelve-year-old New York City twins Meg and Edward have nothing in common, so they are just as shocked as everyone else when Meg's hopes for popularity and Edward's mischievous schemes coincidentally collide in a hilarious showdown.
Hahn, Mary Downing. The Old Willis Place. New York, Clarion Books, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0618430180
Paperback: No
Other formats: No
Subject areas: Ghosts, Haunted houses, Brothers and sisters, Friendship
Synopsis: Tired of the rules that have bound them ever since "the bad thing happened," twelve-year-old Diana ignores her brother's warnings and befriends the daughter of the new caretaker, setting in motion events that lead to the release of the spirit of an evil, crazy woman who once ruled the old Willis place.
Barry, Dave and Pearson, Ridley. Peter and the Starcatchers. New York, Hyperion Books for Children, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0786854456
Paperback: No
Other formats: No
Subject areas: Peter Pan, Fantasy
Synopsis: Soon after Peter, an orphan, sets sail from England on the ship Never Land, he befriends and assists Molly, a young Starcatcher, whose mission is to guard a trunk of magical stardust from a greedy pirate and the native inhabitants of a remote island.
Weeks, Sarah. So B. It. New York, Laura Geringer Books, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0066236223 (trade) 0066236231 (library binding)
Paperback: Available now
Other formats: Audio available
Subject areas: Identity, Mothers and daughters, Mental illness, Agoraphobia
Synopsis: After spending her life with her mentally retarded mother and agoraphobic neighbor, twelve-year-old Heidi sets out from Reno, Nevada, to New York to find out who she is.
Thurlo, Aimee and David. The Spirit Line. New York, Viking, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0670036455
Paperback: No
Other formats: No
Subject areas: Navajo Indians, Weavers, New Mexico
Synopsis: When the special rug Crystal Manyfeathers is weaving for her kinaaldá, the traditional Navajo womanhood ceremony, is stolen from her loom, there are any number of suspects.
Peck, Richard. The Teacher’s Funeral; A Comedy in Three Parts. New York, Dial Books, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0803727364
Paperback: April 2006
Other formats: No
Subject areas: School, Country life, Teachers, Indiana history
Synopsis: In rural Indiana, in 1904, fifteen-year-old Russell’s dreams of quitting school and joining a wheat-threshing crew are disrupted when his older sister takes over the teaching of his one-room schoolhouse after mean old Myrt Arbuckle “hauls off and dies”.
Patneaude, David. Thin Wood Walls. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0618342907
Paperback: No
Other formats: No
Subject areas: Japanese Americans relocation, World War II history
Synopsis: When the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Joe Hanada and his family face growing prejudices, eventually being torn away from their home and sent to a relocation camp in California, even as his older brother joins the United States Army to fight in the war.
Wait, Lea. Wintering Well. New York, Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0689856466
Paperback: March 2006 by Aladdin Paperbacks
Other formats: No
Subject areas: Brothers and sisters, People with disabilities, Family life, Maine history
Synopsis: Fifteen-year-old Will Ames and his sister Cassie go to stay with their sister in nearby Wiscasset, Maine, after a disabling accident ruins Will’s plans for a career in farming.
Rodman, Mary Ann. Yankee Girl. New York, Farrar Straus Giroux, 2004.
Hardback ISBN: 0374386617
Paperback: No
Other formats: No
Subject areas: African Americans, Civil Rights, School integration, Race relations, Friendship, Civil Rights workers, Mississippi history.
Synopsis: When her FBI-agent father is transferred to Jackson, Mississippi, in 1964, eleven-year-old Alice wants to be popular but also wants to reach out to the one black girl in her class in a newly-integrated school.