2013
Summer Reading
Suggestions
Grades 5-8
BCEMS Library/Media Ctr.
Stephanie McMahan
PreK-8 Library/Media Specialist
The following suggestions are taken
from lists of award winning and highly
recommended books for Grades 5-8.
Check out BCEMS Library or the
Aldrich Public Library for these books.
RL = Reading Level
1. 101 Things You Didn't Know
About Your Body by John
Townsend
Presents 101 facts about the human
body, covering topics related to
puberty, the heart, hormones, the
human brain, injuries, aging, and
more.
RL: 5.6
2. The
Elephant
Scientist
by Caitlin O'Connell
Photographs and text recount
Caitlin O'Connell's experiences
observing African elephants in
their natural habitat, describing
the discoveries she made
about elephant communication.
4. Pegasus: the Flame of
Olympus by Kate O’Hearn
Thirteen-year-old Emily's life is
transformed when Pegasus, the
mythological winged horse,
crashes onto the roof of her
building during a New York City
blackout and takes her to
Olympus where she faces
monsters, a corrupt
governmental agency, and the
quest to keep the Olympic flame
burning.
5. The Wind Blows Backward
by Mary Downing Hahn
Although they share a love of
poetry and problems with their
parents, a shy high school
senior's attraction to a popular
classmate is tempered by her
fear of his moody, selfdestructive side.
RL: Young Adult
6. The Bone Magician by F.E.
Higgins
With his father, a fugitive,
falsely accused of multiple
murders and the real serial killer
stalking the wretched streets of
Urbs Umida, Pin Carpue, a
young undertaker's assistant,
investigates and finds that all of
the victims may have attended
the performance of a stage
magician who claims to be able
to raise corpses and make the
dead speak.
RL: Young Adult
7. Horses: the
Ultimate Treasury
by John Woodward
3. The Doll in the Garden
by Mary Downing Hahn
RL: 4.5
Adventurous orphan Mosca Mye,
her savage goose, Saracen, and
their sometimes-loyal
companion, Eponymous Clent,
become embroiled in the
intrigues of Toll, a town that
changes entirely as day turns to
night.
RL: 7.4
9. Iron Hand by
Charlie Fletcher
RL: 6.2
RL: 8.4
Ashley, who has recently moved
from Baltimore to a new town
with her widowed mother, finds
an antique doll buried in old
Miss Cooper's garden and
discovers she can enter a
ghostly turn-of-the-century
world by going through a hole in
the hedge.
8. Fly Trap by Frances Hardinge
Presents
information and stories about
horses, including breed
portraits, photographs, and vital
statistics, and covering early
horses, native ponies, working
horses, horses on show, and
sport horses.
Having upset the
balance between the
warring statues of London,
twelve-year-old George is
confronted with new challenges
as he tries to free his captured
friends Edie and The Gunner
from the formidable Walker and
deal with the three strange
veins of marble, bronze, and
stone that have begun to grow
out of his hand.
RL: 6.7
10. Penny from
Heaven by Jennifer
L Holm
As she turns twelve
during the summer
of 1953, Penny gains new
insights into herself and her
family while also learning a
secret about her father's death.
RL: 4.5
11. Casebook: the Loch Ness
Monster by Justine and Ron
Fontes
Einstein and his friends use their
virtual visors to investigate the
origins of Loch Ness, stories
about the monster first reported
to live there in 565 A.D., and
possible explanations.
RL: 4.1
RL: 7.3
1
12. Hamlet for Kids by Lois
Burdett
An adaptation of Shakespeare's
"Hamlet," written in rhyming
couplets especially for young
readers and performers,
includes illustrations by
children, as well as suggestions
for activities based upon the
story.
RL: 4.7
13. Dead End in Norvelt by Jack
Gantos
In the historic town of Norvelt,
Pennsylvania, twelve-year-old
Jack Gantos spends the summer
of 1962 grounded for various
offenses until he is assigned to
help an elderly neighbor with a
most unusual chore involving
the newly dead, molten wax,
twisted promises, Girl Scout
cookies, underage driving,
lessons from history,
typewriting, and countless
bloody noses.
RL: 6.0
14. Reel It In: Bass
Fishing by Tina P.
Schwartz
Provides
information about
bass fishing, and includes tips
on bass fishing techniques,
gear, what to do after fish are
caught, and more.
RL: 4.3
15. Reel It In:
Deep Sea Fishing by Tina P.
Schwartz
Provides information about
deep-sea fishing, and includes
tips on big game fishing
techniques, gear, boats and
boat safety, and more.
RL: 4.4
16. Drizzle by Kathleen Van
Cleve
When a drought threatens her
family's magical rhubarb farm,
eleven-year-old Polly tries to
find a way to make it rain again.
RL: 5.9
17. Invisible World:
a novel of the
Salem witch trials
by Suzanne Weyn
After a shipwreck,
Elsabeth James, a
teenage girl with supernatural
gifts, washes up on a South
Carolina plantation where she
falls in love and learns magic
and healing, but her stay is cut
short when she is sent as a
servant to Salem,
Massachusetts, and, once there,
an evil spirit enters her village
and she must find a way to save
herself and the boy she loves.
RL: Young Adult
18. The Encyclopedia of Me by
Karen Rivers
As Tink Aaron-Martin writes an
encyclopedia of her life, she also
tells the story of the summer
leading into her eighth-grade
year.
RL: 6.2
19. One Dog and His Boy by
Eva Ibbotson
When lonely, ten-year-old Hal
learns that his wealthy but
neglectful parents only rented
Fleck, the dog he always
wanted, he and new friend
Pippa take Fleck and four other
dogs from the rental agency on
a trek from London to Scotland,
where Hal's grandparents live.
RL: 5.4
infinity ring to travel back to
one of the Great Breaks--a
mutiny on the Santa María--to
correct history and defeat the
SQ.
RL: 6.9
21. Infinity Ring: Divide and
Conquer by Carrie Ryan
As thousands of Viking warriors
attack Paris, Sera, Riq, and all
the people of the city struggle
to defend themselves and Dak
remains a prisoner, forced to
work for the invading army.
RL: 5.5
22. Baby
Mammoth
Mummy:
Frozen In
Time! a
prehistoric animal’s journey
into the 21st century
By Christopher Sloan
Offers insight into the discovery
of the frozen carcass of a baby
mammoth in Siberia, featuring
photographs and interviews with
experts involved in the
research, and discussing such
topics as radiocarbon dating,
characteristics of the prehistoric
world, and the conditions that
led to the preservation of this
creature.
RL: 6.6
23. Daughter of Smoke & Bone
by Laini Taylor
Seventeen-year-old Karou, a
lovely, enigmatic art student in
a Prague boarding school,
carries a sketchbook of hideous,
frightening monsters--the
chimaerae who form the only
family she has ever known.
RL: Young Adult
20. Infinity Ring: A Mutiny in
Time by James Dashner
Time has gone wrong, and best
friends Dak Smyth and Sera
Froste, together with the young
Hystorian Riq, must use the
2
24. The Flint Heart: a fairy
story by John and Katherine
Paterson
A magical amulet, created by a
Stone Age magic man for an
ambitious individual wishing to
take control of his tribe, brings
power and despair to those who
touch it, and when the amulet
reemerges, Charles and his
sister Unity must find a way to
rescue the humans, fairies, and
animals from the mysterious
object.
RL: 4.5
28. Civil War Trivia by Walt
Witkowski
Questions and answers
29. Dangerous Jobs: Bomb
Squad Technician by Nick
Gordon
Action photographs and text
provide an introduction to the
dangerous job of bomb disposal,
describing how the bomb squad
technicians disarm bombs, the
equipment needed, and training
required and includes a glossary
and resources.
RL: 6.5
25. Chomp by Carl Hiassen
The difficult star of the reality
television show, "Expedition
Survival," disappears on
location in the Florida
Everglades, where they were
filming animals from the wildlife
refuge run by Wahoo Crane's
family, and Wahoo and
classmate Tuna Gordon set out
to find him, but they must avoid
Tuna's gun-happy father.
RL: 7.0
26. Leepike Ridge by N.D.
Wilson
While his widowed mother
continues to search for him,
eleven-year-old Tom, presumed
dead after drifting away down a
river, finds himself trapped in a
series of underground caves
with another survivor and a
dog, and pursued by murderous
treasure-hunters.
RL: 5.2
27. Nine Pound Hammer
by John Claude Bemis
Drawn by the lodestone his
father gave him years before,
twelve-year-old orphan Ray
travels south, meeting along the
way various characters from
folklore who are battling against
an evil industry baron known as
the Gog.
RL: 5.2
30. Fault in Our
Stars by John Green
Sixteen year old
Hazel, who has
cancer, meets
Augustus at a kidswith-cancer support group and
as they fall in love they both
wonder how they will be
remembered.
RL: Young Adult
31. The Gentleman Outlaw and
Me by Mary Downing Hahn
In 1887 twelve-year-old Eliza,
disguised as a boy and traveling
toward Colorado in search of her
missing father, falls in with a
Gentleman Outlaw and joins
him in his illegal schemes.
RL: 5.0
32. The Son of
Neptune by Rick
Riordan
Demigod Percy
Jackson, still with
no memory, and
his new friends
from Camp Jupiter, Hazel and
Frank, go on a quest to free
Death, but their bigger task is
to unite the Greek and Roman
camps so that the Prophecy of
Seven can be fulfilled.
RL: 4.7
33. The Mark of
Athena by Rick
Riordan
The Greek and
Roman demigods
will have to
cooperate in order to defeat the
giants released by the Earth
Mother, Gaea. Then they will
have to sail together to the
ancient land--Greece itself--to
find the Doors of Death
RL: 5.2
34. 1862, Fredericksburg: a new
look at a bitter Civil War battle
by K.M. Kostyal
Examines the battle of
Fredericksburg, considered
General Robert E. Lee's most
one-sided victory of the Civil
War, and draws from a variety
of sources, including a slave
diary, to discuss what the war
meant to non-combatants.
Features reenactment
photographs.
RL: 5.8
35. The Humming
Room by Ellen Potter
Twelve-year-old Roo
Fanshaw, who has a
talent for hiding, is
sent to live with his estranged
uncle in his on Cough Rock
Island, where he discovers the
secrets of the largely
uninhabited house and its
hidden garden.
RL: 4.9
36. My Mixed Up Berry Blue
Summer by Jennifer Gennari
Twelve-year-old June Farrell
spends the summer at her
Vermont home getting used to
the woman her mother is
planning to marry and practicing
her pie-baking skills, as she
hopes to win the blue ribbon at
the fair.
RL: 4.7
3
37. I Am A SEAL
Team Six Warrior:
Memoirs of an
American Soldier by
Howard E. Wasdin
Howard Wasdin reflects on his
life and military career,
discussing his difficult childhood,
training, goal to become a
member of Navy SEAL Team
Six, experiences during the
Battle of Mogadishu, and more.
RL: Young Adult
38. Look For Me by Moonlight
by Mary Downing Hahn
41. The Ogre of Oglefort by
Eve Ibbotson
Ivo, an orphan boy, teams up
with the Hag of Dribble and a
troll called Ulf to rescue a
princess from the Ogre of
Oglefort, but things turn out
differently when they arrive at
the ogre's castle only to find a
contented princess and a
depressed ogre inside.
RL: 6.2
42. Animal Attack: Hunting
with Great White Sharks by
Hunter Reynolds
While staying at the remote and
reputedly haunted Maine inn run
by her father and pregnant
stepmother, sixteen-year-old
Cynda feels increasingly isolated
from her father's new family
and finds solace in the
attentions of a charming but
mysterious guest.
RL: Young Adult
Explores how the great white
shark hunts, including using
their powerful senses of smell
and touch.
RL: 4.5
39. The Mystery of the Missing
Everything by Ben H. Winters
Fourteen-year-old Petra, her tin
spider Astrophil, and their
friends become entangled in the
competition for the Roma crown
and set out for Prague in hopes
of finally finding a cure for
Petra's father.
RL: 4.1
When a treasured trophy
disappears from the display
case at Mary Todd Lincoln
Middle School and the principal
cancels the eagerly anticipated
eighth grade class trip,
Bethesda Fielding has no choice
but to solve the mystery.
RL: 5.4
40. Breaking
Stalin’s Nose
by Eugene Yelchin
In the Stalinist era
of the Soviet
Union, ten-year-old Sasha
idolizes his father, a devoted
Communist, but when police
take his father away and leave
Sasha homeless, he is forced to
examine his own perceptions,
values, and beliefs.
RL: 5.7
43. The Jewel of
the Kaldersah by
Marie Rutkoski
44. Beyond Lucky by Sarah
Aronson
Twelve-year-old Ari Fish is sure
that the rare trading card he
found has changed his luck and
that of his soccer team, but
after the card is stolen he
comes to know that we make
our own luck, and that heroes
can be fallible.
RL: 5.2
45. Notes from an Accidental
Band Geek by Erin Dionne
French horn virtuoso Elsie Wyatt
resents having to join her high
school's marching band playing
a melliphone, but finally finds a
sense of belonging that
transcends the pressure she has
always felt to be as good as her
father, principal French horn
player in the Boston Symphony
Orchestra.
RL: 5.0
46. Jonas Salk and the Polio
Vaccine by Katherine Krohn
An account of Dr. Jonas Salk's
work to find a vaccine to
prevent polio, a deadly disease
that had been plaguing the U.S.
and other countries throughout
the first half of the twentieth
century. Presented in graphic
format.
RL: 4.8
47. Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu
Hazel and Jack are best friends
until an accident with a magical
mirror and a run-in with a
villainous queen find Hazel on
her own, entering an enchanted
wood in the hopes of saving
Jack's life.
RL: 5.5
48. Cinder by Bruce Bond
A generous and urgent
collection of poems; a work that
celebrates the human condition
and terrifies us with it in equal
measure. The result is a book of
poems weighted with dark
vision, set loose.
49.Charles Dickens and the
Street Children of London
by Andrea Warren
A biography of Charles Dickens,
discussing how his father's
debts forced him to go to work
in a shoe polish factory, and
looking at how his observations
of the poor led him to write
novels with an
eye toward
bringing
attention to
the plight of
London's
destitute
children.
RL: Young Adult
4
50. Lemony Snicket: All the
Wrong Questions: Who Could
It Be at this Hour? by Lemony
Snicket
Thirteen-year-old Lemony
Snicket begins his
apprenticeship with S. Theodora
Markson of the secretive V.F.D.
in the tiny dot of a town called
Stain'd By The Sea, where he
helps investigate the theft of a
statue.
RL: 5.6
51. Groosham Grange by
Anthony Horowitz
After being expelled from
school, thirteen-year-old David
Eliot is sent to Groosham
Grange, a spooky and sinister
boarding school where nothing
seems quite right.
RL: Young Adult
52. Cardboard by
Doug TenNapel
Cam gets a
cardboard box for a
birthday present
that he makes into a
man which comes to life, but
when his neighbor Marcus takes
the cardboard box, he creates
his own evil creations that
threaten to destroy them all.
RL: 2.6
53. Fierce Fish! 20 Fun Facts
about Barracudas by Heather
Moore Niver
Presents twenty facts about
barracudas, including what they
eat, where they live, and how to
tell how old they are.
RL: 4.9
54. Caddy’s World by Hilary
McKay
Twelve-year-old Caddy's world
turns upside down with the
early arrival of a new baby,
which leads her father, Bill, to
temporarily become a stay-athome "mom," at the same time
that her best friends since
kindergarten, Ali, Beth, and
Ruby, begin to grow apart.
RL: 4.8
55. A Nest for
Celeste by
Henry Cole
Celeste, a mouse
longing for a real
home, becomes a source of
inspiration to teenaged Joseph,
assistant to the artist and
naturalist John James Audubon,
at a New Orleans, Louisiana,
plantation in 1821.
RL: 4.9
56. Legend by Marie Lu
In a dark future, when North
America has split into two
warring nations, fifteen-yearolds Day, a famous criminal,
and prodigy June, the brilliant
soldier hired to capture him,
discover that they have a
common enemy.
RL: Young Adult
57. The Unwanteds by Lisa
McMann
In a society that purges
thirteen-year-olds who are
creative, identical twins Aaron
and Alex are separated, one to
attend University while the
other, supposedly Eliminated,
finds himself in a wondrous
place where youths hone their
abilities and learn magic.
RL:
5.4
how a British pilot torpedoed
the German destroyer Bismarck,
and how German U-boat
captains went from being
hunters to being hunted.
RL: 7.4
59. Splendors and Glooms
by Laura Amy Schlitz
When Clara vanishes after the
puppeteer Grisini and two
orphaned assistants were at her
twelfth birthday party, suspicion
of kidnapping chases the trio
away from London and soon the
two orphans are caught in a
trap set by Grisini's ancient
rival, a witch with a deadly
inheritance to shed before it is
too late.
RL: 5.5
60. The Million Dollar Kick
by Dan Gutman
Thirteen-year-old Whisper, who
hates sports, gets a chance to
win a million dollars by kicking a
goal against a soccer hero.
RL: 4.7
61. The
Case of the
Vanishing
Golden
Frogs: a Scientific Mystery by
Sandra Markle
Follows a team of scientists as
they try to save Panamanian
golden frogs, which began to
disappear fifteen years ago, and
looks at the reasons behind
their decline.
RL: 5.7
62. Abe Lincoln at Last! by
Mary Pope Osborne
58. Graphic Modern History:
World War II: Battle for the
Atlantic by Gary Jeffrey
Contains accounts of the World
War II battle for the Atlantic, in
graphic novel format, including
The magic tree house whisks
Jack and Annie to Washington
D.C. in the 1860s where they
meet Abraham Lincoln and
collect a feather that will help
break a magic spell.
RL: 3.2
5
63. Empire of Ruins
by Arthur Slade
While on an
assignment in
Queensland,
Australia, to discover the truth
behind a powerful weapon
known as the God Face, Modo, a
teenaged, shape-changing
hunchback living in Victorian
London, battles the evil
machinations of the Clockwork
Guild and makes an astounding
discovery--one that hinges on
Modo's true appearance.
RL: Young Adult
64. The Global Puzzle
Challenge with Google Earth
by Clive Gifford
Encourages the reader to solve
historic and geographic puzzles
by finding specific locations
using Google Earth coordinates
and then searching for clues to
ultimately discover the final
location.
RL: 6.0
65. Poseidon: God
of the Sea and
Earthquakes by
Teri Temple
An introduction to Greek
mythology that shares the
stories and myths about the
Greek god Poseidon, god of the
sea and earthquakes.
RL: 5.4
66. Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide
to NOT Reading by Tom
Greenwald
Middle schooler Charlie Joe is
proud of his success at avoiding
reading, but eventually his
schemes go too far.
RL: 5.4
67. Secrets at Sea by Richard
Peck
hope to find a husband for their
awkward older daughter,
secretly accompanied by Helena
and her mouse siblings, for
whom the journey is both
terrifying and wondrous as they
meet an array of titled humans
despite their best efforts at
remaining hidden.
RL: 4.4
71. Double by Jenny Valentine
When sixteen-year-old Chap is
mistaken for a missing boy, he
leaves the home where he has
been living temporarily and
takes on this new identity, not
knowing that it is as dangerous
and uncertain as the life he has
left behind.
RL: Young Adult
72. Hot Topics: Cyber Bullying
by Nick Hunter
68. AV2
Cool
Sports: Surfing by Aaron Carr
Simple text and photographs
provide an introduction to
surfing.
RL: 2.2
69. AV2 Virtual Field Trip: the
Great Wall of China by
Christine Webster and Heather
Kissock
Full-color photographs, maps,
timeline, and sidebars describe
the Great Wall of China, begun
in 221 B.C. by China's first
emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi, as a
means of defense against the
Mongols.
RL: 5.9
Examines the issue of
cyberbullying, describing its
various forms and how it can
affect individuals and society as
a whole, discussing related
controversies, and providing tips
and ideas to deal with and
prevent cyberbullying.
RL: 7.8
73. The Always War by
Margaret Peterson Haddix
In a war-torn future United
States, fifteen-year-old Tessa,
her childhood friend Gideon,
now a traumatized military
hero, and Dek, a streetwise
orphan, enter enemy territory
and discover the shocking truth
about a war that began more
than seventy-five years earlier.
RL: Young Adult
70. An Elephant in the Garden
by Michael Morpurgo
Lizzie and Karl's mother, Mutti,
working at a local zoo in
Dresden, Germany, during
World War II while their father
is away fighting in France,
brings home Marlene, a baby
elephant that is slated to be
destroyed as the Allied bombing
grows closer, and when they are
forced to flee, Mutti feels they
must take Marlene with them,
adding even more danger to
their journey.
RL: 4.5
74. The Great Unexpected by
Sharon Creech
Orphans Naomi and Lizzie, living
in America, and grown-up
sisters Sybil and Nula, from
Ireland, learn what life is truly
about as they receive help from
one another and open up their
hearts to love and forgiveness.
RL: 4.1
In 1887, the social-climbing
Cranstons voyage from New
York to London, where they
6
75. Dog Heroes: Bomb-sniffing
Dogs by Meish Goldish
Explores the lives of bombsniffing dogs, describing what
they do and where they go.
RL: 5.4
76. Native American Animal
Stories by Joseph Bruchac
Collection of stories from
Mohawk, Hopi, Yaqui, and other
cultures demonstrating the
power of animals in Native
American traditions.
RL: 5.5
77. Eternal by Gillian Shields
When Sarah, Evie, and Helen
see that the horrors surrounding
Wyldcliffe Abbey School are not
over, Sarah tries to continue
working in the background,
being strong and
good for the
others, but finds
herself thrust
into prominence
as evil surfaces
again.
RL: Young Adult
78. The Inquisitor’s Apprentice
by Chris Moriarty
In early twentieth-century New
York, Sacha Kessler's ability to
see witches earns him an
apprenticeship to the police
department's star Inquisitor,
Maximillian Wolf, to help stop
magical crime and, with fellow
apprentice Lily Astral, Sacha
investigates who is trying to kill
Thomas Edison, whose
mechanical witch detector that
could unleash the worst witchhunt in American history.
RL: 4.4
79. Algebra &
Geometry by
Dan Green
Introduces the
basics of
geometry and algebra through
illustrations and text in which
each concept and symbol,
including Polygon, Plane, Odd
Number, Sine, and others, is
represented by a unique
character who explains his or
her purpose and function.
RL: 6.1
80. Rebel Spirits by Lois Ruby
Sixteen-year-old Lorelei is not
happy when her family moves
into an old bed-and-breakfast in
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania--and
that is before she meets the
Civil War ghost, Nathaniel, who
needs her help, and discovers
that some of the hotel staff are
not what they seem to be.
RL: Young Adult
81. The Fighting Ground by Avi
Thirteen-year-old Jonathan goes
off to fight in the Revolutionary
War and discovers the real war
is being fought within himself.
RL: 6.4
82. The Shadow Collector’s
Apprentice by Amy Gordon
In the summer of 1963, after
his father has inexplicably
disappeared leaving Cully with
his three eccentric aunts on
their barely profitable apple
farm, Cully goes to work for a
mysterious antiques dealer who
has the strange hobby of
collecting shadows.
RL: 4.7
83. Anatomy of a Beast:
Obsession and Myth on the
Trail of Bigfoot by Michael
McLeod
Discusses the twentieth-century
obsession with Bigfoot,
combined with the synthesis of
historical and indigenous
folklore, imagination, Darwinian
theory, and tabloid
photographs, that led to the
creation of a modern myth by
loggers, hunters, con artists,
and businesspeople.
RL: Young Adult
84. Ghosts in the Fog: the
Untold Story of Alaska’s WWII
Invasion by Samantha Seiple
A narrative, nonfiction account
of the Japanese invasion and
occupation of the Aleutian
Islands during World War II,
told from the perspectives of an
American civilian and soldiers
from both sides of the conflict.
Includes more than eighty
photographs.
RL: Young Adult
85. The Familiars by Adam Jay
Epstein
Three young wizards-in-training
are kidnapped by an evil queen
and their familiars--Aldwyn the
alley cat, Skylar, a know-it-all
blue jay, and Gilbert a tree frog
who can see the future--set out
on a dangerous journey to
rescue the boys.
RL: 5.0
86. Best of the Best:
a Baseball Great
novel by Tim Green
Determined to play
in the Little League
World Series, twelve-year-old
Josh struggles to concentrate on
his game and be the team's
leader while also trying to cope
with his parents' impending
divorce.
RL: 5.5
87. It’s the First Day of School
– Forever! By R.L. Stine
Everything goes wrong for
eleven-year-old Artie on his first
day at Ardmore Middle School,
from the moment his alarm
goes off until the next morning,
when everything is repeated
exactly the same way.
RL: 3.3
7
88. Ring of Fire by
Pierdomenico
Baccalario
Four seemingly
unrelated children
are brought
together in a Rome
hotel where they discover that
they are destined to become
involved in a deep and ancient
mystery involving a briefcase
full of artifacts that exposes
them to great danger.
RL: 4.8
89. The Fairy Ring, or Elsie and
Francis Fool the World by Mary
Losure
Relates the story of Francis and
Elsie, cousins who concocted a
story and photographs about
fairies because nobody believed
Francis could see the tiny men
and were surprised when their
photographs were found by Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle, who truly
believed in fairies.
RL: 5.3
92. Wild Girl by Patricia Reilly
Giff
When twelve-year-old Lidie
leaves Brazil to join her father
and brother on a horse ranch in
New York, she has a hard time
adjusting to her changed
circumstances, as does a new
horse that has come to the
ranch.
RL: 4.3
Three friends fall prey to the
demands of the Well Witch
when they trespass in her
wishing well and steal some
coins.
RL: 7.4
97. Once Upon a Curse: Book 3
in the Tales of the Frog Princess
by E.D. Baker
Princess Emma is determined,
with the help of her favorite bat,
Li'l, and some long-long
ancestors to reverse the curse
put upon her lineage by an
angry fairy.
RL: 5.6
94. National Geographic Kids
Almanac 2013
Contains facts, photographs,
and maps that provide readers
with information on animals,
cultures, famous landmarks,
science, the future, and many
other topics.
RL: 6.0
91. U.S. Military: U.S. Air
Force by Nick Gordon
Engaging images accompany
information about the U.S. Air
Force.
RL: 4.8
96. Guiness Book of World
Records 2013
93. Well Witched by Francis
Hardinge
90. The Tanglewood Terror by
Kurtis Scaletta
When a giant glowing fungus
encroaches upon thirteen-yearold Eric's small town, he, his
little brother Brian, and a
runaway girl try to stop it--and
figure out what happened to the
Puritan town that
had mysteriously
disappeared from
the same spot.
RL: 5.4
holidays, crime, music,
government, weather, and
more.
RL: 6.3
98. The Mark of the Golden
Dragon; being an account of the
further adventures of Jacky
Faber, Jewel of the East,
Vexation of the West, and Pearl
of the South China Sea by L.A.
Meyer
In 1807, having survived a
typhoon in the East Indies,
Jacky Faber makes her way to
London to seek a pardon for
herself and her betrothed, Jaimy
Fletcher, who, posing as a
highwayman, is trying to
avenge her supposed death.
RL: Young Adult
99. Super Grammar by Tony
Preciado
95. Scholastic 2013 Almanac for
Kids
Provides facts, figures, and
statistics on a variety of topics,
covering animals, buildings,
Superheroes and supervillains
help teach children about
grammar.
RL: 6.6
8
100. Museum of
Thieves by Lian
Tanner
Goldie, an
impulsive and
bold twelveyear-old,
escapes the oppressive city of
Jewel, where children are
required to wear guardchains
for their protection, and finds
refuge in the extraordinary
Museum of Dunt, an evershifting world where she
discovers a useful talent for
thievery and mysterious secrets
that threaten her city and
everyone she loves.
RL: 4.6
101. Fred Bowen Sports Story
Series: Soccer Team Upset by
Fred Bowen
Tyler's hope that his soccer
team will be undefeated is
dashed when his friend Zack,
the team's star midfielder, and
two more of the Cougars' best
players accept an offer to play
for an elite travel team.
RL: 4.5
102. The Elements: A Visual
Exploration of Every Known
Atom in the Universe by
Theodore Gray
Presents a photographic
representation of the over 100
elements in the periodic table;
and includes facts, figures, and
stories of the elements, data on
the properties of each, and the
year and location in which it was
discovered.
RL: Young
Adult
103. Middleworld: the Jaguar
Stones Book One by J&P
Voelkel
When his archaeologist parents
go missing in Central America,
fourteen-year-old Max embarks
on a wild adventure through the
Mayan underworld in search of
the legendary Jaguar Stones,
which enabled ancient Mayan
kings to wield the powers of
living gods.
RL: 6.7
104. Falling by Doug Wilhelm
Fifteen-year-old Matt's life has
been turned upside-down, first
when the brother he idolizes
turns to drugs, then when a visit
to a chat room leads him to a
classmate, Katie, who he likes
very much but cannot trust with
his family secret.
RL: Young Adult
154. Witch Catcher by Mary
Downing Hahn
107. Cracker! The Best Dog in
Viet Nam by Cynthia Kadohata
A young soldier in Vietnam
bonds with his bomb-sniffing
German
shepherd.
RL: 4.9
108. Pro Wrestling Champions:
Mark Henry by Nick Gordon
Offers insight into the life and
career of professional wrestler
Mark Henry.
RL: 5.2
109. Fang: a
Maximum Ride
novel by James
Patterson
Having just moved into the
West Virginia home they
inherited from a distant relative,
twelve-year-old Jen is surprised
that her father is already dating
a local antiques dealer, but
more surprised by what the
spooky woman really wants.
RL: 4.4
When Max and the
Flock discover an unscrupulous
scientist who is experimenting
on humans in an effort to
"improve" the human race, they
decide that they must try to
stop him, in spite of Angel's
prediction about Fang dying.
RL: Young Adult
106. The Perilous Realm, Book
One: The Shadow of Malabron
by Thomas Wharton
110. Starclimber / Book 2 by
Kenneth Oppel
When Will, a rebellious teen,
stumbles from the present into
the realm where stories come
from, he learns he has a mission
concerning the evil Malabron
and, aided by some of the story
folk, he faces a host of perils
while seeking the gateless gate
that will take him home.
RL: 5.9
As members of the first crew of
astralnauts, Matt Cruse and
Kate De Vries journey into outer
space on the "Starclimber" and
face a series of catastrophes
that threaten the survival of all
on board.
RL: Young Adult
9